16: Chapter 16 Junior Sister Bai is here!

Chun Xiaobai vigorously shook his head. After clearing his mind, he focused inward to feel his body.

Forget about the "Qi sensation" mentioned in the Cultivation Technique, he couldn't even locate where his Dantian was.

"Gurgle..."

His stomach chose this inopportune moment to rumble.

"Could it be that I'm too hungry, and that's why I can't concentrate?"

But if he went down the mountain to get food, the round trip would take at least a full day and night. By the time he returned, he'd be hungry again. That wouldn't do.

After some thought, Chun Xiaobai simply dumped all the bottles and jars from his Storage Pouch.

He picked them up one by one to examine.

qi recovery pills, meridian-nourishing pills, spirit gathering pills, beauty-enhancing pills... There were over thirty bottles of various sizes.

On one exquisite little green bottle, he even spotted the three small characters: "foundation establishment pill."

"Is this the foundation establishment pill that female Disciple was so obsessed with?"

A Medicinal Pill that could make a female Disciple willing to sell her charms must be extremely valuable.

Chun Xiaobai carefully stored the foundation establishment pill away, then casually picked up a bottle of beauty-enhancing pills.

"All these years of enduring wind and sun on the mountain have roughened my skin terribly. It's time for a good beauty treatment."

He directly pulled out three bottles of beauty-enhancing pills, uncorked them. Each contained ten brown pills the size of a fingernail. He sniffed them; they had a faint floral scent.

Chun Xiaobai simply tilted his head back and poured all of them into his mouth, chewing them like candy beans and swallowing them in a few bites.

Aside from leaving a floral aftertaste in his mouth, there didn't seem to be any special feeling. His skin remained its healthy tan.

However, he didn't feel as hungry anymore.

"This stuff really can be used as food!"

He then picked up four bottles of meridian-nourishing pills, thinking he'd first build a foundation for his body.

Opening them, he saw they contained over twenty brown pills the size of cat's eyes.

Too lazy to count, he again dumped the entire contents into his mouth.

After the pills went down, he smacked his lips. Indeed, he felt full.

"These pills are actually quite useful, quite filling!"

He had to remember, normally he needed to devour at least ten large bowls of rice to feel this satiated. These few bottles of pills had done the trick.

Truly worthy of being called Medicinal Pills!

With his belly full, Chun Xiaobai once again sat cross-legged and silently recited the "Qingyun Manual."

The result was the same: he still couldn't sense even a hint of Qi, nor could he locate his Dantian.

It seemed he really needed to find someone to guide him on this.

He originally wanted to immediately go find that fatty for some tutoring.

But seeing the sky growing dark, he suppressed the thought, deciding to get a good night's rest first. That way, he could focus his energy tomorrow on finding that so-called "Qi sensation."

...

The night was deep, the stars sparse.

Not long after, heavy snoring sounds emanated from the courtyard.

The next day, before he could go find Fatty Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan himself was the first to knock on his pavilion door.

Rubbing his bleary eyes, Chun Xiaobai looked out the window and realized the sun was already high in the sky—it was midday!

"Damn! This habit of sleeping in has to change!"

"Senior Brother Chun," Fang Yuan called from outside the door, "This afternoon, Elder Liu is giving a lecture at the Hall of Dharma Transmission, sharing his cultivation insights with us Disciples. Will you be attending?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I go?"

Chun Xiaobai grinned. Just when he was worried about lacking guidance, here was a pillow delivered to his drowsy head.

He pulled open the door, threw an arm around Fang Yuan's shoulders, and headed out of the courtyard.

Fang Yuan, encountering the naturally familiar Chun Xiaobai, found they clicked in conversation. They quickly hit it off, and Fang Yuan became a loyal little brother.

As they walked, Fang Yuan filled him in on all sorts of gossip and news about "Green Bamboo Peak."

Chatting as they went, they soon arrived at the foot of the mountain, before the giant stone inscribed with the three large characters "Green Bamboo Peak."

However, today, there were inexplicably two mountain-guarding Disciples standing beside the stone.

Chun Xiaobai looked closely: one male, one female, both looking somewhat haggard and... a bit familiar.

"Damn, aren't those the lovebirds from yesterday?"

Could it be they lost all their possessions and came here to guard the mountain for work, just to get by?

Or perhaps, these two were originally mountain-guarding Disciples, stationed here together to watch the gate. Over time, feelings developed, they skipped duty to sneak off to the back mountain for a rendezvous, and just happened to get visited by him.

Otherwise, why hadn't he seen any mountain guards here when he ascended the mountain yesterday?

"Senior Brother Fang!"

As soon as they approached, Wu Liang and that female Disciple, Lin Yue, immediately bowed deeply and respectfully towards Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan nodded, then pointed at Chun Xiaobai and introduced him to the two.

"This is our Green Bamboo Peak's newly arrived Senior Brother Chun. Hurry up and pay your respects!"

"Yes, yes!"

Hearing this, the two immediately turned to Chun Xiaobai and bowed respectfully: "Senior Brother Chun!"

Anyone whom Senior Brother Fang, at the seventh level of Qi Refining, addressed as "Senior Brother" must have a Realm above the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Wu Liang gave Fang Yuan a grateful look.

Senior Brother Fang introducing them on purpose was a form of patronage. The gifts they'd given Senior Brother Fang in the past hadn't been in vain.

Chun Xiaobai gave a faint nod, adopting the air of a lofty expert, his tone seasoned: "Not bad. I have high hopes for you. Keep up the good work!"

"Uh... Thank you, Senior Brother Chun!" The two, hearing this, immediately looked thrilled.

They truly hadn't expected this newly arrived Senior Brother Chun to be so approachable and to think so highly of them.

"Should I give this Senior Brother a gift?" Wu Liang pondered inwardly.

Unfortunately, yesterday's little forest adventure ended with them being robbed.

He'd just have to go home and ask for some money later.

After the greetings, Fang Yuan led Chun Xiaobai towards the direction of the Hall of Dharma Transmission.

However, along the way, he noticed Chun Xiaobai's gaze constantly sweeping over the passing Disciples. Whenever someone walked by him, his eyes would linger on them for a few seconds.

A thought struck Fang Yuan, and he instantly understood.

"Seems I need to find time to get a copy of the Outer Sect beauty rankings!"

And so, they soon arrived at the Hall of Dharma Transmission, and Chun Xiaobai retracted his [Wealth-Seeing Divine Eye].

He scanned the area and found the entire Outer Sect was either yellow or green in aura. Aside from these two colors, he didn't see any more Advanced levels of wealth aura.

"Senior Brother Chun, today Elder Liu is lecturing on sword techniques. Every one of his classes is packed. We should hurry and grab a seat."

"Sword techniques?"

Hearing this, Chun Xiaobai's face instantly darkened.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Wasn't this just a waste of time?

Seemed like he'd have to rely on pills again to get through the day.

However, on second thought, it wouldn't hurt to go see what it was about. Afterward, he could have this fatty give him a private tutoring session.

The two entered a grand hall within the Hall of Dharma Transmission. Inside, over a hundred Outer Sect Disciples were already sitting cross-legged.

Chun Xiaobai followed Fang Yuan and found an empty spot in the back row. He imitated the others and sat down cross-legged.

It wasn't long before Chun Xiaobai felt his legs going numb.

He wasn't one who could sit still for long. He simply uncrossed his legs, leaned forward onto the low, long table in front of him, then asked Fang Yuan beside him:

"I say, Fang Yuan, how much longer do we have to wait?"

"Should be soon," Fang Yuan said, sitting upright and straight, his oily belly quivering. "About... an hour."

"What the heck?" Chun Xiaobai's eyes nearly popped out. "An hour? And that's 'about'?"

Damn it!

An hour was enough time for This Great King to take a nap back at the mountain stronghold.

Chun Xiaobai immediately wanted to turn back and go lie down.

Listening to sword techniques now was purely a waste of time for him.

But, since he was already here, he might as well tough it out and listen.

"Alright then, Junior Brother Fang. I'll take a little nap first. Wake me when the lecture starts."

"Uh!!"

Fang Yuan was stunned, muttering to himself inwardly.

This "big shot" didn't seem like a wealthy young master from a rich family. Why was he so indifferent to the path of Cultivation?

Elder Liu's sword technique lectures were something others fought for seats to attend. But this guy was treating it like a place to catch up on sleep.

But after thinking about it, he didn't have much to say. After all, the other's strength was evident. In all his years, he'd seen plenty of big shots; how many of them weren't arrogant?

As time passed, the remaining empty seats in the Hall of Dharma Transmission grew fewer, and the noise inside the hall grew louder and more chaotic.

It was so noisy Chun Xiaobai's head was pounding, and he lost any desire to nap.

He simply lay on the table, closed his eyes, and began silently visualizing the "Qingyun Manual" in his mind, trying his luck to see if he might stumble upon an Epiphany by sheer chance.

"Senior Brother Fang!"

Suddenly, a sweet voice sounded by Chun Xiaobai's ear.

"Junior Sister Bai! Quick, sit. I've already saved a seat for you."

Fang Yuan, seeing the newcomer, 'sprang' up from his seat, his face full of eagerness as he greeted the graceful figure before him.