After binding with a genius, I became an immortal by exploiting loopholes.

The cafeteria was noisy.

More than 300 young immortals sat at dozens of long tables. Most of them were engrossed in eating, while only a few young men and women who had already mastered the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Technique) were talking in hushed tones, their brows revealing a hint of confidence.

Lu Qingchen sat down with a wooden tray in his hand. On the tray was a bowl of green rice, a dish of stir-fried spiritual vegetables, and a small bowl of Solomon's Seal Chicken Soup.

As the food entered my mouth, I could feel a faint spiritual energy spreading through my stomach, nourishing my weary body.

This is a free spiritual food provided by Yuxin Peak—mainly made from green glutinous rice that has been steamed and dried nine times, supplemented with some low-grade semi-spiritual medicine. Long-term consumption can accelerate the process of cultivating vital energy and strengthening tendons.

However, for those with low-grade Five Elemental Roots, the effect is negligible.

"Have you heard? Chu Yunfeng broke through to the first level of Qi Refining yesterday."

I heard murmurs from the next table.

"A top-grade dual spiritual root of gold and fire, truly living up to its reputation... Having only been in the sect for fifty days, this speed is likely to set a record for the fastest in recent years."

"Not only that, Su Qingxue is also about to break through. She has a mid-grade Water and Wood Spiritual Root and possesses the 'Pure Spirit Body,' so her cultivation of the 'Azure Water Technique' is progressing by leaps and bounds."

"Among our batch of promising young talents, only a few have the highest potential, and they've already been targeted by the inner sect elders..."

Lu Qingchen ate in silence, but he took note of all the information he heard.

Chu Yunfeng, Su Qingxue, Zhao Tieshan, and Lin Xiaoyu—these are the four most dazzling talents among this batch of promising immortals. Less than twenty days after entering the sect, they all managed to draw in Qi and are now listening to lectures at Mingfa Peak, learning the various arts of cultivation.

And what about yourself?

With the five spiritual roots at a low grade, it takes fifty days to just barely bring the body to a state of "perfect cultivation".

Until yesterday, under the guidance of his senior instructor, he clumsily began to practice the tendon-changing method in the "Yi Jin Xi Sui Zhuang Gong" for the first time, and felt a slight stretching and intensified stinging sensation in a major tendon in his arm.

This can be considered as barely stepping into the threshold of Yi Jin Jing, and it is unknown how far away it is from "minor success".

Wang Ming, who shared a room with me, was a mid-grade cultivator with four spiritual roots. He had a solid foundation and had been diligently cultivating these days. He was now close to the completion of the Tendon Transformation Realm and was making an attempt to reach the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Li Si possesses the highest-grade four spiritual roots, making him the most talented among the group. His Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Technique) has already reached perfection, and these past few days he has been secluded, studying the methods of Marrow Cleansing, pondering how to vibrate his bone marrow and condense his essence and blood.

Given their qualifications, barring any mishaps, they have a good chance of completing the marrow cleansing and qi induction processes in the coming days.

Like him, Sun Han was a low-grade five-elemental root, possessing a very weak earth-attribute spiritual body. Although it was of little use for cultivation, it provided a bit more resilience when laying the foundation compared to those with pure mixed spiritual roots.

But his spiritual root was there, and he had only just barely reached the threshold of the Yi Jin Jing in the past few days, just like him, his progress was so slow it was agonizing.

However, compared to those geniuses who went straight to Mingfa Peak, the progress of the four people in this small courtyard was still as slow as a tortoise crawling.

"Lu Qingchen, you don't look well today."

Li Si leaned closer and whispered, "Did you make no progress in your cultivation last night?"

Lu Qingchen shook his head and did not answer.

Wang Ming sighed, "Yesterday I heard from Senior Brother Liu, who was on duty, that out of the more than three hundred Immortal Seedlings, more than two hundred have already completed the Qi Cultivation stage, more than ninety are about to undergo Marrow Cleansing, and the rest..."

Sun Han suddenly put down his chopsticks, his voice trembling with tears: "My parents... sold their only ox to raise enough money for the spirit-telling... If I'm demoted to a menial job, after fifty days, what face will I have left..."

The cafeteria fell silent for a moment.

Many of the celestial seedlings lowered their heads, their eyes flashing with the same fear.

Even though most of them have four spiritual roots and are "good seedlings" that the family has sent in with all its might, after a hundred days, only five or six out of ten can truly draw qi into their bodies.

The rest either left the sect or became menial laborers, working in mines, spirit fields, or service peaks, exhausting their meager immortal destiny through day-to-day labor.

For those with five spiritual roots like Sun Han and Lu Qingchen, even the one or two percent chance is extremely slim.

Lu Qingchen shoveled the last bite of rice into his mouth, then got up and left.

He had no family, no ties, and that was precisely why he could not accept the fate of being reduced to a menial servant.

That means there will never be a chance to get ahead.

......

Back in his room, Lu Qingchen didn't immediately begin cultivating. Instead, he went to the window and looked out at the distant, mist-shrouded Mingfa Peak.

That place is where the immortal seedlings that have already been guided into the body reside. The concentration of spiritual energy there is three times that of Yuxin Peak. There are more than ten lecture halls, a library, an alchemy room, a weapon-refining room, and even a special spiritual field for disciples to practice spiritual plant cultivation techniques.

As for myself, I don't even have the right to step onto it.

An extreme sense of resentment, mixed with fear of the future, churned and surged within my chest.

Why...?

"Why should they have such a smooth road ahead...?"

"If...if I could have that kind of talent, that kind of resources..."

This thought was filled with a sense of powerlessness, more like a delusion born of desperation.

However, at the very moment when Lu Qingchen's emotions were running high and his mind was most unstable—

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, without any warning, the phantom of an ancient stele suddenly descended!

It was an ancient stele, entirely black, no more than three feet tall, yet exuding an aura of antiquity and vastness.

The stele is blank, with only countless fine and mysterious patterns flowing around it, as if sealing some unspeakable secret.

It appeared abruptly in Lu Qingchen's consciousness, as if it had existed there since time immemorial, only to be "seen" by him at this moment.

"What...is this?"

Before his astonishment could subside, the mysterious patterns on the surface of the monument suddenly glowed faintly, and streams of information, inhuman and ineffable, poured directly into his soul:

[Grateful for your unwavering devotion, I awaken my spiritual core; now that the Daoist stele stands, cause and effect are naturally intertwined.]

[The Spiritual Pivot Stele has descended...]

[Ling Shu Dao Stele]

[Monument Owner: Lu Qingchen]

[Realm: Yi Jin Stage]

[Spiritual Root: Low-grade of the Five Spiritual Roots]

[Spiritual Entity: Aoki Spiritual Entity (Incomplete)]

[Currently available wheel slots to bind: One]

[Currently bound wheel position: None]

[Rotation ratio: 5%]

(The number of wheels and the ratio of wheels increase as the master's realm improves.)

【Stele Function:】

【Part 1: Cultivation Infusion: Transform the exotic cultivation acquired through the Reincarnation Wheel into one's own use】

【Part Two: Spiritual Root Tempering: Burning cultivation essence to remove impurities and enhance spiritual roots】

【Part Three: Cultivation Technique Evolution: Consuming cultivation points to deduce and complete the future path of the cultivation technique】

【Four: Enchanting Artifacts: Infusing cultivation to enhance the spirituality and grade of magical artifacts】

(More functions of the Dao Stele will be unlocked as the stele owner's realm increases.)

The Wheel of Fortune:

Firstly, the target must be within a certain distance; otherwise, a connection cannot be established.

Secondly: The Dao Stele is bound to a target, and the target's realm cannot exceed the current major realm of the stele owner.

[Thirdly: Once the wheel of rebirth is activated, the five-tenths of the newly added cultivation will accumulate and revolve daily from the moment of activation.]

Fourthly: The higher the innate talent (spiritual root, Dao body, destiny) of the bound individual, the better the effect obtained by the reincarnation on the monument master.

[Fifthly: Whenever the master of the stele breaks through a major realm, he can proactively sever the old wheels and choose new ones to attach to.]

[Sixth: If the bound person dies and their cultivation dissipates, the wheel binding them will collapse on its own. The master of the monument must consume 20% of the deceased's accumulated cultivation to reopen this wheel position. If the bound person is killed, they can also choose to follow the causal line to kill the true culprit and use the enemy's blood to sacrifice to the monument, and the wheel position will immediately reopen.]

[The Mysterious Spiritual Pivot: This stele resides deep within the true spirit of its owner, unseen by the outside world, untouched by cause and effect, and cannot be perceived by anyone who has transcended the laws of this world.]

......