Cultivating the "Flame-Transforming Art" had not gone smoothly.
As it turned out,
cultivating under a blanket
was still far too unscientific.
It was stuffy,
and hot.
Chen Yu had stuck it out for an entire morning.
He simply could not take it anymore.
Fortunately, it was noon, and time to eat.
Chen Yu changed into a clean set of clothes. The set he had worn that morning was already soaked through with sweat from cultivating.
Being improperly dressed would get him caught for a violation.
As usual,
he checked himself carefully,
and after confirming that there was not a single violation anywhere on his body,
Chen Yu stepped out of his room.
He headed for the bustling square halfway up the mountain.
He arrived at the dining hall. As a newly admitted disciple, he did not have to spend points on meals for his first two years.
The food at Emerald Cloud Peak's dining hall tasted considerably worse than the food at Little Bamboo Peak during his time as a registered disciple. Strange, really-the treatment of Dao Sect outer disciples seemed a notch below that of registered disciples.
Registered disciples received free clothing, food, lodging, and transportation. They were even paired off as Dao companions when they first joined the sect.
One could say that, aside from the slight flaw of being refined into spirit essence after three years,
Registered disciples lived very happy lives.
Outer Sect disciples, by contrast, had to pay for clothing, food, lodging, and transportation, and even had routine monthly assignments. Their lives were pretty damn miserable.
"This, this, and this too."
Chen Yu reached the serving counter and spoke to the Emerald Cloud Peak disciple behind it.
Serving food in the dining hall was also an assignment.
Although it paid very few points-only one each time-it included meals and involved no danger whatsoever, making it one of the most sought-after daily assignments.
Once he had his food, Chen Yu found a random seat and sat down.
"Junior Brother?"
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Chen Yu looked up.
It was Senior Sister Yanyan, that slender branch laden with ample fruit.
Emerald Cloud Peak only had this one dining hall, and it was mealtime, so running into her here was hardly surprising.
"Senior Sister Lü," Chen Yu replied with a smile.
"Senior Sister Yanyan."
Lü Yanyan corrected him, then carried her tray over with a smile and sat down across from him.
Then she fixed her eyes on Chen Yu.
She asked:
"I heard you went to Elder Sun for a loan this morning, Junior Brother?"
"Hmm?"
Chen Yu froze.
"How did you know, Senior Sister?"
Lü Yanyan smiled at his question. "No need to be surprised, Junior Brother."
"People secretly watch Elder Sun's residence every day. Whoever takes out a loan there, the whole of Emerald Cloud Peak knows about it a second later."
"Hiss-"
Chen Yu sucked in a breath of cold air.
Then, thinking it over,
he realized it made sense.
Emerald Cloud Peak was crawling with scammers.
To scam someone, naturally, they first needed to know whose pockets were lined.
"I also heard that you went to the Scripture Repository after taking out your loan." At this point, Lü Yanyan's expression gradually grew serious. "You're not really planning to challenge the Outer Sect Genius Ranking, are you, Junior Brother?"
Chen Yu answered honestly, "I do have that in mind, but not right now."
"Oh..."
Lü Yanyan glanced at Chen Yu and shook her head.
"Everyone on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking is a monster. Even Qin Jie, who's ranked dead last, is a veteran at the peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining. He has at least three martial techniques at his disposal, along with footwork, escape arts, and the like. Their foundations run so deep that ordinary disciples like us can't even hope to pick a fight with them."
At this point,
suddenly,
Lü Yanyan changed tack.
"Still, if you really have that intention, Junior Brother, I could point you toward a few opportunities."
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Do you remember Han Feng, whom I mentioned to you before?" Lü Yanyan asked.
Han Feng?
Chen Yu thought back.
He nodded and said:
"I remember."
When Lü Yanyan had first promoted her "Carefree Joy" service, she had brought up this powerhouse ranked among the top five in the Outer Sect to lend herself credibility.
"Good, then." Lü Yanyan smiled. "I have some connections with Han Feng. I can introduce you."
"Han Feng is fifth on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking. He must know more than we do about the others on the list. If you can get more information before issuing a challenge, your chances of winning will improve, wouldn't you say?"
Chen Yu nodded.
"That's true."
At this point, Lü Yanyan curled her lips into a smile. "But, Junior Brother, meeting Han Feng takes some effort, even for me. And a genius disciple like him couldn't possibly help you for no reason, could he?"
The hint could hardly have been clearer.
In fact, Chen Yu had already guessed her intentions.
Still, there was nothing wrong with what Lü Yanyan had said. He currently knew very little about the Outer Sect Genius Ranking. If he went in blind to issue a challenge, he would most likely lose.
If Lü Yanyan could really help him meet Han Feng, spending a few points would not matter.
The problem, however, was:
Did Lü Yanyan really have that connection?
He needed to investigate that himself, but Chen Yu did not want to fall out with her right away. So he cupped his hands toward Lü Yanyan. "I understand. If I need your help when the time comes, I certainly won't ask you to work for nothing, Senior Sister."
"Haha."
Seeing how sensible her junior brother was, Lü Yanyan smiled and nodded.
She was in a cheerful mood.
So she volunteered some information:
"Oh, right. I asked someone to look into it again this morning. An immortal vestige really did appear over at Little Bamboo Peak last night. If a mission to explore the immortal vestige appears on the mission board in the next couple of days, don't accept it."
Chen Yu was slightly surprised. He had not expected there to really be an immortal vestige at the mass grave.
"Thank you for the warning, Senior Sister."
"Mm-hmm."
Lü Yanyan smiled, then lowered her head to look at the food on her tray and ate in small bites.
Suddenly, she sighed.
"What a pity that penniless disciples like us can't afford fasting pills. Otherwise, wouldn't it be wonderful to spend our mealtimes cultivating instead?"
"Fasting pills?"
"Yes."
Lü Yanyan shrugged. "One fasting pill can sustain you for a month, but it costs 1
0 points per pill. That's enough to eat in the dining hall for a whole year."
After saying that,
she lowered her head and continued eating.
"The food's a little spicy today..."
As Lü Yanyan ate, sweat trickled down her forehead. She stuck out her tongue and could not help fanning herself with her hand.
Under Article 981 of the Code of Conduct Manual, leaving food unfinished and wasting it would get one caught for a violation. Thus, she could only keep fanning herself while slowly finishing her meal.
Across from her, Chen Yu watched the scene before him.
He froze.
The next second,
"Hiss-"
Chen Yu suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air!
Across from him, hearing his sudden sharp intake of breath, Lü Yanyan asked with a smile, "You can't handle spicy food either, Junior Brother?"
"Mm-hmm, yes, exactly."
Chen Yu replied offhandedly.
But a door had suddenly swung open in his mind.
Spicy food!
That's right!
Such a simple method,
how had I not thought of it?!
After eating chili peppers,
my whole body would heat up.
Wouldn't that be perfect for cultivating the "Flame-Transforming Art"?!
Chili peppers would certainly be unpleasant in my mouth, but however uncomfortable they were, this would still be far better than sweltering under a blanket in the height of summer!
At that thought, Chen Yu could hardly wait. He quickly shoveled down all the food on his tray.
Then he stood.
"Senior Sister, I have something else to do. I'll be going now."
He said goodbye to Lü Yanyan.
After putting his tray in the designated spot, Chen Yu immediately ran to the dining hall's serving counter and asked the Emerald Cloud Peak disciple inside, "Senior Brother, do you sell chili peppers here?"