Mei headed to the simple building where Qiao Shun's residence was. Now that she had seen more of the sect, this white block of a building really felt out of place.

The other buildings she saw in the sect were far more elegant and beautiful, definitely meeting her expectations of xianxia! Even the homes of some richer folk back in her town looked better. She wondered why he left it so plain.

She reached out and touched the same formation again.

As quickly as she remembered, the energetic little ball of flame zoomed right out.

"Hi! What are you here again for?" it said, flying in circles around her.

Mei grimaced, reaching for her pocket. A strong sense of loss came over her as she took out 2 jade, leaving her with only 6.

"Mmm! Only took you four days!" Xiao Huo bobbed in the air, as if nodding. "I'll pass them to master."

The 2 pieces of jade floated into the air and began orbiting the little spirit. It shot back into the formation, the jade somehow following.

Mei thought to herself that if the little spirit weren't so annoying, it would actually be kind of cute.

But that wasn't the reason she came here today. She decided to come here to cultivate with how much denser the qi was here than in her dorm! Qiao Shun wouldn't complain since she paid for the pill, she hoped.

She felt a bit of smugness for thinking of coming here. Her friends might be more diligent, but she had an advantage here!

She sat down in the lotus position on the grass. She had no idea if it actually aided cultivation, but she decided she might as well.

It was still very boring, but thinking of the tournament really motivated her. Constantly thinking of all the cool stuff she'd do with martial arts and magic, she managed to go into a bit of a trance.

Slowly, qi seeped into her pores, cycling through her body before entering her dantian.

Before she knew it, she felt a strange sense of power. It quickly faded away and definitely wasn't as dramatic as in the novels she read, but Mei had a feeling she had reached the 2nd stage of Qi Gathering.

Time passed as she cultivated, night coming. Soon, the sun rose yet again.

A lone girl was sitting on the grass, her eyes closed, a peaceful look on her face. She was also drooling a bit.

"Get up."

Mei felt a slight kick. She snapped out of her trance and turned around.

Qiao Shun was standing behind her with a stoic look. With golden sunlight shining on him, he would have looked quite elegant if not for the hyperactive little spirit zooming around him.

"It's 7 in the morning. You should go for breakfast."

"Ah!" Mei was shocked. "Thanks."

She somehow cultivated all the way till now?! Strangely, she didn't feel particularly tired despite not having slept. Though to be fair, at some point, she pretty much stopped actively thinking, so it was pretty close to sleep. Mei felt more refreshed than she had ever been in quite a while. She stretched for a bit.

What stage of Qi Gathering was she even at now?

"Treat this as a one-time thing." Qiao Shun said. "You shouldn't be cultivating outside an elder's house, especially since I'm not your master."

"Sorry..."

In the end, the elders had face to uphold. They couldn't just let random disciples sit outside and cultivate all-day.

"Honestly, I should charge you a few jade for being brazen enough to cultivate here..." Mei heard him mumble.

"Haha... I'll get going." she laughed nervously before running off.

She didn't want to wait for him to change his mind.

Qiao Shun shook his head and sighed.

 

At the breakfast table, Mei and her friends bantered for a bit. A friend of Xiuying's from her horticulture class, Ning Xing, came to say hi before quickly leaving.

Mei steeled herself and decided to ask them what stage they were at.

Wang Wei was having difficulty reaching the Foundational realm, so he remained at stage 9. Liu Qiang proudly declared that he had reached stage 9 too. Xiuxing was at stage 7 and Yingyi at 6.

With their help, Mei found out she had reached stage 4. Not bad for a day's cultivation.

 

---

 

"I know you disciples are excited for weapon training today, but I have some news." the sect master said before the disciples in the hall.

"I've handed each and every one of you a teleportation token a few days ago. Today, the formation masters in change told me that the array is ready!"

Cheers echoed through the hall.

Mei turned over to see the reaction of her friends. Xiuying had a wide smile on her face. In contrast, Wang Wei looked troubled for some reason. Liu Qiang looked excited while Yingyi looked quite nonchalant about it.

"Some cultivators believe they should sever ties with the mortal world. But what type of person just cuts off their family and friends after just gaining some power? Having cultivated doesn't mean you should look down at mortals as inferior beings, especially as virtuous cultivators." the sect master said. "Some of you might not want to visit your parents and friends, but I urge you to."

Mei agreed with him. In the past when reading, Mei found it a bit weird how the main characters would just abandon everyone they once knew. She didn't think much about it, simply shrugging it off for suspension of disbelief though.

"Every month, you can visit once for free. You will need to pay 50 jade for any subsequent visits."

FIFTY?! Mei wanted to cough blood.

"The array takes quite a lot of energy to run so we can't just let everyone use it whenever they feel like it. Your coin will glow gently when you have a free use."

Mei took out the token to take a closer look. The 天 character was glowing gently, which made the coin rather pretty.

"You are dismissed!"

As the disciples streamed out, Xiuying stopped her friends, still smiling.

"Follow me, I have a bit of a surprise for you guys!"

"What is it?" Liu Qiang asked.

"You'll find out in a bit!"

Xiuying led them into the cafeteria and to her surprise, into the kitchen.

Inside, there was not a single disciple. The octopus was just floating, its eyes closed. It was cultivating.

Without anyone in the room, the octopus didn't feel the need to restrain its aura. Mei felt overwhelming power emanating from it, though it wasn't very oppressive. Still, it made her a little nervous. How high was the chef's cultivation?

Wang Wei, Liu Qiang and Yingyi looked a bit freaked out, having not seen the octopus before.

"Ah, you're here, Xiuying." the chef said, opening his eyes.

The aura subsided.

"Yes, master!" she said.

"Master?!" Wang Wei and Yingyi exclaimed at the same time.

They gave each other glares.

"Yeah, he decided to teach me cooking!"

"I've heard from Xiuying a few days ago that she would be visiting her family once the teleportation array was set up, so I offered to prepare a few dishes for her family to try." said the octopus. "She requested that I help prepare something for you disciples, her friends too. You should thank her."

Xiuying smiled awkwardly as her friends thanked her.

The octopus handed out a box to each of them. Unable to resist the temptation, Liu Qiang immediately opened it to take a look, which made the octopus frown.

From a single glance, Mei could tell it was different from the typical cafeteria food. While the cafeteria food was definitely top class, it was still but mortal food!

A slight aura wafted off the food and it smelled more delicious than any food she had ever seen. She couldn't help but salivate a little.

Noticing the octopus's displeasure, Liu Qiang quickly closed it, apologising to the octopus nervously. A giant floating octopus was kind of intimidating.