Chapter 14: Practice Qi Level Three

Fatty Duan glanced sideways, sensing the scattered spirit sand in the cloth bag, but still couldn't grasp the crucial point of the matter. He said impatiently,

"Liu, I need to meet with True Disciple Su. I don't have time to mess around with you."

With that, he glared fiercely at Wang Yu and turned to leave with a flick of his sleeve.

Stunned and flustered, Steward Liu did not stop him. Instead, he felt that Duan was very pleased with himself; the recent events were likely an elaborate ruse designed to deceive him.

Now he was probably going to claim credit.

"Duan Ping!!!"

Steward Liu's bloodshot eyes involuntarily turned to Wang Yu. This spirit slave had an innocent look on his face, and indeed, the matter had nothing to do with him.

He thought for a moment. His only option now was to remove those three from his subordinate list. The excess spirit sand absolutely could not be linked to the True Disciple behind him. Given his capabilities, he could only suppress the matter temporarily. If he couldn't suppress it, he would have to admit guilt.

If the other nine True Disciples pressured the Disciplinary Hall and demanded a quick investigation into the truth, his influence would be useless, and at that point, all blame would be pinned on him. The master behind him would at most lose the opportunity to receive the Nascent Soul inheritance, but would still be a direct descendant of the Rebel Spirit Blood Sect. He, however, would lose his life!

Of course, if he trusted his master and waited for his master to reach the Nascent Soul stage, he would still have a chance to turn things around. However, the time required for that, he, a Qi Refining cultivator, would not live long enough to see.

After much deliberation, Steward Liu looked at the disciplinary disciples around him and commanded,

"Guard the Stone House District well. No one is permitted to enter or exit."

"Yes, sir!"

He then left with a solemn expression. Wang Yu was pensive and understood Steward Liu's intentions. It was simply a matter of: How much money is worth losing your life over? As a demonic cultivator who valued self-interest and profit above all else, when a sudden change occurred, fleeing was the first option.

This step was a correct gamble. Now it remained to be seen if True Disciple Su, who was behind Fatty Duan, had the foresight. As long as the True Disciple in seclusion bore the infamy of deceiving his master, he would most likely lose the chance to obtain the Nascent Soul inheritance.

However, Wang Yu had overlooked someone: the third administrator of the Stone House District—Steward Liu. To secure a position in this highly lucrative district was already no simple feat. Of the ten True Disciples, only three had arranged for stewards to be placed there. To some extent, these three were the most formidable contenders for the Nascent Soul inheritance.

One of them was at the forefront and had already gone into seclusion to form their Core. True Disciple Su was the second. Who would the third person be?

***

Coldblood Peak, True Disciple's Cave Dwelling.

Steward Duan knelt respectfully on the ground, continuously adding embellishments to frame Wang Yu as the mastermind, repeatedly emphasizing his own arduous efforts and great achievements, hoping True Disciple Su could save his life.

Unexpectedly, True Disciple Su burst into laughter.

"Good, good indeed, Wang Yu!"

"Under my command, it is precisely such talent that is needed."

"Duan Ping, convey my order: In three months, promote Wang Yu to an Outer Sect Disciple of Coldblood Peak, and he will no longer need to submit spirit sand."

Steward Duan shivered at the words and no longer dared to speak ill of Wang Yu. Following his master's intent, he straightforwardly admitted that he was the one who killed the three spirit slaves. He seized the opportunity to claim credit.

Seeing through his thoughts, True Disciple Su smiled faintly.

"Duan Ping, you are a relative from my maternal side and have followed me for quite some time now. Your loyalty is commendable, but your intelligence is still lacking a bit."

"Go and collect three thousand contribution points. This magic technique is awarded to Wang Yu."

"Yes, sir—"

Steward Duan arrived nervously and left feeling satisfied. Even though he knew True Disciple Su trusted him, he still harbored prejudice against Wang Yu. This incident had not been communicated to him in advance, leading him to mistakenly believe Wang Yu had betrayed them and that he was being played by a mere spirit slave. How could he tolerate that?!

"Hmph, this time you've won the gamble, and I, this great one, will bear this crime for you."

***

Stone House District, Second-Floor Elegant Pavilion.

"Younger Brother Wang, please sit."

"This is spirit tea I, Duan, have collected. Have a taste."

Wang Yu remained composed. Seeing the fatty's ridiculous shift from arrogance to obsequiousness, he did not utter a word of mockery. He deeply remembered the truth that in the demonic path, power is the root; this was an experience gained from suffering losses, and it would guide him throughout his life.

"Steward Duan, there's no need to be so polite. I apologize for any offense caused by this incident."

"Wang Yu merely wished to resolve True Disciple Su's worries. I trust Steward Duan won't blame this humble one for being reckless."

"It's nothing—" Steward Duan's eyes crinkled in a smile, and he said kindly,

"However, should there be a next time, Younger Brother Wang, you should inform your elder brother, so I can be prepared and better cooperate, naturally."

"That's true. Next time, I definitely will."

He cupped his hands in apology, going through the motions. Wang Yu then fell silent again, adhering to the principle that silence is golden.

Given this, Steward Duan couldn't insist on him staying and took out a jade slip containing a cultivation technique, handing it to Wang Yu.

"True Disciple Su is very satisfied with this matter. This is specifically awarded to you."

"As for the Outer Sect Disciple position, Younger Brother Wang, you needn't worry. In three months at most, you will receive what was promised."

Wang Yu felt a slight surprise. "No more gathering spirit slaves?"

"No, you don't. This matter is still sensitive. Once the commotion dies down and you are promoted to the Outer Sect, there will be no need for you to trouble yourself with this matter anymore."

"Then many thanks to Steward Duan for your kind words."

"It's nothing, it's nothing—"

Placing the jade slip against his brow, after Wang Yu received the information within, his heart grew solemn. This was both a reward and an acknowledgment, but also a warning. It contained a high-grade magic technique, the Night Concealment Charm. As the name suggested, it was a technique for concealing one's aura and for silent, stealthy movement. It could also be used to hide one's cultivation realm. This corresponded precisely to Wang Yu's actions of killing the three at night.

High-grade magic techniques correspond to the late-stage Qi Refining realm. If this technique could be mastered to perfection, it could even deceive the aura perception of Foundation Establishment cultivators. It was considered a prime example among first-order techniques.

For Wang Yu, it was not something he urgently needed. He had needed it previously because spirit slaves' cultivation couldn't be too high. However, in three months, he would officially become an Outer Sect Disciple, so the importance of this concealment technique was no longer as great. For the time being, it was of limited use; he would find an opportunity to cultivate it in the future. Currently, his priority was still his cultivation realm, so there was no need to adjust his cultivation focus.

After another round of polite but perfunctory exchanges, Wang Yu rose and took his leave.

Returning to the small Stone House No. 83, all matters concerning him had been settled. The case of the spirit slaves hoarding spirit sand would still take time to subside. As for the subsequent developments, they were not something a mere spirit slave like him was qualified to know.

A month later, a new steward arrived in the Stone House District. Another two months passed peacefully.

On the 137th day of Wang Yu's life as a spirit slave, half a year had passed. As Wang Yu sat cross-legged in meditation, a surge of spiritual energy emanated from his body. His aura surged rapidly, naturally breaking through to the third level of Qi Refining!

The spiritual power within his body had successfully accumulated to one hundred strands. What he needed to do next was to continuously refine and purify these one hundred strands of spiritual power, transforming them from one hundred strands into ten streams. To convert the loose, strand-like spiritual power into ten streams of higher-quality spiritual power would complete one cycle of spiritual power refinement and allow him to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Throughout the entire Qi Refining realm, there were two bottlenecks.