Boom!
The large boulder blocking the entrance of Wei Ren's cave was crushed into sand. The entire Green Python Peak was shaking with tremors. By the time tremors faded, his entire cave was demolished.
The qi of the entire mountain was shaking. This was a sign of Devour Spell.
Wei Ren walked out of the rubble covered in dirt. His clothes were tattered. He looked like a homeless man who hadn't eaten in days. His brown hair now reached his shoulders. His face was covered with dust.
But there was a smile on his face. His eyes shined with a strange light. It was confidence. An unbridled fire burned in his eyes. He patted himself and shed some of the dirt. He turned to look at his destroyed cave.
"Haha." He shook his head and laughed loudly.
"I really went overboard this time." He shook his head and scratched his head.
He went into a three month long training session. Today he finally made a major breakthrough which resulted in him demolishing his cave.
First month was spent in preparation. He made more than three hundred White Root Pill Potions for his training. While concocting these Pills he unknowingly gathered so much Elemental Qi inside his body that it was enough to start making his twenty first meridian. His Qi control improved by leaps and bounds.
But no matter how much he tried, he was still unable to concoct a single pill. His concoctions always failed at the crucial step and the end result was a Pill Potion.
He was sure that this was caused by his strange cultivation technique. Normally three hundred attempts are more than enough to succeed at least once. But he failed every time. It was like he was missing an important skill required to concoct pills.
With those three hundred Pill Potions he charged all the way through the third stage of Earth Law until he was one meridian away from reaching the fourth stage. Thirtieth meridian was the greatest bottleneck he had ever faced. No matter how much he tried he couldn't even start the formation of the thirtieth meridian.
It was like the first meridian he made. His qi was not enough to start the formation.
Although he was unwilling to use the Devour Spell, he had to use it to cross this bottleneck. At the end of the second month of seclusion he used the Devour Spell and forced his way to the fourth stage. His cultivation base became equivalent to that of a second stage Qi Streams expert.
But this was still not enough. Wei Tian warned him that he wouldn't be allowed to take part in the Mission Assignment Competition unless his cultivation was at the Third Stage of Qi Streams.
He decided to wait for one more month before using the Devour Spell again. He used the remaining Pill Potions to gather more qi. Any other cultivator would be terrified by this monstrous use of Pill Potions. Wei Ren was popping them like candies. Cultivators feel lucky if they get to use two to three pills every month. But he used three hundred Pill Potions in two months.
He controlled the yin-yang marbles while continuing his normal cultivation. At his current cultivation base he was able to suck the air dry and absorb all Elemental Qi in a ten metre radius around him.
Today he used the Devour Spell and formed six more meridians. He was just four meridians away from mastering the fourth stage of Earth Law. Then he would have the cultivation base of a peak third stage Qi Streams expert.
But in the process he destroyed his cave. The pressure from the qi he absorbed shattered all the rocks surroundings his cave.
He wondered whether he should open up a new cave in the mountain. With his current power he could carve out a cave in the mountain with a simple flying sword. He was confident that he would do a better job than Mei Rong. She randomly made a weird shaped cave for him. Even the protective formations inside it were not the finest.
He was pondering over what to do when he heard light footsteps. A person was walking up the Green Python Peak. But who? This peak was open only for Grand Healer Lu Sheng and his disciples.
Did a disciple return from the war?
He looked at the person walking towards him. It was a young man in his twenties. He wore a green robe with white serpents on it. This was the opposite of the Sect uniform. Generally it is a white robe with green serpents if the person is an Alchemist and golden serpents if he is a Healer.
But this person had four White Serpents on his Green robe.
This meant that he was a Tier Four Alchemist at such a young age!
The green robed man walked slowly but he crossed several meters of distance in one stride. It was like the world was moving for him.
He was definitely very strong. A pressing aura was excluded from his body when he reached Wei Ren.
Wei Ren had the urge to bow to this majestic person. Even his breathing became slow. Despite such an overbearing presence, the man didn't seem to carry any hostility. He was fairly handsome. Wei Ren strangely felt that he had seen this young man before. But he couldn't figure out where.
"You have managed to anger even Ancestor Lou. You sure have the skill of bringing trouble." The young man said in a clear voice. Wei Ren heard his words directly inside his mind.
"Junior greets Elder Sect Brother." He bowed and said in a respectful voice. He knew he couldn't anger this fellow.
"Actually, I am the Sect Master. Since this is our first meeting there is no need to worry about titles." The young man smiled and said in his charming voice. He wasn't angered that Wei Ren had addressed him as a Fellow Disciple.
"Sect Master! He is Sect Master Lu Bing! But he is so young. I know that he is the younger brother of Grand Healer Lu Sheng but how can he be so young. Grand Healer Lu Sheng is an old man in his seventies. so this is why his face felt familiar. I have seen Grand Healer Lu Sheng once. their faces have some resemblance despite their age difference." Wei Ren felt like an anvil had been dropped on his head.
"My apologies, Sect Master. I didn't recognise you." He bowed even lower.
"It's okay. The person you should apologise is Ancestor Lou. You have been stealing Elemental Qi so openly that even he was disturbed." Lu Bing laughed with a shake of his hand.
"He knows that I am using Devour Spell? So why am I being confronted now? I overdid it by stealing too much Qi." He was shocked to see that this man knew about his brazen theft.
"People with low cultivation bases cannot find your exact location when you use that wretched spell of yours. But I can. I have known from the first time you used it. Ancestor Lou was also aware of your acts. I can't fathom as to how such a unique spell fell into your hands. But I warn you not to use it so freely. Even the medicinal plants growing on the mountain need Elemental Qi for growth. We can't allow you to use that spell again." He said with a face that was overbearing yet gentle.
"..." Wei Ren looked at him apologetically.
"I thought you would stop stealing Qi, but you forced me out of my cultivation." With every word his voice became more overbearing.
"Forgive me Sect Master. I didn't intend to disturb anyone." He knew that there was nothing he could do other than apologizing.
"Leave the sect." Lu Bing suddenly said.
"What? Just for cultivating?" He said with his jaw dropping low.
He would become the most comical person in the Sect for getting kicked out because of diligent training.
"I am not kicking you out. Don't worry. It is time for you to leave the sect. My Older brother sent me a message. He wants to see his disciple. Go to the border and greet your master. You can use your suction spell all you want on the way to the border." Lu Bing explained to him with a smile.
"But Elder Qian said disciples can't leave the sect before reaching the third stage of Qi Streams. Why am I being allowed to leave?" Wei Ren questioned.
Although he knew the reason he was getting kicked out for damaging the Elemental Qi of the mountain. He still wanted an answer.
"I also got a message from your father. I have been in contact with him since you joined the Sect. The Mission Assignment Competition for the succession of the throne is going to be held there in a month. He asked me to let you leave early so that you can get a better footing there. Your peers have long since surpassed you. This is the only advantage you can get. There is no need to worry about Elders Qian's orders." Lu Bing knew Wei Ren's true identity. So breaking a simple rule for a single disciple is not out of the ordinary.
"So father made this decision." Wei Ren thought in his heart. Bei Piao came to see him only once during his training. After that he told him not to come for some time. From Bei Piao's last report he learnt that the war was becoming more and more tense. Battles became more frequent. Naturally he was burning with desire to join the fray.
This news from Lu Bing came as a pleasant surprise.
"Here, take your monthly allowance. You haven't received any allowance since you joined. You can take some extra Qi Stones for your journey too. Gather your things and leave immediately." Lu Bing handed him fifty Low Grade Qi Stones and a few basic ingredients for his use.
The whole scene looked so comical. Wei Ren didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing that Lu Bing was so hasty with his actions, he knew that there was no way he would be allowed to stay in the sect for even a day.
He grabbed his things from the rubble of his immortal cave and left the Green Python Peak in his tattered clothes.
Lu Bing was left standing alone. He stared at the destroyed cave and sighed.
"What does Ancestor think about him?" He said suddenly to himself.
As he finished with his sentence an old man appeared out of thin air beside him. If Wei Ren had seen this old man he would have recognized him. This was the old man who was always sleeping at the entrance of the Serpent Valley Tower. This old man was shockingly the Ancestor of the Serpent Valley Sect.
Today he was not wearing his usual loose clothes. He wore a White robe with five Green Serpents on it.
"He is a walking disaster. He destroyed the Elemental Qi vein of the entire mountain. It will take at least three years to fully heal the Qi of this mountain." Ancestor Lou sighed and stared at Lu Bing.