Jiang Fan left the exhibition.
He did not hurry back to the Xu Mansion.
He came to the gate of the City Lord Mansion nearby and took out the token he had found on a member of the Blood Bat Palace.
Seeing the token, the Guard Captain saluted in reverence: "So young and you're able to kill someone from the Blood Bat Palace, a true hero!"
The Blood Bat Palace was an evil organization entrenched within the Green Cloud Sect's territory.
They committed all sorts of atrocities—burning, killing, looting.
They had many branches, and despite many attempts by the Green Cloud Sect to purge them, they could not be completely eradicated.
Reluctantly, the Green Cloud Sect ordered every City Lord Mansion to issue bounties for extermination tasks.
However, most martial artists dared not provoke the Blood Bat Palace, and few could complete these tasks.
"You are entitled to cultivate in the Misty Spirit Pond once, follow me!"
Under his guidance, Jiang Fan arrived at a corner of the City Lord Mansion.
There were two secret chambers standing side by side.
Beneath these chambers was the Misty Spirit Pond, continuously emanating dense spiritual energy.
When he arrived, there was already a woman in purple standing in front of the chambers.
She was very tall, almost as tall as Jiang Fan, with round and straight legs.
Her waist was slender, and her back was lean.
She looked like an ink painting.
Upon hearing someone approach from behind, she turned around.
Her breathtakingly beautiful face seemed to stun even time itself.
Her long dark eyebrows, cool eyes, bright red lips, and delicate contours.
An icy demeanor that kept others at a distance.
She looked like a fairy who had walked out of a painting.
She merely glanced at Jiang Fan and immediately saw through his cultivation, saying calmly: "Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer Perfection, you're late."
With that, she chose one of the chambers and went inside to cultivate.
Jiang Fan was stunned.
Late?
What did that mean?
The Guard Captain sighed and said: "So you have already reached Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer Perfection, then you are indeed late."
"The Misty Spirit Pond has been open for more than three years, and many martial artists have used it."
"The spiritual energy in the pond is not as abundant as it used to be; only martial artists at the Qi Cultivation First or Second Layer have a chance to break through."
After all, martial artists at the Qi Cultivation First or Second Layer require much less spiritual energy to break through than those at higher tiers.
"Now, for anyone above the Fourth Layer to break through, their spirit root must be exceptionally good, or they must have a high-tier mental method."
The Guard Captain added.
But looking at Jiang Fan's attire, he didn't seem to be from a prestigious family that could possess an excellent mental method.
He sighed silently: "Since you're here, you might as well give it a try."
"You can only cultivate for one two-hour period, make the most of it."
Superior spirit root and high-tier mental method?
Jiang Fan nodded slightly and entered the other secret chamber.
The Guard Captain stayed outside to wait.
Before long.
An imposing middle-aged man hurried over, it was Ye Jifeng, the top expert in Lonely Boat City, who had also been present at the Detection Tower.
"Fairy Liu went in?"
The Guard Captain responded respectfully: "She is already cultivating."
Ye Jifeng let out a light breath: "The daughter of the Green Cloud Sect Master, we must not neglect her."
"Wait here for Fairy Liu to come out. Notify me immediately if she does!"
Suddenly, Ye Jifeng noticed someone else in the other chamber and frowned: "Who is in there?"
The Guard Captain replied: "A nameless young man who killed a member of the Blood Bat Palace."
Hearing this, Ye Jifeng reprimanded: "Couldn't we wait until Fairy Liu finished her cultivation before letting him in?"
The Guard Captain hesitated: "Shall we ask him to come out?"
Looking at the two adjacent chambers, Ye Jifeng pondered: "Forget it, a nameless young man with low cultivation level won't affect Fairy Liu's cultivation."
"Wait here."
With that, he turned to arrange the welcome ceremony.
Jiang Fan was already in a state of immersive cultivation.
His transparent spirit root was like the roots of a giant tree, greedily absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.
At the same time, the Yellow Level High mental method, the "Pure Wind Scripture," also started to circulate, accelerating the absorption by the spirit root.
The combined effect was that the spiritual energy in the area seemed summoned and swarmed toward Jiang Fan.
The woman in the purple dress was in a state of meditation next door.
Suddenly, she was startled.
Feeling the direction of the spiritual energy flow, a hint of confusion crossed her cold face: "What's happening?"
"I am practicing the highest mental method of my sect, and my spirit root is of Seventh Grade."
"When we cultivate simultaneously, the spiritual energy should flow towards me."
She restarted her mental method, attempting to draw back the spiritual energy.
However.
The spiritual energy in her chamber not only failed to stay but also dissipated faster.
A trace of astonishment appeared on her face.
"Could his spirit root be far superior to mine?"
She decided to stop cultivating.
After all, the spiritual energy here had little effect on her realm.
She stepped outside the chamber and felt the situation inside Jiang Fan's chamber through the gap in the door.
In her perception, streams of astonishing spiritual energy were being devoured, as if there was a black hole inside, absorbing all the spiritual energy.
"Absorbing spiritual energy so quickly?"
She couldn't help but be moved. Suddenly, a thought struck her: "Could he be the one with the Ninth Grade Spirit Root detected in Lonely Boat City?"
She stared intently at the stone door, her eyes filled with a sense of competition.
This time, she had secretly run away from her father.
For no other reason.
As the Proud Daughter, she wanted to see for herself what was so exceptional about this Ninth Grade Spirit Root that had shocked the world!
At that moment.
A muffled sound came from the chamber, and a fluctuation of the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer slowly emerged.
The Guard Captain's pupils contracted as he whispered: "He, he broke through!"
The spiritual energy here was very thin, only enough for low-tier martial artists to break through.
Yet Jiang Fan had succeeded!
The cold face of the woman in the purple dress also showed a trace of surprise, and she involuntarily clenched her fists: "No wonder he has the Ninth Grade Spirit Root, he's exceptional!"
For an ordinary Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer Perfection martial artist, it was impossible to break through successfully with such thin spiritual energy.
"But with my spirit root and cultivation technique, I could barely do it too."
"The Ninth Grade Spirit Root doesn't seem that much stronger than mine."
However, after a time of a cup of tea.
A slight explosion came again from the chamber.
Another strong fluctuation of the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer swept out, lifting the dust on the floor.
The beautiful face of the woman in the purple dress finally showed surprise:
"In the time of a cup of tea, he broke through from Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer to Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer?"
She asked herself and knew she couldn't do it even with all her might.
A hint of bitterness appeared at the corner of her mouth: "Is this the difference between the Ninth Grade Spirit Root and the Seventh Grade Spirit Root?"
The Guard Captain also gasped: "He broke through two realms in a row!"
"Hiss! The power of the Ninth Grade Spirit Root is beyond our imagination!"
The woman in the purple dress still had her last bit of stubbornness left: "But this is the end for him too."
"The barrier between the Sixth and Seventh Layer is a great chasm; it took me ten days to break through it back then."
"The Ninth Grade is stronger than the Seventh Grade, but only slightly."
She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much lighter.
The Guard Captain, however, felt awkward.
Ten days, with the woman in the purple dress enjoying the top-level resources of the entire Green Cloud Sect.
For ordinary people, crossing this chasm could take several years, even half a lifetime!
As time ticked away.
There was no more movement from the chamber, seemingly confirming the woman's words.
Seeing that the time was almost up, the Guard Captain stepped forward to knock on the door, ready to remind Jiang Fan.
But suddenly.
An even more powerful airflow swept out from the chamber.
The Guard Captain almost couldn't stand still, exclaiming: "Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer?"
"In just one two-hour period, he broke through from Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer Perfection to Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer?"
The woman in the purple dress could no longer maintain her icy demeanor.
Her cold eyes were filled with shock, and she muttered incredulously:
"Impossible! The Ninth Grade and Seventh Grade are only two grades apart, how can the gap be this big?"