As soon as Senior Zhou dismissed them, a flurry of movement erupted among the participants, with many rushing back to their living quarters. Their intentions were obvious—everyone was eager to be the one to claim the coveted 10,000 points. Even if they couldn’t be the first to reach the goal among all the groups, there was still the opportunity to earn 1,000 points, which was more than enough to motivate them to give it their all. Lan Yingying and Yuan lingered while everyone left. Although neither of them spoke, Yuan could sense what Lan Yingying wanted to say. Her hesitant expression and the way she kept glancing at him made her thoughts clear without needing words. "Ten thousand points is definitely very tempting, but no amount of points will make me leave you alone," he said. "Don’t worry, we have plenty of time. Worst-case scenario, I’ll get 1,000 points." "One month," Lan Yingying said. "Regardless of my situation, I want you to leave within one month. Ten thousand points is too much to ignore. Moreover, I will never be able to sleep properly in the future if you lose this opportunity because of me." Seeing Lan Yingying’s resolute expression, Yuan nodded, "Alright, I’ll leave within one month. While I am here, I will help you progress your cultivation." Shortly afterward, he and Lan Yingying set off to the forest to begin their work. Now that Yuan had become a cultivator, chopping bamboo required far less effort, enabling him to earn bonus points without tiring himself out. When Yuan first started, it had taken him over a hundred strikes to chop down a single stalk of bamboo. Now, thanks to his enhanced strength, he could bring them down with just three to four strikes, making the task significantly faster. In just half an hour, Yuan completed his weekly quota for the bamboo, as well as Lan Yingying’s portion. "I’ll continue chopping bamboo since it’s far more efficient than fetching water," Yuan said to Lan Yingying. "Alright. I’ll go finish our water quotas while you chop bamboo," said Lan Yingying. By the end of the day, Yuan had chopped down an impressive 250 additional bamboo, earning himself 50 bonus points. He was cutting them down so quickly that the process of transporting and getting them verified took more time than the chopping itself. After dinner, Yuan went to the store and asked, "Do you sell storage pouches or spatial rings?" He’d rather invest some points into storage pouches to save time, which would allow him to earn more points. "We do sell storage pouches and spatial rings. Here are the prices." The smallest and cheapest storage pouch was priced at only 10 points, but it could hold just 10 bamboos at a time. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 On the other hand, the largest storage pouch, costing 50 points, offered significantly more capacity, able to store up to 75 bamboo in a single trip. The spatial ring had only one option available. It cost 100 points but allowed him to carry up to 200 bamboo at once. Yuan decided to purchase the spatial ring. Of course, since he didn’t have enough points at the moment, he had to come back after earning 50 more points. The following day, Yuan returned to the store and purchased the spatial ring without hesitation. With the spatial ring in his possession, Yuan’s productivity soared. He could now chop and transport over 500 bamboos a day, earning him more than 100 points daily. "I can earn a hundred points a day just from chopping bamboo. If I continue this every day for a week, I will almost have enough to match the reward for being the first in this group to graduate from this trial." Realizing this, Yuan wondered if he should even bother being the first to leave early. Of course, there was also the possibility that there may be other rewards for being the first to become a disciple, something Senior Zhou might’ve failed to mention or purposefully didn’t disclose. Moreover, there might be faster ways to acquire points as a disciple of the Immortal Monastery. After pondering for some time, Yuan decided to wait a little longer before he came to a decision. After all, he already decided to stay in the Bamboo Garden for at least a month. For now, he wanted to focus on earning as many bonus points as possible. By the end of the week, Yuan had amassed a little over 600 points just from chopping bamboo. Naturally, this attracted the attention of every participant in the Bamboo Garden, and there was not a single individual who wasn’t shocked to learn about it. "What? He’s earning 100 points a day from chopping bamboo? That’d require him to chop 500 bamboos a day! That’s impossible!" "I watched him load off 200 bamboos at once! He even has a spatial ring, which costs 100 points at the store!" "Fuck! Most of us are struggling to finish our quotas, and he’s out here earning 100 points a day? There’s no way he’s not a cultivator already!" "Why wouldn’t he leave if he’s already a cultivator? Does he plan on chopping bamboo for four years to collect as many points as he can?" "That seems pointless unless he came to the Hidden Domain specifically to collect points for some reason." After learning how many points Yuan was earning, nearly every individual in his group approached him in hopes of acquiring some of his points. Naturally, Yuan refused to help anyone—except for a few individuals. Not only did Yuan help Lan Yingying memorize the cultivation technique with points, as well as purchase many days of increased spiritual energy at her home, he also helped out the two Divine Beasts in her group with their cultivation technique. Of course, the other participants were not willing to accept Yuan’s rejection and began threatening him together. Your next read is at freewebnovel A few days later, a massive group of people approached Yuan and surrounded him. "There are almost a thousand of us here. Even if you’ve already become a cultivator, do you really think you’ll be able to defeat all of us by yourself?" Duan Qiao returned to threaten him after learning of the situation and receiving the others’ support.