Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu

As the auction ended, everyone naturally returned home. Those who had managed to buy items they liked were naturally happy, while those who had not went home sighing and shaking their heads. Ling Han, meanwhile, was the biggest winner of today, having received a massive wealth of close to 200 million. If this news was actually spread out, then there may actually people who attempted to rob him on his way back. If they actually managed to succeed, there would be no need to worry about money for the rest of their lives.

Thankfully, there did not appear any such blind people.

When he returned to Hu Yang Academy, Ling Han went to bed. There was not much difference between 100 or 200 million and scrap paper in his eyes, so there was no need for him to keep counting his money like some kind of miser.

Early the next morning, he naturally woke up to cultivate as per usual. His advancement rate was too fast by now. He had just broken through to the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier two days ago, yet now he was already close to the late period of the ninth layer. There was only one more step left and he would be in the peak period, ready to attempt breaking through to Gushing Spring Tier.

‘Should I try out that ?’ Ling Han pondered, after he was done cultivating.

In his last life, he had ventured into a considerable number of historical sites, and had naturally managed to obtain quite a number of cultivation and martial arts techniques, as well as a few personal letters that he suspected had been written by an elite of Shattering Void Tier. There was a certain possibility mentioned in these letters.

Tenth layer of Element Gathering Tier!

Nine was the utmost number of this world, so nine was considered the top of everything in this world. The king of yesterday and tomorrow referred to the Emperors of the mortal world. It was the same in the field of martial arts; whether it was from Body Refining Tier or all the way to Heaven Tier, the ninth layer was considered the top level that one could aspire to.

And from Body Refining to Heaven Tier, there were also actually nine tiers. The last Shattering Void Tier would break one’s mortal shackles, and was the step that would allow one to shatter the void to become a god. It was a bridge that connected to the other shore, and could be considered as the evasive one.

However, there was an ancient almighty character that had mentioned that, in fact, one could actually still cultivate to the extreme layer in every tier, until perfection.

The notes that Ling Han had obtained only mentioned that it was possible to form the tenth Origin Nucleus in Element Gathering Tier, break the limit of nine and catch the evasive one and really obtain perfection.

The benefits of such a thing were endless.

One had to understand that after Element Gathering Tier, what lay ahead was Gushing Spring Tier, and in this tier, the martial artist would transform the Origin Nuclei he had into springs that gushed out Origin Power in his Dantian. After Gushing Spring Tier was Spiritual Ocean Tier, which was to transform these springs into endless oceans of Origin Power.

Spiritual Pedestal, Flower Blossoming, Spiritual Infant, Deity Transformation… all the subsequent tiers were closely related to this. From this aspect, the Element Gathering Tier was actually the foundation of one’s path of martial arts, and had far-reaching consequences.

…Body Refining Tier was only to refine one’s blood and flesh, bones and tendons, while only in Element Gathering would one open up his Dantian, and could finally be considered as having officially stepped onto the path of a cultivator.

As a result, to be able to reach the ultimate limits of a mortal body in Element Gathering Tier and reach perfection would have benefits that would last for the rest of one’s lifetime.

The problem here was that that ancient almighty person had only mentioned that it was theoretically possible, but had not managed to accomplish it himself. It was because he had returned to consider this issue only after he had reached a very high cultivation level. However, time was irreversible, so he could not possibly return to Element Gathering Tier to once again begin cultivating.

There was a large lapse in the history of the martial arts of this land, and there was also a large number of alchemical pill formulae that had been lost in the passage of time. It was likely that some unknown massive catastrophe happened in the era of that almighty person. Anyways, his theory had never been spread out and known by others, not to mention attempted. It was thus lost in the pages of history—until the notes came to be discovered by Ling Han.

For the Ling Han of that time, these notes naturally did not have much use. However, who would have thought that his body would have been shattered by the black tower, and his soul, after 10 000 years, would be reborn in the body of a young man, which gave him an opportunity to start again from the beginning?

‘It seems like, in a mysterious way, this was destined.’ Ling Han pinched his chin, obviously a bit hesitant.

Forming the tenth nucleus was nothing to play around with. Nine was the ultimate limit, and was an absolute balance. However, if he decided to push in by force the tenth nucleus, that would undoubtedly shatter this delicate balance, and could possibly lead to a terrible disaster.

Otherwise, after so many generations of elites and geniuses, why had no one ever thought of the possibility of ten nuclei, or even twenty?

This naturally showed how difficult it was to actually take this step, or perhaps even how impossible a feat it seemed.

‘Forget it, l’ll reach the peak period of the ninth layer, then consider it again.’ Ling Han shook his head, and did not continue to waste his time pondering this issue.

By afternoon, he received a piece of good news and a piece of bad news.

The good news was that Mo Gao had come out of seclusion, and had successfully ascended to Gushing Spring Tier.

“Teacher Mo, congratulations for breaking through.” Ling Han sensed a powerful wave of Origin Power and immediately rushed over to Mo Gao’s courtyard. True enough, he very quickly saw Mo Gao walk out of his house. Though he looked a little disheveled, his essence, energy, and spirit were shockingly strong.

“Hahahaha, after ten plus years of delay, I finally broke through,” Mo Gao said a bit ruefully.

“I believe that, with Teacher Mo’s intent focus on the art of the sword, you will be able to easily break through the obstacles on your path of martial arts and enter into an even higher cultivation level,” Ling Han said, smiling. This was not an exaggeration on his part. With a Sword Heart that was almost formed, Mo Gao’s path of cultivation would definitely be smooth and easy from this point onwards. As the saying goes, a great talent matures slowly, and Mo Gao would definitely experience a huge burst.

Mo Gao smiled faintly. As a martial artist, how could he not desire to ascend to a higher cultivation level? It was just that when compared with advancement in cultivation level, he was more passionate about the art of the sword. Now that his Sword Heart was forming, and his cultivation level was also raised, he had nothing to be displeased about.

“You, your cultivation!” Mo Gao’s expression suddenly changed and he pointed at Ling Han, shock filling his features.

Ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier!

He suddenly had a feeling like he was about to faint. When Ling Han had just come here, he was only in the fifth layer of Element Gathering, and just how much time had passed? Just barely a month, and this guy was already in the ninth layer of Element Gathering now. Most likely, it would not be too long before Ling Han would be able to catch up to and even surpass him.

What a monster.

Ling Han nodded, and said, “The advancement in cultivation level is indeed a bit slow.” He sighed.

‘Poser!’

Even with his training in Sword Heart, Mo Gao could not help but want to curse. This brat was really too much of a poser.

“Get lost!” he said irritatedly.

Ling Han laughed loudly and left—Mo Gao had just broken through, so he needed some time to stabilize his position in the cultivation level.

The bad news, meanwhile, was brought by Liu Yu Tong.

Actually, this piece of news was expected, though it had come a bit later than he had predicted.

Those clothing shops that Ling Han had opened had all been robbed or damaged the night before. Now, the doors were broken open, the clothes were either robbed or torn to pieces. Not one of them was in a state to re-open.

Obviously, this was the beginning of the counterattack by Chen Yun Xiang, or perhaps Sun Zi Yan.

Since the peaceful resolution had failed the day before, they had immediately started to act the night before. Most probably, they had used the power of the Earth and Water Faction. After all, it was very easy for those hooligans to do this kind of job.

“Now what do we do?” Liu Yu Tong asked Ling Han.

“Since the opponent is not willing to follow the rules, then we can also only resort to force.” Ling Han smiled faintly.

Liu Yu Tong was stunned, and said, “You want to charge to the Chen Clan? You can’t! Sun Zi Yan must have guessed that you would do so. The Chen Clan would definitely be heavily guarded today, and there may even be imperial guards present. If you actually come to blows with the imperial guards, no one would be able to save you!”

The imperial guards represented the Imperial Family, so there was no difference between coming to blows with the imperial guards and committing treason.

Ling Han grinned, then said, “Since that grandson wants to play, then let’s just join him in his game. Anyways, I’m quite free right now! Let’s go to the Earth and Water Faction first, and first deal with this group of lackeys.”

Liu Yu Tong was even dizzier at this, and said, “The Faction Leader of the Earth and Water Faction, Yang Tian Du, is in the Spiritual Ocean Tier!”

“En, so we have to go to the Heaven Military Hall first,” Ling Han said with a smile.