"But you have already broken through to the 7th stage of Qi condensation realm instantly."
"Arion, I couldn't breakthrough for 10 years for an unknown reason."
"What! Your dantian and body was in perfect condition before you ate the gourd, how could you not breakthrough at all."
"I don't know but it seems I have a constitution."
"Oh, you might have that kind of constitution, I've only heard about them."
"What kind?"
"The kind that forms something related to the constitution every time they breakthrough, but that should not consume so much qi that only a rank 9 spiritual fruit could help you breakthrough."
"Oh, is it like a Plum Blossom Sword Body?"
"You know about it? That makes it easier to explain. Just like the plum blossoms they can form you should have something related to lightning that you form."
'Interesting.' Maxwell then released an attack with lightning qi using spear intent. As soon as his spear pierced forward a small lightning dragon charged out of his dantian and seemed to follow the spear motion and tore through a tree, 10 meters ahead.
"Amazing, the destructive power of lightning is always astonishing, you are also already at the beginner stage of spear embryo; your talent is enviable my son." Maxwell's father clapped with his mother and sister joining in.
'I wonder what my parents would think if they knew I had all 7 elements at rank 2 beginner stage except space which is stuck at the mid of rank 1.'
""
"Maxwell, can I take a ride on your pretty horse?" Lily asked innocently.
"I don't mind. At least she knows my beauty" Arion said while Maxwell stared at him with disdain at his narcissism.
Maxwell lifted Lily onto Arion's back and then instructed him to go slowly. Maxwell then walked to the pond that was now dry with 2 lotuses at the bottom that were now infused with lightning qi.
'Oh, those lotuses matured and mutated because of the aura of the gourd. Their seeds should be valuable resources for other lightning cultivators, but I feel that it's useless to me since I just reached rank 3 of lightning cultivation.'
Maxwell hopped to the bottom of the pond and stored the lotuses in a spatial ring before exiting. He then made a new formation almost instantly, without needing to waste anymore spirit stones to make one. He then joined his family in returning home for a late breakfast. On the way back, his parents informed him of their intentions.
"Now that you can cultivate again, we have something to give you and tell you once you reach the Foundation Establishment realm." His mother said with his father nodding in agreement.
"That should take 2 weeks to happen since I just have to fully refine the Tribulation Gourd."
"Excellent, once you're done you can also go to a sect since you're at the minimum age to join one through regular admission. I heard there's going to be a mass recruitment at the capital in 3 weeks." Maxwell's dad informed him while rather excited that he was going to breakthrough so quickly.
At night Maxwell sat cross legged, cultivating. He noticed the dragon made of only lightning qi was flying around in his dantian, it was normally still as if it was asleep, yet he never sensed any vitality in it as if it was never alive. Maxwell was refining the remaining half of the gourd and sensed he needed 2 more days to refine enough to breakthrough once.
'Why was it so fast earlier? Was it my constitution playing a part in it?'
Maxwell was in the dark about his constitution and even the memories he got did not show that constitution. The memories were very useful to Maxwell since they gave him a lot of information perfect for his level like spear intent that was at a much lower stage then what he had seen in the memories of the war. Maxwell even grasped a lot of battle tactics to use against stronger opponents and he learnt shortcomings of his elements and how to overcome them.
He also learnt about the existence of a higher plane, the immortal plane where immortal ascension experts would go to. All his past life memories were set in a planet called Dragon Heart Planet that had a Dragon shaped ring around it, that was the corpse of dragon from a higher plane that was killed by the Heavenly Dao for trying to destroy the planet after descending planes.
Dragon Heart planet was ruled by The Invincible Dragon Kingdom that had reigned for millennia and in his past life he was a child of a small family that only had influence in one town. Maxwell's past life memories ended right when he was ascending to the immortal plane at the age of 900.
Surprisingly Maxwell broke through to Foundation Establishment realm in only 12 days. After refining the gourd fully 10 seeds were left inside Maxwell, all of them rich with qi. These seeds were the most useful part of the gourd.
Foundation Establishment realm was the most important realm for a cultivator as a stronger foundation would help them greatly in the future. Foundation Establishment had 10 stages for removing impurities from the body and unblocking meridians and after those 10 stages there were more, but it was unknown how many exactly. Those additional stages upgraded the spiritual sea where the soul was stored and made it stronger and larger.
Anyone who reached a stage above 10 was considered a genius and someone who reached stage 13 would be sought after by every major power, leading to conflict and sometimes the death of such a genius. There had never been a recorded existence of someone who reached a stage above 15 and most people believed the stages above 15 were impossible to achieve.
In Maxwell's past life he had achieved stage 14 of Foundation Establishment and had to hide it till he got stronger for his safety.
'Time to tell my parents and hear what they are going to say.'
Maxwell went to his parents and showed him his cultivation.
"Excellent! You have broken through faster than you expected. It's time for us to tell you something that we have hidden from you for a long while."
"I am actually the general of the internal army that protects the kingdom from beast stampedes and invasions."
"What!" Max was surprised but knew it would be something of this magnitude due to what he had heard from Leonidas years ago.
"We stayed away from the capital to prevent you from getting dragged into power struggles as my heir. It was easy to hide our identity since I have not needed to fight on the battlefield in a long while and only the imperial family and other generals along with a few forces who know my surname."
"It was best to tell you this now since trouble is brewing among the Magical Beasts and demons. Now that you are old enough and strong enough you can train in a sect" His mother explained.
'I did hear about some movement among demons recently.'
"Movement of demons always spells trouble and it usually leads to a war."
"Yes, for your safety we are sending you there. Sigh… If only Lily could go with you." His mother spoke sadly.
"Once Lily awakens her constitution we can send her to a good sect for her. I think for her, the Ice Lotus Sect in Black Tortoise Kingdom will train her the best with their ice-based techniques, if she decides to go there we will not be able to meet her for a long while."
"Maxwell, I agree but it's up to Lily. You should depart for the capital soon with your father to take part in the joint test of the 3 sects of our kingdom."
"Arion can take us there in 10 hours at his top speed, but with breaks he will take half a day."
"I have to settle some business there so it's best we leave tomorrow, you can also tour the capital and cultivate till the start of the test." His father told him before departing for his study.
"Mom, what were you going to give me?"
"Just wait and see, Arthur is bringing it."
After a few minutes he brought a wooden case that seemed to be made of the strong and durable trees that were found in the depths of the forest, Towering Earth Teaks that grew using a lot of earth qi.
'I have never seen this box, I wonder if it's an artifact for me to use.'
"Here son, take my greatest treasure."
Maxwell opened the box and saw an exquisite spear, it was 2 meters in length with a guard for hooking weapons. It had a black spear shaft and a spear head that looked to be made of Cinnabar, its red color seemed to blaze, giving it a majestic look. Right where the spear head arose there was a circular ruby seemingly made of blood. At the other end there was a rounded spear butt that could give a huge impact to anyone it struck.
"I found this spear lying on the battlefield soaked in blood. I took it but it would not form a bond with me no matter how many times I dropped my blood on it. It is probably a blood thirsty weapon but you should be able to subdue it and use it effectively."
"Thank you dad! I was looking for a spear to match me that could withstand my spear intent."
"First form a bond with it."
Maxwell cut the tip of his finger and let a single drop of blood fall onto to the gem that was inlaid in the spear. The spear seemingly woke up, full of vigor and excitement. Maxwell then tried slashing a training dummy that was reinforced with an array with a simple slash. The spear cut through the training dummy smoothly with an even cut that required no effort.
"You should still use regular spears to not rely upon its sharpness too much." His dad instructed him while joyful that his son had formed a bond with the stubborn spear that he could never tame.