chapter 2 beautiful Elder

Within the Nine States Continent, while on the journey of Cultivation, the stages that divide cultivators are as follows: Spiritual Martial, Pneuma Martial, Mysterious Martial, and Heavenly Martial. Each of these four stage is then further divided into nine levels. Archie Christopher joined the Green Dragon Sect five years ago and began his Cultivation journey. It only took him a month to reach Spiritual Martial Second Level. However, five whole years had passed since then and he had yet to break through to the next level of Spiritual Martial. The reason for this delay was due to an unfortunate accident in his past. Five years ago, the nine-coloured Divine Thunder appeared in the sky above the Nine States Continent, and Archie was struck by said thunder. From that day on, nine Thunder Giant Beasts appeared in Archie's stream of consciousness. Archie was able to break into Spiritual Martial Second Level in a short period of time due to the attributes gifted from the strike of the Divine Thunder. Even though Archie gained significant success from the Divine Thunder, he was also facing consequential failures as a result of the Divine Thunder. After breaking through to Spiritual Martial Second Level, the Divine Thunder started to swallow up the spiritual energy from within Archie's body. If a cultivator was unable to gather his or her soul, they would not be able to break through to the next level or stage. This was the reason why Archie had been unable to enter the Spiritual Martial Third Level. However, Archie discovered that as long as he fed the nine Thunder Giant Beasts and ensured that they were full, he would experience a breakthrough in his cultivation level. After five long, tedious years of accumulation and preparation, Archie was finally only one step away from a breakthrough. Swish—— Archie's eyes suddenly jolted open. There was a trace of lightning in his eyes, and an indescribable wave of joy washed all over his face. "Finally... After five long years, I, Archie Chistopher, finally succeeded!" Archie was elated. It was as he expected, he could experience a breakthrough as long as he ensured that the nine Thunder Giant Beasts were fed full. However, when the day finally came, Archie still experienced difficulty in controlling his emotions. That was because this day came five years later than expected. "This feeling of strength, this endless stream of Spiritual Energy rushing through every nook and cranny of my body, it feels as though this energy is ready to about to burst out of the body at any moment." Upon thorough inspection of his own body carefully, Archie became even more excited. He had not expected that the energy from the Divine Thunder would directly condense into a ball of energy and occupy a place in his stream of consciousness, supplying him with such rich spiritual energy, energy that was beyond imagination. Archie knew that even with five years of relentless, sleepless cultivation, he would still be unable to condense nor produce such powerful spiritual energy. The reason that he was able to do so now was precisely because of the Divine Thunder. Buzz—— However, at this moment, Archie's body suddenly stiffened, and his expression changed drastically. The Divine Thunder was evolving, and his power increased multifolds instantly. He had broken through again and had already entered the fourth level of the Spiritual Stage. "Finally reaping the rewards after all that hardship?" Archie clenched his fists and felt the explosive power flow throughout his body. At that instant, he felt that all the hardships he had endured for the past five years were all worth it. "Father, from today onwards, I will no longer be a burden to you, I shall become your pride," Archie thought firmly to himself. He was very excited and full of expectations. He could not wait to find out what the future had in stall for him. Archie Christopher was not born into Christopher's family. He was the adopted son of Maddox Christopher, the fifth eldest son of the Christopher family. The Christopher Family is xenophobic, and most of the family members do not recognize Archie as a member of the family. Archie has been bullied since he was a child, and the only person who would help him from time to time was Zariah Christopher. If it were not for his adoptive father's firm, strong protection, Archie would have been kicked out of the house long ago. However, when Archie entered the Green Dragon Sect but repeatedly failed to become an inner disciple, even his adoptive father became too embarrassed to keep his head up within the Christopher Family. Archie knew that this all would soon finally end. In their world where martial arts were highly respected, strength was an attribute greater than anything else. As long as he became stronger, no one would dare look down on him. … The Green Dragon Sect only recruits disciples once a year, and each recruitment session lasts for ten days. After ten days, the annual inner sect assessment will begin, and this time, Archie, who had been silent for over five years, could finally participate. The assessment location was at a huge underground palace. The main hall of the underground palace was crowded with tens of thousands of people. Most of these people were cultivators at Spiritual Martial Third Level because everyone was aware that to pass the inner sect examination, being at Spiritual Martial Third Level was the minimum requirement. Alas, there were also some disciples who were only at Spiritual Martial Second Level and were trying to fish in troubled waters. There were such cultivators every year, but most ended in failure. What was worth mentioning was that there was also a small group of cultivators who were at Spiritual Martial Fourth Level. This group of people were not mediocre cultivators who were slow in their cultivation. On the contrary, some of them were geniuses. These geniuses deliberately chose to participate in the inner sect assessment when they were at Spiritual Martial Fourth Level. The reason? All for the reward. When at Spiritual Martial Third Level, cultivators could already practice Martial Techniques. Martial Techniques were powerful means of attack, not only allowing cultivators to fully demonstrate their strength but also allowing them to gain power beyond the limits of their human body. Because of this reason, Martial Techniques were perceived to be extremely precious, even among wealthy families. This was the key reason why families from distinguished backgrounds still insisted on sending their descendants to the Sects for training. Every sect had their own library of Martial Techniques, and in the Green Dragon Sect, as long as a cultivator became an Inner Disciple, they would have access to this library and could practice the Martial Techniques. However, the Martial Techniques were also divided into different levels across nine stages, ranging from weak to strong. Even among the inner sect, the best available Martial Technique for selection was only of the Third Stage. That being said, during the annual inner sect assessment, the first candidate to pass the examination would be awarded a Fourth Stage Martial Technique. Hence, many cultivators were willing to remain as an outer sect disciple temporarily while waiting for the right opportunity to enter the inner sect and obtain the Fourth Stage Martial Technique at the same time. "Look, is that not Kinsley Yeung," someone whispered loudly. "It really is him! He is only thirteen years old and has already reached Spiritual Martial Fourth Level! It seems that the first person to complete the assessment will most definitely be him," another person whispered back. Among the crowd, a young boy had caught everyone's attention. There were hundreds of thousands of disciples who were part of the Outer Sect, and most of them were just unknown characters. However, there were also some disciples who were at the center of attention. Most of these individuals were geniuses, and Kinsley Yeung was one of them. "That might not necessarily be the case. No matter how good his qualifications are, Kinsley is still just a child. It will be hard for him to obtain the first place," another person exclaimed. "Green Dragon Sect might have many other disciples lurking in the shadows waiting for the right chance to showcase their talents. Sometimes geniuses may still be defeated by just another ordinary disciple, just like how that Luka won," said a disciple of the Outer Sect while pointing his finger at an indifferent young man. This indifferent young man's name is Luka Daubney. He had been in the Green Dragon Sect for six years and was originally just another ordinary disciple, an unknown person. However, a few months ago, he had actually managed to defeat a disciple from the Inner Sect who was at Spiritual Martial Fourth Level. From then on, he became renowned and developed to become a person of interest among the disciples of the Outer Sect. Kinsley and Luka attracted much attention and soon became the focus of discussions. However, what was surprising was that someone actually also noticed Archie. "Look, quickly! That guy, why is he acting so proud," someone among the crowd commented. "He is behaving as though the Fourth Level Martial Technique already belongs to him. Does he think that he is like Kinsley Yeung or Luka Daubney," another replied. "Ignore him. There are too many of these kinds of individuals, a bunch of self-righteous trash!" Several people in the crowd looked at Archie with contempt. Regarding this kind of discussion, Archie's reaction was simply just to smile slightly, without feeling any form of anger. This was because Archie felt that these people were actually right about one thing: the Fourth Stage Martial Technique was indeed going to be his and not anyone else. This was not a delusion. It was a thought that was soon going to become a reality. "Quiet!" A loud voice suddenly boomed across the main hall. The noisy palace suddenly became quiet. A dozen figures had appeared on the high platform of the main hall. Most of these figures were elderly men, Elders of the Outer Sect. However, the leader of these figures was not only extremely young but was also a beautiful woman. She was wearing a tight red skirt, which amplified her voluptuous curves, especially her perfectly straight, long pale-skinned legs from under the skirt. The woman not only had an attractive figure but was also gifted with extremely defined feminine facial features. Her almond-shaped eyes, soft red lips, and asymmetrical sharp-jawed facial features equipped her with a face that could bewitch almost anyone and everyone. This woman was the famous beautiful Elder of the Green Dragon Sect, Gemma Samuel. Gemma was the most important and powerful person in the Green Dragon Sect. She had joined the Green Dragon Sect at the age of ten, entered the Inner Sect at the age of twelve, and became a Core Disciple at the age of fifteen. Just when everyone was optimistic about her becoming the Principal Disciple of the Green Dragon Sect, she was suddenly promoted to become an Elder instead. No one knew about the inside story behind that incident, and it was still a mystery that was discussed by many in glee behind closed doors till this day. "Wow, it actually is Elder Gemma. Is she not an Elder from the Inner Sect? Why would she come to the Outer Sect?" As soon as Gemma appeared, all the male disciples opened their mouths in shock. Some even drooled. The Outer Disciples were all very young. Most were teenagers, and some were mere children. For people their age, a mature and sexy woman like Gemma was the most attractive. Gemma did not put on any airs amplifying her status as an Elder at all. Instead, she smiled charmingly at everyone and said in a soft tone, "The assessment rules are very simple. Enter through the door behind me and come out through the door on the other side. Those who can do so will pass the assessment." "The only difference is that the first person who passes the assessment will get a Martial Technique of the fourth level, a benefit that even the disciples from the Inner Sect do not enjoy." “It is probably worth mentioning that this year’s first-place winner will also receive another special prize.” "In a sense, this special prize is even more precious than the aforementioned previous two~" At this point, Gemma deliberately lengthened her tone such that a seductive, mysterious aura filled the entire hall.