As the chubby senior brothers around him stared at him without blinking, their eyes seemed to sparkle like spirit stones. Especially Zhang Dapang—when he looked at Bai Xiaochun, his eyes practically blazed with fire... Bai Xiaochun coughed lightly, feeling a small surge of pride.
"Senior brothers, look," Bai Xiaochun began, raising his fair little face with an adorably obedient expression, "Every month in the Spirit Stream Sect, the three mountain peaks open their trial roads, giving us servant disciples a chance to leap through the dragon gate, right...?"
The group nodded in agreement.
"But since the sect only chooses the best of the best, no matter how many people participate in the monthly trial, each peak only selects the top three who finish the trial the fastest, correct?" Bai Xiaochun licked his lips, eyes beginning to shine. At this point, Zhang Dapang and Hei Sanpang started to realize something, while the others were still mostly confused.
"You mean..." Zhang Dapang looked at Bai Xiaochun, light slowly dawning in his eyes.
"With your cultivations, and including me, all of us could easily reach the top of the trial road on each peak..." Bai Xiaochun glanced at his senior brothers. Every one of them was at the third level of Qi Condensation. Zhang Dapang and Hei Sanpang were even at the peak of the third level and could've broken through long ago if they hadn't been deliberately holding back to stay in the kitchen house.
"So all we have to do is rush to the top of the trial roads at the start and claim the top three spots—and then... we sell the spots to others!" Bai Xiaochun quickly finished, looking expectantly at Zhang Dapang and the others.
Zhang Dapang trembled.
"That's ruthless..." he gasped, slapping his thigh with glowing eyes. The method was simple, even obvious once said—but before that, no one had thought of it. It was a stroke of genius in reverse thinking.
Zhang Dapang felt like he'd just had a revelation, as if a whole new door had opened in his life. He couldn't help but laugh loudly.
"This move is diabolically genius, hahaha!"
Hei Sanpang stomped his foot, his face flushing with a mix of embarrassment and excitement.
The other chubby brothers finally caught on too, getting excited and breathing heavily. When they looked at Bai Xiaochun, their admiration deepened.
"This'll work! Let's do it!"
"Damn those bastards in the Supervisor's Office, making us poor for years. Luckily our Ninth Junior Brother showed up—let's go!"
Everyone got excited, discussing the details. After ironing everything out, they planned to execute it on the next trial day.
Zhang Dapang slapped his belly joyfully.
"Extra food tonight!"
The kitchen house echoed with laughter and excitement. Over the next month, the whole crew trained with rare dedication, ensuring everything would go smoothly.
Finally, the day arrived.
At dawn, under the three mountain peaks on the South Bank of the Spirit Stream Sect, a never-before-seen sight unfolded. At each trial road entrance, there were three giant black pots.
Under each pot stood a chubby figure, exuding a mighty aura.
It was the nine kitchen brothers, the first to arrive at the trial entrances, arranged in groups of three per mountain as planned.
From all directions, servant disciples were rushing in. Some had failed many times; others were here for their first attempt. All of them were eager and hopeful, dreaming of ascending from servant to outer disciple.
But when they arrived at their chosen mountains and saw the chubby kitchen brothers—
"The Kitchen House? What are they doing here?"
"I've been a servant disciple for nine years and participated in over thirty trials. This is the first time I've ever seen kitchen guys here..."
Word spread quickly, and shock rippled through the crowd.
"Something's up... they're here to compete for outer disciple spots?! No way!"
While others were shocked and gossiping, Bai Xiaochun, Zhang Dapang, and Hei Sanpang stood at the foot of the third peak. Their expressions were calm and lofty, as if detached from the mundane world, ignoring all the chatter.
Their focus was solely on the trial entrance. To them, this wasn't just a trial—it was a road paved in shining spirit stones.
Bai Xiaochun looked especially serious, his gaze fixed.
Soon, three figures descended from the mountain peaks. On Bai Xiaochun's peak, an immortal-like middle-aged man arrived. As the trial overseer, his eyes fell on Zhang Dapang's massive figure, then swept over all three of them. He couldn't help but be surprised.
"What's going on? These kitchen guys would rather die than become outer disciples, yet here they are...?"
Curious, he looked again and eventually nodded in approval. With a grand wave of his sleeve, his voice echoed out:
"Trial for promotion to outer disciple—begins now!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a deep bell sounded across the sect. The trial road entrance lit up.
At that exact moment, Zhang Dapang, face full of resolve, shot forward with a blast of wind, charging up the mountain steps like a beast was on his heels.
Hei Sanpang roared and followed, bursting with fury like anyone who challenged him was stealing his life.
Bai Xiaochun shot ahead even faster, thoughts filled with Longevity Pills. Like a rabbit on fire, he overtook both of them.
The other disciples were stunned for a moment—then scrambled up the trial road in pursuit.
It was the same on the other two peaks—the kitchen brothers led the charge.
The third mountain was called Fragrant Cloud Peak. As they climbed, Bai Xiaochun and the others began to slow as pressure from the trial road grew, weighing them down.
Bai Xiaochun looked back and saw several disciples closing in. Anxiety kicked in—they're trying to steal my pill!
"To take my Longevity Pill is to take my life!!" he growled, face turning red. Channeling all his Qi, he exploded forward, overtaking Hei Sanpang and Zhang Dapang with twice the speed.
Hei Sanpang roared and activated some unknown ability, increasing speed and catching up. Zhang Dapang wasn't to be outdone—he inhaled deeply, his fat visibly shrinking, as if burning it for fuel. He surged forward with explosive speed.
The rest of the disciples could only gape. Despite giving it everything, they were falling far behind. Some, frustrated, started cursing.
"What the hell did they eat?! Spring tonic?! Why are they so damn fast?!"
After a while, Bai Xiaochun reached the top of the mountain. At the exit stood two outer disciples, ready to record names.
"Congratulations, Junior Br—" they began with a smile, only to stop mid-sentence.
Bai Xiaochun stumbled forward, stopped just one step before the finish line, and turned around.
"Stop!" he shouted, waving his hand.
Hei Sanpang and Zhang Dapang gasped as they skidded to a stop beside him. The three sat down, blocking the exit with their chubby bodies, grinning at each other.
The outer disciples at the exit were baffled.
"You three were the first to arrive. You can cross—this round's outer disciple spots are yours."
"Outer disciple? Who wants that?" Zhang Dapang waved dismissively and sat down, blocking the gate.
Bai Xiaochun sat proudly in front of them, raising his chin like a noble rooster.
The two outer disciples were stunned. "You came all this way and don't want to go in? Are you crazy?"
Zhang Dapang and the others ignored them, eyes fixed on the stairs below.
After some time, a horse-faced servant huffed his way up the steps, panting and exhausted. It was his ninth attempt, and this time was his best chance—only to find the kitchen guys already there.
His face was full of despair. He turned to leave—
"Senior Brother, don't go!" Bai Xiaochun suddenly called out. "Come, come! I thought about it and realized I can't bear to leave the Kitchen House. I don't want to be an outer disciple after all. So how about this spot..."
The horse-faced disciple froze—and his eyes instantly lit up.