After understanding the whole incident from Jinxiu (the staff), Chen Mei couldn't help but chuckle shyly. Since Jinxiu and Chen Mei's relationship was quite close, they all chatted quite happily and Jinxiu explained everything to her, without hiding anything. Jinxiu expressed her shock towards Chen Mei's attitude as she rarely treated others this nicely, especially a male disciple.
Shen Long decided to introduce himself as well as talking about how he and Chen Mei met. Of course, he skipped the bit where he passed out, and he didn't mention anything about his shirts being burnt as it was way too embarrassing. Just as Shen Long predicted, Jinxiu was shocked upon hearing his status as Master's personal disciple.
She suddenly spoke with formalities again, changing her friendly attitude to a respectful tone. After all, the status of a personal disciple was really high in the Palace. A personal disciple could basically order anyone around though, of course, Shen Long wasn't this kind of person. He enjoyed fame, but he definitely wouldn't use his authority to bully others.
The trio continued to chat, and Jinxiu started to understand more about Shen Long, as well as his relationship with Chen Mei. As a socially-intelligent person, she could tell that they were both interested in each other. Especially for Chen Mei, her usual cold attitude completely disappeared in front of Shen Long, so it was extremely obvious.
Instead of teasing the two, Jinxie just stayed silent as she avoided talking about their relationship. She knew Chen Mei too well, and she didn't want to make the atmosphere too awkward. After a while, they have disbanded as they continued with their own matters. Chen Mei and Jinxiu were meant to be working, so they quickly returned to their post; Shen Long headed to the training ground, to continue with his cultivation.
Following his usual procedure, he cultivated his Qi, then moved onto strength conditioning, finally his sword art. As usual, Daoist Fireblade arrived at four o'clock for their coaching session. Shen Long was consistently improving, in terms of his sword art. Unlike the first stance, Shen Long was clear on what he needed to do, so he was making swift progress.
It was just the matter of time, for him to master the Second Stance on its own. Once he found the perfect equilibrium point to achieve both "legato" and "staccato", he could move on to the fusion of the first two stances. After training in his sword art, he cultivated his Qi again, and he headed back to his residence.
Before going to bed, Shen Long decided to learn the "waking-up" technique. He visited the library, read through the manual, and mastered the technique within an hour. Well, it wasn't anything tricky, and it could be done by any cultivators. The concept behind the "Waking-up" technique was fairly simple.
Instead of being completely unconscious while asleep, a small strand of consciousness would remain while sleeping. For a cultivator, it was an extremely easy task. However, this was extremely useful, for other purposes too. While adventuring outside, it was vital that one remained alerted while sleeping. This small strand of consciousness would be able to detect danger or any sudden events. For Shen Long, it could replace a modern-day alarm, to wake him up.
Shen Long did the exact same things for the next few days. He would wake up at 5 AM, go for a run with Chen Mei, then train diligently until night time, and sleep. Shen Long was devoted to these few things, and he was extremely focused each day. Before, Shen Long would constantly daydream and waste his valuable time on random thoughts and ideas.
Shen Long was also much more motivated, and this change in attitude had also benefitted his cultivation speed. Shen Long had now mastered the second stance completely, and he was already working towards the fusion of the Melody Stance, and the Harmony Stance. Shen Long's mood was also much better, compared to before. It seemed like speaking with Chen Mei had benefitted Shen Long in many ways.
(Please... I need a girlfriend too... to motivate me and make me less lonely!! T.T SINGLE SQUAD +1)
Time passed quickly, and it wasn't long until Shen Long was stuck in another bottleneck for the fusion of the two sword stances. There were still 1.5 months left before Shen Long had to duel against Zuo Qifeng. Shen Long was quite close to breaking through to the Eighth Level of the Moonlight Script, soon reaching Mid Demigod Realm.
Shen Long's progress was actually extremely quick. Initially, Daoist Fireblade had questioned himself whether Shen Long would really be able to become a Celestial Immortal within two hundred years. However, he didn't have to worry at all now. Shen Long had only cultivated for two months, and he was already in the Demigod Realm.
Even for a cultivator who received the baptism from the universal essence, this kind of cultivation speed was too insane. At this rate, Shen Long should be able to reach to Celestial Immortal within a year. As long as he chose to walk down the path of a Normal Dao, Shen Long should be able to comprehend the Dao quite quickly, becoming the youngest cultivator to reach Celestial Immortal Realm.
Even if Shen Long decided to truly embark on the Heavenly Dao of Balance, Daoist Fireblade wouldn't complain at all. One hundred years should be more than enough, for Shen Long to grasp the Dao. For Shen Long, one hundred years might seem like a long time; for Daoist Fireblade who had lived over hundreds and hundreds of decades, a hundred years was nothing to him.
Even though comprehending the Dao was quite an arduous and difficult task, Daoist Fireblade was confident that Shen Long would definitely succeed, as long as he didn't encounter emotional problems. The only worry Daoist Fireblade had was that Shen Long might go insane after discovering that he couldn't return home.
It was normal for a cultivator to go insane, but Daoist Fireblade, of course, didn't want that to happen. The quicker Shen Long advanced through the realms, the less the chance of him asking to return. Also, it would also be a waste of talent if Shen Long's mind truly crumpled. However, there could also be a chance that Shen Long would work even harder, as that would serve as a motivation.
However, Daoist Fireblade couldn't dare to take the gamble. If Shen Long truly had gone crazy, it was over. No matter how much resources Daoist Fireblade was willing to spend, it would be futile. Just like Daoist Fireblade himself, no matter how much he tried to ascend to Emperor Realm, he was unable to do so. The inner demon of his, unabling to return home, had bugged him for years.
Seeing Shen Long's rapid progress and his determination to succeed, Daoist Fireblade was extremely delighted. This disciple of his would definitely be a famous figure in the future, and he definitely had the chance to ascend to God-Realm, something Daoist Fireblade would never achieve. Also, when he returned to Earth, he was sure that he could also breakthrough to Emperor Level.
Then, Daoist Fireblade and Shen Long could probably dictate the whole Huaqui Realm and even the entire Zanghu Universe. However, before that could happen, Daoist Fireblade needed to make sure that Shen Long would never ask to return home and to prevent him from going crazy.
As an old sly fox, Daoist Fireblade began to formulate a plan, to prevent Shen Long from mentioning about Earth.
"Hahahahha! I am too smart. There's no way Shen Long would find out the truth now!" Daoist Fireblade said as his laughter rang in the room.