Junior Brother Pays Respect to You: Chapter 16 - Individual Test
Chapter 16: Individual Test
Qin Su's light and casual remark instantly drained all the cheer from Qin Zheng's face. Startled, he jumped out of bed and rushed toward the first-tier Training Room.
He couldn’t afford another round of confinement!
There was still no clue about the cultivation-enhancing medicine. If he got locked up again, this trip would’ve been for nothing.
The number of uses for the time scroll was limited—each use reduced one chance, and he couldn't afford to waste even one.
Besides, Qin Su’s attitude toward him had clearly been improving. If he missed this opportunity and had to start over, it would only be harder the next time.
Maybe it was because he had just slept and recovered his strength, but Qin Zheng felt surprisingly light on his feet today. He wasn't even panting or flushed while running. He felt as if he could run a few more laps around the entire Tianque Sect without breaking a sweat.
He stopped a short distance away from the First Tier Room, carefully observing the surroundings. After confirming no one was around, he quietly slipped inside.
After tidying his slightly disheveled clothes and hair, he sat solemnly on the meditation cushion, putting on a look of serious cultivation.
However, it didn’t take long before he started squinting toward the door every now and then, then closing his eyes again.
After a few times, still with no sign of his master, Qin Zheng lost his patience. His proper posture disappeared, and he slumped lazily onto the cushion.
He thought to himself: Master has so many things to deal with—maybe he’s forgotten about a hopeless disciple like me.
Resting his chin in one hand, he started aimlessly inspecting the objects in the training room.
Only after striving to reach Second-Tier did Qin Zheng realize just how boring cultivation in the First-Tier Room really was.
While he was deep in thought, a pair of white shoes entered his view and slowly approached.
Qin Zheng blinked, then looked up to see his master staring down coldly at him.
Startled, he quickly got up and knelt before his master, lowering his head. “Master.”
A cold snort came from above his head.
“Hmph!”
“You think this is how someone looks when they’ve been cultivating seriously?”
Qin Zheng could only lower his head further, not daring to speak—because he hadn’t been cultivating properly.
Just then, a low table holding various stones appeared in front of him.
Qin Zheng glanced at the table and recognized it—it was the same one used to test cultivation level last time. He looked up at his master in surprise.
“Master, are you going to test my cultivation?”
“What else? I told you before I left that I’d check whether you’ve been training seriously. Don’t think I’ll be fooled by you just putting on a show here.”
“If I don’t see any progress, you’ll spend a month in the Ice Cave reflecting on your actions.”
Now I’m doomed!
Qin Zheng hadn’t been here long, but he knew that before he arrived, his younger self hadn’t been cultivating at all.
He remembered he only began working hard after that event, and barely managed to break through to second-tier.
Clearly, that hadn’t happened yet in this timeline.
Nervous, Qin Zheng stared at the table in front of him, shutting his eyes like he was walking to his doom.
Let’s just try… If it doesn’t work, I’ll just grab a random stone—maybe I’ll get lucky.
He slowly guided his internal energy to sense the items on the table.
Gradually, in the pitch black of his mind, two stones lit up like stars.
Qin Zheng was stunned.
Did my cultivation level actually improve? Last time, I could barely see a blurry outline—how are they so clear now?
He thought for a moment, then casually chose one of the two stones and handed it to his master.
As his master reached for it, he warned, “These stones are different from last time. Most are first-tier, only a few are second or third tier. Don’t even think about cheating.”
Qin Zheng’s hands paused slightly.
Phew, good thing I didn’t just grab one blindly.
His master took the stone, paused, then held it closer to examine it, seemingly confirming something.
Qin Zheng waited for quite a while without hearing a verdict and finally asked hesitantly, “Master?”
His master glanced at him, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.
Qin Zheng blinked in confusion at his arm being held, about to say something, but suddenly felt a strange energy entering his body through the contact.
He silently shut his mouth.
After a minute, the master let go of his arm, eyes wide in disbelief. “Your cultivation has actually reached Third tier!”
“Huh?”
Qin Zheng stared, mouth open, unable to believe what he was hearing.
Third Tier? That’s impossible!
Did Qin Shuang do something?
To avoid being exposed, Qin Zheng quickly composed himself and answered obediently, “Master, I really have been cultivating here every day…”
His master gave him a faint glance but said nothing, then rose without a word. “From now on, you may go train in the Third Tier Room with your junior brother Qin Su.”
With that, he put away the table and turned to leave.
Once his master left, Qin Zheng leapt up in excitement. I can't believe it was that easy to get into the Third Tier Room!
He bolted out of the room in high spirits.
Qin Shuang, Qin Shuang—from now on, I’ll treat him better for sure!
After searching around, he finally found Qin Shuang in the medicine room, accompanied by Qin Su, who had just finished his training.
Qin Zheng entered the medicine hall, grinning as he looked at Qin Su. “Junior brother, what are you doing here?”
Qin Su glanced at him, then silently turned his head away.
Qin Shuang, standing nearby, chuckled and said, “Junior Brother came to ask how you were doing!”
Qin Shuang’s words filled Qin Zheng with joy. Although he had never taken the initiative to get close to Qin Su before, he happily gave this seemingly changed junior brother a big hug.
Qin Su, suddenly embraced, struggled slightly but soon fell quiet.
After letting go of Qin Su, Qin Zheng immediately pulled Qin Shuang aside and asked in a low voice, “Did you give me any kind of medicine while I was unconscious?”
Qin Shuang looked completely confused. “Medicine?”
Seeing how slow Qin Shuang was to catch on, Qin Zheng went straight to the point. “The kind that boosts cultivation!”
“No, I didn’t. We couldn’t find any spiritual ginseng, remember?”
Qin Shuang looked at him curiously, not understanding why he’d ask that.
“When you were unconscious, I checked you over. You weren’t sick or injured, just in a deep sleep, so I didn’t give you anything.”
Qin Zheng looked at Qin Shuang suspiciously and whispered, “That can’t be. Master just tested my cultivation level—it’s at Third Tier now!”
“THIRD Tier?!” Qin Shuang’s voice rose involuntarily.
Startled, Qin Zheng quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.
Qin Shuang pulled his hand away and insisted, “That’s impossible! I really didn’t give you anything!”
“There’s no need to whisper about it,” came Qin Su’s voice from behind. “I know you went to the forbidden area because you wanted to take something to boost your cultivation.”
Qin Zheng froze and glanced at Qin Shuang, mouthing silently: Why’d you tell him?!
Though, to be fair, it wasn’t really something that needed to be kept secret.
Qin Zheng let go of Qin Shuang and turned to Qin Su with a smile. “Junior Brother, I’ve reached Third Tier. Let’s go train together in the Third Tier Room tomorrow.”
But Qin Su just looked at him calmly, then turned and walked away!
As if he’d taken Qin Zheng’s words as a joke.
Qin Zheng wasn’t discouraged. He grinned as he watched the retreating figure and thought: You’ll believe it tomorrow!
Qin Shuang waved his hand in front of his dazed senior brother, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Senior Brother, stop staring. What’s going on with your cultivation, really?”
Qin Zheng looked at Qin Shuang and said, “I honestly don’t know.”
“But this is perfect! No training, no medicine, and I’m already at Third Tier. Heaven must be helping me!”
Qin Shuang thought for a moment and asked, “Could it be because of the forbidden area?”
“Senior Brother, you passed out in there, and when you woke up, your cultivation had jumped to Third Tier?”
Qin Zheng pointed at Qin Shuang and asked, “What was your cultivation level before you went into the forbidden area?”
Qin Shuang shrugged. “I was already at Third Tier when I decided to switch to alchemy.”
Qin Zheng clapped his hands. “Then it must be the forbidden area!”
“Didn’t your light orb say the forbidden area has the highest concentration of spiritual energy?”
“Maybe the spiritual energy there can boost lower-level cultivators to Third Tier. Since you were already Third Tier, you didn’t benefit. But I was First Tier, so I absorbed the energy and leveled up!”
Hearing Qin Zheng’s analysis, Qin Shuang nodded in agreement.
But deep down, Qin Zheng suddenly felt a twinge of worry. This cultivation boost doesn’t make sense! What if it affects the future timeline?
He wondered if the time scroll would give him some kind of warning.
***
“Senior Brother, while I was gone, what exactly has Qin Zheng been doing around the sect?”
Qing Yuan didn’t believe Qin Zheng’s nonsense, but his Third Tier cultivation was clearly real.
Chi Yan, still reading his book, replied, “What could he have been doing? Same old stuff as before.”
“I just tested his cultivation—he’s already at Third Tier!”
“What?” Qing Yuan’s words made Chi Yan finally put down his book. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Did you check if he used some kind of strange method or shortcut?”
Qing Yuan shook his head. “I already examined him. His internal energy is flowing smoothly and steadily. It doesn’t look like he’s used any drugs.”
“That’s strange. Could it be he suddenly had a breakthrough?”
Qing Yuan shook his head again, clearly just as puzzled.
Chi Yan suddenly said, “In a few more years, we’ll be able to do a spiritual root test. Then we’ll know for sure what’s really going on.”
Qing Yuan nodded. “That’s all we can do for now.”
----------
If you like my translation, please support me by buying me a coffee:
0 comments: