2: Breaking through eight days ago

"Disciple Lu Chen, greets Elder Lü."

Lu Chen stepped forward and bowed to Elder Lü Hongguang.

Lü Hongguang still seemed not to have fully recovered, with a hint of shock remaining deep in his eyes, mixed with a touch of complexity.

For a moment, the Disciples in the entire Hall of Skill Transmission dared not breathe.

Their gazes secretly darted between the silent Elder Lü Hongguang and the unperturbed Lu Chen, sweeping back and forth.

"It's over, the Elder seems truly angry!"

"How could this guy Lu Chen be late for no reason? He's unnecessarily displeased Elder Lü. Today, I'm afraid we'll have to see Elder Lü's dark face all day!"

The Disciples sighed inwardly.

It was at this moment that Elder Lü Hongguang seemed to snap back to attention, blurting out, "You've entered the Qi Condensation Realm?"

Lu Chen humbly replied, "I had some insights occasionally, and naturally broke through."

Lü Hongguang was greatly comforted and immediately laughed, his beard trembling, "Well said, 'had some insights occasionally, and naturally broke through.' This is precisely the essence of cultivation!"

"Solid Foundations, success comes naturally, breaking through is simply following nature."

"Not bad, not bad!"

Entering Qi Condensation in one month, and even reaching the peak of early Qi Condensation, Lü Hongguang had been an Elder for decades and had never seen such a Heavenly Pride Disciple!

The Sect would definitely bestow a heavy reward, and perhaps he could even move up a position thanks to Lu Chen!

"Lu Chen, follow me."

Lü Hongguang waved his hand, then looked at the many Disciples in the hall who dared not breathe and were acting obediently, "You all meditate and refine Qi on your own."

With that, he led Lu Chen towards the back hall.

It wasn't until Elder Lü Hongguang led Lu Chen away that the Disciples finally relaxed their hearts, followed by an explosion of curiosity.

"What? Lu Chen entered the Qi Condensation Realm?!"

"Hiss, it's only been a month! I haven't even figured out what the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is, how did Lu Chen enter the Qi Condensation Realm?!"

"So Elder Lü wasn't angry just now, he was startled by Lu Chen!"

"What startled? Elder Lü was clearly overjoyed. Look, the Elder praised Lu Chen several times just now!"

"I've never seen the Elder praise someone like this before!"

Some Disciples with mature minds also secretly planned, "Looking at Elder Lü's reaction, Lu Chen is probably going to soar. I need to find a chance to build a good relationship with Lu Chen later."

"If I can't befriend Lu Chen when he is still insignificant, by the time he becomes a great figure high above, I might not even be qualified to see him once!"

These newly initiated Disciples were not guaranteed to successfully enter the Outer Sect.

If they couldn't successfully condense Qi within a year, they would enter the ranks of the handyman Disciples. Although there were still opportunities for cultivation, one step slow meant every step slow!

The path of cultivation was not some storybook. How could there be so many heaven-sent opportunities? Basically, once they became handyman Disciples, it would be difficult to ever turn things around, even if their ancestral graves emitted green smoke, it wouldn't help!

…………

Back hall.

The more Elder Lü looked at Lu Chen, the more satisfied he became. Unassuming and steady, with an exceptionally outstanding appearance, he was clearly a dragon among men, one in a million.

He actually encountered such a Heavenly Pride.

This wasn't Lu Chen's good fortune, it was clearly his, Elder Lü's, good fortune.

"Lu Chen!" Elder Lü spoke kindly, his face beaming.

Lu Chen immediately responded, "Disciple is here."

"Mm!" Elder Lü drew out his voice and nodded, "You are now at the peak of early Qi Condensation. I'm afraid you didn't just break through into Qi Condensation today!"

It wasn't a question, but an affirmation.

How could someone reach the peak upon breaking through? Impossible.

Lu Chen pondered for a moment, wondering if he should lie.

He wasn't ready to expose the matter of the accompanying Spirit Treasure, the Nurturing Soldier Immortal Coffin, yet.

Because he couldn't be sure if this accompanying Spirit Treasure could be taken away by others.

Who didn't understand the principle that possessing a treasure makes one a target?

Even ordinary people knew that a three-year-old child shouldn't carry a large sum of money through the market!

In front of these old foxes who had cultivated for decades, even hundreds of years, how could he not be cautious?

Want to try soul-snatching?

Want to experience disappearing from the Human Realm?

As long as you dared to jump, it wasn't impossible to arrange!

You could be a normal Genius, and the Sect would value you and cultivate you.

But you couldn't be a Genius who possessed a great treasure and was afraid people wouldn't know!

Which Sect old monster could withstand this kind of temptation?

Seeing Lu Chen silent, Elder Lü smiled, "Don't think about hiding your talent. The better your talent, the more the Sect will value you, and the more resources will be allocated."

"The Sect also has its rules."

"Especially you newly initiated Disciples, once you truly step into the Qi Condensation Realm, you will start needing various resources to aid your cultivation."

"Spiritual stones, pills, Spells, artifacts, True Intent Spirit Tablets, Rule Spirit Tablets, etc., are all resources. The Sect won't just give them to you casually; you need to pay a price."

"But the Sect is also never stingy with investing in geniuses."

"With a limit of half a year. New Disciples, if they can break through and enter Qi Condensation within half a year, can receive one Low Grade artifact, plus three Low Grade spiritual stones per month."

"Five months, then an additional qiankun bag, plus five Low Grade spiritual stones per month."

"Four months, you can enter the first floor of Wan Fa Pavilion, freely choose two Spells, eight Low Grade spiritual stones per month, with the above conditions unchanged."

"Three months, you can also receive an additional defensive Low Grade artifact, and an additional thirty Merit Points. Well, one Good Deed can be exchanged for one hundred Low Grade spiritual stones, but its use is far greater than spiritual stones."

"And if it's earlier than three months, it will be calculated by the day, one day earlier, one more Good Deed."

Lu Chen quickly said, "I broke through and entered the Qi Condensation Realm eight days ago."

Are you kidding me? One Good Deed was one hundred Low Grade spiritual stones. By saying this, he could earn eight hundred spiritual stones. Why not take it for free?

As for why he said eight days ago, it was because he had seen Elder Lü in the Hall of Skill Transmission ten days ago, and there were no signs of breaking through at all.

Saying eight days ago was just right.

"Broke through eight days ago, which means it only took twenty-two days to go from nothing to stepping into the Qi Condensation Realm!"

This time, he really found a treasure!

Elder Lü didn't even consider whether Lu Chen could have crossed the threshold of the Qi Condensation Realm eight days ago; his mind was full of Sect rewards.

A Genius who reached Qi Condensation in less than a month!

This time, he really taught an extraordinary figure!

"Good, good, good. You wait here for me to finish today's sermon. I will then take you to the Internal Affairs Hall to receive all your rewards."

Elder Lü suppressed the excitement in his heart but didn't forget that there were many new Disciples waiting for him to preach in the Hall of Skill Transmission.

But Lu Chen no longer wanted to wait. He wanted to exchange for the 'seeds' needed by the Nurturing Soldier Immortal Coffin to nurture Dao Soldiers.

"Elder Lü doesn't need to bother. I can go to the Internal Affairs Hall myself."

Elder Lü pondered for a moment and said, "Alright."

As long as he showed his identity token and cultivation, the deacons at the Internal Affairs Hall would not make things difficult.

………………

Internal Affairs Hall.

There were many people, with numerous Outer Sect Disciples here receiving various Sect missions, making it noisy.

But this had nothing to do with Lu Chen. Following the directions, he quickly arrived before a middle-aged deacon sitting behind a desk, took out his identity token, and handed it over.

"Disciple Lu Chen, has broken through into Qi Condensation. Please, Deacon, replace my identity token."