The ten-day wager

That kiss lasted a long time before they finally parted.

The girl's body had gone limp, and she could barely stand.

Qin Yi also knew where to draw the line and did not go any further.

First, they were right at the foot of Emerald Bamboo Peak. Second, if things progressed too quickly, the girl probably would not accept it so easily.

It was better to leave it at that, stopping at just the right point.

"Y-you... why did you do that to me?"

The girl wriggled out of his arms. Once she had recovered some strength, she hurried several steps away.

"Junior Sister Yiyi, who's better, Hua Yunfeng or me?"

Qin Yi asked just then.

The girl froze for a moment and gave him a serious look. A multitude of emotions suddenly surged through her conflicted heart.

At that very moment, the affection score above her head increased by another 5 points. Just because of that question, it had actually reached 90.

(Because of the host's question, the girl compared the host with Hua Yunfeng in her heart. As one rose, the other fell: her affection for Hua Yunfeng had originally been 90 and has now decreased by 5, while the host gained 5 points because she now feels closer to the host than to Hua Yunfeng.)

Finally, 90 points.

At the same time, Qin Yi also came to understand something.

For a woman, there could only be one person for whom her affection reached 90 points.

In the young Gu Yiyi's heart, Hua Yunfeng had originally held that 90-point affection score.

After Qin Yi arrived, because he had saved her life and because of their various intimate gestures, the girl, whose heart was just awakening to love, could not help feeling a sharp surge of affection for him, which also reached 90 points.

Once Qin Yi reached 90 points, he immediately pushed Hua Yunfeng out of the position he had previously occupied.

"Why are you asking that?"

Although Qin Yi had already outshone Hua Yunfeng at this moment, the girl did not want to put the two of them side by side for another comparison.

"Junior Sister Yiyi, do you believe that I'll surpass him sooner or later?"

The girl gave him a surprised look.

Hua Yunfeng was a genius disciple of the Famous Sword Sect. Although he was not a member of the Gu family, the sect valued him no less than it did its direct descendants.

Despite his youth, he was already in the Golden Core Realm. The other disciples could only gaze up at him from an unreachable distance. Never mind surpassing him-few even had the nerve to compare themselves to Hua Yunfeng in private.

It was like in later times: as an ordinary person, how would you ever entertain the thought of comparing your wealth with Principal Wang's?

You simply could not measure up. Insisting on the comparison would only invite humiliation.

Besides, with such an enormous gulf between you, there was no need to compare at all.

By the same token, Hua Yunfeng was that sort of existence.

Yet Qin Yi was now saying he would surpass Hua Yunfeng?

"You... want to surpass him? In what respect?" The girl's instinctive thought was that cultivation was certainly out of the question, but perhaps he had a chance in other respects.

But in the cultivation world, who compared anything other than cultivation realms?

Literary accomplishments? Cultural learning? Those were things for scholars in the mortal world.

Yet Qin Yi answered earnestly, enunciating each word. "In every respect."

The girl shook her head outright. "Impossible. He's already in the Golden Core Realm, and this is only your first day in the sect."

Qin Yi laughed inwardly. Is the Golden Core Realm really so impressive?

As long as I complete your mission, then take on your cousin's mission, I can reach the Golden Core Realm in no time too.

"As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. Believe me. In less than three months, I'll definitely surpass him."

"You're bragging." The girl did not believe him.

After this conversation, much of the awkwardness between them had dissipated.

"Then how about we make a wager?"

"On what?"

"Let's wager..."

Just as Qin Yi was considering what to use as the stakes, the gentle, mature woman's voice in his mind suddenly made an announcement: [Congratulations to the host on successfully stealing Gu Yiyi's love. Your reward has been issued. Would you like to claim it immediately?]

Qin Yi froze at the announcement. It... worked already?

[With 90 affection points, you have become the person Gu Yiyi likes most in her heart. Therefore, you have successfully stolen her love. However, if the host can later obtain 100 affection points from Gu Yiyi, an additional mysterious special reward will be granted.]

So that was it!

Thinking about it, that did make sense.

Stealing someone's love meant taking their love. It did not mean he necessarily had to sleep with her.

Now that his 90 affection points had successfully displaced Hua Yunfeng in Gu Yiyi's heart, it naturally counted as successfully stealing her love.

"Wait. I won't claim the reward yet."

His thinking remained the same as before. Until he received guidance from his father-in-law, he needed to hide his abilities.

"Junior Sister Yiyi, how about this? Let's make it ten days. If I can reach the Foundation Establishment Realm within ten days, take me along on your next field assignment. What do you say?"

Sect disciples went on field assignments every month.

Cultivating within the sect also required all sorts of resources.

For instance, the grains and poultry ordinary disciples ate all had to be purchased in the mortal world.

In addition, refining pills and tempering one's muscles and bones required gathering medicinal ingredients. These were not limited to precious plants; they also included certain animals' skeletons, livers, and gallbladders.

Furthermore, besides Devil Creatures, this world also had demons. Many of the catalysts needed to temper muscles and bones were the bones of demons and devils.

Sect disciples needed to obtain all these things during field assignments.

Otherwise, was everyone supposed to join the sect and wait to eat and drink for free, expecting the sect to support them?

If that were the case, even the wealthiest sect would eventually be unable to afford to support its people.

For ordinary disciples in the sect, food and drink were assured, but all other cultivation resources had to be earned through their own efforts.

However, ordinary disciples were not qualified to go on field assignments.

Just as Huang Tianrong had said, ordinary disciples needed to do miscellaneous chores for several months after joining the sect. For those with insufficient talent, even two or three years of chores was normal.

Someone like Qin Yi, who had stepped straight into the fifth level of Qi Refining by touching the Dao Comprehension Stone but had yet to learn any foundational cultivation knowledge properly, would generally not be approved for field assignments either.

Field assignments were team activities. Others might not be willing to take him along, fearing he would hold them back.

Therefore, if Qin Yi wanted to go on field assignments, he could only start with Gu Yiyi.

"Ten days? The Foundation Establishment Realm?"

Gu Yiyi laughed when she heard that. This Qin Yi really thought cultivation was as easy as eating and drinking. Was it that simple?

She was sixteen this year and had started cultivating at seven. After nine whole years, she was still only at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

And you, Qin Yi, want to achieve Foundation Establishment in ten days?

"All right, I'll take that wager. If you win, I'll have no problem taking you on a field assignment. But what if you lose?"

The girl suddenly became very agreeable. This wager was clearly all profit and no loss, so why would she refuse?

Qin Yi said, "If I lose, you can name whatever terms you like, Junior Sister Yiyi."

The girl thought for a moment. "If you lose, I'll tell you my terms once I've thought of them. Whatever I ask for then, you'll have to agree."

What outrageous terms could such a pure, innocent girl possibly come up with?

Naturally, Qin Yi had no objections. "Deal."