Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Consuming one Spirit Gathering Pill each day, Lu Qinghe’s cultivation reached Qi Condensation third layer Perfection.
With pills to aid him, his progress had outpaced his expectations by half a year.
Lu Qinghe couldn’t help but sigh. In the cultivation world, talent was not the only path forward-resources mattered just as much.
What Lu Qinghe didn’t know was that if those sixteen bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills had been given to a disciple with good spiritual roots, the result would not have been merely third layer Perfection.
Such a disciple would have long since broken through to the fourth layer, perhaps even the fifth.
In truth, the resources Lu Qinghe had consumed from the start of Qi Condensation until now would have been enough for a cultivator with three spiritual roots to advance from the first layer all the way to the late stage.
The sixteen bottles had run dry half a month ago. He had already begun attempting Spiritual Energy Liquefaction, pushing toward Qi Condensation fourth layer.
But no matter how he struggled, he failed.
The fourth layer stood before him like an insurmountable chasm.
Lu Qinghe was not surprised. In the menial courtyard, at least a hundred Menial Disciples were trapped at the third layer, unable to find their chance at a breakthrough.
He thought of two possible paths. The first was the Yellow Dragon Pill-a Middle Grade pill someone had mentioned at Qingyun Immortal Market. A single bottle would be enough to push past his current bottleneck.
The second was to rely on the medicinal strength of Blood Ginseng.
A small portion of the Blood Ginseng in the Black Soil Space had already reached hundred-year potency. The medicinal power of hundred-year Blood Ginseng was several times greater than that of fifty-year specimens.
But Lu Qinghe had reservations. He had been in the cultivation world for nearly three years now. He was no longer the ignorant newcomer who understood nothing.
Blood Ginseng was not meant to be refined directly for cultivation advancement. That was far too wasteful, and as his strength grew, the herb’s effect had already become negligible for that purpose.
A single stalk of Blood Ginseng, refined directly, might yield only a tenth of its true value-far inferior to pills specifically formulated for breakthroughs.
Lu Qinghe decided to spend some time tempering his foundation first. After all, his cultivation had been built entirely on pills. The side effects were real-his spiritual power lacked density and solidity.
What worried him more was that Wang Shan still had not returned.
He had asked around. It seemed Wang Shan had never come back since the day he left. No one knew where he had been taken.
Lu Qinghe resolved to inquire further once he entered the Outer Sect.
There was also another pressing matter: Menial Disciples were required to complete one hundred merit points worth of sect assignments each year. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Only half a year remained before the deadline. Lu Qinghe planned to see what assignments were still available-ideally something related to planting.
He made his way to the Affairs Hall. The seat once occupied by Zhou Tong now belonged to a sharp-featured young woman with a spirited bearing.
Bai Yutong-the new menial steward who had replaced Zhou Tong.
Lu Qinghe greeted her respectfully. “Senior Sister Bai.”
Bai Yutong turned a pair of keen phoenix eyes on him, a flicker of curiosity passing through her gaze. “This Junior Brother… your face is quite unfamiliar to me.”
Nearly every Menial Disciple in the courtyard had already come to pay their respects to the new steward. Lu Qinghe was the first she was seeing only now.
Lu Qinghe explained, “This junior brother was at a critical juncture in cultivation and only just emerged from seclusion. I hadn’t realized the Affairs Hall had changed hands. I failed to pay my respects sooner-please forgive me, Senior Sister.”
He gave this Outer Sect senior sister the respect her position warranted. But if she thought she could press him down the way Zhou Tong once had, she would find it impossible.
Back then, Zhou Tong could have crushed him with a single finger. Now, Lu Qinghe held enough hidden cards to contend even with a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.
That was the confidence strength brought. He could already regard these mid-stage Outer Sect Disciples as equals.
Bai Yutong studied him. Lu Qinghe was young, yet this composure-neither servile nor overbearing-was rare among Menial Disciples.
Every other menial disciple who came before her tread carefully, terrified of giving offense.
“Are you well acquainted with the previous steward, Zhou Tong?” Bai Yutong asked.
Lu Qinghe’s heart clenched. He didn’t understand why she would ask such a thing. Could she be connected to Zhou Tong? Had Zhou Tong told her something before he was taken away?
“Reporting to Senior Sister,” Lu Qinghe replied evenly, “I only met Senior Brother Zhou once, when I came to receive a menial assignment.”
Bai Yutong regarded him for a moment, then nodded. “Good.”
“Zhou Tong committed a serious offense-abusing his authority for personal gain in the menial courtyard and harming the Sect’s interests. The Outer Sect Enforcement Squad took him away, which is why I’m here in his place.”
Lu Qinghe asked with measured curiosity, “What punishment did Senior Brother Zhou receive?” Find the original chapter at g.com.
“An Inner Sect Disciple stepped forward to shield him,” Bai Yutong said. “He received only a reprimand.”
She offered no further explanation. The ties between Outer Sect and Inner Sect Disciples were tangled and complex. Everyone was constantly vying for resources to advance their own cultivation.
The reason Zhou Tong had been seized and punished so swiftly was itself the result of losing in that struggle.
The true reason was simple: Zhou Tong had failed to break through to Qi Condensation seventh layer within the allotted time and become an Inner Sect Disciple.
Had he managed that breakthrough within the year, no matter how excessive his conduct, the Sect would never have questioned him.
Lu Qinghe hadn’t expected the Sect to let Zhou Tong off so lightly. Nor had he imagined Zhou Tong possessed connections to Inner Sect Disciples.
Inner Sect Disciples stood far above all others.
Menial Disciples were the Sect’s servants. Outer Sect Disciples were the Sect’s students. But Inner Sect Disciples were the Sect’s backbone.
Aside from the rare few whose spiritual roots were exceptional enough to enter directly, every Inner Sect Disciple possessed late-stage Qi Condensation cultivation at minimum.
They were the cultivators closest to Foundation Establishment-the ones most likely to achieve that breakthrough. They represented a sect’s greatest hope.
A sect’s prosperity never rested on numbers, but on its strongest. In the Zhao Kingdom, even a single Foundation Establishment cultivator carried real weight.
Lu Qinghe could not have known all these entanglements. He only hoped Zhou Tong would never come looking for him again. If he did, Lu Qinghe would show no mercy.
Having tasted the world’s cruelty since childhood, he knew what it took to survive.
Just as he had once talked his way into the Taixuan Sect despite his five spiritual roots-something no ordinary child could have managed. He had read the immortal sect disciples’ faces and drawn out their sympathy. That was how he’d passed through the gate.
Seeing him lost in thought, Bai Yutong spoke. “What brings Junior Brother to the Affairs Hall?”
Lu Qinghe snapped back to the present. “I’ve come to take on this year’s menial assignments.”
Bai Yutong had already guessed as much. “Most of the year has passed, and the majority of assignments have been claimed. What remains are the more difficult ones. Of those, only a handful can still yield enough merit points to meet the quota by year’s end.”
Lu Qinghe frowned. “Could Senior Sister show me those few that can still meet the requirement?”
Bai Yutong flicked her wrist, and six jade slips appeared in Lu Qinghe’s hand.
He began examining them at once.