"Tomorrow, it will be exactly three years."
Xiao Chen counted the days. This time, it was really about to happen.
They said three years, and it had been exactly that—three full years since the day he acquired the Augment.
One thousand and ninety-five days. Not one day was missing.
He'd originally thought he would be able to break through on New Year's Day.
So on New Year's Day, Xiao Chen had rushed to the Dharma Transmission Hall bright and early and sat cross-legged on a cushion in the very front row.
He had well and truly shocked Old Man Wu.
The old man had even opened the window to check if the sun had risen from the east that morning.
Otherwise, why would Xiao Chen, who always showed up at the last possible second to hole up in the back row, suddenly be so eager?
At first, Old Man Wu had thought he'd turned over a new leaf and even felt a little gratified.
After all, for a white-haired old man like him, his greatest wish and pleasure was to pass on his knowledge and guide these youths.
But he never expected it.
The very next day, Xiao Chen went back to arriving at the last second, returning to his familiar spot in the bottom-left corner of the back row.
After three years, both old and new disciples alike had spontaneously started leaving that spot open for him. Nobody ever took it.
Everything went back to normal, as if the events of New Year's Day had been nothing but a fluke.
For a moment, Old Man Wu was even a bit dazed, as if his memory were playing tricks on him.
This was followed by anger and bitter disappointment over his wasted potential.
He had berated Xiao Chen and punished him by making him stand outside.
To his surprise, Xiao Chen had actually trotted outside with great agility, looking as if he'd been set free.
An enraged Old Man Wu slammed his hand on the table. "Rotten wood! You're rotten wood that can't be carved!"
'But it doesn't matter. That's all just a facade from the past.'
Xiao Chen simply laughed off the world's misunderstandings, which were no more than a gentle breeze brushing past his face.
'Once the three-year period is up, I'll transform from 'rotten wood' into a pillar of the Sect.'
'With my strength at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, I'll be promoted to an Outer Disciple.'
As far as he knew, of the two hundred-plus people who had entered the Sect with him, the vast majority were still stuck at the third level of Qi Refining.
Only a handful of disciples from Cultivation Clans had received support and resources from their families.
There was also a lucky fellow named Lin Ping'an, who had supposedly found a Spirit Fruit and successfully broken through.
This meant that once Xiao Chen joined the Outer Sect, he would already be ahead of ninety percent of the other Servant Disciples, making him the cream of the crop.
'Of course, there's one more urgent matter I have to take care of first.'
'I need to create a plausible reason for my breakthrough.'
'I can't just break through in my sleep. That would be too bizarre.'
'If I happen to attract the attention of some high-ranking Sect elder with too much time on their hands, it could spell disaster.'
So, early the next morning, Xiao Chen rushed to the Dharma Transmission Hall and once again sat on the cushion in the very center of the front row.
There was a great deal of thought behind his choice of seat.
Legend had it that fifty years ago, a disciple who had been at the Sect for only half a year had a sudden enlightenment on this very cushion, advancing directly to the Late Stage of Qi Refining.
Xiao Chen planned to have his own "enlightenment," as a tribute to that senior brother.
Before long, a tardy Old Man Wu arrived and immediately spotted Xiao Chen sitting in the front row.
After a moment of astonishment,
He bent over slightly. "Well now, what special occasion is it today? To what do we owe the honor of your presence in the front row?"
Xiao Chen's expression was grave. "Instructor, I have come to realize the grave error of my past idleness. From this day forward, I will turn over a new leaf and apply myself diligently."
"Oh."
Old Man Wu nodded, returning to the lectern with a surprisingly calm expression. "Today, we will continue where we left off yesterday and discuss the allocation of Magical Power."
"Xiao Chen, tell the class the common ways to allocate Magical Power."
This question didn't faze Xiao Chen in the slightest. After all, the curriculum repeated every six months, and he had already sat through this lecture five times.
"Instructor, the common allocation methods for Magical Power are the 'two-defense, one-offense' model and the 'one-defense, one-offense, one-reserve' model."
Old Man Wu pressed on. "And how do you normally allocate yours?"
...
In the Qi Refining Stage, a Cultivator gains one strand of Magical Power for every Minor Realm they advance. By the third level of Qi Refining, they possess a total of three strands.
From that point until the ninth level of Qi Refining, a Cultivator can condense an additional three strands of Magical Power for every Minor Realm they break through.
The amount of Magical Power one possessed was crucial, as it was consumed when casting Magic, deploying a Magical Artifact, or activating a Talisman.
Of course, Xiao Chen currently had only a single strand of Magical Power, enough to cast the Small Cloud Rain Skill just once.
'What allocation method could I possibly have?'
Old Man Wu's question was clearly meant to put him on the spot.
'Damn it! The first time I'm supposed to cultivate Magical Power is at 7:45 AM, but it's only 7:15 AM right now.'
'Three years meant three years, not a single quarter-hour less, apparently.'
'I'm still in the Rotten Wood Realm. How am I supposed to answer that?'
"Woah!"
A sudden cry of surprise came from the back of the room.
Xiao Chen turned his head to see a handsome young man with his eyes closed in concentration, Spiritual Qi surging around him. He was breaking through a minor bottleneck in the Early Stage of Qi Refining.
He wore a long black robe, his features as handsome as carved jade. It was none other than Ye Fei, the famously talented disciple from the Miscellaneous Peak who had just joined the Sect this year.
As the Spiritual Qi converged, his aura suddenly surged under the watchful eyes of the crowd, and he successfully broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
At the same time, a strange wind suddenly gusted through the Dharma Transmission Hall, circling Ye Fei three times before abruptly vanishing.
Xiao Chen couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. 'Someone else is having an epiphany?'
If he recalled correctly, this junior brother, Ye Fei, had just broken through to the third level of Qi Refining seven days ago, becoming the first among the new disciples to do so.
And now he had broken through again. His talent was truly exceptional.
"Quickly, all of you! Sit and meditate! Use this opportunity to sense the fluctuations in the surrounding qi!"
Old Man Wu hurriedly instructed the disciples to begin their practice.
Witnessing the breakthrough of a fellow Cultivator in the same Realm was believed to be beneficial for one's own cultivation.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen immediately began to meditate with rapt attention. He closed his eyes, put on a pious expression, and feigned enlightenment.
'What a great opportunity! If I break through right after him, it should seem a little more plausible, right?'
However, a few breaths later, a cool female voice spoke up.
"I see."
This was followed by another eruption of aura.
Xiao Chen opened his eyes to see a young woman in a red dress. She was smiling, a Spirit Stone in her hand, as rolling waves of heat radiated from her body.
Several nearby disciples were even forced to retreat from the intense heat.
"It's her! Jiang Sixuan! She's truly worthy of her title as the primary daughter of the Jiang Family!"
"I hear the Jiang Family's hereditary Fire Technique is incredibly potent. Just from her aura alone, you can tell it's several times stronger than the Basic Breathing Technique."
Old Man Wu stroked his sparse beard, nodding in satisfaction. "Good, good, very good!"
Xiao Chen blinked. 'Another one?'
'What's going on? How did she break through too?'
'Don't tell me your three-year agreement is up today, too?'
Just then, the time quietly ticked over to 7:45 AM. The three-year period was up.
Inside Xiao Chen's Dantian, his single strand of Magical Power seemed to gain a life of its own.
It began to circulate through his body on its own, following the route prescribed by the Basic Breathing Technique.
Since he was advancing directly from the first level of Qi Refining to the fourth,
Xiao Chen broke through three times in succession within a mere ten breaths, his aura exploding outwards with each breakthrough.
He even formed a small Spiritual Qi vortex on the spot, which drew in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to fill the emptiness in his Dantian.
The disturbance was even greater than the previous two combined, instantly drawing everyone's attention.