Chapter 472: A Late Start

Yi Chen was currently making his way down the Seventh Peak, with annoyance evident on his face. The reason for his annoyance wasn’t the three pill formulations which Elder Ru Qi had presented to him earlier.

They were already secured in one corner of his storage ring. The reason for his annoyance was something completely different.

Letting out another sigh in a frustrated manner, Yi Chen kept walking down the meandering pathway before finally reaching the foot of the mountain.

’Walk your way down the mountain so you can remember it for tomorrow, and remember, you cannot use movement techniques in any of the peaks.’ Yi Chen imitated the tone with which Elder Ru Qi had said those words, with frustration evident on his face.

Just coming down the mountain had cost him half an hour’s time, leaving him with even less time to focus on cultivating, swordsmanship and going through the newly acquired pill formulations once he reached his room.

’I can’t afford to waste any more time...’ With this thought, he immediately utilised the Bursting Fire Steps and made his way towards his residential quarters as fast as possible.

’I’m going back to the residential quarters after a long time of living in that rented pill refining room...’ Yi Chen thought to himself, a little curious to see how the conditions at the quarters had changed during his absence.

Although Dong Yun and Qin Yao would regularly tell him about how everyone in the quarters had been brimming with excitement after hearing about him challenging an Inner Sect Disciple, Yi Chen felt that they were only saying those things in an attempt to flatter him.

’It should almost be nine in the evening, so most of them would have already returned from the dining hall and would be focusing on their post-dinner training or cultivation.’ Yi Chen thought while zipping past the familiar streets before finally arriving outside the residential quarters.

"How nostalgic..." he couldn’t help but mutter, seeing the familiar building he hadn’t seen for weeks now as he made his way towards it.

One!

Two!

One!

.

.

.

Synchronous shouts echoed in Yi Chen’s ears as he approached closer and closer to the building.

’This...’ Yi Chen couldn’t help but raise his brows in surprise when he saw rows of disciples, consisting almost entirely of the men from his batch, standing in an orderly fashion in the courtyard and practising.

One!

Two!

With each shout, they thrust their weapons straight ahead, swung them with the next shout, and finally took a parrying stance to defend against an incoming strike.

"Yes, just like! Keep going!" Dong Yun, who had been facing the entire crowd, was practising the same set of moves while encouraging them all to follow it alongside him.

A few meters next to him, Qin Yao was also there. Repeating the same basic set of moves but with his spear instead.

"You, do it properly! There’s no energy in your swings!" Dong Yun pointed at a swordsman and practically showed him how to do it.

"Yes, Brother Dong Yun!" The disciple nodded in understanding and followed his actions while gritting his teeth.

’...Just what the hell happened here while I was gone?’ Yi Chen thought, shock and confusion evident on his face as he witnessed this scene.

The basic moves these disciples were following weren’t the ones he had been practising during his time here.

’Dong Yun and Qin Yao...these rascals,’ Yi Chen couldn’t help but curse in his mind, worried that practising these basic moves might end up harming the other disciples’ forms.

However, on second thought, Yi Chen realised how foolish he was: ’In the end, they are just basic moves...something they would all be mostly familiar with before coming to the sect...’

Unlike him, who had a system, almost all his other batchmates had been giving it their all and training in both cultivation and weapons since a very young age.

Looking at them once again, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

’I’m just glad that they aren’t completely imitating my actions and are gripping their swords or weapons with only one hand...’

Meanwhile, Yi Chen’s figure by the quarters’ entrance had started attracting the attention of a few disciples. Hearing their mutterings, Dong Yun turned his head in the direction they were looking.

It was at that instant that he discovered Yi Chen’s figure and immediately exclaimed the very next moment.

"Brother Chen! You’re back!" he hollered in excitement and, together with Qin Yao, made his way towards Yi Chen.

"How did your Pill Apprentice Examination go, Brother Chen?" he asked in a much lower voice once he was standing next to him.

Qin Yao also looked at Yi Chen with beaming eyes, wanting to know the results of the test. Even though he fully believed that there was no way Yi Chen could fail at any test or exam, he still couldn’t help but worry a little, as there was always a chance of things going wrong.

"Naturally, I passed." Yi Chen lifted his thumbs the very next moment, causing both Dong Yun and Qin Yao to exclaim in joy.

"Hahaha, Big Brother Chen, you really did it!"

"Brother Chen’s a Pill Apprentice now! A historic achievement! You’ve truly made history!"

Hearing their words, shock took over all the disciples who were able to hear what Dong Yun and Qin Yao had just roared.

"Hey, did you hear the same thing as I did?"

"...What did you hear? I think my ears aren’t working properly today?"

"Me?... I heard Brother Chen became a Pill Apprentice. What about you?"

"...I also heard the same."

"..."

The entire crowd erupted into chaos the moment they realised that what they had just heard was true.

"Becoming a Pill Apprentice within two months of entering the sect!"

"Just what is this speed?!"

"Does this even make sense??"

"Hey, since when has any of Senior Brother Chen’s achievements made any sense?"

.

.

.

The more they talked, the more excited they became, and as soon as the entire crowd started singing Yi Chen’s praises, Yi Chen glared towards Dong Yun in order to make them stop.

"Stop it! Brother Chen is completely drained after clearing the Pill Apprentice Examination. He’ll be going to his room to rest now, so you’d better not make any sounds, you understand?"

"Y-Yes!"

A simultaneous response came the very next moment.

"Good."

With that said, Dong Yun turned towards Yi Chen and said, "It’s handled, Brother Chen; you may go to your room without worry now."

"...Alright." Yi Chen nodded, a little surprised to see how easily Dong Yun had managed to control the entire crowd, before heading upstairs.

As he was making his way up, Dong Yun’s voice once again entered his ears. This time, it seemed as if he deliberately suppressed his voice in an attempt not to disturb him.

"Isn’t Big Brother Chen great? Continue to follow his example and practice your basics regularly alongside me and Brother Qin. Before long, we too will be strong and capable enough to proudly say that we are the disciples from Brother Chen’s batch! You understand?"

Instead of shouting as they had earlier, all the disciples nodded in acknowledgement.

’Fuck...why is my hearing so good?’ Yi Chen thought, embarrassment evident on his face, before rushing towards his room.

However, the moment he opened his room’s door, he couldn’t help but sigh in exhaustion, seeing dust covering the entirety of his room.

"Great... now I’ll be sleeping even later!" he rolled his eyes in annoyance the very next moment, spending a thousand experience points to buy a pot of mystical pond water.

The reason? It was because his spiritual sea was completely dry at the moment.

[Spiritual Sea: 0 / 198.57 (Recovery: 8 hrs of Sleep)]

That was the result of showing off his spiritual energy in front of Elder Ru Qi earlier.

’There goes my thousand experience points...’ he thought with a bitter expression before gulping the entire pot down the very next moment, filling up his entire spiritual sea.

"Let’s start then..."

Licking the traces of water left on his lips, he controlled his spiritual energy to gather all the dust particles as a small whirlwind of dust soon appeared in the middle of his room. A few moments later, he guided the whirlwind out of the window and with it went all the dust particles that were present in his room earlier.

With this done, he took out his sword the very next moment and began practising his swordsmanship.

’With those disciples observing me outside, it’s best to practice inside the room from now on, lest they pick up some of my other habits...’

Thinking along those lines, he started practising the basic moves using only his single hand again and again before being completely drenched in sweat.

Two hours later, he made his way out of the bathroom after a refreshing bath.

"I feel alive again..." Yi Chen muttered to himself, feeling momentarily revitalised after an exhausting day.

He was in the perfect state to call it a night, but he still couldn’t...

Entering his room, he sat on the hard floor in the lotus position in order to not fall asleep and immersed himself in his cultivation.

Three hours passed, and it was only two o’clock in the morning when his cultivation came to an end.

"Now...all that’s left is to go over the pill formulation I’ll be working on with Elder Ru Qi tomorrow morning..." Yi Chen muttered, exhaustion evident in his voice, as he stood up to massage his aching back the very next moment.

’I can just read it while lying down on the bed...’ he thought in an attempt to alleviate his back pain and started going through the pill formulation with a serious expression.

However, in his exhausted state, he didn’t even realise when it happened, but his eyes failed him and sleep embraced him the very next moment.

The next morning.

Gently opening his eyes, he was welcomed by the bright sun rays making their way inside through the windows.

However, a frown suddenly appeared on his face as he sensed that the sun’s rays were much brighter than they should have been.

His eyes widened the very next moment.

"S-Shit, I’m late!" Yi Chen exclaimed in panic, realising it was long past his meeting time with Elder Ru Qi, and rushed to get ready and leave the very next moment.

It was at that moment that he heard hurried knocks on his door.

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