~ Chapter 3- Old Lee ~

Next Morning...

....

"Ye Tian, you are finally here. Come help me cut those vegetables."

Ye Tian just entered the kitchen as he heard someone calling for him. As he looked at the corner of the kitchen, he noticed his sworn brother 'Xiaoba' cutting a big slab of meat alone.

"Coming"

Ye Tian replied as he walked towards a nearby stone table.

Ye Tian was exceptionally good at cooking and that's why he was appointed as a chef. So was his brother, Xiaoba. Most servant disciples work as sweepers, breeders and planters. Some lucky ones got appointed as personal servants of the Inner Court and Core disciples. Some that are good at cooking are appointed as chefs.

Breeders were responsible for the breeding and day-to-day care of Magical beasts. Planters were responsible for the growth of vegetables, Spiritual plants and rare medicines. Ye Tian was a chef and was responsible for food for Outer Court and servent disciples two times a day. Inner Court and Core disciples mostly ate food rich with spiritual energy made by skilful and professional chefs.

After 2 hours of continuously cutting vegetables and stewing, Ye Tian finally completed his part of the task. After he dashed towards one of the nearby room in which an old man was sitting cross-legged on a slab made of stone, his eyes shut with a long grey beard on his face.

"Old Lee, I have arrived."

The old man that was referred to as 'Old Lee' slowly opened his eyes and stared at Ye Tian for a long time. He was the leading chef and also the man in charge of the food department. Ye Tian and Xiaoba also learned cooking from him. After some time he finally opened his mouth to speak,

"You weren't able to broke through"

"Yes." Replied Ye Tian as he traced his nose.

"Sigh." Old Lee sighed heavily.

Old Lee took out a wooden box from his sleeves as he said:

"This is a spirit stone, it contains a massive amount of spiritual energy within it. Take it, this will help you to reach the second layer of Qi Gathering."

Ye Tian stared at the wooden box surrounded by a powerful aura with a surprised expression on his face and with a little bit of shock. Spirit stones are one of the most important things for a martial artist. Martial artists absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to improve their cultivation. But the amount of spiritual energy is limited and one will never be able to reach a higher cultivation stage with this quantity. Spirit stones contain a massive amount of spiritual energy that is even purer than normal.

Spirit stones furthermore came with different quality. The higher the quality of the spirit stone the purer and thicker the spirit energy within it. Spirit stones can also be considered as the currency used by martial artists due to their importance.

There are five grades of spirit stones: Low-grade, Middle-grade, High-grade, Top-grade and Supreme-grade.

Top and Supreme-grade spiritual stones are extremely rare. And High-grade spiritual stones are often used by only prominent characters. Only low and middle-grade spiritual stones are used by normal martial artists.

Naturally, The spirit stone given by Old Lee was a low-grade but it was still very rare within servant's quarters. Even Outer Court disciples only received some of these every month. How can he accept this? Old Lee was like a grandfather to him as he was the only one that took care of him out of all people other than his brother Xiaoba. He will never be able to repay his kindness in his entire life.

"Th-This? I can't accept this." He said with a serious expression on his face.

Seeing Ye Tian reject, he gently chuckled.

"HaHaha, You little rascal, You don't have to worry about anything. This isn't any use to me and the Outer Court Entrance exam is just at the corner, so you should hurry and reach the third layer of Qi Gathering."

"The next exam will be held after three months, So hurry up and start cultivating."

Outer Court Entrance exam, most awaited moment of all servant disciples. One must reach the third layer of Qi Gathering to participate in the exam. Martial artists from the nearby kingdoms as well as prince and princess also participate in this. Red Plum Sect could be considered as a Second-grade sect and was quite popular in the north region of the Eastern domain. There aren't that many second-grade sects in the Eastern domain, so every second-grade sect's Entrance exam causes turmoil throughout the Eastern domain.

"But Th-This? How can I reach the third layer from the first layer in just three months?"

"You should give this to Xiaoba, he is in the second layer of Qi Gathering. He will more benefit from this." Ye Tian's expression turned even more serious.