"Phew..."
When Zhong Ming called a stop, Dong Sea also let out a sigh of relief.
He had been throwing stones for the better part of the day and was exhausted to his limit.
Well... the fact that the two of them could last this long had something to do with Spiritual Qi.
Being a Cultivator wasn't a lopsided profession.
The path of Cultivation, which aimed for transcendence and immortality, emphasized the comprehensive development of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
At this moment, neither Zhong Ming nor Dong Sea had opened their Qi Sea Acupoints to become true Cultivators. However, by circulating Spiritual Qi with the Longxi Breathing Method, some of it had still diffused into and strengthened their bodies.
'Still, this enhancement is very passive and not as good as a dedicated body tempering Cultivation Technique,' Zhong Ming thought. 'When I get the chance, I'll need to learn a body tempering method to raise my physical strength.'
While thinking about his future plans, Zhong Ming dragged his weary body over to Dong Sea and thanked him, "Great Sea, thanks for your trouble today."
"No problem. HUFF... HUFF... As long as you don't forget me when you make it big, Zhong Ming."
"I won't..."
Utterly exhausted, Zhong Ming and Dong Sea returned to the stone house arranged for them on Longxi Peak. After washing up briefly, they fell into a deep sleep.
Having expended too much of their Heart Spirit and physical energy, Zhong Ming slept in one go until past eight the next morning.
When he woke up, Zhong Ming's entire body was aching, sore, and numb...
The feeling was undoubtedly awful. However, after he ran to the dining hall and ate a meal of Spirit Rice, the soreness and pain in his body immediately faded by more than half, nourished by the Spiritual Qi.
'Spiritual Qi truly is miraculous... Once I cultivate and let the Spiritual Qi wash over my entire body, the fatigue from training will probably disappear completely.'
With that in mind, Zhong Ming immediately took Dong Sea and ran toward the Longxi Peak Cultivation Field.
When he arrived, Zhong Ming realized he was a bit late.
Most of the other disciples of Longxi Peak had already arrived long ago.
Apparently, after learning that the hundred-day assessment concerned not only their ratings but also their very lives, everyone on Longxi Peak was cultivating with great effort—one could even say they were desperate.
However, after arriving at the Cultivation Dojo, Zhong Ming noticed something.
Many disciples weren't cultivating right away. Instead, they were gathered around a few disciples with superior Spiritual Roots, fawning over them obsequiously.
The scene made Zhong Ming feel a bit emotional, but he didn't think these fellow disciples were in the wrong.
Cultivation was no easy task, and Longxi Peak had given them far too little time.
Without a good Spiritual Root or sufficient resources, it was a pipe dream for an ordinary Daoist Child (third-class Spiritual Root) to even hope for a B Class rating.
This couldn't even be solved through hard work—the limited endurance of their meridians restricted the number of times they could cultivate in a day.
In this situation, for disciples with no hope of advancing, cozying up to those with excellent Talent and hoping those "prodigies" would pull them along after receiving A and B Ratings was a pretty good backup plan.
Of course, while some recognized the difficulty and wanted to retreat, others gritted their teeth and cultivated with all their might.
They were fighting for that faint glimmer of hope.
Zhong Ming felt respect for the latter group.
But just as Zhong Ming was lost in his thoughts, something unexpected happened.
"Young Master Zhong Ming, I made some pastries. Would you care to try some?"
"Lord Zhong Ming, I see you need help with your cultivation. I can be of service..."
"Senior Brother, I have some skill in massage..."
Zhong Ming, who had arrived late, found himself surrounded by a crowd as soon as he entered the Cultivation Dojo.
And though their words varied, their tone was filled with flattery, and it was clear they wanted to become his followers.
This scene stunned Zhong Ming for a moment.
But he quickly understood.
'Right, in the eyes of others, I'm now considered part of the third tier.'
Zhong Ming's Talent wasn't bad. With a third-class Spiritual Root, as long as he had enough Spirit Stones, he had a decent chance of advancing to the early stage of Qi Cultivation within eighteen days.
People hadn't been optimistic about him before because he didn't have enough Spirit Stones to buy Elixir Pills.
But for some unknown reason, Jiang Yue's continued favor had changed the situation.
Yesterday, in particular, Zhong Ming hadn't been particularly discreet when he took the Elixir Pills. This made people realize that even though he came from a humble background, Jiang Yue's support put him on the same starting line as the disciples from prominent families, giving him a chance at a B Class rating.
And being rated B Class meant Zhong Ming could recruit followers.
Under these circumstances, it was only natural that some would want to curry favor with him, hoping to delay their entry onto the battlefield.
Moreover, some of the more clever Daoist Children had sensed something else.
'Zhong Ming's chances of getting a B Class rating are even higher than those of the family disciples... I don't know why, but there's no way Jiang Yue would favor him for no reason. He must have some real skills and extraordinary abilities that we're just too blind to see.'
'He has ability, Elixir Pills, and his Spiritual Root isn't bad... His chances of getting a B Class rating are as high as eighty or ninety percent.'
The more they thought about it, the more fervent the gazes of the Daoist Children who wanted to survive became as they looked at Zhong Ming.
Although he felt emotional and even pitied these people, in the end, Zhong Ming still shook his head and refused their requests.
When prosperous, one can benefit the world; when destitute, one can only perfect oneself.
Zhong Ming did not yet have the qualifications or the ability to save others.
"Sorry, I'm not short-staffed at the moment."
After politely declining their flattery and fawning, Zhong Ming went to his chosen spot, gave a nod to Jiang Yue, and then closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
"Inhale, exhale..."
The first thing he cultivated was naturally the Longxi Breathing Method.
This Cultivation Technique was the foundation of Zhong Ming's power. If not for the limited endurance of his meridians preventing him from cultivating it constantly, this is the technique he would be grinding, not the Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique.
First, he cultivated normally for a while. Then, he consumed some Earth Marrow Spirit Liquid to alleviate the fatigue in his meridians and cultivated once more.
After two rounds, the progress of his Basic Technique had reached:
[Longxi Breathing Formula: First Realm Initiation (203/800)]
'Only a quarter of the way there. If I subtract the sudden increase from the Dragon Flood Dragon Rhyme, it's only 70 or 80 points, which is just a tenth of the progress... As expected, the realm of one's main Cultivation Technique isn't so easy to advance.'
Zhong Ming wasn't surprised by this.
If the main Cultivation Technique were easy to advance, there wouldn't be so many Cultivators in the world stuck at the mid-stage, or even the early stage, of Qi Cultivation for their entire lives.
'I'll just have to find a way through my Swordsmanship.'
"Great Sea, I'll have to trouble you again."
Dong Sea: "Hehe, no problem, Zhong Ming. Feel free to order me around."
The crowd's fawning earlier had given Dong Sea a sense of crisis. Now, as he threw the stones, he was even more diligent.
"SWOOSH..."
Soon, a large handful of stones came hailing down on Zhong Ming like raindrops.
Zhong Ming, in turn, focused his spirit, calmed his breath, and observed the trajectory of every stone.
CLANG! With his observation complete, his longsword left its sheath, transforming into a winding, flowing stream that struck down more than half of the stones hurtling toward him.
This time, Zhong Ming still hadn't managed to strike down every single stone.
But he had intercepted all the ones aimed directly at his body.
[You have completed one full practice of the Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique. Skill Level +3]
'A good start...'
"SWOOSH..."
Stones scattered across the sky, and Zhong Ming focused on his Sword Draw Slash.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes, four slashes...
And so, time slowly ticked by as Zhong Ming trained.
And he wasn't the only one in the field practicing Swordsmanship.
Some practiced Body Techniques, others practiced Swordsmanship... Spurred on by the threat of death, all the Daoist Children of Longxi Peak were toiling away diligently.
Just when Zhong Ming felt he could keep up this training for the entire day, a buzzing commotion suddenly erupted in the distance.
The disturbance made Dong Sea stop, and caused Zhong Ming to furrow his brow.
'What happened?'
His question was answered soon enough.
But the answer left Zhong Ming speechless for several breaths.
"A breakthrough! Xue Yao, she's opened her Qi Sea Acupoint! She's a Cultivator now!"
"..."
'Someone else had achieved a breakthrough in just a single day and night, while my own acupoint nourishment has barely begun.'
In that moment, Zhong Ming truly understood what people meant when they said the gap between people could sometimes be greater than the gap between a person and a dog.
"..."
"Continue!"
Xue Yao's breakthrough had surprised Zhong Ming, but his silence lasted only a single breath. Soon, he stopped paying attention to external matters and resumed cultivating at his own pace.
Seeing him return to his focus so quickly made Jiang Yue, who was also stunned and unable to calm his own heart, look at Zhong Ming in an even more favorable light.
'Unhindered by worldly things, unburdened by the heart, undisturbed by others... No wonder you were able to comprehend the True Intent of the Dragon Flood Dragon from the Mountain Stream Flowing Map.'
After this moment of emotion, Jiang Yue began to ponder something.
'My Talent is far inferior to Xue Yao's. And there are others at her level, like Zhuang Yi and Yi Yunya. On Longxi Peak, I can't even be considered top-tier, let alone in the entire Seven Profound Sect... For someone like me to advance, I must have the support of more people.'
When one's own ability is insufficient, unite with more people. There was nothing wrong with this line of thinking.
And Zhong Ming's ability had undoubtedly caught Jiang Yue's eye.
'Perhaps I can invest a little more in him. But how can I make him serve me with all his heart...'
As Jiang Yue was thinking this, he saw his own younger sister, which gave him an idea.
'...That could work... No, I should wait a bit longer. The Talent Zhong Ming has shown so far is still not enough...'