Mission: Seduce the Master!

Compared to the outer court, the inner court was much less active. Therefore, it was surprising to see that most of the disciples now had a look of excitement on their faces.

Xie Qing furrowed his brow in confusion. The easiest way to understand what was happening was to follow the crowd. And his decision proved to be correct.

As it turned out… everyone had gathered around some kind of stone. Xie Qing initially mistook it for a common obsidian the size of a two-meter boulder, however…

"Hm?"

As soon as he took a closer look, he sensed an astonishing amount of devilish Qi emanating from this obsidian.

"What is this?" he wondered.

He was even more puzzled by the excitement with which the disciples were watching the obsidian, as if they had seen a beautiful naked girl. The young man examined the stone, but apart from the astonishingly large amount of devilish Qi, he saw nothing.

"Do they want to absorb the devilish Qi from this obsidian? Well, that's possible, but it could very well end in death…" he thought. Realizing this only confused him more.

So, Xie Qing simply decided to ask the first person he encountered. That person turned around, looked at Xie Qing, got scared, and… ran away!

"What…"

What the hell? Xie Qing was speechless. Was he really that frightening? And the worst part was that this happened several times until someone at the Soul Integration stage answered his question.

"This is a Qi Concentration Obsidian, an extremely useful item. It is said that our sect was built over a deposit of such obsidians. Therefore, every few hundred years, an obsidian can emerge from the ground due to its special properties. Although we are not allowed to absorb its Qi, just standing nearby without touching it is also not bad, right?"

"In other words…" Xie Qing turned his gaze to the obsidian and asked, "You just didn't want to miss the chance?"

"That's right."

"I see."

Xie Qing squinted his eyes. So, such a thing existed in this world. To be honest, he had never heard of such a natural resource that could absorb devilish Qi and condense it, and then release it.

This was literally the same behavior as some spiritual plants. Therefore, Xie Qing was puzzled.

"Can it concentrate Superior Qi?" Xie Qing thought with a hint of amusement.

Of course, he knew that this was practically impossible. After all, Superior Qi was extremely rare, and there were only two methods to obtain it.

1. Refine ordinary Qi into Superior Qi.

2. Absorb natural Superior Qi.

The second option was extremely difficult because there were few places left in the outside world with this energy. And the first option was so time-consuming that three hundred years between breakthroughs to the next minor realms was something ordinary.

If it weren't for Xie Qing's talent… I'm afraid he would have remained at the first stage for centuries and would not have been able to advance until he concentrated a new batch of Superior Qi.

Twenty minutes later… Xie Qing sensed the aura of an elder at the second stage of Spiritual Enlightenment.

As soon as the old cultivator released his aura, the disciples scattered, afraid of offending the elder.

Although Xie Qing felt a bit regretful, he decided to leave, not wanting to get into an unnecessary conflict with the elder.

And just as he was about to turn around…

"Wait, young man."

"Hm?"

The elder addressed him.

***

The elder's name was Wang Haoyu. If one were to speak of his reputation, most disciples considered him a bothersome old man who was very strict about formalities.

"Elder," Xie Qing greeted the elder, bowing and clasping his hands, "Junior greets Elder Wang Haoyu."

"Haha, no need to be so formal, young man!" the old man said with a light and carefree laugh, like an owl, apparently pleased with the humble behavior of the young disciple. He continued, looking into Xie Qing's eyes, "Master Zhao ordered me to take this stone and give it to the main court, but… hm… he also added that he wouldn't mind leaving a small piece for you."

"Eh?"

Xie Qing was surprised by the elder's words. Leave it for him? A person who had only recently joined the sect? This seemed strange to him, but Elder Wang didn't seem to care.

"Here," the old man said and broke off a piece of obsidian with his hand. In his hand was a fragment of obsidian the size of a pebble, "Consider this compensation for the minor inconvenience."

"Ah… the elder is too kind…" Xie Qing said in a humble voice and, bowing, took the pebble with both hands.

"Hm. Now I will leave. Farewell."

Wang Haoyu stroked his beard and, taking two steps back, disappeared along with the obsidian. In the place where there had been noise just a minute ago, no one remained except Xie Qing—excluding the curious gazes in which one could notice envy and hatred.

"Indeed."

Xie Qing was not worried about being attacked out of greed. If someone were to find this obsidian fragment, it would not be difficult to put two and two together and realize that it had been stolen from Xie Qing.

Therefore, no one dared to attack him, despite the insane desire—which was commendable, considering how usually insane devilish cultivators were.

Putting the obsidian into the inner pocket of his robe, Xie Qing turned around and began walking towards his home. Accompanied by envious gazes, he disappeared into the mist.

"Tsk…"

In the deep silence, a soft clicking of the tongue could be heard.

***

Crossing the threshold, Xie Qing closed the gate and entered the house with unhurried steps. Although he was bothered by the envious gazes, he chose to simply ignore them.

After all, who would be so insane as to try to steal a gift from an elder? The young man doubted such people existed. And if they did, they could be easily killed.

"I've been thinking all this time about how to explain the breakthrough to Soul Integration," the young man curiously examined the pebble-sized obsidian and smiled, "And here's the perfect excuse. It would be a sin not to celebrate."

Qi Concentration Obsidian… a material previously unknown to him, which could also release purified devilish Qi. Although the word "purify" was difficult to apply to this type of Qi, you understood the meaning.

Since Xie Qing knew of no other methods of using it besides absorbing all this Qi into himself, he began to do just that.

Concentrating his mind and calming his heart, he focused on purifying the supplied devilish Qi.

The process of absorption and purification was not something quick. It required meticulous work. Although Xie Qing's cultivation technique made the task significantly easier, the young man did not want to test his endurance by allowing devilish Qi to slip into his dantian.

Therefore, the absorption and purification took him two weeks.

"Hm…"

Xie Qing stood up and cracked his neck. Although there were no changes in his cultivation level, he was still satisfied with the progress.

"Not bad. Not bad. I've increased my strength. This obsidian is truly a treasure."

Just from the time it took him to absorb and purify this Qi, one could tell that even such a small fragment contained a vast amount of it. And if he had this thing…

"…" Xie Qing licked his lips, "I suddenly have the urge to dig up the ground…"

…of course, these were just obsessive thoughts and nothing more. Xie Qing merely entertained the idea and quickly forgot about it.

"By the way, the old man said he would send this to the main court?" Xie Qing rubbed his chin. He smiled and suddenly raised his cultivation level to the second stage of Soul Integration, "Risky, of course, but the story about the injury should help."

He was a bit excited. From what he knew, there would be an exam for the main court at the end of the year.

This exam was much stricter than the inner court's. Ordinary assistance from the elders would not help. One had to demonstrate their own skills and… dark arts.

"This is a minor problem. I don't want to taint my body with that filth…" Xie Qing curled his lips.

Dark arts mainly involved experiments on souls, necromancy, and curses. In other words, things that would instantly turn your Karma into Negative Karma.

And even the slightest contact with dark arts would cause one to acquire Negative Karma.

"That's the problem…"

Xie Qing rubbed his chin. He truly had no idea how he could endure the tainting of his Karma.

However, after a brief moment of thought, he sighed.

"In any case, I can purify my Karma in the future. Therefore, I will have to make a sacrifice…"

***

Two days later.

"Damn…"

Xie Qing tilted his head to the side, carefully examining the black book in his hands, which had no text on it. Then he opened the book and…

"What is this crap?"