Looking at the huge boulder before him that he had shattered with a single Thunder Fist,
Chen Changqing smiled in satisfaction.
"Not bad, not bad!"
"Thunder Fist has also reached minor success."
Afterward, Chen Changqing chose to continue his AFK cultivation and brought up his attribute panel for a look.
[Name: Chen Changqing.] [Age: Eighteen.] [Identity: Mount Shu outer sect gatekeeper disciple.] [Cultivation: Qi Refining Level Three.] [Art: Nine Turns Qi Refining Art.] [Divine abilities: Thunder Fist, Sword Control Art.] [Treasures: None.] [AFK Point: Half-Mountain Cottage!]
"At least I'm no longer a complete nobody."
Chen Changqing laughed at himself.
Thinking back to when he had still been at the Qi Nourishing realm, his arts, divine abilities, and treasures had all been listed as none.
Then Chen Changqing composed himself, rose to his feet, and headed to the mountain gate to switch shifts with Ran Hua.
When Ran Hua saw Chen Changqing,
his expression changed. He stared fixedly at Chen Changqing, sizing him up.
He was only at the late stage of Body Refining and could no longer discern the depth of Chen Changqing's cultivation.
Yet the feeling Chen Changqing gave him was
that his cultivation seemed to have risen quite a bit again.
"Senior Brother Chen, you... you didn't break through again, did you?"
Chen Changqing smiled faintly. "Just a minor breakthrough."
Ran Hua froze, feeling as though the sky were about to collapse.
He had to know that, aside from guarding the mountain gate, he spent all his remaining time cultivating, working himself to the bone.
Yet Chen Changqing did not seem to cultivate much at all.
Recently, his cultivation speed had been shooting upward like a rocket!
"Could it be... could it be that Senior Brother Chen really cultivates while sleeping?"
Earlier, Ran Hua had secretly gone to observe Chen Changqing.
He had wanted to see just how Chen Changqing cultivated to improve so rapidly.
Who would have thought that all he would see was Chen Changqing snoring away in bed?
"Junior Brother Ran? Are you alright?"
As Ran Hua stood there dazed, Chen Changqing asked in puzzlement.
Hearing this, Ran Hua finally came back to himself and gave an awkward laugh.
"I... I'm fine."
"Senior Brother Chen, I need to hurry back and cultivate, so I'll take my leave first!"
After cupping his hands to Chen Changqing in salute, Ran Hua hurried off.
Chen Changqing paid it no mind and leisurely continued guarding the mountain gate.
And so, the days passed one after another.
Before he knew it,
another month had gone by.
On this day, Chen Changqing lazily sat up from his bed and stretched.
"System, claim my AFK results!"
As the thought passed through his mind, the system's notification sounded.
[Ding!] [AFK duration: 30 days.] [Practiced Sword Control Technique ×320 times!] [Practiced Thunder Fist ×320 times!] [Practiced Nine-Turn Qi Refining Art ×320 times!] [Extract AFK cultivation results?]
"Extract!"
Chen Changqing immediately chose to extract them.
Very soon, the three Little Golden Men before him emitted streams of shifting golden light that shot straight into Chen Changqing's body.
"My Sword Control Technique has reached perfection!"
"Thunder Fist too!"
After sensing it briefly, Chen Changqing's face filled with excitement.
He had not expected that after another month of AFK cultivation,
both Sword Control Technique and Thunder Fist had reached the level of perfection.
"As my strength rises, the effects of AFK cultivation are also rising with the tide."
Chen Changqing murmured softly.
Previously, one month of AFK cultivation only gave him three hundred practice sessions for techniques such as Sword Control Technique.
But now, after a month of AFK cultivation, it had risen to three hundred and twenty sessions.
"Not only have both combat techniques reached perfection,"
"my cultivation has actually risen to Qi Refining Level Five."
Chen Changqing was overjoyed.
Looking inward, he could see that his dantian contained a full fifteen thousand strands of vital qi.
"Tsk, tsk!"
"This cultivation speed is simply faster than taking pills!"
Chen Changqing smacked his lips in satisfaction.
"My Sword Control Technique has already reached perfection, yet I do not even have a proper magical artifact on me."
"I need to find a way to get one."
Just as Chen Changqing was pondering this, knocking came from outside the courtyard.
Knock, knock, knock!
Not long after, Chen Changqing opened the courtyard gate.
He saw an outer sect disciple standing outside.
Chen Changqing did not know this person. After all, he kept a low profile in the Seven Courtyards and only knew Ran Hua, making him something of a nobody.
"Are you Chen Changqing?"
the outer sect disciple asked.
Chen Changqing nodded.
"That's me. Does Senior Brother need something from me?"
The outer sect disciple had just been about to explain why he had come.
But at that moment, his entire face changed drastically, and stormy waves surged within his heart.
"Qi Refining Level Five? How is that possible?!"
He knew what kind of identity the person living here had.
What shocked him beyond measure was
that Chen Changqing's cultivation was actually at Qi Refining Level Five.
"What the hell?!"
"What's going on?"
"Isn't he just a 'gate-closing' disciple?"
"His cultivation is actually Qi Refining Level Five?"
The disciple stood there in stunned disbelief, unable to recover for a long while.
He even wondered whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.
"Am I crazy, or has the world gone crazy?"
"A Qi Refining Level Five disciple was actually assigned to guard the mountain gate?"
The disciple cried out inwardly, his head buzzing.
After all, he truly could not understand it.
How could a Qi Refining Level Five disciple become a mountain gate guard?
Seeing the disciple standing there blankly, Chen Changqing frowned slightly and called out in puzzlement, "Senior Brother?"
Hearing this, the disciple forcefully suppressed his shock and came back to his senses.
"Junior Brother Chen."
"Elder Liu Mu sent me to invite you over."
"Oh."
Chen Changqing nodded and smiled calmly.
"Let's go!"
With that, Chen Changqing did not delay and walked straight out.
At the same time, in the courtyard where Elder Liu Mu resided,
Liu Mu sat there calm and composed. Five people stood beside him, four men and one woman.
All five possessed deep, powerful auras and extraordinary cultivation!
One glance was enough to tell that they were likely the top outer sect disciples of the Seven Courtyards.
The weakest among them was already at Qi Refining Level Eight.
The highest was that woman, whose cultivation had reached half-step Foundation Establishment!
The woman was tall and slender. Her plain white dress outlined her graceful, exquisite curves, while pale blue cloud patterns were embroidered along the hem.
Her oval face was flawless and delicate, her brows like distant mountains brushed with dark hues, her eyes like autumn waters touched by frost. Her nose was high and straight, her lips like dots of cinnabar. Without a trace of makeup, she was already breathtakingly beautiful.
Moreover, her skin was white as snow and glowed with a faint jade sheen beneath the sunlight, as though it might break with the slightest breath.
Her gaze was cold and clear, like a bottomless frigid pool.
The woman was none other than the number one outer sect disciple of the Seven Courtyards, Liu Ruyan!
Her talent was exceptional and her beauty peerless; countless disciples admired her.
After a brief silence, one disciple could no longer hold back and was the first to ask,
"Elder Liu Mu."
"May I ask why you have summoned us here?"
Elder Liu Mu smiled faintly and replied,
"Be patient."
"There is still one disciple who has yet to arrive."
Before you continue