After a morning of cultivation, Chen Yu's available experience points had successfully risen to 28.
He needed only two more points to become a Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator.
However,
It was nearly time.
"I'd better get going."
According to his memories, the Dao Sect elder's lectures were extremely important. He absolutely, absolutely could not arrive late.
Chen Yu rose and left the Mass Burial Grounds, heading toward Little Bamboo Peak.
Little Bamboo Peak was the only communal area open to all the Dao Sect's Registered Disciples. It had a wealth of facilities, all of them free.
After walking for an hour, Chen Yu arrived at the foot of Little Bamboo Peak.
Various buildings stood in a broad clearing in the valley, flanked by bamboo groves.
Every building had a conspicuous sign hanging outside. At a glance, he spotted restaurants, teahouses, gambling houses, chess clubs... It was practically a miniature bustling town, small but complete with all its vital organs. Many cultivators wearing Registered Disciple robes walked about.
There was a sweet scent in the air.
Chen Yu sniffed a few times. The smell made him feel rather uncomfortable.
Strangely enough, with only four days remaining until the Dao Sect's assessment, nearly everyone Chen Yu saw around him was at the Qi Refining First Layer. A scant few had reached the Qi Refining Second Layer. As for the Third Layer of Qi Refining... he had not encountered a single one.
In other words, barring any surprises, everyone before his eyes at this moment was currency.
Death was already staring them in the face, yet Chen Yu could sense neither fear nor panic from them.
Everyone wore relaxed smiles.
It was as though they did not even know there was an assessment.
"Brother Chen Yu!"
Just as Chen Yu was puzzling over this, a man's voice suddenly came from behind him.
He turned around and saw an ordinary-looking man.
He searched his memories.
Liu Sanli, another Registered Disciple of the Dao Sect, currently at the Qi Refining First Layer.
Chen Yu was not particularly close to Liu Sanli. They had merely both come to the Dao Sect from the Xia Kingdom, making them "compatriots," so they had spoken once or twice. Later, they had occasionally crossed paths at the elder's lectures.
"Hurry up. The elder's lecture is about to begin," Liu Sanli reminded him.
"Oh, right." Chen Yu nodded.
"How is your cultivation coming along?" Liu Sanli asked Chen Yu as they walked. "Still haven't broken through to the Qi Refining First Layer?"
"That's right." Chen Yu nodded. "I'm still a little short."
"Oh! What a shame!" Liu Sanli looked regretful. "Though our talent is mediocre, and reaching the third layer of Qi Refining to become Dao Sect Outer Disciples is difficult... we should still strive to reach the Qi Refining First Layer."
"I have some insights I can give you after the elder's lecture," Liu Sanli offered with concern.
That sounded so strange.
Why should we still strive to reach the first layer of Qi Refining?
After all, anyone who failed to reach the third layer of Qi Refining—whether mortal, Qi Refining First Layer cultivator, or Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator—would be refined into spirit essence by the Dao Sect all the same.
Unable to understand what Liu Sanli meant, Chen Yu simply thanked him, and the two entered a bamboo grove.
Many Registered Disciples had already gathered there.
Everyone sat on the ground.
"We're still late. All the good spots are taken!" Liu Sanli looked vexed, then hurriedly searched around. Finding a relatively decent spot and noticing someone heading toward it, he quickly ran over to claim it. "Brother Chen Yu, let's sit here."
"All right." Chen Yu nodded.
The two sat cross-legged.
Once seated, Liu Sanli closed his eyes, seemingly beginning to cultivate.
Chen Yu took the opportunity to observe his surroundings. Directly ahead of the bamboo grove stood a huge rock bearing the blood-red character for "Dao." It had a profound air about it. A meditation cushion rested atop the rock, presumably the lecturing elder's seat.
Nearly a hundred Registered Disciples had gathered here, yet it was extraordinarily quiet.
Everyone was cultivating with their eyes closed.
And, though he was not sure whether he was imagining it, the sweet scent in the air seemed to have grown stronger.
He waited a while.
Then waited a little longer.
Suddenly-
A crane's cry rang in his ears.
Chen Yu looked up toward the sound and saw an old man with the bearing of an immortal arriving astride a crane, followed by two Dao Sect disciples in white robes. Upon entering the bamboo grove, the old man landed steadily on the meditation cushion.
He sat cross-legged and swept the horsetail whisk in his hand, holding its handle diagonally before him while its strands hung naturally downward.
Every movement,
Was as transcendent as an immortal's.
"Greetings, Elder." All the nominal disciples rose together and bowed.
"Mm."
The old man remained expressionless.
His gaze swept back and forth over the nominal disciples below.
Soon, it settled on one of them.
"Oh?"
His eyes lit up!
Then he gently waved the horsetail whisk in his hand.
The disciple he had singled out flew straight into the air. The old man then formed a hand seal, and the disciple floating in midair suddenly blazed with light!
About two or three seconds later,
Boom!
With a surge of spiritual power, the disciple exploded!
"What the hell?"
Chen Yu was stunned.
He stared into the sky, eyes wide.
The flesh and blood shattered into scraps, but rather than scattering through the air, they were restrained by some invisible force.
With a clatter, an intact white skeleton fell to the ground. In midair, the flesh and blood vanished, replaced by a dazzling blood-red orb of light. It gradually solidified from a translucent state, ultimately becoming a red bead the size of a thumb.
The old man drew back his hand, and the bead immediately flew into his palm. Only then did a smile appear on his previously expressionless face.
"Excellent!"
"Superior-grade Rhyme Spirit!"
Below,
Chen Yu's scalp prickled as he watched a living, breathing person disappear, transformed into a Rhyme Spirit in the old man's hand!
He turned to glance at Liu Sanli beside him.
Yet he saw no fear whatsoever in the other man's eyes. Shocked, Chen Yu asked, "Aren't you afraid?"
At this, Liu Sanli looked at Chen Yu with an even more bewildered expression and asked in utter confusion, "The elder showed great compassion by refining a disciple into a Rhyme Spirit. Why should I be afraid?"
Not only was Liu Sanli unafraid, he was even deeply envious—envious that the man had been fortunate enough to be refined into a Rhyme Spirit by the elder.
"?"
Hearing Liu Sanli's answer, Chen Yu suddenly felt as though his cerebellum had shriveled.
He looked around and discovered, to his astonishment, that everyone else wore exactly the same expression as Liu Sanli. There was not the slightest trace of fear in their eyes.
"???"
Chen Yu searched his memories desperately.
Yet he discovered that this body had no memories whatsoever concerning this matter.
At that moment, atop the "Dao" rock, the old man sitting cross-legged on the cushion tucked the freshly made spirit essence into his pocket and settled his horsetail whisk back into place, once again adopting the immortal bearing and kindly countenance of a sage.
He looked at the disciples below.
Then slowly began to speak:
"Guard the spirit in the Niwan Palace; sink the mind into the dantian. To draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, first cleanse the spiritual dais of dust. If stray thoughts spread like vines, the breath becomes a gossamer thread; only when the heart is like a clear, deep pool can one sense the workings of qi flowing and turning. Close the eyes, but do not merely shut them; gaze inward upon heaven and earth. Regulate the breath, but do not merely pant; let it linger unbroken, as though barely there..."
The lecture had begun.