Chu Xingchen slowly walked into the courtyard looking the peach trees and listening to the song of birds welcoming spring
He couldn't help feeling a little dazed, realizing that it he was a sect elder this spring
"Master."
At this moment, Xiaomaō who by habit had woken up early greeted him respectfully
"Xiaomaō," Chu Xingchen acknowledged with a nod. "Wake the others for the morning lessons."
"Yes, Master." Xiaomaō bowed and left.
[System Mission: Greatly help your disciples
Mission time limit: 15 days.
Mission reward: Feedback based on results
Additional reward: Indestructible Golden Body Technique.]
Finally a new mission and a sensible one too
It had been two years since Chu Xingchen had transmigrated to this world. Ever since he had woken up, he had been bound to this system.
The generosity system in exchange of helping others via system missions he would gain rewards such as cultivation base, spirit artefacts ,herbs, pills etc
However most mission were suicidal like killing the corrupt young master of a powerful family, picking a fight with a demon sect or killing powerful monsters who were tormenting mortals
In his previous life, Chu Xingchen had strictly adhered to the path of moderation. He understood that there was always someone better than him.
Being someone who believed in avoiding the spotlight while slowly making preparations for whatever was ahead, understood the dangers of the mysterious fantasy world too well and thus rejected most of the system missions
Then there was the problematic history of the original host of this body
In the past he had been the disciple of the heavenly flame sect and due to his good talent he was taken as a disciple by an elder
However he decided to betray the sect to their rival clear river sect in exchange of better resources and guidance from the sect' s top elder
Aside from giving vital information and leaking secret techniques he also helped fight in the war against his old sect and helped destroy it
Then afterwards he joined with a group of demonic cultivator who were secretly members of the cool spring sect and helped them take over it
Naturally the other righteous sect didn't let this pass and it was war again
Then he betrayed them to the righteous sect and became a elder of a sword sect until he used the female members of the sect as a cauldron for advancing his cultivation before he was exposed
These were but only few of his unstable behaviour, he switched allegiances erratically and freely betrayed his allies. He was always suspicious of others and could not control his subordinates.
In the end the heavens had enough of him and killed him with a massive thunderstorm
'Haa this guy is his surname secretly Lu or something just how much negative karma has this asshole gathered' Chu Xingchen lamented for some reason the heavens decided that him being an alternate version of this trash was responsible for clearing his bad karma by providing him a generosity system
"Greetings Master Chu !" a simultaneous greetings shook him out of his thoughts Chu Xingchen plastered a confident, if slightly distant, look on his face.
"Alright, settle down." He waited for them to stand attentive. "Today we start. The very first step on your path now a simple question first. Do any of you know your spiritual attributes? Water, Fire, Earth, Metal, Wood?"
Silence met his question, followed by shakes of heads. That was expected realising ones attribute often requires self reflection and understanding
Then, a small voice spoke "Master... I... I think I might know mine." It was the same girl who'd spoken up before.
"Go on," Chu Xingchen prompted
"Fire," she mumbled, a little stronger this time. "My Mast...my former master... She told me that was my affinity. When I try to sense energy... it feels warm. Like sunlight"
' Former master, huh? Probably didn't get far if she ended up here. But at least she knows this much.' Chu Xingchen made a mental note 'now what did sect leader say this girls name was?"
'Light brown hair, warm amber eyes, a pleasant face ah ' Chu Xingchen took a moment to remember her name [1]
"Song Fen. Come forward." He singled out the Fire girl. "The rest of you, find a clear spot in the courtyard, sit cross-legged."
"Yes Master ! "
As the other girls moved he focused on Song Fen . "Spiritual attributes guide your path," Chu Xingchen explained. "Knowing yours is a good start."
"Since most of you are unsure of your affinity, we begin with Water. Its nature is stability, adaptability. It is the most balanced element, making a basic Water technique the safest and most reliable choice for gathering initial Qi when one's attribute is unknown." Chu Xingchen turned back to the main group.
He began demonstrating simple breathing patterns and energy circulation pathways for the flowing river technique, focusing on drawing in the ambient spiritual energy and guiding it, like cool, clear water, towards the dantian. "Feel the coolness, the steady current. Guide it, calm and consistent "
Once the girls sat down to practice his attention retuned to the Song Fen.
"You know your affinity is Fire. Fire's nature is to rise and burn .A Fire technique can cultivate quickly, increase power rapidly, but it is inherently less stable, more prone to backlash if not handled correctly. Because you know your attribute, you can attempt a this flame lotus technique" He demonstrated a different set of breathing and circulation methods for the Fire technique
"Feel the heat, the energy. Guide it like a tiny flame. Be careful." He advised her in the end as she sat down to cultivate
"Yes...Master" Song Fen bobbed her head and started to cultivate
'That went better than I expected ' Chu Xingchen walked among them as they cultivated
Originally he had no idea if he could teach them properly; all the cultivation techniques he knew were just second-hand knowledge passed on by the previous host. He had very little experience cultivating himself – less than a year – but it seemed to work out somehow.
'Anyways as long as they cultivate diligently for a couple days I can claim my rewa-!?'
A sudden, collective surge of spiritual energy erupted in the courtyard. All the girls, simultaneously, underwent a transformation. The raw spiritual energy they were just beginning to guide condensed almost instantly.
They broke through to the first stage of Qi Layering, surprising him completely.
"W-w-waa..." Chu Xingchen made a strange noise as his jaw dropped
'How? How is this possible? They skipped Qi Gathering entirely! Not even a few hours, not even one circulation! Straight to layering Qi?' His mind reeled trying make sense of what he just saw
'Especially Xiaomaō isn't she just a mortal !? ' Chu Xingchen looked at the green haired girl
Xiaomaō, who was a mortal without any cultivation foundation just moments ago. He had been checking if her body could handle the initial spirit Qi intake, watching for signs like sweating or a red face. If he saw any, he would have stopped her from cultivating further and shifted her to a body tempering technique after letting her rest.
If a person wanted to cultivate, the first thing they needed was a good body.
For that reason they must tamper their body with a physical refinement technique, this stage was commonly known as the body tampering stage
Of course children of cultivator or warrior families were naturally born with enhanced bodies so they could skip that part but for normal mortals they might have to refine their flesh, expel toxins and unlock the medians to strengthen themselves
Only when the body was strong enough, the meridians in the body could become tougher, and they could withstand the strong spiritual energy.
By using the vital essence to guide the spiritual energy into the meridians, the spiritual energy would slowly accumulate in the "dantian", which was the first step to enter the Qi Gathering Realm.
After entering the Qi Gathering Realm, through continuous cultivation, the meridians would be tempered and the spiritual energy （Qi） would be expanded.
This was because the meridians in the human body were not all connected at the beginning. There would be many blocked areas.
Every time a breakthrough was made, the meridians in the body would expand a little. At the same time, some blocked areas would be broken through.
That was why one had to work hard to cultivate.
It was because if one did not cultivate for a period of time, the meridians in the body might rebound, causing the already unblocked meridians to become blocked again.
After 12 circulations of spiritual energy through the body, it was time for one's meridians to expand to the limit. All the meridians would be unblocked, and spiritual energy would flow through all the meridians in the body.
In this stage,the spiritual energy in the cultivator's body could be considered to be completely connected as one. The accumulated spiritual energy would accumulate in liquid form to the "dantian" and begin to transform the "dantian" to build a spiritual layer ascending to the Qi layering stage
At this point, the meridians in Xiaomaō body had expanded hundreds of times!
Her strength and cultivation level therefore rose frantically from nothing to eighth stage Qi Gathering Realm no to the ninth stage, and the tenth stage!?Then the first stage of the Qi layering
There was no obstruction at all. It was as easy as breathing as she directly crossed two entire major realm.
[Mission Reward: Feedback based on results]
[Additional Reward: Indestructible Golden Body Technique]
[Bonus Reward: Cultivation Base feedback X10]
[Bonus Reward: 8000 High-Grade Spirit Stones]
[Bonus Reward: Noble-Tier Water attributed cultivation technique (Random)]
[Bonus Reward: Peak-Grade blood coloured Ginseng (x10)]
[Bonus Reward: Silver tire artefact Blue Lotus boots]
[Bonus Reward: ...]
The list scrolled, showing rewards that would take a normal cultivator centuries to accumulate. Shock warred with elation within Chu Xingchen
The initial disbelief at the girls' breakthrough morphed into stunned, overwhelming joy as he realized the monumental benefits cascading upon him.
He crumpled slightly, not from pressure this time, but from the sheer force of relief and elation washing over him. All that karma... all that avoiding missions... and all it took was teaching these girls for five minutes?
[Song Fen has broken to the second stage of Qi layering]
[ Chen Lili, has broken to the second stage of Qi layering]
[Xiaomaō has broken to the second stage of Qi layering]
"From this day forward," Chu Xingchen declared as his rewards piled up, "you are not just disciples of the Iron Turtle Mountain Sect. You are my disciples. My responsibility. I swear by my Dao heart, I will raise you like my own daughters, guide your paths, and protect each and every one of you with my life!"
XXXX-XXXX
(Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island)
Sect Leader Xiù Feng was engaged in important routine sunbathing while lying on her rattan chair
A soft chime sounded in her mind. A notification appeared in her familiar floating interface, overlaid on her vision.
[Sect Notification: Sect Combat Power Increased by 80]
[disciples Song Fen has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[disciples Li Hua has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[Disciple Chen Lili, has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[disciples Liu Juan has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[disciples Zhang Ziyan has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[disciples Song Fen has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[disciples Xiaomaō has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
[disciples Chen Xue'er has reached Qi Layering Stage 2]
....
"..." Xiù Feng just spared a glance at the notification. She didn't need to read every line; the total combat power increase told her the story.
'So I see as expected the system glitch is actually working. '
In the game Eternal Taoist Realms the starting point for all newbie players was the Qi layering unlike this world where there were two lower realms below it.
Since, Qi Gathering stages simply don't exist in the game's system.The game automatically make you skips all that.
It's a core element of game design for pacing If cultivation took years to achieve like in real life who'd play the game ? Since the system affected the whole island breakthroughs will take minutes as in the game, unlike the years or decades outside even Xiù Feng who had chosen the hard route would take only few months to progress just by staying here
Since she had a bunch of disciples all she needs to do is to wait for three hours or so till they reached the foundation establishment then teach them to tend to her spirit herb fields after that she can establish a trade relation with the Hundred Herbs Hall and then take in more disciples to do free work for her
"Haaa life is good " Xiù Feng smiled happily
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[1] Xiù Feng gave physical discription to the elders like the girl with green hair , purple eyes and freckles is Xiaomaō
A/N hi I hope you like this story please leave a review or like !! Constructive criticism is welcome