This day, the rain was heavy.
Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother got into a fight.
There's no need to explain the reason again. After Third Senior Brother repeatedly demanded repayment from the deadbeat Second Senior Brother without success, he finally lost his temper.
Anger overwhelmed Third Senior Brother's lychees, and the two of them started fighting directly.
"Two Senior Brothers, stop, stop fighting, please stop fighting, don't fight anymore!"
A junior brother was trying to mediate nearby, but it was useless.
The two of them fought even more fiercely.
In the end, it was the Master who received the news and stopped them.
At the same time, after understanding the whole story, the Master looked sternly at Second Senior Brother and forcibly took a cloth bag from him.
Inside, there were still forty to fifty spirit stones.
As for the unit of spirit stones, it's worth mentioning here.
Originally, the smallest unit of spirit stones was counted in "pieces."
But as cultivation became more and more competitive, who knows where it started, someone divided a single spirit stone into smaller pieces, uniformly cut into granular sizes.
One standard spirit stone could be cut into one hundred grains of spirit stones.
Li Qi used to work hard, and his monthly income was mostly around twenty spirit stones. His master's monthly lecture fee was 15.
The remaining five spirit stones or so were Li Qi's cultivation resources for the month. The twelve spirit stones that Third Senior Brother lent out, if he had been more thrifty, would have been enough for three months.
Under the Master's distribution, Second Senior Brother was forced to return the spirit stones to Third Senior Brother.
But from that day on, all the disciples in Feisha Sect looked at Second Senior Brother with a strange gaze.
Even the Master, who knew the whole story, treated Second Senior Brother with indifference.
Second Senior Brother felt too ashamed to stay in Feisha Sect and left one day without saying goodbye.
Before leaving, he forcibly broke into Third Senior Brother's room while Third Senior Brother was away and committed a burglary. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Fortunately, spirit stones and other precious materials were mostly carried with them, so Third Senior Brother did not suffer great losses, only some annoyance.
He had lent money to such an ungrateful wretch in the past.
...
One day, Li Qi woke up early to bask in the sun.
He noticed a middle-aged man with stubble slowly walking out of Feisha Sect.
He was carrying a travel bag on his back.
The middle-aged man saw Li Qi and gave him a simple smile.
This was Feisha Sect's Eldest Senior Brother. When Li Qi first arrived, he had already been in the sect for a long time.
He was the disciple who had been following the Master the longest among those currently in the sect, having cultivated for about twenty years.
"Eldest Senior Brother, are you also planning to leave?"
Li Qi asked, although he already had an idea of the answer.
Eldest Senior Brother nodded, patted Li Qi's shoulder, and sighed.
"Yes, my talent is not good. After cultivating for more than twenty years, I've only managed to reach the second organ of body refinement. I have no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment in this life. Recently, my parents also sent word from the mountain saying they are not well. It's time for me to go."
Eldest Senior Brother left.
After wasting more than twenty years, he ultimately gave up on cultivation.
Most likely, he would return to take care of his parents, get married, and have children.
However, as a cultivator at the second organ level, compared to mortals, it shouldn't be difficult for him to have a decent life and live comfortably.
"Another one left."
Li Qi sighed, but he wasn't overly saddened.
However, subconsciously, Li Qi paid more attention when he returned to Feisha Sect.
It turned out that during the more than a year he had been slacking off, the remaining dozen or so senior brothers in the sect had now dwindled to only six or seven familiar faces, along with a few unfamiliar disciples who might have joined the sect this year.
Spring turned to autumn, and several more years passed.
Li Qi's cultivation also advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the realm of the fourth organ of body refinement.
Excluding those useless attribute points from the shadowy system, up to now, Li Qi had obtained the most attribute points, with his strength even exceeding three hundred points.
It was a pity that the system's amplification did not come after breaking through two hundred and three hundred attribute points. Li Qi speculated that the next attribute amplification might only appear after breaking through to one thousand points.
Over these past few years, Li Qi unknowingly discovered that the senior brothers he was once familiar with had all disappeared.
Most likely, they couldn't keep up with the competition and left.
Until one day, some unfamiliar junior brothers encountered Li Qi and respectfully bowed to him, calling him Eldest Senior Brother.
It was then that Li Qi was stunned to realize.
He... seemed to be the most senior disciple in the sect now.
"I've become Eldest Senior Brother now."
Li Qi pondered a question.
The Eldest Senior Brother who left many years ago, when he first arrived, was he also the youngest junior disciple?
Until his senior brothers left, and generations replaced each other, that youngest junior disciple also became Eldest Senior Brother.
...
With no familiar faces around, Li Qi spent less time wandering out.
He would only occasionally chat with his Master, whom he hadn't attended lectures for in a long time.
The Master was also surprised by Li Qi's changes over the past few years.
In just four or five years, from the first organ of body refinement to the current fourth organ.
Could it be that "slacking off cultivation" truly made breakthroughs easier than "competitive cultivation"?
If a few more years passed, wouldn't Li Qi reach the fifth organ of body refinement like him?
The Master was somewhat questioning his own life.
What was the point of his half-lifetime of competitive cultivation? He hadn't even broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage yet.
After half a day, the Master finally managed to utter a few words.
"Disciple, do you think it's too late for me to start learning 'slacking off cultivation' with you now?... I can pay."
"Master, this isn't a matter of money. It's mainly that people's physiques cannot be generalized. Some people slack off, and their cultivation might soar, while others slack off, and they truly become stagnant."
The Master nodded upon hearing this, thinking Li Qi made sense.
If he had truly slacked off cultivating from a young age like Li Qi, it was debatable whether he could have reached the fourth organ of body refinement by his current age.
"By the way, Master, I see only two new disciples joined this year. Fewer and fewer people are coming to seek apprenticeship now."
Li Qi said as he took a sip of tea.
Upon hearing this, the Master's aged face instantly soured. He shook his head.
"It's not that fewer new disciples are coming to seek apprenticeship."
"Hmm? Then why?" Li Qi was a bit confused. Seeing the Master's expression, there seemed to be some hidden reason.
Under the Master's narration, Li Qi quickly learned the true reason why fewer people were coming to seek apprenticeship.
Originally, within a hundred-mile radius, Feisha Sect was the only sect that taught cultivation.
However, two years ago, a sect called Zhenhuang Sect came from elsewhere.
Upon arrival, Zhenhuang Sect began to exert pressure on Feisha Sect.
Feisha Sect's monthly lecture fee per disciple was 15 spirit stones.
Zhenhuang Sect, on the other hand, charged 14 spirit stones per month.
Even so, Feisha Sect had a strong reputation locally built over decades, and many people still felt that even if it cost one more spirit stone, they wanted to join Feisha Sect.
But Zhenhuang Sect directly dispatched many of their disciples, along with a cultivator at the fifth organ of body refinement, to block the paths of those who wanted to become disciples.
Through coercion or temptation, they intercepted those who wished to join Feisha Sect and took them into Zhenhuang Sect as disciples.
The Master had also investigated Zhenhuang Sect's background and found that they had two cultivators at the fifth organ of body refinement.
In fact, when the Master went to investigate their background, he had even exchanged blows with one of them, and they were evenly matched.
Furthermore, Zhenhuang Sect had one more cultivator of the same level, which made the Master even more wary.
Under the principle of strength being paramount, the Master could only endure this humiliation and tacitly accept Zhenhuang Sect's interception of potential disciples.
"Disciple, I didn't expect your breakthroughs to be so significant these past few years. If you also reach the fifth organ of body refinement in the future, perhaps you can then contend with me against that Zhenhuang Sect. If we succeed, I'll give you half of the spirit stones collected by Feisha Sect each month, how about it?"
The Master said, negotiating with Li Qi.
Li Qi frowned upon hearing this and did not answer directly. To be honest, those spirit stones were of little use to him in his current state of "slacking off."
Just as Li Qi was thinking of how to refuse,
Outside Feisha Sect, unfriendly voices suddenly rang out.
"Where is the Sect Master of Feisha Sect? Come out and see me."
Li Qi and the Master exchanged glances and headed towards the main gate.
By this time, many disciples who had heard the commotion and came to investigate the situation had already gathered near the main gate.
And outside Feisha Sect's main gate.
Two cultivators with icy expressions, both at the fifth organ of body refinement, stood quietly.
Looking at the Master and Li Qi who had emerged.
One of the cultivators at the fifth organ of body refinement spoke in an unquestionable tone of command.
"Sect Master of Feisha Sect, withdraw your sect from this area within a hundred miles within three days. After that, this hundred-mile territory will be fully managed by my Zhenhuang Sect!"