(Shortly after Xuan began his 15th climb.)

[Huizhen’s POV]

"He looked like he wanted to end you and your ancestors right there," Huizhen remarked with a chuckle.

The instructor who was disguised as Feng Xiaodong suddenly reached for his face and ripped off the face mask, revealing a full set of flowing golden hair as well as a single scar right below his right eye.

"Head Monk Foyan." Huizhen greeted him with a smile. "You sure act like a child sometimes."

Head Monk Foyan was none other than the second Head Monk of the Grand Jade Temple, with Huizhen being the third. They were friends in a way, but because of how perverted Foyan was, they didn’t get along that well outside of the Grand Jade Temple.

Perverted not in a bad way, of course. He was just a pervert for talented people like Xuan.

"A child? Do you think it makes any sense?" Foyan grumbled, playing around with the face mask by tossing it up and down. "That... what’s his name again?"

"Xuan."

"Xuan... How is he still climbing? Did you really seal his Qi? Are you lying to me?" Foyan asked with a pout.

This man-child... Huizhen’s smile cracked slightly.

"I made a deal with him, and I promised him the Nine Heavens Palm Technique."

Foyan suddenly halted, the face mask falling onto the ground as he turned toward Huizhen with a shocked expression.

"Y-You’re giving your master’s treasure to this brat? I’ve been begging you for thirty years, and you didn’t even let me take a peek!"

Huizhen sighed and didn’t even entertain Foyan’s bickering. Instead, he glanced up at Xuan, who was nearing the clouds.

His strength is that of a Ninth Level Spirit Master, but his durability is at the high end of Spirit Warrior, Huizhen thought with a slight smile. Durability over offense... He’s the perfect candidate to learn the—

"I’m bored!" Foyan snapped him out of his thoughts and picked up the mask from the ground before tossing it over to him.

"Take over. I’ve got a gambling house to raid."

Huizhen raised a brow. "You sure? You might miss some quality bonding time with Xuan."

"Bonding? Hah! That kid is going to kill me when he finishes the climbs. Good luck on that end, old coot." Foyan grinned, and right as he was about to kick off the ground, he decided to remind Huizhen of something.

"The hotties from the Serene Blossom Valley are going to arrive next month. It’s some kind of bonding test set up by the first Head Monk. I don’t know much about it, but keep Xuan out of sight. He’s strong, but with his Qi sealed... I don’t want him to embarrass us. I hope you understand."

With those words, Foyan finally vanished, leaving behind Huizhen, who stared at the face mask for a moment, then glanced up toward the mountain peak.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he shook his head.

"An embarrassment? I don’t think so."

.

.

.

[Xuan’s POV]

For the last two hours, Xuan climbed relentlessly, and now he tumbled down face first, his eyes closed.

He hit a few rocks along the way, but it felt like he hit jello. Xuan wasn’t sure if that was because his body turned into noodles or simply because the rocks were no longer sharp from his many falls.

Anyhow, it took only half a minute to arrive below the clouds. Then, Xuan proceeded to adjust his body so his legs would hit the ground first.

If my legs break... I’ll have to drag myself like a slug up those stairs. Well shit, Xuan thought in the very last moment as his feet made contact with the ground.

The ground collapsed under his weight, causing a miniature crater to appear as rocks and debris flew in all directions, some even landing beside Feng Xiaodong but sadly not hitting him.

When he finally processed the landing, Xuan realized that aside from spraining his back, he hadn’t broken his legs or anything else for that matter.

So, with a victorious grin, he turned toward Feng Xiaodong.

"How’s that? Sixteen climbs in total."

Feng Xiaodong tilted his head. "Did your disciple quartermaster not tell you that this training will last a whole month? You’ve been at this for 19 hours, so head up to the Grand Jade Temple and sleep. Training starts in five hours."

"What...?" Xuan’s eyes widened. I thought this was it. Something this difficult... Is he...?

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. The other disciples finished this exercise in three hours. It’s your fault for taking so long." Feng Xiaodong scoffed and began walking toward the steps leading up to the Grand Jade Temple.

Right as he was about to take the first step, he halted, giving Xuan the side eye.

"Food will be at your door if the other disciples haven’t stolen it. As for tomorrow’s exercises, you will climb the mountain, but with a boulder strapped to your back. The format will be the same, so the last one to finish all climbs will have to do extra."

Leaving those words hanging in the air, Feng Xiaodong began happily skipping up the steps, eventually fading out of sight.

In the meantime, Xuan clenched his fists in anger.

"Is this really worth it?" Xuan wondered out loud. "I could be doing dungeons or something more productive... Even Yuelan is stronger than me."

He held out hope that whatever he was doing would pay off in the end, but it was hard staying positive. Really hard.

But when he opened his status screen, his hope was slightly reignited.

Name: Xiao Xuan

Cultivation: Sixth Level Spirit Warrior

(Qi: 720,799,750 / 819,200,000)

<Void Qi | 4,596,125,110 / 10,000,000,000>

|

Legacy: None

Bloodline: None

Physique: Boundless Void Physique

Physical Strength: 58,200 → 78,200

Mental Strength: 26,000 → 34,000

Physical Defense: 95,600 → 172,600

Mental Defense: 20,000 → 32,000

↳ Qi Type Comprehension:

[Time Qi - Beginner - 0.15%]

[Space Qi - Beginner - 1.52%]

[Death Qi - Beginner - 0.37%]

[Demonic Qi - Beginner - 0.01%]

<★ Xiao Yuelan - Ninth Level Spirit Warrior>

That’s... Xuan stared at it in shock. That’s a massive upgrade. And all in a week...?

A week was all it took to nearly double his stats that he had been honing for close to 7 months. It was unbelievable how much he could achieve this way.

Somehow, he was looking forward to tomorrow’s training session.

So, for that, Xuan was going to eat as much food as possible and sleep just enough to not pass out mid climb.

"Hah... This might not be a dead end after all."