People were divided into ranks, and geniuses were divided into ranks as well.
Sometimes the gap between one genius and another was even greater than that between a human and a dog.
In Bai Yiyi's heart, her junior sisters were all peerless prodigies. Yet compared to Ye Ling, they still fell short. At the very least, she had never seen her junior sisters advance as easily as eating and drinking.
Everyone encountered bottlenecks. Some were small, some immense, but no one could avoid them.
Even at the Qi Cultivation stage, leaping two levels in one breath was something that simply did not happen. At least, Bai Yiyi had never seen it.
At the same time, Ye Ling received a message from the System.
[Bai Yiyi's sense of defeat toward Host +85]
Perhaps because she had already been frustrated once before, the gain this time was not very high.
Having grasped how the System worked, Ye Ling moved with a thought and immediately claimed the reward.
In an instant, a surge of Spiritual Qi appeared abruptly in his Dantian. The Qi that had still been a hair's breadth from the breakthrough point was pushed over the edge by this influx, and Ye Ling once again felt that intoxicating rush of advancement.
[Bai Yiyi's intense sense of defeat toward Host +315]
"!!!"
Bai Yiyi's wine-red eyes flew wide open. She stared at Ye Ling in disbelief, her voice trembling as she said,
"Qi… Qi Cultivation Third Level…"
Ye Ling's performance had completely exceeded Bai Yiyi's expectations. She looked at him as if she were staring at a monster.
Breaking through three levels in a single instant—this was simply unimaginable. Even if she told the outside world, not a single cultivator would believe it.
This was no longer a question of genius. It was downright monstrous talent.
Among all the methods cultivators knew, only pills or rare treasures could achieve something like this. Yet Ye Ling had advanced to the Third Level of Qi Cultivation solely by absorbing Spiritual Qi. That alone was enough to prove his extraordinary innate talent.
Bai Yiyi's judgment had not been wrong. Unaware of the System's existence, she had still recognized that Ye Ling was a rare, top-grade piece of uncut jade. With just a little polishing, his hidden brilliance would surely shine.
But only Ye Ling himself knew the truth. Without the System, he could never have accomplished something like this.
To be honest, he had originally planned to "hold in" the Spiritual Qi and then claim the System's reward, avoiding the risk of his Dantian being blown apart by excess energy.
But the purity of this Spiritual Qi was so high that it transformed into his True Qi on its own, without any need for refinement. It was like consuming a heavenly treasure, yet without the slightest toxic side effect.
Of course, this was something only Bai Yiyi could manage. If it were anyone else, Spiritual Qi mixed with so many impurities would have to be refined before it could become True Qi and be stored in the Dantian.
That was why such a miracle could only be achieved by the two of them.
"My good disciple, you… how did you do this?"
Bai Yiyi's wine-red eyes shone with a brilliance like starlight. Though she still called Ye Ling her "good disciple," her manner now was more like someone worshipping a top student.
At this rate, she estimated that in less than half a month, Ye Ling would be able to break through the Qi Cultivation stage entirely—unaware of the System's existence.
"Huff…"
Immersed in the pleasure of his breakthrough, Ye Ling could not help but let out a low moan.
His first breakthrough alone had already felt like his entire body was being remade. The next two, coming one after another, piled together into a triple surge that left him so overwhelmed he could barely breathe.
After catching his breath, he finally noticed that Bai Yiyi was looking at him with undisguised admiration.
[Bai Yiyi's admiration toward Host +43]
Admiration could increase points too?
After a brief moment of thought, Ye Ling felt as if he had stumbled upon the secret to getting rich. With a calm expression, he probed carefully,
"Master, is my cultivation progress… unreasonable?"
"..."
Faced with Ye Ling's composed demeanor, Bai Yiyi realized she had gotten a little too carried away.
No, this won't do. If I get too excited, my good disciple will think the Heavenly Gate isn't anything special and decide to leave the mountain!
With that thought, Bai Yiyi hurriedly suppressed the excitement in her heart, forcing herself to calm down. She replied slowly,
"Rea… reasonable. Your Martial Aunts… they cultivate at about this pace too."
Yeah, right.
Across the entire cultivation world, anyone who wasn't relying on swallowing heavenly treasures could never reach Ye Ling's speed.
No matter how careless Bai Yiyi might be, she still possessed basic common sense about cultivation.
At the same time, she had always known that true geniuses existed in this world. So even though Ye Ling had pulled off a triple leap right in front of her, she could accept such speed from the bottom of her heart.
After all, she herself could not learn any of the Six Arts, yet her junior sisters could master them at a single glance. The gap between people was sometimes even greater than the gap between a human and a dog.
[Quest Progress (1/3)]
At the same time, a small line of text appeared before Ye Ling, indicating that Bai Yiyi had acknowledged his cultivation speed.
"However," Bai Yiyi continued, "your master is worried that you might be cultivating too quickly. You should explain how you did it, just in case it leaves hidden dangers behind."
Her words carried genuine concern, but there was also a hint of wanting to learn from Ye Ling.
"Absorb Spiritual Qi, let it flow into the Dantian," Ye Ling replied. "Isn't cultivation that simple?"
Since his earlier test had worked, Ye Ling planned to press on and complete another part of the task.
Unfortunately, Bai Yiyi shook her head.
"The Qi Cultivation stage may seem simple, but it's not as effortless as you make it sound. The most important part is breaking through bottlenecks. But when I observed you just now, it seemed like you didn't encounter any bottleneck at all."
Bottlenecks existed to one degree or another. That was precisely why breakthroughs existed.
"A bottleneck?"
Ye Ling slightly furrowed his sharp brows, putting on a thoughtful expression.
His attempt to simplify the cultivation process had failed, but he was not discouraged. After all, no matter how easy Bai Yiyi was to fool, she was not someone who would believe everything he said. This bit of frustration was well within his expectations.
And since he couldn't simplify the cultivation steps, he would simply eliminate the bottleneck instead.
"Master, when I was down the mountain, I once learned a method for solving difficult problems."
Resting his chin on his hand, Ye Ling spoke while watching Bai Yiyi's expression.
"When I encounter a hard problem, I first break it down into simpler steps, then solve them one by one."
Afraid that Bai Yiyi might not understand, he added an analogy.
"For example, in cultivation. Why does the Qi Cultivation stage have ten levels, while the realms afterward are only divided into early, middle, and late stages? I think the sages did this to make it easier for later generations to get started, so they divided the Qi Cultivation stage into ten levels."
Seeing understanding gradually appear on Bai Yiyi's face, Ye Ling threw out another question.
"So why can't the Qi Cultivation stage be divided into a hundred levels?"