Chapter 10: Never Look Down on a Poor Young Man
Chapter 10: Never Look Down on a Poor Young Man
Time flowed on, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.
At the Heavenly Dao Sect, Xiao Lingxi slowly emerged from her meditation, exhaling a long breath of turbid air.
"I've finally reached the second level of the Qi Refining Stage! Does that make me a peerless genius?" Xiao Lingxi murmured to herself, a flash of joy and excitement dancing in her eyes.
Five days — second level of the Qi Refining Stage!
This was a legend that no one in the entire Great Zhao Empire could match!
Even Lingxiao, the top prodigy of the Lingxiao Sect and the holder of a supreme-grade Spirit Root, had needed over a month to reach the second level of the Qi Refining Stage!
This was entirely thanks to the extraordinary power of the "Jade Maiden Heart Sutra — Qi Refining Chapter" — it required no purification of Spiritual Energy, saving an immense amount of time.
"Hehe, my cultivation has finally caught up to Senior Brother Zhuge's…"
Before Xiao Lingxi could finish her sentence, she heard a commotion from the other side. She looked over, and sure enough — Zhuge Feng had broken through again.
Third Level of the Qi Refining Stage!
"Hiss—" Xiao Lingxi drew a sharp breath, her pretty face twisting into a most peculiar expression.
Thinking about how someone with a Heavenly Spirit Root had failed the Lingxiao Sect's entrance examination made her want to laugh.
Oh, Lingxiao Sect, Lingxiao Sect — you will never know what kind of genius you let slip through your fingers!
And Senior Brother Zhuge was not only extraordinarily talented, but also incredibly diligent. He practically wished he could cultivate for twenty-four hours in a day instead of the usual two hours, far more devoted than she was.
[Host]
Name: Su Bai
Age: 18
Realm: Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Stage
Items: 200 gold taels, 3,020 silver taels
At the very moment Xiao Lingxi stepped into the second level of the Qi Refining Stage, Su Bai's cultivation had naturally and effortlessly reached the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
This was the incredible power of the tenfold disciple cultivation bonus!
No cultivation needed at all — he could level up simply by lying back and doing nothing!
"No, no, the Breakthrough pace is still too slow. I have too few disciples — I need to recruit more."
Su Bai rose to his feet, far from satisfied with his current cultivation level.
At this moment, the sect points had already reached 90, just one step away from the upgrade requirement.
When Xiao Lingxi entered the first and second levels of the Qi Refining Stage, she had added 10 and 20 sect points respectively.
When Zhuge Feng entered the second and third levels of the Qi Refining Stage, he had added 20 and 30 sect points respectively.
Calculating it out, every time a disciple achieved a Breakthrough, it increased the sect points — and the higher the cultivation level, the greater the increase.
As for what the sect points were currently good for, he wasn't entirely sure, but he imagined they would be needed after the sect's next upgrade.
A short while later, the three of them — master and disciples — descended the mountain and headed toward Yunshui City.
"Master, did you buy back the veil I asked for yesterday?"
Xiao Lingxi suddenly turned around, blinking her eyes as she asked.
Hearing this, Su Bai immediately reached into his storage bag and produced an exquisite violet veil.
"Mm! This one was personally chosen by your master." Su Bai smiled faintly.
Xiao Lingxi took the veil, gave a satisfied nod, and a small smile curved the corners of her lips.
"Junior Sister, why did you suddenly think of wearing a veil today?" Zhuge Feng asked, somewhat puzzled.
Xiao Lingxi put on the veil and said, "I'm sure Zhao Baoxiao won't let this go so easily. By now, Yunshui City is probably crawling with his informants."
Hearing this, Zhuge Feng nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, that's very likely!"
Zhao Baoxiao's faction was not something they could afford to clash with head-on at this point.
Su Bai said nothing. Though he was unrivaled within the Heavenly Dao Sect, now that they were outside its bounds, his cultivation was only at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
Caution was still warranted — laying low and growing stronger was the right path.
Soon, the three of them arrived at Yunshui City.
At the entrance to the Hundred Sects Assembly, Su Bai did not go in. Instead, he turned to his two disciples and said:
"Go and buy whatever daily necessities you need for yourselves. Don't worry — this won't come out of your monthly stipend. The sect will cover the expenses."
With that, he reached into his storage bag and produced two hundred silver taels, handing one hundred to Zhuge Feng and one hundred to Xiao Lingxi.
"Thank you, Master, but I have my own silver!" Xiao Lingxi said with a grin, jingling the storage ring in her hand.
A storage ring — something ten times more precious than a storage bag. Even the Stewards of the Lingxiao Sect could only afford storage bags.
Zhuge Feng, however, did not move for a long moment.
One hundred silver taels — to him, that was a fortune!
"Master, there's no need for so much. A few hundred copper coins would be more than enough," Zhuge Feng quickly declined.
What had he done to deserve receiving so much silver?
Seeing that neither disciple would accept the silver, Su Bai put on a stern face and said, "Are you ignoring your master's words now?"
"Lingxi, I know you have your own silver, but that's yours. What the sect gives you, you keep!"
"Zhuge Feng, as the senior disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect, you should set an example — and yet you're still wearing those washed-out clothes?"
"Lingxi, your taste is good. Buy your Senior Brother a proper set of fine clothes. Don't come back until you've spent all of it!"
"Alright, alright, Master…" Xiao Lingxi pouted, looking thoroughly reluctant.
Zhuge Feng's eyes grew moist, his nose tingling, and a wave of warmth surged through his heart…
"Master has shown me a kindness as great as a mountain. I will never fail his expectations!"
He quietly clenched his fist, making a silent vow in his heart — he would cultivate diligently and become a powerful cultivator as soon as possible, someone who could stand on his own for the sect!
Su Bai watched the two of them walk away, then turned his gaze in another direction.
"Xiao Yan, I have already become a disciple of the Young Sect Master of Yuntian Sect, while you — you couldn't even pass the entrance examination!"
"I have a supreme-grade Spirit Root, while you have a crippled one!"
"I am already at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage, while you are still a mere Mortal!"
"The gap between us is beyond your imagination. You are destined to be trampled beneath my feet, forever looking up at me."
"The engagement between us ends here. From this day forward, we have nothing to do with each other!"
A young woman in fine clothes stood in the middle of the street, her beautiful face etched with mockery and contempt.
Before her stood a somewhat lean young man, his head bowed, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened.
Su Bai watched quietly. This scene — and that name — couldn't help but remind him of a certain novel protagonist from before his transmigration.
He wondered what this young man before him would do next.
Would he meet the standard that would move Su Bai to take him as a disciple?
By now, a crowd had gathered all around, everyone buzzing with chatter.
"Isn't that the good-for-nothing young master of the Xiao family? He still hasn't managed to start cultivating Qi?"
"I heard Liu Yanran has already become the Young Sect Master of Yuntian Sect — and Yuntian Sect is one of the top-five-hundred sects in the Immortal Alliance!"
"Hey, who in the entire Great Zhao Empire doesn't know the name of Yuntian Sect?"
"A toad lusting after a swan — what a pipe dream!"
The crowd pointed and jeered, their mocking voices unceasing.
Listening to the voices around him, Xiao Yan raised his head and saw nothing but expressions of ridicule on every face.
His hands were clenched into fists so tight that his nails dug into his flesh — yet he didn't even notice.
Finally, he erupted.
"Liu Yanran, three years from now, I will come to Yuntian Sect and challenge you — to prove that Xiao Yan is no waste!"
He roared, his voice resonant and powerful. With those words thrown down, he turned and stormed away in fury.
The crowd burst into laughter, as if mocking Xiao Yan's naivety and foolishness.
No matter how much an ugly duckling wants to prove itself, it can never become a swan.
The ugly duckling that does become a swan — that's only because it was always a swan to begin with.
Xiao Yan walked until he reached the depths of a dead-end alley, and only then did he stop.
By now, tears were streaming down his face.
"Why — why has Heaven made it so I cannot cultivate?!"
"Why — I worked so hard, I was so diligent, I gave so much — why can I still not refine Qi? Why?!"
"Am I truly a waste by nature?"
He pounded the wall in anguish, venting the grievance and sorrow that had built up inside him.
And at that very moment, the sound of footsteps approached from behind, accompanied by a voice.
"Young man, have you ever heard this saying?"
"Never look down on a poor young man!"