108: Chapter 108 Sect Master's Initiation, Spirit Stones Exploded

With Master Xuanyang's order, the atmosphere of the entire plaza was instantly pushed to a climax.

Everyone's gazes, filled with incomparable excitement and anticipation, focused on the center of the plaza.

Xuantian Spiritual Qi Empowerment!

This was the highest-level reward ceremony of the Qingxuan Sect!

Usually, only Disciples who had made heaven-shaking contributions to the Sect, or peerless geniuses who exhibited extraordinary potential in certain aspects, were qualified to enjoy such treatment.

The last time a Spiritual Qi empowerment was held was fifty years ago, to reward Chu Tianhe, who had just broken through to the Divine Soul Realm at that time.

Moreover, the person performing the empowerment for the Disciple had to be the one with the highest cultivation and the purest control over Spiritual Qi within the Sect—which was none other than Sect Master Master Xuanyang!

The process of empowerment was to channel the pure Spiritual Qi cultivated by the Sect Master himself directly into the body of the rewarded Disciple through secret arts, cleansing their Meridians and marrow to forcefully elevate their cultivation.

Although this method was somewhat like pulling shoots to help them grow, for those Disciples who were stuck in a Bottleneck and unable to break through for a long time, it was undoubtedly a colossal Opportunity!

"It's starting! The Sect Master is personally performing the empowerment! Senior Brother Zhao Ruoan really has so much Face!"

"Indeed! I wonder to what extent this empowerment can raise Senior Brother Zhao's cultivation?"

"He is already at the Late Stage of the Pulse Condensation Realm. I guess that after this empowerment, he will at least break through to the Early Stage of the Divine Soul Realm!"

"Early Stage of the Divine Soul Realm? You underestimate the Sect Master's strength and Senior Brother Zhao's talent too much! I bet he can directly rush to the Middle Stage of the Divine Soul Realm!"

The Disciples discussed animatedly, stretching their necks one by one, afraid of missing any single detail.

Under everyone's gaze, Zhao Ruoan slowly walked to the center of the plaza and sat down cross-legged.

Master Xuanyang took a deep breath, and his expression also became solemn.

Performing empowerment for a Disciple consumed a tremendous amount of his own Spiritual Qi, so he had to concentrate completely without the slightest mistake.

He walked behind Zhao Ruoan, slowly raising his hands. Within his palms, two extremely dazzling golden balls of Spiritual Qi light began to condense.

That was the Origin Spiritual Qi condensed by the "Xuantian Zhengyang Technique" he had cultivated for hundreds of years—unrivaled in purity and peerlessly domineering!

"Zhao Ruoan, center your mind and calm your breath, guard your primordial essence! The empowerment is about to begin!"

Master Xuanyang let out a low shout, and his palms slammed fiercely onto Zhao Ruoan's back at the Gate of Life point!

"Boom!"

A surge of golden Spiritual Qi as mighty as a river rushed madly through Master Xuanyang's palms and into Zhao Ruoan's body!

In everyone's imagination, the next scene should be Zhao Ruoan's Aura skyrocketing and his cultivation climbing step by step.

However, a bizarre scene occurred.

The terrifying Spiritual Qi, enough to shatter a mountain peak, the moment it poured into Zhao Ruoan's body, acted like a clay ox entering the sea—without even bubbling, it vanished without a trace!

Zhao Ruoan sat there cross-legged. Not to mention a Breakthrough in cultivation, even his Aura did not change in the slightest, remaining as calm as stagnant water.

"Hmm?"

Master Xuanyang frowned, feeling that something was amiss.

What was going on?

The Spiritual Qi he infused should have at least caused a Disciple at the Early Stage of the Pulse Condensation Realm to explode and die on the spot. How come when it reached this brat, there was not the slightest reaction?

Could there be something wrong with his Meridians?

That shouldn't be the case! Junior Martial Uncle Yun's Disciple couldn't possibly have such a poor Foundation.

"Increase the intensity!"

Refusing to believe it, Master Xuanyang let out a low shout and urged the Spiritual Qi within his body once more. The speed and force of the infusion were three times more violent than before!

The golden torrent of Spiritual Qi, like a breached flood, continuously scoured Zhao Ruoan's limbs and bones.

However, the result was still the same.

Zhao Ruoan's body was like a bottomless pit.

No matter how much Spiritual Qi Master Xuanyang poured in, it was instantly absorbed, refined, and devoured by the twenty-four-hour fully automatic idling "Great Dao Scripture" inside his body, unable to stir up even a trace of a ripple.

Zhao Ruoan himself also felt a bit strange.

He only felt that his back was warm, as if someone was giving him a massage, so comfortable that he was about to fall asleep.

This was Spiritual Qi empowerment? It felt... not all that great either. It wasn't as substantial as eating a xuanling fruit.

While he was comfortable over here, Master Xuanyang over there was close to collapsing.

In just a few dozen breaths of time, nearly thirty percent of the Spiritual Qi within his body had actually been drained away!

Fine beads of sweat began to seep out on his forehead, and his complexion also turned somewhat pale.

What kind of monster was this brat?!

Was his Dantian connected to a sea of stars? Why couldn't it be filled no matter how much was poured in?!

The several Grand Elders on the high platform also noticed that something was wrong.

"What is going on? Why is the Sect Master's expression so ugly?"

"That brat's Aura, why hasn't it changed at all? Where has the Sect Master's Spiritual Qi been poured to?"

Only Yun Qinghan still stood in place, a flash of understanding and helplessness passing through her cold, clear eyes.

She had known it would be like this all along.

With an Immortal-grade Ninth-rank talent and cultivating a supreme Cultivation Technique that pointed directly to the Dao's Origin, the profoundness of Zhao Ruoan's Foundation far exceeded the imagination of everyone in this world.

Master Xuanyang's sliver of Spiritual Qi made no difference to him compared to an itch-scratching.

"No! This cannot go on any longer!"

Master Xuanyang gritted his teeth. He felt that if he continued to channel power down, he would probably be sucked dry alive!

He abruptly retracted his palms, panting heavily, and roared at the Elder of the Zongwu Hall: "Quick! Fetch the Top-Grade Spirit Stones from the Sect's treasury! Take as many as there are! Quick!"

Matters having developed to this step, he was already riding a tiger and finding it hard to get off.

In front of the Disciples of the entire Sect, he had promised to perform an empowerment to raise the other party's cultivation, but after doing it for half a day, the other party showed zero reaction. If word of this got out, where would he, the Sect Master, put his Face?

Today, even if he had to hard-pile it with Spirit Stones, he had to push this brat's cultivation up a bit!

Soon, a dozen or so stewards carried several huge boxes and ran over quickly.

The boxes were opened, filled with fist-sized stones radiating brilliant colors and compelling Spiritual Qi.

These were precisely the Top-Grade Spirit Stones stored in the Sect's treasury for hundreds of years!

Every single one of them contained an extremely vast amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi!

"Pile the Spirit Stones around him! Set up the Qi Gathering Array!" Master Xuanyang commanded.

The stewards flurriedly arranged over a thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones around Zhao Ruoan into a huge circular magic array.

Master Xuanyang made a move once more, forming seals with both hands and slamming them fiercely onto the ground!

"Qi Gathering Array, rise!"

"Hum—!"

The entire magic array burst into brilliant light!

Over a thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones were activated at the exact same time, transforming into a visible tornado of Spiritual Qi, dense enough to nearly liquefy, pouring madly backward into the body of Zhao Ruoan at the center!

The total amount of this Spiritual Qi was more than ten times greater than Master Xuanyang's personal empowerment just now!

"There should finally be a reaction this time!" Master Xuanyang stared fixedly at Zhao Ruoan, shouting inwardly.

However, the next second, a scene that everyone present would never forget for the rest of their lives occurred.

The tornado of Spiritual Qi, which was sufficient to bloat and explode any Divine Soul Realm Cultivator, remained like a stone sinking into the sea the moment it poured into Zhao Ruoan's body.

Meanwhile, those brilliantly glowing Top-Grade Spirit Stones around him rapidly dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

It was as if something was frantically drawing out the energy inside them!

"Crack..."

"Crack... Crack..."

Crisp cracking sounds began to ring out across the silent plaza.

One, two, ten, hundreds...

Amidst everyone's terror-stricken gazes, those over a thousand incomparably precious Top-Grade Spirit Stones had their energy completely drained away in less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, their light dissipating entirely as they turned into a pile of worthless white powder!

The entire plaza was in dead silence.

Everyone was like a duck choked by its neck, staring at the pile of Spirit Stone powder on the ground, their brains completely crashing.

Over a thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones!

This was the accumulation of the Qingxuan Sect for over a hundred years!

Just like that... gone?!

"Puff!"

Looking at the powder on the ground, Master Xuanyang could no longer hold it in. Heartache caused him to spit out a mouthful of aged blood, his body swaying as he almost toppled headfirst to the ground.

Pointing at Zhao Ruoan, who still wore a blank expression and whose Aura hadn't changed in the slightest, his lips trembled, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

"Mon... ster..."