Tainted will

The night sky was beautiful and the stars flickered like delicate pearls. The Moonlight was gentle like water.

A week had passed since the beginning of the academy.

Under a large tree, two people stood facing each other.

Ye Qing Han used a gentle gaze and looked at Su Ming "Su Ming I heard you had comprehended the primeval star mantra in just 3 days, you have good comprehensive ability. When do you suspect that you will break through."

Su Ming stood straight, Saying with a look of admiration "Reporting to sir clan head, If everything progresses well, I am sure to breakthrough tomorrow."

Ye Qing Han nodded and spoke "Not bad, a superior grade spirit root is not wasted on you. keep on working hard, remember you are the hope of our Ye clan."

Su Ming's eyes flashed with resolution as he spoke in a serious tone "I will, I absolutely will not disappoint sir clan head. This, I promise."

Ye Qing Han patted Su Ming's shoulder as he spoke in a tone filled with pride "I believe you, you can go now. Ah, and one more thing after your 3rd assessment is over I will be personally teaching you."

Su Ming was stunned before feeling intense joy, He immediately gave Ye Qing Han a deep bow and expressed his gratitude. Looking at Su Ming's attitude Ye Qing Han felt even more pleased.

_______

At the same time in the clan academy.

The academy elder was peacefully meditating, But this tranquility didn't last long. He heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. He opened his eyes, the elder looked rather displeased as he spoke "What is it? don't you know not to interrupt me while I am cultivating"

Immediately the person outside replied in a respectful manner "Respected Elder, it is a student from this year's batch. He says he has already broken through. Sir Elder had previously instructed us subordinates to inform you at the earliest if such a situation happens."

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When the academy elder heard this his displeasure vanished instantly "Okay, lead him to the courtyard."

"Yes sir," the person outside replied. He then did as he was told.

"Worthy of superior grade! that Su Ming had only comprehended the primeval star mantra 4 days ago and in three days he has already broken through. All those high-grade talents would still need two or three more days with the help of primeval stones to reach the 2nd layer. Talent is indeed crucial in the path of cultivation." Has the elder thought of this, he got up and moved to the courtyard.

The academy elder stood in the middle of the courtyard with his hands behind his back. He heard the approaching footsteps. His gaze was serene as he stared at the entrance. But when he saw the person who entered the courtyard, he was immediately dumbfounded.

The youth who entered was dressed in deep green robes, he had pale white skin, and his long shiny black hair extended to his waist. His body was slightly thin with no excess flesh. But the most attractive features were his eyes which resembled the crimson moon.

Noticing the youth's gaze, the Academy elder quickly regained his composure. He quickly revealed a kind smile on the outside. But internally he was growing suspicious, his thoughts running wild.

The youth walked towards the elder, when he was just four feet away he gave a slight bow while his hands were cupped in greetings; "Bai Ming greets sir academy elder"

"This kid Bai Ming isn't he a mid-grade talent, how the hell did he break through so fast? surpassing even a superior-grade talent! What kind of situation is this!? did he purposefully hide his talent, No! that's not it, he was a bloody mess at the awakening ceremony and there is no use in hiding his talent. Then how did he do it?" The academy elder thought all this in just a breaths time, But on the surface, he spoke "Bai Ming, your aura indeed shows that you have broken through. Good, cultivate diligently. You're a talented individual."

"Elder is surely joking, I am but a mere mid-grade talent. The truly talented ones are those with high grade and superior grade spirit root, I was just lucky." Bai Ming was expressionless. He casually scratched his right leg while he spoke.

"Oh, Then how do you explain yourself for obtaining first place in the assessment." The academy elder still had a gentle smile, but his eyes were slightly narrowed.

"What!? I am the first one to break through?" Bai Ming's eyes widened, and his mouth was slightly open.

He looked at the elder in disbelief.

The academy elder nodded slightly, but inwardly he sneered 'Kid whom do you think your fooling, hmph!'

It took Bai Ming a while to calm down, then he looked at the elder with eyes filled with joy as he asked "Sir elder since I have won first place then when will I get my prize."

The elder lightly laughed before speaking "don't worry kid, I will give it to you now."

As he said that he signaled one of his subordinates. The mortal slave understood what his master meant as he quickly went to get the prize.

The academy elder didn't let go of Bai Ming as he continued to ask in a casual manner "You still haven't told me how you were able to get the first place"

"Doesn't elder remember, I was the first one to comprehend the primeval star mantra. Just like you said on the first day of the class, I had gotten a headstart that's all." Bai Ming spoke like it was general knowledge.

'Bullshit!' The academy elder's lips were twitching, and his gentle smile became a little stiff. He was inwardly cursing Bai Ming for being a little fox, He wanted nothing more than to give Bai Ming two tight slaps.

At this moment the mortal slave returned with a small bag in his hands, He respectfully handed over the bag to the elder. The elder directly gave it to Bai Ming.

Bai Ming received it with both his hands, he then said: "Thank you elder, if there is nothing else I will be taking my leave now, my grandfather is waiting for me at home."

"Leave, don't make your grandfather wait" The elder waved his hand as he spoke. Even though the academy elder wanted to pursue it, he could not do so forcefully.

He could only investigate secretly. If he were to do it forcefully he would lose his reputation, wasn't the academy for nurturing talents what reason did he have to be forceful with such a talented junior?

Bai Ming once again cupped his fists before leaving.

Once Bai Ming left, the academy elder's smile vanished instantly. His eyelids slightly drooped as he pondered "This brat Bai Ming how did he do it...wait! his grandfather! ah, how could I not have thought of him. No wonder, It makes so much sense now."

....

In a somewhat dim room, Bai Ming was sitting with his legs crossed. He had a pondering gaze while caressing the spirit stone.

"Hmm, with me deliberately mentioning my grandfather the elder should have already formed a conclusion by now, my grandfather's previous status can act as a cover for some time."

"I took a risk this time. It can't be helped, without taking risks how can I truly grow? Spirit stones are a necessity, Using spirit stones can save a lot of time. If my family's financial situation was better I wouldn't need to take these small risks."

Bai Ming's grandfather was not just some ordinary old man, He was once a genius of his era. Having high-grade spirit root, He cultivated steadily reaching the illustrious core formation realm and becoming a part of the upper echelons of the Ye clan.

He was a person with high standards, he was not satisfied with just the core formation realm and desired to step into the mighty spirit realm. But at the time he was given an important mission by the clan to assassinate the hope of the Song village, Bai Li became the leader of a six-man squad, that infiltrated the song village to complete their mission.

After going through great difficulties they managed to complete their mission but the price they had to pay was really high. Out of the six-man squad, only Bai Li survived, Even though he kept his life he became a cripple.

His Dantian had suffered a serious injury making his cultivation drop from the core formation realm to the elemental realm, but the most crucial thing was he was never able to cultivate again. Never improving staying stagnant, All his grand dreams were stepped on like grass.

And now he could only live a pitiful life, his wife and son were dead. His only remaining wish was to see his grandchild grow up and lead a happy life which he didn't have.

In the Bai family old Li didn't take on missions anymore, He didn't want to take the risk of dying before his grandchild, at least till he had some strength. The only source of income after Bai Ming's father died was their wine tavern in the village which would roughly earn them 50-60 spirit stones a month. Of which half of the spirit stones every month were spent on Old Li's medicine to treat his injury and a very small amount was given to the mortal slaves who worked there.

And then they had to spend a small number of spirit stones on their living expenses. So after considering all this they probably only had about 15 pieces of spirit stones remaining every month. For a family of cultivators, this amount of profit was pocket change.

Even though Bai Li was no longer a clan elder, the people would not dare take him lightly. Bai Ming's intentions were simple, the elder would definitely think that Old Li had something to do with Bai Ming's rapid progress.

"And since I don't have any method of concealing my aura, I might as well make use of all the opportunities presented before me, Hehe."

"Now I have already broken through to the 2nd level of the bone forging realm, this is good progress. I had 11 spirit stones remaining and now adding these 20 spirit stones the total has increased to 31. These are enough for me to reach the 4th layer within two weeks."

"Tomorrow morning the news will spread that I was the first person to break through. It will be quite shocking when they hear that a superior grade lost to a mid-grade. People will start making their own assumptions, The youths with low talents will be motivated while those geniuses will feel humiliated from being defeated by a lowly person like me. Is there some way I can make use of this to my advantage?"

"In the future, if there is a situation that permits me to benefit from it I should grab it. But for now, I should focus on cultivation, thinking of the future is good but what's the use if one is going to neglect the present. Without the present, there is no such thing as a future."

Once he finished analyzing his situation, he began to cultivate. His eyes were closed while he began to absorb essence within the spirit stones into his Dantian.

The qi in his Dantian made a full circle before spreading throughout his body through various spirit chains nourishing all the bones in his body. In the bone forging realm one could store a very tiny amount of qi in their dantian, The bone forging realm was all about making your bones stronger and building a sturdy foundation.

An individual with superior-grade talent can usually absorb a single piece of spirit stone in 3 hours. But a cultivator with low-grade talent will take about 21 hours just to absorb a single piece.

But when a cultivator advances by a major realm his ability to absorb qi also increases, of course, the higher your talent is, the greater your efficiency. For example, Now Bai ming can completely absorb a spirit stone in 3 hours but when he steps into the elemental realm he would be able to absorb the same amount in a single hour.

After three hours Bai Ming finished his cultivation session, He slowly opened his eyes. It was already midnight. He directly went to sleep.

He needed to sleep, his low cultivation could not replace sleep. Even an elemental realm expert needed to sleep at least once every six days.