Chương 297: Above the Sea

The Jade Sea was home to an infinite number of extremely powerful beasts. If one was unlucky, one could be attacked by an above Dao realm beast. That would mean absolute death even to Dao realm masters. During the long journey across the Jade Sea, Long Feng's heart was always filled with astonishment at the shocking auras he could sense beneath the calm sea.

Many of the strong beasts didn't care about the palace that zoomed through the air, and most of the beasts that leapt out of the sea to attack the palace were quite weak. They couldn't even keep up with the shadow of the palace. Weak here was naturally relative to Ao Zhentian. To Long Feng, even the weakest beasts here would be trouble to deal with, and most of the beasts were at the deity level and even Dao level. His heart would pound whenever such a powerful aura swam past.

On a few occasions though, they were attacked by powerful deity level beasts and two Dao level beasts. Ao Zhentian had killed the two Dao level beasts so easily that Long Feng was left gasping for breath. He had basically swatted the air and the first beast was destroyed, completely vaporized out of existence. Then he clenched his fist and the second beast was compressed into a fist sized ball of flesh. Long Feng's brain was practically blank after witnessing this. Those were Dao level beasts!

Not spirit, not even deities! Dao Foundation! The mythical realm that could fly across the Jade Sea, reduce mountains to dust and part seas! That Dao realm! Yet they were practically slapped and clenched to death! It was all and well when Ao Zhentian had casually killed several deities. Fine. That was astonishing but still within believable range. But killing Dao level beasts just as easily?

Long Feng had previously thought that Ao Zhentian should be a Dao realm master, yet at this moment, he was forced to rethink again. The strength he had showed could have even surpassed the Dao realm! And even if he was a Dao realm master, then he must be at the peak.

"Are you going to stand there for the whole day? We've just left the continent zone and we're merely half way. Come on in!" Ao Zhentian's lazy voice brought Long Feng back from his thoughts. His body shook slightly and he rushed back into the palace, still shaken by the unbelievable strength Ao Zhentian had showcased.

"Don't overthink kid. Those were just two early stage Dao level beasts, nothing too strong. You should think more on how to keep a low profile in the sect." Ao Zhentian noticed Long Feng's shocked expression and casually said. Long Feng nodded with a dry throat, his respect for Ao Zhentian rising another notch.

"Good. Where was I? Ah. In the supreme heaven sect, disciples are divided into Outer Disciples, Core Disciples and Inheritor disciples. With your current strength…" Ao Zhentian paused and glanced at Long Feng.

"You'll probably be mid ranked among the outer Disciples. Also, I've merely given you a chance by picking you. Actually entering the sect will depend entirely on your luck and results in the entrance assessment." Long Feng frowned slightly.

"Assessment?" He asked again.

"That's right. What did you think? It's not easy to get into a quasi one star force. But I have a high opinion of you. I believe you should be able to pass."

"What's the assessment about?" Long Feng asked again. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"It's just a test of talent, strength and one more thing. I'm not very sure." Ao Zhentian leaned backward and yawned. Hearing that, Long Feng sighed. He really had thought of things too simply. How could it be so easy to enter a powerful force? Ao Zhentian was merely able to get him an opportunity, but the rest would depend upon his own efforts.

"Outer Disciples aren't valued at all. It'll be best if you do everything you can to become an Inner disciple in a year or two. Only then would you be able to gain many advantages in the sect and have access to several life changing trail grounds." Ao Zhentian sat upright and his expression became serious.

"As I said, I have a high opinion of you, which is very rare. Listen carefully. There is a great opportunity that will be occuring soon. The true Supreme Heaven Mystic Realm will be opening. It's nothing like this cheap counterfeit I have. There are countless fortuitous encounters in there and it's entirely possible to undergo a complete rebirth in there. Only the best Inner disciples will be granted the chance to enter alongside the Core disciples.

I'm not having much hope that you'll join, but you can use that as a target. The most important thing for you is too become an Inner disciple, otherwise you could be killed and no one would bother about it." Long Feng listened attentively and nodded solemly after Ao Zhentian finished. Outer disciples weren't valued? That was normal. But they could be killed and nothing would happen? That was something few sects in the continent zone would allow. But in the mainland? They had too many talented geniuses.

The deaths of a few wouldn't cause any changes to the sect.

"The supreme heaven sect is in the Eastern region of the mainland, the territory of the Yang Royal Clan. There are three quasi one star forces in the Eastern region, and the Supreme Heaven Sect is one of them." A glint flashed through Long Feng's pupils as Ao Zhentian mentioned the Yang Royal Clan.

"Senior, which region belongs to the Liu Royal Clan?"

"The Liu Clan? They rule the Southern Region. The Han Clan rule the North, where the Frozen Empress Valley is, while the Jiang Clan rule over the Western Region." Ao Zhentian explained. Long Feng nodded and silently buried this information in his heart. The Southern Region… he would eventually have to go there one day and settle the grudges.

"Senior, you mentioned the real Supreme Heaven Mystic Realm. What exactly is it? And when does it open?"

"The Supreme Heaven Mystic Realm is the greatest trial ground and fortune land controlled by the Supreme Heaven Sect. It contains ancient inheritances of powerful figures of the past and fortuitous encounters, as well as life threatening dangers. Countless supreme powerhouses of the Sect were born in this mystic realm. The Yang Clan converts the supreme heaven mystic realm as well, but they won't actually make a move against us." Ao Zhentian replied slowly.

"As for when it'll open? It opens once every thirty years. You're quite lucky and unlucky at the same time. You came right as the thirty years cycle is almost over, yet you're too young and far too weak. In less than two years, the mystic realm would open. By then, you might still be an outer disciple so don't dwell on it." Long Feng sighed inwardly. He was too weak, how many times had he heard this sentence? And how many times had he said it to himself?

But then again, everyone began weak, even Ao Zhentian himself. Well, Wu Kong definitely didn't begin weak. Long Feng would rather believe that the world would end today than to believe that Wu Kong was ever a spirit realm or even Dao realm warrior.

"Senior, what exactly is the requirement to become an Inner disciple?" He cleared those thoughts and asked a crucial question. The supreme heaven sect seemed to be a great chance for him to undergo a metamorphosis and escape from this curse of weakness. He would do anything possible to gain that chance, unless he was completely unable to.

"Don't think that far. Focus on how you'll pass the entrance test. But I'll tell you, that kid Lu Jian… he wouldn't be worthy of being an Inner disciple. He's similarly too weak. At most he would be a strong outer disciple." Ao Zhentian replied, using Lu Jian as a reference. Long Feng's heart froze. Lu Jian? The peak Imperial realm youth who handed their asses to them with a single palm? He wouldn't be worthy of being an Inner disciple? Long Feng's heart fell.

Even now with his rank five spirit realm cultivation, he was only half confident in facing the rank six Imperial Huang Fang Hao, and it was possible that Huang Fang Hao had raised his strength more than before. It would seem that his combat power had fallen, but that wasn't true. It was merely that the higher the realms, the harder it was to have much combat power. Everyone who could reach the Imperial realm at a young age was a genius in their own rights.

Long Feng's advantage merely came from the unknown mutation which happened during his breakthrough to the spirit realm, otherwise he would barely be able to cross over three or four levels in the spirit realm and battle. And even with his advantage, the higher his cultivation increased, the harder it would be for him to skip too much levels. Perhaps, even when he becomes an Imperial, it would still be hard for him to defeat Lu Jian. In short… he wasn't anywhere close to becoming an Inner disciple.

Hell, he hadn't even joined the sect officially yet. If he failed the entrance test, then everything would be for naught.

"Don't worry. Cultivation is a long thing that requires time. At the deity and Dao Realm, it would require years to have a single breakthrough even for geniuses. At my current level, I might not have a breakthrough in nearly fifty years. The good thing is that the higher your cultivation, the longer your lifespan. Normal Dao realm masters can live for five hundred years." Ao Zhentian comforted. Long Feng nodded and changed the topic.

"Senior, what realm are you exactly?" He was dying to know this answer. Ao Zhentian was able to slaughter both deities and Dao Realm warriors alike as though he was chopping fishes. His strength must surely be extraordinary. Ao Zhentian smiled mysteriously and didn't reply, leaving Long Feng nearly pulling his hair in curiosity.

"One last thing; keep a low profile in the sect! Do not make enemies, otherwise you would die before you can even know what happened. Train your strength in silence until you can at least hold your ground in the outer court. Do not offend any Inner disciple before you become one yourself; they would kill you openly and no one would say a word. At the end, it all comes down to one thing; Strength! You're too weak." Ao Zhentian began, causing Long Feng's eyebrows to twitch fiercely. Too weak again…

would Ao Zhentian please shut it?

"Even the weakest outer disciples are as strong as that Huang Fang Hao; the very weakest among them. In other words, you're probably among the ten weakest outer disciples in the ranking, if such a ranking exist." At this point, Long Feng wanted to cry out. Wasn't Ao Zhentian simply making fun of him? Weakest ten? Not the top ten, but the last ten? Was that even a thing? Ao Zhentian didn't notice Long Feng's scrunched up expression. And even if he did, he definitely didn't care.

"Use every chance to cultivate and deepen your comprehension of the Dao. Your current Dao level is pathetic. You need to comprehend Intent at least to barely become passable. Your sword skills are actually very good; what's lacking is your understanding of the sword." He added. Long Feng's mind went to his teacher, Old Man Solitude who had taught him how to really use the sword, what it meant to be a swordsman. That was probably why Ao Zhentian found him sword skills good.

"I understand, senior." Long Feng sighed and walked over to a corner of the palace and sat down, then he immersed himself in the memory fragment of the Firmament Sword Saint, trying to deepen his understanding of the sword and the Firmament Sword Art. There was no natural energy above the Jade Sea so he couldn't cultivate unless he used spirit crystals, and it would be slow, so he didn't bother about that.

It would pay more for him to advance his sword concept to rank nine soon, then advance both his demon and light Dao concepts to rank eight as well.