Chapter 20. Nine Clouds (1/2)
Wang Lin was also very happy. Although he was kicked from the yard and many honorary disciples ridiculed him throughout the month, he had learned a lot about cultivation. He learned that there were 5 stages: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Forming.
In the entire Heng Yue Sect, there were only two Core Formation stage experts. They both lived in the mountain peak, the place with the highest quantity of spiritual energy. They were always behind closed doors, training, and never bothering with the matters of the sect. There were only ten people in the sect who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage. They held the second highest positions and got to enjoy special privileges, such as using any magic treasure they wish.
Aside from those people, everyone else was stuck at the Qi Condensation stage. Even Sun Dazhu was only in the 5th layer of Qi Condensation.
Cultivation was not only very hard, but also consumed a lot of time. If one possessed inadequate talent, they wouldn’t have enough years in their lifetime to cultivate. Foundation Establishment was even harder than Qi Condensation, as one not only needed enough spiritual energy, but also luck and perception to succeed.
Wang Lin knew the importance of spiritual energy. He wanted to quickly recover the stone bead.
He may still not have had any spiritual energy in his body, but he believed that as long as he kept drinking the water enhanced by the bead, the process would speed up. The so called Qi Condensation was just collecting spiritual energy
From Sun Dazhu’s reaction, the water the stone bead had been soaked in must contain a large amount of spiritual energy. Thinking about this, Wang Lin became very excited, and forgot about the spring water where he hid the stone bead. There were three gourds full of dew. Those must contain even more spiritual energy.
If he drank them, it wouldn’t be worse than the whole month of medication he was taking, most likely even better. That was why he didn’t feel bad about being kicked out. In fact, he felt excitement.
He was an inner disciple, so he didn’t have to live in the main courtyard. He could live in any of the five other court yards. He picked a remote house close to the east gate of the courtyard.
Inner disciples got different treatment depending on the color of their clothes. He learned from Sun Dazhu in the past month that on the 10th of every month, every inner disciple could go and pick up a fragment of low-grade spirit stone and a Qi Gathering Pill.
After saving up 10 spirit stone shards, one could go to any elder to exchange them for a whole low quality spirit stone
After Wang Lin cleaned up his house, he didn’t immediately set out to find the stone bead. He was afraid that Sun Dazhu was still spying on him. He continued his normal routine of cultivating at the spring during the day, and continued to cultivate in his home at night.
In fact, Sun Dazhu was unwilling to give up. He spied on him for 10 more days before he finally gave up.
One month later, Wang Lin sneaked out in the middle of the night. After making many left and right turns in the mountain, he retrieved the stone bead and gourds without anyone noticing.
After being careful for a few days, he noticed that there were no abnormalities, and was finally able to relax. He no longer went to the spring, but stayed home to study the stone bead all day.
Wang Lin touched the bead and immediately noticed that the number of clouds had increased from seven to nine. It must have been because of the high humidity in the mountain, allowing the bead to absorb a lot of water.