A night passed without a word.
The next morning, after getting out of bed, Chu Ning first practiced the Nine Tigers Body Refining Art, and then started a fire to make breakfast.
Once Chu Ning finished preparing breakfast, Cao Dongxin also came out of his room.
Upon seeing Chu Ning for the first time, Cao Dongxin was slightly taken aback.
Even though his magical power wasn't high, having been at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer for a long time, as a cultivator, he was somewhat sensitive to power fluctuations.
The completely different aura on Chu Ning, still with a faint fluctuation of magical power, made Cao Dongxin instantly realize something.
"Did you refine Qi into your body?" Cao Dongxin's tone was very complex.
Chu Ning chuckled inwardly but let a faintly excited expression appear on his face at the right moment.
"Yes, Senior Brother, last night during my cultivation, I felt very insightful, so I pushed through in one go and muddleheadedly completed the Qi Refining into the body."
Upon hearing this, Cao Dongxin stopped talking, but the complicated look in his eyes grew even more intense.
The most obvious emotion among them was jealousy.
At this moment, thoughts were constantly tumbling in Cao Dongxin's mind.
"Fifteen days, this guy completed Qi Refining into the body in fifteen days, even when I was squeezing his cultivation time like this, is there really such a big difference between four-attribute spirit roots and five-attribute spirit roots?"
Cao Dongxin remembered very clearly that he had tried countless times and it took him more than two months to finally complete Qi Refining into the body.
Comparing oneself to others is truly exasperating.
Chu Ning naturally could feel the jealousy in the other's eyes but pretended not to notice, just smiling to himself and sitting down to eat.
In his heart, he was thinking, if this Senior Brother Cao knew that he actually completed Qi Refining on the first day, and the aura he's showing now was just deliberately leaked out, he would probably be so shocked his eyes would pop out.
This breakfast, Cao Dongxin ate without any flavor.
However, when Chu Ning asked to go to the Transmission Room today, Cao Dongxin did not obstruct much.
New disciples are allowed to visit the Transmission Room once every half month to attend lectures, this is a rule set by the sect, and no matter how much Cao Dongxin wanted to oppress him, he wouldn't dare to deprive Chu Ning of this right.
When the two reached outside the courtyard, Shang Zhaoxiang and Qiu Shunyi from the neighboring courtyard also happened to come out.
This time, Qiu Shunyi did not follow behind Shang Zhaoxiang but walked in front.
Upon seeing Chu Ning, he greeted with great joy, "Chu Ning, let's go to the Transmission Room."
"It seems Qiu Shunyi must have completed Qi Refining into the body last night." Chu Ning judged upon seeing his demeanor.
Just as he was about to respond, Shang Zhaoxiang suddenly smiled and spoke, "Junior Brother Chu, congratulations!"
Upon hearing this, Chu Ning realized that Shang Zhaoxiang had "seen through" his cultivation level, and quickly cupped his fists, saying, "Thank you, Senior Brother Shang, it was just a fluke."
Qiu Shunyi, standing beside, was slightly confused and asked, "Senior Brother Shang, what are you congratulating him for?"
"Why, of course, congratulations to Junior Brother Chu for, like you, officially entering the First Layer of Qi Refining." Shang Zhaoxiang replied with a smile.
After hearing this, Qiu Shunyi looked at Chu Ning with surprise, "Chu Ning, you also completed Qi Refining into the body?"
Chu Ning nodded slightly, "Just a fluke!"
Shang Zhaoxiang laughed and added, "There's no such thing as a fluke in cultivation, Junior Brother Chu really surprised us all without a word."
While saying this, Shang Zhaoxiang also secretly sighed in his heart.
"I have given Shunyi very ample time for cultivation, and yet this Junior Brother Chu also managed to complete Qi Refining into the body in the same time frame.
Either his talent is much better, or he is extremely diligent.
Being assigned to Zone D, ten out of ten, means his talent is average, but to be able to spare so much time for cultivation under Cao Dongxin's oppression, he surely is a person of considerable perseverance."
Chu Ning had no idea that Shang Zhaoxiang was having so many thoughts, unsure of how to respond to such words, he simply smiled.
At this moment, the delight and pride on Qiu Shunyi's face noticeably faded, muttering,
"I thought of boasting to you about completing Qi Refining into the body, didn't expect you've already done it too."
Earlier, after hearing Shang Zhaoxiang's praise, because Senior Brother Shang took a month to complete Qi Refining into the body, while he was twice as fast, Qiu Shunyi couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.
Now knowing that Chu Ning also completed Qi Refining into the body, his sense of pride immediately vanished.
After all, he knew that many times when he had started cultivating, Chu Ning was busy doing chores.
Upon hearing Qiu Shunyi's words, both Chu Ning and Shang Zhaoxiang merely chuckled. Qiu Shunyi indeed had a bit of a childlike demeanor.
After parting ways, Shang Zhaoxiang and Cao Dongxin went to the fields, while Chu Ning and Qiu Shunyi headed to the Transmission Room.
Qiu Shunyi's mind was relatively simple, although his pride had lessened a bit, he held no other thoughts about Chu Ning.
On the road, he started to share things he had heard from Shang Zhaoxiang.
"Previously, Senior Brother Shang specifically told them that those who haven't accomplished Qi Refining into the body should definitely seek advice from the Transmission Disciples about sensing spiritual Qi and Qi Refining into the body.
And since we've already entered the First Layer of Qi Refining, we could ask the Transmission Disciples more about spells.
It would be best to have them teach us the basic spells first, then we can gradually practice them when we return.
The Transmission Disciples have a deeper understanding of spells compared to Senior Brother Shang and others."
At this, Qiu Shunyi specially added,
"By the way, Senior Brother Shang mentioned, presently, we most need to learn the four spells necessary for planting spirit plants: Accelerating Technique, Clearing Technique, Ganlin Technique, and Blade Skill.
We should focus on learning the first three spells because if we get assigned to spirit fields for planting in three months, we'll need to use these first. Blade Skill is only needed for harvesting."
Chu Ning noted these things down, grateful in his heart, it was thanks to the helpfulness of Senior Brother Shang and the straightforwardness of Qiu Shunyi that he learned these, otherwise, with Cao Dongxin not sharing anything, he would have to take quite a detour.
He sincerely said to Qiu Shunyi, "Shunyi, thank you for the reminder."
"Thank me?" Qiu Shunyi was puzzled, then immediately grinned.
"Oh, what's there to thank, it wasn't me who said it."
The two reached the Transmission Room, a dedicated space within the Hundred Arts Hall, the Transmission Disciples were dispatched by the sect's Instructor Hall.
As new disciples, and being servant disciples, they naturally weren't yet eligible to directly learn at the Instructor Hall.
Along the way, they gradually encountered numerous disciples who joined at the same time as them, Chu Ning observed and saw a small portion who had also entered the Qi Refining Stage.
Upon reaching the Transmission Room, several Transmission Disciples were already present inside.
After entering, the first thing to be checked was whether they had completed Qi Refining into the body.
Then, those who had completed Qi Refining into the body were grouped together, and those who hadn't were grouped separately.
When Chu Ning and the others in a small group were led away, the remaining disciples who hadn't completed Qi Refining into the body all showed envy on their faces, accompanied by whispers of discussion.
"Only half a month to refine Qi into the body, barely slower than the Outer Disciples!"
"I heard that person in the Spirit Beast Room completed Qi Refining into the body in ten days, attracting the sect's attention, and they say if his progress at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation is good, he can enter the Outer Sect and become an Outer Disciple!"
"I heard that although he has a four-attribute spirit root, his earth spirit root is significantly better than the other three, which led to his rapid cultivation progress."
"That's a genius! It's pitiful for us, still not knowing when we'll achieve Qi Refining into the body."
...
Hearing these murmurs, Qiu Shunyi and the others were beaming with joy and couldn't hide the smiles on their faces. Among them, a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes even had a faintly proud look on his face.
This person was the disciple they were previously talking about from the Spirit Beast Room, named Lin Yong.
Among the crowd, Chu Ning didn't stand out or attract attention.
At this moment, Chu Ning silently estimated the number of people, finding that those in his group constituted about one-fifth of the total, he immediately felt at ease.
Breaking through at this time point was neither too early nor too late; had he chosen to breakthrough later, he would only be able to listen to cultivation technique lectures today instead of studying spells.
Now, it was just at the right time.
As for showing his cultivation talent like Lin Yong, and getting a chance to enter the Outer Sect, Chu Ning hadn't even considered it.
With his four-attribute pseudo spirit root, the talent measured was very average, and no particular spirit root had an edge. If he suddenly exhibited a rapid cultivation speed, it would be a clear signal to others that he had a big secret.
Before figuring out the secret of the spirit body, the fact that he possesses the Yin Wood Spirit Body must not be exposed to avoid unforeseen complications.