Chapter 22: A Rise to the Top

"You're a seventh-rank Warrior now, but the pope doesn't know that. All he knows is that you were only a fourth-rank Warrior during your baptism, yet he's still confident that you can claim the top spot. Do you know why that is?" Sun Yuan asked.

Fang Che shook his head in response. This was what was most perplexing to him.

There was a massive gap between a fourth-rank Warrior and a first-rank Warrior Master, so what gave Yin Shengong the confidence to bet on his victory?

While it was true that Yin Shengong was aware of his aptitude, there were only fewer than twenty days left until the entrance examination.

How much progress could he possibly make during this time? Furthermore, his opponents were also improving, were they not?

"Because it's only been fewer than twenty days since you became my disciple, and the pope knows that you had only just become a first-rank Warrior when I first took you under my wing. Only half a month had transpired between then and your meeting with the pope, yet you had already reached the fourth rank.

“This rate of progression is almost unheard of, and that's the first reason. Secondly, all three of the prodigies that you're competing with have already been nurtured for over a year, so they're no secret to the high-ranking members of our church, while you remain unknown to everyone aside from me, the pope, and the three top elders, which means you have an innate advantage over them.

“Even if they defeat you, they'll only think that you're a seeded prodigy from the Hall of Protectionists."

"That makes sense."

"The third reason is that you were taught all those powerful cultivation arts and techniques by the pope and the three elders. Even though they hadn't intended for you to take on the prodigies of the three churches at the time, that's certainly a consideration now, and if you can master everything they've taught you to a decent level, you'll be more than capable of punching above your own weight.

“The final reason is that the pope is a believer of fate. You appeared precisely at a time when the church needed a young prodigy to step up and knock the other churches down a peg, so the pope feels like you may have the forces of fortune, a godsent savior, if you will."

Never had he thought that Yin Shengong, the pope of the One Heart Church, would be such a superstitious man.

Having said that, it also kind of made sense.

There was no need for Yin Shengong to be present during his baptism, but he just so happened to have been in the area for the recently failed operation, so he had decided to oversee the baptism on a whim along with four elders, an absurdly extravagant lineup for such a low-level baptism. This was very abnormal in itself, and it seemed to have been orchestrated by fate.

On top of that, Yin Shengong had taught Fang Che his signature sword techniques, again, on a whim, and as if my some miraculous act of divine intervention, Fang Che had displayed sufficient aptitude to memorize all seven sword techniques after just one viewing, thereby creating a connection between the two.

Immediately thereafter came the failed operation, knocking the One Heart Church down to a peg below its four fiercest rivals, but at the same time, there came an opportunity to even the playing field, and Fang Che just so happened to be the one that they were relying on to capitalize on this opportunity.

Prior to this, Yin Shengong hadn't even intended to target the seeded prodigies from the other churches, but the plan had arisen almost out of necessity.

Even if Yin Shengong weren't normally superstitious, it made some sense that he would believe that fate was playing some role here.

***

"The pope has bestowed upon you three Warrior Tier Green Spirit Pills, each of which can provide tens years' worth of cultivation base. These are ten Green Root Herbs, which will assist in your cultivation. These are three Green Spirit Flowers, which can enhance your spirit sense. This is a sword that was secretly forged by the main church, a wind steel sword that has never tasted blood before.

“The sword is blessed with the power of wind, enhancing its speed and sharpness. It's a very rare weapon, so make sure to cherish it."

A fervent look appeared in Fang Che's eyes upon hearing this.

He had also had a wind steel sword in his past life, but he had outgrown it, and the sword was destroyed in battle when it was unable to bear the influx of his immense spirit power at the time.

For warriors below the Emperor Tier, this was an ideal weapon.

"These resources should be enough for you to reach the Warrior Master Tier," Sun Yuan said, but he sounded a little uncertain.

After all, Fang Che was still three breakthroughs away from becoming a Warrior Master, and each breakthrough required an accumulation of mental enlightenment and battle experience.

While it was true that the pills provided contained sufficient power for him to reach the Warrior Master Tier, how much of that power one could absorb was dependent on their aptitude, and generally speaking, it was considered a great outcome just for 60% to 70% of a pill's power to be absorbed, while the rest would dissipate into the air.

"I'm sure it'll be enough!" Fang Che declared in a confident manner.

He was not lacking in experience or mental enlightenment, given his accumulation from his past life, so essentially, he would encounter no bottlenecks below the Emperor Tier.

"That girl that you picked up seems to possess decent aptitude as well. I'm considering taking her under my wing as well."

Fang Che naturally couldn't allow that to happen, and he said, "Leave her to me, Master. I want her to belong solely to me."

A look of understanding appeared in Sun Yuan's eyes, and a sly grin surfaced on his face as he chuckled, "You sure know a lot for someone your age."

It seemed that Sun Yuan had completely misunderstood him.

"I get it. You want to put your mark on every single bit of progress that she makes, whether it be physically or mentally. That way, it'll feel even better for you when you finally get to ravish her in the future," Sun Yuan grinned.

“......”

Fang Che remained in an exasperated silence.

You perverted scum! I am a gentleman! I look down on you!

"You can do with as you please, I'll stay out of it."

"Also, could I please ask you to notify the church that I've taken on a personal maidservant?"

Fang Che was being very strategic with this request.

If she were officially marked down as his personal maidservant, then that would make her a subsidiary entity to him, allowing her to avoid having to undergo a baptism.

Furthermore, he would be able to keep her or send her away as he pleased.

Sun Yuan agreed to this request without any hesitation. As an elder, he could make this official record himself without notifying anyone else.

"I'll take care of it, you focus on preparing for the entrance examination."

That day, Fang Che consumed a Green Spirit Pill and a Green Spirit Flower, then began digesting the medicinal power within, while Sun Yuan waited at the door in case of any mishaps.

He was greeted by the sight of a vortex taking shape around Fang Che, one that drew in a vast volume of spirit qi before funneling it into his body.

You're telling me this is a seventh-rank Warrior?!

As soon as Fang Che devoured the Green Spirit Pills, his internal organs were instantly filled with boundless spirit qi before spreading out toward all of his meridians.

Before long, every single part of his body was filled with spirit qi.

As he channeled his Boundless Sutra, the spirit qi returned to his dantian from his meridians to be converted into his own power.

The seventh tier bottleneck was almost instantly breached, elevating him to the eighth tier, but he didn't stop there.

A dull thump rang out as a new acupoint was burst open, elevating him to the ninth tier. By the time he completely absorbed the Green Spirit Pill, he had already reached the pinnacle of the ninth tier.

Furthermore, his spirit sense had also been bolstered by twofold thanks to the Green Spirit Flower.

As a result, he was feeling extremely conscious and alert, and a string of cracks and pops rang out from all of his joints as he rose to his feet.

All the while, Sun Yuan was looking on with his jaw resting on the floor.

He forcibly composed himself, then said, "Not bad. Let's do some sparring so you can consolidate your cultivation base."

***

That night, Sun Yuan hurriedly made up some excuse and departed after the sparring session. He had suppressed his cultivation base to match Fang Che's, but was comprehensively beaten.

He had even secretly elevated his cultivation base to the level of a first-rank Warrior Master, yet he had still been beaten!

In the end, he had to elevate himself into a third-tier Warrior Master to finally come out on top, but by then, he was already feeling utterly humiliated.

During their sparring session, he found himself unconsciously learning from Fang Che, and while that was of practical benefit to him, it only made him feel even more embarrassed and depressed.

Who's the master and who's the disciple here?

"You've shown me that you have what it takes to cultivate on your own. I'll go and continue searching for cultivation resources for you."

With that, Sun Yuan fled from the courtyard, only just barely clinging onto his final shred of dignity as Fang Che's master.

He had originally planned to provide Ye Meng with some instruction to show off his importance, but that plan quickly went out the window.

If anything, Fang Che should've been the one instructing him...

Having a prodigy for a disciple was truly a unique type of pain...

***

It took Fang Che five days to consume and absorb the three Green Spirit Pills and Green Spirit Flowers. As of the Green Root Herbs, he planted those in the yard.

He was using them to gather spirit qi, and he had planted two demon beast spirit cores beneath each herb.

As a result, the spirit qi in the courtyard was steadily increasing in abundance, and even Fang Qianyi, Ye Meng, and the two maidservants were noticing a marked difference.

After those five days, Fang Che had become a third-rank Warrior Master!

Fang Qianyi couldn't be more pleased, particularly after she was completely annihilated during a sparring match against Fang Che, one in which she had suppressed her cultivation base to match his.

"As expected of my son!"

Over these past few days, Ye Meng had copped forty to fifty beatings and been verbally abused over two hundred times by Fang Che.

The most infuriating thing was that he was always right.

Every time she went back to her room to reflect after being beaten or cussed out, she would realize that he was right, and by following Fang Che's training regimen and instructions, her combat prowess really was improving rapidly.

As a result, she had been cast into a state of self-doubt.

Fang Che did nothing aside from train all day, so Ye Meng had no intelligence to report, and the days passed by in a repetitive and predictable fashion.

Fang Che wasn't planning to expose the three seeded prodigies from the other churches to the Protectionists right away.

He had just been notified of his new mission, so if they were to be exposed now, then that would undoubtedly draw suspicion to him.

In any case, there was no hurry.

Before long, the day of enrolment for the warrior academy was near, and all aspiring warriors across the land had been converging toward White Cloud Warrior Academy in the White Cloud Prefecture.

Out of the eight first-rate warrior academies in the world, White Cloud Warrior Academy was ranked fifth, and its catchment area encompassed all seventeen states and one hundred and fifty-six cities of the entire southeastern region.

"Don't forget to get in touch with your cousin once you get there. He'll be an upperclassman of yours at the academy, so he'll be sure to look after you," Fang Qianyi urged while packing Fang Che's luggage.

"I will," Fang Che replied. "I left you five hundred demon beast spirit cores and a small pouch of spirit crystals. Don't go out on any more missions, just stay home and cultivate from now on. Otherwise, I'll be really worried about you."

"I can't just stay home and do nothing."

"You won't be doing nothing, you'll be cultivating. If you get injured or something like that, I'll be really worried and distracted, and I won't be able to come back outside of holidays. What if I get beaten to death at the academy because I was too busy worrying about you?"

Fang Qianyi shuddered internally upon hearing this, falling hook, line, and sinker to Fang Che's scare tactics.

She gave him a knock to the forehead as she relented, "Fine, I won't go out on any missions unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Just cultivate in the yard. I've planted the Green Root Herbs given to me by Master to gather spirit qi."

As a Great Grandmaster, Fang Qianyi was virtually invincible in Green Wave City as long as she didn't venture into the wilderness.

However, if she were to leave Green Wave City, then her cultivation base really wouldn't amount to much.

There were countless powerful warriors outside this remote city, and any King or Emperor could easily kill her on a whim.

After convincing Fang Qianyi to remain in the safety of their home, Fang Che began to prepare for his upcoming journey. He had the entire wealth of the Su Clan at his disposal, and that surely made him one of the wealthiest students of the academy.

According to the rules of the academy, all new students had to travel to the warrior academy on their own without the accompaniment of any parents or guardians.

The logic behind this was that upon entering the academy, one would officially become a warrior, no longer a child that had to be looked after by their parents.

There were also all types of trials set up along the way, the completion of which would earn one point. Those who earned over a hundred points would be exempt from the entrance examination, while those who earned over two hundred points would receive full scholarships.

The top one hundred prospects on the points leaderboard would battle it out for the coveted title of the Top White Cloud Prodigy.

The next morning.

Fang Che was dressed in a black robe, while Ye Meng was standing beside him in a pink dress, ready to accompany him on his journey.

The horse-drawn carriage arrived, and four large chests were loaded onto it.

Ye Meng drew back the curtain of the carriage, and Fang Che stepped gracefully inside, followed by Ye Meng.

The coach driver grabbed onto the reins, and the carriage slowly trundled out of the courtyard, with Fang Qianyi and Fang Zhenghang watching after it all the way until it disappeared out of sight.

Fang Che's brows were furrowed slightly as he observed the road ahead.

He knew that this marked the official beginning of his journey as a warrior.

From here, his sights were set on a rise to the top.