Chapter 672: Comparisons Are Odious
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Su Mo took just over 10 days to reach Celestialspirit Sect.
Towering Sky Peak was still silent and uninhabited as usual.
Su Mo went straight up to his practice room on the third floor.
He sat cross-legged in his room and released his Devouring Martial Soul.
As he carefully felt the change in his Devouring Martial Soul, his brows furrowed.
"Nothing's changed!" he said to himself.
His Devouring Martial Soul had reached Heaven Class, but the only thing that had changed was the strength of its devouring power, which had increased several times over!
"Did it not gain any additional abilities?"
Su Mo was slightly disappointed, but since there weren't any new abilities, he wasn't about to dwell on it. After all, he had already benefited a lot from the sharp increase of its devouring power!
He used his mind to summon a huge eyeball from within his Devouring Martial Soul. It was Xue Chan's Martial Soul, Ghostly Magic Sight.
As he was using his mind to communicate with the Ghostly Magic Sight, he suddenly felt a stream of strange power flow into his mind.
This power was connected to his willpower. With the help of this strange power, he could use his willpower to construct a virtual world — a dreamland.
"What an extraordinary Martial Soul!"
Su Mo was quite impressed. This Martial Soul could not only allow him to construct a dreamland but also improve his eyesight.
If he activated his Ghostly Magic Sight, his visual field expanded many times, allowing him to see everything clearly.
TThrough the window of his tower, he could see clearly the lines on the wings of a mosquito flying hundreds of kilometers away.
He could even see every movement of the air currents.
"Awesome!"
He marveled inwardly. He could not help but recall the scene where his sword Qi had been shattered by one fist attack from Xue Chan. Xue Chan must have spotted a weakness in his sword Qi to have been able to destroy it with such ease.
He exclaimed to himself that Ghostly Magic Sight was quite a powerful Martial Soul, though it was not as good as his Devouring Martial Soul.
It could not increase his combat power but it had powerful abilities, including the ability to construct dreamland and increase his eyesight.
A few minutes later, he retracted it with a satisfied smile.
He prepared to increase his cultivation.
He might have been on the road for a while, but he had not neglected to refine his Dark Force. It was stable enough to increase his cultivation to the next level.
He entered the Divine Map.
In the courtyard, Su Mo, Li Feng, and Hong Qingxuan stood in a circle.
He would certainly not neglect his friends when it came to increasing their cultivation.
Crash!
A large number of Spiritual Stones appeared. They piled up like a mountain. Some of them were even placed outside the courtyard.
They were all Medium Spiritual Stones. Su Mo had taken out 300 million.
"Explode!" he shouted.
The moment his Devouring Martial Soul was unleashed, extremely thick Spiritual Qi began to form.
Immediately the three began to absorb Spiritual Qi like crazy.
Thanks to his Devouring Martial Soul, Su Mo absorbed Spiritual Qi more than ten times faster than Hong Qingxuan. On the other hand, the amount of Spiritual Qi he required to break through was many times more.
Time trickled by. They were completely immersed in increasing their cultivation.
After 15 minutes, Li Feng broke through. His physical strength was now as strong as that of a Lv 6 True Darkness Realm martial artist.
Li Feng only cultivated physical strength, so he did not have to worry about things like an unstable foundation or lack of cultivation improvement.
Li Feng had been absorbing Spiritual Stones in Divine Map for a long time, so he was already not too far from breaking through.
After another hour, Su Mo also broke through, reaching Lv 3 True Darkness Realm.
Ten minutes later, Hong Qingxuan also successfully advanced to Lv 3 True Darkness Realm.
Not much Spiritual Qi remained, so Su Mo took out another 300 million Medium Spiritual Stones.
He began to practice the Archean Dragonesque Elephant Skill.
His physical strength started to sky-rocket.
An hour later, everything returned to normal in the courtyard and they had absorbed all the Spiritual Qi.
Su Mo's physical strength was now comparable to a Lv 5 True Darkness Realm martial artist. Li Feng and Hong Qingxuan had not broken through again, but they were not far off either!
"Are you guys going to stay here and cultivate, or would you prefer to head outside?" Su Mo asked them after they had stopped cultivating.
"I'd like to go out. I'll look for you in a few days!" Hong Qingxuan said.
"Me too!" Li Feng also responded.
"Alright!"
Su Mo nodded and they agreed on a time. They would meet to improve their cultivations again in ten days.
Su Mo sent them out of the Divine Map.
The two returned to Dark Sky Peak and Sky-caging Peak.
After they left, Su Mo immersed himself in cultivation once again. The higher his cultivation got, the sooner he would be able to set off for the Central Continent. He could hardly wait.
Three days flew by.
On this day, Towering Sky Peak had livened up.
The Tenth Senior Brother—Tian Chen, the Ninth Senior Brother—Yun Fei, the Eighth Senior Brother—Feng Shaoyu, the Seventh Senior Sister—Hua Suiyu, and the Fifth Senior Brother—Jun Wuxi had all returned.
They were chatting in the square where every so often joyful laughter could be heard.
Su Mo stopped cultivating and opened his eyes.
He left his tower and headed for the square.
With a glance, Su Mo found that all of them had made great strides in their cultivations. The Seventh Senior Sister had reached Lv 1 True Darkness Realm, and Jun Wuxi was now at Lv 6 True Darkness Realm.
"11th Junior Brother!"
They called out to Su Mo when they spotted him.
"Congratulations on making great strides in your cultivation!" Su Mo said with a broad smile on his face.
"11th Junior Brother, congratulations on making the List of Top 1,000 Talents in the East Continent!"
Feng Shaoyu, Yun Fei, and Tian Chen were all beaming because Su Mo was now very famous throughout the East Continent.
However, Hua Suiyu and Jun Wuxi stared at him in astonishment, their eyes widening.
After a while, Jun Wuxi asked in shock, "Su Mo, have you reached Lv 3 True Darkness Realm?"
Feng Shaoyu, Yun Fei, and Tian Chen were stunned by his words.
Lv 3 True Darkness Realm?
They were no longer able to discern his cultivation, so in their eyes, based on his talent, he should have been at Lv 1 True Darkness Realm. Now, they all looked dazed.
Now hearing Jun Wuxi's words, they were overcome with shame.
Damn!
Comparisons were odious!
They were also called talented geniuses. How was the gap between them so big?
Tian Chen didn't look so surprised. After all, he knew how Su Mo cultivated. But it was unbelievable to the other four!
They did not envy Su Mo. They just felt that they were useless in comparison to him!
Chapter 673: No Regrets
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Su Mo gave a slight nod in response to Jun Wuxi's question.
"You… 11th Junior Brother, how do you cultivate? How could you have improved so quickly?" Jun Wuxi asked in shock.
It had been less than a year since he left the Sect. It was unfathomable that Su Mo had attained such a high cultivation.
When he had last met Su Mo, he was only at Lv 2 Enlightenment Realm. This rate of advancement was just too shocking.
"Haha! Talent! Everything boils down to talent!" Su Mo smiled and did not explain further.
"Talent?"
Their faces twitched and their hearts sank. "Maybe he's right!"
They didn't lack in talent, but Su Mo's talent was just too high.
Jun Wuxi sighed and fighting desire flashed through his eyes. He eyed Su Mo. "11th Junior Brother, you've made the List of Top 1,000 Talents at Lv 9 Enlightenment Realm. With such a remarkable combat strength, you might be as strong as me now. Why don't we exchange some moves?"
"I agree!"
Tian Chen was the first to voice his approval. He laughed and said, "Fifth Senior Brother, your cultivation might be higher than Su Mo's, but I'm not sure if you could defeat him!"
Tian Chen had faith in Su Mo.
"Really?" Jun Wuxi fixed his eyes on Su Mo. "11th Junior Brother, shall we exchange some moves?"
Su Mo shook his head. "I'm sorry, Fifth Senior Brother. I just managed to break through a few days ago. My cultivation is not that stable yet!"
Su Mo declined his invitation because Jun Wuxi was no longer a match for him!
The fight would be meaningless!
If he were to hold back during the fight, it would be disrespectful to his opponent. So he rejected the offer!
"Uh… Okay!" Jun Wuxi nodded.
Since Su Mo had said his cultivation was unstable, Jun Wuxi was not going to insist.
After some thought, Jun Wuxi said, "11th Junior Brother, I'm looking forward to seeing your talent in action at the Talents' Grand Gathering!"
"Talents' Grand Gathering?" Su Mo shook his head and replied, "Fifth Senior Brother, you'll do fine representing us, but I'm going to pass!"
He was not in the mood to attend the Talents' Grand Gathering. His top priority was to increase his cultivation since he planned to set off for the Central Continent in a few days.
"Why not?" Jun Wuxi was puzzled. "The Talents' Grand Gathering is the most prestigious gathering in the East Continent in recent decades. Geniuses and talents from across the land will be here, you don't want to miss it."
Su Mo didn't know what to say. The so-called Talents' Grand Gathering was actually a competition between the seven superpowers of the East Continent.
Now that he had no lack of Spiritual Stones, this award no longer held any attraction for him. He did not want to participate at all.
However, he wondered if Wenren Tiandu would go.
Su Mo had hoped to gain some insight about the Archean martial practice from Wenren Tiandu, since this would affect his progress in entering the Martial King Realm.
This was a serious matter!
After some thought, Su Mo replied, "Fifth Senior Brother, let's talk about this later."
Su Mo would only go to the gathering if he knew for sure that Wenren Tiandu was going to be there.
"Haha, you have to be there. You and me are the only ones from Towering Sky Peak who are qualified to attend. And, our Master would not allow you to miss it!" Jun Wuxi said with a smile.
Feng Shaoyu was not eligible as she was only at the Enlightenment Realm. Hua Suiyu had reached the True Darkness Realm, but her cultivation of Lv 1 True Darkness Realm was not good enough to make an impact at the gathering.
Jun Wuxi and Su Mo were the best candidates to represent Towering Sky Peak.
Su Mo nodded. What he said made sense.
After thinking for a minute, Su Mo asked, "Fifth Senior Brother, what do you know about Hua Yuanhan?"
Hua Yuanhan?" Jun Wuxi was surprised, but continued, "He is a disciple of Great Heaven Peak and is ranked higher than me on the List of Top 1,000 Talents. Did he offend you in any way?"
Jun Wuxi did not know that Hua Yuanhan was dead and assumed Su Mo bore a grudge against him.
"I was just curious!" Su Mo shook his head. "Do you know anything about his background, or who his Master might be?"
Su Mo was trying to find out who had wanted him dead. It was a hidden danger that might come back to bite him in the future if he continued to let it fester!
Jun Wuxi thought about it for a while before replying, "Hua Yuanhan had no master, but I heard Hou Yuan, the Holy Elder of Great Heaven Peak, held him in high regard and often gave him advice."
"Hou Yuan?" Su Mo's eyes narrowed. It was clear to him now that Hua Yuanhan must have been out to kill him on either Hou Yuan and Huo Jun's orders.
The possibility of it being Hou Yuan was smaller since he was a Martial Royal expert. He would not have needed to go through all that trouble if he really wanted to kill Su Mo.
Moreover, he had been defeated by Huangfu Qing with one move last time, so he would not be so rash as to send Hua Yuanhan after Su Mo.
Therefore, the likeliest suspect was Hou Jun.
"A leopard can't change its spots. Even if your father is a Martial Royal expert, I'll still kill you someday!"
Killing desire filled Su Mo's heart.
"It's not so easy to take down Hua Yuanhan. Even if you bear a grudge against him, you shouldn't act rashly!" Jun Wuxi warned.
"Understood!" Su Mo nodded but did not tell Jun Wuxi the truth.
Jun Wuxi glanced at the rest and said with a smile, "Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, I have several bottles of vintage wine. Shall we open them in my tower?"
"Vintage wine!"
Tian Chen's eyes lit up. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Haha!"
They laughed and entered Jun Wuxi's tower.
They drank wine and exchanged stories about the East Continent, all enjoying themselves immensely.
They only left when night fell.
After leaving, Su Mo returned to his tower and once again, immersed himself in cultivating.
Time spent cultivation was extremely boring and insipid, but Su Mo was full of motivation now.
He was now at Lv 3 True Darkness Realm cultivation. He figured he should be ready to set off for Central Continent once he attained Lv 5.
Of course, it would be safer if his cultivation was at Lv 6 or 7.
However, Su Mo could not wait any longer. He decided he would set out as soon as he attained Lv 5 True Darkness Realm. .
Four years!
Time had flown. Four years had flown by in the blink of an eye.
He had promised Xi'er that he would come for her in five years' time, and now there was only one year left!
Back then, he had challenged Shangguan Hao to a fight in five years. Now there was only one year left!
Su Mo was a man who kept his promises.
He would always fulfil his promises, no matter how hard and difficult it was! If he died, he would have no regrets!
Time trickled by. Five days later, Su Mo's Dark Force was becoming more and more dense. Soon he would be able to start devouring Spiritual Stones again.
On this particular day, he halted his cultivating. He suddenly opened his eyes for he heard Huangpu Qing's voice summoning him to the great hall.
He quickly left his tower and headed to the nearby hall
Chapter 674: Competing for Benefits
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Huangfu Qing, clad in navy blue, sat in the main seat of the hall with a dignified expression.
Jun Wuxi sat beneath him in the great hall.
"Greetings, Master!" Su Mo walked into the hall and bowed to Huangfu Qing.
"Su Mo, have a seat!" Huangfu Qing nodded and indicated Su Mo to sit.
"Thank you, Master!" Su Mo bowed again and took his place beside Jun Wuxi.
Huangfu Qing sized his two disciples up and said, "Both of you shall join me for the East Continent Talents' Grand Gathering that is being held in two weeks."
"Master, will you be joining us?" Jun Wuxi asked. He and Su Mo were surprised to hear that their Master would be attending the Talents' Grand Gathering. It must truly be a grand occasion.
"Yes!" Huangfu Qing nodded and said, "All the other peak masters will be going too."
Su Mo and Jun Wuxi were shocked. This Talents' Grand Gathering must be very grand if all the peak masters would be attending!
After some thought, Jun Wuxi asked curiously, "Master, what's so special about the Talents' Grand Gathering? Why is it such an important event?"
Su Mo looked at Huangfu Qing, his interest piqued as well.
Huangfu Qing said in a low voice, "A Supreme Spiritual Stone Mine has been discovered at the Dalbergia Mountains between Blackdragon Domain and Cloud Domain. If we dig all the Supreme Spiritual Stones out, there should be about 10 billion of them."
"Supreme Spiritual Stone Mine!" Su Mo and Jun Wuxi were amazed.
Supreme Spiritual Stone Mine!
10 billion Supreme Spiritual Stones!
Goodness! This was a king's ransom. When converted to Upper Spiritual Stones, it would be about 10 trillion Upper Spiritual Stones!
Huangfu Qing continued, "Not one power in East Continent could be the sole owner of this Spiritual Stone Mine. Cold-blood Hall proposed that we hold this Talents' Grand Gathering and invite all the powers to participate. If any of their disciples could emerge head and shoulders above the rest, the Sect they belong to will get to own the Spiritual Stone Mine."
"I see!" Now Su Mo and Jun Wuxi realized that there was such a large fortune at stake at the upcoming gathering.
Regardless of the number of powers and geniuses attending in the Talents' Grand Gathering, ultimately, it would be the disciples of the seven supreme forces that would end up competing against one another.
"Sigh! It's a pity An Nuan had already left for the Central Continent. If she didn't, we would have a higher chance of winning!" Huangfu Qing sighed.
Su Mo and Jun Wuxi nodded. "That's right. Senior Sister An Nuan's absence was a big loss to the Sect!"
Although there were many geniuses from the nine peaks whose names were on List of Top 1,000 Talents, including one ranked higher than An Nuan, there was still no guarantee of victory.
After all, the geniuses of the other six forces in East Continent were equally extraordinary.
Furthermore, since Cold-blood Hall had proposed this idea, they must be confident in winning.
"Alright, both of you must do your best. I'll be satisfied as long as you don't disgrace Towering Sky Peak!" Huangfu Qing did not expect the two of them to make a splash. After all, their cultivation was still considered low.
He then waved his hand and said, "You may go now. We'll set off in two weeks!"
"Yes, Master!" Su Mo and Jun Wuxi stood up and cupped their fist.
Since there was no mention of the rewards available at the Talents' Grand Gathering, Su Mo tentatively broached the topic. "Master, what kind of rewards will there be for the disciples with outstanding displays at the Talents' Grand Gathering?"
Huangfu Qing smiled and said, "The rewards have yet to be confirmed. If you perform well, the Sect will reward you handsomely!"
Su Mo nodded and said, "I'll do well then!"
Huangfu Qing dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
Su Mo and Jun Wuxi then left the hall together.
Outside the hall.
Jun Wuxi said, "11th Junior Brother, we must not disappoint Master in the upcoming gathering!"
"That's right!" Su Mo nodded and said, "Don't worry, Fifth Senior Brother."
"11th Junior Brother, what is your current combat strength like? How many levels above your cultivation can you take on? " Jun Wuxi asked out of curiosity.
"Ha ha, Fifth Senior Brother, you'll know when the time comes!" Su Mo smiled mysteriously.
"Oh?" Jun Wuxi was curious when he took in Su Mo's confident expression.
"Fifth Senior Brother, I'll head back to cultivate now!"
After Su Mo bid Jun Wuxi goodbye, he returned to his tower.
As Su Mo sat cross-legged in the practice room, he felt a little helpless. There was no way he could get out of attending the Talents' Grand Gathering.
Although he was pretty powerful right now, he still lagged behind those geniuses on the List of Top 1,000 Talents.
Those ranked in the top 10 on the List of Top 1,000 Talents had strength comparable to a Martial King Realm martial artist and were much more powerful compared to him.
Luckily, Su Mo still had two weeks to increase his cultivation.
After some thought, he decided to attempt merging the gold and earth properties again.
Even if his cultivation increased by another two levels, he did not have the confidence to challenge those top-ranked geniuses unless he could merge those properties.
Once he made up his mind to take part in a gathering like this, he would not allow himself to be defeated.
Su Mo started to merge the properties together as he continued to refine his Dark Force.
A tiny wisp of golden Dark Force and yellow Dark Force circled around Su Mo's fingers and he started to merge them together.
Su Mo had been cultivating the Nirvana Cultivation Method for a significant period of time, so his gold property's strength was now on par with his earth property's. This boosted his confidence in merging the two together.
Poom!
Su Mo had been extremely careful, but the two wisps of Dark Force immediately exploded upon contact with each other!
He continued his attempts at merging them.
Poom!
Poom!
Poom!
Explosions still sounded with every attempt he made.
After spending two full days on this, Su Mo was still unable to make headway. His heart sank.
In the early hours of the morning, there was a knock outside. Li Feng and Hong Qingxuan had arrived.
The trio had earlier agreed to meet ten days later to increase their cultivation and so they showed up at the appointed date.
Su Mo let them into his tower and they all entered the Divine Map's Space together.
Two hours later, they emerged from the Divine Map.
Their strength had increased tremendously in the span of two short hours.
Su Mo was now of Lv 4 True Darkness Realm cultivation and his physical strength was now comparable to a Lv 6 True Darkness Realm martial artist.
Similarly, Hong Qingxuan had reached Lv 4 True Darkness Realm cultivation. As for Li Feng, his physical strength was now comparable to a Lv 7 True Darkness Realm martial artist.
After just one round of cultivating, their strength increased tremendously. Then, Li Feng and Hong Qingxuan left.
Su Mo had asked them both and found out that Hong Qingxuan would be attending the Talents' Grand Gathering as well.
However, Li Feng would not be attending. Perhaps the higher echelons were not aware of Li Feng's strength, so no one informed him.
After his friends left, Su Mo started to merge the properties again. He would not be able to compete with the top 10 on the List of Top 1,000 Talents unless he could successfully merge the two properties together.
He might then even be Wenren Tiandu's match!