Ch-6: 1 Year Timeskip

1 Year Later

A young, handsome boy of 12 with short black hair sat in a lotus position on his bed. His eyes were tightly shut in deep concentration, and the boy was obviously Bai Chenyu, who was cultivating. Spiritual energy from the surroundings rushed toward him, which his Supreme Celestial Constitution greedily absorbed without restraint.

Crack!

A cracking sound emanated from his room, indicating that he had achieved a breakthrough. Bai Chenyu still had his eyes closed as he stabilized his current realm.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, a knocking sound came from outside his room, followed by a voice.

"Trial Disciple Bai Chenyu, please come to the gathering point for the Outer Court Disciple selection. It will start soon, so don't be late. I'm leaving now to inform the other disciples," the voice said, and the sound of footsteps grew fainter as the person outside left.

Bai Chenyu's closed eyes slowly opened, and they seemed to contain the might of the entire world.

"Finally, I've broken through. I thought I would make more progress, but it seems I still need some pills," Bai Chenyu murmured. He hadn't reached a bottleneck, but his progress had slowed a bit compared to when he had started. Nonetheless, it was astonishingly high compared to anyone else. If someone had heard him say this, they would likely want to strangle him.

"It's been almost a year. Elder Mu should be returning soon. I can't wait to see his reaction when he finds out I've been promoted to an Outer Court Disciple," Bai Chenyu chuckled. Elder Mu had been gone for a year, claiming he went outside to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough. No one knew that he had taken a disciple for sacrifice. It was common for cultivators to go on journeys to find opportunities, so no one questioned him. Bai Chenyu was certain that Gu Wei was long gone by now.

In the past year, he had several simulation opportunities and acquired a few hundred gold coins and some monster cores. However, he couldn't use them as he was incapable of refining the cores into pills or finding an Alchemist to do it for him as his low status as a trial disciple, which left him disappointed. He hadn't obtained any techniques or weapons from the simulation even though he had come across many of them in the simulation. Unfortunately, he couldn't choose them as he did not get them as options to select from. He even found a low-grade spiritual stone mine but died in the simulation when trying to steal from people who were much stronger and whom he shouldn't have offended.

"Looks like I need to visit the technique hall later," Bai Chenyu mumbled, deciding to go there to learn some fighting techniques. He also hadn't gotten the option to use the drawing function of the system in the last year

"Sigh, let's forget about it for now and go outside. I don't want to be late," Bai Chenyu said as he got up from his bed, fixed himself up, and headed outside to the gathering point for the Outer Court disciple selection exam.

Bai Chenyu arrived at the entrance of the Outer Court Disciples area. The place was much larger and in better condition compared to the shabby trial disciples' area. He observed numerous trial disciples who had awakened their spiritual roots in the last year or in previous years but had failed to enter the Outer Court due to their low cultivation.

Everyone was engaged in excited conversations as they imagined themselves becoming Outer Court disciples.

Bai Chenyu silently listened to the conversation among the trial disciples:

"Hey, do you think you'll get selected?"

"I hope so, even though I've reached the 2nd stage of the Mortal Refinement Realm, I'm not that confident. The minimum threshold for the exam is just to reach this stage. They'll only select about two hundred disciples from a thousand. What if there are many with higher cultivation levels?"

"Hmm, you're right. Who do you think has the highest cultivation among the trial disciples?"

"I think it's most likely Su Yang from the Su Family. I've heard rumors that he reached the 5th stage of the Mortal Refinement Realm this year."

"What? I heard he was at the 7th stage of the Mortal Shedding Realm a year ago. You mean to say he advanced 10 stages and a realm in just a year?"

"Yes, that's what I heard from people close to him."

"Sigh, geniuses like him can't be judged by common sense."

Bai Chenyu raised an eyebrow when he heard about Su Yang's impressive progress, making such progress made him worthy of being called a genius. Although Su Yang was a genius, Bai Chenyu was also aware of his own substantial advancements over the last year, and he knew that his own cultivation level exceeded Su Yang's, compared to him Su Yang was still lacking. He never showed his progress or revealed that he had a physique and only cultivated silently in his room after he told the other Elder in charge of the trial disciples that he needed to do any more chores, those chores are only done by disciples who have yet to awaken

He looked at Su Yang who was surrounded by a bunch of disciples who were licking his boots and trying to curry up favor, then he turned his head away and looked at the approaching Elder

"Alright, everyone, quiet down," the Outer Court Elder said, and all the trial disciples immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the elder. The elder seemed satisfied with their response and continued.

"Each of you will come up to the platform one by one and place your hand on the stone tablet, which will measure your cultivation level. If you possess exceptional cultivation, you might even get selected as a disciple by one of the peak masters," the elder explained. The prospect of being selected as a personal disciple by one of the peak masters, who were the most powerful core Elders, made everyone's eyes light up with excitement. Even the usually calm and haughty Su Yang showed intense anticipation. 

"Alright, everyone, form a line and approach the platform. Please don't cause any trouble; everyone will have their chance. If you do, you'll be removed and have to wait for your turn again during the next selection," the elder warned. The disciples who had initially tried to rush to the front of the line stopped and obediently joined the queue.

One by one, the disciples placed their hands on the stone tablet. The elder in charge occasionally showed signs of disappointment or mild astonishment.

"Next is Su Yang," the elder said with a hint of anticipation, as he knew Su Yang was one of the most promising candidates.

"Greetings, Elder," Su Yang respectfully greeted the elder by cupping his fists together, to which the elder responded with a smile.

Su Yang placed his hand on top of the stone tablet, and bold letters appeared on the surface.

5th stage of the Mortal Refinement Realm

The crowd gasped in shock, and Su Yang held his head high, looking as proud as a swan.

"Hahaha, very good! We have a promising talent here. You might even get selected by a peak master," the elder exclaimed with astonishment, realizing that their sect would have a formidable disciple in the future.

Su Yang walked off the platform with a sense of arrogance and a mocking sneer directed at the other disciples.

Finally, it was Bai Chenyu's turn. The elder didn't have high expectations for him, as the reports indicated that he had only awakened a year ago. He was quite surprised that Bai Chenyu had the audacity to participate. He wondered if Bai Chenyu even knew that one needed to be at least in the Mortal Refinement Realm to be eligible. The elder shook his head, thinking that another delusional disciple had come forward and didn't intervene, assuming that the others would teach him a lesson through mockery.

However, when the result was revealed, the elder choked on his own saliva.