CHAPTER 87: INNATE WORLD OBSERVATION

The final battle between Fang Che and Mo Ganyun had the other five boys gawking in astonishment.

The two of them fought fire with fire from the get-go, and Fang Che was able to gain the upper hand within three exchanges. From there, it became a one-sided beating as usual, with Mo Ganyun tossed around like an oversized punching bag.

In the end, he was sent flying like a small mountain, flying over seventy feet through the air before crashing to the ground, sending slight tremors running through the entire nearby area.

The five spectating boys could only look on in silent astonishment, stunned by the brutality of the battle they had just witnessed.

With all of the sparring matches concluded, the first ranking was established. In descending order, the ranking went Fang Che, Mo Ganyun, Ding Jieran, Qiu Yunshang, Yu Zhongge, Jing Shuanggao, and Xie Gongping.

"Boss!"

The six boys arranged themselves into a row and saluted Fang Che in unison.

Fang Che put on his best impression of a ruler addressing his subjects as he said, "You may rise."

The six boys erupted into laughter.

Next, it was Mo Ganyun's turn to be saluted by the five boys below him in the pecking order.

"Second Brother!"

Then came Ding Jieran's turn, and by the end, Jing Shuanggao only had Xie Gongping saluting him as the sixth brother of the group.

"Your second brother already has a warrior title!" Fang Che declared in a solemn manner. "Let me introduce you all to the Red Heavenly Lord!"

"Holy shit, what a badass title! Who came up with it?"

Fang Che was more than happy to tell everyone about the origin story of Mo Ganyun's warrior title, and everyone was rolling with laughter at the sight of his red headband.

"I suggest you make a few more of those, ideally a thousand pieces or so. Otherwise, it's going to reek from all your sweat!"

"I'm going to surpass Fang Che and leave him in the dust! I swear it!" Mo Ganyun vowed, his face red with indignation.

"Good luck with that!" everyone scoffed in a facetious manner.

"I will be assigning warrior titles to all of you as well. That is my duty as the second brother of the group," Mo Ganyun harrumphed.

Everyone hurriedly extended apologetic salutes. "Please don't, Second Brother! We apologize for mocking you!"

A warrior title was something that one held onto for life, and it was clear that Mo Ganyun wasn't the one to turn to for suggestions.

Yu Zhongge was thinking to himself that it would most likely take until the second half of the year before he could knock Fang Che off his pedestal as the leader of the group. Only after reaching the Great Grandmaster tier would the advantages of hailing from an affluent clan begin to show. However, what was a little concerning to him was that Fang Che clearly hadn't displayed his full power in any of his sparring matches.

Qiu Yunshang wasn't afraid of Yu Zhonggao, but Mo Ganyun was like a walking brick wall that he would have to break through somehow. As for Fang Che, further observation was required for him to make an assessment.

Jing Shuanggao's goal was very modest: "I just want to retain a top-three spot."

Mo Ganyun had thoroughly enjoyed these sparring matches, and if he could have his way, he would gather everyone together to do this every single day.

Ding Jieran was busy thinking about how to elevate the ceiling of his sword techniques, while Xie Gongping was determined to rise up from his status as the bottom-dweller of the group.

Fang Che had only come from a ninth-tier clan, yet he had claimed the top spot in the group, so why couldn't he do the same as a member of an eighth-tier clan.

As for Fang Che, he wasn't thinking about anything as he had already thought of everything in advance.

As it turned out, Bing Shangxue and several other instructors had been secretly spectating from afar this entire time, and after witnessing the sequences of sparring matches, they had developed a better understanding of their students' strengths and weaknesses.

***

"What do you think?" Jun Hefang asked, having already made his own assessment of the seven first-year prodigies.

"I'm very impressed," Wu Zhibing replied. "The big guy has immense potential, and the others are all quite promising as well. The current leader of the group is a bit of an enigma to me for now. If they're going to hold these sparring matches regularly, I'm sure the ranking will change, but in my opinion, the top two spots are most likely cemented for at least a year."

"I'd say we would've been around the same level as the third, fourth, and fifth-ranked members of their group. Their top two are better than we were at the same stage," Hua Kaixie assessed.

"That's right," Wu Zhibing agreed with a nod. "Make sure to keep a close eye on those two. Once we make it to the Hall of Protectionists, we would be far better off taking in our underclassmen as our subordinates than taking on complete strangers."

With that in mind, the trio stood up and approached the group.

Fang Che and the others immediately noticed them, and they extended a collective greeting to the trio.

A warm smile broke through Wu Zhibing's cold features as he asked, "What are your names?"

As the current boss of the group, it was naturally Fang Che's duty to make the introductions.

"My name is Fang Che. These are Mo Ganyun, Ding Jieran, Qiu Yunshang..."

"All of you are very impressive! Jun Hefang said. "The World Academy Tournament is being held in December, and I'm assuming some of you will be sent as our first-year representatives. Make sure to teach those bastards from Celestial Being Academy a lesson in respect!"

"We will!"

"Don't let us down!"

"We won't!"

"Alright, let's wait and see."

Wu Zhibing gave Fang Che a gentle pat on the shoulder as he said, "All of you have immense potential. If you have questions about cultivation, you can come to us at any time. We will always be happy to help."

Mo Ganyun and the others were all very touched by this gesture, and they all expressed their gratitude to the trio.

With that, the two groups parted ways, with Fang Che and the others leaving the drill grounds, while Wu Zhibing's trio prepared for their own sparring matches.

"Let's do this again in seven days!"

***

A month flew by in a flash.

It was the September 30th, and as was customary for Fang Che at this time of day, he was sitting in a spirit qi gravity cultivation chamber.

In this moment, it was as if he were seeing the world through new eyes, and the reason for this new perspective was his breakthrough to the Great Grandmaster tier.

Finally!

At this moment, even his own sweat was shimmering like the rainbow in his eyes.

It was an indescribable feeling, as if he could see through things to their fundamental core, and even the walls were looking different to him.

He immediately closed his eyes to continue taking in the spirit qi in the cultivation chamber, and as soon as his time was up, he immediately rushed out of the chamber without any hesitation.

He took a moment to compose himself as his spirit power rose up from his dantian before flowing through his body in a full cycle, and only after that did he slowly open his eyes.

This was his first time seeing the world after reaching the Great Grandmaster tier, and it was not a moment to be squandered.

The emotions and heightened perception from his breakthrough would only last for a short time, and he had to take full advantage of this special state of mind.

Once he grew acclimated to this new state of being, he would never be able to replicate the same emotional state.

If he had opened his eyes willy-nilly inside the cultivation chamber, his eyes would've already adjusted before he emerged from the chamber, and that would've been a missed opportunity.

The first thing that he saw were the dust particles in the air, tinged with all types of different colors.

The next thing that he perceived was the sun.

It was a giant orb in the sky that was glowing with all of the colors of the rainbow, and it was burning and pulsing like an incandescent heart.

His gaze then shifted to the trees, flowers, and grass in the distance. Every single leaf was glistening with the exuberance of life as they danced in the breeze.

Even the breeze itself seemed to possess a life of its own, and the entire world was filled with the energy of life.

However, lurking beyond this life energy was a pervasive, murky, gray substance.

Fang Che stared blankly at all of this in stunned silence and wonder.

In his past life, he had broken through to the Great Grandmaster tier in a cave and missed this opportunity, so this was his first time experiencing what it was like to see the world through the new eyes of a Great Grandmaster.

He could feel his own soul evolving, and his spirit sense was increased by over twofold!

He immediately sat down onto the ground to consolidate his cultivation base.

He was like a parched river lustfully taking in all of the water flowing in from all directions, and it seemed that no amount of water would be enough to fill this river.

Mo Ganyun emerged from his cultivation chamber to see Fang Che cultivating under the sun, while Bing Shangxue was standing beside him on lookout, and he could only heave an envious sigh.

Mo Ganyun was well aware of what Fang Ch had just experienced, and he knew that Fang Che had reached the Great Grandmaster, while he was still languishing far behind as a sixth-rank Lesser Grandmaster.

The gap between them was only widening further and further.

Can I really catch up to him?

As a prodigy from a fourth-tier clan, Mo Ganyun was very familiar with the concept of "innate world observation."

For most from seventh-tier clans and below, those words most likely meant nothing. Hence, even if they could reach the Great Grandmaster tier, most of them missed out on this fleeting opportunity.

However, this was an opportunity that no one from a major clan would miss out on, and that was just another entry on the long laundry list of advantages that powerful clans held over their lesser counterparts.

***

"Pope Yin, Subordinate Night Demon reporting. I have already reached the third-rank Lesser Grandmaster tier, and my cultivation is progressing smoothly."

"Pope Yin, Subordinate Night Demon reporting. I am writing to inform you that I have reached the fifth-rank Lesser Grandmaster tier."

"Pope Yin... I have reached the sixth-rank Lesser Grandmaster tier."

"... I have reached the seventh-rank Lesser Grandmaster tier."

"... I'm preparing for a breakthrough to the Great Grandmaster tier."

"Pope Yin, Subordinate Night Demon reporting. I have officially progressed to the Great Grandmaster tier and completed my innate world observation, taking my cultivation base directly to the mid first-rank Great Grandmaster tier.

“Additionally, my spirit sense has also expanded by over twofold. For the next week, I will not be able to enter the spirit qi gravity cultivation chamber. Instead, I will focus on consolidating my cultivation base and honing my battle techniques through sparring matches."