"Ding, a Deity-Grade Mid-Level Spiritual Art 'Five Elements Divine Thunder Art' has been discovered. Do you wish to record it?"
"Yes!"
"Ding, 'Five Elements Divine Thunder Art' has been recorded."
Liu Bai sat cross legged on the bluestone beneath a great tree, gazing at the attribute panel before him.
A Deity-Grade Mid-Level Spiritual Art required two thousand experience points just to reach entry level. However, with Liu Bai still having over ten thousand experience points at hand, this was by no means an unbearable cost. Without hesitation, he first chose to cultivate the Five Elements Divine Thunder Art to entry level.
Rumble!
The instant the experience was consumed, a heaven shaking thunderclap roared beside his ears. In the next moment, it felt as if he stood proudly in the void, surrounded by layers of dense thunderclouds drifting about.
Boom!
A dazzling golden lightning bolt cleaved down from the heavens, the searing brightness nearly blinding his vision. Liu Bai could even smell the pungent scorched scent that lingered in the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Following the first golden lightning bolt, four more thunderbolts descended one after another, causing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to instantly boil and surge.
Just as Liu Bai prepared to delve deeper into the thunderclouds, the world abruptly shifted. He discovered that he had returned to the ground once again, his body still seated cross legged upon the bluestone, completely motionless.
Hu…
Letting out a long breath, Liu Bai's mind still carried the lingering image of the black clouds pressing down upon him.
Looking again at the panel, he saw that condensing the Five Thunders to Mastery required a staggering ten thousand experience points.
But for now this was sufficient. Liu Bai stretched out his right hand, where five tiny bolts of lightning of different colors flickered at his fingertips. Although he had only just reached entry level, he was confident that this Five Elements Divine Thunder would be his most formidable offensive method at present.
Afterward, Liu Bai devoted himself entirely to cultivation and recovering his injuries.
Time flowed swiftly. Ten days quietly passed.
During these ten days, the injuries upon Liu Bai's body had long since healed. The reason he had remained so long was because he had been focusing on advancing his Flowing Gold Spirit Art, and had only now raised it to the seventh layer.
"Hu, the Metal Element Spiritual Energy has also reached the initial-Phase of the Heaven Fusion Realm. Not bad."
This tangible sensation of growing stronger only deepened Liu Bai's obsession.
Of course, compared to steady cultivation, he still preferred the explosive surge of power that came with adding points. Truly, it was a man's nature: I want it all.
Rising to his feet, he glanced at Su Xuan in the distance, who remained immersed in her own cultivation.
From her aura, it seemed she was not far from the peak of Heaven Fusion Realm mid-Phase. Perhaps before exhausting her spiritual value, she might truly break through to the late-Phase.
Liu Bai did not disturb her cultivation. Instead, he left the Sixth Rank Spirit Gathering Formation, intending to first return and take a look, then head to the Mission Hall to pick up a few tasks for experience.
However, upon returning to the freshmen area, he immediately noticed something different.
The new students who originally cultivated in the plaza were now all dressed in unified azure robes, each wearing a willow leaf shaped insignia on their chest. Every ten people formed a small team, guided by a student whose strength had reached the late-Phase of the Divine Soul Realm.
"What is… going on here?"
While Liu Bai was still baffled, the many students below also noticed him floating in the sky.
At once, cries of joy rang across the plaza.
"The President has returned!"
"Greetings to the President!"
"Greetings to the President!"
"…."
The sudden, uniform shouts left Liu Bai utterly dumbfounded. Staring blankly at the densely packed crowd of nearly a thousand students, he had no idea what to say.
Just as the awkwardness grew, three figures shot over from the distance, arriving at Liu Bai's side in the blink of an eye.
"Hahaha, Boss, you're finally back." The one leading laughed heartily. Who else could it be but Guo Xiong?
"How is it? These are all members of our Willow God Society. Aside from them, I have also dispatched several elite squads on missions to earn spiritual value. These here are the weaker ones, so I arranged for someone to guide their cultivation."
"The Willow God Society…"
Liu Bai felt utterly speechless.
Although he had once agreed to let Guo Xiong establish a force in his name, he had never expected him to truly succeed, let alone on such a grand and organized scale.
Only the name… Willow God Society. Just hearing it made him feel unbearably awkward.
Clearly, this name must have been decided solely by Guo Xiong, for Liu Bai noticed the fleeting unnatural expressions of Li Qing and An Ran behind him, clearly showing that they too were not very fond of the name.
But in the end, it did not matter. Since Liu Bai had no intention of personally managing these affairs, he would simply let Guo Xiong do as he pleased.
"Establishing a force is fine, but do not neglect your own cultivation. I do not wish for a day to come when we are preparing for a mission, only for you to be left behind due to insufficient strength."
The reason Liu Bai did not choose the lone wolf path was because he wanted a few trusted companions at his side. When roaming the Northern Heaven Continent in the future, he would not be alone.
After all, this was the Great Thousand World, not a low tier world. Unless one reached the level of an Heavenly Sovereign Realm, there would always be matters that a single person could not face.
Even Heavenly Sovereign Realm had perished. Thus, one should never imagine simply charging ahead recklessly, for before you could break through, there might already be someone stronger who would strike you down.
"Rest assured, I know this well. I have set strict requirements for members of the Willow God Society. If they cannot meet the standard, they are directly expelled." Guo Xiong thumped his chest with confidence.
"Enough. No need for more words. Liu Bai, three days ago a student from the Artifact Refining Institute came seeking you. He said Elder Chi Huo has a matter and wishes to see you. I told them you were in seclusion, so he left a message that you must go as soon as you exit." Li Qing interrupted Guo Xiong, her face serious as she spoke.
"Elder Chi Huo is looking for me?" Liu Bai frowned, puzzled as to why that elder would seek him out.
However, recalling the great favor he owed the elder, this was naturally not something he could ignore.
"Very well, I understand. I will go now. The few of you are already in the Heaven Fusion Realm. You should work together and take on missions with greater rewards. After earning Spiritual value, go cultivate within the Rank Six Spirit Gathering Formation." Liu Bai offered his final advice.
For cultivators in the initial-Phase of the Heaven Fusion Realm, cultivating within a Rank Six Spirit Gathering Formation was the most efficient and fastest. If they entered higher ranked formations, not only would the cost be exorbitant, but their absorption speed would not keep up, resulting in wasted spiritual energy.
Finishing his words, Liu Bai immediately turned around, not even bothering to return to his residence, and swiftly headed toward the Artifact Refining institute.
After about ten minutes, he once again arrived at that wondrous place. Though Elder Chi Huo was not there to lead him this time, Liu Bai's name had already spread far and wide within the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy. Recognizing both him and his connection to Elder Chi Huo, none of the students present dared to obstruct him.
Smoothly, he arrived outside Elder Chi Huo's refining chamber. Just as he stopped, a voice rang out from within.
"Why are you standing there? Come in at once!" Elder Chi Huo's voice resounded.
Liu Bai did not hesitate further and pushed open the door.
The instant he entered, a wave of scorching heat surged toward him.
At that moment, Elder Chi Huo stood before a crimson refining cauldron, eyes shut, manipulating the materials within using his spiritual perception.
Seeing this, Liu Bai did not speak. Instead, he focused his full attention on observing every motion of Elder Chi Huo.
To witness with his own eyes a grandmaster artificer who might even be a Divine Artifact Master personally refining was a rare opportunity Liu Bai would not allow himself to miss.
It seemed Elder Chi Huo was also deliberately instructing him, for each step was executed slowly, accompanied by explanations about the properties of the materials, how they should be handled, and the common mistakes to avoid.
Just like that, three hours soon passed.
When Elder Chi Huo finally finished smelting the material, he extinguished the flames and retrieved a chunk of dark golden metal from the cauldron.
"This Blackgold Iron Essence is a fusion of Profound Essence Iron and Violet Black Gold. It is a superb material for forging the High Grade Spiritual Artifact known as the Blackgold Sword. However, achieving a successful fusion of the two is by no means easy. It requires precise control over both materials and also demands extensive experience. This is one of the main difficulties in fusing materials."
Liu Bai continuously nodded as he listened, committing every detail he had just observed firmly to memory. At his current level, he was still incapable of smelting such composite metal materials, for this was a technique far beyond the scope of basic artifact refinement.
"Alright, that is enough instruction for today. Now let us speak of the true reason I summoned you here…" Elder Chi Huo looked at Liu Bai's earnest expression. Unlike their first meeting, there was no trace of arrogance in his demeanor. Satisfied, he nodded and continued.
"This time I have a task that I wish to entrust to you…"
"A task?" Liu Bai was slightly puzzled.
Could it be that he wanted him to gather some refining material? But such tasks could simply be issued through the Mission Hall. Surely many would fight for the chance to take them.
Not to mention, with Elder Chi Huo's status, he had no shortage of spiritual value to offer as reward.
Without explaining further, Elder Chi Huo began to detail the mission directly.
"This mission is an investigation task, provisionally ranked as Earth Grade High Level."
Liu Bai's eyes immediately brightened. He had not expected it to be an Earth Grade High Level mission. With his current identity as a new student, such missions were completely out of reach in the Mission Hall.
This was unrelated to his actual combat strength. Unless Liu Bai challenged the Heavenly Ranking and successfully entered the top one hundred, he would still be shackled by the restrictions placed upon new students.
Of course, it was not that Liu Bai lacked the ability to break into the Heavenly Ranking. Judging purely by combat power, he could even contend for the top twenty. He had simply not found the time to make the attempt.
After all, the Heavenly Ranking could not be challenged at will. At the very least, one had to locate a target to challenge. Many of those Heavenly Ranking experts spent years in seclusion within high grade Spirit Gathering Formations. Without accurate information, even catching a glimpse of them was nearly impossible.
An Earth Grade High Level investigation mission would undoubtedly require traveling to the Northern Heaven Continent.
Before long, Elder Chi Huo produced a jade slip. Liu Bai carefully read through it. Within was the record of a refining family located upon the Northern Heaven Continent. The family's ancestor had once been an outstanding High Grade Spiritual Artificer, possessing cultivation at the peak of Heaven Transformation Realm, and had even been a student of the Artifact Refining Institute within the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy.
Although that had been more than a century ago, the family had maintained close ties with the Academy ever since.
Yet only half a month ago, the city ruled by this family had suddenly come under attack. In a single night, the ruling family was annihilated.
Though the commotion was not too great in the local area, for such incidents were not uncommon across the Northern Heaven Continent, within the Artifact Refining Institute it had stirred considerable uproar.
This was because the family had always maintained a close relationship with the Institute. Many of the Institute's materials had been supplied by them.
Furthermore, the family's outstanding descendants were routinely sent to the Artifact Refining Institute to study. For them to suddenly be exterminated, leaving only a single direct daughter who was currently still studying at the Institute, was nothing less than a humiliating slap to the face of the Artifact Refining Institute.
However, without concrete information, Elder Chi Huo and the other Academy experts could not act openly.
Their reputations were too great upon the Northern Heaven Continent. If they appeared in person, the enemy would surely be alerted and driven into hiding.
"Although this mission is merely an investigation, it still carries no small amount of danger. Without at least quasi Heaven Transformation Realm strength, one could easily encounter mishap.
But at present, those in the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking are unable to free themselves. The timing of the mission is extremely urgent. I have received word that three days from now there will be an auction held in Qingyun City, and among the items to be auctioned are goods that originated from this Xie Clan. Thus I thought of you…"
Elder Chi Huo swiftly explained everything to Liu Bai, then finally said, "For this mission, I am prepared to offer one million spiritual value as the reward. Will you accept?"
One million spiritual value was already comparable to the rewards for some Heaven Grade Low Level missions.
The crucial difference was that most Heaven Grade missions required a team to complete, yet this mission would be for Liu Bai alone. That made it far too enticing.
Without the slightest hesitation, Liu Bai nodded in agreement.
Of course, it was not only because of the one million spiritual value reward. Liu Bai had immense confidence in his own strength.
This was merely intelligence gathering. Even if he encountered enemies, as long as they were not at the Three Disaster Realm, he was confident in handling them.
Moreover, he had long wanted to see the Northern Heaven Continent for himself, to witness how much stronger it was compared to the Northern Spiritual Realm. If he could slay humanoid monstrosities along the way, would that not also give him the chance to enhance his Spiritual Pulse?
With such thoughts in mind, Liu Bai did not hesitate any further. Together with Elder Chi Huo, he went to the Mission Hall to complete the necessary procedures, and then departed immediately.
Naturally, to guard against unforeseen danger, Liu Bai also made a trip to the Spiritual Value Hall, where he exchanged for several lifesaving pills, to be used should the need arise.