"What's happening?!" Zhen Yunqi couldn't help but frown as she looked in the direction of the courtyard.
She was a core formation cultivator and could see the spiritual Qi flowing there in large amounts, forming a small whirlpool of energy.
"Is he cultivating or doing something else?" she muttered with a frown and waved her hand slightly.
In that instant, the whole courtyard shook, and ancient golden inscriptions appeared on the walls, suppressing the visions of anyone outside.
Ye Chen wasn't aware of this and kept inhaling the spiritual Qi as much as he could. But suddenly, the golden root seemed to lose its interest and stopped devouring.
Then there was nothing.
"Hey, at least do something!" Ye Chen shouted with a speechless look when he saw this.
He had thought that his spiritual root was undergoing some kind of transformation, but there was no change in it.
Even after waiting for a while, the golden root remained the same as if it hadn't devoured any spiritual Qi.
In the end, he could only give up and focus on the tenth cycle.
With no intervention from the golden root, everything went smoothly, and as soon as the tenth cycle completed, a soft boom echoed from his body.
A wave of warmth surged through his dantian as once again the spiritual Qi flowed there, but this time it gathered like silver a mist rather than getting devoured.
It took about a minute for the dantian to fill up, and after this, he was able to start cultivating further.
However, Ye Chen didn't hurry and started to consolidate the stage, which meant repeating the same process to make sure there was no room for improvement.
For every stage, the path of the spiritual Qi cycle was a bit different, so he didn't have any problems doing this, and within an hour, he was done consolidating this realm.
"First stage of Qi Gathering! Although not strong, it feels quite great," he said with a calm look as he clenched his fists, feeling the newfound strength pulsing through his body.
After this, he took out the spatial ring given by Zhen Yunqi. He didn't hesitate and dropped the blood on it before letting his spiritual Qi inside.
The space inside the ring was as big as a small mansion. In a corner there were small and medium sized pure white stones placed together along with a few pill bottles and some equipment's like swords, spears, etc.
"She is really thoughtful," Ye Chen said with a faint smile and stored all the items he got from the system, except the snow-white Emperor Void Pearl.
It's not that he didn't want to store it, but he just couldn't send it inside. Also, the system didn't provide any item box; hence, he could only put this in his pocket.
He was curious about the inner world inside it; however, he didn't want to court death.
Especially since it will take a month for his body to reform and his junior sister might worry (celebrate) about this.
Hence, he put aside his curiosity and left his room.
It was already night outside, and the whole courtyard was lit with warm lanterns along with moonlight.
His gaze couldn't help but linger on the beautiful sky for a little before he continued to move towards his destination.
"Xiao Mei, I know you are here; there is no use of hiding inside," he spoke with a helpless look as his divine eyes pierced through the walls, finding Li Mei, who held her breath after hearing his footsteps.
"Grr, why are you here?" she asked begrudgingly, not opening the door.
"I am hungry, so I was wondering if you have something for me," he said with a shrug.
"Humph, I don't have anything! Go and look in the kitchen; if not, ask the master," Li Mei replied with a cold snort.
Hearing her, Ye Chen couldn't help but shake his head with disapproval.
"My junior sister Xiao Mei, you should respect your senior brother! Also, whenever he is hungry, cook something for him with your own hands; this is the job of a junior sister—how could you deny this?" he said in a dissatisfied tone.
Just as Li Mei was about to retort, a sweet voice came from outside.
"Li Mei, Ye Chen, I have brought the dinner, so come and eat," Zhen Yunqi called from the dining room.
Hearing her, Li Mei had no choice but to get up and open the door, only to find Ye Chen still standing with a smile.
"What?" she asked with a pout.
"Nothing; I was just waiting for my junior sister," Ye Chen replied, shaking his head, and without her consent, he grabbed her delicate hand before moving toward the dining hall.
Even though he had started cultivating, he still needed to eat; even Zhen Yunqi was same, although she can use food pills in place of food.
But not many cultivators did this since large number of pills can create pill poison in their bodies, affecting their cultivation.
Hence, Zhen Yunqi will eat from time to time rather than taking food pills.
"Take a seat here; from tomorrow onwards a servant will come and serve the breakfast, meals, and dinner. If you want to eat, then you can, and if you don't want to, then just skip it; no need to inform them," she said as she beckoned them to sit in front of her.
When suddenly she froze.
"You reached the first stage of Qi Gathering!" she said with a stunned look as she saw through Ye Chen's cultivation.
Hearing her, Li Mei's eyes widened, and she looked at him with doubt.
However, Ye Chen ignored them and sat down.
"Yunqi, can you make a forbidden area where no one can enter without my permission, even you?" he inquired with a serious look, as he wanted to plant supreme lotus there.
Zhen Yunqi was unhappy at getting called by name again, but when she heard him further, she became surprised.
"What are you planning to do?" she questioned with a curious look; even Li Mei couldn't help but look at him, wanting to know what he was planning.
However, Ye Chen just shrugged and smiled mysteriously in response without explaining anything.
Watching him like this, Zhen Yunqi couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
"Okay, I will make it, but where do you want it and how big?" she inquired with a sulky tone.
However, Ye Chen didn't mind and answered.
"Behind the courtyard is a lake right; that's where I want; just cover the whole lake with walls and a roof; that's only what I need," he replied without hesitation.
"I can do this, but it will take two to three days, and I will also make a large farm around it where you can plant the herbs to accelerate their growth," Zhen Yunqi said.
To which Ye Chen didn't deny and nodded.
After this, they shared a quiet dinner, with only clinking of chopsticks filling the room. When the dinner ended, everyone returned to their own rooms; even Zhen Yunqi returned to her own room inside the courtyard.
There was a retreat room for her, but it was only for long periods of cultivating, so most of the time she stayed and cultivated here.
Li Mei was still digesting everything she had learned, so she didn't cultivate and slept with relief, knowing her master was there to prevent the bad wolf from entering her room.
"Well, time to sleep," Ye Chen muttered, laying down on his bed without any worry.
He was still not at the level where sleeping for a few days won't be a problem; hence, he closed his eyes, letting his thoughts drift away.