Ch 23 - Elder?
To be honest, Xu Ming expected many things to come out of the Sect Leader's mouth but this was not among them.
*A sect elder?*
Xu Ming was surprised, and even let it show on his face.
"I dare not be presumptuous enough to claim this position, Sect Leader.", Xu Ming cupped his fists and spoke.
The Sect Leader replied, "Don't be humble. Although your cultivation is indeed not enough, your skills in alchemy is more than merit the position. Besides, you're going to be an elder of the Longevity Peak that doesn't concern itself with combat. Why worry in that case? Just teach a few disciples occasionally and it'll be fine."
Xu Ming pondered for a few minutes before saying, "Then, I'll heed the wishes of Sect Leader and Elder Qin and shamelessly accept the Elder position."
Saying this, he stood up and bowed, which the Sect Leader did not stop.
The Sect Leader then asked, "Do you want to have an Elder Ascension ceremony? We can arrange for one in two weeks if you do."
Xu Ming didn't have to think very hard and replied, "As I am still young and unworthy, I would humbly like to deny this honor."
The Sect Leader looked thoughtful but did not deny him. He motioned with his hands, and Elder Keqing brought a few items for Xu Ming, which he stored in his space ring. He would look at the specific content later.
"Then, I'll be off, Sect Leader and Elder Keqing."
The Sect Leader waved his hand and said, "You can come up and ask for a meeting anytime."
Elder Keqing smiled and spoke, "That's not Elder to you anymore. Call me Daoist Keqing from now on. Feel free to contact me if you need anything."
Xu Ming cupped his fists and left the hall without saying anything.
---
At this moment, everyone's breath was baited as they watched a man on screen face a giant demon wolf.
The man and the wolf looked deep into the other's eyes, as if declaring the start of a death battle, trying to decipher the other's thoughts.
One of the judges spoke, "This is the Third Eye Demon Wolf, a Demon Commander level wolf. It is considered one of the more formidable demon commanders. This is because it not only has incredible physical strength, but also has the ability to perform soul attacks with its third eye."
At this moment, Xu Ming quietly sat down in the table inside the bar without attracting attention. Everyone's eyes were drawn on were to the screen projecting the scene.
Xu Ming asked Mei Ji, "Who's the guy facing the wolf?"
Mei Ji looked surprised, and asked, "You don't know Cao Ge?"
Xu Ming didn't hesitate to admit it and said, "I really don't know. I usually spend my time cultivating, so I don't recognise anyone."
Mei Ji pouted, because she could actually believe it. This hardworking maniac put both her and the Peak Leader to shame. He didn't look like a member of the Longevity Peak at all.
Mei Ji explained, "He's Cao Ge, the inheritor of the One Sword Palace. You must know the One Sword Palace, right? It's one of the few Supreme Sects. He already has so many feats behind him, that I can't even begin to list them."
Xu Ming nodded and was about to reply when the man in white on the screen made his move.
The man casually waved a slash at the wolf, which rended the skies and caused the soil to tear apart. The wolf wasn't a slouch, however, and responded with a move of its own, smashing the slash with its claws.
The wolf started to get serious after sensing the intensity of his slash. The Demon Wolf howled with such great power that it shook the soil for thousands for metres and made every demon in the surrounding area cower.
Cao Ge felt the power too. However, he merely smiled and prepared one of his moves.
"One Sword Style - Reprieval."
The Sword Qi gathered at the tip of his blade seemed to break the void itself. The wolf seemed prepared to respond with a move it's own.
The moves seemed to be evenly matched in power, and tore the environment apart. However, the man and the wolf were not injured.
Cao Ge felt the pressure from the wolf grow stronger and smiled, and said, "This is a true battle! I will give it my all!"
The wolf seemed to also acknowledge the person in front of it, and opened its third eye, emitting intense spiritual pressure.
"Xu Ming, isn't the battle getting so interesting?", Mei Ji turned her head and asked Xu Ming.
"Huh? Where did he go?"
Mei Ji was puzzled and pouted to herself.
*Where does this guy always go? So annoying.*
---
Xu Ming sat down in his medicinal bath and prepared, as usual, to begin his body cultivation session.
He was currently at the muscle tempering stage, and had to temper his bones to reach the next stage. It took him quite a long time to finish tempering his muscles, and it was far from a pleasant experience.
To prepare the medicinal bath, Xu Ming had to prepare a concoction made especially for breaking down the bone structure from within the body, using special herbs to achieve this effect. This was an extraordinary expense and people would normally not go with this method, but Xu Ming had no expense to spare when considering his cultivation.
The "normal" method, in fact, was to take a big hammer and smash the bones to pieces while cultivating according to the body cultivation script. Pain was synonymous with body cultivation, after all.
However, this method was less painful than what Xu Ming was going through right now. After all, you could only achieve a certain amount of damage with a hammer but the medicinal properties left no stones unturned.
Xu Ming did not hold back and hollered in pain, as he tried to grip the sides of the barrel in pain, and closed his eyes tight, trying to focus on the cultivation script.
"Royal Vajra Art - Bone Reformation.
As the holy titan descended upon the earth, it broke the standards of life; broken, remolded, it shaped the way....."
Xu Ming spoke in a strange language that he didn't know how to speak, but yet was able to articulate while following the cultivation script.
Slowly, the pain subsided as his bones broke down to a dust-like level, and then slowly reformed by a special force. The special force absorbed the medicinal essense in the bath and molded the bones into a stronger version.
Xu Ming gasped for breath and got out of the bath, slowly recovering from the pain.
"That's the third bone refinement done. According to the script, I must do this 24 more times before it reaches the saturated level."
Even after finishing his body cultivation session, Xu Ming did not stop his practice. He started practicing his footwork art for half an hour, and his spear arts for another hour.
The name of his spear arts was the "Thousand Cherry Pluck."
Although it sounded quite weak, the art was actually among one of the most formidable spear arts in the sect. Xu Ming was able to exchange for this Golden-Tier art after helping a few of the Combat Peak's disciples successfully break through to Foundation Establishment with his pills.
The Combat Peak Leader Kai Feng was very pleased with this, and directly pulled this art from his private collection for Xu Ming. It was made by a very formidable Nascent Soul Cultivator, the Cherry Descent Spear God. With this spear art, he single handedly defended against an army of hundreds of Core Formation martial artists.
Apparently, at Grand Completion, it was capable of striking hundreds of points at the same time, requiring hand and eye coordination, reaction time, hand speed, and power to such an inhuman level that nobody would be able to defend against it.
Xu Ming would often strike the snow laden trees, causing some of the snowflakes to fall off. Taking advantage of it, he would try to pierce through them one by one with his wooden spear. The keyword is try, because even if he tried, it was abnormally difficult to succeed at this.
After this extensive training, Xu Ming prepared his dinner, and the food for Siwi as well.
It was at this moment that Xu Ming remembered the items he had stored in his space ring from earlier.
Looking at the contents, Xu Ming could make out what the items were. Firstly, there was an elder medallion that read, "Elder Xu Ming of the Longevity Peak, the 79th Elder of the Ming Sword Sect."
Besides this, there was a white robe with golden lines that signified the role of an elder. There was also a small bounty of a bag of spirit stones, and a few cultivation pill bottles. Last but not least, there was a manual that listed the rules of the sect and responsibilities of the elders.
Xu Ming kept everything in mind and stored it in his Space Ring. Although he found it strange that Elder Qin would make some sacrifices to put him in an elder position, he certainly appreciated his concern for him.
Thinking that he didn't want to let Elder Qin down, Xu Ming quickly finished his dinner, while Siwi was still slowly absorbing the fertilizer.
Then, he immediately lit up a few cultivation incenses, started the 2nd Tier Qi Gathering Array, and started his cultivation.
Cultivating the Eternal Script, Xu Ming buckled in to start cultivating for the night.