The black disciple's robe, symbolizing the elite, had already been put on Lin You.
Lin You had just seen off the fifth group of people who had come to congratulate him today.
Just as Lin You was about to take a break, more visitors arrived. This time, it was people from his squad—everyone except for Chu Cheng and the two traitors, of course.
"Chu Ge... congratulations!"
"Chu Ge becoming an elite disciple, don't forget about us brothers in the future. You must help us out more in the sect!"
As the number one sect in the world, Bishi Sect was powerful and had strict rules. Under normal circumstances, a regular inner disciple could take three to five years of hard work before becoming an elite disciple, and those with weaker talents didn't even stand a chance.
Elite disciples were not only far above the rank of regular inner disciples, but they also received more resources and had access to more profound techniques. Moreover, Lin You was personally guided by the Great Elder, making his future prospects even brighter.
Building a good relationship with Lin You now would benefit anyone.
"Hey... why isn't Chu Cheng here?" Lin You asked knowingly.
"That bastard is already an outer disciple. He can't just come to the inner sect whenever he wants."
"Yeah, he didn't even treat us like humans when he was the squad leader. Now that he's been demoted to the outer sect, let's see how arrogant he can still be."
The squad members knew about the time Chu Cheng had broken Lin You's arm, so they were especially clear on the fact that even though they were both from the same hometown, there was no real brotherhood between them.
"Yeah, now he's an outer disciple. What a pity..." Lin You sighed.
"A pity?" Zhao Dong, the most cunning member of the squad, immediately caught on.
"Chu Ge, that bastard didn't just treat us badly. You see..." Zhao Dong's words made everyone's eyes light up.
"Tsk tsk... Dong, you're wrong here. Although that bastard... ahem... Chu Cheng is despicable, vile, and lowly, he and I are from the same hometown. In a foreign land, fellow townsmen are like brothers. How can you all take advantage of him when he's down!"
Zhao Dong and the others quickly assured that they wouldn't dare.
Lin You clutched his heart dramatically, "Well, breaking an arm is one thing, but we can't go too far. After all, he's an outer disciple now, right?"
"Chu Ge is magnanimous!"
"Chu Ge has a broad mind. We brothers admire you. Let's do as Chu Ge says!"
After a round of flattery, Lin You saw off his former squad members.
Soon, more disciples from his batch who had entered the sect came to congratulate him, and Lin You greeted them all, humbly attributing his success to the Great Elder's favor and claiming it was just good luck.
By evening, Lin You received word that several members of his old squad had gone to visit Chu Cheng. The bastard spoke arrogantly, and they ended up beating him up, breaking his arm, and leaving him bruised and battered. But as an outer disciple, who would care about him, right?
That night, Lin You lay in bed, looking at the Fortune Disk. Numerous tasks were listed on it, all designed to bring about the downfall of Bishi Sect.
Although he had missed the opportunity to be expelled and become a peak Martial Emperor, Lin You didn't panic at all while staring at the Fortune Disk.
Becoming successful in Bishi Sect, the number one sect in the world, would be extremely difficult. Even though he was now an elite disciple, there were still core disciples, direct disciples, and even the sect leader's first disciple ahead of him.
But if his goal was to destroy the sect and get punished to be expelled, there were many more ways to achieve that.
A sleepless night passed, and the next morning, Lin You put on his elite disciple's robe and went to the elite disciple's cafeteria for breakfast.
He greeted other elite disciples along the way.
As expected of the elite disciple's cafeteria, the food quality was unparalleled compared to that of regular disciples. Lin You filled his stomach with four bowls of braised pork and felt thoroughly satisfied.
Just as he was about to leave, two gloomy elite disciples walked in behind him. At a glance, Lin You could tell their robes were the same as his, marked with the unique crane pattern of the Great Elder, indicating that, like him, they were elite disciples under the Great Elder.
"Greetings, Senior Brothers."
"Hmm..." The two didn't even glance at Lin You, simply finding a place to sit and eat.
Lin You didn't mind and was about to leave when one of the elite disciples spoke.
"Ma Biao, I think I'm done for this time."
Ma Biao sighed. "Shen Chun, you know that the Great Elder specializes in alchemy, so all of his disciples must learn the art of alchemy. But the Great Elder is most annoyed with those who don't put in the effort. You blew up the furnace during your alchemy attempt, and the Great Elder was so angry that his beard almost straightened. There's no way you're escaping punishment now."
"Ah!" Shen Chun was shocked. "What kind of punishment?"
"Light punishment would be a month of confinement. The heavy punishment... would be the cancellation of your elite disciple status."
"No, no... I just became an elite disciple! I can't let that happen!"
Shen Chun was about to cry, but Lin You's eyes lit up!
What? As long as you blow up the alchemy furnace, you'll get punished? Light punishment: a month of confinement. Heavy punishment: cancellation of your elite disciple status?
This is great!
Lin You quickly glanced at the Fortune Disk, and sure enough, similar tasks were listed.
Being confined could directly promote you to a Martial Master?
Losing the elite disciple status would directly promote you to a Great Martial Master?
Wow!
Lin You was so excited that even the braised pork in his stomach seemed to be tumbling around.
In this world, cultivators were ranked into nine grades, from one to nine.
A first-grade martial artist was someone like Lin You right now—just starting out, nothing special.
Second-grade Martial Master.
Third-grade Great Martial Master.
Fourth-grade Martial Venerable.
Fifth-grade Martial Spirit.
Sixth-grade Martial King.
Seventh-grade Martial Saint.
Eighth-grade Martial Lord.
Ninth-grade Martial Emperor. There were even rumors of a Martial God beyond Martial Emperor, but Lin You couldn't comprehend that yet.
The Fortune Disk's unique ability meant that he could take a reverse path to cultivation.
Confinement would directly promote him to a Martial Master! Losing his elite disciple status would directly promote him to a Great Martial Master.
Good heavens! If he practiced steadily, Lin You, though talented, probably wouldn't reach this level in two or three years.
But now... Lin You was so excited that he rushed straight to his two gloomy senior brothers and bowed ninety degrees to thank them, leaving them utterly confused as to what had just happened.
After leaving the cafeteria, Lin You rushed to Linghe Palace. The Bishi Sect occupied the entire Haotian Mountain Range, and every elder had their own mountain peak. The Great Elder's peak was called Linghe Palace, which was the place with the most abundant spiritual energy, second only to the sect leader's.
Lin You arrived at Linghe Palace, verified his identity, and entered.
The Great Elder was a ninth-grade alchemy grandmaster, mastering the art of alchemy. Thus, his disciples were required to practice it as well.
Lin You arrived at the central Apothecary Palace of Linghe Palace, where the scent of medicinal herbs wafted out.
Smelling the fragrance, Lin You hurried into the Apothecary Palace.
After asking around, Lin You found a senior disciple named Feng Fei, whose chest displayed four cauldron symbols, indicating he was a fourth-grade alchemist. Feng Fei was one of the senior disciples who usually guided others in their cultivation.
The Great Elder and other elders were too busy with sect affairs to personally teach, so most of the time, disciples were guided by other higher-level disciples, and today, Feng Fei was the one giving the lecture.
"Junior Brother Xinghe, your generosity and composure have already spread throughout Bishi Sect. You've earned admiration for standing up for a fellow townsman." Feng Fei clearly knew Lin You, and his words made Lin You feel a bit awkward, considering what had happened to his fellow townsman.
"Senior Brother Feng, I want to learn how to... cough... how to practice alchemy!" Lin You almost let his true thoughts slip out in his excitement.
"Since Junior Brother wants to learn, I will teach you myself, but alchemy requires exceptional talent..." Feng Fei rambled on for a while, but Lin You didn't catch much of it. He only focused on the key points when Feng Fei started talking about precautions.
"Junior Brother Xinghe, the first step in learning alchemy is controlling the fire. Everyone has different kinds of flames they can control, and only those who can control spiritual flames can practice alchemy. Now, I'll test your spiritual flame. But remember, when the spiritual flame touches the furnace, you mustn't lose focus. If the flame gets out of control and the furnace explodes, you will be in big trouble. The Great Elder absolutely hates this and punishes severely."
Feng Fei was very serious, and Lin You nodded earnestly.
Feng Fei said so much, but Lin You only remembered a few key things.
First, losing focus would cause the furnace to explode.
Second
, once the furnace exploded, the punishment would be severe.
Perfect!
Following Feng Fei, Lin You arrived at the Zhuque Hall to test his spiritual flame. Feng Fei gave him detailed instructions on the process.
He reminded Lin You again that even if the test failed, it was fine; he could come back again. But whatever happened, Lin You must not let the flame explode due to losing focus. After all, Lin You was personally guided by the Great Elder, so he couldn't disappoint him.
"Senior Brother Feng, don't worry!" Lin You gave him a firm look, and Feng Fei nodded, satisfied.
Once everything was ready, Lin You sat in front of the ground fire. His spiritual power flowed into the fire as per Feng Fei's instructions. In an instant, the ground fire blazed up, turning from red to orange.
Seeing this, Feng Fei was delighted. The fire had changed color, which meant Lin You could likely control spiritual flames.
Just as Feng Fei was excited to see what level of flame Lin You could control, the orange spiritual flame suddenly exploded!
Boom! The terrifying flame shot up from the ground and engulfed the furnace, turning it bright red under the intense heat.
"Junior Brother Xinghe, stop!" Feng Fei shouted, realizing that Lin You had lost control.
Stop? I finally got the flame to go berserk. How could I stop now?
Lin You ignored Feng Fei's words and instead added more spiritual power to fuel the fire!
The flame raged, turning from orange to crimson and then to golden red. The intense flame quickly overpowered the spiritual power Feng Fei had injected.
Feng Fei was horrified, but just as he panicked, a faint cry echoed from within the flames. The next moment, the golden red flames overwhelmed the already fragile furnace.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out, sending flames scattering everywhere. Feng Fei quickly rushed forward to protect Lin You and escape.
The furnace exploded, and the flames quickly consumed the entire room in Zhuque Hall, turning it to ash.
Feng Fei stared at the destroyed room in shock, his mind filled with one thought: "It's over!"
But Lin You, looking at the ruined room, was overjoyed!
This time, let's see who can stop me!