The technique Ye Que used to create the herbal pools was modified from a basic method the Demon Race used to refine their bodies. It was a considerably brutal method of reversing one’s undesirable physical attributes.

On the first day, the temperature of the pools was only raised by a little. As time went on, the potency of the medicine would increase, and their willpower would be tested even more.

Their bones would be hardened.

Their tendons would be toughened up.

One could imagine how much pain they had to go through.

If one could withstand such torment for 30 days, the torture in prisons would be chicken feed.

Of course, to Ye Que, the impact of the medicine on his body was negligible. His qi storage area and the pool of divine energy were many times larger than that of ordinary humans. There were many times when he felt that the herbs should have been more potent.

With the help of the medicinal pools, and coupled with a pile of Qi-gathering Body-tempering Pills Ye Que concocted especially for Qian Shuhua, the siblings immediately began trying to break into the Pre-celestial Realm.

Ye Que himself continuously gathered and concentrated the Divine Energy in his body, while waiting for the opportunity to break into the Celestial Realm. He was not lacking in enlightenment, but the amount of Divine Energy.

He understood that his time would come.

Spring transited into Summer.

Flora everywhere began blooming after enduring a season of rain. The nests of the Northern birds began to dry off, and their bodies felt lighter, causing their movements to become more graceful.

The maids and manservants of Qian Manor had also finally finished enduring the most unforgettable and eventful month of their employment.

In the past month, their routines were completely disrupted. Aside from their daily tasks, all of them had to fetch water from the well continuously, and throughout one day the hundreds of servants in Qian Manor had to do so for a few times each.

If that was all, it would still be bearable. Additional physical labor would only lead them to be more tired at the end of the day. After all, when was the job of a servant not tiring?

After the garden had been reconstructed, however, the terrible cries of the Qian siblings could be heard once in a while, and they were of the blood-curdling kind.

There were instances when they lost all strength to scream. They had undergone unimaginable amounts of pain and suffering.

In the past, they would give in immediately when faced with the slightest bit of torment, but this time they stuck through it for an entire month. They were in the pools every day, even at night.

The Master and his wife moved out after enduring two days of howling. They told everyone that they wanted to visit their friends, but they were obviously trying to escape from the visual and auditory torment.

The maids of the manor claimed that Ye Que and the Qian siblings had not slept for the entire month and spent all of their time in the medicinal pools. They even had their meals while remaining immersed in them.

Huge batches of herbs would be delivered to the garden twice every day, once in the morning and once at night. Ye Que would then add them into the cauldron.

When the last shrub of Japanese Morning Glory with four leaves was thrown into the cauldron, the amount of mist surrounding the garden reached its peak. It grew so thick that it could not disperse, and from afar it looked like a paradise of immortals.

At this moment, the blazing Sun was hanging high up in the sky.

A lotus-shaped column of mist began rising from the northernmost pool, as a ray of sunlight pierced through the thick mist and hit its petals.

Qian Shuxiao took in a deep breath, before beginning to inhale and exhale powerfully.

At noontime of the 29th day, his Great Tao Sutra skill was at the Pre-celestial Realm.

At around midnight that day, when the moon was shining brightly in a night sky with only little stars.

A bright moon manifested from the mist surrounding the westernmost pool, adding splendor to the night sky. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Qian Shuhua opened her eyes suddenly as she began to unleash rays of light from her fingers.

In the first few hours of the 30th day, Qian Shuhua had attained Pre-celestial Realm in her Sutra of Womanly Grace.

As for Ye Que, he had already broken into Post-celestial Realm a few days ago. There was no extraordinary phenomenon from his pool. Perhaps, to the Divine Book, any stage before reaching the Starburst Realm was considered as elementary.

However, he could begin learning the second page of the book.

“A man should behave like the Heavens and strive for continuous improvement!”

The words appeared in the air.

More strange looking words could soon be seen suspended above a narrow and winding path, each of them containing profound meaning.

The second page of the Divine Book described Heaven and Earth as always striving for self-improvement; Nature was strong and sturdy as always. A man should behave likewise, continuously improving himself and be robust in character. He should also be hardworking and not allow himself to get lazy. As Nature absorbs the power of sunlight and nourishes flora and fauna, a man should inculcate good habits and set an example for others before he can become one with Nature.

“With a mind to seek continuous self-improvement, he should pave his way into the Psychic Realm!”

The amount of Divine Energy within Ye Que had increased considerably from a thin thread to the size of a huge golden python after he broke through into the Post-celestial Realm. It snaked its way through his qi storage area and pool of Divine Energy before quickly absorbing all of the Spiritual Force within his body.

The mist enveloping the garden of Qian Manor began to dissipate slowly at noon of the 30th day, and purple fluid stopped flowing out of the cauldron. The medicinal properties of the three pools began to grow weaker and the temperature of the water in them began to drop as well.

The skies were visible again.

The three of them got out of their pools simultaneously and gazed upward.

The Qian siblings stood at attention for a while before wading out and bowing toward Ye Que with a serious expression on their faces.

At first, being outsiders, they did not understand how hard cultivation was. Now, they truly understand what a great opportunity Ye Que had given them. What they had seen with their eyes in the past was not real; Nature contained much more mysteries and was more amazing.

In the Qian family ancestral hall, which was separated only by a wall from the garden, an old man whose hair had turned entirely white leaned against his recliner and smiled. Another elderly man stood behind him, and if the servants of the manor saw them, they would have kowtowed in respect.

The man leaning against the recliner was the Old Master of the family, and behind him was the Chief Butler.

Legend has it that the Qian family owned a total of 8572 shops in the golden age of the Tang Dynasty, and the Chief Butler knew everything that happened in them, be it small or huge matters.

“Congratulations Master. Both the Eldest Young Lady and the Second Young Master have entered Pre-celestial Realm. I’m afraid we’re going to have two little Immortality Masters in our family soon,” said the Chief Butler as he said cheerfully to the Old Master.

“Both Xiao’er and Shuhua are very fortunate to have such good fate,” said the Old Master softly. “Our family have been doing business for generations, it’s about time we rewrote our destiny.”

He stroked his white beard before ordering, “From tomorrow onward, every shop owned by the Qian family is to serve porridge for free for a month. The manor will pay for all costs; in this way, we’ll have repaid the kindness shown to those kids.”

“Master, allow me to arrange this personally.”

“Fine, go.”

The door of the ancestral hall creaked upon before it was shut again. Old Master Qian reclined slowly back onto his cane chair, feeling satisfied as he mumbled to himself, “Ancestors above, I pray you’ll grant my wish and allow each generation of Qians to be aided by benefactors in their lives and live healthily forever.”

The three youths went to the Humans Leave Drunk tavern as usual.

This time, however, only a flask of apricot wine was placed on their table, along with four dishes.

“Brother Ye, this Great Tao Sutra is really amazing. I’ve really been living in vain; now the entire world seems different to me. Each breath I take feels so wonderful,” said Qian Shuxiao as he played around with his wine cup. With a light flick of his wrist, the contents of his cup flowed upward in the direction of his mouth.

Ye Que shook his head and remained silent.

Qian Shuhua, on the other hand, looked at her brother in despise. She unleashed her will, causing the wine to splatter on his face before it went into his mouth.

“Sister! What are you doing!”

“Nothing much, I just can’t stand you putting on airs,” replied Qian Shuhua before she grabbed hold of her brother’s ear and giving it a hard twist. “You’ve merely begun cultivation but are now behaving so conceitedly. Do you think you can actually slay demons like this? Aren’t you afraid of being eaten up by them?”

“Who dares to do that!” Qian Shuxiao retorted, looking very indignant.

He then slapped the back of his head before continuing, “Look at me.”

“Brother Ye, let me show you something,” he said as he fished out a token made of blackwood. “Remember we spoke of setting up our own sect? I’ve made some progress in that aspect.”

“I’ve managed to get the necessary permits from the Court of Judicial Review, Council of Sects Members and the Judicature. With your approval, we can set up our very own sect.”

“Set up a sect?” Ye Que replied, stunned. “What sect?”

“The Divine Sect!”

“This name I’ve thought of is cool, isn’t it?”

“I would you guys to know that I’ve spent 3000 taels of silver on it.” Qian Shuxiao said proudly. Upon noticing Ye Que’s look of doubt, he continued to explain, “Didn’t I tell you before that all practitioners in Luoyang City have to register themselves? You said that you didn’t have one, now that’s resolved.”

“This piece of blackwood is the token of the sect leader, and the leader of the Divine Sect can only be you.”

“Only you!”

Ye Que sighed helplessly as he looked at Qian Shuxiao’s satisfied expression. “How many people are there in the Divine Sect?”

Qian Shuxiao smiled awkwardly.

He showed two fingers before pausing and extending another one.

“Three members!” Qian Shuhua exclaimed, laughing so hard that food nearly spewed from her mouth. “Your sect is really huge. Say, are you dumb or what?”

Qian Shuxiao lowered his head before pointing at himself, Ye Que and then his sister.

“Me? Why didn’t I know anything about this?”

“Anyway, the records in the Judicature shows all three of our names. Ye Que is the sect leader, while we’re the first and second elders,” Qian Shuxiao said as he smacked the table top, looking like he was about to do something reckless.

The infamous rich playboy of Luoyang City had become obsessed with cultivation after witnessing Ye Que’s amazing technique first hand. At first, he had believed that Ye Que was a genius of the Green Mountain Sect, but Ye Que said himself that one man could be a sect as well.

It was fine not to belong to any sect.

It was also not a bad idea to set up a sect. Anyway, Ye Que alone was enough if he wanted to learn martial arts techniques.

Ye Que casually picked a mouthful of food with his chopsticks and looked out of the window. “Did you inquire about the matter like I told you to? Did any extraordinary happen in Luoyang City this month? Since the Judicature has begun registering practitioners, it means they’ve already noticed that members of the Demon Race have infiltrated the city.”

“By my estimation, they should already have arrived.”

“Of course, of course, how could I not have done that?”

Qian Shuxiao looked excited and even glanced to his sides as he spoke, as if afraid that someone else would eavesdrop on their conversation.

“I got a shock after making inquiries. Guess what happened this month?”

“Extraordinary!”

“On the seventh day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which was the next day after both of you were ambushed, a family of eight that lived in the third house of the left street of the night market were killed overnight. Nothing was left of them, not even a single drop of blood, except for eight human skins. On the 10th day of the month, on Magpie Bridge, a couple who were flying a Kong Ming Lantern had their heads bitten off by a fish monster that leaped out from the water underneath the bridge. On the 13th day of the month, there was a huge fire in the residence of King Qing, and 47 people were burned to death over the course of one night. No one managed to catch sight of the perps as if ghosts had done it…”

“Didn’t anyone investigate?”

Ye Que frowned as he listened to Qian Shuxiao speak for a full 15 minutes.

“How could that be! So many people were killed, definitely, the authorities had to give the people an explanation! Just yesterday, 33 demonic beasts were beheaded on the Black Tortoise Platform, and the green blood that spewed from their necks could not be washed away for the next two hours. The entire stunk,” said Qian Shuxiao as he spoke expressively, even covering his nose in the process.

“The government caught them?”

“Part of them. The other demons were captured by various famous sects from the Cultivation World. According to our butler, not less than 30 sects have set up their bases just in Luoyang City alone within this past month. These are the official records, but others have used more covert methods, like Shushan which had already incorporated the Extinctive Sword Manor House.”