While traveling the several-mile-long mountain path, Zar came across a clear puddle of water. In it, he caught a glimpse of the extraordinarily handsome face reflected back at him. A sigh escaped his flawlessly parted lips as he regretted more and more not making himself uglier when he had the chance.
After entering civilization, Zar cleaned himself up really well. It was only then that he noticed a sudden influx of eyes staring at him wherever he went. People—particularly women—sparked up conversations with him whenever they had the chance.
Most of that could be ignored, but then came the envy and ire of jealous men.
Watching the women they coveted fawn over Zar flooded the hearts of these men with anger. They then made it their life's purpose to bother him whenever they got the chance.
The most problem-causing among his female admirers was none other than… Senior Sister Hua. A dangerously beautiful woman who was not only extremely talented in cultivation but also the owner of a body that should be a crime to show so much skin with.
"Haiz…" A heavy gust of air left Zar's lungs and out his mouth as he finally reached the part of the winding path where it forked back to the top. "There's no use regretting now. I'll just have to manage in any way I can until I become invincible."
Ascending to the top of the winding path, Zar was welcomed with the sight of a three-story Eastern-style manor. Sparsely placed around it were plots of garden, in which Spiritual Plants at or above Rank 3 were growing. This made them perfectly suitable for the use of anyone around the Core Formation Realm.
"You've arrived, young Zar?"
A fairy-like voice carried through the air filled with the smell of medicinal herbs. It belonged to a devastatingly gorgeous woman sitting under a gazebo.
Lightly held against her tender, snow-white shoulder was a parasol spotted with purple and red flowers, a color scheme that perfectly matched the flowing white dress she wore. Her body was rounded in all the right areas, making it difficult to differentiate her between a Jade Beauty and a Lady of the Night based on appearance alone.
But once one took into account the elegant way she carried herself, they'd realize that she could be nothing other than a Goddess.
She was also the main reason Zar chose to work as a Disciple of this not-so-well-known Medicine Valley. But contrary to Meng, who joined to occasionally witness the Valley Master's beauty, Zar joined for an entirely different reason.
[Yu Quixan (Deity Transformation 8th Layer): 210/1950/5100]
It was on the day he first met Valley Master Yu that Zar understood what a true genius looked like. At only 210 years old, she managed to touch upon the very peak of the Deity Transformation Realm.
It was fair to say that her talent in cultivation exceeded even that of the Trial, Outer, Inner, and even Elite Disciples!
Possibly only the elusive Core Disciples and Direct Disciples could compare!
Legacy Disciples were a level higher than even Direct Disciples, and they were likely the only ones with cultivation talent surpassing Valley Master Yu's. Frankly put, she was a monster.
Her cultivation was so high that her Nine-Tailed Demon Fox features were all but reduced to nothing. She looked almost entirely human, and unless she became emotionally unstable and projected her Racial Powers over her regular appearance, no human could tell her apart from one of their own.
Albeit a ridiculously attractive member of their own…
As for why Zar purposefully chose to serve under a Valley Master who was skillfully concealing her Deity Transformation Realm cultivation to be at the Peak Core Formation Realm:
Zar wanted to test the covertness of the act of sending out his Shadow Beasts. Furthermore, he figured it would be best to acquire the favor of someone as powerful as her.
And last but not least, her last name and reasoning for hiding interested him.
Quixan was the name of the Mortal Dynasty closest to the Blazing Sun Sect's Outer Sect. And though the surname was pretty common and this could all just be one large coincidence, it was worth investigating.
That was assuming Zar had the guts to do something like that under the nose of the terrifyingly tranquil woman sitting under the gazebo before him…
"You've brought something for me?" Valley Master Yu asked as her crystal-clear eyes sucked Zar in from hundreds of meters away.
Dazed, Zar shook his head. And while swiftly gliding over to her, he replied, "Yes, Valley Master. I have the Ruby Grass you requested—500 stalks of it."
Valley Master Yu revealed a pleased smile seeing the stalks of Spiritual Plants flying out of Zar's storage ring before landing in a pile in front of her. However, even with the radiant scarlet glow they emitted, her dazzling smile trumped their radiance a million to one.
Even Zar was not fully immune to her charms just yet, causing him to instinctively avert his gaze whilst speaking to her.
"You really do have quite the talent when it comes to so precisely cutting away Spiritual Plants from their roots," Valley Master Yu praised with a sultry smile that could tempt even the most stoic of monks. "On a side note, how has your cultivation been coming along?"
Zar showed a dejected expression. "I… still haven't broken through the 3rd Layer of Foundation Establishment."
His disappointment was genuine, but it was instead because of his failure to survive the last and final 7th Lightning Bolt in his simulated cultivation sessions. Three years of lifespan were invested into his cultivation each day, and yet, even after months of going at it, a breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm had yet to occur.
Originally, Zar believed it to be because his Primary Cultivation Technique, 'Seven Circulatory Rebirths,' wasn't good enough. However, that definitely wasn't the case, because the Peak-Black Rank Technique could even support and guide breakthroughs into the Soul Transformation Realm.
It also wasn't the fault of his Spiritual Roots. After all, a double-unit Spirit Root like the Yin-Yang Dao Spirit Roots would make even a Soul Transformation Realm Expert a genius.
So then, what was it…?
Well, to put it simply, the breakthrough into Nascent Soul was just… ludicrously difficult!