"ah?"

Yu Man's voice was slightly downcast.

Actually, Ye Feng was also reluctant to part with the beautiful woman, but he didn't have much need for cultivation and wanted to listen to some more outer sect courses.

Just then, the door to the cave next to them opened, and a tall, burly man walked out.

"Ye Feng? So you lived right next to me!"

Ji Da was utterly astonished. So many outer disciples had advanced, and considering Ye Feng's strength, he had assumed Ye Feng would be residing in at least number four thousand or so. He hadn't expected to be next to him.

"Haha, so you're just like that... um..."

Ji Da's mocking laughter stopped abruptly when he saw Yu Man, especially her inner disciple robes, which were so dazzling.

The inner disciple's robes are actually a low-grade magic artifact, providing warmth in winter and coolness in summer, and also offering defensive capabilities.

With this robe alone, a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator could easily defeat three or five rogue cultivators of the same level.

"I've met you...I've met you, this inner sect senior sister!"

Yu Man nodded slightly.

Ye Feng was just about to look for him, so he walked straight over.

"Congratulations, you've moved into another cave! Shouldn't you pay me back the money you owe me?"

The competition is over, and even though there are no rankings, the sects all give out ten spirit stones as a reward. It's time to collect the money.

Ji Da's face immediately turned sour, and he reluctantly took out his money.

"Here's the money. I've already sent a message to my cousin about advancing to the outer sect. Now...now...you're not allowed to take it from me."

Ji Da's eyes swept over Yu Man, and he spoke to Ye Feng with a mixture of pleading and warning.

"You little brat! You weren't talking about me, were you?"

I was saving it to use as a ladle when I got back, you son of a bitch...

No! I forgot to mention you.

Actually, Ji Da did say that he didn't see Ye Feng, probably because he hadn't reached the fourth floor.

"You're quite sensible!"

Ye Feng glanced at him again, then turned and pulled Yu Man up.

"Let's go listen to a lecture together!"

Although they weren't holding hands, Yu Man's heart skipped a beat, and she even forgot about her cousin whom she had just heard.

Some of them, who were in a daze, were pulled away by Ye Feng.

Ye Feng wasn't a fool like the original owner of this body.

As a modern person, how could he not see Yu Man's fondness for him?

However, the etiquette in the cultivation world is similar to that in ancient times; even if there is mutual attraction, one must test the waters and develop the relationship slowly.

Unlike him, they wouldn't just jump right in.

Yu Man's heart pounded like a deer's. Fortunately, Ye Feng let go of her after walking a short distance, otherwise she really wouldn't know what to do.

"My...my home is in Tongyuan City of the Qing Dynasty. My father is the city lord of Tongyuan...the spiritual roots of my siblings are not as good as mine. I may inherit my father's position in the future, and my Daoist partner...will also...come with me..."

Yu Man blushed and said hurriedly,

Ye Feng listened with a smile, remaining silent. He was still rather naive. Even though Yu Man was lively and outgoing, she couldn't help but feel nervous when it came to such an important matter.

But Ye Feng, as the system's host, has his sights set on the stars and the sea; how could he possibly defend the city alongside Yu Man?

Of course, in retrospect, someone with a mixed four-elemental spiritual root was still climbing the social ladder...

I'm still a long way from leaving the sect. In five years, I'm sure I'll accumulate enough trading points. At that point, I'll start at the Golden Core stage, with no upper limit.

A small city was not enough for him.

"Senior sister, with such great talent, do you think your family will agree to you just finding any Daoist partner? For example, someone with mixed spiritual roots of four elements?"

The two weren't even officially dating, yet they were already talking about marriage.

Yu Man had completely acted impulsively.

Hearing Ye Feng's question, he was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

The two walked to the discourse platform.

There are currently three Foundation Establishment cultivators giving lectures: one on cultivating spiritual plants, and another on combat techniques.

Ye Feng's gaze was fixed on the last course.

"Hidden Spirit Acupoint!"

While other courses were packed with people, there were only five or six people around this platform.

The four people sitting at the front had pained expressions on their faces, their bodies fidgeting as if they wanted to leave but dared not.

Two other people were sitting on either side of the middle seat.

A thin, middle-aged man on the stage raised his voice even higher as he saw Ye Feng and his companion enter.

"The acupoint at the tip of the heart is called the Hidden Acupoint, and the acupoint at the back of the head is called the Spirit Acupoint. By using my Hidden Spirit Technique, these two acupoints can be opened, and magical power can be poured in to achieve the function of concealing one's cultivation level."

Moreover, according to my calculations, it might even allow one's Qi Refining cultivation to evolve to the twelfth level of perfection! If you're interested, you can contact me to purchase the manual.

"Wouldn't that make advancement even more difficult? Ordinary people spend half their lives trying to reach the tenth level of Qi Refining. If there were two more acupoints... the time to advance to Foundation Establishment would be delayed, wouldn't that cut off the path to advancement altogether...?"

After listening, Yu Man said in a low voice,

There were only a few people on the field, so even if she spoke very softly, it was bound to be heard throughout the entire venue.

"Moreover, these two acupoints can hold three times the magical power of the other acupoints, which, by calculation, would amount to sixteen levels of cultivation..."

The two people sitting in the middle also raised questions at the same time.

"This... of course... requires extraordinary talent... to cultivate."

As soon as the Foundation Establishment master on the stage finished speaking, the person on the left immediately bowed and took his leave.

No matter how talented one is, no one would dare say they could reach the sixteenth level of Qi Refining before the age of forty!

"I wonder how much your martial uncle's techniques cost?"

The person on the right, despite wearing outer sect attire, seemed very confident in their talent and asked,

"The techniques are not to be passed on lightly. This technique was created by me, and it is priced at ten thousand spirit stones!"

...Even with ten thousand spirit stones, the man could only shake his head, get up, and leave.

Only the four people in front and Ye Feng remained.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator on the platform looked at Ye Feng and the other person. Seeing that they remained silent, he shook his head and prepared to pack his things and leave.

"Master, is there anyone in the outer sect who has ten thousand spirit stones?"

"That's right, the first place in the grand competition only got eight thousand!"

"I heard that the champion of the competition has a very poor spiritual root..."

"If they can't even sell inner sect items, how could they possibly sell outer sect items...?"

...

It turned out that the four people in front were this Foundation Establishment disciple. Seeing their master packing his things, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had been sitting with him for nothing for half a day and couldn't help but complain.

"Uncle-Master! Are you leaving already?"

Upon seeing this, Ye Feng immediately stood up.

"We only have one free lesson a month, and you only get to hear a few words... Would you like to have another one?"

There's only one free lesson per month, and even introductory science courses are only offered once a week. Ye Feng already listened to his first free lesson this morning, and now he's using up his monthly quota.

"Sigh... I'll refund you 100 spirit stones, go listen to another class!"

The gaunt man looked tired and tossed over a mid-grade spirit stone.

Ye Feng caught the spirit stone, walked to the front, and placed it on the table.

He then reached out and brushed his hand across the storage belt.

Piles of mid-grade spirit stones were stacked up and filled the table.

"Uncle-Master! I want to buy the Concealing Spirit Technique!"