[You have successfully devoured your target.]
[Congratulations! You have broken through to the Qi Gathering Realm.]
[[Devour] has been upgraded. You can now activate the ability as long as you are within 5 meters of the target.]
[A new System ability has been unlocked.]
A refreshing feeling coursed through his body. It was as if he had been a sick man all these days and now he suddenly recovered.
The air felt fresh.
'Even the villages and hill stations I visited during my old life did not give off such a feeling of fresh air,' he thought.
This was the effect of Qi. Much like the sense of sight or smell, a brand new sense opened up to Caelum.
As he looked at the rest of the notifications from the System and inspected his current stats, he was left pleasantly surprised.
'I have no clue how strong I really am right now. Also, I really want to try using some Dao Techniques!' Any man would find the prospect of being able to perform magic to be exciting.
"Young Master, are you alright?" Saya asked as she approached him.
Caelum sensed a strange energy invade his body, and he was even able to vaguely pinpoint its source. The strange energy came from Saya!
"Saya, you naughty girl, did you just try to probe me?"
Saya's eyes widened in shock and her feet halted in their steps. How did her Young Master find out!?
She had been sending probes Caelum's way after every fight. This was not done out of malice but out of pure curiosity. After all, his rate of improvement would leave any cultivator jealous.
Caelum, who had been in the Body Tempering realm, was previously unable to detect such probing. Similarly, Saya also could not garner much information since Caelum's body was devoid of Qi.
However, right now, something strange was happening.
Saya still could not garner any information!
To her probe, it seemed as if Caelum's body still had zero Qi, which made the fact that he detected her probe all the more surprising.
All of this could be explained by the new System ability Caelum gained.
[
Singularity Shroud: No energy that enters can escape from the One Who Devours All. Trying to probe you is folly. This ability allows you to freely set your real and apparent cultivation level. Currently,
Real Cultivation Level: 1st stage of Qi Gathering Realm
Apparent Cultivation Level: Body Tempering Realm
]
The ability had no limitations on who was doing the probe. That meant that even if a powerful cultivator like Valerius himself tried to inspect Caelum's cultivation, he would only see what Caelum wanted him to see.
Additionally, it provided a convenient way for Caelum to suppress his strength if he needed to, without having to manually hold back.
Now that she was caught red-handed, Saya could only apologize in a meek tone.
"Sorry, Young Master."
Caelum shook his head. He didn't really care about something so minor. He could empathize with her curiosity. Moreover, subconsciously, his liking for Saya was increasing bit by bit due to how innocent and straightforward she was.
But outwardly, he decided to tease her a little.
Caelum pulled Saya towards himself, and they both tumbled to the ground. With his face close to hers, he said, "I don't mind forgiving you. But a little bit of punishment is in order."
Following his words, Caelum punished and pampered Saya for a few minutes despite her weak protests, which sounded like, "Not here, Young Master. Someone might see us."
A few minutes later, Caelum was lying on the ground, and Saya lay comfortably on his body.
"Speaking of someone seeing us, why haven't we encountered other people from the Goldheart family during our hunts? Apart from the creep we met yesterday, I mean," Caelum asked Saya.
Saya giggled at how Caelum addressed the mysterious young man.
"Are you sure it is okay to not report his presence to the family elders, Young Master? Someone is impersonating and infiltrating the family's training grounds, after all."
"Don't think too much about it. I have my own plans regarding the matter. Remember, do not tell anyone else about your encounter from yesterday."
"Yes, Young Master. I'll do as you say. As for your earlier question, it is partly because I have been avoiding routes where I sensed other cultivators. The other part of the reason is that the outer fringes are quite spread out and big in area. Once we head inwards, closer towards the center, we'll encounter others more frequently."
"About heading towards the center… I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon," Caelum told her.
When Caelum reached Qi Gathering, a massive increase in strength was not the only thing that happened to him.
They say with great power comes great responsibility. The System made Caelum responsible for his first special mission.
[
First Special Mission Issued
As part of this mission, you will be required to [Devour] a specific target within a limited time period.
The system is currently working on pinpointing the exact location of the target.
ETA to find location: 7 days
Upon Success: You will gain the ability to [Devour] the Heavenly Gifts of Heaven-Chosen.
Upon Failure: Soul Immolation
]
Caelum felt that the System's creator was not a very creative person.
'Why do you like Soul Immolation so much?' he thought.
Meanwhile, Saya was perplexed by what Caelum said. Why wouldn't they be heading toward the center?
The upper limit of the Training Ground Rift was the Qi Condensation realm. An extremely powerful magical beast prowled the center of the Rift Space.
There was a tradition in the Goldheart family to reward talented juniors. Unlike humans, when a magical beast with an Elemental Source was killed, it would drop the Source, which could be picked up and used by anyone.
The elders of the family decided to find a powerful beast inside the Rift Space and feed it a grade-1 Elemental Source themselves. Any junior who was talented enough to kill the beast could keep the Source.
Saya recalled that the previous beast had been slain by Seraphina many years ago. It happened when Saya was still a child and Caelum wasn't even born yet. Seraphina had only been 17 years old at that time!
It was an accomplishment that astonished the Novastead Empire and cemented Seraphina's status as a Heaven-Chosen.
Almost 20 years had passed since then, and nobody had managed to slay the new beast, even with the age limit being twenty.
But Saya felt that her Young Master could easily beat his elder sister's record.
"Why won't we be heading toward the center, Young Master? There's a magical beast with an Elemental Source in there."
Caelum flicked Saya's forehead. He couldn't explain the special mission to her, so he just told her to stop asking so many questions and assured her that he had his own plans.
Finally, he got up and decided to get moving.
There was a lot to do. Caelum had to get used to utilizing Qi, test out his Dao Techniques, and explore other possibilities that opened up with the ability to use Qi.
At the same time, he decided to keep his breakthrough to the Qi Gathering realm a secret for at least four or five more days. The current strongest of the younger generation was Sun Li from the Temple of Light sect.
Even he had taken about a week to finish Body Tempering.
'Approximately matching the speed of the strongest genius known within the Empire should be enough for my needs. Anything faster and there might be trouble,' Caelum casually thought.
The two of them returned to the Duke Mansion, and Caelum sent Saya off, instructing her to focus on cultivating, so that he could test out his new abilities away from her curious eyes.
That evening, Caelum's mood was exceptional.
And soon, a new day arrived. It was time to head out into the city with Lyra. Caelum had plans to resolve some small misunderstandings that day. It promised to be a fun time.