Zhong Ming: So I Was Already at the Third Rating

"Phew..."

Zhong Ming called for a stop, and Dong Hai let out a sigh of relief as well.

After throwing pebbles for most of the day, he had been exhausted to his limit.

Hmm... the fact that the two of them had lasted this long was also related to Spiritual Energy.

Cultivators were not some profession that favored only one area.

The path of cultivation, aspiring toward transcendence and immortality, emphasized the all-around development of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

At this moment, although Zhong Ming and the others had yet to open their Qi Sea Acupoint and become true cultivators, breathing in and out Spiritual Energy through the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique still allowed some Spiritual Energy to disperse through their bodies, strengthening their flesh.

"Still, this kind of strengthening is very passive, and far inferior to specialized body-tempering techniques. Once I have the means, I should learn a Body Tempering Method and raise my physical strength."

While considering his future plans, Zhong Ming dragged his weary body over and thanked Dong Hai. "Dong Hai, thanks for today."

"It's nothing, huff, huff, huff... As long as you don't forget me after you make it big, Zhong Ming."

"I won't..."

They were too exhausted. After returning to the stone house arranged by Dragon Stream Peak and washing up a little, Zhong Ming and Dong Hai fell into a deep sleep.

Having spent too much mental energy and physical strength, Zhong Ming slept straight through until after eight the next morning.

And after waking, his entire body ached, felt sore, and tingled with numbness...

The sensation was undoubtedly awful. However, after he ran to the dining hall and ate a Spirit Rice Meal, the Spiritual Energy nourishing him caused more than half of the soreness, numbness, and pain throughout his body to fade away.

"Spiritual Energy truly is wondrous... Once I cultivate and let Spiritual Energy wash through my entire body, the fatigue after training might even vanish outright."

With that thought, Zhong Ming immediately brought Dong Hai and ran toward Dragon Stream Peak's cultivation grounds.

Once they arrived, Zhong Ming discovered that he had come a little late.

Most of Dragon Stream Peak's other disciples had arrived early.

Clearly, after learning that the Hundred Day Assessment concerned their ratings and even their lives and deaths, everyone at Dragon Stream Peak cultivated diligently—so desperately that it could even be called fighting for their lives.

However, after arriving at the cultivation grounds, Zhong Ming noticed something else.

Many disciples did not begin cultivating immediately. Instead, they surrounded disciples with outstanding Spiritual Roots, fawning over them and currying favor.

The sight made Zhong Ming sigh inwardly, but he did not think these fellow disciples were wrong.

Cultivation was no easy matter, and Dragon Stream Peak had given them far too little time.

Without good Spiritual Roots or sufficient resources, for ordinary Dao children with Third-grade Spiritual Roots, even being rated Class B was a distant dream.

This was not even something effort could solve—meridians with limited endurance restricted how many times one could cultivate each day.

Under such circumstances, disciples with no hope of advancing could curry favor with those of exceptional talent, hoping that after those "heavenly prodigies" received Grade A or Grade B ratings, they might lend them a hand. It was a very good fallback route.

Of course, while some recognized the difficulty and wished to retreat, others gritted their teeth and cultivated with all their might.

They were fighting over that sliver of hope.

Zhong Ming felt respect for the latter.

But just as Zhong Ming was sighing to himself, something he had not expected happened.

"Young Master Zhong Ming, I made some pastries. Would you be willing to try them?"

"Lord Zhong Ming, I see that you need someone to assist with your cultivation. I can be of service..."

"Senior Brother, I know a little about massage techniques..."

Zhong Ming had arrived late, yet after entering the cultivation grounds, he was surrounded by a group of people.

Though their approaches differed, every word was filled with flattery, and they all wished to follow him.

The sight made Zhong Ming freeze for a moment.

But he quickly understood.

"That's right. In everyone else's eyes, I now count as someone in the third tier."

Zhong Ming's talent was not bad. With Third-grade Spiritual Roots, as long as he had enough spirit stones, he had some hope of advancing to early Qi Condensation within Eighteen Days.

Previously, no one had thought highly of him because he lacked enough spirit stones to buy pills.

But although no one knew why, Jiang Yue's continued faith in him made things look different.

Especially yesterday, when Zhong Ming took the pill without deliberately concealing it, people realized that although he came from a poor background, Jiang Yue's support had placed him on the same starting line as the Lineage disciples, giving him the possibility of being rated Class B.

And being rated Class B meant that Zhong Ming could recruit followers.

Under such circumstances, naturally some people wished to curry favor with Zhong Ming, so that they would not have to enter the battlefield so early.

And some of the smarter Dao children had noticed something more.

"Zhong Ming has a greater chance than even the Lineage disciples of receiving a Class B rating... We don't know why, but it cannot be without reason that Jiang Yue values Zhong Ming so highly. He must possess real skill and extraordinary ability. We were simply too blind to see it."

"He has ability, pills, and his Spiritual Roots aren't bad either... His chance of being rated Class B may even be eighty or ninety percent."

The more they thought about it, the hotter the gazes of those Dao children who wanted to survive became as they looked at Zhong Ming.

Though he sighed and even felt some pity for them, Zhong Ming ultimately shook his head and refused their requests.

When one prospers, one can help the world; when one is poor, one can only preserve oneself.

Zhong Ming did not yet have the qualifications or ability to save others.

"Sorry, I don't need extra hands for the moment."

After tactfully declining their flattery and praise, Zhong Ming went to the spot he had chosen. After greeting Jiang Yue, he closed his eyes and began cultivating.

"Breathe in, breathe out..."

Naturally, the first thing he cultivated was the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique.

This technique was Zhong Ming's foundation. If not for the limited endurance of his meridians, which prevented him from cultivating it continuously, the technique he would be grinding away at with all his effort right now would be this one, rather than the Dragon Stream - Sword Drawing Technique.

He first cultivated normally for a while, then consumed Earth Marrow Spirit Liquid to ease the fatigue in his meridians before cultivating once more.

After two rounds, the progress of Zhong Ming's Fundamental Cultivation Method had reached:

"Only one quarter. If I exclude the massive leap in progress from that Dragon Flood Resonance, it's only 7 out of 80—just one-tenth... As expected, the realm of a primary cultivation technique is not so easily raised."

Zhong Ming was not surprised by this.

If primary cultivation techniques were easy to improve, there would not be so many immortality cultivators in the world trapped to death at Mid Qi Condensation, or even early Qi Condensation.

"I can only find a way through swordsmanship."

"Dong Hai, I'll have to trouble you again."

Dong Hai said, "Hehe, it's nothing, Zhong Ming. Feel free to order me around."

The flattery and currying favor from the crowd earlier had given Dong Hai a sense of crisis. Now, he threw the pebbles with even greater diligence.

"Whoosh..."

Very quickly, a huge handful of pebbles fell toward Zhong Ming like raindrops.

Zhong Ming, meanwhile, focused his mind and calmed his Qi, observing the movements of every pebble.

Once he had finished observing them—

With a clang, the Long Sword left its sheath, turning into a winding, flowing stream that cut down most of the pebbles attacking him.

This time, Zhong Ming still did not cut down every single pebble.

But every pebble aimed directly at his body was intercepted.

"A good start..."

"Whoosh..."

Pebbles scattered across the sky while Zhong Ming concentrated on drawing his sword and slashing.

One slash, two slashes, three slashes, four slashes...

And so, time slowly flowed away amid Zhong Ming's training.

Zhong Ming was not the only person in the grounds practicing swordsmanship.

Some practiced movement techniques, while others practiced sword arts... Driven by the threat of death, all the Dao children of Dragon Stream Peak were working tirelessly.

Just when Zhong Ming thought this cultivation could continue for the entire day, a buzzing wave of discussion and commotion suddenly came from afar.

The disturbance made Dong Hai stop and caused Zhong Ming to frown.

"Did something happen?"

His confusion was quickly answered.

But that answer left Zhong Ming silent for several breaths.

"She broke through! Xue Yao opened her Qi Sea Acupoint and became a cultivator!"

"..."

Someone else had completed a breakthrough in merely one day and one night, while the nurturing of his acupoints had only just begun.

At that moment, Zhong Ming truly understood what it meant for the gap between people to sometimes be greater than the gap between a person and a dog.

"..."

"Continue!"

Xue Yao's breakthrough astonished Zhong Ming, but his silence lasted only a breath. Very soon, he stopped paying attention to external matters and continued cultivating at his own pace.

His ability to enter his state so swiftly made Jiang Yue, who was equally stunned and unable to calm his heart, regard Zhong Ming even more highly.

"Unstained by things, untrapped by the heart, undisturbed by others... No wonder you were able to comprehend Dragon Flood True Intent from the Mountain Stream Diagram."

After sighing, Jiang Yue began pondering something else.

"My talent is far too inferior to Xue Yao's. And among those at Xue Yao's level are also Zhuang Yi and Yi Yunya. I cannot even be considered outstanding at Dragon Stream Peak, much less in the Seven Mysteries Sect... If I want to advance, I must gain the support of more people."

When one's own ability was insufficient, gathering more people together was not a flawed line of thinking.

And Jiang Yue had undoubtedly taken notice of Zhong Ming's ability.

"Perhaps I can invest more in him. But how can I make him devote himself wholeheartedly..."

As Jiang Yue pondered this, he saw his younger sister, and an idea rose in his heart.

"...That could work... No, I should wait a little longer. The talent Zhong Ming has displayed still isn't enough..."