Ling Shun walked on the flight of stairs with a large smile on her face. Her steps were light as she patted the hemp pouch tied on her waist. Her destination was the cultivation spots above the lower section of this peak, located midpoint before the upper section.

"I, Ling Shun, will never be humiliated after I am done with my close door cultivation. Prepare yourself world, as I rise to the top!"

She declared arrogantly, doubtless of her successful future. Her steps were hurried, anticipation building up in her heart as she envisioned herself in a golden chair, sitting crosslegged as many servants kowtowed around her.

So absorbed by her delusions that she hadn't noticed Elder Chong Yun in her path. She gasped, surprised as she bumped into him as her bright expression turned demonic quickly.

"Who dares!?"

Shun glared at what she bumped, and saw a familiar embroidery of that green robe. She slowly looked up, her face progressively paled as realized who it was.

"What if I dare? Do you have any complaints?"

Grim face and a frown met her eyes as the tower guard looked down on her. Dark eyes gazed at her scared figure, his look made her hallucinate a giant who coldly stared at an ant.

"I-I... I-it's my fault, Elder Chong! Please don't take it to heart!"

Cold sweat trickled on her forehead as she quickly bowed, her hands cupped in respect. Her body trembled as time ticked by. His gaze stayed at her fidgeting form, before he spoke words that made her entire blood freeze.

"Do you think I am stupid? You think I don't know what you did?"

The world stood still as she heard his words. It echoed on her ears as she tried to process his words. Confusion quickly turned into panic as she spoke, her fist clenched as she trembled as her eyebrows came together.

"Elder Chong, this is slander! Whatever you think I've done is nothing but lies!"

Her words were filled with indignation. Burning shame and humiliation colored her face as she glared at the elder with tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

Chong Yun scoffed at the paltry display of anger. His gaze turned a notch colder.

"Are you saying that I am blind? That I don't know what is right and wrong?" His voice rose an octave, anger visibly marred his face. "ARE YOU DENYING STEALING FROM YOUR FELLOW DISCIPLE?"

His voice echoed on the mountain. The air shook with the vibrations and the birds on the distance flew in a start. The flame of anger within her heart was quickly snuffed like she had been hit with a bucket of cold water. Her eyes dilate as she heard his accusation.

"I-I... I don't have any idea what you are talking about, E-esteemed Elder!"

"Zhi Wanyi. That's the girl you have stolen from!"

Boom!

Her mind exploded. Uttering that name gave her a fright.

'He knows! He truly knows!'

It felt like the world itself came crashing down on top of her head. Her knees felt weak that she fell on the ground into a kneel. The Elder sighed at that sight, then he turned his back at her.

"You will be put into the disciplinary prison for a year. Reflect on your actions while you are there!"

Ling Shun felt powerless. She knew she couldn't resist. She could only let the nature ran it's course as she knelt there in defeat.

'No... my life... my ambitions!'

Her entire dream shattered on that day.

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Combining stuff, I realized, wasn't always a good thing. There were times techniques I fused would be more than what I could handle. It would be much better to limit myself to Tier 5 and below only.

I thought of a simple solution to handle powerful techniques that I would potentially learn in the future.

I have to become stronger!

It's natural. If I couldn't handle something of that nature, then I just had to be stronger. If I become stronger, then it would be easier for me to handle high tier abilities.

Really, it's such a smart idea if I do say so myself!

A day had passed since I lost consciousness. My head still throbbed till this time. I had to nursed my forehead and eased this headache as it kept distracting me from my thoughts. It's getting better lately, but it still felt uncomfortable.

By the way, when I woke up, Elder Chong Yun was besides me. He said something about how he enacted justice in my name, and that he took care of the one who bullied me. It's the first time I heard someone was bullying me.

I wonder who it was?

Anyway, he told me something interesting.

"Take this. You have a bright future ahead of you, Young Zhi."

I wondered why he gazed at me like that. It's like how my grandpa looked at me before he gave me sweet potatoes. He did give me something. It's a hemp pouch filled with Qi Gathering Pills and low grade spiritual stones. Strangely, I felt its content had the same cost as the remaining sect points I had.

Anyway, I graciously accepted the pouch. After Elder Chong left, I stayed within my room along with this pouch. I originally planned to go to the cultivation spots just above our halls, but with these cultivation resources in my hands, I just have to fuse them!

I counted them on my table. There were hundreds of Qi Gathering Pills and low grade spiritual stones within it.

I can fuse a lot of things with this!

So, I started fusing them together!

First were two Qi Gathering Pills.

[You successfully made a Middle Grade Qi Gathering Pill!]

I almost forgot. Qi Gathering Pills, and any pills for that matter, were also separated by their grades. The higher the grade, the more potent they were. Peak grade pills were the best they said.

I see, so these Qi Gathering Pills were low grade ones. It's my first time having seen one, so I didn't know what to expect.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Anyway, if I could make higher grade Qi Gathering Pills, then it would be a good thing for me.

So I fused all of the Qi Gathering Pills in my bed.

[You successfully made Middle Grade Qi Gathering Pills!]

[You successfully made High Grade Qi Gathering Pills!]

[You successfully made Top Grade Qi Gathering Pills!]

Hundreds of pills turned into few. Golden pills rich with pure qi laid on top of my bed. A rich nourishing scent filled my nose as it's lingering energies brushed on my skin.

Now that I have top grade Qi Gathering Pills, I think I have to stop right?

Though, I want to know if I can combine them together. What will be the result I wonder?

Curiosity filled me that my body moved before my mind processed it. I mentally chose two top grade pills and then fused them together. The two vanished and was replaced with a golden pill that surged with intense pure qi.

[You successfully made a Low Grade Qi Rejuvenating Pill!]

"Hoh!"

A Qi Rejuvenating Pill!? Isn't this a pill Foundation Establishment cultivators uses to improve their cultivation!?

I remembered hearing it from one of those braggarts who visited the cafeteria how a Qi Rejuvenating Pull could supplement a Foundation Establishment expert's cultivation. It's a miraculous pill that was sought after by core disciples.

It was also not something a mere Qi Condensation initiate like me to possess. I quickly hid it in the pouch before someone saw.

As for the low grade spirit stones...

[You successfully made Middle Grade Spirit Stones!]

[You successfully made High Grade Spirit Stones!]

[You successfully made Top Grade Spirit Stones!]

[You successfully made Low Grade Immortal Crystals!]

Now I am the proud owner of these point makers. If I ever run out of points, I could exchange them for more on the quest hall.

As expected of me, I'm so smart!

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With all the preparations set, I made my way to the Green Spring Passage. It was a wide area that led to many cultivation spots. Each cultivation spots catered to cultivators with specific attributes. There were five cultivation spots in total available for cultivators.

These spots were the Fire Corridor, Ice Corridor, Wind Corridor, Earth Corridor, and the Metal Corridor.

Without hesitation, I chose the Earth Corridor. That place might be filled with Earth Qi, but there were Nature Qi mixed within it. That was suitable for my Second Superior Cultivation method.

Beyond the large empty square, in the direction I chose, a winding passageway welcomed my sight. It stretched towards a cave entrance where one guard stood. I walked towards that direction until I got close to the guard. Then I showed my plaque to him.

He nodded and took that from me, before he put my plaque to the side where many were also hanged in display. They would deduct sect points from us when we left, and it depends how much time we spent within a cultivation room.

I think it was ten points for every every incense stick?

After I nodded at him, I entered the cave and walked through a long hallway. It took sometime until I reached the end of the hallway. Beyond the hallway was a large room with lush greenery in front of me. Its like I came to the forest even though I knew this was inside a mountain.

The Earth Corridor was a forest isolated with some sort of array that maximized the production of Earth Qi within it. This environment was suitable for people who had Earth and Nature attributes.

I walked around for a moment, passing some cultivators who took their preferred spots. Occasionally I encountered some who were standing and moving around, practicing some sort of technique instead of sitting crosslegged and absorbing Qi on their surroundings. Some of those people glances at me, but they haven't said anything.

After walking for awhile, I found a spot without anyone nearby so I took that spot. It was a large tree stump with a good view of the surroundings and the artificial skies above. I took that as my spot and sit appropriately to start absorbing the Qi.

Before that, I opened the hemp pouch within and then took one of the top grade Qi Gathering Pills within.

This will be the first time I will try ingesting a pill. I took a moment to ready myself before I pushed it between my lips. A rich savory flavor spread on my tongue, and it was surprising when it quickly dissolved in my mouth. After that, abundant amount of pure qi surged within my meridians.

I quickly dive through my consciousness, and followed the method from my Second Superior Cultivation within my mind. Within my sea of consciousness, small passage were being filled with ethereal wisps of dusts. They came from everywhere, and it took all my control to just process them into manageable clumps that would flow within these passageways.

I followed the process of my new cultivation method and controlled these chaotic energies. Energy that had a sense of pureness with them were simply pure qi. Mixed with these pure qi were energies with the taste of the soil and another with a taste of the rich harvest. These were Earth Qi and Nature Qi respectively.

With my will and control of my Qi within my consciousness, I took hold of these energies and straightened them up into threads. An image of a loom formed within my mind as I linked my roots with these chaotic energies, and then turned them into small threads.

Carefully, I weaved these threads within my passageway, breaking through bottlenecks that blocked me from my advancement. Nature Qi and Earth Qi were separated at first, and as I became used to the process, I slowly mixed them together. Knitting them like how I wove clothes.

Just when I pushed through a small passageway with these woven energies, my senses expanded as something just clicked within my mind.

[Congratulations! You made a breakthrough to the Higher Grade 1st Stage Qi Condensation!]

Multiple paths revealed themselves within my mind, and my meridians expands for a bit. I took that chance to process more of the chaotic energies still rampaging within my dantian. The amount of Qi that I turned into threads were a drop in the ocean compared to the Qi that currently flowed through my body.

It would be a waste if I don't process these faster. They would soon leave the pores of my body and dissipate from the air. So I redoubled my efforts as I flowed the Qi within my meridians. I wove them with both speed and precision, breaching through narrow paths and filling up empty wakes with these spool of Earth and Nature Qi.

I consolidated each of these woven energies. Turned them into streams of energy that flowed freely like a thread to a loom.

[Congratulations! You made a breakthrough to the Peak Grade 1st Stage Qi Condensation!]

I made another breakthrough after I filled another passageway with these solid threads of Qi. I resumed and filled another empty space that had been revealed with my breakthrough into a pond of Qi.

With a single breath following the guidance of my cultivation method, more Earth and Nature Qi gathered around me as clumps of energies with the taste of the rich soil and fertile ground tickled my taste buds.

Energies coalesced into thin threads as I controlled them within my meridians. Every possible path had been filled after some time, and only the center where all of these path merged remained empty. I guided the flow of these threads of Qi into that empty space, each paths that led to the center were linked together with a single pull. Then, I knotted them together, and then turned them into tiny nets that filled up the entire empty space until they were filled to the brim with these knotted threads of energies.

"Ssssu!"

Something exploded within me. My mind felt so clear as some sort of burden left my entire body.

[Congratulations! You made a breakthrough to the Low Grade 2nd Stage Qi Condensation!]

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was sweating and a strong pungent odor strikes my nose.

"... Eugh!"

I look below and reeled at the black sludge of wastes that clung to my robe and body. I almost forgot, breaking through meant shedding off impurities from our bodies. These impurities were these black sludges of wastes that smells disgusting.

I almost hurled at the smell of these disgusting stuff. I have to change into another set of robes and wash myself thoroughly. This smells truly horrendous!

"... But... this feels like a waste..."

A warm feeling still lingered in my stomach as a surge of energy swirled within my dantian. There were still a lot of energies left from the Qi Gathering Pill, and just ignoring it felt like a waste.

... Right. Cultivation is a grueling path. I should take advantage of this while I still have the chance. Even if this smell would distract me greatly from my cultivation.

So I dove through my inner consciousness again, and quickly forget about the outside world as I immersed myself with my cultivation.

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"Ugh... What's that smell? It smells like a year long rotten egg!"

"Does she have no shame?"

"Ew!"

Young disciples parted on her arrival, their faces filled with disgust as they furrowed their brows in frustration, their gazes focused on the origin of this dumpster scent.

Zhi Wanyi walked down the flight of stairs with hurried steps. Her face red in shame that she was tempted to jump on the mountain in embarrassment.

She had stayed all day within the Earth Corridor and had successfully broken through to the Peak Grade of the 2nd Stage Qi Condensation Realm. It wouldn't be that worse if she broke through once, and no one would smell the impurities that clung to her robe.

Though as she broke through a lot of times, more impurities left the pores of her body and it solidified into this rotten stench of corpse that clung to their nose even if they were a hundred meters away from her.

Even she knew embarrassment, so she quickly walked towards her dorm. Her joy with her breakthrough quickly replaced with a sense of humiliation and embarrassment.

'I should have left when I broke through!' She thought in regret.