My Qi Refining Little Sister

By Jiang Jinyi's reckoning, Luyu University's class of 1327 had been attending lessons for nearly three months, and she had always been one of the first overachievers to reach the classroom!

Almost two months ago, thanks to her esteemed brother, she had not only unexpectedly met a very kind and approachable teacher, but had also been "gifted" a strand of "Dui White Pure Metal Sha."

When even her usually deep-pocketed roommate saw such precious spiritual Qi, her lips trembled as she repeatedly asked whether the Jiang Household really had no senior serving in a grotto-heaven.

Jiang Jinyi knew this was a matter of great importance and didn't dare breathe a word. Only later did she happen to hear a classmate gossip that many of the major matters at the university this semester were being handled by the president's office.

The classmate also said that a Secretary-General Lin in the president's office always allocated the most funding to their Metal Virtue departments.

She heard that less than half a month into the semester, professors from the neighboring Water Virtue departments had already blocked Secretary-General Lin's door at least three times!

Mildly curious, Jiang Jinyi took a casual glance and accidentally caught sight of a blurry photo of Secretary-General Lin. That one look nearly scared her little heart right out of her chest!

So the Jiang Household senior Suqiu had mentioned was none other than Secretary-General Lin, who held great power at Lüyu! Only then did Jiang Jinyi realize that her esteemed brother probably had some standing at Lüyu!

Otherwise, why would the dignified secretary-general of the president's office personally serve as her brother's teaching assistant?

The next time she saw Teaching Assistant Lin was in her teacher's office. He was especially welcoming when he saw her, and after learning that she had successfully entered Qi Refinement, he repeatedly told her not to take any pills for the next two months.

When cultivators had just refined true essence and advanced into Qi Refinement, their priority was to nurture their foundation and make their true essence purer. If they took pills in the first few months and relied on external aid to increase their cultivation, their true essence would become insubstantial-a grave taboo in Qi Refinement!

After drilling those instructions into her, he also left her a portion of "Turning Metal Floating Cloud Paste." He said it was well suited for her to use once her cultivation had stabilized. It could slightly improve her aptitude and make her refinement of true essence a tiny bit faster!

At the time, Jiang Jinyi had only thought that Secretary-General Lin was wonderfully kind. But afterward, the lecturers and professors in her class all began paying her more attention!

Only then did Jiang Jinyi belatedly realize that Secretary-General Lin must have deliberately met her in her teacher's office. Half a month ago, Jiang Jinyi had once again "happened" to run into the friendly teacher at her favorite dining hall counter.

As it happened, her roommate Chen Suqiu was there too. Jiang Jinyi still remembered Suqiu's alarmed and nervous expression. Chen Suqiu, who was usually open and at ease and could strike up a conversation with anyone, had been uncharacteristically timid.

But at the time, she had thought it was such a coincidence! She had even chatted cheerfully with one of the few teachers she knew at the university about recent amusing happenings in class, completely ignoring the look Suqiu gave her from the side, as though she wanted to speak but held back!

Thinking back now, Jiang Jinyi wondered whether she had been too slow on the uptake. Teaching Assistant Lin must have come looking for her on purpose. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told her that her brother was in seclusion again these days!

Speaking of her brother, Jiang Jinyi felt that his presence at the university seemed rather faint. He wasn't nearly as much a topic of conversation as the other senior students!

The junior students' favorite subject of discussion was which senior students would catch the eye of the university's lecturers and professors that year and successfully remain at the university as Foundation Establishment seeds!

Even Suqiu paid close attention to the subject. She told Jinyi that it wasn't just the junior students who cared-the major Aristocratic Clans outside Xuantian were also watching eagerly!

Chen Suqiu had also told her with a helpless expression that every Foundation Establishment seed was a lifeline for an Aristocratic Clan's continued existence. Many Aristocratic Clans outside no longer had the ability to nurture a Foundation Establishment cultivator of their own!

As for all that, Jiang Jinyi said that nine of her ten apertures were open, so she hadn't a single clue! And then the clueless Jiang Jinyi was once again kindly called on by the old professor at the front of the room.

"Everyone, we've now had twelve sessions of our advanced discourse on the Dao. Today I'll ask a rather interesting question. The four metals of Qinghuan currently hold their places, so why is the rightful seat of [Dui Metal] alone without a lord?"

"Jiang Jinyi, you go first again!"

As usual, the old professor called on Jinyi first, and her classmates were no longer surprised.

Ever since the female student cultivating the "Dui Metal Aperture Heart Qi Gathering Instruction" had successfully entered Qi Refinement, the lecturers had brought up the name Jiang Jinyi at least once nearly every day!

This had driven all the students who used to sit near Jiang Jinyi far away. Only her roommate still resolutely kept her company beside the thorn in the lecturers' side!

After hearing that this Jiang girl also came from a poor family, their classmates looked at her with even greater sympathy. How could a sixth-grade Cultivation Method be so easy to cultivate? Without the backing of a Lineage, how could she sustain the grandeur of a sixth-grade Cultivation Method?

It had to be that her family had no senior to see to it that she switched to a fourth- or fifth-grade Cultivation Method.

Since [Huaqi] had selected a sixth-grade Cultivation Method for her, that meant she had talent for cultivating it. Wouldn't it be wiser to take advantage of that compatibility and switch to a lower-ranked Cultivation Method instead? That was the most sensible choice!

Coming from a poor family, she ought to prioritize her cultivation now, raising her Qi Refinement layer as much as possible during her six years at Lüyu. Then, after graduation, she would have a stronger foundation for supporting the next generation.

That was what it meant for one generation to build up the family fortune and place its hopes on the next. After three generations of this, a local immortal cultivation Lineage would have established a firm footing!

But if she stubbornly stuck with a sixth-grade Cultivation Method, she might not even break through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining after six years.

In the Qi Refining Stage, a single layer could crush an entire generation. Once she left the university, breaking through another layer might have to be measured in decades!

Once she graduated and returned to the dazzling, colorful world outside, would she still remember a few words of true instruction from the university's lecturers?

Yet Jiang Jinyi's foolish, dazed manner also attracted the attention of quite a few interested people. Being granted a sixth-grade Cultivation Method by [Huaqi] showed that she had extraordinary qualities of her own.

Entering seclusion and breaking through to Qi Refinement as soon as she arrived at Lüyu showed that her previous cultivation progress had been held back by her Lineage. Most Embryonic Breathing students who had just enrolled at Lüyu were advised by their teachers that the safest course was to spend a semester reading Daoist texts and strengthening their foundations first!

She also came from a poor family. A fellow student like that was a prime choice for a dao companion. Two people with Spirit Apertures having a child together made the best pairing for producing another child with a Spirit Aperture!

Coming from a poor family made her an even better choice. If two people with Spirit Apertures from great Lineages became dao companions and their next child was born with a Spirit Aperture, the two great Lineages would have plenty to haggle over if their social standing was much the same!

Unless the two people with Spirit Apertures managed to have two children with Spirit Apertures.

That was why poor families were so desirable. The party from the great Lineage only had to show sincerity and invest heavily in supporting the weaker party, and it would be a match made in heaven!

They might all sit far away from her during class, but as soon as class ended, plenty of male students still came running to court her favor!

In the bloom of youth, boys pursuing girls had every reason to hold their heads high. Especially now that some time had passed since the semester began and the senior students' intelligence networks were already in place!

The third- and fourth-year female students were the first to make their moves on junior boys from less prosperous backgrounds. Anyone who could enter Lüyu was a scarce commodity that couldn't be found on the open market outside. Now that they were in their third or fourth year, the senior girls had a clear idea of their own future cultivation prospects!

It was time to let the young, tender junior boys feel the warmth of their big sisters!

Little stories like these cropped up one after another every day on the university's internal forum. Quite a few big sisters even personally posted online advertisements seeking husbands!

The academic affairs office was so angry that it issued a notice of criticism overnight, then gave the lecturers responsible for those years a thorough scolding!

Student Jiang from Xiao Mountain in the Northern Lands simply found such things boring. During their precious time at university, those people neither thought about how to improve their cultivation nor applied themselves to studying spells!

All they thought about was finding dao companions, wishing they could have two children in three years as soon as they graduated! Then they would open blind boxes, gambling on whether their children would turn out to have Spirit Apertures-and preferably extra-large aptitudes at that!

Jiang Liyang was not like them. He genuinely thought the girl named Jiang Jinyi was quite something. At the start of the semester, she had even foolishly asked him which way the classroom was.

That goofy smile had indeed sunk him in a single blow!

Especially after gathering information on Jinyi, Student Jiang felt she was a girl he could pursue, and that, compared with the other boys in class, he had quite a few advantages!

He came from the Jiang immortal Lineage, which had a Purple Mansion senior holding down the fort. He was also a direct descendant, and his family had invested heavily in letting him cultivate [Rare Metal].

If he was just a little more careful and blew up one fewer reaction vessel, the resources he saved would be enough to support Jiang Jinyi's cultivation of a sixth-grade Cultivation Method. That was his greatest advantage!

Student Jiang always sat diagonally across from Jiang Jinyi. The thirty meditation cushions in their Metal Virtue Class One were arranged in a semicircle for lessons.

Jiang Jinyi usually sat on the left side of the classroom, where the cushions were also spaced farthest apart. Student Jiang happened to sit along the route Jiang Jinyi had to take to reach her own special spot.

Whenever class began, Student Jiang needed only to look up to his left to see the helpless expression of the foolish girl who was often called on by the lecturers and couldn't answer, secretly pounding her cushion in frustration!

Every time he saw Jiang Jinyi like that, Student Jiang felt he was about to fall in love. Was this what love at first sight felt like?

The fortune I paid for this seat was truly worth it!

Jiang Liyang had already pictured a wonderful future in which, after he successfully confessed his feelings, he and Jiang Jinyi would both smoothly remain at the university as Foundation Establishment seeds, thanks to his vigorous efforts!

That was cultivation, and that was how to make the most of a life at Lüyu! Those people saw things far too superficially. After turning it over in his mind countless times, Jiang Liyang finally decided to make his move after class today!

For now, he still had to watch how this little fool answered Teacher Xun's question from the front of the room. Asking why the rightful seat of [Dui Metal] had no lord was a little beyond the syllabus for everyone in the Qi Refining Stage!

Was a mystery concerning the Daoist lineage of a Golden Core True Lord something that little cultivators like them, who had only just entered Qi Refinement, should be pondering?

But Jiang Liyang was different. Treated as his family's Foundation Establishment seed for this generation, he had received the strictest education in discourse on the Dao since childhood. As the seniors in his family put it, only by aiming high could one travel farther!

One had to strive to become worthy of pondering such a question one day!

Jiang Jinyi, who had prepared her coursework in advance, had long since decided that she would make a comeback this time. She couldn't let them laugh at her anymore!

Hmph, just you wait. Don't bully a girl for being poor!