Great Bamboo Peak.
The disciples' quarters.
Wu Dayi sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes tightly shut.
His room was simply furnished. Aside from a bed and a table, its walls were covered with calligraphy and paintings.
He was Tian Buyi's second disciple.
By rights,
his cultivation should have been second only to that of Senior Brother Song Daren.
But the truth was cruel.
Fourth, He Dazhi, was gifted and quick-witted. He had long since broken through to the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity, leaving Wu Dayi, his second senior brother, behind.
Although the brothers shared a deep bond and shouldn't feel jealous of one another,
every time he saw Fourth raise his magical treasure, the Jiangshan Brush, and watched him look so full of confidence...
Wu Dayi felt as if a great stone were pressing down on his heart.
Frustrating.
Agonizing.
Being surpassed by a junior brother felt like being slapped in the face in front of everyone. His cheeks burned.
"Phew~"
Wu Dayi opened his palm.
The plump, glossy Foundation Replenishing Pill lay quietly in it.
The pill was pure white and gave off a faint glow, seeming to breathe as if it were alive.
Just one whiff of its rich medicinal fragrance set the spiritual power that had long stagnated inside him stirring.
"Five years of cultivation..."
Wu Dayi's hand trembled slightly.
This wasn't just a pill.
It was his dignity.
It was the pride he had as the second senior brother.
"I have to break through!"
Wu Dayi clenched his teeth, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
He abruptly tipped his head back and swallowed the Foundation Replenishing Pill.
Boom!
The pill dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth.
In an instant, it became a tremendous surge of heat that rushed down his throat.
The heat was frighteningly pure.
It was like a surging river: fierce, yet harmless.
The hot current quickly flowed through his limbs and bones, washing over the meridians that had long been parched.
Painful.
But even more exhilarating.
The thrill of his meridians stretching open and his spiritual power filling them made Wu Dayi want to let out a long roar.
He forced down his body's trembling, formed a hand seal, and circulated the Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao.
Guiding the vast spiritual power toward the bottleneck that had troubled him for so long.
From the Third to the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity.
This was a hurdle.
Cross it, and he would enter the Object Moving Realm.
Cross it, and he would possess a magical treasure of his own. From then on, the world would be his to explore.
Fail to cross it...
and he would remain nothing more than a mortal warrior with a little strength and fitness.
"Break for me!"
Wu Dayi roared inwardly.
Under his guidance, the refined spiritual power became a sharp sword and slammed into the bottleneck.
Crack.
The sound of something breaking seemed to ring out in Wu Dayi's mind.
In the room next door,
Zheng Dali was in much the same situation.
He was broad and sturdy, and looked honest and simple. In truth, he had his own thoughts, too.
As the third disciple, he was in an awkward position.
The Eldest Brother and the second senior brother were above him, while the prodigy Fourth was below. He was stuck in the middle, neither here nor there.
Most days, his favorite thing to do was eat.
It seemed that only good food could fill the emptiness inside him.
But now,
as he looked at the Foundation Replenishing Pill in his hand,
Zheng Dali realized for the first time
that all the delicacies in the world couldn't compare to this tiny pill.
"Seventh is such a good person."
Zheng Dali swallowed, muttering to himself.
He didn't have nearly as many complicated thoughts as Wu Dayi.
His thinking was simple.
Eat it, get stronger.
Then
he could help Master and Mistress shoulder their burdens.
He could keep disciples from the other peaks from making fun of him.
Gulp.
Zheng Dali tipped his head back and swallowed the pill.
The next moment,
his big face turned the color of liver.
So hot!
It was like he'd swallowed a ball of fire.
Or like he'd stuffed a whole roast suckling pig into his stomach. He felt stuffed to bursting.
The enormous medicinal power rampaged through his broad meridians.
"Ow!"
Zheng Dali yelped and hurriedly crossed his legs, clumsily circulating his cultivation method.
Sweat poured from his forehead like rain.
His clothes were soaked in an instant.
But he didn't dare stop.
He could feel the spiritual power that had lain dormant inside him for so long surging wildly.
He was intoxicated by that feeling of strength.
Great Bamboo Peak
"Boom!"
A powerful aura suddenly burst out of a side room ahead.
It was Wu Dayi's room.
Right after,
"Boom!"
Another aura shot up into the sky.
That was Zheng Dali's room.
The two auras intertwined, stirring the spiritual energy around them and forming a small vortex.
"They did it."
A plump figure appeared in the courtyard like a ghost.
It was Tian Buyi.
Standing there, he felt the two auras of breakthrough. At last, his tense, chubby face relaxed.
His brows, usually furrowed, had now completely unfurled.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Tian Buyi said "good" three times, his voice trembling with barely concealed emotion.
How many years had it been?
At last, someone at Great Bamboo Peak had broken through again.
And two at once!
The second and third disciples had been stuck at the Third Layer of Jade Purity for years. It had always been a thorn in his side.
Now, in a single breakthrough, they had become experts in the Object Moving Realm.
Great Bamboo Peak's strength had instantly increased by a large margin.
Tian Buyi rubbed his hands excitedly and paced back and forth.
He wanted to laugh, but felt it would undermine his dignity. All he could do was press his lips together as the fat on his face quivered.
Just then,
creak.
Wu Dayi's door opened.
He rushed out, overjoyed, his clothes in disarray and his sweat-soaked hair plastered to his forehead.
But he didn't care.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Tian Buyi in the courtyard.
Thud!
Wu Dayi dropped straight to his knees and kowtowed heavily to Tian Buyi.
"Master!"
"Disciple... disciple broke through!"
His voice choked with emotion.
The years of pent-up frustration came pouring out at last.
Right after,
the door beside him burst open, too.
"Master!"
"I broke through, too!"
"I feel like I'm full of energy! I could eat a whole cow!"
Zheng Dali rolled out like a ball of meat.
Without another word, he dropped to his knees and started kowtowing, too.
"What are you crying for?"
"You good-for-nothings!"
"It's just a breakthrough to the Object Moving Realm. Do you have to make such a fuss?"
"Are Great Bamboo Peak's disciples really so easily impressed?"
Looking at the two disciples who had given him so much to worry about,
Tian Buyi's eyes grew a little hot.
He clasped his hands behind his back, raised his chin, and did his best to look nonchalant.
He scolded them,
but anyone could hear the delight in his voice.
"Heh heh."
Wu Dayi and Zheng Dali exchanged a glance and climbed to their feet with silly grins.
They knew their master was overjoyed.
Just then,
another loud crash rang out.
It was much louder than the breakthroughs of Wu Dayi and Zheng Dali.
Even the ground trembled.
Everyone's attention was drawn to it at once.
It came from Senior Brother Song Daren's room.
"This is..."
Tian Buyi's pupils suddenly contracted.
Song Daren was already at the Jade Purity Fifth Layer.
If he broke through again...
That would be the Yuqing Layer Six!
He would be only one step away from the legendary Seventh Layer of Jade Purity!
If Great Bamboo Peak could gain another Seventh Layer expert,
then at the upcoming Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament, who would still dare look down on them?
Tian Buyi could no longer keep up the act.
His chubby body was as nimble as a monkey at that moment. With a whoosh, he darted to the entrance of Song Daren's room.
He pressed his ear against the door and shamelessly eavesdropped on the sounds inside.
"Uh~"
Ye Xuan had just arrived when he saw this comical scene.
This master...
His image had completely collapsed.
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