"Just doing as the master of the estate suggested…" the old man said.
"Ha ha, if you weren't so disrespectful, little mouse, you would have likely gotten even more… Like I said before, this treasure could easily be sold for up to 4000 spirit stones, but this old spirit can pick and choose how much to give you… ha," the small child said with a laugh.
"Kai!" Silas yelled.
Kai now had an ugly look on his face, but he soon put the thought out of his head… What did it matter, 2500, 3000, 4000—it was all the same to him. With this, he could rank up to a rank 3 Disciple and quickly leave this small inheritance realm he was born in.
"Now that you have made your selections, would either of you like to challenge the 2nd level of the battle hall? I will add that you each have likely less than a 1% chance to pass at your current level…" the old man said.
"1%?" Silas and Kai both said, surprised. While they had struggled to defeat the previous level, less than 1% was very small…
"I think I'll wait for now," Silas said, and Kai nodded.
"Very well. Come now, it's time for you to rank up to rank 3 Disciples," the old man said as he led the group back to the main hall.
After entering the main hall, Silas told Thea and Red about his and Kai's selections and how they could now all rank up to rank 3 Disciples.
Kai quickly passed everyone around 100 spirit stones, which should be more than enough for each of them to go from the peak of Transcendent to early Revolving Core, creating their revolving core.
But before they could all begin, the old man said in a serious tone, "If you all have any ideas about joining a sect or a school in the near future, you best halt your rank up at early Revolving Core… Upon reaching the middle Revolving Core stage, your foundation will have solidified into a set pattern, and the more powerful sects and schools you wish to join will not be willing to take you as a disciple."
"Why is that? I have an excellent Qi refinement technique that can easily push me into the immortal ranks…" Kai said with confusion.
"Will the sect you're trying to join know that? Will they care to hear you out? It's safer to just wait for now and join the sect officially before ranking up any further… Besides, you do, but what of the others? They are respectively a human and a common beast from weak clans… They have likely each trained up till now in a superficial, inferior technique, and if they go any further, it will destroy their future potential…" the old man explained.
"Don't worry; we will all stop once we reach the peak of early Revolving Core," Silas assured the old spirit.
"Good…" the old man nodded his head before disappearing.
"Heh, all of you continue now and finally step on the path of an immortal…" the small child said.
Silas sat cross-legged, his mind focused and calm as the spirit stones in front of him radiated a gentle blue glow.
He could feel the pure energy pulsating within them, almost like a heartbeat.
Around him, Thea, Kai, and Red were preparing to begin their own breakthroughs, but Silas was already deep in meditation, channeling his Qi in preparation for his own rank up.
His dantian pulsed with power, ready to break through the final barrier that would lead him to the rank of a Revolving Core rank 3 Disciple.
Silas, like Kai, had his own Qi refinement technique that could likely lead him as far as anyone could go, but currently, he only knew the path from Mortal to True Immortal, but he had slowly been unlocking more and more knowledge the more he ranked up in his Qi cultivation, so he wasn't worried he would run into a roadblock anytime soon.
He grasped one of the small spirit stones, its energy warm and steady in his hand. With a deep breath, he drew the energy into himself, guiding it carefully through his meridians.
The Qi flowed effortlessly, merging with his own, amplifying it to levels he had never experienced before. Silas could feel his body awakening, every fiber of his being becoming more attuned to the world around him.
"Absorb!" he muttered under his breath, his voice firm with determination. More spirit stones began to crumble into dust as the rich, blue energy surged into his dantian. His meridians felt like rivers filled with roaring torrents of Qi, pushing against the boundaries of his current cultivation level.
As more and more energy flowed into him, his dantian began to change. He could feel it—the core of his being, where all his Qi was gathered, was no longer a formless pool of energy. It was condensing, solidifying into something more tangible, more powerful.
"Now!" Silas thought, focusing intently on his dantian. The energy within him began to spiral, forming a vortex at the center of his dantian. The pressure increased, and with a thunderous mental roar, the vortex compressed even further, shaping itself into a small, dense core. This was the critical moment.
With a final surge of energy, his dantian contracted, and in a flash of light within his inner world, the revolving core was formed.
It spun slowly at first, then faster and faster, like a miniature sun radiating energy outward. Silas could feel the power emanating from it, a boundless reservoir of Qi that would fuel his cultivation from this point onward.
The breakthrough was complete.
Silas opened his eyes, his body drenched in sweat, but his spirit was alight with the immense power that now flowed through him.
He had done it—he had reached the rank of an Early Revolving Core rank 3 Disciple.
The revolving core within him spun steadily, stabilizing the flow of Qi throughout his body and mind. Everything felt sharper, clearer. The world around him seemed more vibrant, as though he had crossed a threshold into a higher plane of existence.
And with his upgrade to early rank 3, both his scythe and robe had been refined as well, upgrading to mid-quality Spiritual-grade treasures along with him. The scythe and the robe had become perfect extensions of his will, each ready to continue to grow stronger as he did.
He looked around to see Thea and Red still focused on their own breakthroughs. Silas took a deep breath and smiled. His path was clear now. He had the power he needed to move forward, to leave the confines of this small inheritance realm, and to continue his journey toward the immortal ranks. But the journey ahead was long, and this was just the beginning.
For now, though, he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. He had created his revolving core, and with it, the future seemed boundless.
***
Soon, the rest all created their revolving cores as well, each becoming a Revolving Core rank 3 Disciple.
"Very good…" the small child began, "Now all that's left is for you to reach rank 3 in your body cultivation as well. With that, you will finally be able to regenerate from a single drop of blood as long as you have divine power left… Once you reach this stage, it will become increasingly hard for other Revolving Core Qi cultivators to kill you… but you must always remember that Qi refiners have their powerful experts as well… As a whole, Fiendgod body refiners are more powerful, but that's as a whole. On an individual level, there are amazing, glorious, and talented Qi refiners who could easily grind you down till nothing remains…"
The small child continued to ramble, but soon he said, "With your current power, you likely have less than a 10% chance to pass the 2nd level of the battle hall, so do you wish to try your chances? Once you rank up to Revolving Core in your body cultivation as well, you will lose one opportunity to challenge the battle hall…"
"We will lose an opportunity?" Silas asked, confused. Did they not have unlimited chances… as long as they had the strength to pass the level, he thought they would be able to challenge it.
"Yes, you get two chances at Transcendent, two chances at Revolving Core, and etc., but the kicker is once you rank up to the next rank, all your previous chances are gone… If not, what's to stop you from saving up a few chances here and there, and then once you're an Earth Immortal, you challenge the battle hall five times and are able to select five immortal-grade magic treasures…" the small child explained.
"I see…" Silas said. That made sense. "I think I will follow your advice… You said I have less than a 10% chance, so I will wait until I have at least a 50% chance."
Silas was going to take this estate treasure with him anyway, so regardless of when, he could always just enter the estate and challenge the 2nd level before making the leap to rank 3 as a body cultivator.
The small child nodded his head. "Very good… The late master preached how one should know their limits, and it seems you are starting to understand…" The small child then looked over to Kai, "What about you? Will you take on the challenge?"
Kai gave off a small scoff but shook his head. "I'll follow your advice, senior."
"Ha, very good, yes, very good… Follow me. If you are both willing to follow this senior's advice, then follow me…" the small child said with a huge, giddy smile as he led them both toward the insight hall.