Looking at the beautiful neighbor standing outside his house,
Chen Yu asked in confusion,
"Were you waiting for me?"
"Heh."
At his words, Xiang Baiwei gave Chen Yu an icy glance. Remembering what had happened at the Heavenly Union Association, she asked irritably, "Were you using me?"
Chen Yu knew perfectly well what she meant, but played dumb. "Using you for what?"
"The questions!"
Xiang Baiwei stared at Chen Yu.
"If it weren't for those three questions, you wouldn't have passed the assessment."
"Oh." Chen Yu nodded. "I suppose that's true. But you really are amazing! Those questions were so difficult and obscure, yet you knew the answers after reading them just once. A true genius!"
"Hmph."
The corners of Xiang Baiwei's lips lifted slightly. It looked like a sneer, a scoff, and a smug smile all at once.
But she quickly caught herself.
"Wait!"
"Don't change the subject!"
Xiang Baiwei glared fiercely at Chen Yu. "Believe it or not, I could tell them about this and have your results invalidated!"
Chen Yu shrugged at her words.
"I joined the Heavenly Union Association to get rid of those disciples who camp outside my door every day. Of course you can tell them, but... in that case, I'll have to go back to my old method."
At that, Chen Yu looked straight into her eyes.
"If you can stomach it."
Hearing those words, Xiang Baiwei immediately recalled the foul stench from a few days ago, along with the indescribable horror inside the Stone Pot.
Her expression instantly shifted.
An intense sense of resistance and rejection welled up from the depths of her soul.
She fell silent for a moment,
then shot Chen Yu another vicious glare and left without a word.
Watching his neighbor walk away, Chen Yu looked thoughtful.
Judging by Xiang Baiwei's behavior, she hadn't gone to the Heavenly Union Association Emerald Cloud Peak Branch today to take the assessment. He wasn't sure what her connection to it was, but considering the ten thousand Contribution Points she held, his neighbor's identity was probably far from ordinary.
At that thought, Chen Yu took a deep breath.
"I'd better improve my strength as soon as possible!"
He pushed open the door.
Chen Yu took off his robes.
He put on the inner garment he used specifically to cultivate the Earth-Warding Art, walked to the corner of the room, jumped into the pit, and sat cross-legged.
"I happened to get two Qi Refining Pills today. Let's see how well they work!"
He took out a Qi Refining Pill,
and swallowed it.
He immediately felt a burst of pure spiritual energy erupt inside him.
Without wasting any time, Chen Yu quickly pushed the soil around the pit over himself, then curved his arms as though embracing a mountain. He closed his eyes, entered a meditative state, and began cultivating the Earth-Warding Art. [Cultivating...] [Experience Points: +0.00075...]
[Experience Points: +0.00075...] [Experience Points: +0.00075...] [Experience: +0.00075...]
"The rate I gain Experience Points has tripled!"
Delight spread across Chen Yu's face.
Yesterday, without a Qi Refining Pill, cultivating the Earth-Warding Art had only earned him 0.00025 Experience Points per second.
Now, with the increased rate, he could gain nearly 3 Experience Points an hour!
Reaching the Qi Refining Sixth-Layer Peak required 70 Experience Points. He had already accumulated 10 through his earlier cultivation, leaving 60 to go. If he could maintain a rate of 3 Experience Points an hour, he would only need twenty hours!
"I just don't know how long a single Qi Refining Pill will last."
Chen Yu grew a little excited.
Not daring to waste any of the pill's duration,
he closed his eyes,
and continued cultivating.
[Experience Points: +0.00075...] [Experience Points: +0.00075...] [Experience Points: +0.00075...]
Practice proved the answer.
A Qi Refining Pill's effects lasted only one double-hour, or two hours.
He took both Qi Refining Pills.
And cultivated through the night.
Chen Yu's current panel read:
[Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: Fifth Layer of Qi Refining (59/60).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial skills: "Aura-Concealing Art."] [Cultivation methods: "True Essence Mystic Canon," "Flame Transformation Art," "Earth-Warding Art."] [Currently available experience: 12.]
Breaking through to the next level would no longer affect how quickly he gained experience. He had only refrained from breaking through after his daytime cultivation because Senior Sister Lü had been present.
Looking at the available experience in the final field, Chen Yu thought,
Allocate points!
With a thought,
a second later,
Chen Yu immediately felt a powerful surge of spiritual energy appear out of nowhere inside him.
It flowed along his meridians to every part of his body.
[Attributes updated!] [Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: Sixth Layer of Qi Refining (20/70).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial skills: "Aura-Concealing Art."] [Cultivation methods: "True Essence Mystic Canon," "Flame Transformation Art," "Earth-Warding Art."] [Currently available experience: 0.]
Chen Yu clenched his fists. Feeling the abundant spiritual energy inside him, he nodded in satisfaction.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
He opened his hand.
And circulated a little of his spiritual energy.
A second later, a wave of scorching heat rippled outward, and a ball of flame immediately ignited above Chen Yu's palm.
"Flame Transformation Art."
Once he reached the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, he could "transform into flame."
Chen Yu could now even turn his entire body into a ball of flame, just like that disciple from Heavenly Incineration Peak.
However,
there was no need.
He didn't have the same routine drudge-work assignment as that Heavenly Incineration Peak disciple.
He stopped channeling his spiritual energy, and the flame above his palm immediately vanished.
"The Sixth Layer of Qi Refining is already the highest level among the Dao Sect's outer disciples. Although I haven't reached the peak yet, the True Essence Mystic Canon I cultivate gives me power of two different attributes. If I challenged tenth place on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking now, I might stand a chance of winning."
"But there's no rush. Today, I'll first go
pick up my Heavenly Union Association identity token, then learn more about the Dao Sect's Outer Sect Genius Ranking."
"After all, the disciples on the Outer Sect Genius Ranking receive Contribution Points every month. Accumulated over time, those would be enough to exchange for several martial skills, so I can't underestimate it."
Speaking of martial skills,
Chen Yu remembered the Wind-Riding Art he had obtained in the Immortal Ruins last time.
"I'll practice it once I reach the Qi Refining Sixth-Layer Peak!"
By comparison, his cultivation level was still the most important thing!
With that in mind,
he straightened his robes.
As usual, after checking himself from head to toe to make sure nothing violated the rules, Chen Yu stepped outside. Looking at the bright sunshine, he wondered what treasure would spawn in the Immortal Ruins today. Hopefully, it would be a Qi Refining Pill or a martial skill.
Some Emerald Cloud Peak disciples were still gathered outside his door that morning. However, perhaps it was his imagination, but Chen Yu felt that the number of people crowding outside had gradually been decreasing lately. Some faces had appeared a few times, then never been seen again.
Perhaps they had realized he wouldn't give them any handouts and had given up. Chen Yu didn't dwell on it.
He took out the wooden token bearing the words "Heavenly Union Association,"
and told everyone in front of him that he had already passed the association's assessment.
The Emerald Cloud Peak disciples crowding outside his door quickly dispersed.
With peace restored to his ears, Chen Yu set off along the jade steps toward the bustling plaza halfway up Emerald Cloud Peak. Before long, he reached the Heavenly Union Association Emerald Cloud Peak Branch on the second floor of the administrative pavilion...