What do you mean I'm a cultivator?-Chapter 10

Five months passed since the sect assessment, each day a carefully measured step on Jiang Cheng's path. The autumn chill gave way to winter's bite, and as snow blanketed the mountain, life in the outer sect grew even more arduous.

Work schedules intensified. Clearing pathways, gathering firewood, and maintaining the sect's buildings against the weather's assault became daily chores on top of regular duties.

For most disciples, cultivation slowed during these harsh months. The cold sapped energy, made meditation more difficult, and the work hours left little time for practice. Many simply surrendered to the season's demands, content to maintain their current level until spring's return.

Jiang Cheng refused such stupidity.

If anything, the assessment had only strengthened his resolve. The calculating gazes that followed him now, the whispers that tracked his movements through the outer sect. These were not deterrents but fuel for his determination. Let them watch. Let them plot. He would continue advancing regardless.

His routine grew more rigorous. During work hours, he channeled as little amounts of Qi through his body as he could, to strengthen his muscles as he performed his tasks, trying to use up as little Qi as possible, stop waste. While chopping wood, he practiced precise Qi control, focusing energy at the exact moment his axe struck. When carrying water up the mountain paths, he regulated his breathing according to the techniques found in that forgotten scroll, turning even the most mundane labor into cultivation, albeit unfocused and much less productive.

The nights grew longer, providing more hours for meditation. In his small cabin, while other disciples huddled under blankets seeking warmth and rest, Jiang sat cross-legged on his thin mat, cycling Qi through his meridians despite the numbing cold. His breath formed small clouds in the freezing air as he pushed his compression technique to new limits.

He had discovered that the transition from the fifth to the sixth stage, from early to mid-stage Qi condensation, required more than just denser Qi. It demanded a transformation in quality. The Qi needed to become not just compressed but refined, its nature shifting toward a more concentrated energy.

It was like the nature of the gas changed. From loose motes floating around, to more so cloudy. Not only would it become more concentrated, but its natural form tended towards that denser state, making sure any newly added Qi would compress to fit it's denser nature. This of course, would slow down Qi cultivation, something that would highlight the need for pills, if one wished for Quick advancement. That, or the denser Qi in the air ,that the Inner sect had. Likely work of a formation.

Eight months after the assessment, Liu Wei and three other disciples cornered him behind the woodshed. They had waited until most senior disciples were elsewhere, confident in their numerical advantage.

"Think you're special, don't you?" Liu Wei had sneered, cracking his knuckles. "Time someone taught you your place."

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Jiang Cheng had assessed the situation with calm detachment. Four opponents, all at lower cultivation stages, but physically larger and with more combat experience. Escape routes limited. Witnesses unlikely.

The first punch came from his left. Predictable, telegraphed. Jiang stepped inside the strike, using his smaller stature to advantage, and delivered a quick palm strike to the attacker's solar plexus, channeling a precise amount of Qi to ensure impact without permanent damage. The boy doubled over, gasping.

Liu Wei and the others rushed him simultaneously. What followed was brief but decisive. Jiang Cheng moved with efficiency, conserving energy, striking only when necessary. He took several hits. A glancing blow to his ribs, a solid punch to his shoulder, but gave worse than he received. His higher cultivation level provided an edge in both strength and durability in general, without the need for Qi.

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The stronger the Qi in the dantian, the stronger the vessel. of course, this would not be matched without proper body cultivation, but it was enough that even without the aid of Qi, a higher realm would win almost always, barred for weapons and other sorts of gained power, such as the talismans he had heard about. Apparently mere pieces of paper, engraved with power.

Those could level the playing field, but only so much. A lower realm could never, no matter what beat a higher realm, treasures be or not.

When it ended, all four attackers were on the ground. Liu Wei spat blood from a split lip, his eyes burning with humiliation and rage.

"This isn't over." he had promised.

Jiang had simply walked away, knowing Liu Wei was right. It wasn't over. This was merely his first test. There would be others, especially as he continued to advance.

Such was the walk of a cultivator. Always striving for more. To take and take.

No wonder The higher the realm, more and more insane people existed. Perhaps in the future, he would meet a Young master. Whatever that meant. Damn these stupid thoughts, even if they were helpful.

As he sat on his mat, he thought. The encounter had revealed gaps in his preparation. Ones he knew of, but still.

His combat skills, though effective against lower-level cultivators, lacked refinement. The next day, he had sought out the few combat manuals available on the first floor of the Tower of Records, memorizing basic forms and principles.

Though it would take more than half assed reading to properly use them. it was enough for now.

Almost a year after the assessment, he noticed the first signs of breakthrough. During his nightly meditation, he sensed a subtle shift in his Qi's nature.

Close to a year and three months had passed since the assessment. On a clear winter night with the moon high and bright, Jiang Cheng reached the threshold. He sat in meditation, cycling his Qi, compressing and compressing with each circulation. The boundary between the fifth and sixth stages, A wall that had resisted his efforts for weeks, finally began to yield.

He pushed harder, focusing his entire will on that single point of resistance. For hours he remained motionless, perspiration beading on his forehead despite the cold, his breath steady and controlled as he guided his Qi toward transformation.

Just before dawn, something gave way. Not with a dramatic surge or explosion, but with a quiet, fundamental shift. The Qi in his dantian contracted sharply, its quality changing in an instant from sparse to dense.

The interesting part, was that his dantian was half empty, when the change finished. Seems like the denser Qi, gassy as it was, was now around half its previous volume, allowing for much more storage of Qi.

he sat there for a second, trying to calculate that, with his lacking math skills. Some of his thoughts were way better, as if they had been taught mathematics. Though others were from the farmer boy he remembered he was. Not the other part he knew existed as another part of himself, but not remember.

Would the difference just be twice? no. that sounded wrong. If it was Twice as dense only, it might make since. But this denser Qi was also purer. better.

Would the difference between the early and mid stage a twofold on a twofold? no. that sounded wrong regardless.

Jiang opened his eyes, immediately aware of the difference. The world seemed slightly sharper, colors a bit more vivid, sounds more distinct. His body felt lighter, stronger, as if a burden had been lifted. He drew a deep breath, feeling Qi flow through him.

"Sixth stage." he murmured, allowing himself a moment of satisfaction. He had crossed the threshold into mid-stage Qi condensation. Not an extraordinary achievement by sect standards. Many reached this level eventually. But significant for his age and circumstances.

More importantly, it meant access to the second floor of the Tower of Records, to missions beyond the sect compound, to resources previously denied him.

It also meant new dangers. The target on his back had just grown larger. Liu Wei and others like him would redouble their efforts to suppress him. Senior disciples might see him as genuine competition now. Even some inner sect disciples might take notice. Though for the inner sect members, the interest would be for a lackey in the outer sect. by no means a threat.

As dawn broke over the mountain, illuminating his small cabin with pale golden light, Jiang Cheng rose from his meditation mat with quiet purpose. The path ahead remained long and fraught with challenges, but he had taken another significant step forward.

The sixth stage was not an end but a beginning. The true start of his journey into cultivation.