After stepping into the Earth Domain Second Layer, Lu Qingshan had earned a place for himself among Heavenly Pillar Mountain's First Grade Elites.
Not only did the other First Grade Elites want to befriend him, but some of the factions that had previously tried to recruit him also improved the benefits they offered him upon joining.
For example, if he joined the Wang Family, to which Wang Chen belonged, he would receive ten life-bearing planets as his own territory.
Beyond that, two Domain Lord Level experts even wanted to take him as their disciple.
However, one of those Domain Lord Level experts had comprehended the metal domain and could offer him no guidance whatsoever on the earth domain;
The other Domain Lord Level expert had comprehended the earth domain, but had only reached the Earth Domain Fourth Layer, so the help he could offer would not be particularly great either.
Although taking multiple teachers was perfectly commonplace in the universe, becoming someone's disciple still meant fulfilling a disciple's responsibilities.
And Lu Qingshan had already joined a major faction like Heavenly Pillar Mountain. All he needed to do going forward was focus on cultivating.
Under these circumstances, there was naturally little need to take a Domain Lord Level expert as his teacher when that expert could offer little help with his future cultivation.
Thus, after careful consideration, Lu Qingshan ultimately declined the two Domain Lord Level experts' kind offers as tactfully as he could.
After Lu Qingshan turned them down, those two Domain Lord Level experts naturally stopped paying him any further attention.
After all, Domain Lord Level experts had a full million years of life, and while geniuses who reached the domain second layer at Star Level were rare, twenty or thirty of them would invariably appear within Heavenly Pillar Mountain every ten thousand years.
Their long lives had allowed them to see more than enough geniuses.
Although Lu Qingshan's performance was already quite impressive, it remained insignificant in the eyes of Heavenly Pillar Mountain's truly powerful experts.
Lu Qingshan naturally understood this very well. Thus, even after stepping into the Earth Domain Second Level, he felt no pride and instead continued cultivating diligently.
After reaching the Earth Domain Second Level, Lu Qingshan shot straight into the top forty in the overall rankings, and the benefits he enjoyed within Heavenly Pillar Mountain naturally improved as well.
The treasure he could request to accumulate energy also changed from Star Essence to the more precious Moon God Tears.
If Lu Qingshan used Moon God Tears to build up his energy, he would probably need only a little over a hundred years to reach Star Level Ninth Stage. For countless Star Level warriors throughout the universe, this was unquestionably something they dreamed of.
Yet Lu Qingshan still did not spend much time cultivating with Moon God Tears, because his goal was the Evolution Spirit Liquid that only geniuses ranked in the top ten could request!
If he could use Evolution Spirit Liquid to accumulate energy, he would need only seventy or eighty years to reach Star Level Ninth Stage smoothly, allowing him to save even more time.
Moreover, breaking into the top ten overall was no longer particularly difficult for Lu Qingshan.
Currently, only two First Grade Elites had reached a third-stage domain. As long as his earth domain broke through to the third layer, he would naturally be able to enter the top ten in the overall First Grade Elite rankings.
Just like that, time continued to pass, and Lu Qingshan kept cultivating diligently according to his plan.
In the blink of an eye, another fifty years passed.
At Heavenly Pillar Mountain's headquarters, inside a World Lord World.
This was a vast, desolate plain, above which dozens of Star Level demonic beasts-Bloodthirsty Vultures-circled!
These Bloodthirsty Vultures could reach Planetary Level upon adulthood and were considered a fairly decent race within the Demon Race.
But the Bloodthirsty Vultures here had been raised by Heavenly Pillar Mountain's experts specifically to temper its Star Level elite disciples.
At that moment, all these Bloodthirsty Vultures were staring fixedly at the tiny human beneath them: Terrance, a First Grade Elite of Heavenly Pillar Mountain.
"Killing ten Bloodthirsty Vultures-this cultivation mission is quite a challenge for me!"
Terrance looked up at the Bloodthirsty Vultures circling overhead, then thought, These Bloodthirsty Vultures are not only extremely united, but astonishingly fast as well. I have no way to pick them off one by one!
But if I complete this cultivation mission, I should at least be able to break into the top forty overall this time!
At that thought, Terrance immediately stepped onto a Tier 2 Spirit Power flying weapon, turning into an ethereal streak of light as he charged toward the dozens of Bloodthirsty Vultures in the sky.
"Screech! Screech! Screech..."
Seeing Terrance charge at them, the dozens of Bloodthirsty Vultures in the sky all let out furious shrieks.
They had long known that the human genius before them was not to be trifled with, so they had stayed together, trying to force him to retreat.
But now that Terrance had decided to attack, they naturally would not back down either.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Led by over ten Star Level Ninth Stage Bloodthirsty Vultures, the dozens of Bloodthirsty Vultures swooped toward Terrance.
"Come on, then!"
Terrance shifted his position, instantly controlling a Tier 3 Telekinetic Weapon behind him and turning it into streaks of azure light that shot toward a Star Level Five Bloodthirsty Vulture.
Faced with Terrance's attack, that Star Level Five Bloodthirsty Vulture had no ability to resist whatsoever. The Spirit Power weapon under Terrance's control pierced straight through its body in an instant.
Demonic blood sprayed across the sky, and that Star Level Five Bloodthirsty Vulture lost all signs of life.
Seeing their companion killed, the remaining Bloodthirsty Vultures immediately grew even more frenzied.
Led by the Star Level Ninth Stage Bloodthirsty Vultures, the flock rushed toward Terrance as though they no longer cared for their lives.
In a one-on-one fight, given Terrance's strength, even a Star Level Ninth Stage Bloodthirsty Vulture would have been utterly incapable of resisting him.
But now that dozens of Bloodthirsty Vultures were attacking together, even the powerful Terrance found it extremely difficult to cope.
This was precisely the purpose of Heavenly Pillar Mountain's cultivation missions: to temper its elites, then let the great waves sift the sand. Those who survived to the end would surely be truly powerful experts.
Two minutes later, Terrance had killed seven Bloodthirsty Vultures, but he had also consumed too much of his Spiritual Force.
Time to retreat!
Although he badly wanted to kill ten Bloodthirsty Vultures in one push, Terrance also understood very well that once he consumed too much Spiritual Force, he would naturally be more likely to encounter danger.
Yet just as Terrance tried to put some distance between himself and the Bloodthirsty Vultures, the creatures, driven utterly mad by their companions' repeated deaths, refused to let him go.
Terrance had clearly underestimated these Bloodthirsty Vultures' strength. No matter how hard he tried, he remained surrounded by them.
For a moment, Terrance had clearly fallen into an extremely dangerous situation.
But just then...
"Hm?"
In this moment of peril, Terrance suddenly gained an insight and actually stepped straight into the Wind Domain Second Level!
After that, Terrance's movements became even more elusive and unpredictable. He broke out of the Bloodthirsty Vultures' encirclement in a single instant, even controlling his Spirit Power weapon to kill several Bloodthirsty Vultures at the same time.
Upon seeing this, the other Bloodthirsty Vultures scattered into the distance.
They were not mindless demonic beasts. Upon encountering an enemy they had no chance of defeating, they would certainly flee.
"Hahaha!"
Seeing the Bloodthirsty Vultures flee wildly, Terrance, who had already completed his cultivation mission, did not pursue them. "Since my wind domain broke through today, I'll spare your lives!"
Terrance had been looking forward to this moment for a very long time!
After embarking on the path of cultivation, he had taken only a little over a hundred years to reach the Wind Domain First Level. Yet afterward, despite joining Heavenly Pillar Mountain and obtaining far better cultivation conditions, he had remained unable to reach the Wind Domain Second Level. Naturally, this had made him quite anxious.
But things were different now!
After more than eighty years in Heavenly Pillar Mountain, I've finally reached the Wind Domain Second Level!
Terrance could not help thinking to himself, Now, there are still very few First Grade Elites who can match me!
And Lu Qingshan will be trampled beneath my feet once again!
As First Grade Elites who had joined Heavenly Pillar Mountain at the same time, Terrance was naturally often compared to Lu Qingshan by others.
At first, his performance had been much better than Lu Qingshan's, so he had naturally taken such things rather lightly.
But ever since Lu Qingshan reached the domain second layer fifty years ago, he had become nothing more than a backdrop.
Every year, he cultivated extremely hard and completed all kinds of cultivation missions, yet his ranking always lagged behind Lu Qingshan's, who paid little attention to cultivation missions.
To him, this was an absolute humiliation!
Things are finally different now!
Terrance thought to himself, With my current strength, now that I've reached the Wind Domain Second Level, I can definitely break into the top ten overall. What will Lu Qingshan have to compete with me then?
Right, it'll soon be time for the overall rankings to update again. I'd better hurry over and challenge the Trial Tower!
At that thought, Terrance immediately left the desolate plain and hurried toward the Trial Pagoda.