“D-Did you just say ‘demon core’…?” Min Li snapped her head to look at Lan Yingying with a shocked face.
Demons should be extinct, so demon cores should no longer exist. However, if some of them have managed to survive this long, then it would be an incredibly valuable— even priceless treasure!
However, that wasn’t even the most shocking part! Why would Yuan consume something like that? Although she doesn’t know the difference between demon cores and monster cores, they should function the same way, meaning it would be reckless if not suicidal to swallow them!
“Wait… Are people allowed to use treasures while they are challenging the Stairway to Heaven? Isn’t that cheating?” Chu Liuxiang had a different question in mind.
Feng Yuxiang shook her head and said, “As far as I’m aware, it’s not against the rules, or the Young Master would’ve failed already. I guess it’s allowed because the Stairway to Heaven didn’t take into consideration that someone might be able to consume treasures like the Young Master.”
It was at this moment that Meixiu logged into the game.
“Did something happen?” She asked them when she saw their faces.
Chu Liuxiang proceeded to explain to her the situation.
Meanwhile, Yuan had just reached the ninth level of Spirit Grandmaster and was only a single level away from becoming a Spirit Lord!
“Heavens…” Huang Xiao Li was sitting on the floor because her legs had given up on her after she witnessed Yuan’s heaven-defying talents.
After stopping at the peak of Spirit Grandmaster for a few minutes, Yuan suddenly took a deep breath, and when he released it, a cloud of glistening mist would come out of his mouth, almost like he was smoking.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust appeared in the room despite the windows being closed.
<You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough!>
<Because your Qi Experience is already full, you will not be able to receive anymore Qi until you reach the next realm>
<You have met the requirements for a breakthrough>
<You have reached first level Spirit Lord>
<+??? Stats>
<Your ‘Superior Senses’ has developed into ‘Spiritual Senses’>
<You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough!>
<You have reached second level Spirit Lord!>
<+??? Stats!>
Yuan opened his eyes after he reached the second level Spirit Lord, as he’d completely absorbed the demon core at that point.
He stood up and stretched his body, feeling incredibly refreshed and filled with energy.
“A-Are you okay…?” Huang Xiao Li asked him in a nervous voice.
Normally, one would experience backlashes if their cultivation base expands so quickly.
“I am perfectly fine,” he said with a calm smile on his face.
“And I am also ready to fight the Flying Leviathan.”
“B-But the Flying Leviathan has the strength of a low-level Spirit Emperor… You’re still two entire realms below that…” Huang Xiao Li said in a low voice.
“I will manage it somehow. Let’s go meet up with the others now, shall we?”
She nodded.
The two of them proceeded to make their way to the deck of the ship, where every single cultivator onboard was gathered.
“Y-You… You have been suppressing your cultivation base this entire time? I thought it was insane how a Spirit Grandmaster could defeat Spirit Lords with ease! It turns out you’d been a Spirit Lord yourself this entire time!” Qin Kai was dumbfounded to see Yuan suddenly emitting the aura of a Spirit Lord.
Yuan didn’t say anything and merely smiled at his words.
Seeing that he wasn’t saying anything, Huang Xiao Li also decided to keep her mouth shut. They wouldn’t believe her even if she told them the truth, anyway.
“How long until the Flying Leviathan arrives?” Yuan asked them.
“It will arrive in about fifteen minutes,” said Huang Chen.
“I see…”
While they waited, Yuan decided to check his stats since it has been awhile.
However, what he saw immediately left him dumbfounded.
—
Cultivation: Second Level Spirit Lord
Legacy: Great One’s Legacy
Bloodline: Immortal Monarch Bloodline
Physique: Heaven Refining Physique
Physical Strength: ???
Mental Strength: ???
Soul Strength: ???
Physical Defense: ???
Mental Defense: ???
Qi Experience: ???/???
“I can’t see my stats? Are they too high? Maybe I am advancing much faster than the game anticipated…”
It wasn’t his first time seeing these question marks since his Qi Experience has been bugged out after becoming a Spirit Grandmaster. Now that he has become a Spirit Lord, even his character stats have been bugged out.
However, Yuan wasn’t worried at all. After all, it wasn’t as if his stats were gone. It’s just so high that even the system cannot keep up with it.
After waiting anxiously for the Flying Leviathan, the captain’s voice suddenly returned.
“The Flying Leviathan is here! Prepare for battle!”
Right after the captain’s voice disappeared, Yuan and everyone on the ship could feel a powerful aura suddenly appear in the distance.
This aura was so intense that it instantly knocked those with a weak mental defense unconscious.
Yuan could feel his entire body shivering from fear, but his blood was boiling with excitement for some reason.
“Are we all ready?” Huang Chen asked them.
Everybody there nodded.
“Please wait a moment.” Yuan suddenly said.
“What is it?”
They looked at him.
“I would like to apologize,” he said.
“Why are you apologizing?” Huang Xiao Li raised her eyebrows in a puzzled manner.
Yuan didn’t say anything else and began drawing array symbols with his hand, and before anybody there could react, he activated the array he’d created in less than a second, confining the Huang Family and the bodyguards they hired in a powerful barrier.
“W-What is the meaning of this?!” Huang Chen roared in a furious voice when he thought that Yuan had betrayed them.
“Yuan! Why are you doing this?!” Huang Xiao Li also questioned him.
Yuan took a deep breath before speaking, “You hired me to keep your family safe, and that is what I intend on doing.”
“What about us?! We’re also hired to protect them! We should be fighting alongside you!” Qin Kai said to him.
Yuan shook his head and said in a calm voice, “Because this isn’t your trial— it’s my trial.”