Wuhlricht nodded and said, "Those in the late and peak stages of level nine saint will probably only need one pill, while those in the early and middle stages will likely require two."Felipe chimed in with enthusiasm. "We might be a first-tier sect, but the gap between our sect and the upper-class first-tier sects is still rather big. This is especially so in terms of the number of royal saints, as other sects far outnumber us. Now that Elder Severin is a fourth-grade high-rank alchemist, we will soon see the addition of many royal saints in our ranks. This way, that gap I mentioned will narrow considerably even though we're still some way off from catching up to them."Wuhlricht commented admiringly, "Severin is full of surprises. I'm still in awe of his alchemical talent." Following a pause, he continued, "But it's important for us not to divulge the fact that our sect now boasts a fourth-grade high-rank alchemist, especially while Severin is away. If other sects are aware of his
Gilda nodded with a saddened look. "Yes, and I want to terminate it secretly. Even though Severin might be able to accept that I'm no longer a virgin, I'm pretty sure he won't accept that I'm pregnant with someone else's child, much less give birth to it."She had a pleading look in her eyes as she continued, "But I can't go through with terminating the pregnancy myself. This fetus inside of me is a living being, after all. Please do it for me, Dad. We'll just act as though it never happened."Rather than expressing his disappointment, Wuhlricht chuckled heartily, surprising Gilda. "Haha! I didn't think I'd become a grandfather so soon!"Gilda was left speechless by her father's reaction and asked coldly, "What do you mean by that, Dad? Do you want me to go through with the pregnancy?"Wuhlricht smiled and said, "I'm glad you couldn't bring yourself to do an abortion. Don't you worry about it. Severin won't mind at all. He might even be happy to hear that you're pregnant!"Gilda w
Wuhlricht smiled and replied, "Why would I ever lie to you about something like this? Everything I said is the truth. Severin is the father of your child. He was the man who saved you."Following a pause, he continued explaining, "You can't expect him to tell you the truth under those circumstances. He's simply been waiting for the right time to reveal everything to you, hoping that you'll understand. But now that things have come to this, I would have to be the one to tell you."Wuhlricht's explanation caused Gilda's emotions to shift from the verge of tears to a mixture of relief and amusement. "I see. I never would have thought that he was the child's father. Guess I no longer have anything to worry about then."All of a sudden, Gilda frowned again and asked worriedly, "But what if he only confessed to me and treated me well because of guilt and responsibility? I can't tell for sure if he genuinely cares about me."Wuhlricht burst into laughter and reassured her. "Haha, you don'
As dusk settled in, Severin called Heidi over and handed more than twenty fourth-grade high-rank pills to her. He instructed her to share those pills with those disciples who were closest to making a breakthrough to level one royal saint. They were to consume their respective pill only after entering the Paradise Secret Realm.Those who received the pills were elated to have been chosen.Severin then gathered the twenty individuals in his team who showed the most promise in becoming a level one royal saint and gave each of them a pill."I have nothing but admiration for you, Severin. It amazes me that you're already a fourth-grade high-rank alchemist!" Sheila remarked after Severin sat back down.Severin smiled and said, "Make sure to safeguard those pills I provided to you earlier. If your attainment is stable after entering the Paradise Secret Realm and the right opportunity arises, you can use those pills to make a breakthrough. Your current attainment level is good, but not goo
All of a sudden, a disciple pointed to their left and exclaimed, "Look! There's a group of people over there!""They're probably disciples from other sects," Heidi mused. "They would have a set of tokens that represent the twelve oriental zodiac signs. The complete set of tokens function essentially as a key."Jarvin, one of the disciples with Heidi's group, added with a smile, "We used to have only one key, but now we have two. Having so many new disciples join our sect has proved to be very positive for us!""Haha, that's right!" Everyone smiled, eagerly anticipating their foray into the realm. Since every new disciple of the sect had to be a first-time entrant, more than half of the 2,400 people accepted into the Skyblue Sect were saints. The remaining majority were warrior emperors. Since the sect was a properly-administered first-tier sect, the warrior emperors consisted predominantly of level six or level seven warrior emperors at the very minimum. Only a handful were lower th
Heidi smiled bitterly and whispered to Sofia, "He's from an upper-class first-tier sect known as the Highworld Sect. It's worth noting that they've been making so much progress that they're fast about to overtake the Horizon Sect."She paused briefly before continuing, "That Terry guy emerged as a prodigy in the Highworld Sect within the past two years. He was able to reach such a high level of attainment even though he is only twenty-one this year. His arrogance stems from that. Of course, many others in their sect have much higher attainment, but all of them aren't here. After all, there's no point for them to be here since they won't be able to enter the sect either.""I see! It's impressive that he could achieve that level of attainment. He should be proud of that," Sofia gasped. "Making a breakthrough to royal saint is child's play with his talent. Heck, he probably wouldn't need long to reach the level seven or level eight royal saint!"Heidi nodded and added, "He has excellen
Many people were generally under the impression that those who had achieved a high attainment mainly through the use of pills were not as strong as those whose attainment was acquired through experience. It was generally thought that those who relied too much on pills to accumulate attainment did so at the expense of proper combat experience, and alchemists generally had insufficient time for honing their combat skills too. Their combat effectiveness thus became greatly diminished, making them vulnerable to being killed when faced with a more experienced adversary.As time passed, representatives from two more sects arrived. Heidi explained who they were to Severin and his companions. Both sects were second-tier sects, and they both positioned themselves cautiously at a distance in apparent apprehension."They appear to be very cautious," Severin observed."As they should," Heidi said. "Those from second-tier sects are relatively weaker than those from first-tier sects. Even though
The next morning, at the break of dawn, Sheila pointed. "Look, there are two groups of people over there. They are so close to each other. Are they two friendly forces?"Heidi took one look and shook her head, "Even friendly forces will not stay so close to each other. There is only one possibility, which is that the other sect has two keys in its hand just like us.""No way, two keys again?" Sheila said in surprise.Heidi smiled. "Yes, it was the Horizon Sect, so I guess the one coming over there is the Horizon Sect."After Severin heard this, he could not help but frown, "Is Horizon Sect a friendly force to us? It should not be considered a hostile force, right?"Heidi smiled slightly and said, "Of course they are friendly forces. The relationship between our two sects has always been very good. We used to support each other when hunting for treasures in the secret realm. When other disciples wanted to rob our disciples’ treasures, the Horizon Sect lent a hand. Of course, the di