For all intents and purposes, the duo should be delighted to receive a Heavenly Grade Spirit Scroll.
This would be the clear shot at the Royal Class level. Not just that, Cain's Spirit energy Laws could monstrously improve to a rate where he and Amber can make an even more terrifying duo.
But Cain's eyes were cold as ice as he stared at the scroll. His hands clenched down as he slowly and carefully flowed Chaos energy into the scroll.
As he did so, a brief memory of their previous conversation flashed in his mind.
The room that Senior Master Juo chose for their meeting was pleasant. It had a nice sensation about it. One that felt similar to relaxing in a spring pool. There were also cool refreshments and sides just in case they had ever so desired.
In this kind of environment, it wouldn't be strange if one let their guard down just slightly.
But Cain and Amber never let any tension leave their bodies. They didn't let it show, but any slightest movement or reaction would be picked up by them.
Still, even with their guard up, Cain carried a conversation and learned valuable information from Senior Master Juo.
Cain had a genuinely curious expression as he asked, "I didn't think there would be such a large disparity. With so many outer Spirit Master, I wonder how can the Inner Spirit Master even thrive. I suspect there's no reasonable challenge to continue to push themselves."
One of the best and most recommended ways for Martial cultivators to break through would be through battle, which brings one to their very limit. This stimulates a Martial cultivator's potential to their very limit, bringing out the latent power still dormant in their souls.
Throughout history, many cultivators, even Divine Decree Lord's level of talent, stimulated their talent to the extreme with this method. Their battle prowess greatly increased and their Spiritual Sea perception abilities improved by leaps and bounds.
With a high abundance of Martial cultivators, this method became a stable throughout the entire God Galaxy society.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBut while Martial cultivators can thrive, high-class World Spirit Masters would have legitimate problems trying to recreate this method. There were just too many variables that made it far less possible.
The two biggest reasons would be the severe lack of higher-class World Spirit Masters and the plentiful variations Spirit energy Laws have.
Some Spirit energy Laws possess absolute power and destruction, a powerful restriction force or a gentle force that bypasses all defenses. Most things about Spirit energy Laws don't have a general path compared to Martial force.
Thus, it's harder for a World Spirit Master to stimulate purely their Spirit potential. It would be a bit rare for one to face a World Spirit Master that had completely overwhelming power and dense Spirit energy principles.
But even with all that said, the Spirit Association temple is immensely valuable to the Cloudsea Holy Land. Even the Elders treat the Inner Spirit masters with greater respect than that of Core disciples.
Senior Master Juo took their lower numbers with a prideful stride as he said, "While we may lack numbers, we more than makeup for it in sheer quality. Every one of our Inner Spirit Master is a force that the top-ranking core disciple can't afford to look down on. And even greater are my seniors of the 4th class level."
Amber perked up at this. "So there are more of you? Just how much 4th class masters are there?"
Right as Senior Master Juo went to answer, he paused for a moment. A look of genuine regret flashed across his face.
He couldn't help but sigh as he said, "We actually eight, eight powerful Gold World Spirit Master in this temple. But alas, for...reasons, we lost half of our force. Only one of them truly died and the rest left to their own devices. Besides me, there are Senior Master Ku, Ni, and Wang."
For the first time since coming here, Cain and Amber felt a little bit of an ominous chill. Questions among questions swirled their minds.
Just what could make Gold World Spirit Masters want to leave a high-tier Holy Land?
Indeed, World Spirit Masters are fewer and are greatly valuable to Martial cultivators. But it isn't as if they were completely impossible to find. In fact, Holy Intelligence networks have a great system for locating World Spirit Masters.
Furthermore, World Spirit Masters can't thrive on their own. They would need a better-suited environment and a rich background to suit their spiritual needs.
On their own, World Spirit Masters simply have a higher chance of getting enslaved or kidnapped. It was the blunt truth of God's Galaxy society. But one everyone seems to accept.
Given how much natural intelligence Gold World Spirit Masters develop, it just didn't make sense for them to leave a grand Holy Land without a monumental reason.
Cain knew better than to poke at the sect's secrets, so he asked instead, "The loss of World Spirit Masters, powerful ones at that, is incredibly rough. Did the other Holy Land attempt to capitalize on this?"
"You can bet they at least attempted to do so." Senior Master Juo explained with a wry smile. "However, us for aren't pushovers. Though I'm the youngest and weakest, I have full abilities to defend myself against an Early Stage Divine Ruler. And I'm only at the Early Layer. My Seniors are either in the peak or perfection layer!"
Cain and Amber mentally noted Senior Master Juo's personal capabilities for later.
But they didn't get a chance to speak again as a look of revere suddenly appeared on Senior Master Juo's face.
He slowly said, "But the real reason we were able to resist is because of our Royal Ancient Master. The Ancient Master are both at the Royal Class level! This is something both the Fire Star Holy Land and the Purple Radiance Holy Land can't ever dream of."
Amber's eyes sparkled. "Oh? I read that it is incomparably difficult to reach the Royal Class level. Since it is so, the Ancient Master must have profound strength and, more importantly, profound comprehension."
It was obvious what Amber was hinting at. And Senior Master Juo mirthfully laughed while helplessly shaking his head.
"If it was easy to receive guidance from the Ancient Master, our Spirit energy Laws wouldn't take this long to improve. Unfortunately, the Ancient Masters are always in seclusion. The only time they leave is when our sect is in mortal danger. The best we got is a small number of their principles in only a couple of texts."
Cain and Amber were a little disappointed, but not really surprised. Given how arrogant mere Purple Class World Spirit Masters are, the aloofness of Royal Class was in expectations.
After a few more minutes of conversation where the duo didn't learn anything too important, a change had occurred.
Up to this point, the conversation went as smoothly as possible.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut when Senior Master Juo finally gave up the Heavenly Grade Spirit Scroll, it caused a cold sensation to sweep through Cain's soul.
Senior Master Juo's face was brightly smiling and his tone seemed genuinely eager as he said, "Please, Spirit brother Lee, Spirit Sister Xun, accept this Sea of Spirit Art as a token of my sincere friendship. I'm sure you both will see great success with this one."
As Senior Master Juo went over to hand the Spirit Scroll, Cain already had his Divine Sense covering the scroll. Just faintly, but still noticeable enough to stir his mind, a strange sensation coursed through his Spiritual Sea.
Always the one to trust his gut, Cain had then utilized his Chaos Sense. What he had discovered instantly made his heart go ice cold.
An energy source that distinctly wasn't Spirit energy was hidden deep within the Heavenly Grade Spirit Scroll. It was completely buried under layers and layers of Spirit energy Law sensation.
Amber certainly didn't notice the strangeness. Her mood remained completely the same.
Furthermore, anyone else in Amber's position, even if they had expert-level attainment, wouldn't be able to detect this slight variation in energy source.
Cain was only able to achieve this because his own attainment reached the master level, and most importantly, his base Divine Sense is infused with a small portion of Chaos energy.
Mainly through Chaos energy, could Cain faintly detect and then fully perceive the different energy source.
Truthfully, even a Divine Ruler or a Middle Layer 4th class World Spirit Master would be completely helpless. This move was equally crafty and insidious.
But despite coming to this realization, Cain kept his expression perfectly calm. He received the Spirit Scroll, but in the depths of his heart, a killing intent slowly bloomed.
As his memories cleared away, Cain dangerously narrowed his eyes on the Spirit Scroll. His eyes gleamed with unprecedented coldness.
Even a half-step Divine Ruler would shiver upon being gazed upon with these eyes.
A similar deathly expression started to form on Amber's face when noticing Cain's mood shift.
She crossed her arms and asked, "So let me guess. This guy planted something we wouldn't be able to notice if not for your freakish abilities."
"Indeed, it is so." Cain solemnly nodded. "Only because of Chaos energy could I detect this little scheme. In fact, that's the main reason I decided to take on this so-called gift. No matter what plans either those decree geniuses have, it can't escape Chaos energy."