Observing Yi Chen's expression, Zhou Tian knew what he was going to say next and said, "Don't think too much. Compared to what you've done for my family and my clan, these rewards are nothing.

Even in the future, if there's something you need my help with, you can approach the clan anytime,"

Zhou Tian said. He didn't want Yi Chen to feel indebted, as they were the ones who should be feeling that.

"Still," Yi Chen got up from his seat and said while clasping his hands, "I'll never forget the goodwill the Zhou Clan has shown me. With these resources, I'll give my all to become an even more capable cultivator."

Both Zhou Tian and Zhou Fei's view of Yi Chen was raised to another level when they heard his response.

They knew that the rewards they were giving him were enough to sway a large number of people, especially those who had not seen such wealth beforehand.

Knowing that Yi Chen was an orphan and had come from far away, they had thought that he would lose his bearing and would only think about himself at that moment.

However, when they saw him clasping his hands and declaring his goodwill towards them and the clan, they were naturally surprised and pleased.

"Good, I'll be looking forward to seeing your growth in the future," Zhou Tian gave a firm nod, hearing his words. "It's getting late, so you should go and rest now."

"Yes," Hearing those words, Yi Chen bowed the next moment, "I wish Master Zhou and the Madam a very good night,"

Both of them nodded with a smile when they heard him.

Yi Chen was about to turn and go to his room when he was stopped by Zhou Mei.

"Brother Chen, what about me? You didn't wish me good night," she blocked his way and asked with puffed-up cheeks.

Seeing this, Yi Chen smiled playfully and bent his back a little until he was matching her eye level.

"Good night, Little Mei," he pinched her chin and gave it a gentle shake as he said, "You better not dream about me tonight, you understand?"

"Bah! I have much better things to dream about," she pulled her tongue out in protest and ran out of the hall before he could.

"Father, Mother…I'll be going first then!" Her trailing voice was the only thing which was heard by everyone as she left.

Yi Chen glanced towards Zhou Tian and Zhou Fei and nodded one last time before finally leaving the hall.

"He's a promising young man. I wonder how he'll perform in the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect's entrance test."

Zhou Fei muttered when she and Zhou Tian were the only ones in the dining hall and continued.

"From what I've observed so far, he carries himself with an inexplicable sense of confidence despite his low cultivation stage. It does seem like he's keeping secrets."

"Indeed, he definitely is. I'm also looking forward to his performances in the sect's entrance test. While it's clever for a man to hide his cards, there are times when he must reveal them for the greater good. Not doing so would only mean that the man is a coward, which he's not.

If he were one, then he wouldn't have risked his life to save our daughter, so we are definitely going to have something to look forward to," Zhou Tian replied.

Zhou Fei chuckled the next moment and said, "To think that the two of us would be more curious to see his performance in the entrance test than our daughter's."

Meanwhile, Yi Chen was currently making his way towards his room.

Accompanying him was Servant Lao. He was here to make sure that Yi Chen didn't lose his way because of the many complicated pathways the residence had.

Although Yi Chen clearly remembered the direction back to his room, he still let him be his guide. The reason was the doubts he had regarding the usage of the clan's identity token.

"...so, Young Master, apart from the uses which the patriarch had already told you about, the identity token helps you get special privileges in various commercial buildings.

Like even in the Red Velvet Pavilion's auctions, the people who possess these tokens are given separate cabins and are served especially well.

Special discounts are also available to the token holders for bids above a certain number of spirit stones.

It also promises security. If anyone in possession of this token gets attacked by anyone, then that would mean that the attacker and the clan or sect behind them are making an enemy out of the whole Zhou clan.

Therefore, you won't have to worry about those young power-drunk cultivators who are ready to kill anyone just because someone accidentally bruised their egos…"

As Servant Lao said those words, there was a hint of anger apparent in his voice.

'It seems Servant Lao has been through his own share of troubles,' Yi Chen thought to himself as he glanced at Servant Lao's cultivation level.

He was at the Second Level of [Meridian Refinement Stage] and was more than a hundred years old.

The majority of the servants in the residence had cultivation levels in the same range.

'As expected of a noble clan,' Yi Chen thought in passing. This was something he had been observing since the time he arrived here.

After a few minutes, Yi Chen finally arrived at his room and, nodding towards Servant Lao in gratitude, he finally entered his room.

After locking the door from inside, he sat on the bed and crossed his legs the next instant.

It was finally time to break through.

One can only enter the Meridian Refinement Stage when they have refined at least one of their meridian network completely.

Each of the Nine sets of meridians is attached to the Qi pool on one end, and its other end extends outwards and breaks into a dendritic pattern as it reaches the inner surface of the skin.

A single set of meridians breaks into a total of forty dendritic veins, with each of them connecting to the forty Qi points in one area.

Earlier, while attempting his breakthrough, Yi Chen had refined a portion of his meridian and had exhausted just before he could enter one of the forty narrow dendrites to form the first Qi pathway.

Tonight, his goal was to do just that.

Closing his eyes, he stabilised his breathing and soon started circulating his innate Qi through the same meridian as earlier.

He faced obstruction until one-third of the Meridian was covered. Finally, it was time for him to unclog the first of the forty smaller meridians.

The fiery Qi gently pushed through the clogged meridian and kept at it.

Time passed slowly, and whenever Yi Chen felt that his Qi was weakening, he would send another portion of his Qi towards the same spot to reinforce it.

Unlike the wider meridians, dealing with these thinner branches required more delicate treatment and hence was more time-consuming.

Sweat trickled down Yi Chen's chin every thirty or so minutes, and before long, his trousers were wet from his sweat.

It was at that moment, when almost all of his innate Qi was exhausted, that Yi Chen heard a popping sound.

His first Qi point was now fully connected with his Qi pool, and the very next moment, Yi Chen could feel a surge of cool Qi entering through that pathway and reaching his Qi pool.

Feeling the outside Qi for the very first time, his spirit root reacted strongly and increased its rate of Qi production.

At the same time, Yi Chen saw an increase in his Spiritual Qi's capacity. Wanting to check his status panel, he opened it up.

=== Godly Cultivator System ===

Name: Yi Chen

Age: 18 years

Strength: 130 -> 140

Spiritual Qi: 1 / 10 -> 1 / 12

Cultivation: First Level of [Meridian Refinement Stage]

Qi Nature: Fire

Innate Ability: Eye of Truth Lv1 [Progress: 920 / 100,000 EXP]

[Cultivation Arsenal]

=========== End ===========

Glancing through the changes, Yi Chen felt a surge of euphoria. He had finally entered the Meridian Refinement Stage after so many months.

He opened up his cultivation window the next moment.

== Meridian Refinement Stage ==

Level: First

Nine Mortal Meridians: 1 / 360

Four Godly Meridians: 0 / 160

Progress: 1 / 520

==========================

'So it's like that…' Things started to make a little sense to Yi Chen as he observed his cultivation panel.

Having already opened his Godly Qi Points, Yi Chen was able to comprehend things with greater ease.

'This means that in reality there are a total of thirteen sets of meridians and not nine!'

A wide grin automatically formed on Yi Chen's face at the thought of getting another opportunity to get ahead of others.

'After I've refined the godly meridians, I wonder what changes my body will undergo…'

Earlier, just from opening all the Godly Qi Points, his strength had soared by a whole hundred points, making him the strongest in the Meridian Refinement Stage.

'I can't wait to see the results these Godly Meridians would bring!' A wave of excitement passed through his whole body.

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