'Thirty years, it has been thirty years already since I was reborn in this strange world. Thirty years of hard work as a member of the Liu Clan of the Xuanhe Kingdom. And after all this time…'
"Finally! Today, I, Liu Baotian, will finally reach the late Qi Refining stage!"
Proclaiming this, Liu Baotian retracted his perception into his middle dantian, furiously reorganizing the spiritual energy he accumulated inside. As he did, the spiritual energy started to split itself, being progressively divided into different parts, finally separated into multiple, separate Qi Components.
Those Qi Components, each handling a different part of the processus to circulate the spiritual energy, were undoubtedly more efficient than the lump of spiritual energy that was previously sitting in his middle dantian. Seeing this, Liu Baotian couldn't help but start a little dance, which he quickly stopped as a judgemental gaze settled on him.
"Oh, uhm, thank you for coming to overlook the advancement of this unworthy disciple, master" Liu Baotian said, coughing a few times while looking away.
Elder Liu Jianhong, used to his disciple's shenanigans, simply went on:
"Hmpf, I suppose I should congratulate you for reaching the late stage, you unworthy disciple" he said. "Most disciples only reach this point at forty or fifty years, so I guess you do have some talent after all"
Hearing the reluctant praise, Baotian refrained from chuckling, having already experienced beating much too often for it.
"You flatter this disciple, master, such an advancement hardly proves anything, master"
This wasn't fake modesty or such, Baotian truly believed these words. From the start, the only reason he could progress faster than others was that Baotian already had an adult mind from his early childhood on. Immediately after learning the language of this world, he managed to grease his father's palm to obtain a cultivation method: while others started at twelve on average, he started at half this age, allowing him to gain a six years head start on his fellow disciples.
Adding to that, the formula of the Qi Refining mid stage was heavily facilitated by a logical mind, giving someone like him, who originally belonged to the modern world, a significant advantage. There was the truth behind his so-called 'talent'.
Baotian wasn't deluding himself: while he was confident that he could reach Qi Building even by himself from this point on, he knew that he had no chance to reach the Nascent Soul stage in his lifetime, let alone the Void Ascension stage. At best, he would be able to fool the Liu clan to give him enough resources, allowing him to barely become a bottom-tier Core Formation cultivator. Either way, he would not live to see his thousandth birthday.
Shaking his head internally, Baotian kept talking to his master while thinking. He didn't feel particularly sad about it, actually. Back on Earth, all that awaited him was a life of boring work, where he would only reach his hundredth birthday with tubes attached to his body, eating disgusting, muddy hospital food, with the knowledge that one day, the entire civilisation would soon follow his demise, ravaged by pollution, wars and lack of resources.
That was why, for giving him a chance to live a few centuries in this world of endless possibilities, that would still exist long after his death, Liu Baotian sincerely thanked the heavens.
"Oh, Baotian, I almost forgot" his master said. "Starting from today, you will have a junior disciple, so you better not transmit him your antics"
At this words, Liu Baotian snapped back to reality:
"Uh, a new disciple? When, who, where, what, why?"
"Now, a young boy with promising Qi Condensation spiritual roots, here in the Liu clan, your junior disciple, because as an elder, the rules of the clan push me to have at least two disciples so that they can push each other to work harder"
On these words, he took his fan in hand and hit the crown of Baotian's head with him, causing him to let out a loud 'Ouch!'
"Now, stop with the foolish questions for a moment so I can do the presentations. Shenyun, don't be timid and come in to greet your senior brother!"
The moment he said this, a rather short boy, around ten years old, hurriedly made his entry in elder Liu Jianhong's pavilion:
"Di, I, this, th-this disciple Liu Shenyun greets master and senior brother! I-I'm honored to have the chance to be under your teaching, elder Jianhong, and I'm honored to meet you, senior brother Baotian!"
Elder Jianhong made a strange expression while Baotian internally shook his head again, this time in amusement.
When you want to flatter someone, you must use a sure voice and speak flawlessly, else the target will be too annoyed by your blabbering to appreciate the bootlicking.
'Well, if he was selected as elder's disciple despite his timidity, then it must mean that unlike me, he actually has talent'
In that case, Baotian might as well be as nice as possible to curry some favor.
'I have a good ten or twenty years left cultivating before challenging the Qi Building stage, anyway, might as well get to learn each other'
Baotian smirked. In this case, he might as well brave his master's orders and recruit him for a few 'Earthling's shenanigans'.
"Welcome, junior brother Shenyun, I have the feeling we will definitely get along nicely"
And just like this, eight more years passed…
"Baotian! Shenyun! What did you do this time!" Elder Jianhong shouted. "Did you think doing such an… abomination… with bread would incur laughter?"
Shenyun quickly looked down, ashamed, but Baotian simply raised an eyebrow:
"Forgive me, master, but this foolish disciple doesn't understand what he did wrong. I simply tried to make bread with a different process, where is the problem?"
Indeed, back on Earth, Baotian was a baker. And thus, he had just tried to bake a Baguette after their daily cultivation, to get a taste that would remind him of his old home. There truly wasn't anything wrong with it…
"Insolent, you truly don't see the problem shaping the bread like this?"
"Uh?"
Uh?
Baotian blinked, there was no way he actually thought…
"Senior brother, I think master mistook your, uh, baguette bread, with a bread yang r-"
"Oh, I see where the problem is" Baotian cut him, unable to listen to such blasphemy. "Forgive this disciple, who didn't consider master's way of seeing things"
Baotian was basically calling him a pervert who couldn't see Mount Tai in a barely disguised way. Normally, he would've just apologized, fearing for his crown, but this time he already had a scapegoat prepared:
"Anyway, this disciple apologizes for his tomfooleries. Recently, I was so occupied alternating between trying to help Shenyun break through his bottleneck and consolidating my foundation Qi Building advancement that I needed a distraction to ease my mind…"
Baotian knew he hit right when he saw his master frown and turn towards Shenyun, a dark expression on his face:
"You still didn't get closer to the Qi Refinement realm!?"
Zhenyun lowered his head, not daring to reply. Indeed, in the Xuanhe Kingdom, everyone born with spiritual roots was considered to be at the Qi Condensation realm from the moment of their birth. From then on, they must find a scripture they can use and continuously recite it, trying to grasp the feeling of spiritual energy through the formula. One advanced to the Qi Refinement realm when they could feel spiritual energy well enough to begin absorbing it, which usually took between ten and fifteen years.
Thus, while not reaching the next realm in eight years was a bit disappointing for someone with high-quality roots such as Zhenyun, it was understandable, especially since he started two years earlier than average. No, the real problem was more…
"Please, tell me that, at the very least, you began to grasp a feeling of spiritual energy, even just a bit…" Elder Jianhong said, almost begging.
Zhenyun, too shameful, didn't reply and just shook his head. Baotian, seeing this, felt guilty about his actions. At this rate, he might actually reach Qi Building before Zhenyun even reached Qi Refining. The formula of the Qi Refining late stage was, once again, one that was perfectly suited for his modern human mind: giving shape to the Qi Components in his dantian, turning them into 'pieces' with clear shapes and forms. That was, in the end, not much different from reproducing the polygons he did in his Earth's childhood math classes. In just eight years, he was already on the verge of reaching Qi Building.
"Master, since I will likely advance to Qi Building in one or two years, maybe we should let Zhenyun observe from the side while I fend off the tribulation?" Baotian suggested. "I heard that in some cases, watching a tribulation helped a cultivator to gain some insight, and since insight is what Zhenyun needs right now, it could be the solution to the problem!"
Their master rubbed his chin:
"Hmm, watching a tribulation is dangerous, so normally I would've refused, but if it is just a Qi Building level tribulation, there should not be any problem. Fine then, we will proceed this way. Zhenyun, in the meantime, since you can't seem to grasp spiritual energy no matter what, start learning the formula of the early stage of Qi Refining. That way, if a miracle happens during your senior brother's advancement, you will have a bit less trouble to catch up"
"I… alright, master"
On these words, the two were thrown out of the kitchen - of course not before Baotian got hold of his Baguette - and their master went back to his occupations. A few hours later, both were sitting on a peak, looking at their part of the clan down below:
"Baotian, it really wasn't nice, you know"
"I, in fact, know"
"..."
"..."
"Your bread looks stupid"
"If I give you some and it tastes good enough, will you forgive me?"
"Alright, but there's no way it'll be that good"
With a fire spell, Liu Baotian heated the Baguette at perfect temperature and gave a piece of it to Zhenyun, who took a small bite. A few seconds later, the piece of bread was gone.
"I admit my mistake, senior brother"
"As you should"
They both looked at the clan's territory, their thoughts rambling through the silence as the sun was going down in the horizon.
"Baotian, do you think watching you fend off the tribulation will truly help me grasp the feeling of spiritual energy"
Baotian didn't reply immediately. To be honest with himself, a part of him was happy with the current situation, and hoped that Zhenyun would not gain anything from his advancement.
From as far as he could remember, back on Earth, he never stood out, not even once. Average parents, average grades, average personality, and average ties with people, with a certain number of friends but no deep relationship. No particular talent. Baotian was convinced that after enough time had passed, he would just… go. No achievement, no girlfriend or boyfriend, just a life that passed, and then he passed away, too.
Now, even if he knew it would not last, at least for a while, he felt… good. Recognized. In a certain way… loved, even, with parents and a master that would stay with him and be proud of him for at least one more century. And even though he knew all of this would not disappear just because his junior brother showed more talent than him, he just… wanted to keep the spotlight. Just a bit more.
"I have no idea" he replied.
But even then…
"But I truly hope you will succeed, Zhenyun"
… he was still his junior brother after all.
And so, two more years passed. Liu Baotian's fiftieth birthday was coming up and, with it, the Qi Building advancement.