Chapter 15

Ning Cheng didn’t expect that just asking a question would result in such a bad attitude from this guy. He could only prepare to go down to the fifth floor to ask again. The sixth floor was much larger than the seventh floor, and occasionally, people could be seen entering and exiting the cultivation rooms, unlike the seventh floor where no one could be seen.

"Wait a moment." At the stairwell, Ning Cheng was called by someone.

"Are you calling me?" Ning Cheng turned around and saw a boy a few years older than him, who looked like he had just come out of a cultivation room. This boy was much darker-skinned than Ning Cheng, with a smile on his lips, clearly without any ill intent.

Ning Cheng knew that any of these cultivating students had a much higher status than he did as a laborer. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had no intention of asking such people or talking much with these students. In the Cangguo Kingdom, students who could enter this academy mostly had extraordinary backgrounds, and Ning Cheng couldn’t afford to offend any of them.

"I heard what you said just now. You should be the one who cleans the cultivation rooms, right?" the boy said directly.

Ning Cheng quickly replied, "Yes, it’s my first day, and I don’t know where to eat, so I came to ask."

"You don’t only not know where to eat, but it seems you also don’t know the rules here. Remember, laborers are not allowed to use the main staircase. If you are caught by some students or enforcers, you’ll be in serious trouble."

Hearing the boy’s words, Ning Cheng was greatly alarmed. He had just come down from the seventh floor using the main staircase. Moreover, Ji Luofei hadn’t told him that the main staircase was off-limits. If there really were such rules and this boy hadn’t warned him, he would have been in grave danger.

"Thank you for the warning, friend. Otherwise, I would have been in danger," Ning Cheng said gratefully.

The boy smiled, "No problem. I used to clean the cultivation rooms too. After seven years, I finally reached the second level of Qi Gathering, and then the academy recognized me, making me an official disciple. I’m now at the fourth level of Qi Gathering. Work hard, and maybe you can be like me in the future. Remember, when you enter or exit the cultivation tower, you can only use the side door."

After saying this, the boy pointed to a very hidden small door, "That’s the side door. There’s one on each floor. Once you go in, you can reach the back of the cultivation tower. There’s a place to eat in the back, and the money for food is earned by yourself. Don’t go to Old Mu, or you’ll be in big trouble. Good luck."

The boy didn’t mention his name and went down the stairs on his own.

Ning Cheng knew that the other party didn’t intend to get to know him. However, this boy’s advice was like saving his life, and Ning Cheng was extremely grateful to him.

Hearing footsteps coming from the main staircase, Ning Cheng quickly walked to the small door in the corner, opened it, and slipped inside.

Behind the small door, it was extremely dark, with only a narrow staircase, similar to the emergency exit in a high-rise building on Earth.

Walking down the staircase, Ning Cheng found himself at the back of the cultivation tower. The back of the cultivation tower was still part of the academy, but there were very few people around, just a narrow, winding path. On both sides of the path were towering trees, and through the gaps in the tree shadows, he could still see many students coming and going. Some students deliberately entered this path and hurriedly moved forward along it.

Ning Cheng followed this path and, after about half an hour, saw a narrow door with a stone house next to it. Inside the stone house was a middle-aged man who didn’t pay attention to the students entering and exiting the small door, apparently just a gatekeeper.

After exiting the small door, Ning Cheng was immediately stunned by the bustling scene in front of him. It was like a bustling market with everything available, though much noisier.

There were all kinds of shops, snack stalls, and street vendors. However, the quality was much lower than in the central streets of Cangluo City. This place was so bustling and crowded that Ning Cheng even doubted if Ji Luofei knew about it, at least he had no memory of it.

A huge sign was placed in the most prominent place, with arrows pointing to various places.

The first place wasn’t a commercial building or a shop for magical artifacts and elixirs, but a place called "Dough Pot." Ning Cheng had never heard of "Dough Pot" before, and he felt a strong curiosity. He decided to follow the arrow pointing to the Dough Pot. After about ten minutes, a huge circular building appeared before him.

Ning Cheng stopped. He saw two people blocking the entrance to the circular building, clearly charging a fee. He still had some silver coins, which were his living expenses. He didn’t want to waste them on this unknown Dough Pot.

Just as Ning Cheng was about to turn and leave, a few people came out of a door next to the circular building, and their conversation caught his attention.

"Watching those barbarians fight is really boring. I lost some silver coins today, and it wasn’t even exciting. I lost money for nothing."

"The fight between the ugly girl Ji and Gu Fei was much more exciting. I didn’t expect Gu Fei to lose to the ugly girl Ji."

"Ji Luofei is ugly, but she knows the importance of cultivation. By defeating Gu Fei, she got a Qi Gathering Stone. Just thinking about it makes me envious. But she seems to be seriously injured. Once Gu Fei’s brother, Gu Yiming, returns, she’ll have to give it back. Even if Gu Yiming doesn’t return, Gu Fei won’t let this go."

"Ugly girl? She’s just disfigured. Otherwise, who in the academy has a better figure than her? Even Jian Suojie can’t compare..."

"Shut up, do you want to die? Don’t dare to talk about Senior Sister Jian."

...

The group gradually moved away, and Ning Cheng’s fists were already clenched with veins popping out. He didn’t go into the Dough Pot, but he could imagine that it was a bloody fighting arena, like underground black boxing. He never thought that Ji Luofei’s Qi Gathering Stone was obtained from such a place, and she had suffered serious aftereffects.

That was Gu Fei’s brother, Gu Yiming, and from what these people said, Gu Fei himself wouldn’t let Ji Luofei off either.

Ning Cheng had no mood to continue wandering around. He hurriedly bought some dry rations and returned to the seventh floor of the cultivation tower. He needed to speed up his cultivation and quickly reach the fourth level of Qi Gathering. In this place, strength meant dignity.

There were fewer students cultivating on the seventh floor of the cultivation tower. After cleaning a few cultivation rooms, Ning Cheng locked himself in a small stone house and began to cultivate.

Students cultivating in the cultivation rooms, once they closed the room, would have the spiritual energy inside increase several times. Ning Cheng didn’t have this privilege. His small stone house remained the same, even when closed.

When Ning Cheng began to gather Qi, a new flow of true energy appeared in his mind. With the previous experience of the Concealment Technique, Ning Cheng didn’t hesitate this time. He directly abandoned the cultivation method in the Ning family’s scroll and cultivated according to the method that appeared in his mind.

The external spiritual energy was thin, but it didn’t affect Ning Cheng at all. As soon as he started cultivating, the dantian provided a purer and more concentrated source of spiritual energy, allowing Ning Cheng to continuously cleanse and open the meridians throughout his body.

With previous experience, Ning Cheng wasn’t panicked. He found that using the cultivation method that appeared in his mind was much more effective than the Ning family’s cultivation scroll. The speed of the true energy flowing through the meridians and other aspects were at least ten times smoother.

When Ning Cheng regained consciousness, he was already at the second level of Qi Gathering, and a large amount of dirt had seeped out of his body.

Feeling the stronger flow of true energy compared to the first level of Qi Gathering, Ning Cheng knew he had advanced to the second level of Qi Gathering without any doubt. He had been cultivating for two days and two nights.

Apart from being hungry, he only felt the sensation of true energy pulsing like a drum. Ning Cheng didn’t dare to continue cultivating. He had already been absent for two days without cleaning the cultivation rooms.

Fortunately, he knew that there were few people cultivating on the seventh floor, and Old Mu wouldn’t really come to check on him. Ning Cheng didn’t immediately go out to clean the cultivation rooms but continued to cultivate a new spell, the Dust Removal Spell. After each cultivation session, he should use the Dust Removal Spell to remove the dirt from his body instead of going downstairs to find water to wash.

In the early morning of the third day, Ning Cheng used the Dust Removal Spell to clean himself and then went to clean the cultivation rooms.

As he expected, there were not many people cultivating on the seventh floor. Even though he hadn’t come for three days, several cultivation rooms were still clean and empty.

...

In the following days, Ning Cheng continued to hide on the seventh floor and cultivate. He also used the opportunity to clean the cultivation rooms to practice various spells. The only regret was that he had no spiritual energy support when practicing spells in the cultivation rooms.

Time passed quickly, and ten days went by. During this period, Ji Luofei didn’t come to find Ning Cheng once. Ning Cheng rarely went out, focusing all his attention on cultivation.

However, after advancing to the third level of Qi Gathering, Ning Cheng became somewhat panicked. After reaching the third level of Qi Gathering, he could no longer sense the support of the mysterious spiritual source in his body. Ning Cheng knew very well that without the support of this mysterious spiritual source, he would never be able to advance from the third level of Qi Gathering to the fourth level, even if he cultivated for a lifetime.

In the following days, Ning Cheng repeatedly cultivated, but he could no longer feel the support of the pure and concentrated spiritual energy from within. His cultivation stagnated, but he had successfully cultivated several simple spells. When he advanced to the third level of Qi Gathering, guided by the modified cultivation method, he even advanced the Fireball Spell to the Fire Blade Spell.

Even so, Ning Cheng was still extremely anxious. Without the support of the mysterious spiritual source, he would be stuck at the third level of Qi Gathering for the rest of his life.

Ning Cheng decided to go out and find Ji Luofei. With no progress in cultivation, he didn’t want to stay in the stone house anymore. He had just tidied up and was about to open the door when he heard a loud "bang." The door of his small stone house was kicked open by someone.