Chapter 343: Of Course
Old Zen had turned into a giant eagle to take flight. It was apparent that he was in the Martial Providence Stage. After all, at this Stage, cultivators were capable of transforming into their Martial Spirits.
'No wonder he is the owner of the sole auction house in the city.' Compass Carburettor nodded, 'If I don't wish to garner unnecessary suspicion, I should do the same myself.'
It was pretty easy to achieve as Compass Carburettor summoned a giant Spydragon within which he sat comfortably. Moreover, he activated the Apocalypse Pearl Body Layer, turning the Spydragon opaque, causing it to resemble a pearl in texture and colour.
Originally, he wished to use the Mental Energy Body Layer. But upon thinking that it would make him look too terrifying, he refrained from the action, using the Apocalypse Pearl instead.
The Spydragon took flight immediately and arrived beside the giant eagle in a matter of seconds, startling Old Zen at the speed he displayed.
'What the heck is this Martial Spirit?' Old Zen noticed how Compass Carburettor was flying alongside him, neither accelerating nor failing to catch up, showing his prowess, 'He's one mysterious guy.'
It made him all the more inclined to do his best to appease Compass Carburettor.
The two creatures quickly reached their destination, stopping a hundred metres away as the giant eagle vanished.
Old Zen appeared, sporting a pair of wings behind him that he used to stay afloat. Compass Carburettor too did the same, using the Apocalypse Pearl Body Layer upon Vutura's wings as he remained afloat.
"This is the Giant Whale Sect, one of the major powers of the Gaider Realm." Old Zen said, "It is currently under the control of the Giant Whale Clan, and hence the name."
"Were any other family in control of this Sect before?" Compass Carburettor asked in confusion, wondering why Old Zen had felt the need to say this information.
"No, it has existed for a hundred years and has always been under the control of the Giant Whale Clan." Old Zen laughed awkwardly, catching his drift. He hurriedly changed the topic, pointing at the massive altar on the ground from which the beam of light was being emitted.
Upon seeing the altar, Compass Carburettor understood what it was: Martial Spirit Awakening Altar.
The Altar was created using tens of thousands of precious materials and was damn precious that even a Sect as large as the Giant Whale Sect probably only had a couple of them.
Other than that, only the large Clans had a Martial Spirit Awakening Altar. Usually, the large Clans and Sects would hoist tournaments to select good seeds from the commoners.
The winners would obtain a chance to awaken their Martial Spirit. And if they awakened a Human Martial Spirit or above, they would be integrated into the respective Clan or Sect. If they awakened a Trash Martial Spirit, they would be turned into servants.
So typically, the Clans and Sects contained all the power in the Gaider Realm. Though, there were mysterious Realms that opened from time to time that allowed the commoners to also enter it. There, they too would obtain a chance to awaken their Martial Spirits.
That's how the commoners gained the strength to protect themselves in this world. Such Realms opened once every decade, allowing the commoners a chance to change their fate.
In such Realms, the Martial Spirit Awakening Altars worked automatically by consuming the energy between heaven and earth. But in the Gaider Realm, they had to be fed with Origin Essence to activate every time.
Essence Crystals were the currency used in the Gaider Realm. They contained Origin Essence in them that could be used for both cultivation and buying and selling goods.
Compass Carburettor noticed a hundred sockets around the Martial Spirit Awakening Altar, the places where the Essence Crystals had to be embedded. 100 Essence Crystals were consumed upon every activation.
Typically, the first time a mortal awakens is when they had the best chance to obtain a powerful Martial Spirit. If they didn't like their Martial Spirit, they could destroy it and try to awaken again.
But, the chances of obtaining a good Martial Spirit would become many times harder. And by the third attempt, even obtaining a Human Martial Spirit would be a cause for joy. So, it could be said that the Martial Spirit someone obtained upon their first awakening was the strongest they could ever obtain.
And now, before his very eyes, someone awakened a Heaven Martial Spirit. Countless cultivators rushed towards the Giant Whale Sect to witness the phenomenon. And for those that could fly, they directly flew into the Giant Whale Sect like Old Zen and Compass Carburettor.
Normally, they wouldn't dare to do so. But considering the phenomenon and the fact that many were entering the Sect, everyone else dared to do so. Even the Giant Whale Sect couldn't stop the cultivators from entering, since there were many powerhouses among the lot.
Besides, they just planned on using this event as a publicity stunt to increase the weight of the Giant Whale Sect.
"So, which of the two is it?" Compass Carburettor muttered, gazing at the teenage girl that was in contact with the Martial Spirit Awakening Altar.
"Isn't there just one person there?" Old Zen said in confusion, noticing that Compass Carburettor wasn't paying attention to his words.
"Congratulations, Xuer, for awakening the Heaven Martial Spirit, Ice Crane." An old man landed behind her, stating with a smile, "Do you wish to become my disciple?"
The teenage girl, Xuer gazed at the old man in shock before bowing in excitement, "Xuer pays respect to master."
"Hahaha! Good, good!" The old man, the Giant Whale Sect Master laughed in joy. Today was the most prestigious day for his Sect, having obtained a Heaven Martial Spirit cultivator as his disciple.
"Master, disciple hopes you'll also accept Ranze as your disciple. He's even more talented than me." Xuer cupped her fists, saying.
"Oh, he's even more talented than you?" The Sect Master's eyes lit up as he followed Xuer's line of sight, noticing a similarly aged teenager that was brimming with confidence. 'He's confident even though Xuer awakened a Heaven Martial Spirit?'
He made way in excitement for the boy named Ranze to awaken as a Sect member hurriedly inserted hundred Essence Crystals into the Martial Spirit Awaken Altar. As Ranze placed his hand on the altar, it slowly lit up.
After an hour, the altar dimmed down as a lacklustre brick floated above his hands, shocking everyone, "Trash Martial Spirit?"
In contrast to everyone, Compass Carburettor stared at the youth with a brick, sighing as he felt a headache, "Of course."
