While Lan Yingying was chatting with her new friends, Yuan was on the verge of becoming a cultivator inside his room. After dedicating just over a month to cultivation and using every single point he had—along with Lan Yingying’s points—to enhance the spiritual energy around him, Yuan finally absorbed enough to attempt a breakthrough. However, simply accumulating enough spiritual energy didn’t guarantee a successful breakthrough. Without sufficient talent or understanding, there was a significant chance that one would need multiple attempts to succeed. Failing to break through came with a cost—each failure resulted in the loss of a portion of the accumulated spiritual energy, forcing the individual to absorb even more to try again. This was one of several reasons why it had taken Tian Yang three years to become a cultivator. Not only did he lack talent, but he also had zero knowledge of cultivation, causing him to fail several times in trying to achieve Spirit Apprentice. As for Yuan, while he definitely does not lack the experience or knowledge, his current body lacked talent, so there was a decent chance he’d fail to breakthrough. If he were to fail to breakthrough, he’d need to wait another week for a second attempt. Fortunately, Yuan managed to successfully break free from his mortal shackles on his very first attempt, advancing to the first level of Spirit Apprentice. After successfully becoming a cultivator, Yuan immediately felt his body grow stronger and his senses sharpen. However, the improvement was far from what he desired. Compared to when he first became a cultivator in his real body, the growth was so minimal that it was barely noticeable. "Although the results are somewhat disappointing, it’s still better than when Tian Yang became a cultivator…" Yuan mumbled with a bittersweet smile. Now that he’d become a cultivator, Yuan had to see if the trial would automatically move him out of the Bamboo Garden. However, when many minutes passed without anything happening, Yuan was convinced that he needed to reveal the truth to Senior Zhou in order to move on from this trial. The following morning, Yuan and the others gathered outside as Senior Zhou prepared to make an announcement. ’As I thought, he is just a mortal…’ Yuan thought to himself after seeing Senior Zhou again. Now that Yuan had become a cultivator and could sense spiritual energy clearly, he confirmed that Senior Zhou was just a mortal like the others present. However, there was a small amount of spiritual energy in Senior Zhou’s Dantian, indicating that he was at least cultivating. Discover more content at freewebnovel This was great news to Yuan since Senior Zhou would not be able to tell that he’d already become a cultivator, allowing him to stay in the Bamboo Garden for as long as he wanted. "Looks like everyone here has successfully fulfilled their quotas this past month… including those who had their quotas doubled as punishment," said Senior Zhou as he scanned the crowd. "I’ve mentioned this before, but your quotas will gradually increase the longer you stay in the Bamboo Garden," Senior Zhou continued. "Starting today, everyone will need to collect 30 bamboo instead of 20 and fill five water pots instead of two to meet their quotas." The announcement caused a visible reaction among the participants, with many expressions shifting to frustration as they processed the increased demands. "Any questions?" Someone immediately raised their hand and asked, "Since our quotas increased, does this mean the amount of points we acquire will also increase?" Senior Zhou smiled and responded, "I’m glad someone finally brought this up. While your points will remain unchanged, there are ways to acquire more points." "If you have already fulfilled your quotas for the week, you can continue to gather more materials for bonus points. You will get one extra point for every five bamboos you gather and one point for every ten water pots you fill." "What?! We could’ve done that this entire time?! Why didn’t you say so earlier?!" someone exclaimed after hearing this information. "You never asked," Senior Zhou calmly responded, dumbfounding many people present. "Are there any more ways to earn extra points?" another participant inquired. "There are, but these options will only be available once you become a disciple of the Immortal Monastery." Hearing this, Yuan asked, "When we become a cultivator and leave this place, will we be able to return?" "Unfortunately, we are quite far away from the Immortal Monastery. Once you leave the Bamboo Garden, you will no longer be able to return." "Do we have to leave the moment we become a cultivator?" Lan Yingying then asked. "No, but I don’t see why you would want to remain here when you can do so much more at the Immortal Monastery as a disciple." "Speaking of becoming a disciple, has anyone here started cultivating yet?" "..." Nobody raised their hands. Senior Zhou let out a weary sigh and said, "Looks like I drew the short straw. The other groups already have several individuals who’ve started cultivating, but we’re the only ones who haven’t made any progress yet." "What other groups?" Many people subconsciously blurted out at once. "What else but the other 19,000 people who came here with you?" "I have been wondering about the others ever since we arrived… Where are they? Will we be able to see them?" "The others are located in their own Bamboo Garden, and no, you are not allowed to contact them. You will only be able to do so once you’ve arrived inside the Immortal Monastery." The participants began mumbling to each other after learning of this information. "By the way, the first person to reach the Immortal Monastery amongst all 20 groups will receive 10,000 points as a reward. The first person in this group to become a disciple will receive 1,000 points. Points are important even beyond this place—especially in the Immortal Monastery—so it would be in your best interest to acquire as many as you can." "Ten thousand points…" The crowd of participants was filled with nervous anticipation, the sound of collective gulps echoing through the air. Their eyes sparkled with a mixture of desire and determination at the mention of such a large reward.