Two days passed and Lin Mu finally had some progress with the intermediate ranked Qi flame.
Currently, one could see that there was a large amount of spirit Qi moving around his arm. It was in the shape of a circle and was revolving around itself, trying to compress as much as it could.
At first, it was a thick circle that was as wide as a wok. But then the circle started getting smaller and its thickness also started decreasing. The more it decreased, the stronger its aura got.
Sweat dripped down from Lin Mu’s forehead as he focused on the spirit Qi.
"Come on... just a bit more..." he murmured.
The ring kept on shrinking until finally it became the size of a coin. And then... it ignited.
A bright flash appeared in front of Lin Mu’s eyes as the room suddenly heated up. A blue glow replaced the flash as the intermediate ranked flame burned on his palm.
A smile appeared on Lin Mu’s face as his eyes trained on the intermediate ranked flames.
"Congratulations, you truly did it." Xukong praised.
"Thank you, senior. But it’s just for show now. I can’t use it for anything, if I try to do anything it will fade away." Lin Mu replied.
"Mmhmm. But this should be enough for the test. Even nascent soul realm cultivators would find it difficult to do what you have just done. This was only possible for you because you have never used a cultivation technique and have used the most primitive method of absorbing spirit Qi.
The control you have gained over spirit Qi is impeccable due to that. The other cultivators who use cultivation techniques won’t be able to do this as they are stuck in their rigid paths. They would need quite a lot of comprehension to do the same." Xukong stated.
Lin Mu finally realized the meaning of what senior Xukong had said a long time ago when he had asked if he was doing wrong. At that time Xukong had told him that he should just continue to follow what he was doing and that it would have a lot of hidden benefits in the future.
Lin Mu was finally getting to see those benefits now.
"I should get ready for the test. Though I need to check up on the situation first." Lin Mu said before talking out the communication jade slip.
He contacted Jiao Fang, who picked up quite quickly this time.
"Are you not going to participate in the competition?" Jiao Fang asked straightaway.
"I am. I’m finally done with the preparations." Lin Mu stated.
"Then come quick. Most of the people have finished and since it was taking too long, some of the disciples asked for Peak master Shaoyan Qianyu to make changes to speed it up. She has thus instructed the ones who have not taken part yet to declare if they are just preparing or never going to participate.
Today is the last day for that and most of their responses have come. If you don’t report soon, they will end it most likely." Jiao Fang said.
"Didn’t you say they were going to wait till alchemist Bilao’s breakthrough?" Lin Mu asked, feeling curious.
"That was a thing of the past. Since his guards were arrested for dereliction of duty, things have changed. Even the elder who asked them to change their posts has been detained by the discipline hall." Jiao Fang answered.
Hearing this, Lin Mu instantly understood that this must be the elder that was behind Ye Zi Jin or was perhaps assisting her.
"He probably took the blame for it so as to save Ye Zi Jin. And since no assassination actually happened, they have only detained them for now. Xukong suggested.
"Hmm... that is likely." Lin Mu replied.
"Well then, you should head on quick. I think even Alchemist Bilao is going to have his breakthrough soon." Jiao Fang said.
"Alright." Lin Mu replied before putting the jade slip away and leaving the residence.
Since he had been continuously absorbing the spirit Qi from the prayer mat, his Dantian had been at its full capacity always. This saved Lin Mu from spending extra time in recuperation. He sank down into the ground and quickly made his way to the herb peak, where he emerged from a tree that was in a relatively secluded area.
He headed to the area where the testing buildings have been set up. He had already heard of the address and Lin Mu only needed to use his badge to gain entry to it.
"Seems like most people are just waiting now." Lin Mu said as he saw the short line.
There was barely anyone waiting for their turn to enter one of the five testing buildings. Lin Mu joined one of the lines and in less than two minutes he was ready to enter the testing building.
He held up his badge and the formation of the testing building scanned it before letting him in.
"Please follow the instructions show on the mirror." A plain voice suddenly said upon Lin Mu’s entry.
Inside the room, Lin Mu saw that there was a mirror set up on one of the walls. A few lines were written on it, which were the techniques of Qi flame control that he was supposed to do.
"Let’s get started." Lin Mu said as he extended his arm.
For two minutes, he was only focused on condensing his spirit Qi.
"Please start the test in one minute or you will be considered having failed." The plain voice stated.
Lin Mu gritted his teeth and sped up the condensation process. The ring of spirit Qi started to shrink at a quicker speed than before and finally reached the size of a coin.
As soon as the blue flame lit up on Lin Mu’s palm, the formation arrays of the room started ringing.
"INTERMEDIATE RANKED QI FLAME DETECTED! Test passed.
Rank obtained: First!"
Hearing the announcement, Lin Mu took a breath of relief and the intermediate ranked flame snuffed out. But at the same moment that he did this, up on the top of the herb peak, Shaoyan Qianyu opened her eyes that were filled with shock and excitement.
"Someone actually did it?!"