Old Man Wu was stroking his beard, pondering how to report this good news.
Two disciples had broken through at once, and one of them was a new disciple who had just entered the Sect this year.
According to the Sect's rules, he would receive a reward of at least fifteen Spirit Stones for this.
Suddenly, he felt the aura of another breakthrough.
He was so startled that his hand trembled, and he accidentally plucked a hair from his beard.
Ignoring the sting of pain, he focused his gaze and saw that it was Xiao Chen having an epiphany!
This time, Old Man Wu completely lost his composure.
'Those other two are an Immortal Dao genius and a direct heir of a prominent family. What's the deal with you, kid?'
'How did you break through too?'
The other disciples were even more dumbfounded. Feeling the flow of Spiritual Qi within the Dharma Transmission Hall, they were at a complete loss.
'What's going on today? Senior brothers and sisters are breaking through their Realms one after another.'
It was as if breaking through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining was a simple, ordinary affair.
What was even more absurd was that even a guy like Xiao Chen, who was usually a slacker and never cultivated, had also had an epiphany.
'Can you believe this?'
They could accept anyone else breaking through, but why did it have to be Xiao Chen?
Some disciples even rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren't seeing things.
Ye Fei also looked at Xiao Chen now, his eyes filled with a hint of surprise and curiosity.
Since joining the Sect this year, he had focused solely on his Cultivation and rarely interacted with others, so he wasn't very familiar with Xiao Chen.
He had always heard that Xiao Chen was a good-for-nothing slacker with no ambition.
He never expected that upon seeing him today, he would turn out to be a genius with superb comprehension!
Most Cultivators could only rely on diligent, arduous practice, accumulating progress bit by bit over time. However, a rare few geniuses could grasp the principles of heaven and earth through enlightenment. A single step for them could surpass decades or even centuries of others' hard work.
It's just that such epiphanies were ethereal and unpredictable, relying entirely on personal opportunity and comprehension, making them impossible to replicate.
In Ancient Times, a very small number of Cultivators followed the Path of Enlightenment. Nowadays, however, most people followed a step-by-step progression on their path to the Immortal Dao.
'Thinking about it now, the so-called "admiring flowers and enjoying the scenery" sounds more like a process of comprehending the mysteries of a Cultivation Technique and experiencing the nature of heaven and earth.'
'This senior brother who joined before me actually uses the Path of Enlightenment. He's an interesting rival.'
The Outer Disciples of the Li Huo Sect were divided into twelve different branches.
Since they all broke through today, it was highly likely they would be assigned to the same branch.
And within each branch, the top ten disciples would be selected as candidates for the Inner Sect. Based on their rank, they would enjoy varying levels of additional resource subsidies.
When that time came, a struggle for these rankings would be inevitable among them.
Therefore, Ye Fei silently decided that he needed to pay more attention to Xiao Chen's actions from now on.
He turned his head to look at Jiang Sixuan. 'This junior sister... she's not to be underestimated either.'
At this moment, Jiang Sixuan was also looking at Xiao Chen.
She keenly noticed that the Spiritual Qi around Xiao Chen seemed a bit insufficient.
So, she stopped her own meditation, stepped forward, and with a swipe at her waist, took out a Spirit Stone. Using her own Magical Power, she guided the Spiritual Qi within it to dissipate and supplement the surroundings.
Xiao Chen was following the principles of the Breathing Technique to condense Magical Power in his Dantian.
To stabilize his Cultivation, he needed to condense at least six new streams of Magical Power right now.
It would be best to do it all in one go, directly condensing nine streams of Magical Power and touching the edge of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
But that was easier said than done.
For one thing, the Spiritual Qi on the Miscellaneous Peak was relatively thin, and two other disciples had just broken through consecutively.
The Spiritual Qi in the Dharma Transmission Hall had mostly gathered here, but it was barely enough to condense a total of six streams of Magical Power.
Xiao Chen was diligently absorbing Spiritual Qi into his body when he suddenly felt an additional source of it nearby.
This made things much easier for him.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
The external supply of Spiritual Qi only ceased after he successfully condensed eight streams of Magical Power, completely stabilized his Realm, and stopped absorbing Spiritual Qi.
Xiao Chen immediately opened his eyes and looked over.
The first thing he saw was a pair of snow-white wrists, a jade-green bracelet, and slender, jade-like fingers tightly gripping two completely depleted Spirit Stones.
'No wonder there was a sudden extra source of Spiritual Qi. It was because she used up two of her Spirit Stones.'
Xiao Chen immediately clasped his hands in thanks. "I am Xiao Chen. Thank you for your assistance, Miss Jiang. I don't have any Spirit Stones on me today, but I will be sure to repay you double later."
This was the truth. After he had tried and failed to directly absorb Spiritual Qi from Spirit Stones before, Xiao Chen had deposited his entire monthly stipend in the Merit Hall and hadn't withdrawn it.
After all, Servant Disciples were provided with food and lodging—it was just mortal food and a large communal bunkhouse, eight people to a room.
Carrying Spirit Stones was inconvenient for work, and leaving them in the room wasn't necessarily safe, so it was better to deposit them for now.
The only Spirit Stone he had taken out was long since exchanged for Spirit Rice.
Practice had proven that the minor boost Spirit Rice gave to Cultivators had also vanished for him, unable to help him advance his Cultivation.
As for the reward for 'Opting out', Xiao Chen now understood that he needed to specify a location for it to appear.
He definitely couldn't take it out in front of everyone.
Otherwise, as a Servant Disciple who shouldn't possess a Storage Spiritual Artifact, being able to pull things out of thin air would get him captured and interrogated as a spy.
So he could only owe her for now and repay her later.
"That's not necessary. You never asked to borrow these Spirit Stones, Xiao, so there's no need to speak of repayment."
Jiang Sixuan gave a radiant smile. "It's just that we happened to break through together today, which is quite a coincidence. I was hoping to make friends with you, Xiao."
With that, she looked at Ye Fei. "And you too, of course, Junior Brother Ye."
"Tonight at 5:00 PM, I will be hosting a banquet at the Baiyu Studio at the foot of the mountain to celebrate with a few of my clan brothers and sisters. Xiao, Junior Brother Ye, would you do me the honor of attending?"
'Hey, is it really appropriate for you to be forming a clique so openly?'
Xiao Chen glanced at Old Man Wu and noticed he was completely absorbed in the teaching materials in his hand, feigning ignorance.
"Of course. Breaking through together today is indeed a fortunate coincidence. We should get to know each other properly. What do you say, Junior Brother Ye?"
Hearing this, Ye Fei also agreed, "I have no problem with that."
Once they had agreed, Old Man Wu finally looked up. "Good, very good. You are all promising young talents."
"However, even though you've broken through, it's not too late to listen to one more morning lesson. Everyone, please be seated."
"Later, I will report to the steward and notify the branch to come and collect you."
Jiang Sixuan and the other disciples who had left their seats immediately complied and sat back down.
It was only then that Xiao Chen focused his attention on the new screen of light that had appeared before him.
It was exactly the same as last time: three cards, three options.
[Late-Game Expert: When you break through to the Mahayana Stage, you will receive 2,222,222,222 Spirit Stones.]
[Risky Move: You lose 20 years of your lifespan, but you will receive 700 Spirit Stones in 7 years.]
[Featherweight Contender I: The cultivation speed of Yellow-level Cultivation Techniques is increased tenfold, and the power of Yellow-level Techniques is increased tenfold.]