Chapter 20: Nine Clouds

Wang Lin was happy to enjoy some peace and quiet. Although he had been expelled from the Main Courtyard and secretly heard many Named Disciples mocking him, he did not take it to heart. Over the past month, he had gained a general understanding of Cultivation. Cultivation was divided into five levels: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation.

In the entire Hengyue School, there were currently only two experts at the Core Formation stage. They lived high above in the back mountain where the Spiritual Qi was densest, cultivating in seclusion all day long, and never participated unless it was a major event for the School. Even those at the Foundation Establishment Stage did not exceed ten people within the School; they were the backbone force, enjoying privileges and having free use of Immortal Stones and Magic Treasures.

Apart from these people, the majority remained at the Qi Condensation stage, such as Sun Dazhu, who was only at the fifth level of Qi Condensation.

Cultivation was very difficult and required a massive amount of time. If one's natural talent was poor, a hurried lifetime of a few decades would not be enough for Cultivation. The Qi Condensation stage was already this arduous, let alone anything above the Foundation Establishment Stage. Besides needing sufficient Spiritual Qi, one also had to possess immense Opportunity and Comprehension Ability; none could be lacking.

Wang Lin knew deeply the importance of Spiritual Qi, and in his heart, he was eager to take back the mysterious bead.

Although he was still unable to get Spiritual Qi into his body, he believed that as long as he frequently drank the spring water soaked with the bead, it would certainly accelerate the process. After all, so-called Qi Condensation was merely accumulating Spiritual Qi.

Judging by the level of concern Sun Dazhu showed, the spring water soaked with the bead must be very rich in Spiritual Qi. Thinking of this, he was very excited. The spring water was one thing, but at the place where he hid the bead, he had also hidden three Gourds of dew; this stuff must have even denser Spiritual Qi.

If he drank it, it would definitely not be worse than the medicine he had taken this past month; perhaps the effect would be even better. Therefore, Wang Lin was filled with joy at being able to leave the Main Courtyard and not be under the surveillance of Sun Dazhu.

As an Inner Sect Disciple, although he did not live in the Main Courtyard, he could freely find a residence in any of the five secondary courtyards. Wang Lin set his residence in the Fire Courtyard near the East Gate, found a remote house, and settled there.

Inner Sect Disciples enjoyed certain benefits based on the color of their clothing. Wang Lin had learned quite a bit about these matters over the past month through Sun Dazhu. For example, on the tenth of every month, one could go to the Pill Room in the Main Courtyard to receive one Low-Grade Spirit Stone fragment and one Spirit Seizing Pill that increased Spiritual Qi.

Accumulating ten fragments allowed one to go to their respective Master to exchange them for one complete Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

After tidying up his new residence, Wang Lin did not immediately go to retrieve the mysterious bead. He worried that Sun Dazhu might be secretly monitoring him, so he went to the mountain spring during the day and practiced breathing and meditation in his room at night, just as usual.

In fact, Sun Dazhu was indeed unwilling to give up and monitored him for another ten-plus days, but eventually, he completely gave up.

A month later, Wang Lin quietly left one night. He wound his way through the mountains to the place where he had hidden the Gourds and retrieved both the bead and the Gourds, placing them into his Storage Pouch. Others would not be able to notice anything amiss.

He stayed cautious for a few days, and after discovering nothing unusual, Wang Lin finally felt relieved. He no longer went to the mountain spring during the day, but instead spent the whole day at home studying the bead.

Wang Lin touched the bead and saw at a glance that the clouds on it had increased from seven to nine. It must have been because the mountain humidity was relatively high, and the bead had absorbed quite a bit of moisture.

As for the three Gourds, Wang Lin opened them one by one and discovered that the dew inside had become viscous, especially the Gourd containing the morning dew, which had almost turned into a gelatinous state.

Wang Lin looked at the bead, then looked at the three Gourds. A thought suddenly arose in his heart: the mysterious bead needed moisture to increase the number of clouds. So, if he used all three Gourds of dew on the bead, could it catalyze it to immediately produce a tenth cloud?

His heart pounded. The bead was not large to begin with, and now the nine densely packed clouds almost covered the entire surface, leaving only a spot the size of a fingernail. Wang Lin analyzed that this very likely was the location where the tenth cloud would appear.

He pondered for a moment, his heart very curious about what changes would occur once the clouds on it became ten. After all, judging from the exterior, there was no space for an eleventh cloud; this tenth one was very likely the last one.

However, today was the day to go to the Main Courtyard to receive Spirit Stones. Seeing that it was almost dark outside, Wang Lin carefully placed the bead and the Gourds into his Storage Pouch, tucked it into his bosom, and walked out of the room.

He was now extremely familiar with the paths within the School. Before long, he arrived at the Main Courtyard. Taking advantage of the fact that it was not yet dark, he hurried a few steps straight toward the Pill Room.

Before he even approached, a familiar voice drifted over from afar.

"Senior Sister Zhou, Master told me to Cultivate in seclusion for three months to break through to the first level of Qi Condensation, but my heart has always been thinking of you, and I couldn't calm down at all. I just wanted to Cultivate quickly so I could see you. Finally, last night, I finished cultivating the first level and went into the mountains overnight to pick this flower for you. Look how beautiful the petals are. At the time, a large snake was guarding it, and I had to go through great pains to kill the snake. Look at my arm; it's even injured."

Wang Lin's footsteps paused, his brows furrowed slightly, and he sneered inwardly before striding forward calmly.

"Senior Brother Wang, my family has practiced medicine for generations. This flower is clearly just a very ordinary Tomorrow Fragrance. I saw quite a few of them when I went up the mountain, but this is the first time I've heard of snakes liking to guard it. If that were really the case, I reckon our Hengyue School's mountains would be full of snakes everywhere. Senior Sister Zhou, don't believe him."

At this time, Wang Lin walked into the Pill Room courtyard. A glance swept across; there were four people here, two men and two women, all dressed in red.

Among the two men, one had a handsome face and a dignified appearance. At this moment, he had an awkward look on his face and was about to retort when his eyes suddenly stared straight at the entrance, revealing an expression of disbelief, and he blurted out:

"Wang Lin! You… how are you here? You should be at home doing carpentry work with your father right now."

"Wang Lin? Ah, so you are Wang Lin, that person who became a Named Disciple by attempting suicide and became Junior Martial Uncle Sun's Disciple through flattery, that's you!" A young girl beside him exclaimed, covering her mouth. She wore a large braid that was shiny and black, and under thick eyebrows were embedded a pair of pitch-black, bright big eyes; she looked quite pretty.

At this time, the other two people beside them also revealed looks of surprise and kept sizing up Wang Lin. Among them, the woman had a pair of beautiful, childish eyes decorated by long eyelashes, just like two crystal grapes, which were blinking at this moment, revealing an expression of great interest.

Wang Lin was expressionless as he swept a glance at them. As soon as this girl spoke, he recognized her as the young girl who had just ridiculed Wang Zhuo. However, looking at her appearance, she seemed somewhat familiar. Wang Lin thought carefully and recognized her as the one who had passed the talent test a few months ago. Since he recognized her, it went without saying that the other girl must be Senior Sister Zhou, to whom Wang Zhuo was offering the flower.