One year passed, and Zhan Kai Tian remained in the Body Tempering Realm.
He had reached the seventh rank, and though others soared ahead, he progressed with slow, grinding effort. From the moment he broke into the first rank, each breakthrough felt like carving through stone with his fingernails. But he never stopped. Every day, he rose before the sun.
He cultivated without fail. He ran his qi as the manual instructed, guiding him through the Body Tempering Realm. He practiced the Mountain-Crushing Sword Style, pushing its heavy strikes and stances to minor completion, and honed the Swallow Steps Across Water Movement Technique to minor completion.
Neither technique was impressive at the moment. He couldn't show their full capabilities; however, it was better than not advancing at all, when Guo Sheng had already stepped into the Qi Gathering Realm and would come by boasting about his future breakthroughs.
Lin Mian had passed into Qi Refinement and was making a name for herself in the outer court. Other outer disciples already treated her as an inner disciple, as it was only a matter of time before she became a Foundation Realm cultivator.
Compared to them, he was far behind. But Zhan Kai Tian's will was more complex than any stone. He didn't curse his roots. Instead, he motivated himself.
"So what if they got there first? The finish line doesn't move just because others got there first."
He refused self-pity. He turned to work, just like when he was in the village.
He started asking around for things he could do, and that's when he learned about sect missions. So he took them—sect missions—any he could qualify for.
He mined ore in deep caverns beneath the Blacksmith Pavilion, hauling spirit iron and bloodstone from tight, suffocating tunnels, his robes always torn and drenched in sweat afterward. He would explore the hunting grounds, risking his life to retrieve Nightflower Roots, Bonegrass, and Frost Blossoms for the Alchemy Hall. He would return with bruised legs, sometimes fighting low-tier Qi Beasts to escape with the herbs intact.
When he began consuming more pills regularly, his cultivation began to move faster. He guided the spiritual energy through his body using the Five Element Harmony Circulation Method principles, refining qi breath by breath, and slowly, very slowly, his cultivation advanced.
His body hardened, and muscles and ligaments grew stronger. While he knew his body was changing, it had never settled into how much it had changed.
When he first arrived, while tall at slightly below 2 meters (six feet four), he was skinny and lacking muscle. His thin, lanky body had hardened thanks to cultivating, and lean muscle had grown from his physique. He looked like he was dedicated to working out.
His facial features had also changed. While never specifically told, he knew he was a little attractive. However, he knew he looked more beautiful than handsome. Some could mistake his looks for a pretty girl.
Now he had a blend of handsomeness and beauty. His jaw had grown sharper, and his eyes became a bit brighter, adding a specific attraction compared to the dull purple-black from before.
If, before, he had merely an odd beauty, now he could be considered a beautiful man. He knew if one looked at him, they'd think he was a pampered young master who never worked hard a day. No one would believe he was a fisherman, not with his skin complexion. He was too white, something that for some reason had never tanned, even with all his hours on the boat. His skin was always 'soft.' It never got callouses or grew thicker in the wrong ways. Instead, he had soft but firm hands that never cut, even when hauling in fish on the rope.
When he knew he had transformed for real and it wasn't just in his head, his good looks began to be recognized around the outer court.
One day, after completing a mission, he was walking through the outer court when he heard the nickname in a low whisper.
"Talentless Gigaglo."
At first, he frowned. Then he did a little asking.
The rumor? That he slept his way through cultivation. With a poor spirit root and no backer, he must sleep with others for resources to advance in cultivating, since his spirit root is only a middle-grade Earth Root!
It was absurd.
Even worse—it started to happen. Thick-skinned girls would approach him outright, offering resources, asking him to "cultivate" with his little brother. He refused them all.
"I'd rather starve for ten years than feed myself once by selling my dignity."
Still, the stares lingered. Not everyone believed them.
Some girls treated him normally and didn't believe the rumors, like a close friend of his, Wen Ling, a sixth-rank Qi Refinement cultivator close to breaking into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
She approached one evening during a quiet meal in the Sect's Free Restaurant. She said she had watched him from a distance, noticing his discipline and liking his attitude toward cultivating, so she approached him.
"You're always in the mission hall," she said. "I've seen you return from mines with your robe half-ripped and return the next day like nothing."
He looked up, unsure how to respond.
"I'm just doing what I can to keep up," he said.
She giggled—though he hadn't said anything funny. She was interested in him too. Still, at least she wasn't trying to buy his body.
"Let me do what I can to help you," she said lightly. "This elder sister must guide her junior." She finished with a teasing smile.
From that day on, she began offering him tips on Qi circulation and posture correction when he practiced his sword forms.
She even taught him more about the cultivation world—like how demonic cultivators are enemies to all orthodox sects, how they use evil methods to advance in cultivation, like using human cauldrons, and an unpure method of dual cultivation that steals a person's life essence—different from the orthodox method of dual cultivation; she also explained other demonic cultivators—the worst kind—who made deals with demons, granting them inhumane talents at the cost of sacrificing people or even bringing demons over to their realm.
She then explained orthodox dual cultivation, which involves a woman and a man sharing their yin and yang energy and absorbing it to boost their yin or yang, respectively.
Then there was the Heavenly Demon Sect, which, rather than being demonic, was a neutral sect with only the goal of getting stronger, and they revered their sect leader as a god:
The Heavenly Demon.
Not much was known about them so she moved on and taught him about the world beyond the sect and the world, which he didn't know previously as a villager, with education that included only the ability to read and the basic history of their kingdom.
"We're in the Yunlong Eastern Continent now," she explained , drawing a rough map on the table. "Three continents—the Eastern Continent, the Western Continent, and then the Holy Continent. If you could go to the Holy Continent, that'd be the best thing that could happen to a cultivator, as the Qi is denser there, so it's easier to cultivate.
Never mind that, though. There are four great orthodox sects in our continent—the Heaven's Sword Sect, the number one sword sect; Frost Valley, an all-woman sect that uses Frost Qi cultivation methods; Blazing Heart Monastery, a Buddhist sect; and Yin Yang Harmony Sect, a dual cultivation sect. We, the Boundless Sword Sect, are only a middle-tier sect—however, when it comes to swords, we're only below the Heaven's Sword Sect."
"Then we have the two kingdoms. Both kingdoms have been at a standstill since long before I was born. There's the Jinlong Kingdom in the east and the west, the Tiansheng Kingdom. Both have immortal realm cultivators as their kings and have an unfathomable army. Each king coincidentally has nine royal children, so if you ever meet someone with the surname Tiansheng or Jinlong, do not disrespect them."
She also told him about body cultivation. Body cultivation was just as intense as regular cultivation; however, it didn't give as much longevity, so it wasn't a route many would take.
He decided that his goal would be to get himself a manual. He needed anything he could get his hands on to grow stronger.
She taught him many things that would occasionally help and treat him, taking him to the sect's restaurants you had to pay for, using her contribution points without blinking—dishes with rare beast meat and spirit grains and Qi-enhancing teas. Of course, he didn't deny her help.
"It's easier to cultivate with good company," she said once, pouring him tea from a narrow porcelain pot.
He agreed.
And then, one night, after a long meal overlooking the firefly-lit ponds, she looked at him with a smile that lingered a little longer than usual.
"You've been working hard lately, Junior Brother," she said softly. "Why don't you come by my residence tonight? I've got better tea there…"
He blinked, caught off guard. He knew what would happen if he followed her.
Zhan Kai Tian hesitated… then nodded.
"…Alright. Let's go."
He followed her quietly, sword across his back.