Testing Their Constitutions

A week later.

All eight of them had broken through to Bronze rank.

Nie Li still led them through daily exercises and had them soak in baths infused with high-grade medicinal herbs.

Du Ze and Lu Piao had reached Bronze Two-Star.

Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'er were even just a step away from Bronze Three-Star.

Du Ze worked hard enough, but he simply couldn't compete with the two girls' talent.

Nie Li, Wei Nan, Zhang Ming, and Zhu Xiangjun were progressing a little more slowly and were still at Bronze One-Star.

They were in the courtyard, chatting happily.

Suddenly, golden light appeared in the sky, just as it had a week ago.

"That thing actually came back!"

After being reassured by the notices issued by the City Lord's Mansion, the residents of Glory City were no longer particularly afraid of the thing in the sky. After all, it simply stayed there showing things, and what it showed was something they cared deeply about. What could possibly go wrong?

The Sacred Family now found every step a struggle. Ever since the screen had exposed their defection, everyone in the Sacred Family, from top to bottom, had hated it to the bone.

Shen Hong was already looking for a way to contact the Dark Guild. After all, he had always known perfectly well that the Dark Guild had a Legendary Demon Spirit Master.

Deacon Yun Hua, who had remained in contact with him all along, couldn't get out at all, so Shen Hong had to find a way himself.

All four gates of Glory City had guards specifically stationed there to keep watch on members of the Sacred Family.

And now this thing had actually appeared again.

Shen Hong narrowed his eyes as he watched...

He had already learned about Nie Li, too. What he least wanted now was for that thing in the sky to reveal their collusion with the Dark Guild. Otherwise, even without their defection, Glory City would have sufficient grounds to arrest every last one of them.

He still had to find a way to contact Long Sha. The best outcome would be to get the Sacred Family's people out.

At the City Lord's Mansion.

"That thing actually came back... Nie Li, what do you think?"

Nie Li stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I think what it shows probably isn't just my past. I suspect it also shows the future. But whether that future includes this thing's appearance, I don't know. Let's wait and see for now."

The golden light in the sky had already begun playing a video.

Inside the library, all six of them were happy, and Lu Piao was livening up the atmosphere as usual.

Nie Li took six soul crystals out of his bag to test their constitutions.

Just as he had a week earlier.

Du Ze asked whether they hadn't already been tested when they enrolled.

Nie Li replied that his test was different.

The people below were left blinking in bewilderment as they listened. Soul crystals lost their sensitivity after repeated use?

They could test other things, too? Soul Seas even had elements and forms? Why had they never heard of this?

Then Du Ze began pouring soul force into his soul crystal.

Many Demon Spirit Masters below craned their necks in anticipation. They had never heard that Soul Seas could have elements and forms.

Nie Li explained that this was a Thunder-Fire Element Soul Sea in the Heavenly Kirin Thundercloud form.

He also told them that the form of a Soul Sea represented each person's talent. The most laughable thing was that everyone now treated initial soul force as the deciding factor in cultivation.

Beneath the sky screen.

The crowd erupted once again.

So low initial soul force wasn't proof that they were useless at all!

And high soul force didn't mean they were all one-in-ten-thousand geniuses, either!

On the sky screen.

Nie Li had begun choosing a cultivation art for Du Ze.

The Crimson Thunder Heavenly Fire Art was far too overbearing and could easily damage his meridians.

The Heavenly Kirin Art suited Du Ze's constitution. Its first nine stages posed no problems, but the final three...

He began reciting the incantation for Du Ze.

The first nine stages of the Heavenly Kirin Art were astonishing, while the final three would depend entirely on individual fortune.

Du Ze immediately felt how formidable this cultivation art was. Just silently reciting it had already caused his soul force to begin slowly increasing.

Nie Li smiled and told him that, of course, as long as he cultivated diligently, he would sooner or later become a Demon Spirit Master who could look down proudly upon all of Glory City.

Du Ze cupped his fist toward Nie Li on the spot. To him, this cultivation art was nothing less than the gift of a new life. He told Nie Li that if he ever needed someone to climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire, Du Ze wouldn't so much as furrow his brow.

Nie Li patted his shoulder and said plainly that it was only a cultivation art.

Beneath the sky screen.

At the Du Clan.

"Little Ze really is going to make something of himself!"

The members of this clan had always gotten along well, giving the family a powerful sense of unity.

Seeing Du Ze's astonishing talent and perseverance, and how he had now made such a good friend and obtained such a powerful cultivation art, they were all delighted for him.

The clan leader, Du Rong, gripped the Fire-Parting Jade Qilin Pendant in his hand and decided that once Du Ze returned, he would name him the Du Clan's next leader.

Meanwhile, every one of those prominent family figures was starting to think about currying favor with Nie Li.

A cultivation art that could set the Soul Sea in motion merely by silently reciting its incantation-they didn't just lack one, they had never even heard of such a thing!

As long as they built a good relationship with him, even a cultivation art he didn't care about and tossed their way like trash would be welcome!

On the sky screen.

Lu Piao began his test as well. Nie Li saw that a Soul Sea in the Crimson Sun form was fairly common, but the Chaos Element was a rare find even among ten thousand people, so he gave him the Chaos Sacred Spirit Art.

When Lu Ning beneath the sky screen heard that Lu Piao's ambition was to become a Silver Demon Spirit Master, he clenched his fists.

Sure enough, this boy really needed a beating every day, or his skin would start itching for one!

Wei Nan, Zhang Ming, and Zhu Xiangjun were also given the cultivation arts best suited to them.

Then Nie Li picked up his own soul crystal.

"In my previous life, I took too many wrong turns and practiced too many cultivation arts without mastering any of them, making further cultivation increasingly difficult and leaving me unable to progress. This time, I must find the most suitable art and start from the beginning!"

A pitiful five points of soul force drifted inside the soul crystal, and Nie Li smiled bitterly.

It had neither form nor element-the weakest kind of attributeless Soul Sea.

Beneath the sky screen.

Shen Xiu of the Sacred Family felt somewhat relieved. If even this was the weakest kind, surely he couldn't grow any further, no matter what cultivation art he paired it with.

On the sky screen.

Nie Li had already begun searching his memories for cultivation arts suited to an attributeless Soul Sea.

The scene shifted to a towering mountain, with Nie Li standing atop it.

Suddenly, a streak of red light shot upward, reached the peak, circled Nie Li several times, and then rushed into the air, revealing four large characters.

God of War Art.

This was the most overbearing.

Next came a streak of golden light.

Void Divine Art.

This was the most mysterious.

These two cultivation arts could let him advance in the shortest possible time.

While he was pondering, another cultivation art appeared.

A taiji diagram emerged, followed by four large characters: Heavenly Dao Divine Art.

"It embraces all things, with being and nonbeing giving rise to each other. Cultivated to complete mastery, it can integrate cultivation arts of every element and allow one to create one's own Great Dao. When cultivating other arts, the Soul Sea can hold only one demon spirit, but the Heavenly Dao Divine Art can hold seven demon spirits of different elements at once. Each demon spirit fused will bring another explosive increase in strength. However, the Heavenly Dao Divine Art is the slowest of these three to progress."

Yet Nie Li still chose this cultivation art. Great vessels took time to complete. Although cultivating the Heavenly Dao Divine Art offered the slowest progress, the heights he could reach in the future would also be greater.