Xu Mei soon returned to her pavilion after ensuring that she had no health issues. However, Elder Qin's assumption made her tremble with embarrassment. Nevertheless, she didn't dwell on it and headed home. Passing by Xie Qing's room, located on the third floor of the pavilion, just one floor below hers, she suddenly stopped.
"Hm? The Qi fluctuations in his room are significant. Did something happen?"
Xu Mei cracked open the door and through the opening, she saw Xie Qing sitting in a lotus position, diligently cultivating. His eyes were closed, while a Qi vortex circled around him.
"This... "
Of course, as a high-level cultivator, she immediately noticed something amiss. Xie Qing's cultivation level had changed significantly, and they had only been apart for nine hours!
"Pinnacle of Enlightenment... he's preparing to break through to the next level!"
Xu Mei was excited. Suddenly, Xie Qing displayed strong talent and leaped six levels in just nine hours, reaching the breakthrough. She was shocked for two reasons. Firstly, such a level of cultivation was unheard of, and secondly, Xie Qing had never shown strong talent before! That's why she gave up trying to teach him advanced techniques.
"Darn... if I had known, I would have changed his cultivation technique to something better!"
Every external disciple practiced the "Basic Qi Cultivation" technique, the most fundamental cultivation technique. It is given to external disciples without strong talent, and Xie Qing couldn't escape this fate.
And, seemingly, let him cultivate and break through on his own, but... it was a dead end. Foundation Building, as its name implied, was a crucial stage of cultivation. Here, the body and soul are strengthened with the cultivation technique the cultivator uses when breaking through to Foundation Building.
If the cultivation technique was too simple and straightforward, the cultivator's potential would be limited!
"What the heck am I doing..."
Xu Mei began to suffer from her own mistake. She didn't want to give complex cultivation techniques because cultivating with them without even basic talent was extremely difficult. So, she gave him a common technique.
"Damn it..."
***
Xie Qing was preparing to break through to a new cultivation level when a bad premonition struck him. Due to the abundance of Qi, he had to focus all his attention on purifying impurities and only snapped out of it when he reached the wall.
The wall was a barrier, hindering progress to the next levels. If you don't meet the requirements, the wall would be as sturdy as Divine Metal for you. But if you were prepared, the wall would be as soft as paper, making it easy to break through.
"I meet the requirements for the breakthrough, but... I'll postpone it," thought Xie Qing and sighed. The vortex of spiritual energy began to subside, and soon it disappeared altogether. Xie Qing opened his eyes, which shone brightly.
"Phew..."
He took a deep breath, and steam emerged from his mouth – remnants of impurities. Taking advantage of the moment, Xie Qing evaluated his body after so many breakthroughs and smiled.
"My Qi has become more substantial and of higher quality, and my body has strengthened a bit. If I hadn't held back, I could have easily broken through to the Foundation Building level, but... I don't want to build my foundation with such a mediocre cultivation technique."
The basic cultivation technique was trash, which he could get from his family for a small sum. It only helped gather spiritual energy and purify it but was very weak and inefficient.
If not for the fact that Xie Qing acquired a new physique and talent, he would have had a tough time.
"I wonder what physique and talent I have..." he wondered.
Ding!
[Name: Xie Qing
Age: 18/157 years
Cultivation: Enlightenment (9th stage)
Talent: Divine
Physique: Golden Dragon Body
Cultivation Technique: Basic Cultivation Technique (low efficiency)]
"Oh... stop, what? Divine talent?!"
Xie Qing opened his eyes in astonishment. Suddenly, more than a hundred messages popped up with the words "Golden Finger."
There were only five levels of talents:
1. Mortal
2. Earthly
3. Heavenly
4. Superior
5. Divine.
And the last, fifth level, was divine. Such talent hadn't appeared in over ten thousand years! Xie Qing stared at the screen in front of him in disbelief. His attention was also drawn to the physique.
[Golden Dragon Body]
[Divine-level physique. Information incomplete]
"Ugh..."
Behind the door...
Xu Mei, after seeing that Xie Qing's breakthrough was interrupted, was almost jumping with joy. She used the "Eye of Truth" technique, which helped her determine the level of talent, and...
"This... "
Even with her abilities, the woman couldn't accurately assess her disciple's talent. She couldn't believe her eyes!
"I need to bring him to the sect leader's pavilion. There will be the necessary equipment, and the result will be accurate. I must find him a good cultivation technique!"
Her eyes lit up, and she smiled brightly, disappearing from her place.
Xie Qing, after finishing cultivation, stood up and headed to the dining hall. In the Master's Pavilion, Xu Mei had a separate dining area where food for three meals a day was delivered.
Although Master Xu had no need to eat at all, she enjoyed indulging in worldly life from time to time. Besides, Xie Qing was still at the "Enlightenment" cultivation stage, considered the lowest.
Only upon reaching the "Core Formation" stage, Xie Qing could acquire a body that needed only Qi for sustenance, though there would still be a need to occasionally drink water and replenish energy with food, perhaps once a week.
Cultivators completely free themselves from the need for food at the "Soul Nascent" stage, which is a crucial step before entering a new realm.
Before the "Soul Nascent" stage, it is considered the Mortal Realm, and beyond that is the Semi-Immortal Realm. Of course, these names were given by cultivators themselves, and it's not certain if the division into these two realms holds any true significance.
"How hungry I am!" echoed a loud cry.
In the dining hall, Xie Qing placed over ten plates filled to the brim with food in front of him. He ate voraciously, seemingly famished for a hundred thousand years. He devoured the food so quickly and efficiently that participants in hotdog eating contests would have to concede the throne to him.
The reason for such hunger was his breakthrough and improvement in lineage/physique. The stronger the cultivator, the greater the need for energy. In this case, the need manifested in the form of food.
"Phew..."
Finally, after twenty minutes of active eating, Xie Qing finished and leaned back in his chair, contentedly rubbing his stomach.
"Darn, I've never done something with such enthusiasm, except maybe seducing the senior sister in the sect until the Master caught me and confined me to the pavilion, locking me up for a month..."
Satisfied, Xie Qing stood up from the chair and decided to find the Master first, asking her to find a new cultivation technique for him. However, upon leaving the dining hall, he realized one problem.
"Wait a minute... if I approach her and say I suddenly became very talented, won't she look at me like an idiot? And if she asks why it happened, my answer would be, 'Tsk, tsk, tsk. Mortal, in reality, I'm the Immortal Harem from the Superior World and out of boredom decided to reincarnate into the mortal world to savor the taste of unripe fruits'... she won't believe me!"
Xie Qing released his head, sighing wearily. Suddenly, it seemed to him that along with a good reward, he got an extra headache.
However, imagining his own future where he stands in the heavens, on a sword, holding his Master by the waist while mortals bow beneath him... he shivered with pleasure!
"That's it! I just have to become a cool character and capture the world's attention! With my handsome face and appearance, I'm simply perfect!"
...Well, he was arrogant.
====
Note: "Spiritual energy" is the same as Qi in the setting of my book. I will sometimes write "spiritual energy" instead of Qi to diversify word choice.