334 A Strange Person
The man and woman knew what would happen the moment the woman decided to tell the truth.

Expulsion from the sect should be the least severe punishment.

It was clear that if the old woman had not been clutching the sect master’s sleeve, things would have turned out differently.

The old woman sighed helplessly and sadly. “You two are insane!”

“I was possessed and admitted my mistakes,” the young man said bitterly. I only regret provoking someone I should not have provoked and causing an undeserved disaster for the sect. We had been spying on him for a long time before the incident and found no sect symbol or token on him. We confirmed that he was a rogue cultivator. I had not anticipated his strength being so terrifying.”

“He appears to have an unusual ability that allows him to suppress his spiritual power!” The woman went on, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Suppressing his spiritual energy?” The old woman and the middle-aged man exchanged glances.

The woman nodded in agreement. “That’s right. We made the wrong decision as a result of this. We used spiritual energy mimicry to slow down time and fully activate the Tiangang sword formation, but it was useless against him!”

The middle-aged man and the old woman were deep in thought.

But it was pointless to say anything at that point.

The sect master had already announced the outcome of the punishment; the two could only accept their fate and bow to their respective masters.

Was it just a coincidence?

The sect master was the young man’s master.

The woman’s master was the old woman.

They just happened to be near the front of the crowd.

They simply knelt and kowtowed.

Just as they were kowtowing…

A skinny monkey appeared out of nowhere.

“Why are you chasing them away?”

The middle-aged man averted his gaze from the person who had intervened to prevent him from punishing his traitorous disciple.

It felt both familiar and strange.

He appeared to have seen him before, but he was not a member of the sect.

His brain quickly searched his memory for the faces he recognized.

He went through them one by one.

He did not find a conclusion.

The old woman tugged his sleeve and motioned to the foot of the mountain.

The man in his forties cocked his head slightly.

The frightening tornado had already vanished.

The man’s face eventually merged with the face he saw in the tornado.

“Senior, my unfilial disciple ignored the sect rules and attacked a fellow human,” the middle-aged man immediately cupped his hands and apologized to Wang Wen. “The sect has severely punished him. I hope you can relax and sit down for a chat.”

Wang Wen shook his head and smiled. “I am not angry,” he said in a friendly tone. “On the contrary, I wanted to ask these two friends how they regained their energy quickly. When I was extracting energy from them just now, their energy was depleted repeatedly, but they quickly recovered. I am very curious.”

Everyone, including the middle-aged man, appeared dumbfounded.

“Senior, are you joking with us?” the old woman asked, cupping her hands. “You already have such earth-shattering abilities. You don’t know this widely-known spiritual energy recovery technique?”

“Is it a cultivation method? Excellent work!” Wang Wen said that with a smile on his face. “Let’s find a quiet spot where you can teach me. If I can learn it, I guarantee you will benefit greatly from it. Hey!”

Everyone exchanged glances.

Wang Wen’s approachable demeanor seemed to go above and beyond their expectations.

He was no longer the brutal individual they had seen.

Even the middle-aged man felt a little helpless.

He swallowed his saliva and asked, “Senior, do you only want to learn our sect’s cultivation techniques? Are there any other conditions?”

Wang Wen noticed him taking the initiative.

He deliberated carefully.

“Since you have brought it up, I will not stand on ceremony,” he said. “Do you still have the mountain-protecting formation created by these two? That thing is harmless and will not destroy the land. It appeals to me greatly. If possible, give me a few more whips.”

The middle-aged man’s brow furrowed.

He opened his mouth but could not think of anything to say.

Wang Wen could see his predicament.

“It is all right. It makes no difference if there is no protective formation. What is that round disc the size of a roof? It has a lot of energy, and I like it. Please give me a few more of that.”

The middle-aged man felt as if someone had stabbed him in his heart.

It was so painful that he could not breathe.

His body swayed, and he struggled to stand with the assistance of the old woman.

Even Wang Wen was concerned.

“There is nothing here,” he murmured. “How can such a large sect be so impoverished?”

“Forget about it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the mountain-protecting formation and the disc,” he said thoughtfully. “Finally, I came across a mine. There appears to be a lot of energy storage there, but it is unrefined and crude. Fortunately, there is plenty, and it is full. Do you know where I can get more of that? I don’t mind having more; the more, the merrier!”

The middle-aged man almost sobbed as he covered his mouth.

To keep himself from dying on the spot…

He solemnly extended his hand and led the way to the mountain peak’s interior. “Senior, please follow me,” he said to Wang Wen. “Our sect employs a variety of cultivation techniques. I will gradually introduce them to you so you can choose.”

Wang Wen disliked making things difficult for others.

Because the other party had said so…

He, too, happily trailed after him.

He was not particular about what he consumed.

He remained in the Tiangang Sect until Sunday night when the tower reset.

Wang Wen mastered the sect’s most advanced Spirit-returning Technique.

There was, in fact, only one type.

And it was a fantastic technique.

It was a method of circulating energy and absorbing the power of heaven and earth from the outside world.

Even though it was not as violent and direct as the Unity of Man and Nature…

The benefit was that there was an endless supply.

The most crucial aspect was…

Wang Wen was discovered to be a genius after the middle-aged man examined him patiently.

According to the Tiangang Sect’s calculations…

Every cultivator would have to go through several stages.

It began with refining essence into qi, then progressed to the initial completion of the golden core, then to the nascent soul, which could use the power of heaven and earth for its own use. Finally, from soul formation, one could ascend to become immortal without being destroyed by the heavenly tribulations.

The spiritual power of young men and women was roughly around the golden core level.

On the other hand, the middle-aged man and the old woman had already reached the deity transformation stage. Any further progress would bring them into contact with the heavenly tribulations.

Wang Wen was the exception.

Things started to get strange.

Wang Wen’s spiritual power was barely visible to the middle-aged man.

It was enormous.

It was nearly ten times as much as his.

His state, on the other hand, was extremely low…

He was still in the process of refining essence into qi.

The old men and women in the room surrounded Wang Wen, their tongues clicking in wonder.

They nodded and shook their heads.

They sighed, overcome by emotion.

When an ordinary person cultivated to a certain state, their spiritual power would shrink and condense, like reducing a large area of fog to a pool of liquid.

It would then condense from the liquid into a more solid golden core.

Then, it would transform from a solid golden core into a nascent soul.

Finally, the nascent soul would leave the body and split the soul to cultivate the world’s unparalleled creation.

However, that strange individual in front of him…

There was a large amount of spiritual power in his body, equal to ten times the spiritual power of the sect leader.

Did he not burst from all that power?

What a strange individual!