Chapter Fourteen: Innate Totem

  "Ah!"

  As if awakened from an eternal slumber, Ling Qingyan slowly opened his eyes and let out a gentle breath. As if responding to the feelings in his heart, Ling Qingyan slightly stretched out his right hand, and suddenly, a faint blue light appeared above his right hand, constantly flickering in this fiery red space.

  "This, is really the beginning of the green level. I didn't dare to believe it before..." Ling Qingyan stared blankly at the faint green in his hand, then suddenly shifted his gaze away, looking towards Tuoba Xiu who was sitting cross-legged opposite him, "Big brother, what's going on?"

  Slowly opening his eyes, Tuoba Xiuzi looked at Ling Qingyan's face full of incredulity and couldn't help but smile mockingly: "Didn't you already know? Why bother asking me again."

  "Really?!"

  Ling Qingyan stared intently at the white jade bottle in his hand, and after confirmation from Tuoba Xiu, he confirmed that everything that had happened earlier was related to the "Hundred Flower Liquid" he had just drunk. At this moment, Ling Qingyan's heart trembled slightly - this Hundred Flower Liquid could actually raise a warrior's cultivation level! Just now, he had only taken one sip and directly broke through from the Green Level Initial Stage Warrior to the Blue Level Initial Stage Warrior! If he were to cultivate normally, it would take at least three years...

  "In this bottle, although there's not much Hundred Flower Liquid left, there are still four or five mouthfuls. Does that mean that as long as I drink all the liquid inside, I'll be able to break into the Blue Rank Warrior realm, and even... Purple Rank!" For a moment, Ling Qingyan stared at the white jade bottle in his hand with eyes shining like snow."

  It seemed that Tuoba Xiu had sensed Ling Qingwan's gaze on the white jade bottle, and he couldn't help but smile. He directly splashed a basin of cold water on Ling Qingwan, who was now feverish with excitement. "Brother, let me tell you, the Hundred Flower Liquid only has the effect of enhancing one's cultivation with the first mouthful. After drinking the first mouthful, the second mouthful is no different from drinking ordinary wine, and no matter how much more you drink, it's all the same."

  Upon hearing this, Ling Qingyan's whole body shook, and he immediately shook his head with a bitter smile. "I was too greedy. If drinking one bottle of the Hundred Flower Liquid could make me reach the Purple Rank Warrior level, then why bother cultivating... It seems that everything has its limitations. However, big brother, I now agree with your previous statement - the preciousness of this Hundred Flower Liquid indeed surpasses that 'Hundred Refining Ring'. Just based on its effect of breaking through a level, it can be called 'Divine Wine'."

  "The efficacy of the Hundred Flowers Liquid is not just this, its value is still not great," Ling Qingyan said. However, Tuoba Xiuxiu did not agree with him, "Later on, you will slowly come to know the benefits that the Hundred Flowers Liquid brings to you. But even if it's just the effect that has appeared so far, it can already make up for five years of your hard work."

  Ling Qingyan nodded along as Tuoba Xiufeng spoke, showing understanding. However, when he heard the next sentence, his brow furrowed involuntarily, "Big brother, based on my previous cultivation speed, I should be able to break through from green level initial stage to blue level initial stage in about three years, it shouldn't take five years, right?"

  Indeed, Ling Qingyan's previous cultivation speed, the time spent between each level, was only a few months more than the previous level, and the gap was not too obvious. If calculated based on his previous cultivation speed, from Green Level Initial Stage to Blue Level Initial Stage, it would take at most three years or so. At this moment, Ling Qingyan heard that this newly acquainted big brother said he needed five years, and couldn't help but feel disbelief.

  "Brother, how much do you know about meridians?"

  After asking this question, seeing Ling Qingyan's confusion, Tuoba Xiu couldn't help but smile: "Before the Blue Rank, the requirements for a warrior's meridians are not too high. However, after the Blue Rank, even with your exceptionally talented meridians, it's still somewhat insufficient... If there were no limitations to your meridians, perhaps you could break into the early stages of the Blue Rank in three years. But for Rainbow-level warriors, the most important thing is still their meridians. Many warriors are stuck at a certain rank and can't advance further because their meridians limit them, making it impossible to break through to new levels. Of course, people with similar meridians, if their cultivation techniques are vastly different, the gap in their future achievements will also be enormous. Just now, I saw that you've already mastered the use of your spiritual sense to fully control the flow of True Energy, so the quality of your technique has no impact on you..."

  Listening to Tuoba Xiuyu's narration of the warrior's meridian, Ling Qingyan couldn't help but nod his head and listen carefully. The more he listened, the more he felt his own naivety. If it were according to Big Brother's words, if he continued to cultivate as usual, it would take at least nearly twenty years to truly step into the initial stage of the Purple Rank. Thinking of this, Ling Qingyan couldn't help but feel ashamed, because previously when he was at home, he had confidently said that he could break through to the Purple Rank in eight years.

  "That's not right, big brother," Ling Qing's eyes flashed with a hint of doubt as an image appeared in his mind, and he looked at Tuoba Xiu with confusion: "According to what you said, even if someone has extraordinary talent, even if they cultivate those peerless secret techniques, it would still take them over thirty years to break into the Violet Rank. But I've seen a real-life example of a twenty-two or three-year-old who was already at the initial stage of the Violet Rank."

  Upon hearing this, Tuoba Xi's face did not show the surprise that Ling Qingyan had expected. "This situation does indeed exist; there are countless mysterious methods in the world, and no one can see them all. The woman you spoke of was clearly also affected by external forces... Look at yourself, you've broken through a level in just this short period of time! If word got out, wouldn't it be shocking, wouldn't it be unbelievable?"

  Ling Qingyan suddenly understood, but in his heart, he had some reservations about the Ice Phoenix Sect. After all, to cultivate a 20-year-old purple-level warrior was not something that ordinary powers could achieve. Moreover, the Ice Phoenix Sect was a large sect with a history of over 10,000 years, and its foundation was even deeper than that of the Tianjian Sect.

  Although he knew the difficulty of breaking into the purple level warrior, Ling Qingyan's mood did not change in the slightest. After all, everyone was cultivating like this. At present, he is only fifteen years old and has already become a first-class green-level warrior, which can almost be considered a genius. As for whether he must break through to the purple level before the age of thirty, Ling Qingyan didn't think much about it. Who could know what would happen in the future?

  "Right, big brother, isn't 'Ling Shi' a unique trait of high-ranking warriors? Why do you also refer to my 'Consciousness Exploration' as 'Ling Shi'?" Ling Qingyan seemed to have thought of something and looked at Tuoba Xiu to ask.

  "Lingzhi is indeed unique to top-level warriors. However, in the world, there is another type of person who can manipulate and use 'Lingzhi' without reaching the level of a top-level warrior. These people are called Innate Totemists," Taoba Xiu explained. "Innate Totemists are extremely rare, one in ten thousand. Moreover, any Innate Totemist, due to their innate talent, is an extraordinary martial arts genius with extremely wide meridians. Adding to that, the ability of Innate Totemists to manipulate true energy using Lingzhi makes their cultivation speed terrifying."

  Looking at Ling Qingyan, who was clearly in a state of shock, Tuoba Xiu couldn't help but smile. "And I, as for why I let that... uh, old man bring you here, it's completely because I'm very curious about you, because you're the first person I've ever seen with two totemic talents!"