"Hehe, Daoist Master Xiao..." Xiao Hua smiled. "A wise man speaks plainly. Others may not know whether you possess cultivation, but how could this Daoist not know?"
"What? You... you actually..." Daoist Master Xiao was aghast, nearly leaping to his feet. "You... you really were sent by them?"
"Who are they?" Xiao Hua smiled. "Daoist Master Xiao, you are far too suspicious! Must one have been sent by them to know that you possess divine sense?"
"You..." Daoist Master Xiao's face turned ashen, but then wild delight appeared upon it. Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Hua immediately waved a hand. "Don't spout nonsense about anything else! Answer this Xiao's question first!"
"Yes, yes!" In his excitement, Daoist Master Xiao almost stammered. "True Essence pill condensation... naturally refers to the Golden Core realm that we Daoist disciples dream of! What other possibility could there be? Could it be... Fellow Daoist Xiao—oh, no, Senior Xiao—have you now reached... third-grade Yuan force?"
"Third-grade Yuan force?" Xiao Hua smiled. "This Xiao wants it, but it does not want this Xiao! Do you think this Xiao could be third-grade Yuan force?"
Xiao Hua's words were naturally ambiguous, yet in ordinary people's eyes, Xiao Hua was plainly admitting that he had not reached third-grade Yuan force.
"Not... not very likely!" Daoist Master Xiao seemed to abruptly come to his senses. He shook his head hard, doing his utmost to cast away his unrealistic fantasies. "Fellow Daoist Xiao was born with severed meridians. Entering the Foundation Establishment realm is already unlikely, much less Opening Light and Fusion! But..."
At last, Daoist Master Xiao struggled like a drowning man clutching at a blade of grass. "But those bald donkeys of Little Gold Temple are at most at the early stage of Benevolence, equivalent to the