3: Chapter 3 The Future Belongs to You!

Time flew by, and twenty days passed in the blink of an eye.

Tomorrow morning is the day for the Liuyun Sect Outer Sect to assess cultivation.

Late at night, in a small forest near Qingyun Mountain.

Two sneaky figures met behind a large tree.

"Did you bring the stuff?"

A voice, sounding suspiciously like Lin Yuan, asked.

"I brought it."

"Let me see."

"I need to see the money first."

"You guy... how many times have we worked together? Do you really think I'd scam you?"

"You wouldn't have before, but now, who knows."

"You—fine, here is the ten taels of gold we agreed on."

"You really are a man of your word. Here, the goods are here."

*Inhale!*

"Hmm, 99% pure, a rare find!"

"I've delivered the medicine to you, farewell."

"Wait a second!"

"What do you want to do? Let me tell you, don't mess around; I have connections."

"Don't be nervous. Do I look like the type to rob a fellow thief?"

"You do!"

"Sigh, is there really no trust left between people?"

"Say what you need to say quickly, it's about to be dawn."

"I want to ask, do you have any other goods?"

"Of course, who do you think we are? Look, this is the newly developed Clear Spirit Pill powder. It has 70% of the efficacy of the original, and the toxicity is within an acceptable range..."

"Stop, stop, stop. I don't want this kind."

"Then I also have imitation Qi Condensation powder, with 50% efficacy of the original, and the toxicity..."

"I mean, I want something even more ruthless."

"Hiss! Are you sure?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? The most ruthless, most toxic, most effective medicine—bring it out quickly!"

"..."

Watching the figure walk away, the person remaining behind the large tree shook his head in pity.

"What a talent. To maintain a fake Genius persona, he dares to swallow even poison? Lin Yuan, you guy, you really are terrifying."

However, what does this have to do with him, a simple, ordinary medicine peddler?

As long as the blood doesn't splash on him, it's fine!

...

Returning to his small courtyard, Lin Yuan couldn't wait to open the small porcelain bottle and poured out three pills the size of dragon eyes.

These past few days, he had relied on old connections to contact a fake medicine peddler and purchased inferior Medicinal Pills from him.

Never mind the question of whether his head would become pointy; although the Medicinal Pills were inferior, their efficacy was particularly ferocious.

In just twenty days, his cultivation had surprisingly broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, almost guaranteed to take first place.

Those with poor talent couldn't keep up with his Cultivation speed, and those with good talent wouldn't ruin their future for a mere assessment.

To make the effect even better, Lin Yuan had gone all out, using all his remaining money to purchase potent medicine.

It was the three pills in his hand, named Dragon Tiger Foundation Establishment Pill (Fake). Taking them could significantly increase True Qi cultivation in a short time, but it would drop back after a day, and in severe cases, one might even drop several Realms.

But Lin Yuan didn't care. Let the True Qi cultivated from the Qi Cultivation Art drop if it wanted to; it was just something picked up from the roadside anyway.

...

The next day, the weather was clear and the breeze was pleasant.

Over two hundred young talents gathered at the Martial Arts Plaza, waiting for the initial assessment.

Observing their performance, it was truly a myriad of states of being.

Those who were confident and calm were undoubtedly either talent monsters or big spenders. In the early stages of the martial path, the effects of talent and money were very obvious.

Those who were frowning definitely didn't have good talent, nor did they have money for cultivation. A few of them hadn't even cultivated True Qi.

On the martial path, if you are slow by one step, you are slow everywhere. Once you fall behind at the start, you will never have the chance to overtake on a curve.

"Quiet!"

After the Disciples had all arrived, an old man with a flushed face walked in from outside, his shout shocking everyone into silence.

When Lin Yuan first joined, he had seen him from afar and knew that the old man, whose face was as red as a monkey's, was the Liuyun Sect Outer Sect Leader, named Gate Master Tie Kongshan.

He came in to control the scene and had a few servants carry in an intricate mechanism.

The mechanism as a whole resembled a strength tester, with a True Qi input port, connected to a small iron hammer fixed on a vertical slide.

"This is the True Qi Abacus. As long as you input True Qi into the entrance, the small iron hammer will rise and strike the bronze bell on the slide. Of course, the minimum requirement to ring it is the second level of Qi Refining, which is also the passing line for this assessment... Who is willing to try first?"

"I'll go!"

Before Gate Master Tie Kongshan could finish speaking, a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes stood out and said loudly: "Sect Leader, please let me, Liu Yu, try this first!"

"Good, you come up."

"Liu Yu is here!"

The young man stepped forward and placed his hand on the True Qi input port.

"Hah!"

As True Qi poured in, the small iron hammer continued to rise, ringing the bronze bell.

*Clang, clang, clang!*

Three times.

"Fourth level of Qi Refining. To be able to break through to this level in one month, you are not bad. Cultivate well in the future, and within five years, you will definitely be able to break through to the True Condensation Realm."

Gate Master Tie Kongshan said indifferently.

"Yes! Thank you for your teaching, Sect Leader. Your words are like the sunlight scattered from the sun in the sky to me, engraved in my heart, never to be forgotten for the rest of my life!"

Lin Yuan: ...

I was thinking, the sun didn't even come out today, why is the Martial Arts Plaza so blinding?

And my hands, I can't help it, it's time to start \O/ \O/!

Loyal! Faithful!

Fortunately, apart from Liu Yu, the rest were normal people, and there were no twists and turns during the testing process.

Lin Yuan observed that everyone's cultivation Realm was generally not ideal.

The highest was the sixth level of Qi Refining, and the lowest couldn't even make the bronze bell sound, with the average being around the third level of Qi Refining.

Upon careful thought, it was normal.

Those who joined the Outer Sect had already been screened once. The true super Geniuses had likely long been taken to the mountain for careful cultivation, like that peerless Prodigy from that day.

So—

A smurf game.

Enjoy the fun of smurfing.

When it was Lin Yuan's turn, he placed his hand on the input port and tentatively injected a wisp of True Qi.

The small iron hammer took off instantly, ringing three times.

The Utility Disciple responsible for recording subconsciously shouted: "Lin Yuan, fourth level of Qi Refining..."

This was normal. In his eyes, a Grade 5 root bone having this level was considered not bad.

However, the scene that followed greatly exceeded his expectations, and everyone else's expectations as well.

Three times was not the limit, but the beginning.

The small iron hammer seemed to have been supercharged, and it couldn't stop at all.

It took off vertically all the way, blasting out waves of bell chimes.

*Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!*

It rang nine times in a row, slamming into the top of the slide, emitting a dull "Duang" sound!

In this instant, the whole scene was silent, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

The next moment—

"Are you kidding me? It reached the top?"

"Holy crap, holy crap, there's an immortal here, there's an immortal flying here!"

"Damn it, I worked so hard to reach the fifth level of Qi Refining, why does this guy get to do this!"

"Not even pretending anymore, huh? Hacking?"

"We are all Outer Sect Disciples, why is this guy so flashy?"

Various exclamations erupted among the Disciples, attracting the attention of Gate Master Tie Kongshan nearby.

He shook his head. Young people are just young people, making a fuss over small things.

Unlike him, mature and steady, what kind of situation hadn't he experienced...

Holy crap, what the hell is this situation?

I have really never seen this kind of situation before!

Great Perfection of Qi Refining?

Gate Master Tie Kongshan and his companions were all shocked, looking at Lin Yuan with dull expressions.

"One month, directly to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining? How exactly did you do it!"

Lin Yuan sighed: "Actually, this is not difficult at all."

Hmm? Is that human language?

"The reason I was able to Cultivate to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining in one month is mainly because I chose the simplest Cultivation Technique, and used the time everyone spends drinking soy milk to Cultivate."

"I know my situation, my talent is mediocre, and I'm afraid it will be hard to achieve anything great in this life. Instead of drowning while holding onto unrealistic fantasies, it's better to use the Liuyun Sect's resources to strengthen myself, and in the future, secure a business in the secular world."

"Therefore, my current strength is not true strength; I just exploited a loophole in the rules. The future is yours!"

As for when the future will come.

Don't worry about it.