The next day.
Yu Ke woke naturally again and stretched luxuriously.
The four great suns had climbed to the middle of the sky.
Sunlight streamed into the room.
"It's already noon."
In his previous life, he had only ever felt like this on weekends!
Yu Ke swayed to his feet, pushed open the door, rubbed his eyes, and was about to look for Zhou Liang.
What timing!
The other door slowly opened as well, and Zhou Liang's familiar figure came into view.
Likewise, Zhou Liang had only just awakened, his face still heavy with sleep and dark circles.
But unlike Yu Ke, a beautiful woman emerged from behind Zhou Liang. She had been pressed tightly against him, but the instant she saw Yu Ke, her cheeks flushed crimson and she hurried away.
Yu Ke sharply noticed that this woman was not the maid from last night. He gave Zhou Liang a meaningful look.
You really are a scumbag.
Zhou Liang noticed Yu Ke and first cast a reluctant glance at the departing maid's back.
Then he looked at Yu Ke, curiosity written across his face.
"No, Junior Brother Yu, you actually slept until noon."
"The sun rose in the west."
In Zhou Liang's memory, Yu Ke had always been a cultivation maniac, pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts day and night without rest.
Seeing him now sleep leisurely until the sun stood three poles high naturally seemed unbelievable.
Yu Ke said calmly, "The path of cultivation values knowing when to tense and when to relax."
Hearing this, Zhou Liang slung an arm around Yu Ke's shoulders.
"Not bad, not bad, Junior Brother Yu. You've finally seen the light."
"Come on, let's get something to eat, then I can go home and sleep."
"I'm so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open!"
Yu Ke, brimming with energy, could not help asking,
"You slept until noon and you still haven't slept enough?"
Zhou Liang grinned. "How could I bear to sleep last night? You know what I mean."
I don't know...
After lunch, full of food and drink, Zhou Liang watched Yu Ke silently and carefully pack up the leftover food.
That gesture left Zhou Liang slightly stunned!
Was this really Junior Brother Yu, whom everyone saw as cold, aloof, and proud?
Yu Ke could not help it. He had no money, so face and dignity did not matter.
He borrowed another hundred Spirit Stones from Zhou Liang.
At once, his food and clothing problem for the next three months was solved, and some of the worry in his heart dispersed with it.
Now, he only needed to give his all in facing the assessment three months from now.
After the two parted ways.
Yu Ke went to the Outer Disciple market and spent five Spirit Stones on several pounds of fresh, tender beef. It looked plump and succulent, far superior to ordinary meat.
Yu Ke inwardly marveled. As expected of the cultivation world.
He then carefully selected more than ten pounds of Spirit Rice. This rice contained the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, making it undoubtedly excellent sustenance for cultivators.
There was no stove at home, so he planned to build one himself.
After all, cooking at home was both economical and affordable.
It had been the same in his previous life. Cooking for himself was always cheaper than ordering takeout.
Right now, thrift and frugality were the name of the game.
Carrying bags large and small, Yu Ke returned to his courtyard in the Outer Sect.
The courtyard had four sections, much like a traditional quadrangle residence.
However, it did not belong to him alone. It was a place of cultivation assigned by the sect for the four of them to share, like roommates in the mortal world, each with their own territory.
Only two of the four residents lived here. Another Outer Disciple had gone out and not returned for a year.
He headed west, preparing to enter his own room.
Yet at that very instant, he sensed something strange.
In the room directly opposite, a graceful figure stood before the door.
He remembered that room. It had originally been empty.
From Yu Ke's angle, he could see only her back.
Her curves were astonishing!
A willow-slender waist that could be grasped in one hand, lush rounded hips, and a pair of taut, long legs.
That figure was pear-shaped!
Her long legs were clad in purple silk stockings, and her whole body radiated the air of fruit ripened to perfection.
Yu Ke narrowed his eyes slightly.
He remembered someone once saying that purple had a certain charm.
It truly did have charm.
Yu Ke was still guessing at the beautiful woman's identity.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, the beautiful woman slowly turned around.
Yu Ke held his breath at once. At a glance, they were like two towering mountains.
Her face was the very image of a standard "young widow."
Still, Yu Ke was no green-eyed lecher who had never seen the world. He merely offered a polite smile.
Then slipped into his room.
The beautiful woman was slightly taken aback by Yu Ke's reaction. After all, most men would have looked at her several more times.
Yu Ke entered the room and put his things away. Before long, he heard the beautiful woman's voice outside.
"Yingzhao, take good care of yourself. Mother is leaving."
Her soft words were like threads of silk, and Yu Ke heard them clearly from inside.
"Mother?"
Yu Ke became suspicious, but soon let it go and did not think much of it.
As he pondered whether the stove should be placed indoors or outdoors, he stepped outside to inspect the area.
The moment he walked out!
He saw an impossibly handsome young man in white standing at the main door opposite him, arms folded over his chest, as if he had been waiting for Yu Ke all along.
He looked at Yu Ke with a rather cold and haughty expression.
"What? You didn't get enough of a look just now? I advise you to put away those filthy thoughts."
"If you hadn't known your place, this young master's fist would have reached you already."
After saying that, the young man in white slammed the door shut, not giving Yu Ke a chance to speak.
Yu Ke could only call him insane.
So this young man in white was the new neighbor?
And that beautiful woman just now was the boy's mother!
Most Outer Disciples able to enter this place came from prominent families.
Those born into poverty, unless they possessed exceptional talent and were selected for the inner sect, would be reduced to menial servants.
Those who could rise above the servants were few and far between. Servants had no time to cultivate; ordinarily, they came when summoned and left when dismissed.
In contrast, for young masters like them, even if their talent was mediocre, there was still room to remedy it. They could study in the Outer Sect for five years and still have a chance to make a final push.
That was the gap.
The dividing line between people began in the amniotic fluid.
Yu Ke did not think further about it. After all, if he went to reason with the young man in white, he might not necessarily win in a fight.
Why ask for trouble?
Yu Ke busied himself for the entire day and finally completed a simple stove in the open space outside his door.
He stacked several stones into a tower, plastered them with yellow mud, and once it dried in the wind, it could be put to use.
Drawing on the little experience he had gained building things in the wilderness, he handled it with ease. Though the stove was plain and unadorned, it bore Yu Ke's livelihood for the coming three months.
Looking at his handiwork, he felt satisfied and resolved to guard this small patch of land and work it steadily, feet planted firmly on the ground.
Life was built bit by bit.
As the sun's shadow slanted westward, evening had arrived after a day of work.
Yu Ke returned indoors and simply dealt with the packed leftovers as that day's dinner.
Then he sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and tried to enter cultivation.
However, ever since his Foundation Establishment had failed, the meridians in his body had become tangled and complicated. It was as though a broad, smooth highway had been ravaged by a mudslide, becoming rugged and difficult to traverse, even diverting elsewhere.
The once-smooth meridians were now blocked at every turn.
He took a deep breath and, following the familiar cultivation memories in his mind, carefully began guiding spiritual energy.
Yet as soon as the cultivation method of Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering began to circulate, the wisps of spiritual energy struggled through his acupoints and into his body as if crossing treacherous mountain roads.
Just as he tried to move that spiritual energy from his dantian, his meridians erupted in unbearable pain, as though seared by blazing fire and pierced by steel needles.
Yu Ke was startled and hurriedly stopped cultivating. Only then did the suffocating pressure in his chest gradually fade.
He understood that his current condition was not suited for forcing cultivation. Otherwise, it would only backfire.
He sighed softly and decided to set cultivation aside for now and make plans later.
It seemed that repairing his meridians could only be entrusted to the Celestial Reincarnation of the simulated [Kun Void Cauldron].
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