“What? Is my strength still lacking at the moment? Do I have to reach high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle for it to work?”
Seeing how Qi Ling-er had gone silent all of a sudden, Zhang Xuan could not help but frown.
Qi Ling-er took a deep breath and suppressed her stifled feeling before finally speaking up. “Those who are able to get into the top thirty of the Board of Potential God Kings are all at high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle. That’s the minimum requirement for them to differentiate themselves from other high-tier Celestial Gods…”
Even though Zhang Xuan had managed to advance his cultivation to high-tier Celestial God, there was still a huge gap before he could reach the top of the cultivation stage.
The step after high-tier Celestial God was God King. Even though it was just a single cultivation stage, the amount of energy that was required to make this breakthrough was massive, such that there were cultivators who had reinforced their foundation for hundreds of years, only to fail to make the breakthrough time and time again.
For this reason, the gap among high-tier Celestial Gods could be surprisingly huge. A person who had just become a high-tier Celestial God was bound to be drastically different from one who had reached that level centuries prior.
Even with Zhang Xuan’s potential, he would have to cultivate for at least a year in order to climb his way to the top.
Even with Qi Yue’s talent and the huge amount of resources the Qi Clan had invested in him, he had still taken almost ten years to raise his cultivation from high-tier Celestial God realm primary stage to pinnacle.
“Is that so?”
Hearing that he had to raise his cultivation to high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle at the very minimum, Zhang Xuan clearly hesitated for a moment. Then, with a deep sigh, he murmured, “I guess I have no choice but to use that then…”
With a flick of his wrist, he took out a pill.
It was one of the God Essence Pills that he had bought from Fu Jiangchen just a moment ago.
Ordinary high-tier God Essence Pills were no longer as effective on him. So, he had to rely on this in order to raise his cultivation to higher realms.
Without any hesitation, he popped the pinnacle God Essence Pill into his mouth.
“Young Master Zhang, you are…”
Seeing how Zhang Xuan abruptly popped a pill into his mouth after hearing her words, Qi Ling-er was a little dumbfounded.
What in the world are you up to?
You can’t be trying to make a breakthrough now, can you?
Don’t you need to condition yourself and prepare?
It can’t be that you are able to raise your cultivation just by stuffing yourself with medicine, right?
Qi Ling-er was just about to pose her doubts when she saw the young man suddenly closing his eyes. Two seconds later, he opened his eyes once more and said, “Alright, I’m done. I am at high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle now.”
Boom!
Following his words, an indomitable aura flowed out of his body. The pressure that was coming from him felt so powerful that she felt as if she was going to be crushed to bits.
“T-this…” Qi Ling-er was really flabbergasted.
I only said five words after you swallowed the God Essence Pill, but within that short period, you were actually able to achieve what took Qi Yue ten years to accomplish?
Feeling more stifled than ever, Qi Ling-er clutched her chest and rubbed it to soothe the congested feeling within.
It was a good thing that Qi Yue was not there, or else he would have been traumatized out of his wits!
It sure was darned frustrating to see someone pulling off something that took others years to achieve so easily…
The heck, was it really fine for the creator to unleash a monster like that upon the world?
It was unfair!
“How is it? Am I strong enough now? If this isn’t enough yet, I can wait a little longer till my soul cultivation rises to high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle too,” Zhang Xuan said.
His physical body and zhenqi cultivation had already reached high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle, but his soul cultivation was not at that level yet. He still needed to accumulate some more Anima of Yearning in order to pull that off.
“T-there’s no need for that…”
Fearing that the young man would really pull something off that would allow his soul cultivation to grow on the spot. Qi Ling-er quickly turned him down. She closed her eyes for a moment to adjust her emotions before speaking. “Young Master Zhang, you are already strong enough. It’s just that the three ways which I have listed out aren’t easy to accomplish… Putting aside the ones that require you to become a God King or reach the top of an occupation, even becoming a Golden Armored General of the Sky of Drifting Specters isn’t easy. And when it comes to the elusive Sky of Freedom, receiving a special permit is as difficult as trying to scale the heavens…”
“You’re right…” Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
The three ways that Qi Ling-er had stated were indeed not easy at all.
If that was the case, should he spend another month or two there to reinforce his cultivation and become a God King first?
But that would take way too much time. It was his last option at the moment.
Was there a way for him to make a breakthrough that night or within the next two days?
That did not seem too likely either, especially since he did not have a clue which direction he should develop the Pathos of Heaven in.
Furthermore, he knew that the hurdle to overcome to become a God King was not low at all. He would surely face plenty of trouble doing so.
“You mentioned earlier that those who have reached the top of their occupation and are within the top thirty of the Board of Potential God Kings can use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation. What occupations are considered under this?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“Apothecaries, physicians, blacksmiths, master teachers… These are the four main ones, I think,” Qi Ling-er said. “They are not centered around fighting, and they can contribute greatly to the cultivators around them. Most powers are eager to poach talents in those fields.
“The fact that you are able to create the Breakthrough Pill goes to show that your proficiency in pill forging is extraordinary. If you could just take the exam and be officially recognized as a member of the occupation, you would be given the right to use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation!”
“How does the exam work?”
“The exam for Drifting Specter Royal City’s Apothecary Guild requires its examinees to forge a pill on the spot. As long as a cultivator is able to forge a high-tier God Essence Pill, they will have cleared the examination,” Qi Ling-er replied.
“High-tier God Essence Pill?” Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless.
While he was the man who had created the extraordinary Breakthrough Pill and Beauty Pill, his true skills in pill forging were disastrous. Putting aside a high-tier God Essence Pill, it was a huge question whether he could forge even a low-tier God Essence Pill at all.
He would be immediately exposed as a fraud if he attempted to forge a pill before another apothecary…
As for smithing, it seemed like he was not capable of forging anything other than bricks.
So, after much thought, the only viable option left for him was to focus on the path of a master teacher or a physician.
“If I were to seek the path of a physician, how high must my mastery be in order to use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation? Also, how does the examination work?” Zhang Xuan asked.
If he walked the path of a master teacher, he would inevitably get tied up together with Kong shi. At least till he was sufficiently strong to stand his ground, he did not wish to catch Kong shi’s eye.
The affairs of the Azure had taught him to be wary.
“Physician?” Qi Ling-er frowned contemplatively. “This… I’m afraid that I don’t really know. I’ll have to head to the Physician Guild to ask them about it.”
Aren’t you an apothecary? Why are you taking the physician examination instead? Or are you telling me that… you are skilled in medicine as well?
“Let’s head there together,” Zhang Xuan said
It was just a matter of time before he took the examination anyway, so he might as well make his way there and clear it as soon as possible. It would save him some time.
“Alright!” Qi Ling-er nodded.
There were organizations representing all sorts of occupations in the Firmament; it was just that they were not as influential as they were on the Master Teacher Continent.
In the Firmament, what people valued most was still strength. As long as one displayed sufficient strength, all sorts of talented people would congregate around one.
For this reason, while apothecaries, physicians, and blacksmiths were viewed in high regard by others, their standing was not as high as on the Master Teacher Continent.
The master teachers in the Firmament aren’t as organized and disciplined as those on the Master Teacher Continent either… Zhang Xuan sighed deeply as he recalled Fan Zhe’s doing.
On the Master Teacher Continent, the expectations of a master teacher were very extreme. Not only did they have to be knowledgeable about cultivation, they had to be skilled in multiple occupations as well. Every 9-star master teacher would have to be a master in nine different occupations.
As for the Firmament, it seemed like master teachers just had to be decently good at teaching, and it did not seem like there were strict rules on their ethics.
Perhaps Kong shi was in a rush to initiate the system of master teachers all over the world so as to obtain more Anima of Yearning. He did not have the luxury of time to take a step at a time to develop the occupation properly.
Given how quickly he had risen through the ranks, challenging the Nine God Monarchs one after another, if he had really taken his time, the Master Teacher Pavilion would have been crushed by other powers in the initial phase of its establishment.
