Chapter 4: Not Giving Brother Niu Face

After Qing Yun left, Wei Yuning became alone. However, he, who is naturally optimistic and thick-skinned, is not pessimistic.

Do you miss Earth? It seems a little, but not very strong; the freshness this new world brings him is a bit stronger.

If I were to disappear, my parents would certainly be the most heartbroken. Classmates, friends, of course would also miss me, but those guys are beasts; they'd probably forget me in a week.

From Wei Yuning's own perspective, what he misses most is actually a pretty girl from the outer department. Unfortunately, that girl only treats him as an ordinary friend.

"Why are you getting sentimental?"

Wei Yuning couldn't help laughing at himself. Didn't Hongzhi say that the Nine Provinces Minor World, which is Earth, still has a passage to here? Since there is a passage, there is also a chance to return.

Setting aside his thoughts, Wei Yuning walked toward his dormitory. He now also wore the sect's clothing, a set of blue-gray short attire with a round collar, somewhat like the attire of a shop boy in film and TV dramas. The sect issued him a set of long garments and a set of short garments, but he is accustomed to wearing separate modern clothes, so he chose this short set.

Although it is the short set, to Wei Yuning the clothing style is still quite strange. But after putting it on, it is not awkward as imagined; on the contrary, it is very comfortable, especially the cloud tread shoes on his feet—unknown what material they are made of, they are breathable, soft, light as nothing, better than any modern athletic shoes.

"Junior fellow disciple, what are you doing?"

Unfounded Foundation Establishment menial disciples, since they are not yet formal disciples, have no formal sect names; their mutual address is casual, with some calling each other senior and junior fellow disciples, some using names, some using nicknames. The order of senior and junior fellow brothers is basically arranged by the time they joined the sect, though there are exceptions—if a newcomer's strength is exceptionally strong, others will also call him senior fellow disciple.

This big guy called Man Niu is a local farmer; his family is a lineage of hunters, and the village where his family resides belongs to the Cloud Hidden Sect's peripheral forces, so he is considered a genuine member of the Cloud Hidden Sect.

Cultivation can change one's temperament; the menial disciples have not yet achieved Foundation Establishment, most still retain mundane qi, making them more like ordinary people on Earth.

Man Niu's spiritual root belongs to the earth system, but his talent is average; he has been in the Cloud Hidden Sect for five years yet still has not broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Besides the sect's inner-generation disciples, truly talented outer disciples have mostly already entered the Foundation Establishment stage before joining the sect. However, according to Man Niu, he has already touched the bottleneck and is about to enter Foundation Establishment.

Regarding his words, Wei Yuning neither affirmed nor denied.

Wei Yuning has already looked through the introductory cultivation method. The Cloud Hidden Sect's menial disciples receive only one visualization method, named "Dream Butterfly". In this world, high-level spirit butterflies can render their bodies invisible and hide themselves; it is said that the spirit butterfly's innate technique secretly aligns with the Cloud Hidden Sect's supreme Dao art, so this visualization method is the recommended Foundation Establishment cultivation method for new sect disciples, and is also the Foundation Establishment method chosen by the vast majority of disciples.

The essential point of the Dream Butterfly breathing method is to transform one's mind into a butterfly, while also coordinating with the breathing exhalation and inhalation technique. In the introductory cultivation method book there is a technique, spirit butterfly phantom, for disciples to contemplate.

"Those with innate spiritual talent hear in the morning and achieve by evening; but what cannot be obtained cannot be obtained even in ten days."

This is the concluding line in the introductory cultivation method book. So, since Man Niu has not achieved Foundation Establishment in five years, it is also possible he will not achieve it even in ten years.

Foundation Establishment is related to cultivation level, but the connection is small; it is a realm. Menial disciples without Foundation Establishment can absorb spiritual qi and also use spiritual qi to cast techniques, but the relationship between spiritual qi and the body is separate; only upon reaching Foundation Establishment can spirit and body unite.

Of course, Wei Yuning couldn't say that out loud; perhaps he is even worse than Man Niu. Talent is something mysterious and profound—it's not that smart-looking people will have talent in cultivation.

However, Man Niu is not without advantages; he possesses innate divine strength, and his earth-system spiritual root is exceptionally compatible; once he breaks through, he will certainly be among the best of his peers.

Wei Yuning and Man Niu share the same dormitory, and both are menial disciples of the Herb Garden. The room is not small, about fifty square meters; after Wei Yuning and Man Niu became familiar with each other, they began their own little maneuvers.

He sniffed around the dormitory and finally stopped at the inner corner of the wall.

A very rich, refreshing qi.

Although he has only been at the Cloud Hidden Sect for half a day, he also figured out that this fresh and refreshing scent is the spiritual qi most loved by cultivators.

Spiritual qi can increase the speed of cultivation, and also nourish the bodies of cultivators and even ordinary people; it is an important foundation for cultivators' training.

After Wei Yuning found the spot in the room with the strongest spiritual qi, he immediately moved his bed there.

"Junior fellow disciple, what are you doing?"

Man Niu beside him had already noticed Wei Yuning's strange movements; seeing him move his bed, he finally could not help asking. Regardless of whether from the perspective of convenience or air circulation, Wei Yuning's choice seemed unbelievable to Man Niu.

"Brother Niu, I'm afraid of the cold; it's warm inside!" Wei Yuning said with a smirk.

"Really? However, looking at your small frame, it's indeed possible." Man Niu furrowed his brows; although he was a bit doubtful, he also accepted Wei Yuning's explanation.

"Just, why is your smile so annoying? I want to hit you!" Man Niu couldn't help adding another sentence.

Wei Yuning stopped smiling. This isn't Earth; the big simpleton in front of him doesn't understand his sense of humor, and if he got hit because of that, it would be rather unfair.

As dusk approached, Wei Yuning and Man Niu went together to the dining hall to eat.

Even cultivators mostly enjoy eating and drinking; the desire for food knows no realm. However, after Foundation Establishment, cultivators' bodies become pure and clean, so they lose interest in ordinary food, and food basically becomes spiritual food. Spiritual food is hard to come by; even a great sect like the Cloud Hidden Sect cannot always supply it. Fortunately, cultivators at Foundation Establishment and above can abstain from grains; on days when the sect dining hall does not provide spiritual food, they either skip meals or use their own abilities to rustle up something to eat.

Today the dining hall did not provide spiritual food, so those coming to eat are basically menial disciples.

Although they are all menial disciples, they also split into multiple groups: the Herb Garden, the pharmacy workshop, the alchemy room, the odd-job workers, senior disciples, junior disciples, those with high aptitude, those with low aptitude, fellow townsfolk, those under the same master—each has its own little circle.

Man Niu is also an elder among the menial disciples, but in the sect hardly anyone pays him any extra attention. Having not achieved Foundation Establishment for five years, this is relatively rare; most disciples achieve Foundation Establishment within three years.

Generally, those in his situation will basically choose to leave the sect. Of course, leaving the sect merely means leaving sect cultivation; they are still considered part of the sect's internal members. For disciples with average talent who have long failed to achieve Foundation Establishment, the sect usually arranges for them to go to the secular world as agents, where they live more comfortably than in the sect and have more cultivation resources.

Of course, if they are unwilling to leave, the sect will not drive them away; as long as you are willing to continue doing the lowest menial work, disciples without Foundation Establishment had better not expect any good job.

Cultivators are usually busy with cultivation and completing sect tasks, leaving little free time. They also spend time making friends with fellow sect members, but generally they only associate with those who have decent cultivation or resources; those with high cultivation can go out together to perform sect tasks, and those with resources can concoct elixirs and magical treasures and such.

While Man Niu told Wei Yuning some of the sect's inner secrets, his expression also became a little unnatural.

Fellow sect members really don't give Brother Niu any face!

Wei Yuning, however, felt nothing; wherever there are people, there is the martial world, and it's the same everywhere.