Dual Cultivation

Fang Xianjue held the Heaven Transcendence Pill with trembling hands, her expression almost as though she was looking at her newborn.

After clearing her mind and calming her excitement, Fang Xianjue sat in the middle of the room in the lotus position, before she slowly tossed the pill in her mouth.

Once the Heaven Transcendence Pill touched her tongue, it melted as though it became water, before sliding down her throat.

A refreshing and cool sensation filled Fang Xianjue's stomach, and the Profound Qi in her Dantian immediately began to transfer.

A few minutes later, a ripple that carried the essence of the Heavenly Spirit Realm swept the room, shocking everybody there.

"Heavens! The Heaven Transcendence Pill is real!"

"This pill… just like the Earth Advancement Pill, it's going to shake the cultivation world but even more intensively!"

"With the Earth Advancement Pill and the Heaven Transcendence Pill, reaching the Heavenly Spirit Realm will no longer be just a dream! The Cultivation World is going to usher into a new era!"

After reaching the Heavenly Spirit Real, Wang Xianjue silently stared at her hands, seemingly in a daze.

To think that she'd be able to reach the Heavenly Spirit Realm when she'd already lost all hope. It was truly a miracle.

Once she'd calmed down, Fang Xianjue kowtowed to Su Yang and spoke in a respectful tone, "I cannot thank you enough, Senior. It's not an exaggeration to say that you've saved my life. If I didn't breakthrough into the Heavenly Spirit Realm, I would've died after a few more decades. But now that I have ascended into a new realm, I can live for another three hundred years."

Su Yang remained nonchalant and spoke, "I hope you didn't forget after breaking through, but I did not give you the Heaven Transcendence Pill for free. Those 30 million spirit stones, you have one month pay the debt, or I will personally come knocking at your door."

"I wouldn't dare forget. Even if I have to slave away my body or sell my limbs, I will repay this debt."

Su Yang nodded, "Once you have the spirit stones, you can give them to my disciple, Wang Shuren. You can find her at the Burning Lotus Sect."

When Fang Xianjue returned to her seat sometime later, Su Yang spoke, "Now that all of you have witnessed for yourselves the effect of the Heaven Transcendence Pill, do you have any questions for me?"

A few individuals immediately raised their hands.

"If you don't mind me asking… where on earth did you discover such a divine pill? Or does this pill already exist in the Holy Central Continent?"

Su Yang shook his head and said, "As of this moment, the Heaven Transcendence Pill only exists in the Eastern Continent. Even the Holy Central Continent does not know of its existence. As for where I obtained the recipe for this pill… let's just say that I have been to places that you cannot even comprehend."

Sometime later, Lord Xie asked him, "If there are pills that can help one reach the Earth Spirit Realm and the Heavenly Spirit Realm, do you think there exists a pill that has the effect to help one reach the Sovereign Spirit Realm?"

"..."

The entire room waited for Su Yang's response anxiously.

And after a long moment of silence, Su Yang finally spoke, "Perhaps."

Of course, such a pill exists. However, that kind of pill is only available in the Four Divine Heavens. The ingredients required to concoct that pill exceed tens of thousands of years old, something that couldn't possibly exist in a world that's less than ten thousand years old.

After spending many minutes answering questions, Su Yang moved onto the next topic.

"Now that I have answered all of your questions, allow me to talk about the main subject."

He swept the crowd with a sharp gaze, and he spoke, "I am going to accept three disciples from this Continent, and I am going to teach them how to concoct the Earth Advancement Pill and all of the pills I have shared today."

"What?!"

The people there expressed shock upon hearing his words.

"I don't care how old you are, nor do I care about your gender. I will be hosting an exam weeks from now, and if you pass my exam, I shall accept you as my disciple."

"Do you have any questions?"

Almost everybody in the Assembly Hall raised their hands.

"Senior! Who will be allowed to take your exam?!"

"Anyone." Su Yang quickly responded. "I will give everyone here a chance to take the exam, and if you know someone who has talent in Alchemy, you can also bring them to take the exam. However, since I do not want to spend too much time with this, I will limit every Family and Sect here to two participants."

The place immediately became filled with noise.

"Who do you think we should send from our family?"

"But nobody in the family knows anything about Alchemy…"

"Didn't you hear Senior? We are not limited to people from our own family! As long as we bring two people, no matter where they are from, they can take the exam!"

"..."

"Disciple Yong should definitely have one of those two spots, as his knowledge with Alchemy is definitely the best among the disciples."

"Although I don't doubt that he's the best among the disciples, there are many Sect Elders that are better than him! Age is not limited in the exam, so we should bring the best within the Sect!"

"..."

"What do you think, my daughter? Would you like to partake in the exam with me? Even though you are the youngest, your talents in Alchemy are the best the Cai Family has ever seen!"

"I would be honored to have a chance to become Senior's disciple."

"Then it's decided."

"..."

"Master… would you become that Senior's disciple if you had the chance?"

"Even though I am regarded as the number one Alchemist in the Eastern Continent, I am no different than a baby in the Senior's eyes. And despite my age, I will gladly become a disciple again if my Master is someone like the Senior."

"What about you? I won't blame you if you want to leave me and become Senior's disciple instead. After all, I want what's best for you."

"I will follow Master wherever he goes."

"Very well… then let us both partake in the exam."

While everyone was in a commotion, Wang Shuren said to Su Yang in a joking voice, "Am I not enough to satisfy you, Master?"

Su Yang smiled behind his mask and spoke, "You are a very diligent and talented disciple, but I doubt you'll have any time to practice your own techniques once the news of these pills start spreading outside of this place. Therefore, I am going to find a few more disciples who'll help you out. Furthermore, even if I leave this world, there'll be a few people who can continue what I started here."

Sometime later, Su Yang said to the crowd, "Although it was short, that's all I have for you today. In two weeks, I will return to this place for the exam."

Very quickly, the people began to leave the Assembly Hall, as they were in a hurry to find two participants for the exam, especially those that know very little about Alchemy.

Sometime later, only Lord Xie remained in the Assembly Hall.

He approached Su Yang and bowed to him, "You have opened my eyes today, Senior. It appears that I am still a frog in a well despite my status in the Eastern Continent. However, I still have one question for the Senior. How should I address you?"

"...My surname is Xiao." Su Yang responded with a mysterious smile behind his mask.

"Allow me to thank you again, Senior Xiao, for assisting the Eastern Continent." Lord Xie bowed to him again.

And he continued, "If you have the time, I would like to invite you to dinner back at my house. Perhaps we could talk more about your plans at that time."

However, Su Yang shook his head and spoke in a calm voice, "I will apologize in advance as my words may offend you, but I would rather not show preferences for one family over the others, regardless of your stature in this place, as that would be unfair to the others. If you want to talk with me on a more personal level, then you will have to pass my exam and become my disciple."

"I see… I will also apologize for putting Senior Xiao on the spot. However, if you ever change your mind, the Xie Family will always have our doors open for you." Although Lord Xie felt disappointed by the results, he did not dare to complain, as he was afraid of offending this mysterious Senior, who did not hesitate to threaten the Fang Family in front of everyone — including the Xie Family, ruler of the Eastern Continent.