The Su

The High Heaven Pavilion Sect was actually quite large. It was the size of a village in of itself. It would have to be really considering there were hundreds of disciples within the sect, and that was only counting normal disciples, not the actual proper disciples that had been fully accepted upon reaching the second realm.

Each of the sect elders had their own compound that could easily house up to fifty or more people.

Elder Su Xuan Wu, was the second elder of the sect, and as such, one of the most powerful of the sect and the size of his compound reflected that.

Two older disciples, each whom had to at least be in the in the Qi Transformation realm, an entire realm above his own stood guard outside the gates of the compound.

He gave them both a polite bow, "Senior brothers, can you direct me to Elder Su please?" Shen Lei.

"Seeking one of the elders out cannot be done lightly," one replied, eyeing him with a frown, "What is the reason behind your visit."

Still bowing, Shen Lei answered, "Yesterday I ascended to the second realm, I am here to inform the elder of my accomplishments."

The guards eyes widened, "Indeed, good show then junior brother!" he grinned broadly, "The elder will be pleased. Head on in and ask one of the servants to direct you to him and announce your presence."

"Many thanks." Shen Lei nodded gratefully and proceeded through the gate. As he did, with the guards unable to see him, his lips twisted up into a brief sneer.

He was not a fan at all of having to stand on formality like this all the time, it was grating. But after the memories he received yesterday, he outright found himself despising the utter bullshit.

Typical cultivator grand standing bullshit. Always having to make even a greeting or casual talk some grand fucking ceremony to feel above the masses.

After finding a servant, they lead him through the compound to a formal sitting room and entered. After a moment, they came back out and gave him a nod before disappearing back through the compound, probably to continue with their duties.

As soon as they did, a familiar voice echoed through the closed doors he was standing in front of.

"Enter."

Shen Lei did just that, pulling the door open and stepping in. His eyes landed on Elder Su, sitting in a chair with a cup of tea in hand. He bowed respectfully, "This disciple greets Elder Su."

Elder Su was quite the old looking man with a tall, lithe build. He had long well kept light brown hair, and a very well groomed beard to match. Despite how old looking he was though, looking like a man in his sixties, most probably would not be able to guess that he was well over a hundred years old.

To Shen Lei's surprise though, Elder Su was not the only one in the room. Sitting opposite of him was the main core disciple of High Heaven Pavilion and Elder Su's grandaughter.

Su Yan. A grown woman of twenty years old and a peerless beauty with ebony black midnight hair tied up in the back in the shape of a butterfly before cascading down her back in a shimmering black ebony curtain, and a pair gleaming sapphire blue eyes. A white mantle hung over her shoulders, but even with it and sitting down, her voluptuous breasts could not be hidden at all.

He had only caught glimpses of her before and never exchanged any words. But, she was legendary within the sect. Only twenty years old and yet had reached the True Element realm, the fifth realm and one off of the maximum possible realm that stood at the pinnacle of this worlds martial dao. A prodigy among prodigies she was called.

After all, in the entire world, it was estimated there was less than two hundred people whom had reached the sixth realm that were alive today. And the world was a big place for a mere two hundred to rule over.

"Hmm, young Shen Lei, this elder greets you back," Elder Su gave him a nod, allowing him to stand up out of his bow, "what can this humble elder help you with toda..." he trailed off before taking a serious look at him.

"My my, it has finally happened," the older mans eyes widened slightly, "You have broken through your bottleneck and ascended to the second realm, and already reached the fourth stage by my estimates of your qi."

Shen Lei's own eyes widened, 'My qi feels that powerful?' he gaped for a moment.

Absently, he noticed Su Lan regarding him with interest, but put it out of mind for the moment, "No...I'm still only in the first stage of the second realm Elder Su," he corrected, "It just seems that all my efforts to break through have not gone in vain."

Elder Su coughed and tilted his head to the side, regarding him intensely, "Truly?" he asked and Shen Lei nodded, "Yet I can feel such a powerful and dense Qi coming from your body, easily on the level of one who had reached the Initial Element fourth stage, if not fifth."

"Heh," the old man chuckled, "Perhaps this bottleneck was a good thing in the long run then? While it has stymied your progress a bit, you have gained a strength beyond your level. While in the short term it was a bad thing, in the long term this will open up many avenues for you."

When he thought about it like that. Shen Lei could not stop the smile that spread across his face. Indeed, in the future, if say he could reach the sixth realm yet be beyond his realm thanks to this, could not he stand at the pinnacle of the martial dao?

What was a year of bottleneck and no progress compared to that?

"Elder Su is wise and I will take this to heart." Shen Lei replied, bowing his head briefly in thanks for his enlightenment.

As he thought on those words though, he felt something shift in his head and felt his qi rushing in his veins, growing, becoming stronger. His eyes widened.

Another breakthrough!?

"Hoh, it seems you have gained a bit of enlightenment and proceeded to the second stage already," Elder Su clapped, "It seems we really were not wrong about your talent, you do not lose out in aptitude at all to my gran daughter here."

Shen Lei was barely paying attention to him at this point, he could barely hear with the rushing of wind in his ears and comprehension dawned on him.

The Martial Dao truly was a mysterious force.

"...This jump in qi strength is impressive," Su Yan regarded him with interested eyes, "While it is quite normal to ascend in strength like this during an enlightenment to the next stage, this level of qi density would not be at all inferior to a seventh stage Initial Element."

Elder Fu stroked his beard, "Like yourself Shen Lei is quite the prodigy, I have no doubt he already understands most of what he needs to progress to the third realm in little time, a year possibly at most," he replied, "My words were merely a trigger that made him think on what he already understood and apply it mentally and to the martial dao."