Jiang Mang had paid full attention to her explanation and was shocked by her knowledge and proposition as he didn't anticipate a chance to participate in recruitment to be thrown in his lap. The only catch would be reaching the saint realm at the age of 16. If this was asked of him before receiving his bloodline, he would have to pass this opportunity but his talent and cultivation speed has been increasing every single day, which makes this catch possible.
He agreed to her proposition on the account that he would be provided with the necessary breakthrough medicine when required. Chu Lingxin was able to agree to his request on the condition that he would cultivate together with her at the Chu empire's palace to which he agreed as he had learned all he could from the academy as a common student.
After their conversation, Jiang Mang returned to his residence and invited his two female friends over to inform them about his decision. When he did, Song Meiling was upset but understood that he was meant for a higher stage while Xia Ruoyin was angry and vowed that she would follow him to the nine large continents before immediately departing.
The next day, he wrote a letter back to his royal father and mother to inform them of his decision and guarantee them of his capabilities. He then gathered his best friend Xiao Lu and his two guards before heading towards the place he agreed upon with Chu Lingxin to depart towards Chu capital.
This would be the first step of his journey that would challenge and put himself against other geniuses of his age because there was no real challenge present in the Imperial academy which allowed him to break through his limits.
Jiang Mang arrived on time before the carriage and waited for the little princess. She arrived a couple of minutes later and arranged for the two to be seated in the same carriage as they had still much to discuss.
When they had seated themselves, Chu Lingxin explained what type of training he could receive at the royal palace and what privileges he would be entitled to at his arrival for the next five years. He could receive guidance from all royal tutors, he had access to the royal library to learn about the world and its history while also gaining a deeper understanding of its structure, at last, he could learn any technique that wasn't unique to the royal family of Chu and use any required medicine for his cultivation. In exchange, he had to reach the saint realm in five years and help Chu Lingxin enter one of the top 9 sects during the recruitment if he is allowed to.
This was a bargain for Jiang Mang and an extraordinary opportunity but the Chu empire didn't necessarily lose out as they would gain a connection with a possible disciple of one of the 9 powers or at least a future powerhouse of the Xuan continent.
Jiang Mang suggested to Chu Lingxin that they should train together to be able to form a team. She agreed and explained her training routine for the coming five years. She will train continuously during those five years by meditating at night to replace sleep and refining her combat techniques and abilities during the day. She will focus on dual sword techniques as her profound spirits are called the Yin Yang swords and allow her to simultaneously wield extreme yang and extreme yin qi through swords.
This correspondent with Jian Mang's opposing life and death qi which is also aligned with the opposing yin and yang forces where yin is death and yang is life. This means that if the duo can cooperate as one then their combat ability should multiply instead of simply adding to each other.
They planned to train every day together by fighting against and with each other for the coming five years until they work seamlessly as one. Jiang Mang also planned to enter the jiangu when he breaks through to the manifestation stage to gain experience. This plan was approved and copied by the little princess who would do the same from this year on.
These short adventures would allow the two to mature and experience the cultivation world for themselves to prepare them for leaving their home and heading towards the unknown. They planned and discussed their plans during the whole trip, which lasted for a week until they arrived at the royal palace.
Jiang Mang was allocated a residence close to the training grounds and also received an invitation from the emperor. Jiang Mang immediately went for an audience where the emperor kindly received the boy to hear out his opinion and plans. The emperor was pleased by the plans, he and Chu Lingxin had prepared for training, and he showed his full support by investing all the required resources for their training.
These resources were pills made from alchemists who came from the nine large continents and sped up the duo's cultivation rate to allow them to break through the saint realm in five years. Jiang Mang was informed that these pills were extremely rare on the Xuan continent but seen as common commodities on the large continents as their heritage and qi density is way higher than theirs. He also came to know that the Xuan continent was ranked dead last among all the continents as it had only one power with a king realm cultivation base, which was the Chu empire. This was because the Xuan continent had not seen a single talented individual in the last thousand years through to the low density of qi and scarcity of herbs and medicines while having lost the art of alchemy to create pills. The Chu empire was only capable of procuring these pills by paying ten times their worth to one of the neighboring continents who was way stronger than the Xuan continent.
This piece of information opened Jiang Mang's eyes to his continent's dire situation and reinforced his goal of helping gain glory for it through successfully passing the recruitment together with Chu Lingxin. Jiang Mang officially started his five-year training that day, which would mark the start of his journey.