Chapter 10: Celebration

After the ceremony, Xu Ziyan and the others were officially admitted into the Outer Hall.

The next day, they packed their belongings, assembled on the training ground, and left the academy to enter the Outer Hall.

Each person was assigned a small courtyard. Xu Ziyan quickly cleaned her house and sat on the bed in her room, thinking to herself: although her cultivation level was higher than the other disciples who had entered the Outer Hall this time, her foundation might not be better than theirs; in fact, it was probably a bit worse. After all, they had started systematic training since the age of three, while she had only been cultivating for a few months.

She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then pulled out some cosmetic powders she had bought from her bag. She wrapped them in paper, picked them up, and walked out of her courtyard gate. She remembered that a girl lived next door and thought she would visit to establish some communication for the future.

To Xu Ziyan’s amusement and frustration, the girl next door was quite aloof. The girl unapologetically accepted the cosmetic powders Xu Ziyan brought and exchanged a few words with her, but whenever the topic turned to cultivation, she dodged the subject and refused to discuss it with Xu Ziyan. Left with no choice, Xu Ziyan had to say goodbye and returned to her room feeling gloomy.

“Sigh~~”

Back in her room, thinking about what had just happened, Xu Ziyan let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, thinking:

“It seems people in this world are very closed off too, unwilling to communicate with others! If I had known this, I might as well have kept those cosmetic powders for myself!”

She took out Talisman Paper, a Talisman Brush, and Vermilion Ink from her bag. She laid the Talisman Paper flat on the table, ground the Vermilion Ink properly, picked up the Talisman Brush, calmed her mind, silently circulated her True Qi, and pushed her cultivation level at the Second Layer of Qi Refining Stage to its peak. The Spiritual Energy in her body flowed evenly through the Talisman Brush as she moved the brush swiftly and smoothly, completing the talisman in one go.

She put down the Talisman Brush and held the Paper Talisman in her hand, examining it carefully. The talisman paper shimmered with colorful light, and Xu Ziyan felt great joy in her heart. Her talisman crafting skill had finally broken through to the First-grade and reached mid Second-grade level. She carefully stored this Second-grade Water Thunder Talisman and then thought about making a few more First-grade Paper Talismans to submit to the Clan as her assigned task.

Of course, Xu Ziyan would not tell the Clan that she could create Second-grade Talismans. As the saying goes, if a weak person is too wealthy, it is not a good thing. Similarly, for someone with low cultivation to possess advanced talisman crafting skills was not a good thing for Xu Ziyan either.

But just then, Xu Ziyan heard a knock on the door. Wondering who it could be, she quickly put away the items on the table, straightened her clothes, and walked toward the door.

Opening the courtyard gate, she saw that it was none other than the four classmates from her Clan academy class. She remembered that these three boys and one girl had once looked at her with disdain. Xu Ziyan was startled inwardly, not knowing why they had come to her place. But since they were guests, she politely invited all four into her house. However, they smiled and shook their heads. Among them, the girl named Xu Li said clearly:

“Ziyan, we all entered the Outer Hall from the same class. How about we go out today to find a restaurant and celebrate together?”

The four of them no longer had arrogant expressions; instead, they looked hopeful. Xu Ziyan was initially taken aback but soon became happy. Originally, she was unfamiliar with the Clan’s situation and had just tried to communicate with the girl next door, but that girl had ignored her. Now that someone had come to invite her, how could Xu Ziyan refuse?

Everyone already knew each other’s names. The three boys were Xu Tieniu, Xu Ling, and Xu Dezhi. Since they were all from the same academy and the same class, they quickly became familiar with each other and noisily walked out together.

“Ziyan, you’re so amazing! Ten days ago, you were at the Fourth Layer of Houtian, and we never expected that during yesterday’s test, you would be at the Sixth Level of Houtian. How on earth did you cultivate?”

Xu Li couldn’t hold back the question that had been on her mind for the past two days and blurted it out urgently. Xu Ziyan felt bitterly amused. She had also been thinking about how to explain this away but hadn’t come up with a good solution after much thought. Now that she was asked directly, she could only stammer:

“Maybe I had accumulated a lot and it suddenly burst forth. I accidentally skipped a level and broke through to the Sixth Layer.”

Xu Li and the other three secretly curled their lips, thinking: “Accidentally? Why have I never had such an accident?”

Seeing that the four clearly didn’t believe her, Xu Ziyan had no choice but to smile wryly again and say: “I know this matter seems strange, but I really don’t know why it happened either? This is the first time I’ve encountered it, and it scared me too.”

The others looked at Xu Ziyan’s expression and didn’t think she was lying. They glanced at each other, and Xu Tieniu said in a deep, muffled voice:

“If Ziyan says so, then that’s how it is. Everyone should stop guessing wildly.”

The remaining three looked somewhat embarrassed, and for a moment, everyone fell silent. But after all, they were all around fifteen years old, so they soon forgot about the earlier matter and started joking around together again.

The five of them arrived on the main street of Zhongdu City and chose a restaurant called Hongfei. They went up to a private room on the second floor. Being young, they didn’t stand on ceremony and casually sat around the table. Each of them ordered a few dishes and began chatting with one another.

Soon, the waiter brought up the dishes they had ordered one by one. Everyone drank a cup of wine to celebrate their entry into the Outer Hall. Xu Ling put down his cup and looked at Xu Ziyan, asking:

“Ziyan, did you eat some kind of genius treasure or something?”

Everyone else also looked at Xu Ziyan curiously. Xu Ziyan knew that they still had doubts about her rapid improvement in cultivation, which was why Xu Ling had asked such a question. She gently shook her head and said calmly:

“No.”

Looking at Xu Ziyan’s clothing, which didn’t seem like she came from a wealthy family, they all believed her words. After all, in this continent, Elixirs were quite expensive luxury items. Even the Spirit Nurturing Pill that Xu Ziyan had refined couldn’t be bought with money; it required Spirit Stones to purchase. Moreover, one Low-grade Spirit Stone was needed to buy just one Spirit Nurturing Pill. It was important to know that the value of Spirit Stones couldn’t be measured in gold or silver. No matter how much money you offered, as long as the person wasn’t a fool, they would absolutely not trade Spirit Stones for money.

“Ziyan, how long have you been cultivating?”

Xu Dezhi asked softly. With his question, everyone’s gaze suddenly focused on Xu Ziyan’s face. They all felt that Xu Dezhi had finally asked the key question. If Xu Ziyan had started cultivating at age three like them, then her breakthrough would be very suspicious. But if Xu Ziyan had started cultivating at an older age, then it could only mean that Xu Ziyan had exceptional talent. In that case, her consecutive breakthroughs wouldn’t be so surprising anymore.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, Xu Ziyan had an idea. She thought to herself: If I say I only started cultivating recently, they’ll probably just think I have good talent and won’t suspect me anymore, right? Actually, Xu Ziyan knew that while her aptitude wasn’t bad, it definitely couldn’t be considered excellent. The reason she had recently broken through to the Second Layer of Qi Refining Stage was largely due to the Spirit Nurturing Pill. One might ask, in this continent, who could take Elixirs as casually as eating candy beans like Xu Ziyan did? So, Xu Ziyan quickly pretended to be somewhat embarrassed and said:

“I lived in a very remote village where no one paid attention to cultivation. It was only recently that an uncle who came to my home discovered that I could actually cultivate. So he taught me some cultivation methods. I never thought that after cultivating for just one year, I would break through to the Fourth Layer of Houtian. Two months ago, my uncle personally came to my home to see me. When he found out I had reached the Fourth Layer of Houtian, he was overjoyed and immediately brought me to the Clan and arranged for me to enter the academy.”

“You’re not saying you’ve only been cultivating for one year, are you?” Xu Li’s eyes widened as she stared at Xu Ziyan in shock.

“That’s right, I’ve only been cultivating for one year!” At this point, Xu Ziyan even pretended to be embarrassed and said: “Living in a mountain village before, I knew nothing and didn’t realize I could cultivate. Thinking about it now, I feel really ashamed.”

In their hearts, all four of them—Xu Li and the others—shouted in frustration: “What are you ashamed of? You reached the Sixth Level of Houtian after just one year of cultivation! Are you trying to make it impossible for anyone else to live?”

Looking at the four people in front of her with their strange expressions, Xu Ziyan reached out her hand and waved it in front of them, asking softly with some concern:

“Are you all okay?”

“We are not okay! We are so not okay! This is too demoralizing! How are we supposed to live now?” they all shouted simultaneously, stamping their feet and pounding their chests.

“It’s… it’s not that serious, is it?” Xu Ziyan stammered.

“Not that serious?” Xu Li’s eyes widened as she glared at Xu Ziyan. She exaggeratedly grabbed Xu Ziyan’s shoulders and shouted hoarsely: “Do you even know when we started cultivating?”

Xu Ziyan shook her head blankly.

“Three years old!” Xu Li held up three fingers and said painfully: “Three years old! We started Clan cultivation at three years old. Every day, it was nothing but cultivation, cultivation, and more cultivation. We were always afraid we wouldn’t break through to the Fifth Layer of Houtian by age fifteen, living under pressure every single day.”

Letting go of Xu Ziyan’s shoulders, she raised her hands to the sky, tilted her head back, and cried out in anguish: “My childhood! My childhood!”

Xu Ziyan was amused by Xu Li’s exaggerated expression, and the others burst into laughter too. However, their laughter contained a hint of bitterness, which was unavoidable. After all their hard work over more than ten years, they still couldn’t compare to someone who had only cultivated for one year. How could they not feel bitter inside?

After everyone had finished laughing, Xu Ziyan asked curiously: “Xu Li, is my cultivation speed really that astonishing? Isn’t there anyone else who cultivates as fast as I do?”

The room suddenly fell quiet. Xu Li said softly: “There is!”