A pair of deep, clear eyes slowly opened, and a figure jumped up with excitement. Haha, I've broken through!
Qi Condensation stage 1st Layer!
"Han Lin, oh Han Lin! You're no good-for-nothing anymore," Han Lin rejoiced inwardly.
The sky was faintly bright, and birds were chirping endlessly. After sleeping for the night, I stretched lazily—what a wonderfully sound sleep I had last night! The early bird gets the worm, but the late-rising Han Lin gets no pills. Then I hummed that familiar tune: "Wave you a wave, hundred flowers fragrant, wave wave wave..."
After washing up, I opened the door to find the outer disciples, Gou Dan and Er Hu, looking at me strangely. "Did you have some wonderful dream yesterday?" they asked. "Why are you only getting up now? Were you dreaming of Senior Sister Ye Hong? Hehe!"
I immediately explained, "No, stop talking nonsense." The two of them were clearly making fun of Han Lin, an outer disciple with defective spirit roots whose cultivation was even lower than theirs.
Actually, their cultivation wasn't much higher either. Last night, Han Lin had used every ounce of his strength to finally break through to the Qi Condensation stage.
Elder Shen had originally appointed Ding Yi as the head disciple among the outer disciples, hoping that this handsome and dashing senior brother would help share some of his daily workload.
As a squad leader, Ding Yi was quite competent, and the outer disciples had no complaints whatsoever. He shouted loudly, "Gather immediately! Elder Shen is going to hold a morning meeting."
Once the outer disciples were gathered, Ding Yi led everyone to the large outer plaza. Elder Shen walked over with a jaunty step and announced, "All disciples have been diligent in practicing their cultivation techniques these past few days. The Sect Master and I have jointly decided that tomorrow we will begin a new round of outer disciple assessment tournaments. The winners will be promoted to inner disciples, and in addition, they will be rewarded with one hundred Spirit Stones and ten Qi Condensation Pills."
After giving his instructions, Elder Shen said he had matters to attend to and left Ding Yi in charge of the assessment.
As the words faded, Gou Dan and Er Hu began excitedly wrestling each other among the crowd of disciples. Ding Yi stepped forward and asked, "What is all this shouting and screaming about?"
Gou Dan said angrily, "Er Hu stole five of my Spirit Stones last night!"
Ding Yi asked Er Hu, "Did you steal Gou Dan's Spirit Stones?"
Er Hu lowered his head and said, "Yes, I did take Gou Dan's Spirit Stones. When I saw he was fast asleep, I wanted to borrow them and return them next month when our stipend is paid."
After the explanation, Er Hu immediately handed the Spirit Stones back to Gou Dan. Gou Dan was a well-liked person among the disciples, so out of loyalty he said, "I won't hold this against you. Keep these five Spirit Stones and pay me back next month."
The other disciples didn't know, but Gou Dan was aware that Er Hu's mother was sick, and Er Hu, being a filial son, wanted to borrow Spirit Stones to pay for her medical treatment.
Learning the truth of the matter, Ding Yi hurriedly said, "There's nothing really between Gou Dan and Er Hu; we won't punish Er Hu this time."
Er Hu burst into tears of gratitude. Upon learning he wouldn't be punished, he and Gou Dan hugged and cried together. All the disciples were deeply moved and sympathetic toward Er Hu, as his situation was indeed difficult. That's just how this world was: without Spirit Stones, you couldn't buy anything, not even pursue the person you loved.
In the Bailu Hall of the Cloud Mist Sect, Xie Nan, the Sect Master's son, and his subordinates were discussing countermeasures, saying, "Word has been spreading these past few days that we're going to hunt down Han Lin." The fat subordinate and the others had been beaten up by Han Lin last time, and they knew very well they couldn't beat him. The subordinates told the Young Sect Master precisely to get him to eliminate Han Lin.
In other words, they had no idea what Han Lin's true strength was.
The fat man understood that the Young Sect Master Xie Nan's strength had already surpassed the Foundation Establishment mid-stage, and before long he would step into the Core Formation stage. He would surely back him up.
Gou Dan and Er Hu secretly ran over to Han Lin's room. Han Lin was just finishing his meditation and getting ready to sleep. When the two of them walked in, they ingratiatingly said, "The assessment is tomorrow, we wish you success!" The two of them giggled foolishly—anyone could tell they wanted Han Lin to pass the assessment so they could borrow Spirit Stones from him. Han Lin only replied, "I'll take your kind words!"
The next morning, Ding Yi led the disciples to the foot of the arena in the center of the plaza, waiting for Elder Shen to make the announcement.
The majestic-looking Elder Shen glanced down at the crowd, cast a brief look at Han Lin, and declared the assessment underway.
There were currently one hundred outer disciples, and they would fight in pairs on the arena. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, eighty outer disciples were eliminated. Twenty outer disciples remained to continue the matches.
Ding Yi shouted, "Next up on the stage: Zhou Ping versus Gou Dan."
With that, the two stepped onto the arena. Zhou Ping looked handsome and refined; recently having crossed into the Qi Condensation stage, he was currently at the Qi Condensation stage 3rd Layer.
Zhou Ping made his move. Channeling his spiritual qi throughout his body, he unleashed a punch with an unstoppable momentum. Gou Dan showed no panic whatsoever; channeling his spiritual qi, he threw a punch as well. In an instant, Gou Dan was sent flying ten meters away.
Er Hu and the other disciples whispered about Zhou Ping, saying, "How is that guy's punch so powerful? He really is of aristocratic birth." Whether in cultivation talent or personal strength, he far surpassed Gou Dan.
Zhou Ping won this match. Under the arena, people clapped and cheered Zhou Ping's name. The cheers from the plaza could be heard for miles around.