“You’re wearing a black cloak. That’s enough reason for us to arrest you.”

  “Huh? What’s wrong with wearing a black robe? It’s not like I look suspicious!

“… You do!”

“You are too much-“

Qin Yi witnessed that the black-cloaked person was eventually brought by the guards to somewhere.

The passerby who witnessed this also started whispering to each other and querying what was going on.

“It’s about what happened five years ago, Stone Edge Mountain, you remember it?”

“You mean the annihilation of Stone Edge Mountain that happened five years ago? I heard that the strongest cultivator there is in the Core Formation Realm. How could it get annihilated?”

“That’s it. Guardian Temple issued a warrant this morning that the culprit behind the annihilation of Stone Edge Mountain is a black-cloaked person. Also, I heard that another mountain last night fell at the hands of that black-cloaked person. That’s why they’re currently arresting every people who wear a black cloak.”

“Eh, isn’t that stupid? Just because of such an enigmatic clue, everyone in a black cloak is treated as a criminal.”

“Don’t mind about that. Guardian Temple has been overbearing lately since Senior Li Hai’s disappearance.”

“Anyway, we need to be careful with our conduct in this city from now on least that Guardian Temple would arrest us unreasonably…”

“You’re right…”

Qin Yi, who was hiding in a narrow and dark alley, listened attentively to the conversation of the passersby.

Turns out that’s what happened…

So now he’s a fugitive?

“Rudiculous!”

Luckily the Guardian Temple had absolutely no clue about him except for the fact that he was wearing a black cloak.

Although Qin Yi did not know what the Guardian Temple was planning, he could do nothing except lay low for the time being.

“Well, let’s go back to the sect.”

***

With that, Qin Yi resumed his life in the sect.

Just like that, a month has passed.

In that month, not much happened within the sect.

Qin Yi keeps his days busy by practicing archery at the martial arts ground every morning to noon.

After returning home from training, he focused his attention on practicing alchemy until the evening.

When the sun was about to set itself, Qin Yi headed to Spirit Flower Peak to tend the Hundred Flowers Garden until it rose again.

However, above all, he never missed his time extracting every outer disciple he came across.

Thanks to this effort, he had managed to accumulate quite a number of Cultivation Points.

————

Name: Qin Yi

Martial Aptitude: Middle-Grade

Cultivation Base: The Fifth Stage of Qi Condensation (0/6000)

Spiritual Mind: 72

Cultivation Points: 30,460

Mastery Point: 0

————

With that amount of Cultivation Points, Qin Yi decided to raise his cultivation base to the Ninth Stage of Qi Condensation Realm.

Thankfully, he has the Turtle Breathing Technique. Even if his cultivation base changed drastically, no one would notice it.

Li Hai said that the Turtle Breathing Technique was so powerful that even Core Formation Realm cultivators wouldn’t be able to see it through without using special means.

Few people can have a cultivation base at the Core Formation Realm in the outer sect; Elder Sister Beauty in the Treasure Pavilion, Elder Fu in the Registration Hall, and Elder Yi in the Myriad Books Library.

However, the Treasure Pavilion and the Myriad Books Library were located between the inner and outer sects. The elders in charge of those two places likely wouldn’t be bored enough to wander the outer sects for fun.

That also likely applies to the Elder Gu guarding the Registration Hall.

Therefore, Qin Yi would remain safe as long as he did not run into them on purpose.

With such thoughts, Qin Yi made up his mind to increase his cultivation base.

He sat cross-legged on his bed and closed his eyes. Then, he gave a command to the system.

“System, use 30,000 Cultivation Points to increase my cultivation base!”

In the next second, Qin Yi felt a tremendous change in his body.

It was a strange yet familiar feeling.

When Qin Yi opened his eyes, his cultivation base had already drastically increased.

————

Name: Qin Yi

Martial Aptitude: Middle-Grade

Cultivation Base: The Ninth Stage of Qi Condensation (0/100,000)

Spiritual Mind: 72

Cultivation Points: 460

Mastery Point: 0

————

“100,000? That much?”

Qin Yi was stunned by the number of Cultivation Points needed to break through to Foundation Establishment Realm.

Initially, he estimated it would only take tens of thousands, but he didn’t expect it to jump directly to the hundreds of thousands.

Nevertheless, accumulating such a large number of Cultivation Points was not much difficult for him.

However, he was not in a rush to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

After raising his cultivation base, he intended to focus his cultivation points on his martial arts.

————

Cultivation Technique: Turtle Breathing Technique (Earth Grade – Small Accomplishment)

Martial Skills: Spiral Arrow Technique (Human Grade – Great Accomplishment), Earth Moving Technique (Human Grade – Great Accomplishment)], Five Directions Arrow Technique (Human Grade – Great Accomplishment), Scarlet Fire Controlling Technique (Human Grade – Great Accomplishment)

Beast Skill: Bloody Wood Extension (Earth Grade – Small Accomplishment)

Mystic Talent: The Child of Void

————

All of his Earth Grade martial arts are still stuck in Small Accomplishment.

Moreover, he also still had Heaven Grade martial skills that he had not yet learned.

The number of Mastery Points required to master those Heaven Grade martial arts was astronomical.

Even mastering it to the lowest realm required 1500 Mastery Points, which are equivalent to 150,000 Cultivation Points.

Qin Yi needed about a year to accumulate that many points.

Anyway, now his cultivation base has successfully advanced. It was time for him to go to the Secondary Profession Association.

Three days ago, the Secondary Profession Association branch in Ancient Dragon City issued an announcement that the Secondary Profession Apprentice Examination was held today.

This announcement caused a stir in the entire city, including the outer sect of the Sleeping Dragon Sect.

Qin Yi heard from Xue Chan that seven disciples in the outer sect would be attending the exam, including the Qin Yi and Xue Chan.

However, all of them except Qin Yi were veteran participants who had taken the Secondary Profession Apprentice Exam many times and always failed.

Of course, this year, they also had no intention of giving up.

They are like iron-blooded warriors who never give up on their dreams in the face of any adversity.

***

Ten minutes later, Qin Yi arrived at the sect gate, and there he saw six other people wearing the same robes as him.

Only, they looked a lot older than him. Their age is probably between 30 – 40 years. In comparison, their cultivation base is at the Fifth Stage of Qi Condensation Realm to the Seventh Stage of Condensation Realm.

“Greeting fellow disciples.”

Qin Yi offered his formal greeting as soon as he saw them.

“Hmph, for a newbie, you have the guts to come last.” A barb-toothed man suddenly spoke in a displeasing tone.

“Stop it, Kang Yi, this little one is probably busy preparing something for this exam.” The most decent-looking middle-aged man here tried to defend the newbie.

“Humph, what can be prepared for this ever-changing exam? You should already know this, Wang Dong!”

“Of course, I’m aware of it. However, we could at least prepare our mentality.”

Qin Yi stepped up and cupped his fists, “Please forgive me for being late; I had trouble sleeping last night due to nervousness. That’s why I woke up late.”

Actually, he was not late. In fact, there was still plenty of time before the exams started. It was just that he didn’t expect that these people would arrive here so early.

Kang Yi rolled his eyes and said, “I’m surprised you can still sleep in this kind of situation.”

The other participants also agreed with what Kang Yi said. 

They prefer not to sleep and take the Stamina Replenish Pill when facing the Secondary Profession Apprentice Exam the next day.

Even Xue Chan couldn’t help but awkwardly cough at Qin Yi.

“Alright, since everyone’s gathered, let’s not waste any more time and head straight to the Secondary Profession Association!”

The leader of this group, Dai Yong, suddenly shouted then led the people ahead.

Qin Yi walked towards Xue Chan and asked in a whisper, “Sister Xue, are you the only girl here?”

He had seen women in men’s clothing perfectly before, so he wasn’t sure if all these men were entirely male.

“Yeah, I’m the only rose among these dried cacti.” Xie Chan plainly replied.

“Who are you calling dry cacti!” Kang Yi angrily yelled at Xue Chan.