In a quiet forest, Hei Fang moved quickly but carefully, his steps barely making a sound. His lips were curved up in a satisfied smile. After months of bribing and blackmailing the right people, he'd finally gotten his hands on some valuable information.
Thinking about the value of the information, his smile widened. It had been years since he was stuck in the Foundation Realm—maybe he could exchange the information for some Collapsing Pills and break through to the Golden Core Realm.
However, once he crossed the border and entered the Sacred Kingdom, a chill ran down his spine. He sensed danger.
He drew his dagger while an eerie purple fog, carrying the stench of rotten flesh, started emerging from the ground.
Purple fog? It can't be... The Cursed Swamp is 10 miles from the border, but I traveled only a few miles.
His thoughts raced as he examined his surroundings. He sensed an attack coming from his side. Hei Fang had expected some kind of attack, so he elegantly deflected the arrow while using a technique to pinpoint his opponent's position.
No signs of heat. He's using something to cover his body temperature?
However, before he could launch a different tracking technique, another arrow came from behind him. Hei Fang swiftly moved to deflect it, but just as he deflected the arrow, he sensed a second one coming from the side.
Hei Fang realized he couldn't dodge it in time, so he channeled his Qi into his cape and used it to block the attack. A small golden wave of Qi dispersed as the arrow hit his cape.
Hei Fang knew he couldn't win a battle of attrition against two enemies, so he started running toward the direction of the first arrow. He planned to kill one of the assailants, then use the environment to hide and escape from the other.
As Hei Fang ran in the direction of his first assailant, five arrows came at him from different angles, forcing him to dodge out of the way.
As he steadied himself, another group of arrows was shot in his direction, forcing him to use his cape to block once again. However, this wasn't the last attack—it was swiftly followed by alternating barrages of arrows. The attacks were timed perfectly so that he had just enough time to block them, but not enough to dodge or reposition himself.
Hei Fang felt defeated. He had tried his best, but his enemies were too many. He could only wait and try his best to resist the inevitable.
Five minutes later, the inevitable happened.
When he felt his heart being pierced by a cold blade, Hei Fang regretted all of his life decisions. He regretted leaving his sister in search of fame, he regretted joining the Hei family, and he regretted taking on this damned espionage mission. As his body slumped to the ground, he could only hear a creepy laugh. Even in death, he never saw his assailant.
Skyward Pavilion
It was Saturday, and Yun Qiang was slowly walking towards the lecture hall. He walked slowly while trying to hide the bruises that he had received during the week. Every step was slightly painful, but Yun Qiang tried his best to ignore the pain.
Even if he felt pain at every step, Yun Qiang was happy. The reason was simple: during Saturdays and Sundays, he didn't have to train with Instructor Jin.
"Ah, it's only been a week and my body is already like this… I'm going to die if it continues like this," he murmured.
"Don't be too melodramatic. Your body will barely feel it in a week or two," Brook's voice reached him from behind.
"Then why did you cry when you saw me this Monday?"
Brook's smile stiffened. "You shouldn't care about those kinds of details. I was just happy to see a new fishing companion."
When he heard this, Yun Qiang couldn't help but imagine Brook fishing, and he could barely keep from laughing. He didn't think that Brook, with his short temper, could have the patience to fish.
"Fishing? With your look, I doubt you'll catch anything."
"If you don't believe me, just turn around," Brook hummed happily.
Yun Qiang turned. To his surprise, Brook really looked like a fisherman now. He was decked out in full fishing gear: a bucket hung from his left hand, a fishing rod rested in his right, and he even had a small straw hat to cover his bald head from the sun.
Yun Qiang's brow twitched. "Where did you find all of this stuff?"
"I've lived here for more than two years. Do you think I can't find a simple fishing rod and a bucket?"
Yun Qiang fell silent. He couldn't poke holes in his argument, so he switched the subject.
"Why are you following me then?"
"Sun and I wanted to invite you, but it looks like you're occupied with the Saturday lectures."
"Sun? He's coming with you?"
Yun Qiang couldn't help but recall the friendly blond man. He suddenly felt the urge to go fishing; he really wanted to see him in fishing attire. However, he restrained himself. This was the first non-combat lesson he had—he couldn't allow himself to skip it.
"Sorry man, I can't skip it." He then continued, "Why are you skipping the lecture? I thought you still wanted to cultivate."
Logically speaking, for people like Brook, the lectures held by senior cultivators should be very useful, since you could ask them about the difficulties encountered while cultivating.
"I already followed all of them last year. There's no reason to listen to them again. Besides, those old fogies only speak about geography, balance, and nonsense like that. I can't really be bothered."
"Geography? I thought these lectures were to help guide us during our cultivation..."
"Nope. Those lectures are held during the week. And they're not free; you must pay ten contribution points if you want to attend them."
"Then if you have doubts..."
"Yes, you have to ask your instructor..."
They fell into silence. They both knew their instructor. Jin was a sadist who liked to bully his students—he would never answer their questions.
"Speaking of which, this is also our way to improve. Since our instructor won't listen to our doubts, then we can only discuss them among our group and try to find some kind of solution together."
It made sense. Since no senior would help them, gathering and sharing information among themselves was the only thing they could do. Hearing this answer, Yun Qiang felt a quiet warmth. In the sect, they were an isolated group. No disciple spoke to them, and no instructor paid them any attention due to their low natural talent. Their only solution was to band together and help each other—like a small family.
Yun Qiang made up his mind. If today's lecture wasn't useful to his cultivation path, he would go fishing with them next week.
After seeing the lecture hall close by, he said goodbye to Brook and entered the hall.
When he entered, he was surprised by the sheer size of the hall. The lecture hall had around 300 seats. The seats were arranged neatly in 15 rows; each row had around 20 seats, and every seat had a 2-meter gap from the other seats. Just by looking at the hall, it could be deduced that the arranger of the hall loved order.
Yun Qiang was surprised; he had expected an orderly hall, but this was too much. Even the floor was clean and without a scratch. Just by standing in the hall, Yun Qiang could feel his desire for a higher zone grow. In fact, the lecture hall was the only facility in Zone 1 that could be used by other zones. If a shared facility was this good... Yun Qiang could barely imagine what kind of luxury Zone 1 and the Inner Court must possess.
As he scanned the room, Yun Qiang noticed a familiar figure in a corner. It was Wuji. Seeing Yun Qiang, Wuji waved his hand toward him, signaling him to come.
While approaching Wuji, Yun Qiang felt a wave of embarrassment. He had totally forgotten about him. He had been so caught up in his training that he hadn't even thought about Wuji or Fernando.
"Hey, I didn't think I'd meet you here!"
"Well, I got caught up in my training. I'm sorry."
He felt a sense of relief. Judging by Wuji's smile, he didn't seem to mind Yun Qiang's disappearance.
"Don't worry. I've been busy too," Wuji said. "It's a shame we don't have the same instructor."
Yun Qiang laughed awkwardly.
Trust me, it's better this way, he thought to himself. I don't want to see you get beaten up by Jin.
Just as he was about to ask Wuji the subject of the lecture, the man behind Wuji spoke.
"So, you're a friend of Wuji? Nice to meet you. I'm Bai Gui."
Yun Qiang looked at him with surprise in his eyes. The man who spoke had sunken eyes and a pale face that perfectly matched the color of his robe. However, what surprised Yun Qiang wasn't his appearance but his complete lack of presence. If he had chosen to remain silent, Yun Qiang realized, he would have had no chance of noticing him at all.
Yun Qiang started bowing, as is customary when meeting a senior. However, Bai Gui stopped him, extending his hand for a handshake.
"There is no need for formalities," he said calmly. "You can just shake my hand."
When they shook hands, Yun Qiang was surprised again. Bai Gui's hands were frail and cold, but his grip was strong and firm. Yun Qiang even felt like he was shaking hands with an iron door rather than a frail-looking man.
"Mm, not bad. With a strength like this, you will directly reach the second level of Qi Gathering when you accumulate enough Qi."
Wuji's eyes widened. "Yun Qiang, you've already started your cultivation?"
Yun Qiang felt awkward; he couldn't tell him he got the method from a dream, so he decided to make up a story that sounded believable.
"Well… while I was hunting in the forest, I found an old man who needed food. After giving him a rabbit I caught, he taught me how to cultivate and then left."
The whole story was full of plot holes, but it didn't matter. It was believable enough, and Yun Qiang didn't think anyone would think much about it. It was just a lucky encounter—nothing special.
"Wow, how long will it take you to become a cultivator?" Wuji's eyes were filled with admiration. To him, this kind of stuff only happened in books and fairy tales. He never thought his friend would receive such a good opportunity.
"About half a year… maybe less," Yun Qiang replied. His voice was filled with pride. He had spent an entire week getting beaten up by his instructor—he really needed someone who didn't look down on him now.
Bai Gui's eyes flickered for a moment, but soon returned to normal.
"When you become a cultivator, I will take both of you to dine at a good restaurant."
"Then I will thank you now, Senior Bai."
"Don't call me senior. Just call me Gui," Bai Gui's tone was very amicable.
He seemed to have warmed up to Yun Qiang the moment he heard about his future breakthrough. Seeing Bai Gui's attitude, Yun Qiang decided to ask for some clarification.
"Brother Gui, you said that I could advance directly to the second stage when I break through. What do you mean? I thought cultivators couldn't skip stages without suffering a backlash of some sort."
"The wandering cultivator didn't tell you?"
Yun Qiang put on an embarrassed smile. "He seemed in a hurry, and I was focused on the cultivation method, so… I may have missed some details."
Bai Gui didn't seem to mind and began explaining some basic cultivation knowledge.
"There are many cultivation realms, and while each has its own challenges, two rules apply to all of them:
First, every realm is divided into six stages.
Second, advancement is based on three core aspects: Body, Soul, and Qi.
To move to the next realm, a cultivator must fully develop all three. Every time you reach the limit in one aspect, you advance by two stages.
So, for example:
A cultivator who has reached the third stage has either completely developed one aspect and is working on another, or has developed each aspect by one stage.
A cultivator who has reached the sixth stage has mastered all three aspects and can advance to the next realm by further elevating one of them."
After a small pause, he continued.
"As for skipping stages, it is possible. In fact, it's quite common for talented people to skip one or two stages when breaking through to the next realm.
In your case, you seem to have a strong body, so my guess is that you will directly reach the second stage when you open your dantian. One stage will come from the Qi aspect, since you opened your dantian, while the other will come from the Body aspect, since your physical body seems very strong."
Yun Qiang now understood. Cultivation was a balancing act, and one couldn't just focus on a single aspect. But that made Yun Qiang wonder—why did sects care so much about spiritual root levels? If someone had a bad spiritual root but a very good physique, couldn't they advance as fast as a cultivator with a good spiritual root? Thinking this, he voiced his doubt.
"That's because the difficulty of each aspect is not equal. Training your physique when you're a cultivator is easier than accumulating Qi in your dantian, so spiritual roots are more important than body talent." He paused for a second before adding:
"Actually, soul talent is considered the most important of the three, but it's almost impossible to test for it, so sects only test spiritual root quality."
After this, the conversation moved to more casual topics like daily life, hobbies, and so on. From this conversation, Yun Qiang discovered that Wuji's instructor had noticed his talent in medicine and transferred him to the Medicine Hall, where he met Bai Gui. So, in just a week, Wuji was promoted from Zone 5 to Zone 3. From this, Yun Qiang realized how high the status of the Medicine Hall was.
In fact, the so-called Medicine Hall was just a training ground for the Pill Hall—a facility that only Inner Disciples could use.
Basically, every member of the Medicine Hall had a pass to the Inner Court and could be considered an Inner Disciple in training.
After taking a seat in the back row, Yun Qiang sighed. "That guy is definitely lucky," he thought. "Well, at least I can say that I'm friends with a big shot… I wonder if some medicine can help me advance faster."
When the instructor who held the lecture entered, Yun Qiang pushed away his thoughts and paid attention.
Today's subject was "Basic Geography and the Law of Balance."