Kong Xiang was spot on with his observation about Ding Xiaolong for she was no ordinary person. It turned out that she was the daughter of the owner of the Gold Bars Store. Sometimes, she went impromptu in the various branches of the store to observe the internal affairs of trading, in a bit to improve her business analytical skills.
Born to a business minded family, she had hopes of running or even inheriting a similar establishment some day, and real experience in the field of trading was needed to better understand the business theories she had so much knowledge off.
When she saw Kong Xiang's triad elemental attributes, her first impulse was to rope him into her family business. Thus came the temptation of the cultivation Arts which Kong Xiang strangely didn't show any enthusiasm for. When he did express an interest in Hou Da's sketch though, she snorted inwardly. Hou Da wasn't just a theorist, he also had a strong cultivation base and was a pioneer of his generation, so his notes were of collectible value, but his notes didn't contain much information, just sketches and theories that were impossible to apply using the human meridian system.
Yet, what was she seeing? This triad elemental attribute boy took one look at the note and fell into a state of enlightenment. Origin energy rushed into every orifice of his body, and his aura began to rise exponentially.
In a few breaths, he broke through the 1st stage of the Origin Pool realm, which required one to condense ten strands of origin energy. Then, the 2nd stage, which required an additional ten strands, then the 3rd, with ten more strands and so on. Not more than half an hour had passed, and Kong Xiang had reached the 9th stage of the Origin Pool realm.
Ding Xiaolong had a cultivation base at the Half step Cyclic Core realm, so she was more sensitive than the other surprised looking cultivators in the store. She noticed that the strands Kong Xiang condensed already had Intent.
After Origin Pool realm, one was supposed to comprehend an Intent that would help one condense the Origin Pool in preparation of Core formation. This process was a difficult one and was a barrier that separated the geniuses from normal cultivators. Even geniuses usually had to spend years to comprehend Intent strong enough to condense a core. Yet, Kong Xiang's origin energy was perfectly integrated with an Intent of its own.
What did that mean?
It meant that if Kong Xiang wished, he could form a core at any time. More so, his origin energy already had a perfect integration with his Intent, so he didn't have to use the high-risk method of using his Intent to compress his Origin energy. Instead, his core would form naturally, with no problem of a backlash or cultivation deviation.
The unaware boy was still lost in enlightenment. Ding Xiaolong was still wide eyes, staring at this 'monster'. Li Luo was smiling happily, joyous at Kong Xiang's good fortune. Some of the cultivators at the store, however, had cold glints in their eyes. Ding Xiaolong could see that they were curious about the scroll in Kong Xiang's hands. Most of them kept their curiosity in check, but the greed in some of them eyes became more intense after a while. One them placed his hand on his scabbard and walked towards them. He chuckled menacingly and made to grab for Kong Xiang. Li Luo was about to punch out, but Kong Xiang was faster. Her eyes turned cold and she uttered two words.
"GET OUT."
Li Luo looked shocked at the terrifying aura exuded by Ding Xiaolong. Her mind instantly concluded that this woman was an expert and became slightly worried she might have evil intentions towards them.
Ding Xiaolong's words, enforced by her cultivation caused some of the cultivator's eyes to widen. After all, their cultivation bases were not high to begin with. The scabbard bearing man spat out a mouthful of blood at the shout and bowed quickly, hurriedly dashing out of the store afterwards as if his heels were on fire. Nobody else bothered them afterwards.
Kong Xiang gradually came out of his enlightenment and noticed the changes in his body.
"What?"