25: Chapter 25: A Sense of Crisis Emerges

"If this were given to a single Spiritual Root Genius like Ye Qingcen, it would probably only take a little over a hundred pills to rush straight from the 1st layer of Qi Condensation to the Peak of Qi Refining Level 9, or even Half-step Foundation Establishment! With my lousy Spiritual Root, I used several times the number of Medicinal Pills just to reach the 7th layer of Qi Condensation... What a sin!"

However, the good news was that the energy consumption of the small tripod was not large; purifying the Medicinal Pills only used about one-tenth of it.

His cultivation had temporarily hit a Bottleneck, so he couldn't rush it.

It would be better to use the remaining energy to enhance his actual combat capabilities!

Xiao Yuan quickly adjusted his mindset.

He sat cross-legged and began to guide the remaining energy of the small tripod into the cultivation of several Spells and sword arts.

Nourished by the energy, the cultivation progress bars of the three intermediate Spells—the Flame Explosion Spell, Condensed Water Arrow, and Thorny Cage—steadily advanced, ultimately making a simultaneous Breakthrough—

All three Spells reached Minor Achievement!

Their power, casting speed, and control precision were all vastly enhanced!

Next was his primary offensive Gale Shadow-Chasing Sword Art.

It consumed even more energy, but the results were also the most remarkable!

The sword art had reached Minor Achievement!

His sword-drawing speed was faster, the sword light differentiation was more marvelous, his pursuit ability was stronger, and its power was several times stronger than the mastery Realm!

He even learned a movement technique called "Gale Shadow" from it, which was an escape art of extreme speed.

Not only could it increase the might of the sword art, but it could also be used to flee for his life.

Even though he was only at the 7th layer of Qi Condensation, against a Half-step Foundation Establishment, he could defeat them even without using other trump cards.

Even if he ran into an Early Foundation Establishment, he was confident he could escape from the other party's hands.

After this series of operations, the energy in the small tripod was consumed until only about a quarter remained.

However, even if only a quarter remained, it was roughly equivalent to... twenty "Ye Qingcen charging units"!

Xiao Yuan nodded in satisfaction, "It'll be enough for a while."

Feeling the surging spiritual power of the 7th layer of Qi Condensation within his body, as well as the various Spells and sword arts at the Minor Achievement Realm, his confidence returned by quite a bit.

Right at this moment, the Restriction on the stone door of the Cultivation Room flickered slightly, sending a prompt—the nineteen days of cultivation time were about to end.

Xiao Yuan stood up, stretched his somewhat stiff body from sitting for a long time, and packed up the remaining Medicinal Pills and items.

"It's time to exit seclusion."

His gaze looked outside the stone door, his eyes carrying anticipation and also a trace of solemnity.

After nineteen days in seclusion, his cultivation had skyrocketed, and he had even more trump cards.

But in the outside world, had the storm over Zhao Mingfang's death subsided?

Were Chen Yin and Zhao Tianlei still biting at each other?

Would that Senior Brother Lu go looking for trouble with Luo Ziyan?

And there was also the Sect assessment!

Xiao Yuan took a deep breath, removed the Restriction, and pushed open the heavy stone door.

Exiting the Cultivation Room, Xiao Yuan did not return to his dilapidated Scrap Yard shack.

Return?

Why would he return?

In his eyes, that place was no different from a living target right now.

Moreover, the Sect assessment was today.

He had to go straight to the assessment grounds.

Yet as he walked on the road, that sense of unease—like needles pricking his back—stuck to him like maltose, impossible to shake off.

"Damn it, I was still targeted..."

Xiao Yuan cursed inwardly.

After reaching Minor Achievement, the Great Turtle Breathing Technique made his premonition of danger extremely sensitive, and he faintly felt that someone was watching him from the dark!

Fortunately, he had long disguised his cultivation to the Peak of the 3rd layer of Qi Condensation.

It happened to be stuck at the threshold required to participate in the assessment, unassuming and unsuspicious.

Even a Golden Core Cultivator wouldn't be able to see through the clues.

His brain spun rapidly, thinking about the source of this sense of crisis.

Zhao Mingfang was dead, and the blame was pinned on Chen Yin.

But was Zhao Mingfang's Early Foundation Establishment brother, Zhao Tianlei, a fool?

Were Chen Yin and his grandfather—who was at the Half-step False Core—easy to deal with?

Even if these two sides bit each other until their mouths were full of fur, once they calmed down afterwards, would they figure it out?

Would they feel that in this whole matter, he, the trash Xiao Yuan, was a bit too clean and too coincidental?

As for letting Zhao Tianlei kill Chen Yin, with Elder Chen Mo, a Half-step Golden Core being there, no matter how angry and unwilling Zhao Tianlei was, he couldn't kill Chen Yin.

This matter could at most give Chen Yin a massive headache, but wanting his life was simply impossible.

Staying in the Jade Maiden Palace now was like sleeping next to a pack of starving wolves.

Sect rules were just a layer of paper; they were somewhat useful for low-tier Disciples, but what about Foundation Establishment Elders, or people with Golden Core backers behind them?

If they really wanted to kill him, there were ten thousand ways to make him "accidentally disappear".

"How about... running away?"

This thought was very tempting.

Be a Loose Cultivator?

The sky is high and birds can fly freely?

Forget it!

With his little bit of cultivation, once he left the Sect's protection, the outside world was even more cutthroat.

Killing people and seizing treasures didn't even require finding a reason, and if he died, no one would even collect his corpse.

Moreover, if the other party really targeted him, once he left the Sect, he would definitely face their endless pursuit!

Even unbridled pursuit!

Then strive for a Sect external assignment?

Go garrison a remote marketplace or resource point?

That sounded a bit safer.

But which of these "lucrative postings" or "leisurely postings" wasn't already firmly in the pockets of those with connections?

With his identity as an "outstanding employee of the Scrap Yard", it wouldn't be his turn even if he lined up for eight hundred years.

At this moment, Xiao Yuan's head was spinning with a headache!

With wolves in front and tigers behind, no matter what, any way he turned could mean death!

However, it wasn't entirely without a way out; perhaps this time he could play along with their scheme and head straight to the mineral veins to mine.

Once he entered the mineral veins, even Elder Chen Mo, a Half-step Golden Core Elder, would never dream of dealing with him again!

Now, his cultivation was at the 7th layer of Qi Condensation, and his actual combat power was even close to Foundation Establishment.

In the perilous mineral veins, self-preservation was definitely not a problem.

...

At the outer Sect assessment grounds of the Jade Maiden Palace, it was a sea of people.

When Xiao Yuan arrived, the Outer Sect Disciple in charge of registration gave him a pitiful glance and handed him his number plate.

Clearly, the entire outer Sect probably already knew about Chen Yin dealing with him.

As a good-for-nothing with the Five Elements Spiritual Root, his ultimate end was likely just a dead end.

Xiao Yuan took the number plate and walked towards the assessment area.

His appearance was quickly spotted by the people in the high-platform viewing gallery, and three figures were coldly staring at him.

Xiao Yuan did not know that someone was staring at him, but the perception of the Great Turtle Breathing Technique made him feel even more like needles were pricking his back.

This him understand in his heart that the people paying attention to him this time were very strong!

Faking nonchalance, he walked onto the arena stage.

He displayed only the strength of the 3rd layer of Qi Condensation and was defeated by his peer on the opposite side in less than three moves.

The second match...

The third match...

The fourth match, the fifth match...

He lost almost every single match, acting utterly useless.

On the viewing platform, the owners of the three gazes revealed a flash of astonishment in their eyes, yet they also felt it was within reason.

These three people were none other than Chen Yin, Elder Chen Mo, and Zhao Tianlei.

Chen Yin simply felt that Xiao Yuan really was trash and had finally been plotted against by him; going to the mineral veins this time would definitely be a dead end.

As for the thoughts of Elder Chen Mo and Zhao Tianlei, they slowly let go of their suspicions towards Xiao Yuan, and new thoughts arose in their hearts.

They had previously reviewed the recent events and always felt that Xiao Yuan might be hiding a secret.

But thinking about it now, it must have been them overthinking.

Amidst this series of events, someone else was probably stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

This person's target might also be the jade talisman treasure, or even worse, the jade talisman treasure might be on that person.

By stirring up wind and clouds, they wanted to give everyone a wrong direction and hide themselves.

As for whether Xiao Yuan had the jade talisman treasure on him, they would just need to find an excuse to investigate and they would know!