17: Elegant and easy-going senior brother

That evening, as Chen Qing was frantically consuming Medicinal Pills to Cultivate, guests arrived at dormitory 404.

Opening the door, Chen Qing saw a young man with proper features and a refined, scholarly appearance.

"Hello, you're Chen Qing, right? My name is Tong Zhe, and I'm a student of Yang Chen, the dean of the Ice Department."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing roughly understood the other party's intention; he was likely here to recruit him.

"Please come in."

As Tong Zhe entered the room, he was immediately met with a strong medicinal scent.

"You're consuming Medicinal Pills to Cultivate?"

Chen Qing nodded. He had probably used up half of his Medicinal Pills that afternoon, and now his body and the room were filled with the smell of Medicinal Pills.

He realized that Cultivating was truly expensive. If he continued using Medicinal Pills like this, he would soon have to sell himself. He decided that he needed to see how much sincerity the other party could offer.

Tong Zhe didn't know his thoughts. If he did, he would surely flee; they were all money-guzzlers.

His teacher's research was, and these Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters were too.

He smiled gently: "Junior Brother, Cultivation cannot be rushed. It must be gradual, especially during the non-Martial Artist stage, where the foundation must be laid firmly. I see your vitality is abundant, so you should Cultivate very quickly, but Cultivation at the non-Martial Artist stage is a slow, grinding process. When the water comes, the channel will form naturally."

Chen Qing looked at him and felt that he didn't resemble a student but rather a teacher.

"I've learned much. Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

"Haha, I believe you already know why I'm here this time. I'm mainly here to help my teacher recruit a disciple. My teacher's research has reached a critical stage recently, and he truly can't spare the time. But please rest assured, my teacher absolutely does not undervalue you! On the contrary, he values you greatly. Even when Junior Sister came to see him today, he didn't meet her. He specifically sought me out and repeatedly instructed me to make sure I recruit you!"

Tong Zhe spoke with great fervor, using all his acquired knowledge to professionally cover for his teacher.

Chen Qing listened and roughly understood that this teacher seemed to be researching something extraordinary and didn't have much time to teach students on a daily basis.

Thus, many simple teaching tasks were all dumped on the young man in front of him. No wonder this person had the demeanor of a teacher; it was occupational habit.

Chen Qing wasn't too concerned about these things. A Martial Dao teacher only needed to impart some crucial knowledge at critical moments.

Most importantly, he had learned that there were relatively few instructors in the Ice Department, or rather, Ice Martial Artists were the rarest throughout the entire federation.

Yang Chen, the dean of the Ice Department, was the only Tier 7 Ice instructor at Jinling Martial Arts University.

He actually had no other better options, but he still asked:

"Senior Brother Tong, joining Dean Yang's tutelage is not out of the question, but I want to know, are there any specific benefits?"

Benefits?

Tong Zhe was embarrassed and said with a forced smile: "Uh, yes! For example, you can learn the Ice Department's skills for free! For example, as long as there are Medicinal Pills in the teacher's laboratory, you can take them freely. And for example, the teacher will give us some academic credit subsidies every month, which you won't get if you join other teachers' tutelage."

Chen Qing nodded, "That's pretty good!"

Learning skills, that's a huge expense. If he could learn them for free, that would save a significant amount!

And Medicinal Pills, another huge expense!

As for academic credits, that was the ultimate benefit. Academic credits were extremely important in every Martial Arts University, serving as the universal currency of Martial Arts Universities, obtainable only through military merits and academy rewards.

"Alright! Senior Brother! I will become Dean Yang's disciple."

Chen Qing didn't hesitate. He was already very satisfied with these benefits and understood that he shouldn't be insatiably greedy.

Tong Zhe imperceptibly wiped away a cold sweat, quite satisfied with his performance.

"Haha, Junior Brother Chen, since we are now fellow disciples, if you have any questions about Cultivation, you can ask me."

Having completed the task assigned by his teacher, he finally settled down and began to truly observe his new Junior Brother.

Suddenly, he frowned.

"You've reached the non-Martial Artist limit?"

He remembered that after receiving his teacher's instructions yesterday, he had specifically checked Chen Qing's information.

He wasn't a careless person; when investigating someone, he would thoroughly check their past. Chen Qing's situation wasn't difficult to investigate.

He even learned about Chen Qing's recent contact with Li Tianyang from the admissions teacher, Yan Zheng.

Of course, Yan Zheng had also privately revealed that this Junior Brother of his, like Li Tianyang, was a bit arrogant.

Tong Zhe didn't care about such trivial matters; arrogance was sometimes not a bad thing for a Martial Artist.

Who hasn't been arrogant?

He naturally also knew that Chen Qing had only recently undergone an S-rank Ability Awakening. He was even more aware that just a few days ago, the data showed this Junior Brother's vitality strength was only 0.38.

How many days has it been? And he's already starting to Breakthrough the non-Martial Artist limit?

Although before the non-Martial Artist limit, as long as one had enough talent and Medicinal Pills, the Cultivation of vitality was very fast.

But to increase from 0.38 to above 0.89 within a week was simply unheard of!

"Yes, I've been trying to Breakthrough the Martial Artist limit recently," Chen Qing said truthfully.

He's really reached this stage!

Tong Zhe was shocked. What kind of speed was this? Could the Awakening of his Ability have greatly benefited him, causing his vitality to surge like a geyser?

"Then have you encountered any problems?" Tong Zhe composed himself and asked.

Chen Qing thought for a moment: "Yes, once vitality reaches a certain stage, the Cultivation effects of Medicinal Pills and Cultivation Techniques significantly decrease. It's said to be a slow, grinding process, but if it continues like this, I suspect it will be difficult to Breakthrough without at least a year or a year and a half."

Tong Zhe's eyes sharpened upon hearing this. He's already reached this stage?

The situation Chen Qing described usually occurs for most people at the 0.91-0.93 stage, but with Chen Qing's S-rank talent, he should at least reach 0.94 or even 0.95 before encountering such a blockage.

What kind of Cultivation speed is this?

Not only did he skip the chasm that takes ordinary people a lifetime in just a few days, but he also made such great progress beyond that?

He couldn't help but ask: "Junior Brother, has your vitality reached 0.94?"

Chen Qing thought for a moment and nodded: "A little higher."

After being honest with Fu Mingyu earlier in the day, he felt it necessary to slightly conceal the exact number; otherwise, it might be a bit too conspicuous.

Tong Zhe suddenly stood up from his seat, looked around, and finally pointed at a chair.

"Oh, this chair is a bit hard. Senior Brother has been a bit constipated recently and can't really sit on this kind of chair."

Chen Qing pointed to the sofa nearby: "If Senior Brother finds it hard, the sofa over there is very soft."

Tong Zhe was a bit embarrassed and moved to the sofa area.

"Haha, I've made Junior Brother laugh. Once a non-Martial Artist enters the stage you just described, Cultivation indeed becomes very difficult. Let me give you an example: Junior Sister, who is now your Senior Sister, was also at this stage when she enrolled last year. She spent a full six months to Breakthrough 0.1, and that's considered fast. We wanted her to refine it further, perhaps reaching even higher, but she was impatient and immediately Broke through to become a Martial Artist."

"I've gone off-topic a bit. Your Senior Sister was actually already at this stage before coming to school. Then, the teacher told her a method, which is also one of the teacher's research achievements, not yet particularly perfected, and only we internally are trying it. The success rate isn't high."

"What method?"