"There’s really no secret," Yuan said, shaking his head. "If you don’t want to believe me, there’s nothing I can do." He glanced at them briefly before adding, "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go work on my quotas." Without waiting for a response or giving them a chance to press further, Yuan turned and walked away, leaving the group behind. Once Yuan left, the people who stopped him approached the young man and asked, "What privilege did you sell that young man just now?" "I’m sorry, but I cannot disclose such information," said the young man. "Then do you sell privileges that can strengthen our bodies?" one of them asked. "No, we do not have such privileges." Hearing this, the people began speculating how Yuan acquired his strength. "Although he is not a cultivator, he didn’t say that he hadn’t started cultivating. There’s a good chance he’s already fully memorized the cultivation technique and began cultivating. That would explain his overwhelming strength." "That’s quite hard to believe, honestly. It’s only been three weeks since we arrived at the Hidden Domain. Most of us have barely memorized ten pages, let alone the whole thing, and I do not believe he’s more talented than all of us. Even if he used all of his points to memorize the cultivation technique quicker, I doubt he has enough to fully memorize the technique." "What if he had help from others? With enough assistance, any of us could afford it." "Even if that’s the case and he had enough points, he’d still need a day to memorize a single page. Moreover, to achieve that level of strength, he must have cultivated for some time. None of this is adding up." "Let’s forget about how he achieved his strength for now. Do we even know his identity? I recognize most people in this Bamboo Garden, but I don’t recognize him at all." "Nope, I have never seen him before. I don’t even recall seeing him entering the Hidden Domain, and I entered later than most." These people were now more intrigued by Yuan’s background than by the source of his strength, and they decided to pay more attention to him from this moment forth. Meanwhile, after leaving the store, Yuan reunited with Lan Yingying to continue chopping bamboo. Thanks to his significantly enhanced strength from cultivating, he was now able to effortlessly chop down 20 bamboo stalks in a single day, far surpassing his previous efforts. "Did anything happen at the store?" Lan Yingying asked him as they worked. "A little. I threatened those two idiots, so they probably won’t be bothering us for some time." "Only for some time? So they’ll be back?" "Idiots like them tend to return once they regain their confidence. However, if they do, I won’t let them go a second time. I only let them go with a warning this time because there might be consequences for hurting other participants. Once I become a cultivator, that should no longer be an issue." "Are you close to reaching Spirit Apprentice?" Lan Yingying asked. Yuan nodded, "Yes, I should reach Spirit Apprentice in two weeks—right at the end of the punishment period." "Are you going to immediately join the Immortal Monastery after becoming a cultivator?" she then asked. "And leave you here alone? No, I won’t do that." "But—" "No buts. I will stay here until I am certain of your safety." Lan Yingying understood Yuan well enough to know there was no point in trying to change his mind, so she chose to accept it. While she felt a bit frustrated with herself for slowing him down, a small part of her was also happy that he was going to stay by her side. After dinner, Yuan returned to his living quarters and began his cultivation, and for the rest of the week, he would only emerge from his room to eat breakfast and dinner with Lan Yingying since he had already finished his quota. Time flew by, and before they knew it, two weeks had passed. During this time, more and more people started working together, forming small groups. Yuan was approached by many people, as his reputation had long spread, but he refused to join anyone. When these people failed to recruit Yuan, they went after Lan Yingying since she was the closest to him. When Lan Yingying told Yuan about this, he actually advised her to join a group. After all, he’d feel more at ease if she had a group in case he was forced to leave after becoming a cultivator. Lan Yingying took Yuan’s advice and joined a small group with two other female participants, both of whom were also Divine Beasts. "What is your relationship with Xiao Yang? I always see the two of you together," asked Bi Ziyan, who was an Earth Sundering Roc from the Seventh Heaven. "I am the Young Master’s contracted beast. He’s a beast tamer," said Lan Yingying. "What family is he from?" asked the other beast in the group, a young phoenix named Yan Yiling. She was from a Phoenix Clan in the Eighth Heaven. "He’s actually from a hidden family, so even I don’t know what his real background is." Discover more content at freewebnovel "Seriously? What made you form a contract with him? I wouldn’t be able to trust someone I know nothing about." "I don’t care about his family background since I know the Young Master himself very well. After all, I formed a contract with him, not his family. The Young Master saved not only my life but also my family’s as well. I am forever in debt to him." "What about the two of you? Have you ever thought about forming a contract?" Lan Yingying then asked. "Of course not. My family would kill me if I formed a contract with humans," Yan Yiling said, her expression twisting with disgust at the very thought. "We Phoenixes are far too proud to degrade ourselves like that. Even those with weaker bloodlines wouldn’t consider such a thing." "I’ve thought about it before, but I never seriously considered it," Bi Ziyan said calmly. "There’s simply no one worthy." "Is that so..."