Seeing that Ma Youcai was about to leave, Liu An grew anxious and shouted loudly, "Senior Brother Ma! Senior Brother Ma! You have to stand up for us!"
Ma Youcai actually stopped, but he didn't pay any attention to Liu An. Instead, he turned around and looked at Chen Qingshan.
"Chen Qingshan, you've got some strength. But let me tell you, Liu An's brother Liu Quan is an official disciple, and word has it he's even got a core disciple backing him up!"
With that, Ma Youcai turned and left without looking back. Liu An hurriedly followed after him. If he didn't leave now, he'd be stuck shoveling manure again.
Seeing that Liu An wanted to tag along, Wang Dahai tried to call out and stop them, but Chen Qingshan gently pulled him back. Wang Dahai looked at Chen Qingshan and said nothing more.
Once Ma Youcai and Liu An's group had gone, Chen Qingshan said in a low voice, "Let's head back too. We need to focus on our cultivation. Strength is the foundation of our survival!"
Seeing Chen Qingshan's grave expression, Wang Dahai asked with some concern, "Boss, are you hurt?"
Chen Qingshan shook his head. "No. Just now, Ma Youcai wasn't using his full strength, so I didn't come out on the losing end. If he had gone all out, I probably wouldn't be a match for him. He really lives up to his name as an official immortal cultivation disciple—truly formidable!"
Wang Dahai was quite surprised. Ever since he had known Chen Qingshan, aside from facing Ye Qingxuan, Chen Qingshan had never lost. Yet this Ma Youcai, who was presumably only at the lowest tier among the Xuanyang Sect's official disciples, possessed such terrifying strength. A look of eager anticipation for immortal cultivation filled Wang Dahai's eyes.
Chen Qingshan brought Wang Dahai back to their quarters. At least for today, there shouldn't be any more trouble.
Back in their respective rooms, Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai resumed their cultivation. Chen Qingshan took out another Blood Qi Pill and swallowed it.
Another night of cultivation passed, and Chen Qingshan could feel that his strength had improved somewhat. However, he still hadn't reached the First Layer of Body Tempering. The rate of cultivation was even slower than he had anticipated.
They always said that immortal cultivation required talent, and Chen Qingshan was already starting to doubt his own aptitude. What surprised him even more was that this kid Wang Dahai had actually reached the First Layer of Body Tempering after just two days of cultivation. The kid's talent for cultivation was actually better than his own!
Looking at the irrepressible smile on Wang Dahai's face, Chen Qingshan chuckled. "I really didn't expect you, brat, to have such talent. Looks like I'll have to call you boss from now on!"
Wang Dahai quickly wiped the smile from his face, looking somewhat terrified as he said, "Boss, you'll always be my boss! No matter how much I cultivate, I'll never be a match for you!"
Seeing Wang Dahai's sincere expression, Chen Qingshan smiled and dropped the subject. "Let's go, time to eat at the dining hall!"
The Servant Quarters had a dining hall, but not every servant disciple was allowed inside to eat. Every time the dining hall opened for meals, Ma Youcai would stand guard at the entrance. Only with his permission could anyone enter.
And getting Ma Youcai's permission was simple enough: either finish the servant chores he assigned, or hand over your Blood Qi Pill to him. Either way worked.
When Chen Qingshan brought Wang Dahai over, this was the exact scene that greeted their eyes.
"Boss, what should we do? How about we hand over a Blood Qi Pill too? Word is that giving him one Blood Qi Pill buys you ten days of meals in the dining hall!" Wang Dahai still had one Blood Qi Pill left on him, and Chen Qingshan had six.
Chen Qingshan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No need to give him anything. Just follow me."
Chen Qingshan led Wang Dahai with large strides toward the dining hall. Many people at the entrance were pleading with Ma Youcai, but he completely ignored them.
The appearance of Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai attracted a lot of attention. Recognizing their unfamiliar faces, many guessed they must be newcomers. Every time new people arrived, some wouldn't know the rules and would try to force their way into the dining hall, only to be thrashed by Ma Youcai as a form of entertainment for everyone else.
Now, seeing Chen Qingshan lead Wang Dahai straight in without a care, the crowd watched expectantly. To everyone's surprise, however, although Ma Youcai stared at the two of them, he made no move to stop them from entering the dining hall.
It wasn't until Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai both stepped inside that the onlookers snapped out of their astonishment.
"What's going on here? Why didn't Senior Brother Ma stop them?"
"These two must have connections, right? Otherwise, how could they get into the dining hall so easily?"
"They really might have backing! Yesterday, I saw that fellow Liu An voluntarily going over to do their chores for them. Could they have someone among the official disciples?"
"That can't be right. If they had connections, how could they possibly end up in the Servant Quarters?"
...
Voices buzzed among the crowd, and some of the remarks reached Ma Youcai's ears. Yet he acted as though he heard nothing, paying them no mind whatsoever.
While the Xuanyang Sect had a rule that reaching the Fifth Layer of Body Tempering before the age of thirty would grant official disciple status, out of so many servant disciples, a year could easily pass without a single person managing it. In Ma Youcai's eyes, the people milling about outside were nothing more than bottom-feeder trash who would sooner or later be swept out of the Xuanyang Sect, failing even to remain as servant disciples. He simply didn't hold them in any regard.
Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai were different, however. That fellow Chen Qingshan had been able to go toe-to-toe with him back at the First Layer of Body Tempering—that was sheer innate talent. And today, he had seen that Wang Dahai had also reached the First Layer of Body Tempering, which had taken him somewhat by surprise.
Being able to reach the First Layer of Body Tempering so quickly meant Wang Dahai's cultivation talent was quite good, with a high probability of eventually becoming an official disciple. Therefore, Ma Youcai had no intention of blocking them from the dining hall. Otherwise, once Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai became official disciples—or even surpassed him in cultivation—he would be the one in trouble.
After Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai went inside, Ma Youcai resumed his stern expression, guarding the dining hall doors and screening those permitted to enter.
Once inside, Chen Qingshan and Wang Dahai finally enjoyed a proper meal.
The next few days passed in much the same fashion. Liu An didn't come looking for trouble again; presumably, he didn't dare.
After consuming his third Blood Qi Pill, Chen Qingshan successfully advanced to the First Layer of Body Tempering. However, even after finishing the remaining four Blood Qi Pills, he still failed to reach the Second Layer of Body Tempering, which left him somewhat disappointed.
It seemed his talent really wasn't up to par.
Still, Chen Qingshan wasn't overly discouraged. Talent didn't matter as long as he had enough Body Tempering Pills. If Liu An could manage to extort eight of them, couldn't he?
When it came to shaking people down, Chen Qingshan bowed to no one!