The Next Day….
Li Fan sat cross-legged, eyes closed, as the Clear Mind Breathing Technique cycled through his meridians for the fourth time that morning.
But something felt different now.
> [Clear Mind Breathing Technique – Small Success – 1/100]
At this moment, he broke into [Small Success].
A flood of foreign knowledge surged into his mind. It was enlightening—like he'd spent months training and finally grasped the essence of the art. His Qi followed his will more obediently.
Suddenly, Li Fan felt his dantian expanding slightly—his Qi more abundant, like a wellspring bubbling over.
And then it happened.
Thump.
A dull, powerful beat pulsed from within.
Li Fan's eyes flew open.
Qi surged through his body like a sudden tide. His skin tingled, muscles tightened, and his meridians buzzed with power.
> [Qi Gathering – Stage 3]
"I broke through…"
Li Fan's voice was barely above a whisper. His hands trembled as he looked down at his calloused palms.
Nothing had visibly changed—but inside, he felt stronger.
The rush of new Qi felt like a reward from the heavens.
Li Fan clenched his fists in excitement.
Breakthrough in mastery did not equal breakthrough in the cultivation realm.
Just like the Stone Palm Technique, the breakthrough had come with that same strange download of experience.
But more than that this time—his Qi pool had grown significantly.
Li Fan drew in a breath.
Breakthrough should mean faster grinding.
More cycles.
And faster growth.
Li Fan rose slowly, stretching out his limbs. His joints didn't ache anymore. The bruises across his torso had faded. The inflammation on his arms had calmed.
"This… this must be what it feels like to be a genius," he muttered, grinning.
But Li Fan wasn't deluded. He knew what he really was.
Just a grinder with a cheat.
A very determined one.
And now?
He was a Stage 3 cultivator.
There was still a long road ahead—Stage 5 was the goal for now.
Breaking through filled Li Fan with excitement. He wanted to test how much faster he could gain experience in his Stone Palm Technique and cultivation method after his recent breakthrough—but that would have to wait.
There were more pressing matters today.
It was time to see if he could finally trigger a change in the EXP tab on his status panel.
He was going to descend the mountain.
With his body nearly fully healed, Li Fan finally felt confident enough to venture out.
Before heading out, Li Fan decided to clean himself properly for the first time in two days. Using what little water he had left, he scrubbed the dirt and sweat from his body. The feeling was refreshing.
Afterward, he changed into one of the outer sect robes.
It was part of a set of three the sect had issued to new disciples upon joining, nearly three years ago. The fabric was worn thin in some places, the seams stitched more than once, but it still did its job. And in the eyes of both the old Li Fan and the new one, that was enough.
The outer sect's dress code was plain by design. Simple gray or dull blue robes, unadorned, without sect crests or personalized embroidery. That kind of privilege was reserved for those who passed the three-year test and officially entered the sect.
Even then, the difference in attire wasn't much. Maybe a slightly better fabric. Maybe a colored trim to denote their achievement. Prestige was earned slowly here, layer by layer.
Li Fan looked at himself in the small, cracked bronze mirror by the corner.
He looked… decent. Not handsome, exactly—but not bad either.
His face was lean, black eyes, his jaw sharp from days of fasting. His short black hair was slightly unkempt.
His skin had a healthy tan, the kind earned not through luxury, but long days beneath the harsh sun.
Before leaving, Li Fan crouched beside his bed and reached underneath, pulling out a small cloth pouch.
Inside were four silver coins.
In the Great Ming Dynasty—where the Qinghe Mountain Sect was located, and likely throughout the entire continent—currency followed a standard scale: one silver coin was worth a hundred copper coins, and a thousand silver coins equaled a single gold coin.
These four silver coins were the entirety of Li Fan's savings over the past three years.
And the only reason he even had them was because he had been stubbornly insistent on saving—no matter how little he earned.
Li Fan suspected that EXP was tied to killing—but since he couldn't lay a hand on any of the sect's spirit beasts, nor did he have the guts or intent to fight another cultivator or kill a fellow human, he turned his attention elsewhere.
Animals.
There were hardly any normal animals within the sect grounds, so his only option was to descend the mountain and head toward the mortal dwellings.
And to deal with mortals, he needed mortal currency.
Gold and silver were still used by cultivators, but only those at the lower end. In the grand scheme of things, they were still considered part of the mortal world.
True cultivators dealt in spirit stones.
Li Fan?
He almost never had any. His only source was the monthly allowance the sect handed out—and even then, it was just a single low-grade spirit stone.
In other words…
Li Fan was broke.