Ye Tian Yun needed to get out of the Gracious Sword Sect and head to the capital city.
Now that the lockdown on the sect was lifted, he only needed an excuse to take a leave from his sect.
'Or… I may not even need any excuse?'
He had to check up on the rules related to disciples taking leave from the sect and heading back to their clans.
'For that, I need to head to the Martial Book Pavilion.'
Deciding upon his destination, Ye Tian Yun took his leave and headed for the First Peak.
But just as he was about to leave the sixth floor, a few disciples blocked his path.
Ye Tian Yun raised his left eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong? None of you look like my lost son."
One of the disciples stepped forward and stood right in front of Ye Tian Yun.
"I am Ren Dum, Inner Court Disciple from the Seventh Floor. I want to challenge you for your cultivation abode."
"Oh?" Ye Tian Yun frowned, "How about you wait for four more days? I will gladly accept your challenge after that."
Inner Court Disciple Ren Dum sneered, "You take me as an idiot? Do you really think I will give you four days of leeway so you can hide inside your cultivation abode once again and breakthrough to the next realm?"
Another disciple chimed in at this time, "Disciple Fang Chen, this is your first challenge; you cannot reject it. There's a reason why new disciples don't dare to come out of their cultivation abodes when they are new to the Inner Court. You're quite bold, or you're just another fool. My bet is on the latter."
Ye Tian Yun smiled, "I would love to see your disappointed face then. Anyway, why don't you wait till the evening? I have something important to do; once I return, I will entertain you all."
Ren Dum narrowed his eyes, "Alright, I will agree to it. These disciples are the witnesses. If you dare to run away on a mission, you will be declared match forfeited."
"Alright," Ye Tian Yun simply shrugged, "Now make way like a loyal dog. This young master has better things to do."
The disciples narrowed their eyes but didn't say anything.
Ye Tian Yun moved ahead and was soon standing outside the Inner Court entrance.
'Martial Book Pavilion…'
He then headed towards the Chain bridge.
When he was a little distance away from the bridge, a familiar back entered his eyes.
'Hm… is that….'
Before he could complete his thought, the disciple had already sensed him and turned around.
A pleasantly surprised expression formed on his face as he said, "Ah, Brother Fang Chen! Long time no see!"
'…Zheng Xiang.'
This was a surprise.
And it gave him a deja vu feeling.
About two months ago, he met Zheng Xiang for the first time at this very place.
'I thought he would have forgotten me.'
Zheng Xiang might have been the only disciple Ye Tian Yun had properly interacted with before going out for the mission, but he didn't think Zheng Xiang would remember him much.
But judging from Zheng Xiang's expression, Ye Tian Yun had a feeling that Zheng Xiang didn't just consider him a mere acquaintance.
'Hm? Why do I feel happy after thinking of this?'
"Brother Fang, I am talking to you!"
Zheng Xiang moved toward him with a huge grin on his face.
Ye Tian Yun cleared the thoughts from the mind and nodded at him, "I was… in a closed-door cultivation."
"Yes, I know. I came to visit you many times, but you were always in closed-door cultivation. Did you get another breakthrough?"
Ye Tian Yun nodded, "Yeah, I increased my cultivation by a bit."
As Zheng Xiang stood in front of him, Ye Tian Yun noticed a prompt above his head.
Upon closer attention, Ye Tian Yun was able to read its content.
[Zheng Xiang. Five Star Favourability. Considers you as a brother and lifesaver. Will not let you down.]
'So high…'
This was the highest favourability Ye Tian Yun had encountered.
And it surprised him quite a bit coming from Zheng Xiang.
'When did I save his life?'
This was a confusing question.
Ye Tian Yun literally didn't even remember doing anything for the guy in front of him to be considered a good friend.
"What's your cultivation now?" Zheng Xian asked, "You will be surprised after knowing my cultivation."
Ye Tian Yun thought for a moment and said, "Mine is okayish, not too high, not too low."
Zheng Xiang couldn't help but roll his eyes backward, "Why so mysterious? Anyway, I broke through the Qi Condensation Realm, and now I am on the Fifth Level!"
"Hm?" Ye Tian Yun was surprised, "Really?"
The last time he had seen Zheng Xiang, the latter was struggling to get to the Nine Level of Qi Refining, and within a month, he jumped right into the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation Realm!
Wasn't that too much of a jump?
Ye Tian Yun couldn't help but look at him from up to down.
'I had the Cultivation space; what did this guy have?'
Zheng Xiang had a smug expression seeing Ye Tian Yun's reaction.
After some time, he lowered his voice and explained to Ye Tian Yun about his cultivation.
"Actually, it was all thanks to the pill you gave me."
"I gave you a pill?" Ye Tian Yun thought for a moment and then remembered, "Ah, yes. I remember now."
In their last meeting, Ye Tian Yun had handed over a High-Grade Qi Strengthening Pill just before they separated.
But that shouldn't be enough to explain such a high increase in cultivation. At most, it would give a breakthrough to the next level.
"I know what you're thinking," Zheng Xiang added, "You're right, I didn't reach my current cultivation because of that pill, but that pill played a very important role in my cultivation. In fact, it even saved my life."
"About a month ago, I was challenged by my clanmates, and there was a bet. It was mostly related to cultivation resources."
"Oh?" Ye Tian Yun frowned, "Then what happened?"
"Well, because of the pill you gave me, I had already reached the peak of Qi Refining Realm, and those idiots didn't know about it."
"I saved myself from getting crippled and also won loads of cultivation resources which were supposed to be theirs."
"From those resources, I increased my cultivation to the Fifth Realm of Qi Condensation."
Ye Tian Yun frowned, "In a month? You do know that foundation and stability of cultivation after each breakthrough is very important. You had six breakthroughs in a single month. That means, on average, one breakthrough per five days."
"You didn't even spend a single week on stabilizing your cultivation levels. Are you sure you won't face Qi deviation soon?"
Hearing Ye Tian Yun's words, Zheng Xiang looked at the sides and let out a small laugh.
He then said, "Actually Brother Fang, there's something special inside my body. I think it's my bloodline. It's pretty powerful. As long as I have enough cultivation resources, I can increase my cultivation realm."
"…" Ye Tian Yun stared at him.
'What kind of bloodline is this?'