Ascending The Martial Peak - 2 (Patreon)

The High Heaven Pavilion Sect was actually quite large. It was the size of a village in of itself. It would have to be really considering there were hundreds of disciples within the sect, and that was only counting normal disciples, not the actual proper disciples that had been fully accepted upon reaching the second realm.

Each of the sect elders had their own compound that could easily house up to fifty or more people.

Elder Su Xuan Wu, was the second elder of the sect, and as such, one of the most powerful of the sect and the size of his compound reflected that.

Two older disciples, each whom had to at least be in the in the Qi Transformation realm, an entire realm above his own stood guard outside the gates of the compound.

He gave them both a polite bow, "Senior brothers, can you direct me to Elder Su please?" Shen Lei.

"Seeking one of the elders out cannot be done lightly," one replied, eyeing him with a frown, "What is the reason behind your visit."

Still bowing, Shen Lei answered, "Yesterday I ascended to the second realm, I am here to inform the elder of my accomplishments."

The guards eyes widened, "Indeed, good show then junior brother!" he grinned broadly, "The elder will be pleased. Head on in and ask one of the servants to direct you to him and announce your presence."

"Many thanks." Shen Lei nodded gratefully and proceeded through the gate. As he did, with the guards unable to see him, his lips twisted up into a brief sneer.

He was not a fan at all of having to stand on formality like this all the time, it was grating. But after the memories he received yesterday, he outright found himself despising the utter bullshit.

Typical cultivator grand standing bullshit. Always having to make even a greeting or casual talk some grand fucking ceremony to feel above the masses.

After finding a servant, they lead him through the compound to a formal sitting room and entered. After a moment, they came back out and gave him a nod before disappearing back through the compound, probably to continue with their duties.

As soon as they did, a familiar voice echoed through the closed doors he was standing in front of.

"Enter."

Shen Lei did just that, pulling the door open and stepping in. His eyes landed on Elder Su, sitting in a chair with a cup of tea in hand. He bowed respectfully, "This disciple greets Elder Su."

Elder Su was quite the old looking man with a tall, lithe build. He had long well kept light brown hair, and a very well groomed beard to match. Despite how old looking he was though, looking like a man in his sixties, most probably would not be able to guess that he was well over a hundred years old.

To Shen Lei's surprise though, Elder Su was not the only one in the room. Sitting opposite of him was the main core disciple of High Heaven Pavilion and Elder Su's grandaughter.

Su Yan. A grown woman of twenty years old and a peerless beauty with ebony black midnight hair tied up in the back in the shape of a butterfly before cascading down her back in a shimmering black ebony curtain, and a pair gleaming sapphire blue eyes. A white mantle hung over her shoulders, but even with it and sitting down, her voluptuous breasts could not be hidden at all.

He had only caught glimpses of her before and never exchanged any words. But, she was legendary within the sect. Only twenty years old and yet had reached the True Element realm, the fifth realm and one off of the maximum possible realm that stood at the pinnacle of this worlds martial dao. A prodigy among prodigies she was called.

After all, in the entire world, it was estimated there was less than two hundred people whom had reached the sixth realm that were alive today. And the world was a big place for a mere two hundred to rule over.

"Hmm, young Shen Lei, this elder greets you back," Elder Su gave him a nod, allowing him to stand up out of his bow, "what can this humble elder help you with toda..." he trailed off before taking a serious look at him.

"My my, it has finally happened," the older mans eyes widened slightly, "You have broken through your bottleneck and ascended to the second realm, and already reached the fourth stage by my estimates of your qi."

Shen Lei's own eyes widened, 'My qi feels that powerful?' he gaped for a moment.

Absently, he noticed Su Lan regarding him with interest, but put it out of mind for the moment, "No...I'm still only in the first stage of the second realm Elder Su," he corrected, "It just seems that all my efforts to break through have not gone in vain."

Elder Su coughed and tilted his head to the side, regarding him intensely, "Truly?" he asked and Shen Lei nodded, "Yet I can feel such a powerful and dense Qi coming from your body, easily on the level of one who had reached the Initial Element fourth stage, if not fifth."

"Heh," the old man chuckled, "Perhaps this bottleneck was a good thing in the long run then? While it has stymied your progress a bit, you have gained a strength beyond your level. While in the short term it was a bad thing, in the long term this will open up many avenues for you."

When he thought about it like that. Shen Lei could not stop the smile that spread across his face. Indeed, in the future, if say he could reach the sixth realm yet be beyond his realm thanks to this, could not he stand at the pinnacle of the martial dao?

What was a year of bottleneck and no progress compared to that?

"Elder Su is wise and I will take this to heart." Shen Lei replied, bowing his head briefly in thanks for his enlightenment.

As he thought on those words though, he felt something shift in his head and felt his qi rushing in his veins, growing, becoming stronger. His eyes widened.

Another breakthrough!?

"Hoh, it seems you have gained a bit of enlightenment and proceeded to the second stage already," Elder Su clapped, "It seems we really were not wrong about your talent, you do not lose out in aptitude at all to my gran daughter here."

Shen Lei was barely paying attention to him at this point, he could barely hear with the rushing of wind in his ears and comprehension dawned on him.

The Martial Dao truly was a mysterious force.

"...This jump in qi strength is impressive," Su Yan regarded him with interested eyes, "While it is quite normal to ascend in strength like this during an enlightenment to the next stage, this level of qi density would not be at all inferior to a seventh stage Initial Element."

Elder Fu stroked his beard, "Like yourself Shen Lei is quite the prodigy, I have no doubt he already understands most of what he needs to progress to the third realm in little time, a year possibly at most," he replied, "My words were merely a trigger that made him think on what he already understood and apply it mentally and to the martial dao."

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Shen Lei was in a bit of a daze when he exited the Su compound. He could barely remember much of what Elder Su said beyond confirming his status as a second realm cultivator.

He never expected a simple few words to trigger an enlightenment in him and especially not a mere day after reaching the second realm.

"Wait a moment please." a familiar, pleasant light voice called out behind him as he exited and he paused.

Shaking his head, Shen Lei looked over his shoulder to find Su Yan following behind him, "Is there something I can help you with Senior Sister?" he asked.

"No need to stand on ceremony, you can just call me Su Yan," she smiled lightly, a pretty thing that made his cheeks heat up a bit, she was just that good looking, "I'm not much of a fan of it myself, and I have a feeling you aren't either."

"I won't be polite then," Shen Fei snorted lightly and let his shoulders slump, "Thank fuck for that, I hate all this nonsense ceremony crap."

Her eyebrows rose up high on her forehead at his crass words, "You really aren't being polite about it." she snorted, amused.

"You're the one who said I didn't need to," Shen Lei shrugged, "So what can this future king do for you?"

"Really, you have such confidence in yourself," Su Yan shook her head, "I merely wanted to congratulate you on your progress and to tell you to keep up the good work, I'll watch your progress with interest."

One of Shen Lei's own eyebrows rose before he chuckled, "How lucky I am, to catch the interest of a beauty like yourself." he teased.

The black haired beauty snorted again, "Feel free to think of it like that if it helps you sleep better," she replied, "Good luck in your future cultivations, that is really all I wanted to say, now goodbye for now." she dipped her head lightly in respect, before walking passed him.

Shen Lei watched her leave in interest. Specifically, his eyes were on her shapely backside that could not be hidden even by the robe she was wearing.

What an interesting woman. His senior by six years and one heralded with heaven defying talent, yet much more down to earth than most despite having much more right to arrogance then the peacocks strutting around beneath her.

He shook his head as she disappeared from sight around a building and put her out of mind. Su Yan wasn't someone he could keep in his eyes as he was, he was far too weak for that right now.

Still, he couldn't help but lick his lips at the thought of that voluptuous powerful beauty squealing beneath him. She would probably be the best lay he'd had in his life so far. Especially considering unlike him, she was most likely a virgin.

He had lost his virginity over a year ago when he first started showing off his own 'heaven defying talent'. Many of the weak female disciples wanted to curry favour, and he wasn't going to refuse. And even outside the sect, having the protecting of even a low level cultivator could mean a lot for the standard civilian woman.

And from the memories he received from that other boy, it was apparent he was no stranger to the female form either.

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After parting way with Su Yan, he made his way through the sect towards the treasury.

As he approached the entrance of the building though, the doors opened up and a frowning, familiar boy walked out. He was taller than Shen Lei by a couple of inches with a lean build, and black hair held up in a ponytail.

Yang Kai.

And with a start, his newly heightened qi senses from ascending realms alerted him to something interesting. Yang Kai's qi, was quite a bit stronger than it was when he saw him just yesterday.

Had he broken through? If he had, good for him. There were few more deserving for a breakthrough than Yang Kai. For all that he was far stronger than his senior brother disciple, when it came to the martial art of the Shaolin Fist, the martial art of the High Heaven Pavilion Sect, in pure skill at least Yang Kai was his superior.

He had only fought Yang Kai a few times. The first time a month into his stay at the second as a first realm third stage where he was solidly defeated, and then once more when he was in the sixth realm a few months later in which the gap in their skill no longer mattered.

At that time, he hadn't thought much of the older boy. It wasn't until he hit his own blockage in ascending that he came to regard Yang Kai much more favourably. Yang Kai had been at the third stage far longer than he had been at the ninth stage, but not once had he given up or relented in his pursuit of the martial dao. It was watching him when low in spirits that actually reinvigorated Shen Lei's own drive when the praise thrown his way all dried up and people began to consider him a failure that would never progress beyond the first realm.

And today, it seemed for both of them, their struggles had paid off, though more much more in his case.

"Junior brother." Yang Kai greeted him with a polite nod.

"You don't need to be polite with me brother, I can't be bothered with it right now," Shen Lei waved him off and grinned at the older boy, "Congratulations on reaching the fourth stage." he dipped his head.

Yang Kai stopped in his tracks, eyes widening slightly, "You can tell?" he asked, surprised.

"Only because I saw you just yesterday and had a breakthrough of my own," Shen Lei shrugged, "It seems we both got lucky yesterday."

Yang Kai frowned at him for a moment before nodding, "It would seem so," he replied before shaking his head and smiling, "But my accomplishments are nothing compared to yours, you've reached the Initial Element Realm brother, in a mere year and a half, even stuck as you were this is still an amazing achievement, your talent truly is heaven defying."

"Hopefully so," Shen Lei chuckled, "Still I've got a long way to go on the path of the martial dao, even now you are still my superior in hand to hand combat."

...Or perhaps not? He had only ever been taught the shaolin fist and been practicing it not even half as long as Yang Kai. But, he had the memories and training now of another martial art. Known as kick boxing. Taking his shorter and more broad and sturdy build in, compared to Yang Kai, it may be a better fit to him, especially with his much increased physical aptitude due to his abundant yang qi.

"Nonsense, by time I catch up to your realm, you'll be far my superior brother," Yang Kai smiled back at him, "And you are younger than me by an entire year. Just think of yourself at my age, now that you have broken through your bottleneck what can stand in your way? You'll probably easily reach the third realm and have all eyes on you, our seniors desperate to snatch you up as an apprentice."

Shen Lei found himself frowning at the thought, "With how easily they turned their backs on me before, I don't know if I'd even accept that," he shook his head, "I don't like fickle people like that, can't trust them. Heh, I'd rather be trained by you than those pieces of trash. In fighting skill at the very least you are not their inferior."

He was not lying at all about that. When people spoke of his heaven defying talent, they were not just speaking false words to cozy up. It was indeed a thing. He had mastered the martial arts of the High Heaven Pavillion sect rapidly, within a month capable of besting seniors who had trained for years, and even gained the basic grades of three different dao arts in a year during his attempt to break through. It took over a year of study for even gifted alchemists to get on the path, he did it in mere months.

Still, It was funny considering he was one of those fickle fools with his head up his own ass just a year ago. Honestly, perhaps he had to thank the bottleneck he had gone through for more than just the increased power he had now?

"I would almost pay to see their reactions to that," Yang Kai laughed before shaking his head, "Sadly, I have little to actually spend."

Ah, that was right. Because of his low cultivation, he could only earn merit points through sweeping and other manual labour for the sect. He earned roughly ten merit points a month if he remembered right of the lecture on the trial disciples he had gotten when he first joined the sect. And considering he lost at least six fights a month, he would be deducted six points every month, leaving him with only four.

How could he live on such a little amount?

For a moment, Shen Lei thought to offer the older boy some silver to help him get by. After all, even if Yang Kai was unknowing of it, he had done a lot for Shen Lei even as inspiration. Who knows where he would be now if he had not had his spirit re-ignited by his senior disciple?

But, he stopped that thought as soon as it formed. Handing him money, would be an insult to his pride.

He did have something else he could give though.

"Speaking of along that lines, I have something I have no use for now," Shen Lei grinned at the older boy and reached into his pocket and retrieved a pill bottle, "These are qi consolidation pills, ten in fact, though they are common low grade, each should be worth at least two hundred silver and there are ten inside. If you want to use them yourself, they can increase the amount of qi you gather during cultivation by five percent each."

Five percent did not sound like much. Especially not to someone who knew nothing of cultivating qi, but such an increase added up massively over time. and it was why he had learned how to refine these pills as the first of all pills he learned.

Yang Kai went wide eyed as he held the bottle up and offered it to him, "I can't accept these brother, they're far too expensive." he denied.

True, they would go for two thousand silver in total. It was quite the sum, "Well they'll go to waste then," Shen Lei shrugged, "I don't have the time to go sell them right now and they're low quality so will only help those in the tempered body realm, I'm afraid I'll just be tossing them out.

Yang Kai gave him a dry look, because of course he was lying, he was not an idiot. The black haired disciple sighed, "Fine, I'll gratefully take these then brother," he relented and took the offered bottle of pills. Yang Kai eyed them for a moment before placing them in his own pocket and bowing his head deeply, "Thank you brother, I won't forget this kindness."

"Well I'll hold you too that," Shen Lei laughed and pat the older boy on the shoulder, "Try and get the best out of them whether that be selling them or using them and catch up to me as fast as you can, oh and feel free to refer to me by name brother."

"I'll do my best to do as you say," Yang Kai chuckled lightly and shook his head, "And I'll only call you by name if you call me by mine."

Shen Lei happily agreed to that, and then they parted ways after a brief goodbye. Yang Kai needed to head to Black Plum Village to restock on food, while Shen Lei had to cash in his merit points after all.