Chapter 49: Core Disciple

Qing’s eyes snapped open, and this time, when they opened, he saw the test area where he had actually been standing. ’I am back.’ He felt the black scripture still firmly grasped in his hand, confirming that everything he had experienced inside his Sea of Consciousness had happened while only a short amount of time had passed in the outside world.

The corner of his eye shifted toward the Sect Master for a brief moment, and he immediately noticed that she was watching him carefully, ’She might be wondering why nothing happened yet. Now that nothing happened, she will become suspicious of me, but that won’t make her take the initiative to exterminate me right here.’

A small grin appeared at the corner of Qing’s lips before he lowered his gaze toward the scripture again. He looked at the words written on the first page while another thought surfaced in his mind. ’She knows that I have the Six Sovereign Spiritual Roots, which means she won’t kill me that easily no matter what.’

He already understood what her plan would remain even after what happened inside the Dreamland, ’She still would want to make a Demon control my body.’

Qing shook his head slightly at the thought of her attempting the same objective through another method, although he already knew that the next attempt would probably be more direct.

’The next time after that, she will take direct action though.’ Qing dismissed those thoughts for the moment and shifted his attention entirely toward the first page of the scripture. He focused on the words written across it and allowed Ultimate Comprehension to analyze every piece of information contained within them.

Although he had already comprehended everything necessary while inside his Sea of Consciousness, he deliberately took his time now so that his speed wouldn’t appear suspicious. He continued reading for a while before finally raising his head.

’It must have been some hours since I went inside my Sea of Consciousness, so I guess I can say that I comprehended the scripture without making anyone too suspicious about my comprehension.’ Qing already knew that there was a difference in the flow of time between the real world and his Sea of Consciousness, which allowed him to spend considerably more time inside without causing an obvious discrepancy outside.

He didn’t know exactly how much time had passed within his consciousness compared to the outside world, but three hours seemed like a reasonable amount of time to claim. With that thought, Qing finally turned his attention toward the Sect Master and prepared to report the result of the test.

"I have completed the comprehension of the first page of the scripture."

The Sect Master immediately frowned and narrowed her eyes when she heard his words, ’Nothing happened? What’s Brexblood doing?’ She immediately thought of the Demon that should have been inside the Dreamland, yet she couldn’t sense any trace of its presence coming from Qing.

For now, however, she couldn’t allow her confusion to show too clearly, so she pushed the thought toward the back of her mind and responded normally. "You finished it in three hours?" Qing nodded calmly and answered without hesitation.

"Yes, I did, although it’s just the first page."

The Sect Master narrowed her eyes once again before asking another question. "If that’s so, then summarize what you comprehended." Qing nodded because he had already expected this kind of scrutiny after returning from the Dreamland.

He calmly looked at the scripture in his hand before answering, "This scripture explains Dreamlands and how one is pulled inside one. A Dreamland here is a subconscious realm where the creator of the realm becomes invincible, trapping any cultivator inside and making it impossible for them to escape from there."

Qing paused briefly before continuing his explanation, "How one is pulled inside is a different matter, though. That knowledge is not written on the first page, so I am unable to summarize that."

His answer immediately caused the Sect Master and the Elders surrounding her to widen their eyes in surprise. The old man Gin and the Grand Elder beside him exchanged a look before speaking almost simultaneously, "Isn’t Dreamland something that is only comprehensible when one reaches the Core Formation Realm? How is his mind even able to understand it?"

Their expressions became increasingly complicated as they looked toward Qing, clearly unable to understand how someone at his current Cultivation could comprehend something that should have been far beyond his mental capacity.

"That’s what I am thinking, his mind doesn’t even have a Sea of Consciousness yet, which can increase his mental capacity. His mind should have burst from simply glancing at it." The words immediately caused the disciples standing below to frown and widen their eyes as they looked toward Qing.

Some of them stared at him with awe after hearing the Elders’ explanation, while others couldn’t hide the envy that appeared within their eyes. There were even a few disciples who looked at Qing with jealousy, clearly uncomfortable with how much attention he had received during the test.

And among all of them, there was a certain individual whose gaze carried something far more dangerous than simple envy or jealousy.

Killing Intent.

Qing’s eyes immediately shot toward his left as his perception spread beyond the boundaries of the test area. His perception traveled through the surrounding space until he finally detected a young man floating in air in the distance.

The young man had both hands behind his back and maintained a relaxed posture, yet waves of Killing Intent continuously radiated from his body and were directed toward Qing, ’Hmm? Why is he releasing Killing Intent toward me?’

Qing observed him for a brief moment before shaking his head slightly, knowing that he couldn’t possibly understand another person’s problem without knowing anything about them.

Qing shifted his attention back toward the Sect Master as she began speaking again. "Although it seems far-fetched and impossible that you could comprehend the scripture of Dreamland, you did, and that remains a fact."

Her tone remained calm, although the suspicion within her eyes hadn’t disappeared. "Now that you have comprehended the first page of the scripture as the test’s requirement, you have passed the test and are officially a disciple of the sect."

The Sect Master paused for a moment before snapping her fingers, and a small rectangular piece of green jade immediately appeared in her hand.

She smoothly threw it toward Qing, who caught it with his left hand without any difficulty, "That Jade contains the highest-grade and the largest quantity of resources that our Core Disciples receive. If you still feel that it is not enough for your Spiritual Roots and Elements, then that Jade also allows you to enter the Treasure Chamber of our sect."

The Sect Master looked toward Qing for a moment before finishing her explanation. "You can take any three items from there." Qing nodded as he looked down at the green Jade in his hand, carefully examining the strange characters engraved across its surface. The name of the sect was written on it using Chinese characters, and seeing them caused a strange thought to appear in Qing’s mind.

’I really transmigrated into a Xianxia cultivation world...’

Qing couldn’t help but feel slightly strange at the realization, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. He closed his hand around the Jade before slamming his fist into his own palm and bowing slightly toward the Sect Master. "Thank you for taking me in as a disciple. I will try to live up to your expectations."

His words caused the Grand Elders and Elders surrounding the Sect Master to nod in approval, while the Sect Master herself remained silent for a brief moment.

’Something is fishy with this Qing. There are measures I should absolutely take regarding him.’ Her gaze remained fixed on Qing as she continued thinking, ’His Spiritual Roots are unprecedented. If I can get hold of them, then I can finally kill both rulers of the other two Grand Regions.’

Her expression remained calm on the surface despite the thoughts running through her mind, and she ultimately decided not to take action in front of everyone. For now, she simply nodded toward Qing before her figure disappeared from the hall.

The Elders and Grand Elders vanished shortly afterward, leaving the remaining disciples in the test area. After they had all left, an Elder who had previously been floating high above finally descended toward Qing.

He stopped in front of him before speaking in a calm voice, "Let me guide you to the Core Disciples’ housing area." Qing immediately bowed once before following the Elder, but before leaving, he turned his head toward Yue for a brief moment. He then used Spiritual Transmission to send his voice directly into her mind.

’If you feel your Constitution acting up again, send me a message through someone, and I will try my best to come.’

Yue’s face immediately turned red when she heard his voice inside her mind. She looked sideways for a moment before replying hesitantly, ’I-I will do that. As I am just an Inner Disciple, I won’t be able to enter the Core Disciple area, so we will only be able to meet when you come out.’

Qing gave her a small nod before turning away and following the Elder toward the Core Disciples’ housing area, while Yue continued watching his back for a few moments before finally looking away.