Escaping from the mountain range without looking back towards the hole he had seen the giant worm like creature disappear into, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he remembered the terrifying aura he had felt just a few seconds ago when the creature had surfaced for a few seconds before disappearing back into the ground below.
Well, it's only a given that areas still under investigation would be dangerous…
Thinking this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help coming to a stop just outside the mountain range with the terrifying worm-like creature hidden beneath it.
Even if he did not end up having to fight the terrifying creature he had just seen, it allowed him to understand just how dangerous areas still under investigation could be and for the foreseeable future, he decided not to go through any of those places on his way back to the Star Shattering Sec.
"I should inform Yi Min about this when I pass through the Iron Sky Kingdom on my way back…" Muttering this to himself as he thought about all the information Yi Min had given him about the different dangerous areas that he should avoid on his way to the capital city of the Sky Empire, Xuan Hao felt that the least he could do was give her the information about the danger lurking below the mountain range he had just passed through.
Although this information would not be that useful to her, she would at least be able to give it to the Explorer Union in exchange for a few treasures. After all, from what he had learnt about the Explorer Union so far, they would be more than happy to exchange a few treasures for information on an area that they had yet to explore themselves.
Not to mention, the appearance of such a powerful creature lurking beneath a mountain range in the Sky Empire might even attract the attention of the more powerful members of the Explorer Union. Maybe even resulting in some of the Explorer Unions Soul Ascension Realm Experts showing up to explore the area beneath the mountain range where the giant worm-like creature resided!
But… With even more Soul Ascension Realm Experts showing up in the Sky Empire, it was certainly going to cause the already unstable situation of the Sky Empire to become even more unstable.
Thinking about this, Xuan Hao could not help smiling. The more chaotic and unstable the Sky Empire was, the better it would be for the Star Shattering Sect. After all, with everyone in the Sky Empire preoccupied, there would be no time left for them to pay attention to the Star Shattering Sect located at the border!
"Well… It's not certain that the Explorer Union will really end up sending over a group of Soul Ascension Realm Experts after learning about the giant worm-like creature, but even if they don't, the appearance of such a powerful creature is still sure to cause some chaos among the Soul Ascension Realm Experts from the Sky Empire…" Shaking his head as he muttered this to himself, Xuan Hao did not bother staying around the mountain range any longer. Continuing his journey back towards the Star Shattering Sect.
…
"Myriad Water Art?" Having walked through the library searching for a cultivation technique that would be the most suitable one for her, Mui had ended up stopping her search after landing on a water based cultivation mantra called Myriad Water Art.
Although the cultivation technique might not be the most suitable one for her inside the seemingly endless library that spread out in all directions around her, she had already spent close to one day searching for a suitable cultivation technique.
Even if she did not know a lot about cultivation outside of the names of some of the cultivation realms, she had still heard how long it took to cultivate and knew that the most difficult part of the First Trial was going to be for her to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm and take her first step on the path of cultivation.
Normally, doing this would be a rather simple endeavor and could be accomplished within a short period of time with the help of another cultivator… But for Mui who had no teacher and had no information on how to cultivate outside of the cultivation mantra she had chosen to try and reach the Qi Condensation Realm with, breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm would be a difficult thing. Especially considering that she only had six days left to do it!
"I shouldn't be wasting any time! For now, I should first try to get a better understanding of the Myriad Water Arts and on how to reach the Qi Condensation Realm." Focusing her attention on the Myriad Water Arts in her hands, Mui did not waste a single second before flipping open the cultivation technique and starting to thoroughly read through it in far more detail compared to the first time where she had just flipped through it to see if it was a suitable cultivation technique for her.
"This… So, I have to gather this thing called qi that is supposed to be everywhere into something called a dantian inside my body. After which I must form it into a small cyclone to officially be considered to have entered the Qi Condensation Realm…?" Reading through the Myriad Water Arts, Mui could not help feeling her head hurt, as she got introduced to brand new concepts she had never heard about before.
The fact that a dantian was located inside her body was not new information to her, but the fact that there was qi everywhere in the air around her and she had to gather this mystical energy into a cyclone inside her body was a completely new concept. Although she had learnt a bit about cultivation before this, the information she had learnt about was based around how powerful cultivators were and how scary they were. None of it had been focused on cultivation itself.
Shaking her head as she thought about how she had only been fearful of cultivators in the past and never thought about how they had gotten so strong in the first place, Mui focused back on the Myriad Water Arts. Now curious if she could also become as strong as the cultivators, she had always heard stories about her entire life while wandering the streets of the city she had spent her entire life inside of.
As a few hours flew past like this, with Mui deeply absorbed in trying her best to understand the Myriad Water Arts, she slowly placed the Myriad Water Arts on the ground in front of her before deciding to try and gather the qi around her-
Whoosh~!
Following the steps put down in the Myriad Water Arts, Mui slowly felt the qi around her rushing towards her body before rushing through her meridians towards her dantian.
"So, this is what qi feels like…" Muttering this to herself as a smile bloomed on her face after feeling the comfortable feeling of qi flowing through her body for the first time in her life, Mui soon felt her dantian for the first time in her life, as the qi rushing into her body finally managed to reach it.
Given that she had not yet reached the Qi Condensation Realm, her dantian was completely empty, without any sign of life.
Whoosh~
The moment the qi from outside rushed inside her empty dantian that had never seen this unknown energy before, it sprung forth with life-
Rumble!
Not even waiting for Mui to form a cyclone, her dantian started forming one by itself the moment it encountered qi for the first time.
"Hm? This is far easier than I expected. Maybe reaching the Qi Condensation Realm is not as hard as I thought…?" Not having any idea about the fact that her dantian was actually helping her form the qi cyclone that was the foundation of a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, Mui just thought this was normal and started to use the Myriad Water Arts to shape the qi cyclone that was slowly forming inside her dantian.
During the entire process, Mui did not feel any burden or struggle that other people would have to go through when first trying to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm and form a qi cyclone inside her dantian.
Everything went smoothly without any problems and before long, the qi cyclone finished forming inside her dantian-
Boom!
Signifying that Mui had managed to step into the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm and become an official cultivator. Even if her strength was not that much different from a normal mortal at the moment, her aura had completely changed.
No longer was she a normal mortal. Instead, she was now a cultivator!
A real cultivator that had reached the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!