Holding the round object in his hands, Van found that it was actually quite heavy. He smacked it with his palm using a reasonable amount of force and it cracked open.

The crust fell to the side and revealed a l.u.s.trous...o...b..filled with swirling mist. It was a beautiful blue-green that made one think of the ocean.

Suddenly, the green turtle sh.e.l.l in his mindscape vibrated violently. A yearning feeling emitted from it once more.

The swirling blue-green essence within the orb began to leak out. The strands of essence that leaked into the air were sucked straight into Van's mindscape. The green turtle sh.e.l.l greedily sucked it up.

A second later, Van held an empty husk in his hands.

"Gee thanks," Van muttered sarcastically. A moment later, the husk disintegrated into fine dust.

[Perverted b.a.s.t.a.r.d,] Jet said in a contemptuous tone of voice.

Van's eyebrows raised, "Are you talking to me?"

[No, I'm calling that h.o.r.n.y green b.a.s.t.a.r.d a perverted b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You should know, that orb contained a female Nine Dark Turtle's essence. Where do you think that comes from? The sick, perverted green b.a.s.t.a.r.d is getting his rocks off. Yuck!]

At that moment, the green sh.e.l.l pulsated. It grew larger.

Jet was grossed out, [Stop swelling up!]

The green sh.e.l.l pulsated again.

Weng!

A strange glowing symbol appeared on the l.u.s.trous green sh.e.l.l.

Van inspected the symbol; the symbol somewhat resembled the shape of a s.h.i.+eld. What did this mean? Did the green turtle sh.e.l.l have another ability beyond eating spiritual power?

Van poked the turtle sh.e.l.l with a mental finger. It did not respond.

Jet complained again.

[f.u.c.king layabout! Doesn't pay rent, doesn't pay respects to this granddaddy. f.u.c.king useless!]

The little black ring tried to punt the green turtle sh.e.l.l. Once again, it was shocked with freezing qi and paralysed.

Moody, Jet went to a corner of Van's mindscape and muttered to himself.

Van was highly amused by the whole situation. He took one last look at the marking on the turtle sh.e.l.l. Since Jet was not alarmed, Van would trust him.

"I'll unlock its meaning sooner or later."

Van now withdrew the Myriad Light Dimensional Ring. With much gentler force, he cracked open the crust.

A translucent ring was revealed. It glimmered with subtle light. When Van moved it, the light reflected softly around it in a rainbow of colors.

Van bit his finger and a droplet of his blood hit the ring. It was slowly absorbed until not a single trace of red remained.

The ring began to react when it realized that someone was trying to change its allegiance.

Purple mist spread into the air.

Van smelt it and felt ill – this was poison mist! He sealed his lips and stopped breathing.

[Quickly, burn it with your Fists of Devouring Flame!] Jet instructed.

Van did not hesitate. A plume of fire immediately engulfed the ring and young boy.

The poison mist sizzled as it was devoured by the flames. It was once extremely potent, but millions of years had caused it to weaken. Slowly but surely, the pace at which it was burned exceeded the rate it was emitted from the ring.

Hours later, the poison was removed completely from the ring.

It took another day for Van to refine the ring with his blood and transfer owners.h.i.+p.

Finally, he was able to open it with his mental intent.

Kcha

Within the 1000 cubic meter s.p.a.ce, the only thing Van found was a rusty old watering can and a pot plant. The plant in the pot was withered and dead.

Van gingerly picked the pot up. The movement immediately caused the withered plant to disintegrate.

Ding dang ding!

Three small objects. .h.i.t the ground.

[Hm?]

Van picked them up.

Three rice-grain sized seeds rolled around in his palm. They were round and s.h.i.+ny despite the lack of water.

Thoughtful, Van pulled the dead roots of the old plant out of the soil in the pot and planted the seeds within. He used his Dark Seas Palm to place some water inside the watering can. The icy water was poured on the plant.

Van realized only after watered the seeds that the amount of hostile qi in the Dark Seas Palm move might be damaging to the seeds.

"They've survived many years in a hostile environment, they'll be fine," Van reasoned.

Then Van worried about the amount of spiritual power in the dimensional ring. He debated fiercely within himself, but then finally grit his teeth and crushed a Br.i.m.m.i.n.g Spirit Pill.

Van threw the crushed pill into the dimensional ring. Potent spiritual energy began to mist up the dimensional s.p.a.ce.

[To be the only thing within a precious ring, the plant cannot be a useless object!]

Van remembered he could ask Jet about the seeds. He tried to communicate with Jet but for some reason he could not sense him from within the Myriad Light Dimensional Ring.

[That's weird… Jet's within me, so I should be able to communicate with him even if my consciousness is within the Myriad Light Dimensional Ring…]

Van's consciousness exited the dimensional ring. Immediately, Jet's voice entered his ears.

[So, kid. What was in there?]

Van described the withered plant.

Jet was uncertain of what it could be with Van's dodgy description. In Van's defense, the leaves had disintegrated within seconds of him lifting the pot so he did not have a good look.

[It does not sound like a poisonous plant. The poison mist must have been put there by its last owner,] Jet concluded.

Van nodded. He remembered his inability to speak to Jet from within the Myriad Light dimensional ring.

"Hey, Jet? Aren't you part of my consciousness? Why can I not communicate with you when I insert my consciousness within the dimensional ring?"

Jet was silent. After a long silence he spoke in a weird tone, [I don't know, Van.]

Van heard the tone of distress in Jet's voice and stopped questioning him.

____

[Early the next morning.]

Van heard a knock at the door.

Van, who was meditating on his bed, sprang up and put his robes on. When he saw who was on the other side of the door he was very surprised.

"Tutor Zhang?"

The old tutor smiled warmly at him. He pa.s.sed a jade scroll to Van.

Curious, Van unrolled the jade scroll.

"Permission to be fast-tracked to Inner Disciple," he read aloud. Van's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He read the jade scroll quickly.

[If Van, outer disciple, can:

• Advance to the 6th level of QI Distillation within 2 months

• Lead a group of 30 outer disciples between the 5th and 6th level in the Monster Mausoleum, without a single casualty.

Then, Van will be accepted as Inner Disciple without further examination…]

Van's heart did acrobatics in his chest, "Tutor Zhang, is this true?"

The old tutor chuckled, "It was inscribed by Sect Master Musheng himself; all of it is true!"

Van gripped the jade scroll tightly; his opportunity was right here. If he didn't say yes he would be an utter fool.

"I accept!" Van declared hotly. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Tutor Zhang, "Thank you Tutor Zhang for speaking favorably of me to the Sect Master!"

Van knew that without Tutor Zhang's favor, Sect Master Musheng would never have known he was! This meant, he owed Tutor Zhang!

Tutor Zhang was pleasantly surprised by Van's perceptiveness, "You are welcome, boy. If you have any doubts at all, come and find me. I will be happy if our Cedar Sect gains two new geniuses."

"Two?" Van had a bad feeling.

Tutor Zhang saw Van's sour look and chuckled, "Yes! The Sect Master has given the same mission to Klaus."

"In fact, I spoke to him yesterday afternoon. He is already halfway to the Sambara Desert, two countries away, in order to temper himself and his martial skill."

[Already halfway there!]

Tutor Zhang shook his head, "We tried to find you yesterday but you were not in your room. I suggest you get to work quickly – your task is far more challenging. Two cultivation levels in two months is no mean feat."

Van bit his lip. However, he did not regret going to the Lantern Festival and partic.i.p.ating in the Mystery Object Sale.

Van looked Tutor Zhang in the eye, "I will do it!"

Tutor Zhang smiled.

[Sure enough, a genius will have a genius' mindset.]

"Good, good!" Tutor Zhang said, "I will leave you to your preparations. Oh, before I leave, I would like to remind you that your role in the Monster Mausoleum revolves around leaders.h.i.+p and teamwork. I suggest you take a mission which will allow you to practice these skills."

"The Monster Mausoleum is an inter-sect compet.i.tion in which disciples from each sect compete as an army of two hundred. Each sect provides a certain number of disciples in the 6th and 7th levels of Qi Distillation."

"Each sect's score is based on how many waves of monsters they can withstand before defeat. The moment all disciples are defeated is the moment the sect stops earning points."

"At the moment, information about the Monster Mausoleum is under wraps, so please do not reveal this information to anybody else."

Tutor Zhang smiled once more at Van and left with a swish of his robes.

Van sat quietly on his bed and organized his thoughts.

[No matter what, I must excel in the Monster Mausoleum and enter the inner sect as soon as possible!]

[The first step is to level up to the 6th level of Qi Distillation and gain leaders.h.i.+p and teamwork experience!]

____

[A few hours later.]

Ebenezer looked up from his desk to see a familiar face standing in front of him. Immediately, a smile spread across his face.

"Van!" He exclaimed, surprised and happy to see the young disciple, "You know you're famous around these parts now? They kept talking about the two 'Twin Dragons' of the outer sect – then I found out one of them was you!"

The dark-haired boy in front of him smiled.

Ebenezer calmed himself down, he tapped his ink quill on the desk, "Hehe. What mission are you after today?"

"I would like to take the mission in the Blizzard Plains."

Ebenezer's eyebrows nearly touched his hairline, "Are you sure…? I know you are very capable, but the mission's recommended cultivation level is quite high…"

"Plus, it is recommended that all mission-takers go in teams. If you are going to solo this, I'm afraid I will have to decline your request."

Van understood why the mission had to be done in a team.

According to the mission giver, the Blizzard Plains started off a few months ago as a lower level quest like Threadspinner Town. In particular, the quest related to a series of ice caves in the Blizzard Plains. However, several weeks ago the disciples of various sects who went there for training started to report experiencing hallucinations and dizziness while in the ice caves. It is suspected that a high-level demon beast has taken up residence in there.

The new mission - issued by the Prime Minister of the Lihnrest, the country in which the Blizzard Plains were located - was requesting the big sects to send people to investigate the matter. Rewards will be issued for eliminating demon beasts as well as investigating the root cause of the problems.

Van explained to Ebenezer that he would be taking to other people with him.

Ebenezer's expression cleared, "That is the minimum suggested by the quest-giver. There is a local militia from which disciples can request extra fighters, but they cannot make up the team of three."

Van nodded.

Ebenezer pulled out three round pendants from his drawer, "Since this is a team mission, it is required by sect protocol that disciple's wear a signal pendant. You must also give these to your team mates. This ensures that if any of you get into trouble, the rest will receive your location."

Van accepted the three pendants.

Ebenezer then pa.s.sed him a slip of paper, "Please sign here, this doc.u.ment acknowledges that you will complete the mission as a group of three and that you understand the risks that come with accepting this mission."

Van scrawled his name in his scratchy handwriting.

Ebenezer watched him silently. When the paper was handed back, he spoke.

"Good luck, Van. The Blizzard Plains are a place where even some inner disciples fear to tread. Do not wander too far from the ice caves, the demon beasts that wander out in the open plains are the ones that are unafraid of human cultivators. Prepare well and do not hesitate to escape if things go awry."

As Van walked away, Ebenezer couldn't help but call out.

"And make sure that you make full use of the local militia!"