Leaving Shi Hong's cave dwelling, Qin Sang entered the Yin Baleful Abyss to gather an ample supply of Soul Pills, then immediately began his closed-door cultivation.
In less than two months, Qin Sang emerged, having successfully broken through to the sixth layer of the Qi Refinement stage.
At Martial Uncle Yue's cave dwelling.
Qin Sang knocked and went inside, only to find Liang Yan present as well.
Upon hearing that Qin Sang had actually succeeded in breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, even Martial Uncle Yue showed an expression of surprise. In their eyes, Qin Sang should have had the slimmest hope of breaking through among the seven.
Liang Yan's eyes lit up. "For Junior Brother Qin to break through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, he must possess a tenacity of will far beyond ordinary men! Martial Uncle Yue, why not let Junior Brother Qin cultivate alongside me as well?"
Martial Uncle Yue glared at Liang Yan. Liang Yan hurriedly shut his mouth, looking rather sheepish.
Looking at Qin Sang, Martial Uncle Yue pondered for a moment before speaking. "Martial Nephew Qin, for you to stand out among all the disciples with the aptitude of a five-element spiritual root is truly commendable. The reward of a top-grade magic tool naturally will not exclude you. However, you will have to wait four more months, when the sect master will personally present the rewards to all of you. During this time, return to your cave dwelling to cultivate. Furthermore, now that you have broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, you can begin to practice incantations alongside your cultivation. You asked me about incantations before, so you likely had this in mind. You may choose one of these incantations. If you run into any difficulties, feel free to visit my cave dwelling at any time."
With that, Martial Uncle Yue handed Qin Sang a jade slip. Qin Sang accepted it and looked inside; not only were there water-attribute incantations, but all five elements were fully represented, with several hundred techniques packed together in dense detail.
Martial Uncle Yue also reminded Qin Sang that although he could study any incantation, his cultivation method was the Nether Scripture, making water-attribute incantations the easiest to master; otherwise, he would expend twice the effort for half the result.
Qin Sang focused his attention on the water-attribute incantations and quickly found the Water-Congealing Barrier and the Cloud Escape Technique. Upon comparing them, he discovered that River-Locking Mist was originally called the Mist Miasma Technique, leaving him momentarily speechless.
Looking at the incantations with their myriad wondrous effects, Qin Sang was dazzled and nearly lost in choice. But Martial Uncle Yue had said that incantations were prized for mastery rather than quantity; no matter how many incantations one knew, if one lacked proficiency, they were useless in actual combat.
After considerable thought, Qin Sang settled his gaze upon an incantation called the Gui Water Yin Thunder Incantation.
According to the jade slip, the Gui Water Yin Thunder Incantation was an utmost yin, utmost powerful thunder technique. Moreover, if the caster could find a spiritual material containing thunder power in the future, they could use that material to unleash an even more terrifying yin thunder.
Seeing the Gui Water Yin Thunder Incantation, Qin Sang was overjoyed. This was precisely the offensive incantation he lacked most. Though he possessed no spiritual materials, the innate might of the Gui Water Yin Thunder Incantation was already formidable. Once released, the yin thunder moved swift as lightning, making it difficult to evade, and because it was a thunder art, it possessed a natural restraining effect against evil entities such as demons and yin spirits.
Once Qin Sang made his choice, Martial Uncle Yue patiently explained the essential cultivation pointers of the Gui Water Yin Thunder Incantation to him. Finally, he gave Qin Sang the latter half of the Nether Scripture and sent him back.
Returning to his cave dwelling, Qin Sang compared the two parts of the Nether Scripture and found no discrepancies.
***
Early one morning, Qin Sang woke from his meditation. Today was the appointed time: the disciples who had broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement were to gather at Martial Uncle Yue's cave dwelling to pay their respects to the sect master together.
*Thud, thud...*
There was a sudden knock outside. Qin Sang opened the door and invited Tan Jie inside.
Tan Jie had remained trapped at the bottleneck of the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, unable to break through, and had therefore lost the chance to earn the reward.
"Congratulations, Big Brother Qin! Once you receive the top-grade magic tool, it will be like adding wings to a tiger, and the sect will surely value you highly!" Envy written across his face, Tan Jie offered his smiling congratulations.
Qin Sang waved his hands repeatedly. "Stop teasing me. It was only due to luck. I heard Senior Sister Shi Hong is already about to break through to the seventh layer. Even if the sect values someone, it will be Senior Sister. Is she still in her cave dwelling?"
"I haven't heard Senior Sister step out; she should still be there."
They went to meet Shi Hong, and Tan Jie saw them part of the way. Qin Sang and Shi Hong turned back to wave goodbye to Tan Jie, then walked together toward Martial Uncle Yue's cave dwelling.
More than a dozen people were already inside Martial Uncle Yue's cave dwelling, though Martial Uncle Yue himself was not present.
The people gathered were all prominent figures whom Qin Sang had heard of, and he had met some of them during Martial Uncle Yue's lectures. Qin Sang exchanged greetings with those he recognized, then waited quietly in a corner.
A few more arrived one after another.
In the end, only twenty-two people in the entire Kuiyin Sect were qualified to stand here.
Once everyone had arrived, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the cave dwelling. Martial Uncle Yue and Liang Yan entered, leading four other people. Among them were Martial Uncles Dong and Wu, along with two other Martial Uncles at the Foundation Establishment stage whom Qin Sang had never seen before.
Upon entering, Martial Uncle Yue swept his gaze across the room and looked at Shi Hong. "Shi Hong, come here and stand behind Liang Yan."
Shi Hong did not understand what was happening, but she could only obey Martial Uncle Yue's instructions.
Following that, the other Martial Uncles each singled out someone to stand behind them as well.
"That kid with the scar on his face, and that young girl. Yes, the two of you, get behind me."
Martial Uncle Dong pointed at two people in succession, but was suddenly stopped by Martial Uncle Yue. "Senior Brother Dong, you cannot do that. You may only take one, or else I will not be able to give an account to Master."
Martial Uncle Dong wore a look of dissatisfaction. "Isn't it just one disciple? With so many left, you can easily account to Martial Uncle Sect Master! What are you afraid of?"
"Absolutely not!"
Martial Uncle Yue did not yield an inch. "Senior Brother Dong, you surely understand what carries weight here. It was only out of fellow-disciple sentiment, and because several disciples indeed possess exceptional talent, that I took the risk of facing punishment from Master to make this accommodation. Otherwise, not a single one of these disciples would have been shared. If Senior Brother is dissatisfied, feel free to speak to Master in person."
Martial Uncle Dong's face flushed blue and white. In the end, he pointed crossly at the scarred youth. "You, brat, get over here."
The youth looked at the girl beside him, hesitating slightly.
Still bursting with anger, Martial Uncle Dong glared with eyes wide as an ox's, pointing at the youth and cursing roundly, "Dawdling, you dog! Are you afraid I'll embezzle your top-grade magic tool?"
After berating the scarred youth fiercely, Martial Uncle Dong took him and strode away. The other Martial Uncles also bid farewell to Martial Uncle Yue, while Shi Hong followed Liang Yan out of the cave dwelling, exchanging a parting glance with Qin Sang before leaving.
Seventeen disciples remained in the cave dwelling, whispering among themselves in tones filled with envy.
The five who had been chosen were all individuals of premier aptitude; the least talented among them still possessed a three-element spiritual root.
Qin Sang could roughly guess that those Martial Uncles intended to take them on as disciples, and the one Martial Uncle Yue favored was Shi Hong.
Having spent this much time in the Kuiyin Sect, Qin Sang had also heard that disciples with good aptitude might be taken as disciples by Martial Uncles at the Foundation Establishment stage, entering the rear mountain to cultivate as true disciples of the Kuiyin Sect.
Not only would they receive more cultivation resources, but they would also have a patron behind them, elevating their status worlds apart from what it had been.
Qin Sang did not envy the superior resources they would obtain from taking a master. So long as he had an ample supply of Soul Pills, he was confident his cultivation speed would be no slower than theirs.
What he envied was that, having a master, they would not need to worry about Foundation Establishment Pills.
Chapter 65