Once he got far enough from the school, he boarded a city bus, heading toward the Cultivator Association, which was located on the outskirts of the city because it didn't want to be too close to the Awakener Association.
If the Awakener Association resided in a magnificent modern building, the Cultivator Association instead chose a very large, old castle as its headquarters.
It stood beside a steep valley, and the building looked as if it leaned toward the cliffside.
However, many people still came to that castle.
Even though cultivation scriptures and techniques were widely available online, many still came to the Cultivator Association to have their bodies checked—whether they possessed any special talent in cultivation.
If there was no special talent, most people would choose not to continue, because it meant their path in cultivation would be far too difficult—and unfortunately, most people lacked such talent.
Oliver saw many high school students like himself who came from other schools.
Perhaps their schools had been visited by the Awakener Association earlier.
Oliver had a bit of difficulty getting inside the castle due to the large number of people.
The castle had a wide hall, and in the center of that hall was a large pool filled with red water that emitted mist continuously.
Those who came would take turns soaking in the pool, and each person was given one minute.
If nothing happened, they would be asked to leave.
Fortunately, the pool could accommodate up to 20 people at once, so the queue wasn't too long.
Heaven Spirit Water—that was the name of the red liquid, said to reveal everything hidden within a person. What was meant by "hidden" referred to any kind of innate talent.
Oliver saw that over a hundred people had already soaked in the pool, but nothing had happened to them.
This showed that they truly had no talent and could only leave with disappointed expressions.
The good thing was, soaking in the pool was free of charge because the Cultivator Association was indeed looking for those with cultivation potential.
When it was Oliver's turn, he jumped in without hesitation, without even taking off his clothes.
Buzz!
Something shocking happened just as Oliver entered the pool.
His body suddenly began absorbing the water from the pool at an unimaginable speed, stunning those who witnessed it.
The pool water quickly began to shrink, being absorbed by his body.
At the same time, black lines appeared all over his body, covering his arms and face.
No, they weren't really black lines—when he observed closely.
It was something hard to explain, but he couldn't help but think of one word: Void.
They truly were void—not black lines, but black in color because they had no color at all, so the eye perceived them as black.
Even Oliver didn't know what was happening, but at this moment, he could feel the Spiritual Energy merging with his body, making him feel twice as strong.
This was usually a sign that a Cultivator had reached the First Stage of the Spiritual Master Realm.
Had he advanced just like that?
He was confused, because usually, even those with special talent needed time to reach the first stage.
"Sir, the head of the association wants to meet you!" one of the pool's attendants suddenly said to Oliver.
Hearing that, he quickly got out of the pool.
Half of the pool's water had disappeared. He was a bit worried that if he kept soaking, the pool would be completely dry and the association might charge him for it.
"Please follow me, sir," the attendant said again.
He was quite respectful toward Oliver.
After that, Oliver followed him up the stairs to the second floor of the castle.
On the second floor, he found a corridor with many tightly shut doors.
The attendant stopped in front of one door, pushed it open, and gestured for Oliver to enter.
Curious about the association head, Oliver stepped inside and instinctively turned his head, finding a work desk by the window with a woman in her 30s sitting behind it.
She wore slacks and a button-up shirt, her hair black with hints of purple, cut in a wolf style—she looked somewhat tomboyish, even smoking a cigarette while her earlobes were pierced from top to bottom.
Oliver didn't expect the Cultivator Association Head to be a woman—let alone someone who looked so unique.
He had only just learned this.
As far as he knew, each Cultivator Association Head was one of the strongest Cultivators in the country.
With only ten Cultivator Associations in total, this meant the woman in front of him was one of the ten strongest Cultivators.
"Sit," the woman signaled Oliver to sit on the sofa, while she stood from her chair and moved over to the same couch.
Oliver did as she said, sitting across from her.
"What's your name?" she asked, staring into his eyes.
"Oliver Whitemoon," Oliver replied.
"I'm Evylin Windsor. I called you here because I want to offer you a place as my disciple. What do you think?" the woman said.
Her surname surprised Oliver because it was the family name of the royal family.
Did that mean she was one of the Queen's granddaughters?
But the most interesting part, of course, was the offer to become her disciple.
He didn't expect to receive such an offer after being called by her.
Was his talent that appealing to her?
The life of a Cultivator was not like that of the Awakeners. A master was considered one of the most important things, because under a master's guidance, the path of cultivation would be much smoother.
If one received such an offer, the way to accept was by cupping one's fists in salute to the master.
"I, Oliver Whitemoon, greet my master!"
Oliver didn't think too long before deciding to accept the offer.
This was exactly what he needed—guidance and direction.
If he were to cultivate alone using methods found on the internet, he might never be able to fully utilize his potential.
In the end, only basic things were publicly shared—many more were hidden and kept secret.
Some people didn't mind paying large sums to become disciples of strong Cultivators, but he was being offered this by the Head of an Association. How could he possibly reject it?
After hearing his response, Evylin smiled faintly, crossed her legs, and puffed on her cigarette again.
"Basically, you already have cultivation—you've reached the First Stage of the Spiritual Master Realm thanks to your body," she said.
"If I'm not wrong, that's the Void Body—one of the strongest innate bodies to ever exist."
Oliver's eyes blinked rapidly at that.
One of the strongest?
"Use this ring. You'll be able to see your body's stats just like the Awakeners' System," Evylin added, as a silver ring appeared on her finger.
She flicked it with her finger, and the ring landed perfectly in his palm.
"It also functions as an item storage," she added.
"Thank you, master!" Oliver quickly expressed his gratitude, knowing that this ring was extremely valuable.
This wasn't just a storage ring—it was one of the rare artifacts said to be able to understand anything just by observing, and could summarize the total strength of its user. It was called the Observation Ring.
He quickly slipped the ring onto one of his fingers.
Something like a screen then appeared in front of his eyes.
(Cultivation: First Stage of Spiritual Master Realm!)
(Spiritual Energy: 12/200!)
(Body: Void Body!)
(Will: Spiritual Master | 0/1000 Will Energy!)
(Innate Scripture from Void Body):
Black Hole (1%)
(Scripture: None)
(Innate Techniques from Void Body:
- Void Domain (0%)
- Void Control (0%)
- Void Step (0%)
- Void Body Transformation (0,45%)
- Void Sense (0%)
(Techniques: None)
(Note: With your Void Body, you do not need additional Scriptures to cultivate, because you already possess an Innate Scripture—Black Hole.
It is not recommended to add other scriptures or techniques to yourself, as it may divide your focus between understanding them and understanding your innate body—unless you've increased your Will to a level higher than your cultivation realm, or the scriptures and techniques you add are related to the Void.)