An Encounter with Wang Baole

Qin Huaian saw Little Fatty striding quickly toward him. Two inner sect disciples beside him followed Wang Baole over at an unhurried pace.

"Brother Qin, wonderful! I didn't expect to run into you here," Little Fatty said happily.

"Baole, are you here to undergo the Trial Tower trial?" Qin Huaian was delighted as well. The two of them had shared hardship together, forging a friendship tempered by adversity.

"Yes, Brother Qin. I was just thinking of coming to find you these past few days. I've been in secluded cultivation on Green Bamboo Peak lately."

"And this is?" Little Fatty looked at Lin Qingxuan standing nearby and raised his brows at Qin Huaian.

"This is Junior Sister Lin Qingxuan, my neighbor on East Dawn Peak."

"Junior Sister Qingxuan, this is my friend, Wang Baole," Qin Huaian introduced.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Wang!" Lin Qingxuan greeted Little Fatty.

At this moment, the other two inner sect disciples who had come with Little Fatty also walked over. They stopped several steps away from them without approaching.

"Tianxing, Zihao, this is my elder brother, Qin Huaian. We share a friendship forged through life and death. Come over and get acquainted," Little Fatty called to the two.

The two casually cupped their fists toward Qin Huaian in greeting, looking somewhat absent-minded.

Seeing their attitude, Little Fatty was about to flare up when Qin Huaian said, "Baole, you all go in. I'll head back to East Dawn Peak first. We can talk again when we have time."

Qin Huaian did not take the attitudes of the other two inner sect disciples to heart. This was how things were in the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect. There was a vast difference in status between outer sect disciples and inner sect disciples, and between inner sect disciples and personal disciples.

The reactions of these two inner sect disciples were understandable as well. There was no need to make things difficult for Little Fatty.

Still, inner sect disciples truly were different. Little Fatty had been at the Qi Refining Third Layer when he entered the sect, yet he had already reached the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

Qin Huaian himself could learn mystic-rank cultivation methods in the Library Pavilion. The cultivation methods available to inner sect disciples surely would not be lacking either.

"Brother Qin, then I'll head over first. I'll come find you on East Dawn Peak in a couple of days." Wang Baole got Qin Huaian's address, then headed toward the entrance of the Trial Tower with the other two inner sect disciples.

"Junior Sister Lin, let's go." With that, he turned and walked out of the plaza.

"Mm." Lin Qingxuan hurriedly followed him.

After returning to his cave abode, Qin Huaian continued his great alchemy undertaking. He refined ten furnaces of Qi Recovery Pills every day, spending the rest of his time cultivating the Spirit Tempering Formula.

Knock! Knock! Knock! One morning, knocking sounded from outside.

"Senior Brother Qin!"

Qin Huaian rose to his feet and left the cultivation room to answer the door. Lin Qingxuan had come. Ever since returning from the Trial Tower, she had arrived punctually every morning to practice swordsmanship with Qin Huaian.

When he opened the courtyard gate, he saw Lin Qingxuan dressed in neat green training clothes. Her features were delicate, her gaze clear, and her hair tied behind her head, with several loose strands falling over her forehead. She was valiant and dashing, yet also charmingly cute.

"Senior Brother Qin, I practiced all day yesterday. My understanding of the insights I gained in the Trial Tower has deepened again. Let's try once more." Lin Qingxuan walked to the center of the courtyard and took out her flying sword.

Lin Qingxuan, this little girl, had exceptional talent in swordsmanship. Since leaving the Trial Tower, she had sparred with Qin Huaian for two hours every morning and improved every day. If Qin Huaian had not been at a higher realm than her, he would no longer have been able to suppress her.

"Alright, Junior Sister Lin. Make your move." Their sparring also increased Qin Huaian's combat experience, so he was always happy to practice with Lin Qingxuan each day.

"Senior Brother Qin, be careful!"

Sword shadows whirled through the air. Lin Qingxuan's movements were nimble and graceful, her sword shadows sometimes illusory and sometimes real, impossible to predict. Qin Huaian's strikes were powerful and heavy, each sword move containing profound spiritual power. The same set of Basic Swordsmanship took on utterly different styles in their hands.

As time passed, fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads. After a fierce clash of their two swords, Lin Qingxuan retreated several steps, and the two stopped. They put away their flying swords into their storage bags. That was enough practice for today.

"Junior Sister Lin, your swordsmanship has improved very quickly," Qin Huaian said with a smile.

Before Lin Qingxuan could respond, knocking sounded outside the small courtyard again.

Qin Huaian went to open the courtyard gate and saw that Little Fatty Wang Baole had arrived.

"Brother Qin, I came to..." Before he could finish, Wang Baole suddenly stopped. He saw that both Qin Huaian and Lin Qingxuan had slightly disheveled hair and fine beads of sweat on their foreheads.

"Um... Brother Qin, did I come at the wrong time?" Little Fatty asked awkwardly.

"What do you mean, the wrong time? Come in. Junior Sister Lin and I just finished practicing swordsmanship," Qin Huaian said with a smile.

"Oh, oh, practicing swordsmanship. Practicing swordsmanship is good." Wang Baole chuckled foolishly as well.

"Come, sit over here." Qin Huaian led Wang Baole beneath the pavilion to sit down.

"Hello, Senior Brother Wang." Lin Qingxuan also walked over at this moment. "I'll make some tea for you two."

With that, she took out a tea set from her storage bag and quickly brewed a pot of Spirit Vein Jade Tea.

"Senior Brother Qin, you two chat. I'll go back first and practice more to consolidate the insights I just gained."

"Mm, thank you, Junior Sister Lin."

After Lin Qingxuan left, Little Fatty Wang Baole waggled his brows and said, "Brother Qin, you and Junior Sister Lin...?"

"Don't make wild guesses. She lives next door to me. We're just ordinary friends."

"Fatty, how have things been for you in the inner sect?"

Qin Huaian and Little Fatty talked at length about matters within the sect, and Qin Huaian gained a deeper understanding of the inner sect.

The resource allotments for inner sect disciples were far superior to those of outer sect disciples. The Spirit Stones inner sect disciples received each month based on their cultivation were five times what outer sect disciples from East Dawn Peak received, and ten times what ordinary outer sect disciples received. They were also allotted Sect Contribution Points every month, with additional Sect Contribution Points awarded whenever they broke through a realm.

Wang Baole was now at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. Each month, he could receive 2,500 Spirit Stones, along with 100 Sect Contribution Points.

These benefits were simply incredible. But thinking about it, it made sense. The Yellow Mountain Sword Sect's sphere of influence extended for hundreds of thousands of li in every direction, and more than half the resources within such a vast territory would be gathered into the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect.

And inner sect disciples were the foundation of the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect. Only by giving inner sect disciples abundant resources could their strength be raised quickly, thereby strengthening the Yellow Mountain Sword Sect as a whole.

"Fatty, your cultivation has progressed so quickly. Did you change your cultivation method?" Qin Huaian asked.

"Yes, Brother Qin. After entering the sect, every inner sect disciple can choose a mystic-rank foundational cultivation method suited to their attribute. I chose the Earth Mother True Formula. This cultivation method suits me very well, so my cultivation speed is fast." As he spoke, he prepared to take Spirit Stones out of his storage bag.

Qin Huaian pressed down Little Fatty's hand. "No need. I have enough Spirit Stones. Keep them and exchange them for more cultivation resources. Enter the Late Qi Refinement Realm sooner. After we obtained those alchemy basics back then, I learned alchemy. I don't lack Spirit Stones."

"That's wonderful!" Only then did Wang Baole put down his storage bag. He knew that alchemists were all wealthy.

The two chatted for a while longer. Near noon, Wang Baole bade farewell and left.

Not long after Little Fatty left, insights at the mastery level of the Yi Wood True Formula flooded into Qin Huaian's mind. The mastery-level deduction of the Yi Wood True Formula was complete!