Fifteen minutes ago, when Lin Mu had asked Duan Ke for a better quality weapons manual, she had actually not minded it. She would be open to selling him a higher quality manual if he was willing to pay the price for it.
But when Duan Ke felt her defensive spirit tool activate, she understood his underlying meaning. He did not just want a common weapons manual that's for body tempering realm experts, instead what he wanted was a weapons manual that's intended for a Qi refining realm cultivator.
Lin Mu's spirit sense had shocked Duan Ke, as she had never expected for him to become a cultivator this fast. It was only a month ago when he was in the 4th stage of the body tempering realm, and now he seemed to be a Qi refining realm cultivator. From what she observed, Duan Ke could tell that Lin Mu was at the 9th stage of the body tempering realm when he became a Qi refining realm expert.
Pushing all these thoughts to the back of her mind, Duan Ke decided to inform her grandfather first. She picked up the materials from the counter and walked to the back of the shop. She then blew out the lamp that was hanging from the ceiling and appeared in the enormous courtyard.
She stored the materials in her storage ring and went to the manor. Once inside the manor, Duan Ke looked for her grandfather who was currently in the massive library. She quickly found him standing near a shelf, reading from a book.
Jing Wei sensed his granddaughter's unease when she appeared in the library. At first, he thought that it was because she had found some clues, but when she spoke; it was not something he had expected.
"Grandfather, that boy Lin Mu came to sell beast materials and now he's asking for a high-grade weapons manual." Duan Ke spoke.
Jing Wei stopped reading the book he was holding and put it back onto the shelf before turning around.
"Hmm, so why does he think we have those manuals?" Jing Wei asked while stroking his beard.
"He has refined his spirit sense now. He tried to sense my cultivation base." Duan Ke replied.
"What stage?" Jing Wei shortly questioned.
"The 9th stage of the body tempering realm at least." Duan Ke answered.
"If he has the guts to ask you and even try to blatantly sense your cultivation base, I guess we can test him." Jing Wei spoke with an amused expression.
Jing Wei then left the manor and walked towards the entrance of the shop. Duan Ke was walking along with her grandfather, thinking about Lin Mu. She was wondering what kind of fortunate encounter he had, that allowed him to become a cultivator this fast.
Soon they reached the entrance of the shop and appeared in the back room. Duan Ke opened the door and entered the shop with Jing Wei behind her. Jing Wei silently gestured to Duan Ke and asked her to stand back, as he was intending to deal with this situation.
"So, my granddaughter says you don't like the weapons manuals here and want better quality ones." Jing Wei spoke with an amused tone.
Lin Mu nodded and spoke, "Yes, Owner Jing Wei."
"Then let me see how strong you've become." Jing Wei spoke with a stern tone.
Jing Wei had intended to gauge Lin Mu's cultivation base at first, thus he used his spirit sense. Jing Wei's own cultivation base was sealed, and hence he could not use his techniques or skills. Thus the method he had chosen to test Lin Mu was to directly exert pressure on Lin Mu's mind.
Jing Wei easily sensed Lin Mu's cultivation base, which was at the early stage of the Qi refining realm.
'He's progressed rather fast. He is already halfway through to the mid-stage of the qi refining realm.' Jing Wei thought.
Jing Wei then used his spirit sense and touched Lin Mu's head. He then saw Lin Mu slightly wince in pain, but in the next moment, he heard a thundering harrumph in his head. Suddenly a veil-like barrier covered Lin Mu and an imposing presence spread out from his body.
Jing Wei could even see the presence materializing. Bit by bit, the pressure was getting heavier. He was able to resist it but he did not think Duan Ke would be able it bear it for much longer. The presence got even denser and had now completely occupied his vision.
Neither Jing Wei nor Duan Ke could see anything anymore except for an empty black void in front of them. The shop and Lin Mu had disappeared from their vision. Suddenly Jing Wei saw a colossal figure appear in front of him. The figure was hidden in darkness, and only a faint silhouette of it could be observed.
Ten giant golden yellow eyes opened on the colossal silhouette. As soon as Jing Wei's eyes met those ten eyes, he experienced what true terror felt like. It was as if the presence was commanding him to cease existing. He could not even come close to imagining the strength of the being who could exert such pressure just by the virtue of their presence.
Jing Wei had fought against the invaders from the forbidden continent in the war that occurred a thousand years ago. During that war, he had destroyed the shrines that were made by the invaders. The function of these shrines was to aid in summoning an evil beast from another realm.
The invaders had once come close to summoning the evil beast and were able to partially open a summoning portal to a different realm. Jing Wei along with other experts of his time went to stop the summoning. It was then that they experienced the strength of a being that was above the Immortal ascension realm.
But even the full strength of that beast could not come close to the mere presence of this being. In the past couple of days, he had sensed a cultivator ascending and had also experienced the peerless sword intent of a hidden expert. He had thought that these two incidents were already shocking enough, but he never thought that he was soon going to face a being that was even stronger than that.
Duan Ke was in a worse condition than Jing Wei. There were no thoughts in her mind other than that of pure terror. She was shivering with fear and could not think of anything. She did not think of moving; she did not think of resisting; she did not think of dying. She had become a shell of her previous self that was only filled with terror now.
Duan Ke and Jing Wei were both drenched with sweat. Although only a few seconds had passed in the actual world, both of them felt as if years had gone by. Jing Wei was trying to think of a way to get out of this situation. He had one solution that was bound to work, but he did not want to use it as it could only be used once.
Jing Wei knew that he would not be able to survive this if it was the actual being, but this was just the presence of that being that was imprinted on Lin Mu. He could not think of any reason why such a tyrannically strong being chose Lin Mu, a boy who was rather unassuming.
Suddenly Jing Wei heard a chuckle. It came from the colossal being that was in front of him. He could sense the ridicule in that chuckle and knew that he deserved it. He also understood that it was the final warning given by the being, thus he gritted his teeth and used the trump card he was trying to save.
Jing Wei grasped the black beaded bracelet that was on his left wrist and broke it apart. The black beaded bracelet was a spirit tool that was made by an ancestor of his clan. This ancestor was at the immortal ascension stage and had created the spirit tool, with the intention to be passed down as an heirloom.
As soon as the black beaded bracelet was broken, the floating figure of an old man appeared in front of Jing Wei. The old man looked similar to Jing Wei, but appeared to be slightly younger than Jing Wei. The figure was sitting cross-legged and had placed his palms at his navel. The left palm of the figure was kept on the right palm and was facing upwards.
A small sphere was floating above the palms of the figure. The sphere was mostly blue with some green and brown parts on it. If one looked at it closely, it seemed like a planet. The figure raised his palms up to his chest along with the sphere. Then in the next moment, the figure moved his palms away and stretched out his arms. Suddenly he slammed his palms together in a praying gesture, with the small sphere stuck between the palms.
The sphere started glowing and turned into smoke, after which light filled the surroundings and banished the darkness. The light soon disappeared and Jing Wei was able to see once again. He saw that he had returned to the shop and saw Lin Mu standing in front of him with a confused expression.
Not wanting to spend any more time with the boy, Jing Wei swiftly took out a coin pouch along with a booklet. He did not even count how many coins he gave to the boy. He only knew that there were enough coins in the pouch for him to not return to the shop again.
The booklet Jing Wei had given to Lin Mu was also a top-grade sword manual that was in his clan for hundreds of years. Even he did not have the authority to practice the manual when he was in his clan, and now that he was old, he had no reason to practice it.