Chapter 2170: Not Qualified Enough

While Lu Yin understood that Kui Luo was just messing around and trying to find out their master’s identity, Qing Ping treated the request very seriously. "You are not qualified enough."

This answer caught Kui Luo completely off guard, and he blinked absentmindedly before he could even react. "I, a Semi-Progenitor who has a very good chance to become a Progenitor myself, am unqualified to meet your master?"

Qing Ping nodded. "Your qualifications are lacking. Our master only accepts geniuses."

Kui Luo sneered. "I'm unqualified? I'm a Semi-Progenitor! I’ll eventually become a Progenitor."

"Even when you are a Progenitor, you still won’t be qualified." Qing Ping was utterly serious, as this was a matter that concerned the honor of his master. As far as Qing Ping was concerned, the fact that Kui Luo felt that he was qualified to accept Mister Mu as his master was an insult to Mister Mu and all of his disciples. However, this did not mean that Qing Ping was looking down on Kui Luo in any way.

As far as Semi-Progenitors were concerned, Kui Luo was quite powerful, and he was nearly as powerful as the gatemasters of the Heavenly Gates. However, this was not good enough. Mister Mu only accepted freaks as his disciples. People who were regarded as legends by most people. People who accomplished the impossible.

Kui Luo actually got upset, as he felt that he was being underestimated. "Kid, talk to him! Tell him how powerful I am and how strong my inner world is!"

Qing Ping looked away. "The minimum requirement to be accepted by our master as a disciple is to be an Envoy who can cross realms to challenge Semi-Progenitors, or a Semi-Progenitor who can fight against Progenitors."

Elder Gong and everyone else stared at Qing Ping in disbelief yet again. The entire Fifth Mainland only had two Envoys who had been able to cross realms and challenge Semi-Progenitors: Qing Ping himself, and Tian Dou, the patriarch of the Specter clan. This was an exceptional level of combat strength that few could reach, and it was amazing for anyone to do so. However, the concept of a Semi-Progenitor fighting against Progenitors was not merely amazing—it was simply impossible.

Not to mention the present Semi-Progenitors, who of even the gatemasters of the Heavens Sect’s Twelve Heavenly Gates dared to claim to be able to challenge a Progenitor?

The one example of this was when Ancient God had forced his Semi-Progenitor avatar to manifest the power of a Progenitor. At that time, Lu Buzheng had given up all hope. Who could stand against such power? And yet, was Qing Ping stating that such combat strength was the bare minimum to be accepted as a disciple of these men’s master?

"Kid, your senior brother’s even better at spouting bullshit than you." Kui Luo absolutely did not believe a word that Qing Ping had just said. What master would have such unreasonable standards?

Lu Yin just pursed his lips and took out Zenith Mountain. "Alright, there’s no need to talk about this now. Senior Brother, old man, let’s head out, so get ready to return to the Perennial World."

Kui Luo grinned. "I’m going to meet your master one day, and then we’ll see whether or not this old man qualifies to be accepted as a disciple after I break through and become a Progenitor, hehehehe."

Qing Ping remained perfectly calm and simply entered Zenith Mountain. He was quickly followed by Kui Luo and Tong Yu.

Lu Yin put Zenith Mountain back away. "Seniors, let's begin."

"Lu Yin, do you still remember where the top ten finalists of ZENITH ended up?" Grandmaster Xiu Ming suddenly asked.

Lu Yin felt a bit puzzled, but replied, "This junior knows that Shang Qing was imprisoned in the Nest. Liu Tianmu appeared close to the Sword Monument in the Middle Realm in the Liu family’s territory. Yuhua Mavis fell into Humility's Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate. Yao Xuan landed on the Bifrost, and Unseen Light arrived in the middle of nowhere, close to the Yinshan District. Qiu Shi landed in a wheat field belonging to the Nong family, and I’m not sure about the rest. Why do you ask, Senior?”

Grandmaster Xiu Ming explained, "While we can’t be sure, I’m guessing that you will arrive in one of the places that the last ten people arrived at. It’s been many years since the sourcebox array left by Progenitor Hui was used, so we aren’t sure of some of the details, but we’ll find out more when you come back.”

Lu Yin nodded, and he mentally ran through the locations that he had just mentioned. He really hoped that he would not follow in Qiu Shi’s footsteps and arrive in the Nong family’s wheat field, as he might not be able to escape. "This junior is ready."

"Alright, then let’s get started," Grandmaster Xiu Ming said. Even though his cultivation was the lowest out of everyone present, aside from Lu Yin, the man had the highest mastery of sourcebox arrays, and so he was the person who controlled the transmission array.

…

A drizzle cast a blurred veil over the world. A small city was covered in the light rain, and no one could be seen walking through the streets. It was impossible to see across the sea from the harbor of the seaside city. If one looked away from the sea, they would see the Mother Tree holding up the sky. It was also barely possible to make out the rainbow colors of the Bifrost through the rain if one looked in the opposite direction.

The city was located in the Perennial World’s Middle Realm, and it sat on the edge of the Middle Ocean. It was known as Cowry City.

Cowry City was a long city, as it stretched along the coastline, which also made it quite narrow.

Cowry City was controlled by the Bei family, which was led by an Envoy.

Lights and decorations covered the entire city. People poured in through all three of the city’s gates, as well as its five ports. All of them were preparing for the upcoming birthday celebration.

The birthday celebration was being held for the Bei family’s ancestor, who was an Envoy.

While Envoys were not exactly uncommon in the Perennial World, it was simply too large, and people were too scattered. So, Envoys were still rare powerhouses in any given region. For the Bei family to remain in control of Cowry City, they needed to have at least one powerful Envoy.

Essentially, the presence of an Envoy was enough for a family to control a city.

Since the Bei family’s ancestor was holding a birthday celebration, countless people were coming to offer their congratulations.

At this moment, that ancestor was fishing.

The gentle rain fell into the pond, creating little splashes.

Two people were next to the pond. One was sitting and wearing a bamboo hat with a pot of tea brewing on a little nearby wooden table. The scent of the tea filled the area. The seated person was a casual looking old man, and he was accompanied by a cute young girl. Her eyes were blinking as she stared at the pond with some curiosity.

"Ancestor, let's have a bet. I think that we’ll be able to catch ten people this time," the girl stated happily.

The old man laughed. "For those people, this is an opportunity to escape from their trapped civilization. We caught seven of them last time, so there should be more this time. Of course, they also might fight amongst each other to seize this opportunity, so it’s possible that there will be fewer."

"Ancestor, that’s cheating! You said both more and less at the same time! You need to pick a number," the girl pouted as she grumpily complained.

The old man laughed louder than before. "Alright, fine. In that case, five people."

"Alright, it’s a bet! If I win, Ancestor will personally send me to Virtue Archives so that I can participate in the entrance exam," the girl eagerly stated.

The old man hesitated.

The girl shook his arm somewhat violently. "Ancestor, promise me. Promise!"

"Xiaoyu, I’ve already told you that Virtue Archives is too far away from here, and the journey is dangerous. There’s no need to go all the way to Virtue Archives to study, as there are other academies available as well, and they aren’t necessarily any worse than Virtue Archives." The old man was clearly struggling.

The girl frowned. "But Virtue Archives is the oldest and largest academy in the entire Middle Realm! It’s an inheritance from a Progenitor of the Wen family, and they have their Literary Prison, a secret art, and even Mr. Tang, who has cultivated his domain all the way to the void god realm! It even seems like they have more than one secret technique."

"How do you know all of this?" The old man was surprised, as the girl had mentioned some details that even he had not been aware of.

The girl clasped a hand over her mouth. This was bad, she had screwed up!

"Xiaoyu!" the old man demanded angrily. How could this little girl know anything that he did not? He had never even heard of Mr. Tang.

The girl sighed. "Ancestor, do you remember that person? The one who emerged from the pond?"

The old man's expression changed, and fear bloomed deep within his eyes. "The young man?"

The girl nodded. "He told me that he intended to study at Virtue Archives. I might have only been five years old back then, but I still remember it."

The old man's eyes flickered as he remembered a young man who had emerged from his pond decades ago. The young man had been someone from Shenwu's Sky, but for some reason, he had stayed with the Bei family for several days, and he had also visited the civilization within their pond before leaving. So, Bei Xiaoyu’s motivations came from that young man.

"So you’ve been focused on getting into Virtue Archives for all these years?" the old man asked.

The girl blushed at the question.

"But after so many years, even if he did join Virtue Archives, it would be impossible for you to meet him again," the old man said. However, he had no objection to the girl forming a connection with the young man. In fact, if they got together, the Bei family would receive tremendous benefits from associating with a power from the Higher Realm like Shenwu’s Sky.

However, the old man felt a bit bitter, as he knew that such thoughts were purely delusional. What sort of existence was Shenwu's Sky? For his Bei family, forget forming a connection with Shenwu’s Sky—they did not even qualify to speak with Shenwu's Sky's vassal families.

However, the girl remained stubborn. "I still want to go there and look. Maybe he’s still in Virtue Archives? There’s no time limit on how long a person can study there, and there are even some people who stay there for their entire lives."

The old man nodded, as this was quite true. "Fine, but we’ll make a bet. If you win, I’ll escort you there myself."

"Thank you, Ancestor!" The girl was delighted. The Middle Realm was absolutely massive, and it was very dangerous to travel across it. The Bei family lived very far away from Virtue Archives, and it was impossible for her to make the journey on her own. Only an Envoy who could tear through the void like her ancestor could bring her that far.

"Don't get too excited. You don’t have any control over whether you win or lose this bet, and even if you win, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be allowed into Virtue Archives after you get there. Do you understand just how many geniuses want to study there? The entrance exam is truly difficult, and even the four ruling powers are happy when their youths get in," the old man warned.

The girl clenched her fists. "I’ll definitely pass the exam! Even if he isn’t there anymore, I’ll still make sure that I study hard. It’s best to form connections with people from everywhere, and this is the best opportunity to do that. It will give our family hope to improve even more in the future. Right, Ancestor?"

The old man's eyes lit up. While it was true that Virtue Archives’ entrance exam was grueling, anyone who passed and studied in that place would get to know geniuses from the Higher Realm, and it was even possible to meet direct descendants of the four ruling powers. It was a massive step upwards.

"Haha, it's wonderful for you to have such ambition! Well, I just hope you can win the bet, hahahaha!" the old man laughed.

The girl flushed with excitement. This was good, as the ancestor was already in agreement with her goals. She absolutely had to get to Virtue Archives.

At this moment, the fishing line moved, and a smile tugged the corners of the old man's mouth upwards. "Something’s taken the bait."

There was an entire pocket dimension within the pond in front of the old man.

In the Perennial World, pocket dimensions and isolated spaces could be found in mountains, rivers, ponds, and even bizarre locations, and these isolated regions were frequently used to raise entire civilizations. Lu Yin had seen one such place on Dragon Mountain.

The Bei family’s pond also contained some civilizations, though theirs could not compare to the one on Dragon Mountain. This isolated space was much smaller, and it only consisted of a few planets.

In some ways, these pocket dimensions were a form of entertainment for many of the Perennial World’s more powerful families. People would sometimes pass the time by selecting individuals from their own civilization and place them in deathmatches or such and bet on the outcome. In other places, pocket dimensions were used to breed beautiful people, astral beasts, or even unique civilizations.

Planets revolved within the small pond. Some of them were home to civilizations that had developed cultivation, while others had pursued technological developments. The two civilizations fought to conquer the other, while the Be family’s ancestor oversaw it all like a god.

Any cultivator who broke through and became an Explorer would be able to escape from the pond, and then they would be enslaved by the Bei family.

Fishing in this pond was one of the Bei family’s ancestor’s few joys. He would occasionally place a hook, and for the people who lived on the planets within the isolated dimension, the hook would appear like a ladder that could allow them to ascend and enter a higher realm and a greater civilization. These hooks were also the cause for the war between the two cultures, as people from both civilizations wanted to escape from the confines of their own tiny universe.

However, none of them had any idea that all that awaited outside of their little pond was a life of endless slavery.