Chapter 20
Baek-Cheong hurried her steps toward the Clan’s Back Mountain.
The entire Back Mountain was one of the Baek Clan’s important strongholds, surrounded by a massive Formation.
As she climbed the winding Mountain Path, a Cave Entrance revealed itself.
On both sides of the entrance, guards exuding a strict aura stood firmly at their posts.
In front of the Cave Entrance, an old cultivator was dozing off at a worn-out table.
It was elder Jin, who controlled access to the Training Room and managed the Formation.
Baek-Cheong adjusted her Attire and approached the table.
“Grandfather Jin, have you been well?”
At Baek-Cheong’s clear voice, elder Jin blearily opened his eyes.
“Oh, it’s Cheong-Yi. I thought you were confined to the Pill Room by the Clan Head’s orders. What brings you here?”
“I received permission from father and came to use the Eastern Region.”
Baek-Cheong told the lie with shameless ease.
One of elder Jin’s eyebrows twitched.
“The Clan Head gave his permission? Hoho, how strange. The Clan Head gave me strict orders to forbid you if you tried to enter the Eastern Region.”
Baek-Cheong’s heart sank the moment she heard that.
It seemed father had taken thorough precautions before leaving for the Marketplace.
However, the Improvisation she had built up while browsing the forums shone even brighter in a crisis.
Baek-Cheong didn’t bat an eye and continued her brazen acting.
“Ah, this is a different matter. A little while ago, grandfather Yak-seon saw my Pill Refining Skill and was deeply impressed. He convinced father that I needed to immediately carry out a Special Assignment within the Dense Spiritual Energy of the Eastern Region. Father must not have had the chance to inform you, grandfather Jin, because he had to leave for the Marketplace in such a hurry.”
At the mention of Yak-seon’s name, elder Jin’s expression wavered slightly.
Rumors that Yak-seon was staying at the Baek Clan and showing special affection for Baek-Cheong had recently spread widely throughout the Clan.
Furthermore, considering Baek-Cheong’s Talent in breaking through to 3rd Stage Qi Condensation in a single breath, giving her a Training Room for a Special Assignment wasn’t unreasonable.
“If Yak-seon said so… Hmm.”
Elder Jin stroked his beard, falling into thought.
He seemed to be conflicted about the Veracity of her words.
Baek-Cheong didn’t miss this chance to drive the wedge.
“Time is running out, grandfather Jin. Grandfather Yak-seon told me to finish the assignment by today. If I’m delayed and grandfather Yak-seon gets angry, are you going to take responsibility, grandfather Jin?”
It was a bold threat coming from one with such a cute appearance.
Elder Jin let out a Hollow Laugh and shook his head.
“Tsk tsk. For a young one, you certainly have a silver tongue. Understood. If Yak-seon said so, I will open the Eastern Region for you. However, I cannot give you the Grade A Eastern Region, which consumes a High-Grade Spirit Stone every quarter-hour. Be satisfied with the Grade C Eastern Region.”
Even in a C-grade Training Room, the effect of the Spirit Gathering Formation drawing in the Spirit Energy of Heaven and Earth was undeniable.
It would show a level of efficiency completely different from doing Meditation in the corner of her room.
“Thank you, grandfather Jin!”
Baek-Cheong bowed in greeting and swiftly dashed into the cave.
The inside of the cave glowed faintly with the light of densely interwoven Formations.
Passing through paths tangled like the Labyrinth, she stood before a stone door bearing the nameplate of a C-grade Training Room.
When she placed the jade plaque elder Jin had given her against the stone door, it opened with a scraping rumble of friction.
The interior of the Training Room was on the cozy side.
All there was was a single Jade Flat Platform placed in the center, but the Density of Spiritual Energy floating in the air was incomparable to that outside.
Just breathing in purified her lungs and made her Dantian tremble pleasantly.
“This is totally an oxygen room.”
Baek-Cheong immediately sat in the Lotus Position on the Jade Flat Platform.
She pulled out a jade bottle containing Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills from her robes.
If she consumed a Spirit Gathering Pill within this Dense Spiritual Energy, she could draw in an exorbitant Amount of Spiritual Energy.
“Everything is for the pic.”
Without hesitation, Baek-Cheong tossed a Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill into her mouth.
The pill traveled down her esophagus and unleashed its explosive medicinal efficacy.
At the same time, the Spirit Gathering Formation laid out on the floor of the Training Room rotated intensely, roughly shoving external spiritual energy into her body.
The pill’s efficacy and the Spirit Gathering Formation’s spiritual energy tangled together inside her Dantian.
The Cycle of Five Elements Mutual Generation spun at a crazy speed, grinding up and devouring the pouring energies.
The spiritual energy, which had been a mere one-tenth, rapidly filled up past two-tenths and three-tenths, reaching ten-tenths in an instant.
“Ugh.”
Due to the abnormal Spiritual Energy Influx, her blood vessels expanded and a pain like her skin tearing apart washed over her.
But Baek-Cheong clenched her teeth and endured it.
Exerting her concentration, she suppressed the rampaging energies and crammed them into the Orbit of Five Elements.
It was a perilous gamble where she would explode to death from Qi Deviation if her control collapsed.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
The efficacy of the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill was completely realized.
Nearly half of her massive Dantian was sloshing with deep blue spiritual energy.
However, to create a picture post stably and browse the forum, she wouldn’t feel at ease unless she filled her spiritual energy to the absolute limit.
“One more should be fine…”
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Baek-Cheong picked up the jade bottle again.
She swallowed another Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill whole.
It was an act she dared to do while taking into account the accumulation of pill toxins.
“Hmph!”
Not long after, her qi meridians screamed.
Around her, the Five Elements Qi of five different colors materialized and raged like a storm.
Amidst the terrible agony of her bones breaking and her internal organs twisting, Baek-Cheong’s consciousness flickered.
‘If I pass out here, my spiritual energy will scatter and I won’t be able to post a picture on the Nameless Forum…’
Her morbid obsession with forum browsing forcibly grabbed hold of her snapping thread of reason.
She suppressed the pain with the fierce tenacity she used in her past life when staying up all night running raids and engaging in Keyboard Battles.
Baek-Cheong desperately gathered and stored the pouring spiritual energy.
Finally, her massive Dantian was filled to the brim without a single gap.
The sloshing Spiritual Energy Level rose right up to her chin, making it a struggle just to breathe.
Although she was merely at the 3rd Stage Qi Condensation, her Spiritual Energy was an overwhelming amount that approached a typical Qi Condensation Grand Perfection.
“Haa, haa… I lived.”
Baek-Cheong opened her eyes, panting heavily.
Her entire body was drenched in cold sweat, but a bizarre smile hung on her lips.
The reassurance provided by the abundance in her Dantian was indescribable.
“With this much, I should easily be able to post a picture.”
While still sitting on the Jade Flat Platform, Baek-Cheong immediately moved her Divine Sense to connect to the Nameless Forum.
Although the vitality had died down since the Jinseonkasu appeared last time, the Pill Refining Discussion that originated from her nonsense post still hadn’t lost its heat and continued to dominate the Forum Board.
Baek-Cheong began drafting a post with the intention of throwing cold water on their serious discussion.
As she forcefully pushed a massive amount of Divine Sense into the Nameless Forum, the image of the room’s floor was projected blurrily with a familiar shimmering.
“Heheheh.”
Baek-Cheong couldn’t hold back her mischievous laughter.
Then, pushing her Divine Sense to the limit, she expanded the projected image from the size of a pinky nail to the size of a thumb nail.
As she felt the limits of her Divine Sense, even a headache began to strike her.
“Almost… there…”
But Baek-Cheong wasn’t one to stop here.
Within the projected image, she illuminated a crude doodle carved into the wall of the Training Room.
It was a bizarre and comical face shape that someone had scratched out with a sharp tool.
For the title, she wrote a short and intense phrase to maximize the aggro.
“※Dao Friend(913.14): The level of these Pill Refining nerds lol”
In the content, she inserted the picture of the projected doodle.
At the same time, the spiritual energy in her Dantian evaporated at a rapid pace.
At this rate, the spiritual energy she had gathered wouldn’t even be close to enough, but…
“As expected, the Spirit Gathering Formation alone isn’t enough.”
Baek-Cheong urgently took out a Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill from the jade bottle.
And without thinking about the consequences, she tossed the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill into her mouth.
The Spirit Gathering Formation and the Spirit Gathering Pill combined, filling up the lacking spiritual energy.
After repeating the consumption and refilling for a long time, she was nearing the time when her Dantian was about to hit rock bottom.
“Done…!”
The picture was just barely uploaded to the main text, and the phenomenon of her spiritual energy being consumed also stopped.
However, extreme dizziness washed over her, perhaps because she had overworked her Dantian and qi meridians as her spiritual energy bottomed out.
On top of that, her consumed Divine Sense didn’t return.
“I have to… post it…!”
Gritting her teeth and holding onto her consciousness, she succeeded in posting the thread.
Before long, the picture post went up at the top of the Forum Board along with her Interface Number.
The moment Baek-Cheong confirmed the sight of her post sitting proudly up there, she even forgot her pain.
“It’s up!”
On the other hand, the Nameless Forum was instantly engulfed in silence.
The Cultivators who had been having a heated discussion freaked out and stopped at the suddenly appearing picture post.
Before the nightmare had even faded, another unidentified picture had appeared.
“Dao Friend(11.23): Emergency! Dao Friend 913.14 posted a picture!”
“Dao Friend(88.4): Let nobody open it!!!”
Terrified, the Cultivators spammed warning replies.
However, it seemed a bold Dao Friend who couldn’t overcome their curiosity had opened the post.
“Dao Friend(201.9): …I just opened it. It’s not a True Immortal Image - it’s just a crude doodle?”
“Dao Friend(55.19): A crude doodle? To post a picture, one would need at least 10 zhang of Divine Sense. The identity of 913.14, who claims to be in Qi Condensation, is getting more and more bizarre.”
Gaining courage from Dao Friend(201.9)'s Confirmation Kill, the other Cultivators also cautiously opened Baek-Cheong’s post.
And upon confirming the bizarre doodle inside and the short title mocking them, they erupted in anger all at once.
[Dao Friend(11.23): To dare insult the sacred grounds of our Pill Refining Discussion by posting such a low-grade doodle!]
[Dao Friend(88.4): I even bowed three times to Dao Friend(913.14)! You dare to pull such a trick!]
[Dao Friend(77.21): I’ve seen countless Robber bastards, but this is my first time seeing someone as malicious as you. I will definitely tear your soul to shreds!]
Hundreds of angry curses flooded in, reaching the point of paralyzing the Forum Board.
The atmosphere of worshipping her or the academic zeal for Pill Refining also died down.
“Pfft-hehe!”
Clutching her empty Dantian, Baek-Cheong rolled around on the Jade Flat Platform, laughing until her sides split.
If the Cultivators of the Nameless Forum knew that the result of siphoning the Training Room’s Dense Spiritual Energy and enduring extreme agony was merely being a troublemaker on the Nameless Forum, they would be dumbfounded, but there was no way for them to find out.
“Now this is a proper forum.”
However, in the dry and harsh life of the Cultivation World, there was no surer Dopamine Outlet than this.
Finishing a satisfying forum browsing session for the first time in a while, she stood up from her Seat.
“Now, before father finds out…”
Baek-Cheong quickly adjusted her Attire and slipped out of the Training Room.
And just as she escaped the Labyrinth-like paths and reached the exit/Entrance.
“Did you finish the assignment Yak-seon gave you well?”
There, her father stood guarding the spot with a stern appearance.