Before the disciples could even run back, Jing's Qi shone bright around his legs and he lunged at them with a speed that they could barely follow. The first disciple was bound to suffer the most lethal attack as Jing's knees that was powered by his whole momentum flew toward his stomach.

When the knee landed on the lower end of his rib cage, Jing heard a faint crack before the disciple was sent dozens of meters rolling backward. His eyes were bulged, face flushed, and coughed in a hysterical fit of both pain and suffocation. Jing noticed movements atop the flight of stairs and noticed that other disciples had been woken up by the sounds, even the doors to his left were slightly ajar as disciples peeked from them.

His legs moved once again as he lunged at the remaining two. One of them was kicked in the cheek, sending him sprawling beside the first disciple. The other was punched directly in the face. Jing merely glanced at them for a few seconds, then to the onlookers, and then walked inside their room. Above some of the beds, he found some resource bags, and he grabbed everything before he left.

Wang Fei and Shen Yun were still outside, he gestured for them to follow and they returned to their room, leaving behind them a chaotic dorm that was turned upside down.

Along the way, Jing received a very peculiar notification.

[Fading Liao Li has reviewed your profile.]

Aukhman appeared with a grave expression on his face as he hovered in front of him, "Not good," He said with a disappointed headshake.

"What?!" Jing asked, his heart still agitated by what had just happened.

"The review was very negative," Aukhman said.

"Would it have any serious effect on how I progress through the ranks?" Jing asked with a concerned tone.

"Yes," Aukhman replied. "You have to understand that not anyone can just review, which means that they tend to be few and far... In the end, people would feel less inclined to watch a player that is badly reviewed and they could start with others."

Jing cursed his bad luck and he said through pressed lips, "Show it to me."

Aukhman obliged and with a wave of his golden staff the same profile where Jing was able to see his episode-related stats appeared.

Episode: 1

Reviews: 1

Views: 74.7 Million.

Followers: 31.2 Million.

Favorites: 2.9 Million.

These numbers made his heart feel strangely at ease, and yet on edge at the same time. On one hand, he liked the fact that he was followed and watched by such a huge number of people, and on the other, the concept terrified him. That number of eyes and thoughts on his life was such a ridiculous concept to ponder. That was exactly the reason he didn't interact with Aukhman all that much. The less energy he gave to the whole being watched business, the more comfortable he felt to resume his life in a somewhat of a normal manner.

Below the graphs and other complicated numbers stuff, Jing could see the image of a tall man with dark hair reaching the heavens, and then the name Fading Liao Li and his review.

Fading Liao Li: As a human, one can imagine my excitement when I heard that humans would be involved in the games by The Great Emperor. I watched several before Kenneth, and frankly, most of them were what one might expect from someone with their past, except this one. He was put in such a favorable position that if he played his cards well he could have gotten huge advantages, and yet he didn't. He was overly emotional, weak, and very slow to adjust. CrocFang was a very good seed, and if he wasn't accidentally killed by Kenneth he would have dominated him. All in all, it makes sense that some players would be subpar, that is just the reality of the world. That is why I have chosen to review his profile in order to save others the time, resources, and energy that would be needlessly wasted watching an hour of a weak mortal fumbling around. Such a frustrating watch. Now, I have to go eat a 10,000-year-old Verdant Nut that I have been saving up just to cleanse that from my palate.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Rating: 0.5/10

Jing's eyes narrowed as he was reading through that, and when he reached the rating, he was on the cusp of flipping an imaginary table. "That's too much," He yelled in his shared connection with Aukhman. "Was that really deserved? How have I been messing around? I am the second one on the human leaderboard. This fucking guy."

"Well," Aukhman said with a shrug. "What you said was true except you're not the second human player anymore."

Jing did a double take in confusion before he opened the leaderboard and filtered by humans.

Rank - Name - Race - Cultivation - Soul Purity - Kills

1 : Red Lotus - Human - Qi Condensation(1) - 59 - 2

2 : SilverFang - Human - Qi Condensation(4) - 70% - 2

3 : Bearfeast - Human - Qi Condensation(2) - 59% - 2

4 : Jack The Flipper - Human - Body Tempering(9) - 55% - 1

5 : Kenneth - Human - Qi Condensation(1) - 63% - 1

'Damn,' Jing thought. 'I am the fifth now? The first spot was taken by this girl Red Lotus, and SilverFang killed another one. Bearfeast too... They're busy.'

"Still," He said to Aukhman with an angry voice. "It's still unjustified." Aukhman didn't say anything, he simply gave him a strange look and disappeared.

The trio made their way into the wide open doors of their dorms, reached the first room, and entered inside. Shen Yun by then had recovered although his shoulder was bent in an awkward direction, but he told them that he knew how to fix it.

Jing tried to dismiss his worries about the review for now and said to Shen Yun with an annoyed voice, "I told you to move along, but you didn't listen. The tough Shen Yun has always done things his way."

"Don't give me that," Shen Yun replied back. "I was trying to help you. Unlike this fatty guy who just cowered away."

Wang Fei's eyes widened before a flush overtook his face, but he just looked down and didn't say anything.

"Shut up," Jing glared at Shen Yun. "Don't just blame him for everything, you were the one responsible. I am at the Qi Condensation now, I told you to move along but you didn't listen. Is it because you have no respect? Why would the mighty Shen Yun listen to the guy who everyone pushes around, right?"

"Shut up," Shen Yun snarled with an enraged expression. "Do you think just because you're Qi Condensation now you can speak to me like that?"

"No," Jing simply said. "I'd have said the same thing regardless."

The two exchanged a deep look as an intense silence overtook their dark surroundings. "Give me that," Shen Yun finally averted his eyes and reached for the bags.

Jing stepped back saying, "Wait." He took three porcelain bottles with the Qi Gathering Pills and gave the rest to Shen Yun.

"What? No." Mumbled Shen Yun and reached out with his hand. "I need the other too..."

Jing's eyes narrowed as he looked at him with an angry expression and snapped his hand away. "You're pushing it." He said. "I have already given you four lumps of gold, and ten Qi Gathering pills, and you still not satisfied? Are you crazy?"

Shen Yun clicked his tongue in annoyance, "You don't need them as much as I do. Just give them to me and I'll give them back, how cheap. I am your senior brother all things considered."

"Senior my ass," Jing scoffed, feeling about done with this brazen fellow. "Take what I've given you and go to your corner and cultivate." Without saying anything else, he pushed him away and moved past him. He gave Wang Fei one bottle, Zho Tu who had already arrived at some point another bottle, and jumped on his top bunker bed with an irked expression.

'Shit,' He thought with the click of his tongue. 'What a night. Fading Liao Li... What a cunt you are.'

Jing closed his eyes and did his best to regulate his emotional state. After a while, his heart was more relaxed, and he couldn't help but slightly regret how he had just acted. Although he knew that he was reasonable, getting riled up and angry about it would make things even more difficult. He had plenty of enemies, and he would have more. Cultivating unnecessary resentments and grudges with those around him wasn't the wisest decision. Then there was Zho Tu, who Jing knew was a player, and he strongly suspected that Zho Tu knew too.

'What a mess,' He thought with a long sigh. His eyes still closed, he began to gently cultivate. Under his continuous attention and efforts, his single meridian swirled at a faster rate, and the nearby Qi drifted in his direction.

His meridian was already filled with Qi and so anything that passed through his body was guided to roam around his meridian pathways and body. He would allocate some strands of Qi to pass through his bones, muscles, and skin, and then the others to flow through his established meridian path in preparation for the next breakthrough.

However, compared to the energy he had received from killing that monster in that battle stimulation, it was way too slow. In that realm, he could have broken through in a solid day or two of work, but here he would need around two weeks minimum.

Feeling a mixture of both impatience and fatigue, he decided to call it a day. He needed to be well-rested for what was going to happen tomorrow.

Jing lay on his side with a pillow between his knees, the right side of his face kissing the warm pillow underneath it, and stared at the wooden walls for a while. With every second, his guards would drop lower and lower, until sleep came unexpectedly and life blinked shut.