Chen Shun stayed behind after the duel and began practising the Nether Emperor Lance.
Gao watched him briefly.
"You're training already?"
"I lost."
"So?"
"So I train."
"Fair."
Chen Ba left them to it.
He had his own plan.
...
The Outer Court's three foundation facilities had already been explained during their first month:
The Qi Gathering Chamber.
The Spirit Weapon Resonance Chamber.
The Body Tempering Bath.
Qi.
Weapon.
Body.
The Chen Clan believed a cultivator eventually broke at whatever part of their foundation they neglected.
Chen Ba knew which weakness he needed to address.
Qi.
Instructor Chen Yulan was at the Qi Gathering Chamber when he arrived.
She looked at his registration token.
"You're back?"
"Yes."
"You know it costs one thousand Achievement Points."
"I know."
"You earned those points just to spend them immediately?"
"That was the reason I earned them."
Yulan stepped aside.
"Two hours."
...
The session went much like the first.
Dense Qi filled the chamber.
Chen Ba absorbed, refined and retained it without difficulty.
One hour passed.
Then two.
His cultivation improved.
Level Five remained distant.
When the formation stopped, Chen Ba opened his eyes.
Still Qi Initiate Level Four.
He had expected more.
Yulan had told him his dantian was small.
After two chamber sessions, he should have been approaching its limit.
He was not.
The explanation seemed obvious.
His absorption rate must be terrible.
Chen Ba stood.
The thought disappointed him, but it changed nothing.
If others needed less time, he would spend more.
If they needed fewer resources, he would earn more.
He had lived that way long before cultivation.
His parents were absent.
Aunty Ning had raised him.
Chen Ba learned young to handle what he could himself rather than become another burden for her.
Working harder was familiar.
If his cultivation was slow, he needed more chamber sessions.
More chamber sessions meant more Achievement Points.
More Achievement Points meant more missions.
The door opened.
Yulan waited outside.
"Sit."
She checked his meridians.
Stable.
No leakage.
No damage.
Clean refinement.
And still nowhere near Level Five.
Her original small-dantian explanation no longer fit.
"Stable," she said.
"Still far from Level Five?"
"Yes."
"How far?"
Yulan paused.
"I can't tell."
Chen Ba nodded.
Then looked toward the Black Pole.
"Should I try the Spirit Weapon Resonance Chamber?"
Yulan followed his gaze.
"Why?"
"It still doesn't respond."
That was difficult to dispute.
The Black Pole was extraordinarily heavy.
Beyond that, no one knew what it did.
"If it becomes more useful," Chen Ba said, "missions might be easier."
"And then?"
"I can complete more."
"Earn more points."
"Yes."
"For this chamber."
"Yes."
Yulan almost sighed.
"The Spirit Weapon Resonance Chamber can expose problems with Qi flow, control, technique compatibility and resonance."
She looked at the Black Pole.
"But it cannot force an ability to appear."
"So it might not help."
"It might. With your Spirit Item, I can't promise anything."
Chen Ba considered the cost.
Seven hundred Achievement Points.
After paying for the Qi Gathering Chamber, he had six hundred and eighty left.
Twenty short.
One small mission would cover the difference.
But if the chamber might accomplish nothing, there was no reason to rush.
"I'll leave it first."
"That is probably sensible."
His priority remained unchanged.
Earn more points.
Return to the Qi Gathering Chamber.
...
As the second month began, the six newcomers settled into different routines.
Shun focused on the Nether Emperor Lance.
Xueyin balanced cultivation, missions and technique training.
Gao continued physical combat training.
Yiru and Lanyue worked toward Level Four.
Chen Ba returned to the mission board.
...
Far from the Chen Clan, Guo Tianxuan read a short report within the Ninefold Weapon Dao Pavilion.
His eyes stopped at one section.
The mutated Claw Tiger.
Chen Ba had been pierced through the abdomen.
The Monster was later found dead.
"Interesting."
Guo Tianxuan's eyes narrowed.
"He actually managed to defeat the mutated Claw Tiger."
A faint grin appeared on his face.