It was already approaching Perfection.

Chen Cheng was about to press on and break through this final step in one go, but his ears suddenly twitched.

He immediately caught the sound of footsteps outside his courtyard.

A moment later, there was a knock on the gate.

“Greetings, Steward Li.”

Chen Cheng opened the door. Seeing it was Li Wenrou, he politely cupped his fist in greeting.

Over the past few days, Zhou Wansen hadn’t shown his face, nor had he even sent a subordinate to check in on Chen Cheng.

Li Wenrou, on the other hand, visited frequently. She would either check on his daily needs, bring him useful items, or share important recent news. She had even offered to give him pointers on his cultivation.

Through these comings and goings, Chen Cheng had developed a good relationship with her.

“Let’s talk inside.”

Li Wenrou’s brow was tightly furrowed, and a somber, unconcealable gloom clouded her coarse features.

Chen Cheng naturally noticed this obvious detail. ‘I think I know what this is about.’

Five days ago, Li Wenrou had told Chen Cheng the news of Yun Zhan’s death.

Since then, Chen Cheng had been preparing for the worst.

The two went into the main hall and sat down.

Li Wenrou got straight to the point.

“Zhou Wansen has completely lost his patience… He was the one who specifically let you live in Guan Lan Pavilion, and now he’s making me be the bad guy and tell you to move out…”

“He also said he’s going to re-test your Root Bone. If you don’t pass, he’ll kick you out directly. You won’t even be allowed to stay as a regular Outer Disciple.”

“And another thing—he wants you to return the Training Attire he gave you…”

“…I understand.”

Chen Cheng nodded, his tone as calm as if he had long expected all of this.

“My Root Bone isn’t ideal, so I probably won’t be able to stay… As for the Training Attire Elder Zhou gave me, I never wore it. I folded it up five days ago. You can take it whenever you’d like.”

“What? Are you just giving up?”

Li Wenrou’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Didn’t I tell you last time? You can go ask Dong Chuo for help. As long as he’s willing to help you, you can stay on as a regular Outer Disciple!”

“You just have to hold out until Yun Shuanglin gets back! She’ll make proper arrangements for you. Even if you can’t get into the Sword Pavilion, there should be no problem getting into the Medicine Pavilion or the Hunting Pavilion!”

“That won’t be necessary…”

Chen Cheng shook his head, his voice even.

“It’s not in my nature to ask for handouts, and I don’t want to be tied to any faction. Besides, as long as I reach the Divine Storage Realm, any Sect will take me in…”

“I can join another Sect on my own merits. As for Miss Yun, we’ve already settled our accounts. I don’t want to trouble her again.”

“You…”

Li Wenrou was speechless.

Her tightly furrowed brow showed she didn’t approve of his choice, but the look of admiration in her eyes revealed that she respected his character.

“You’ve got backbone and guts! I wasn’t wrong to befriend you!”

Li Wenrou paused, but then her tone shifted.

“But breaking through to the Divine Storage Realm isn’t as simple as you think! Without the support of a Sect’s resources, forget the Divine Storage Realm—you might not even be able to form the Ninth Pillar of Blood Qi!”

“You should be able to feel it yourself. The difficulty of forming the Ninth Pillar of Blood Qi is ten, even a hundred times harder than forming the first eight combined!”

“Never mind others, right here in the Mountain and Sea Sect’s Outer Sect, there are plenty of disciples with superior Root Bones who get stuck at this stage. Even with the Sect’s resources, they find it difficult to break through!”

“…I’m not like them.”

Chen Cheng replied casually, unable to explain in detail.

‘I have enough resources on hand. In another twenty-some days, the Ninth Pillar of Blood Qi will form naturally.’

‘I’ll even have some resources left over.’

‘It won’t be nearly enough to push for the Divine Storage Realm, but there are plenty of resources to be found in these mountains and rivers.’

‘I can’t say for sure about other things, but it’s never hard to go into the water and catch Treasure Fish.’

‘If worse comes to worst, I can always take on temporary work as a Ghostwriter, hunting down wanted criminals for Military Merit, which I can also exchange for resources.’

Chen Cheng had already thought through these backup plans days ago.

He could still break through to the Divine Storage Realm and join a Sect on his own; it would just take more time and involve more risk.

Compared to that, bowing and scraping, groveling to Dong Chuo and tying himself completely to the Dong Family, was an option Chen Cheng would never consider.

“How are you any different from them? Is your background lower? Is your Root Bone worse?”

Li Wenrou’s brow furrowed even more deeply.

“Don’t mind my harsh words, but in your situation, trying to establish a foothold in the Northern Territory is harder than climbing to heaven.”

The moment she finished speaking, there was another knock on the gate.

Chen Cheng got up to open the door.

A middle-aged man stood outside, dressed in a Steward’s Robe. His face was cold and stern, and he wasn’t one for pleasantries.

“Steward Sun! What are you doing here?”

Li Wenrou stood up and walked out of the hall.

Steward Sun’s gaze was icy, and his tone was utterly indifferent as he spoke.

“Elder Zhou was afraid you wouldn’t handle this properly, so he sent me to supervise and make sure you get it done quickly.”

“What’s the rush?”

Li Wenrou’s expression darkened, and her voice was edged with anger.

“Steward Li.”

Not wanting her to get into a conflict on his behalf, Chen Cheng quickly spoke up.

“Just test my Root Bone now. That way, you can go back and report that the task is done.”

“…Fine.”

Li Wenrou heaved a long sigh. Since things had come to this, she could only respect Chen Cheng’s choice.

“I’ll test the Root Bone.”

Steward Sun stepped forward and, without asking for Chen Cheng’s consent, slapped a hand onto his left shoulder.

Chen Cheng reacted instantly, his right leg tensing as his left hand moved toward his waist.

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