“This time, the Year-end Examination is quite special. The Sect Master and several Supreme Elders have emerged from seclusion and will likely come to watch. As my, Nalan Yunyan’s, follower, you absolutely cannot fail. Merely passing isn’t enough; you must achieve Excellence. Otherwise, heh, you understand…”
In the Cultivation Room, where the Spiritual Energy was so dense that Qian Yu’s cowlick and tail began to twitch together, Nalan Yunyan’s words from before she left swirled in her mind.
The attendants and followers of great families were also part of their facade—you are a True Disciple?
So what?
Even my lady’s follower is a True Disciple.
This visible sense of superiority was a necessary means to maintain family dignity and reduce the cost of ruling, and it simultaneously placed immense demands on the strength of followers like them.
For a Year-end Examination like this year’s, which would have many onlookers, it was likely that not a single mistake could be made.
Otherwise, no matter how much Nalan Yunyan favored her, she would not allow herself to keep such a “gifted” follower.
Others would think their Nalan Family was so poor they couldn’t even afford to recruit a genius.
“This is probably the real reason why Nalan Yunyan provided the Cultivation Room and said she could give me some guidance, right?”
Qian Yu sighed softly, turning her attention to how she would pass the examination.
The method for this examination was decided personally by the Sect Master.
The specific details were not yet clear, but according to previous years’ conventions, to pass, one must at least be at the late stage of the First Realm.
To reach the Excellence goal set by Nalan Yunyan, one must step into the Second Realm before reaching adulthood, meeting the standards of an Inner Disciple.
Originally, Qian Yu wouldn’t have dared to even dream of it, but now, with the bloodline in her body and the gift from that true wealth-scattering child Tang Qiurou, it wasn’t completely out of reach.
As a Cave Residence personally provided by Nalan Yunyan, the built-in Spirit Gathering Array was something even Gu Qinghan, also a True Disciple, could not match.
The density of Spiritual Energy was ten times higher than the outside world.
Small as she was, Qian Yu sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and entered cultivation.
The Spiritual Energy, condensed to the point of near-atomization, entered her meridians with her breath.
After half a quarter of an hour of arduous wandering, it finally completed one cycle, turning into a strand of Spiritual Energy silk that could be directly absorbed.
However, at the very moment this strand of Spiritual Energy was about to flow into her Dantian and transform into Qian Yu’s cultivation, it vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
All the previous cultivation was wasted!
Qian Yu was all too familiar with this feeling.
Since the moment she stepped onto the path of cultivation, this had been her situation.
Resources were insufficient, her own absorption speed of Spiritual Energy was extremely slow, and even if she managed to condense a bit of Spiritual Energy with great difficulty, she could only watch helplessly as it disappeared right before the Dantian.
She could only stare blankly at its disappearance, like a powerless person.
But now, she was no longer helpless.
First, solve the problem of Spiritual Energy absorption efficiency.
The fluffy white-haired Fox changed the hand seal in her hands slightly, and the originally simple Spiritual Energy circulation network within her body suddenly became complex and intricate.
The Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Holy Canon!
An important reason why it was difficult for a Half-Yao to cultivate was that they were suited for neither the techniques of the Human Race nor the techniques of the Demon Race.
Consequently, their speed of Spiritual Energy absorption and circulation was extremely slow.
It took at least half a quarter of an hour for a cycle, while ordinary people only needed a dozen seconds.
This cultivation technique was born specifically for this purpose.
Having obtained the general outline provided by Nalan Yunyan and the specific three layers provided by Gu Qinghan, this technique, which was included in the core legacy of the Luoxia Immortal Sect, could finally be officially used for cultivation.
As the technique operated, Qian Yu’s efficiency in absorbing and converting Spiritual Energy increased at an almost exaggerated speed.
One hundred breaths, fifty, twenty, until it stopped at nineteen breaths, approaching the level of a normal person.
And this was not the end.
Having solved the problem of cultivation speed, there was still the issue of insufficient Spiritual Energy supply.
This Cultivation Room alone was not enough.
Qian Yu’s right hand quickly patted her side, and a bottle of Elixirs shimmering with faint colorful clouds leaped up from beside her, falling into her mouth and turning into streams of pure, gentle medicinal power.
It was exactly the Three-Glow Spirit Awakening Pill gifted by Tang Qiurou!
This was an extremely luxurious Elixir with an annual production of less than five hundred bottles.
Even in the hands of most geniuses, they would only consume one bottle a year.
But now, Qian Yu was popping them like jelly beans.
One went down without her even tasting it, and she simply tilted the bottle back to empty it.
It was hard to say much about Qian Yu’s Half-Yao bloodline, but the toughness of her meridians largely inherited the ferocity of the Demon Race.
If an ordinary person popped pills like this, even if the medicinal power of the Three-Glow Spirit Awakening Pill was gentle, they would likely be burst apart.
However, aside from feeling a bit bloated, she didn’t feel the slightest discomfort.
The energy from an entire bottle of ten pills was massive, and Qian Yu’s problem of insufficient Spiritual Energy supply was temporarily solved.
But this was still not enough; there was the most important step—this Spiritual Energy would disappear before flowing into the Dantian!
If not for this step, no matter how poor Qian Yu’s talent was, she shouldn’t have failed to make any progress over so many years.
Now, she could solve this too.
The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and humanity escapes with the one—the Ancient Sky Fox Bloodline.
The moment this bloodline completed its awakening, this sentence was etched into Qian Yu’s heart, telling her exactly how to intercept that wisp of Spiritual Energy that was about to flow away!
The fluffy big tail emitted a bit of pure white divine light, and the Ancient Sky Fox Bloodline hidden within her body began to circulate.
Immediately upon the emergence of the bloodline, a thread of Dao Rhyme, extremely thin yet indescribably ethereal and profound, bloomed around Qian Yu.
It was the appearance of this Dao Rhyme that helped Qian Yu intercept that last bit of Spiritual Energy that was about to flow away.
It entered the Dantian.
She succeeded—the first time in her life!
Qian Yu was so excited she almost stood up.
Although it was still wasteful, although it was still not highly efficient, she had finally obtained this feeling today that she had never experienced in her life.
This was… cultivation.
Popping another bottle of Three-Glow Spirit Awakening Pill in one go, the wealthy Qian Yu prepared to complete the first breakthrough of her life in one breath.
The First Realm is called Qi Refining, the most basic part of cultivation, divided into nine layers with every three layers forming a stage.
However, some special cultivation techniques could divide these nine layers into a tenth layer, or even more.
Such cultivators would naturally possess strength far exceeding ordinary people after breaking through to the Second Realm.
Whether it was Nalan Yunyan or Gu Qinghan, they had both cultivated to the fifteenth layer during the First Realm, which was hailed as the foundation for becoming a Venerable.
The Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Holy Canon also had fifteen layers in the First Realm.
Now, Qian Yu was rapidly pushing toward the second layer, and even the third.
According to her calculations—as long as she reached the fifth layer, which was roughly the mid-to-late stage of the First Realm, she could begin to attempt refining that Dao Origin Primordial Fetus.
The Sacred Body was close!
While Qian Yu was making rapid progress toward her dream goal on this end, on the other side, Gu Qinghan frowned imperceptibly upon seeing Nalan Yunyan.
She perceived the scent of a certain Half-Yao on the other woman; it seemed she had just parted from her.
What was even stranger was that after seeing her, the eldest miss of the Nalan Family threw her a provocative and even smug look, as if she had won against her in some way.
This left Gu Qinghan very confused.
However, given her personality, she would not take the initiative to speak to others.
The Sect Master had summoned her to discuss the Year-end Examination, so she would only participate in the discussion.
Even if Nalan Yunyan had come for the same purpose, she would not strike up a conversation.
This silence was seen as a retreat in Nalan Yunyan’s eyes—it seemed the letter she wrote earlier had indeed made the other girl quite angry!
Your good friend is actually just a little Fox who wants everything to be mine, hahaha~
The slight curl of her lips grew a few degrees sharper, and Nalan Yunyan proactively walked toward Gu Qinghan. Looking down from her height, she said haughtily:
“Hey, Gu Qinghan, did you see that letter I sent to Qian Yu earlier?”
“Hmm?”
Gu Qinghan tilted her head, like a confused black cat.
Why was Nalan Yunyan saying this?
Why would she read Qian Yu’s mail?