Chapter 52 - Chapter 52: Law Enforcement Assessment
Fang Ao’s words were clearly underlaid with a hidden meaning, and it was obviously directed toward Li Ming.
Everyone in the Divine Will Sect knew that Li Ming was a foundation establishment body cultivator.
After all, he was the first person ever since the establishment of the Divine Will Sect, as well as in the Heavenly Southern Region, to have reached such a level in body cultivation!
This made his name difficult to forget.
Reaching the foundation establishment realm in body cultivation was an unheard-of feat in the Heavenly Southern Region before Li Ming.
This matter had shaken the outer and inner sect disciples, and some of them had even begun training their bodies.
However, the core disciples, particularly the disciples of the five halls of the Divine Will Sect, still did not take Li Ming, who was in the body cultivation foundation establishment realm, seriously.
In their eyes, Li Ming was just putting his heart and soul into a useless path.
They all saw Li Ming’s decision to be unbelievably foolish.
After all, he had wasted three years.
They believed that he could have reached the peak and become the number one prodigy of the sect, but he chose a path that no one had ever taken before.
If this was not stupidity, then what was?
Hearing Fang Ao’s words, fury filled Cheng Qingke’s face. She was just about to retort when Li Ming pulled her back.
Li Ming stepped forward and looked at Fang Ao.
“Senior Fang, to be able to stand behind a woman, one needs capital.’
“You’re a man, but there is no woman willing to shelter you from the wind and rain. Is that not more pathetic?”
Li Ming replied with a calm expression.
Although this person was a disciple of the Divine Will Sect and seemed to have considerable strength and status, Li Ming did not care.
On the path of cultivation, one did not only seek to conform to heaven’s will but also to one’s heart.
It was incredibly apparent that Fang Ao had come here to stir up trouble.
If he chose to avoid the confrontation, it would inevitably dull his sharpness and weaken his confidence.
All these years, Li Ming had never taken people’s mockery and rolling eyes seriously.
Firstly, he had heard too much and did not take them to heart.
Secondly and most importantly, in the past three years, Li Ming’s talent in qi cultivation truly was weak. Although he had made advancements in body cultivation, that still did not grant him enough strength.
In the past, he had not gotten that many good entries, so Li Ming did not have the strength to fight against others.
As such, he naturally had to avoid them.
But that was no longer the case now, so Li Ming would not just sit by and let himself be pushed around.
In the past, Chen Qingke had always stood up for him.
And that actually made Li Ming feel quite embarrassed.
However, it was fine as long as he knew what he was embarrassed about. If someone else had said it, the meaning changed.
Naturally, there were differences between the two.
Hearing Li Ming reply so brazenly toward Fang Ao, Lu Lan and Chen Qingke, who were right beside him, found themselves surprised and curious.
Somehow, they felt that Li Ming had changed significantly after he emerged victorious from the inner sect grand competition.
In the past, he was like cotton to brainless people who came looking for trouble. He was weak and would not make a fuss. But now, Li Ming had clearly become sharper.
Lu Lan looked on in astonishment.
The Li Ming that she had interacted with in the past was indeed gentle and would never act like this.
It seemed that everyone’s personality would change after going through the inner sect grand competition and entering the core of the Divine Will Sect.
After reaching the foundation establishment realm, the future path of cultivation would become vast and extraordinary.
After that point, a cultivator’s life would completely change.
Each and every one of them would have to adapt to the changes, and adapting to a new environment would naturally result in some changes in personality.
Of course, the biggest change that had taken place for Li Ming was the change in his own strength.
Li Ming had already reached the second level of the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art. Although he had not yet reached the third level, he had already entered the intermediate stage of the foundation establishment realm by doing so.
For Li Ming, every breakthrough brought about a huge improvement. At this point, he did not really have any need to fear Fang Ao.
“Humph!”
“You sure are proud.”
“Li Ming, are you even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me?”
“The sect placed you in a place like the Martial Hall where you can’t even absorb spiritual qi. You can’t possibly think that they actually care for a piece of trash like you who can’t cultivate qi, do you?”
“Don’t blame me for being the one to break the news to you. You new core disciples will be tested here in three months. If you fail, I can only say that your fate will not be good!”
Fang Ao snorted coldly and looked at Chen Qingke. He did not hide the greed and lust in his eyes as he turned around and left.
Although a fight had not broken out, Fang Ao’s intentions were very obvious.
It would be difficult for Li Ming to stay in the inner sect of the Divine Will Sect to cultivate.
And it would be especially so when the new disciples’ assessment takes place in three months.
This assessment would not be the same as those that took place in the outer and inner sects.
After all, they were now in the true core of the Divine Will Sect, and all of them were foundation establishment disciples.
There was a huge gap between them and the qi refinement disciples outside.
The assessment would naturally have to be different.
In terms of difficulty, it would be much greater than any of the assessments in the inner sect.
Hearing Fang Ao’s words, it seemed that if he did not pass this incoming assessment, the consequences that he would suffer would be very serious.
Li Ming was honestly unaware of this and was curious. After all, he was the only one in the core of the Divine Will Sect who entered the Martial Hall.
No one had ever told him about any of these things.
Just as he was about to ask Lu Lan for some more information, Lu Lan unexpectedly took the initiative to speak.
“Junior Brother Li Ming, where is this Martial Hall that you have joined? Is it in the valley behind the five halls?”
“Why did the sect arrange for you to go there?”
“Doesn’t staying there mean that you won’t be able to cultivate qi?”
Lu Lan spoke in quick succession. After Fang Ao’s reminder, Lu Lan had gotten an impression of where the Martial Hall might be.
Hearing this, Li Ming immediately smiled and said, “That might not be the case. In fact, I think that place is pretty good.” “Moreover, it will not hinder my cultivation.”
“Do not worry, Senior Sister Lu.”
“Who exactly is that Fang Ao? Even if he’s a disciple of the Divine Will Sect, he shouldn’t be acting so arrogantly towards others, right?”
They were both elite disciples of the sect. Other than the difference in cultivation, there should be no difference in status.
After all, the disciples who could enter the five halls were all selected from the inner sect and were talented disciples.
But despite all that, there were actually still people who are so arrogant?
Hearing Li Ming’s words, Lu Lan also began to explain.
“This Fang Ao is not only a disciple of the Spirit Will Hall, but also a member of the Law Enforcement Hall within the five halls. He thus has the right to supervise the disciples.”
“In addition, this person often uses his position to threaten some female disciples and force them to do shameful actions.” Li Ming frowned when he heard Lu Lan’s words.
It was obvious that Fang Ao had his eyes on Chen Qingke.
“For there to be such scum in the core of the sect, do the elders not care at all?”
Li Ming did not understand. As a sect that was the overlord of the Heavenly Southern Region, why was the Divine Will Sect so chaotic?
“Of course not. This is different from the outer and inner sects. The cultivation world outside is far crueler than ours. The sect also follows this point. The strong prey on the weak.”
“Other than not being allowed to kill, there are almost no so-called rules here.”
“In addition, this Fang Ao has someone backing him up. Naturally, nobody really dares to do anything to him.”
After listening to Lu Lan, Li Ming had a much better understanding of the situation.
The Divine Will Sect was obviously relying on this kind of hands-off method to train their disciples. They used a high-pressure environment to make their disciples work hard to cultivate and improve themselves.
Disciples nurtured in such an environment were naturally much stronger than disciples who have simply been spoonfed everything.
Perhaps, this was also the reason why the Divine Will Sect was able to maintain such a strong position in the Heavenly Southern Region and become the number one sect in the area.
“Then what’s with the assessment that he mentioned?”
“In three months, all five of you who have passed the most recent inner sect grand competition are required to take an assessment of the Law Enforcement Hall.’
“Therefore, you must be careful when the time comes. Fang Ao is narrow-minded and vengeful. He will definitely target you.”
“He is currently in the intermediate stage of the foundation establishment realm and has a natal magical treasure.”
Lu Lan gave Li Ming a series of reminders.
Her reminders also reminded Li Ming of his purpose for coming here.
Li Ming was already at the twelfth level of the qi refinement stage, thus having reached the peak of the qi refinement stage.
However, he was not completely sure of how to reach the qi cultivation foundation establishment realm.
Li Ming did not have the time to go to the scripture depository to look for books to study on this topic.
And so, he believed that asking Chen Qingke was his best choice.
After all, Chen Qingke was talented, so it would be better to ask her about such things.
“I came here this time to ask about the foundation establishment realm.” “The qi cultivation foundation establishment realm.”
When Li Ming said this, both Chen Qingke and Lu Lan were both stunned. Then, they realized that Li Ming had already reached the twelfth level of the qi refinement stage!
Previously, when Li Ming had reached the body cultivation foundation establishment realm, his physical body’s aura was already powerful, masking his level in qi cultivation.
If it was not for him speaking of it, they would not have even noticed that he had already reached the peak of the qi refinement stage. “Senior Brother, you’ve already reached the peak of the qi refinement stage?”
“When do you plan to establish your foundation?”
Chen Qingke’s expression turned serious and she looked at Li Ming happily.
Li Ming’s talent was not weak. Everyone just felt that he had chosen the wrong path..