“Are you not convinced? Do you dare to disrespect Sister Liu?”

Lin Hao suddenly stood up, glaring fiercely at Yan Heng, his voice loud enough to draw the attention of everyone around them. Several outer disciples from the cafeteria also turned their gaze towards them.

“Of course not! Someone like Sister Liu, I respect her more than anyone,” Yan Heng said, cold sweat running down his back. If word got out that he had disrespected the sect master's personal disciple, Liu Qinghan, the consequences would be dire.

Although Yan Heng was reluctant to give up the bowl of porridge from Wang Fu, he had no choice but to concede. “Since Brother Lin Hao has spoken, I naturally have to give face. From now on, I won’t interfere with Wang Fu’s porridge.”

After saying that, Yan Heng suppressed his anger, grabbed his empty bowl, and left with his tail between his legs.

“Let’s eat!”

Seeing that Yan Heng was scared off by the name of Liu Qinghan, Lin Hao sighed in relief. Hungry as he was, he and Wang Fu wolfed down their porridge.

Lin Hao wasn’t worried at all about his words spreading. Since it was the truth that he had been personally recruited into the sect by Liu Qinghan, he wasn’t lying.

“This porridge is so good!”

The spirit porridge was made from spirit rice, not an ordinary item, and it tasted incredibly good. After eating it, Lin Hao felt a lot of spiritual energy filling his body, about one-fifth of the total spiritual energy he would accumulate after a night of cultivation.

The bowl of porridge was quickly finished, and Lin Hao, still feeling hungry, glanced at Wang Fu’s bowl. To his surprise, Wang Fu’s bowl was cleaner than his own face, and the fatty was licking the bottom of the bowl as if the spirit porridge would regrow if he licked it enough.

Lin Hao looked at the remaining little bit of spirit porridge in his own bowl, and, not wanting to waste it, he began licking the bowl as well.

After a long while, they finally left the cafeteria and returned to their wooden house.

“I’ve been bullied ever since I came to the sect. I’ve never even had a whole bowl of spirit porridge before,” Wang Fu said, his face full of gratitude. “Lin Hao, I really owe you one. If it weren’t for you, Yan Heng would have taken my porridge. I, Wang Fu, am willing to follow you as my boss and respect you from now on.”

“Ha! No need to thank me. If it weren’t for you helping me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to mine enough spirit iron to eat tonight,” Lin Hao waved his hand. “As for you calling me boss, that’s fine, but let’s just leave it at that.”

“I’ll help Lin Hao, the boss, mine, that’s the least I can do,” Wang Fu, who came from a merchant family and had a thick skin, pretended not to hear Lin Hao’s refusal and tried to flatter him. He immediately called Lin Hao “boss.”

Lin Hao couldn’t do anything about it and, seeing Wang Fu insist on calling him boss, reluctantly accepted the title. It didn’t hurt him any.

Well, what could he do? This was his charm. Wherever he went, people couldn’t resist but bow their heads and follow him.

...

Stolen story; please report.

Ever since Lin Hao invoked Liu Qinghan’s name in the cafeteria, no one dared to cause trouble for him and Wang Fu. The two of them mostly mined and cultivated, and soon, half a month passed.

In these fifteen days, Lin Hao had gained a rough understanding of cultivation.

To become a cultivator, one needs a spiritual root.

Spiritual roots were ranked from first to ninth grade, with higher ranks signifying better cultivation potential. Moreover, there were different attributes for spiritual roots. A single attribute spiritual root was much faster to cultivate than a multi-attribute one.

Wang Fu, who followed Lin Hao, had a second-grade single attribute gold spiritual root. Although his rank wasn’t high, his single attribute meant he had medium-level aptitude. In the future, he had a chance of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, his lifespan would be about two hundred years.

Cultivation was difficult, harder than climbing to the sky.

Out of the thousands of Qi Refining disciples in the Xuanyue Sect, only a few had the chance to enter the Foundation Establishment stage.

Once Foundation Establishment was achieved, a cultivator was considered one of the top experts in the entire Zhao Kingdom.

Above Foundation Establishment was the Golden Core stage, a level of power held by only a few high-level elders in the four major sects of Zhao Kingdom.

“I wonder what kind of spiritual root I have,” Lin Hao thought to himself.

He had been personally recruited by Liu Qinghan, but he had never tested his spiritual root.

However, his cultivation speed was pretty fast.

“Tonight, I should be able to break through to the first level of Qi Refining, according to the Xuanyue Qi Refining Method!”

Lin Hao muttered to himself.

Wang Fu had been in the sect for half a month longer than Lin Hao, but he hadn’t shown any signs of reaching the first level of Qi Refining, showing just how extraordinary Lin Hao’s cultivation talent was.

On his wooden bed, Lin Hao crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and entered a meditative state.

The spiritual energy from the surroundings began to flow into his body.

...

Meanwhile, in the inner sect area of Xuanyue Sect…

Liu Qinghan had finished her cultivation and decided to go out for a walk. Not long after she left her cave residence, an elderly figure appeared in front of her.

“Qinghan, I heard that the new outer disciple, Lin Hao, whom you personally recruited, has quite amazing aptitude?”

The old man asked.

This old man was Liu Qinghan’s master, Chi Yunzi, the current sect leader of Xuanyue Sect, and a powerful cultivator at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment.

“Yes, Master, that’s true,” Liu Qinghan said, after a moment of contemplation, in a cold tone. “Half a month ago, I was out doing some work and happened to meet him. He has a six-grade single-attribute fire spiritual root, so I brought him back with me.”

“A six-grade single-attribute fire spiritual root? Such excellent cultivation potential, why didn’t you bring him directly to the inner sect? Why put him in the outer disciple area?”

Chi Yunzi’s calm expression revealed a hint of surprise as he questioned.

“Lin Hao was once a mountain bandit, and when he saw me, he even tried to rob me,” Liu Qinghan replied. “So, I decided to place him in the outer disciple area to temper his character first.”

“A six-grade single-attribute fire spiritual root is such a rare gem. You should have taken him under your wing and taught him directly. I’ll go look for him tomorrow morning and take him as my disciple,” Chi Yunzi said.

...

Under the night sky, all was quiet.

Back in his wooden house, Lin Hao greedily absorbed the spiritual energy from the surroundings.

In the past half month, apart from mining, he had been cultivating diligently.

“The spiritual energy is enough. I can try to guide it through my meridians now and break through to the first level of Qi Refining.”

Lin Hao thought to himself, focusing on guiding the spiritual energy according to the Xuanyue Qi Refining Method.

About half an hour later, Lin Hao felt a loud rumble in his body, and then a wave of comfort spread through him.

“I’ve finally reached the first level of Qi Refining!”

Lin Hao felt a surge of joy in his heart.

Reaching the first level of Qi Refining made him one of the stronger disciples in the outer disciple area. Now, even if he faced someone like Yan Heng again, he would have some means of defending himself, even without relying on Liu Qinghan’s name.

“Boom!”

Just as Lin Hao was about to continue circulating the Xuanyue Qi Refining Method to solidify his cultivation, a thunderous sound suddenly rang out in his mind, and he felt a sharp pain.

He fainted on the spot.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a mysterious space.

In front of him stood a floating tower, about three feet tall.