“What? All you have to do is follow the techniques that are already in your brain and cultivate, and you’ll become so powerful that you can fly high in the sky and burrow into the deepest parts of the earth. Aside from such powers, there is so much more waiting for you to be discovered. I can’t comprehend why you would let go of such a golden opportunity?”

Ye Tianlong was apparently left shocked and was a little bit furious on hearing Qingyu’s refusal. He had to, however, put on a smiley face to persuade Qingyu, just like coaxing an inexperienced kid.

Meanwhile, Ye Qingniu was equally upset, for his dream to be remembered by the offspring of the Ye Family for guiding Qingyu into becoming an immortal had suddenly vanished. Even if it took Qingyu a hundred years to become an immortal, he would still be willing to nudge her into the cultivation world.

“Little girl, you have to cultivate. We beg you! You don’t have to continually do so, but just cultivate a bit in your leisure time. Errr.. you must cultivate anyhow!”

The imposing remarks of the two elders made Qingyu frightened, as she lowered her head and spoke in a hushed voice, “Two grandpas, I know the magic this knowledge can give me, but I simply don’t wish to gain such power. Moreover.. if I cultivate against my will, the result will be disappointing.”

“Errr..”

Ye Tianlong responded with nothing but a helpless sigh. If Qingyu had little zeal in cultivation, it would be unlikely for her to become an immortal as expected. After all, no cultivator in this continent was able to advance in cultivation while forced to do so.

“Little Qingwu, go and talk to Qingyu. She has to cultivate these techniques. I’ll explain the reasons to you at a later time.”

Ye Qingniu turned to Qingwu for help, as he secretly conveyed his voice to Qingwu, hoping his granddaughter could reverse this embarrassing situation.

“Eh?”

While Qingwu, on the other hand, looked at Ye Qingniu perplexingly. It took her a full moment to nod in confirmation. Neither did she have any clue on what was going on right now, nor did she understand why the two elders tried so hard to persuade Qingyu to cultivate. Furthermore, it was known to all that the earlier the age, the better the results would be. But Qingyu was going to be sixteen very soon. What kind of achievements would she make at such an age?

Despite the confusion, Qingwu followed her grandfather’s instructions.

“Dear sister Qingyu, you have to cultivate these techniques.”

“Eh? Sister Qingwu, even you wish for me to learn those techniques?” Qingyu was surprised that Qingwu would think the same way as the two elders.

“I’ve got several reasons for this!” Qingwu smiled gracefully as she replied, “Firstly, your brother has now become increasingly powerful. If you wish to accompany him for the rest of your life, you have to learn some cultivation to protect yourself. Look, if you cultivated in the past, the bully, Ye Qingxie, wouldn’t have approached you so easily. And the tragedy could have been avoided. Your brother, I think, will be very much relieved knowing that you can fend for yourself.”

“Secondly, the ultimate goal of every cultivator is to become an immortal, which brings unbelievable longevity alongside a youthful appearance. You know, the more powerful your brother becomes, the longer he’ll be alive in this world. Hey, my sister, think about this. Several decades from now, you become an old, wrinkled old woman, whilst your brother is still a robust young lad. Think of the comparison. If you want to stay with your brother much longer than your mundane life, cultivation is the most effective way to do so..”

“Thirdly, as your brother’s absolute power grows, the enemies he encounters will also be more powerful. Don’t you wish to lend him a hand whenever possible? Don’t you want to give your brother a big surprise when he comes home? Well, fourthly..”

Qingwu seemed like an expert in persuasion. She reeled off a list of reasons, and each and every single thing she mentioned was aiming at Qingyu’s interest – Ye Qinghan! She simply used her brother as a bait to lure Qingyu into cultivation. Also, like any beautiful girl, Qingyu couldn’t resist the temptation to stay forever young and never grow old.

“I will cultivate!”

Finally, Qingyu spoke up firmly with staunch determination. It seemed as if a fire had been set alight as her interest in cultivation slowly arose..

....

Time flew so fast, like a white pony flashing past a crevice. It had been two months and winter arrived bringing snowflakes all over the Dark Forest in the north. At the same time, the whole Flaming Dragon Continent was hit by a bone-chilling winter wind.

However, in the Luo Shen Mountain, Qinghan didn’t notice these changes. It wasn’t because he had acquired some exceptional technique to keep himself away from any coldness, rather, it was because the fog-covered mountain had isolated itself from the outside world. There was no chilling wind, or autumn rain, even the sunlight that shone through the fog looked dimmed.

Qinghan didn’t know that people outside the mountain had already put on their sweaters. Neither did he have any clue about the time. In the beginning, Qinghan had tried to keep track of time, but day after day, he gave less and less heed to it. The monotonous illusions were so boring and dull that they were actually slowly driving him crazy. The only thing he liked to do was to cultivate. The Realm of the Prince was his current goal.

Today was the day to condense the core of his Dantian, which meant, he was only one step away from stepping into the Realm of the Prince. Most importantly, if he succeeded, his chance of passing the challenge posed by the remaining six spiritual trees would be boosted.

Thanks to the countless spirit fruits, Qinghan’s cultivation speed had reached a terrifying extent. Within eight months, he had successfully broken into the peak level from the first level of the Realm of the Marshal. No one would believe this! Throughout history, no cultivator had ever been able to achieve such progress in such a short period of time.

“Little Black, the time has come! I’ll finally condense the core. Your job is to remind me to stop if I haven’t been able to condense it in four hours from now.”

Feeling the crystallizing Battle Qi, Qinghan gave a faint smile to Little Black, and asked his companion to wake him up before the next wave of illusions would appear.

“Come on, boss! You must succeed! I wish we can break this damn Illusion Trial as early as tomorrow. Alas, I’m so bored here.” Little Black complained.

With a perfect curve raise at the corner of Qinghan’s mouth, he relaxed himself and submerged himself in this final step – the condensation of the core of his Dantian.

This process was fairly easy in theory. The Battle Qi was now liquidated in granular form, like the grains of sand. What Qinghan needed to do right now was to force the grains of Battle Qi to move in a certain pattern within the confinement of his Dantian. As the Battle Qi kept churning at an accelerating speed, a vortex would form in the middle of the Dantian.

It was like, when you repeatedly stirred a bowl of water in circles, there would appear an eddy right in the center. In cultivation, the vortex was just the beginning of everything else. After that, one had to further accelerate the churning speed, so that the grains of Battle Qi would be able to be squeezed to the center. This way, the density of the liquidated Battle Qi would be increased until they all stuck together and formed a core.

It was easier said than done however, which was always the case.