You promised yourself to be a caged bird, but you became the supreme young master?

"Aheng, see you later." With a wave of his hand, Lu Jinnian said goodbye.

For the two who are currently still in the outer courtyard of the Lu clan.

The most important thing is to improve one's own cultivation in order to face the first evaluation three months later.

If it weren't for the fact that this loan-taking matter was related to Lu Heng's own cultivation, the two of them would most likely still be in their rooms, focused on their cultivation.

There's absolutely no way I'd be in the mood to wander around outside.

Watching his friend's departing figure, Lu Heng tapped on the table.

His gaze was somewhat deep; he had just inquired about Lu Jinnian's knowledge of techniques related to the preparation of spiritual food.

Even though the estimated results were already very low, I never expected that it would be just the most basic spiritual food production in the cultivation technique of alchemy.

The difficulty of obtaining it far exceeded his expectations, and even if he could buy the required amount with money, it was still far beyond his imagination.

Even cultivators in the Qi Refining Secret Realm might feel the pinch.

Knowledge of cultivation techniques was valued far more in this world than he had imagined.

After all, this is the fundamental reason for the monopoly of the imperial court and powerful families.

If it weren't for the fact that the preparation of spiritual food was so rudimentary, Lu Heng's attempt to buy it with money would have been nothing short of a pipe dream.

However, at least in the short term, Lu Heng sees no possibility of obtaining the skill of making spiritual food.

However, once he acquires the skill to make spiritual food, it will no longer be as helpful to him.

certainly…

Thinking of the rumored entry-level spiritual food.

Lu Heng's eyes showed a slightly strange expression.

It is currently known that taking elixirs can lead to the development of alkaloid poisoning that hinders cultivation.

At a certain point, it may even completely sever the path of cultivation.

But spiritual food doesn't have any problems in this regard.

Although he could be said to be immune to the poison in a sense by purifying himself from the negative effects of each evolution, it was ultimately unnecessary.

The time between each evolution is likely to be extremely long.

If any unforeseen circumstances arise along the way, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, there was no need for Lu Heng to improve his cultivation by using a large number of pills.

Needless to say, the price alone is enough to leave him speechless.

He had already inquired about the price of the Qi and Blood Pill at the Internal Affairs Hall.

The price of one of these three taels of gold could be exchanged in the outer courtyard for a top-grade spiritual food that would be beneficial for one's breakthrough in cultivation.

"Let's cultivate first..." Lu Heng said softly, putting aside the unrealizable plan for the time being.

………………

Nine days passed in the blink of an eye.

The cafeteria of the outer campus.

Lu Heng stood silently in line, appearing inconspicuous among the many students from the outer academy.

Compared to the other students from the outer courtyard who were gathered in twos and threes, he appeared to be all alone.

However, just like in the beginning, Lu Heng didn't care at all about it.

It's not some melodramatic idea about enjoying solitude; it's simply that it's unnecessary.

With a sudden thought, Lu Heng opened the panel while waiting in line.

Lu Heng

[12 years old]

Life Rank: None

[Cultivation Level: Body Refinement Level 1 (Mild Pill Poisoning)]

[Talent: Void Bloodline (Unawakened)]

[Technique: Basic Body Refinement Method (Beginner 200/300)]

Basic Swordsmanship (Beginner 54/300)

Evolution Points: 21/100 (After reaching the maximum value, it cannot be accumulated, but can unlock one life leap)

(Evolution points can only be accumulated through daily settlements)

Looking at the changing values ​​on the panel, Lu Heng nodded in satisfaction.

This is the fruit of all his hard work and sweat over this period of time.

Nine days of training, minus the day that was entirely devoted to practicing the "Basic Sword Techniques".

His evolution point progress should be 20/100.

But one thing that was both unexpected and reasonable was…

Practicing the "Basic Sword Techniques" was also beneficial to him.

Therefore, it can also provide him with evolution points.

It is the same as the Basic Body Refining Method, and because practicing the Basic Sword Technique ten times is equivalent to practicing the Basic Body Refining Method once.

In theory, one only needs to spend one-tenth of the time required to master the "Basic Body Refining Method" to the point of perfection to cultivate the "Basic Sword Technique" to perfection.

But it's clear that Lu Heng wouldn't be so petty as to abandon the essential for the trivial.

Therefore, in the past nine days, apart from practicing the Basic Sword Technique three times a day, he did not spend any extra time practicing the Basic Sword Technique.

After all, he only needs five days to upgrade his Basic Body Refining Technique to the proficient level.

When that time comes, his cultivation speed will be able to be further improved.

Even so, thanks to the two points of proficiency gained from one training session after entering the sect.

In nine days, his proficiency in Basic Swordsmanship reached 54 points.

It's easy to reach the proficient level before the first evaluation held every three months at the foreign institute.

Furthermore, it does not consume any cultivation time, which naturally makes Lu Heng very satisfied.

………………

Lu Heng shifted his gaze from the panel, his eyes sweeping across the surroundings, taking in all the changes before him.

The young members of the branch families who were still dressed in fine silks and satins on the training ground have now all changed into coarse linen clothes.

The reason for the change lies in the figures who stepped into the outer courtyard canteen—the truly pampered and privileged young men of the Lu family also appeared here.

Compared to the nearly one thousand branch family youths in the training ground who were all at the fourth level of the fourth grade, this group of main family disciples numbered only a few dozen, yet they stood out like cranes among chickens.

Among these dozens of people, a dozen or so teenagers had extremely rare blue-green eyes.

Even the three cultivation geniuses who had previously caused the Awakening Crystal to erupt with dazzling light in the martial arts arena did not reveal the slightest bit of their abilities.

If the disdain shown by the younger generation of the family who had some connection to cultivation towards ordinary people of their clan was merely the class prejudice of commoners in the marketplace, tinged with a deliberate air of arrogance.

The arrogance of the group of youths before them was the noble air of their families etched into their blood; the condescending look between their brows was natural and unforced.

Lu Heng didn't need to think much to get the final answer about their identities.

The head of the Lu family!

Lu Heng was also surprised that they would appear in the outer courtyard.

Logically speaking, with the support of the branch family, these main family members, even if they have poor talent in cultivation, should be able to improve their cultivation level.

There is absolutely no need for people to come to the foreign language department.

However, upon noticing the branch family members surrounding and fawning over the main family members, Lu Heng suddenly realized something.

A sense of superiority comes from comparison!

If a group of family members stay together and there are no separate families, they will naturally rank themselves according to their own superiority.

In those situations, the slightly inferior members of the main family become mere supporting characters.

There's a reason behind the saying from a past life: "Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."