17 I think she likes me!

Time passed quickly as the duo bantered after finishing all the food on the table. Shen Long was quite impressed with Chen Dazhong's background and story. Being born into a somewhat prestigious clan, Chen Dazhong should be living a carefree life, being a typical, spoiled character from typical light novels. However, he decided to venture outside and cultivate, not using any resources from his family.

Shen Long liked his personality a lot as well. Unlike other disciples and his old classmates, Dazhong was straightforward and direct, instead of beating around the bush. Although he sounded quite mean and harsh sometimes, he was kind and sincere. Hence, Shen Long chose to befriend him.

As they chattered, Shen Long's understanding of the cultivation world also grew deeper. As he predicted, it was very similar to the settings in light novels. There were thousands and thousands of clans in just the Huaqui realm; millions and millions of cultivators. Strength was absolute; it was survival of the fittest. Violence and war were inevitable, which startled Shen Long slightly, though he became more determined to grow stronger, to protect himself and his family and friends in the future.

Chen Dazhong, similarly, liked Shen Long's character. Despite Shen Long's socialising skills were lacking, it was passable. Chen Dazhong was extremely surprised when Shen Long revealed his origin - from Earth - the same place as Daoist Fireblade. Cultivators from small planets were extremely rare as they could only become a cultivator through grasping a Dao, which was much harder than cultivating Qi.

Earth was located on the edge of the Huaqui Realm, and its size was extremely small compared to other planets. This was because Earth was not fully stabilised yet as a cultivator from Earth had yet to claim Earth. Only through binding Earth, the planet would expand in size, and its essence of the World would start to accept foreign objects and people.

Hence, to become an owner of a planet, the conditions and requirements were really harsh. As Daoist Fireblade said to Shen Long before, one had to cultivate to Celestial Immortal in 200 years in order to bind it, otherwise, Earth's essence would reject Shen Long and even his entry to Earth. However, becoming an owner of a planet didn't bring any benefits to the cultivator themselves neither.

However, Shen Long was still determined to cultivate and to bind Earth. One reason was to fulfil his Master's wish; another was to allow Shen Long to bring spiritual herbs and medicines in order to prolong Shen Long's parents' lifespan. Having almost the cultivation resources, Shen Long was almost guaranteed to become a Celestial Immortal, though succeeding in 200 years was still very, very difficult.

Although it only took Shen Long two weeks in total to cultivate to Saint level, the difficulty of advancing exponentially increased. After reaching Demigod level, Shen Long would have to go out and venture, to temper his strength. Only through fighting and going through fatal battles, Shen Long would improve. It was also much easier to have insights when a cultivator was outside, as there would be more pressure and new things.

After a few hours, Shen Long and Chen Dazhong parted as it was time for cultivation again. No one was lazy in the entire palace; everyone worked hard to cultivate, to get stronger. Unlike Shen Long, those cultivators, especially the outer disciples, had gone through countless setbacks for them to be here.

Daoist Fireblade, after all, was renowned due to his battle prowess as a Celestial Immortal. It was only normal that many cultivators would choose to cultivate and practise in his palace. As he could rival an ordinary Emperor, everyone respected him, especially the Emperors. Once Daoist Fireblade breakthrough to Emperor level, his strength would be even more unparalleled. Hence, everyone paid respect to Daoist Fireblade.

However, Daoist Fireblade's palace didn't count as an academy. Occasionally, there would be lectures, either conducted by Daoist Fireblade himself, or the Guardian in the library. It was also very different from a clan. The rules for cultivators, following a master, was very lax, hence, many chose to join an individual rather than a clan or school.

Of course, there were pros and cons to this. Unless one was a personal disciple like Shen Long, they would receive almost zero help from the palace master. However, the relationship between the disciples was usually quite close. They would try to help each other out as much as possible, and they would exchange pointers to improve.

Joining an academy or a clan, however, would grant the cultivator much more resources. Usually, spirit stones and other spiritual medicines would be distributed amongst the students, but the cultivators would lose their freedom for an extremely long period of time. Many, of course, chose this option as strength was most's number one priority.

As Shen Long walked back to his hut, he walked past the main hall where they would issue missions. There was a huge notice board with thousands of stickers, each describing a different mission with details and compensation. Shen Long was scared that he would grow tired of cultivation in the future, hence he decided to look out for missions that would be suitable for him.

As his eyes pricked across the board, he started sweating after seeing how harsh the missions were, as well as how low the compensation were. Looking into the green storage ring, he realised how generous Senior Sister Qingyu was, and how ill-mannered himself was. Although he was not really at fault as he truly didn't know the values of spirit stones, he still felt extremely guilty.

"The missions... They look like missions given out by NPCs in an MMO... Hahahaha. Kill five nine-coloured serpent in Northwest Rizandia for 1 spirit stone!?? And each serpent is at least at Saint Level!?? Who would do this quest, risking their own lives!?" Shen Long was surprised yet feeling nostalgic as he recalled grinding daily in MMOs.

Feeling shocked, he decided to visit Senior Sister Qingyu again before returning to his hut to cultivate. As he walked past the roads, Shen Long was feeling more and more close to this palace. Slowly, this place was becoming his home, and he roughly knew where everything was.

Knock knock!

Qingyu rushed out to her door as she was dressed in a black, purple apron. Usually dressed in robes, Qingyu looked very different. Her usual cold aura as a cultivator vanished, and this apron showed her more feminist side. The aroma of food flushed out from her hut as the door opened while Shen Long's heart started beating quicker.

Although Qingyu was almost 1200 years old, she didn't look old at all. Her appearance was no difference to a 20 years old adult on Earth. She had regular facial features, and she was quite charming. Especially for Shen Long who easily blushed, Shen Long found her really beautiful as he became more shy as he spoke.

"Senior Sister Qingyu... I apologize for taking your green storage ring. I really can't accept this. I didn't know the value of ten thousand spirit stones before, and I feel extremely guilty after finding out. Please take them back!" Shen Long spoke while avoiding eye contact as he didn't really know how to approach or speak to girls.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother. I already gave it to you, so I won't take it back. You can just repay me back when you grow stronger. I believe these ten thousand spirit stones would aid your cultivation a lot. Especially at Demigod stage, spirit stones are extremely important when you are venturing outside." Qingyu said as she chuckled slightly, making her seem even more alluring.

"Junior Brother, would you like to eat with me since you're already here?" Qingyu politely asked as she stared into Shen Long's eyes.

Although there was a dining hall in the palace, Qingyu prefered cooking her own meals. It was one of Qingyu's hobbies besides cultivation, as she enjoyed the process of cooking.

Shen Long, of course, could not refuse the invitation of Qingyu, as he smiled and nodded while following her into her hut. He was excited as he thought Qingyu liked him, completely misunderstood her intention. However, he was quite reluctant as he just ate with Chen Dazhong and his stomach was completely full.

"I don't want to eat any more... But I can't turn her invitation down! I think she likes me... but I shouldn't be thinking about love as cultivation should be my first priority. But if she really asks me out, I guess I won't turn her down..." Shen Long thought to himself, forcing himself to eat.

"I'm sorry, my stomach... You may have to suffer a bit..."