Chapter 26: They Really Deserve to Die

Swayed by Cheng Jingfeng's words, everyone's gaze drifted back to Zhang Wenxuan involuntarily.

Only this time, their eyes carried a hint of scrutiny and doubt.

Under the weight of those stares, Zhang Wenxuan's expression stiffened.

The faint flush on his cheeks faded, replaced by a sickly alternation of pallor and greenish hues.

He clenched his fists and argued, "You're talking nonsense! I had absolutely no intention of showing off! I just... I just wanted to come out and share some insights on drawing in Qi with everyone!"

"Share insights?"

Cheng Jingfeng crossed his arms, the corner of his mouth curling into a mocking arc.

"Fine then, go ahead — tell us what realizations you had while drawing in Qi. How exactly do you speed up drawing Qi into the body? Weren't you going to share insights? Then speak up and let us all learn something."

Zhang Wenxuan's face instantly flushed red again. "That... I..."

His lips moved for a long while, but he couldn't string together a single coherent sentence.

He had stumbled into drawing Qi into his body entirely by accident — what insights could he possibly have?

He could only stammer and stand there frozen, his eyes darting away.

Seeing this, Cheng Jingfeng let out another cold snort, his contempt completely undisguised. "When it comes down to it, you just got lucky! If you want people to compliment you, just honestly admit it — why put on this act of sharing insights? Such hollow posturing is truly nauseating!"

The onlookers took one look at the situation and immediately understood everything.

It was exactly as Cheng Jingfeng had said — Zhang Wenxuan had simply gotten lucky and had no real insights to offer at all.

The flattery and warmth from moments ago evaporated in an instant.

Someone couldn't hold back and muttered with a curl of their lips.

"Tch, I thought he had some real skill. Turns out he just got lucky."

"What a waste of emotion. I was hoping to pick up a trick or two — got excited for nothing."

No one had any more kind words for Zhang Wenxuan.

The disciples drifted away in twos and threes, shaking their heads, and the crowd that had been packed tightly around him dispersed by more than half in the blink of an eye.

Cheng Jingfeng let out a derisive laugh, flicked his sleeves, and left as well.

Before long, only Zhang Wenxuan remained in front of the green bamboo clearing, standing there alone — his face cycling between red and white — wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Bai Chen's eyes lit up at the sight.

His chance had come!

He immediately strode forward and came to Zhang Wenxuan's side, giving him a light pat on the shoulder.

"Brother Zhang, don't take it to heart. Those people's words aren't worth dwelling on."

Zhang Wenxuan snapped his head up, his gaze at Bai Chen filled with astonishment and helplessness.

Bai Chen smiled at him, and before his eyes, Zhang Wenxuan's Talent Trait panel had already unfolded.

Name: Zhang Wenxuan

Age: 15

Cultivation Realm: Qi Refining Stage, First Layer

Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood, Water, Earth

Talent Traits: Twice the Results for Half the Effort (Blue quality), Spiritual Energy Perception (Green quality), Ordinary Physique (White quality)...

So it was "Twice the Results for Half the Effort"!

What a find!

A flash of delight crossed Bai Chen's eyes.

If he didn't come across any better Talent Traits over the course of this month, this one would be his target for the next copy.

Bai Chen's gaze toward Zhang Wenxuan grew a little more sincere, and his tone became especially earnest.

"The path of cultivation has always been about Fortuitous Encounters and fate. Being able to stumble upon such an opportunity is itself a form of ability — what is there to be embarrassed about?

"Besides, I refuse to believe that Brother Zhang drawing Qi into his body in just four hours was pure luck. Your cultivation progress going forward will surely leave everyone who mocked you today utterly dumbfounded."

These words flowed like a warm current, instantly washing away the embarrassment and grievance weighing on Zhang Wenxuan's heart.

The mocking gazes and attitudes from just moments ago were still deeply lodged in his chest, making him feel wretched.

Now, soothed by Bai Chen's gentle words, his eyes grew faintly warm, and he was so moved that even the tip of his nose began to sting.

Zhang Wenxuan immediately seized Bai Chen's hand, his voice carrying a slight catch. "Thank you! What is this brother's name?"

Bai Chen smiled and said, "My surname is Bai, given name Chen."

Zhang Wenxuan immediately cupped his hands in salute. "Brother Bai."

Bai Chen returned the gesture. "Brother Zhang."

After exchanging greetings, Bai Chen said to Zhang Wenxuan, "Right now, the most important thing for Brother Zhang is to go back and consolidate your realm and lay a solid foundation. When your cultivation climbs higher in the days to come, you'll naturally be able to silence the doubters and make them see you in a whole new light."

Zhang Wenxuan nodded firmly, the fighting spirit reigniting in his eyes.

"Brother Bai is absolutely right! I'll go back and consolidate my realm right away — I won't let Brother Bai's faith in me go to waste!"

With that, he gave Bai Chen a solemn bow, let go of the humiliation from earlier, and turned to stride briskly toward his own wooden cabin.

Bai Chen watched his retreating figure, rubbing his chin with a smile.

It was then that Zhou Shi and Fang He caught up.

Zhou Shi asked in puzzlement, "Brother Bai, what was that about...?"

Bai Chen turned and waved a hand at the two of them with a smile.

"Nothing much. I just saw that Brother Zhang was standing there alone feeling awkward, and thought it was a shame. There's nothing wrong with a young man wanting to earn others' admiration. We all joined the sect at the same time — offering him a few words of comfort to ease his mind seemed like the right thing to do."

Zhou Shi and Fang He exchanged a glance, a touch of admiration rising in both their eyes.

Bai Chen was truly kind-hearted and perceptive. While everyone else had been watching the spectacle and piling on, he alone had been willing to set aside what others might think and step forward to relieve Zhang Wenxuan's embarrassment.

And to think that today they had nearly gotten him punished — they really deserved to die!

* * *

Back in his cabin, Bai Chen tried drawing in Qi and tempering his body once more.

But his five-element Spiritual Root constitution was like a great sieve for Spiritual Energy — the moment he drew it in, more than half would scatter away in an instant.

No matter how hard he focused and calmed his mind, he couldn't retain much of it.

Grinding away on his own with this kind of foundation, it would be a monkey's age before he could enter the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

He still had to rely on the Qi-Gathering Pill.

* * *

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Bai Chen ate at the Dining Hall and then headed straight to the Medicine Hall to exchange for the ingredients to make Inedia Pills.

Back in his small wooden cabin, he hunched over a clay pot and toiled away all morning, refining two batches of Inedia Pills.

The quality was ordinary, but the quantity was absolutely top-notch.

Where others might get forty pills from a single furnace, he could roll out at least sixty from a single batch.

A hundred-percent pill formation Talent Trait was simply too powerful when it came to Alchemy.

After rolling out two batches of Inedia Pills, he immediately carried the pill bottles over to the Task Hall.

Ten pills per contribution point — he exchanged for twelve points in total, then turned around and spent ten points at the Medicine Hall to get a single gleaming white Qi-Gathering Pill.

Clutching the Qi-Gathering Pill, he hurried back to his small wooden cabin, bolted the door shut behind him, and sat down on the bed, drawing a long, deep breath.

Whether this would work or not all came down to how effective this Qi-Gathering Pill was.

He sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, placed the Qi-Gathering Pill in his mouth, and swallowed.

The pill dissolved the moment it touched saliva. A vast and gentle surge of Spiritual Energy instantly burst open at the tip of his tongue and rushed down his throat, flooding through every limb and bone in his body.

His meridians swelled faintly from the pressure of that Spiritual Energy — but it wasn't painful. On the contrary, his whole body felt warm and pleasantly comfortable.

He immediately shut his eyes and guided the scattered Spiritual Energy toward his dantian.

But the "sieve" constitution of his five-element Spiritual Root was simply too extreme.

Just as that rich Spiritual Energy began to gather toward his dantian, it seemed to be split apart by some invisible force, dividing into several streams that dispersed outward through his body.

No — not dispersing.

Bai Chen's brow suddenly arched slightly.

The amount of Spiritual Energy he had drawn in before was too small — he simply hadn't noticed.

The Spiritual Energy wasn't dissipating after entering his body. Rather, it was surging toward the meridian acupoints corresponding to each element, filling each respective Spiritual Root.

In other words, a single-element Spiritual Root cultivator only needed to fill their meridians with a single type of Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth and channel it into the dantian.

But someone with a five-element Spiritual Root had to simultaneously absorb five types of Spiritual Energy before their meridians and dantian could be fully filled.

The Qi-Gathering Pill's medicinal power might seem vast, but once divided and subdivided among five sets of acupoints, it naturally couldn't condense into the dantian as quickly as it would for others.

No wonder...

A wave of helplessness washed over Bai Chen's heart.

No wonder every major sect refused to take in those with five-element Spiritual Roots.

Even just drawing Qi into the body was harder than it was for others. To reach the same cultivation realm down the road, who knew how many more resources would need to be poured in.

With those same resources, you could nurture several single-element Spiritual Root geniuses instead.

Wasn't that a far better investment?