"Those ideal sects prepare themselves in advance and depart early… You…"
Dong Qitian did not know what to say for a moment and continued his ineffective laments, "Do you view the Celestial Luck Banner contest like a stroll to the market? All is well as long as you arrive there on the same day? That the flag match is fighting when you're there and coming back when it's done? Is it so easy and casual to you?"
Yun Yang chuckled dryly. "Events depend largely on our own actions. We've already come to this stage, we must give it a try…"
"Sigh…" Dong Qitian let out a long sigh, exhaling his endless lament.
Never mind; he would just a.s.sume that he had met a lunatic…
"In the course of increasing the disciples' cultivation base, it would be best for them to consume the Emerald Cloud Pill. It won't be on time if we delay it. Elder Dong, can you start off the advanced Emerald Cloud Pill you've mentioned previously?"
"It's not an issue for me to cultivate the Emerald Cloud Pill, but… have you prepared the herbs needed?" Dong Qitian asked with a curious glance.
"I've brought them here."
"Also, the bone tempering pills, meridian expanding pills, marrow cleansing pills, and pure energy pills… The skyrocket effect will only be achieved when all spiritual herbs are ready and used alongside the Emerald Cloud Pill. Have you actually prepared all of them?"
"Yes. I've spent the most time on this recently."
Yun Yang retrieved the resources with a grin while Dong Qitian rolled his eyes.
'This b.a.s.t.a.r.d – he's prepared everything?'
'Why are you so fast?'
Dong Qitian had wanted to make things difficult for Yun Yang with the heaven and earth treasures, but looking at the mounds of treasured herbs neatly placed in front of him, he found himself momentarily taken aback.
He had not expected this.
These abundant heaven and earth treasures; where did this fellow get them from, and so easily at that?
Dong Qitian sighed and his expression turned unusually serious.
"There's one thing I must tell you beforehand. While the Emerald Cloud Pill, as our sect's secret that's not to be pa.s.sed on, can allow the person taking it a meteoric rise and an escalation in cultivation base when consumed with other complementing medicinal pills – once successful, your disciples will advance a full level, the risk involved is similarly high! Its chances of success stand at only twenty percent."
"Furthermore, the twenty percent we're talking about requires the prerequisite of the sect's disciples being total prodigies. More precisely, upgrading seventy-five disciples at one go is a huge taboo… At least fifty of them will either die on the spot or become good-for-nothings with utterly wrecked meridians…"
"This is already the most reserved, most minimal, and the best-case scenario!"
"Have you considered it thoroughly? Are you really going to do so?" Dong Qitian asked seriously.
Yun Yang replied faintly, "If one wishes to walk the destiny-defying path, one must pay a heaven-defying price! I am prepared for a low percentage of success."
"There's one person whom you don't have to worry about. He'll advance with one hundred percent certainty and there will be no risk. It's Hu Xiaofan. Possessing the Innate Spiritual Marrow and constantly eliminating the impurities in his body, no amount of spiritual herb consumed will be a problem to him. Other than him, though, everyone else is in danger. Think about it. I personally do not condone your eagerness."
Dong Qitian felt weary.
Yun Yang…
In the beginning, Dong Qitian had indeed suggested the Emerald Cloud Pill to Yun Yang. Back then, he was thinking to himself, "All you have here are trash… It will be fine to weed out some of them. It's enough for two or three out of a hundred of them level up."
In spite of this, as he came in contact with the children during this duration, Dong Qitian grew to like these children who suffered pitiful histories but possessed resilient characters. He was reluctant for them to bear the risk. Hence, he thought of delaying the approach with the heaven and earth treasures only for Yun Yang to actually gather all that he needed…
Yun Yang answered decisively, "We have been long prepared! There's no need to consider any further! It's either make it or break it! Compared to going about things slowly, we don't have time and I also believe that man can overcome his destiny!"
Dong Qitian stared at Yun Yang for a long time before his gaze slowly turned distant. He gradually shut his eyes and said, "Okay, be on your way. I need half a month to cultivate these medicinal pills."
Yun Yang left then.
Opening his eyes, Dong Qitian watched Yun Yang's retreating back glumly. "This is the third request."
"Alright."
Yun Yang did not turn back.
Dong Qitian inhaled and exhaled deeply.
"Child, why are you so cruel? You know that eighty percent of your pupils will die, yet you insist on trying it… Do you really not see them as human beings?"
Dong Qitian closed his eyes, his heart aching mightily.
"I didn't think that you were this type of person, but could I be wrong?"
"Is the Residence of Nine Supremes in truth, not a haven at all?"
…
Yun Yang returned to the Supreme Cloud Peak, no longer perturbed and suspicious like he had been earlier. He was calm and collected.
Risky? Twenty percent of success?
Such concerns were nonexistent to the Residence of Nine Supremes and Yun Yang!
If Hu Xiaofan could advance completely safe, it meant that consuming the Emerald Cloud Pill in a certain state would allow a hundred percent success. As long as Emmie was here, it could even surpa.s.s Hu Xiaofan's Innate Spiritual Marrow.
'Not a single one of my disciples will be in harm's way!'
'I'm totally confident!'
The worst-case scenario that could happen from promoting their cultivation base using the pills would be an elevation failure, with no sign of progress in their cultivation base. Having wrecked meridians or destroyed cultivation methods would never happen.
Yun Yang understood what Dong Qitian was thinking, but the crux of this matter was Yun Yang's biggest trump card; it must not be disclosed to anyone else but himself, so he could only let the reality speak.
…
Time pa.s.sed slowly, but surely.
To the Residence of Nine Supremes, every day went by too fast, like it was gone in the blink of an eye.
To every disciple, it felt far too slow; each day and each moment felt like a year!
Rest? It did not exist.
Be it the leader of the nine peaks, the internal disciples or common disciples who were yet to be acknowledged by any peak, their time in a day was spent in small fragments.
Tired from practicing the sword, they would cultivate; tired from practicing the saber, they would cultivate; tired from practicing the hand and feet techniques, they would cultivate.
Most probably, the only activity that could be considered relevant to resting was meditating and cultivating.
The exchanges of skills in the form of combat was a constant in the huge field. The disciples were like tiger cubs; all of them were growing strongly and rapidly.
Deep in the night, when all the children were immersed in a concentrated atmosphere of adjusting their internal pulses, waves of spiritual Qi like the tidal waves of the ocean washed over each part of the Residence of Nine Supremes.
Yun Yang slipped into the children's room. A pulse of Qi of vitality disintegrated into countless speckles as they fell on the dozen of disciples. Then, Yun Yang went to the other peaks and repeated the process.
It would be dawn soon.
With a deep gaze directed at the distance, Yun Yang stood at the top of a tree on the highest point of the Residence of Nine Supremes murmuring, "The Celestial Luck, the heaven's providence!"
His eyes glimmered, like two sharp swords that churned in the nightfall.
