Breakthrough

In a courtyard filled with grass and some trees, Lei Kongming lay on the ground while gazing at the sunlight filtering through the gaps between the leaves. He savored the fragrance of fresh grass with morning dew condensed on it, contemplating his life, or more precisely, his previous lives.

Yes, lives!

He was not a native of this world. He spent his first life on Earth, where he had the typical dream of being admitted to a good university and landing a high-paying job. However, everything came to an end on the day of his university entrance exam.

No, he didn't fail the exams..... probably wouldn't have passed either. On his way to the examination hall, while he was trying to cross the road, he had a showdown with Truck-kun, whose driver got distracted by a beautiful woman wearing revealing clothes, walking on the opposite street.

As for how he knew the truck driver was watching that woman, it 'definitely' wasn't because he was also watching her.

'It was all the fault of that shameless woman and perverted driver; it was certainly not his mistake for looking at her while crossing the road,' thought Lei Kongming with great confidence, trying to convince himself of this shameless excuse.

Thankfully, the end of my second life was not this shameful. Speaking of my second life, although all the memories of my first life on Earth returned when I made a breakthrough to the 1st realm of Qi refining, for some reason, I don't have the complete memory of my second life. It is very vague; all I can recall is the end of my second life and how I obtained my golden finger.

But I'm sure my second-life memories are still there because I can vaguely touch them. For example, if I find some mysterious object on the street, I can somewhat guess its uses. Or if I find some herbs, I can recall a formula for their use. However, it doesn't happen all the time, probably because my previous life didn't have any knowledge of them.

The only good news about my second life was that the death was very peaceful, as I was unable to break through into a higher realm and went crazy, eventually committing suicide...

Well... it wasn't that peaceful, but after that, I at least obtained a golden finger and an immortal-level cultivation technique. Thinking of the immortal-level cultivation technique, Lei Kongming grinds his teeth in frustration, a bit of helplessness in his eyes.

*Sigh* With a heavy sigh, he pulled his thoughts back while shaking his head. 

"NO! I shouldn't continue thinking about it, otherwise my head will explode."

"Brother Kong! Brother Kong!"

Suddenly a voice came from outside the country yard. Hearing it, Lei KongMing picks his sword from the ground and walks out with a happy smile.

'At least there is someone to accompany me to suffer.'

Walking out of the door, Lei Kongming found a boy standing outside, who was for some reason looking towards the sky. He is around 17 - 18 years old with slightly tanned skin and can be considered a little muscular for 17 - 18 years old kids.

Looking at Lei LongWei who was showing off an imposing aura, Lei Kongming was stunned for a moment and thought, 'No wonder this bastard comes so early in the morning, it was because he had a breakthrough and came to show off.'

But then, a kind smile spread across Lei Kongming's face.

"It seems that little Long finally had a breakthrough and is now qualified to become an adult, come here Little Long, I, your Elder Kong will give you some Blessing."[1]

Hearing Lei Kongming call him Little Long; Lei LongWei was stunted but then shouted in anger.

"LEI!!! Kong!! Ming!!, stop sprouting nonsense, how dare you call me 'little'."

"Nonsense? Brother Long even though you have broken through to the 8th realm of Qi refining, but you have not yet participated in the Guan Li ceremony, so according to clan rules you are still a child and I can call you little Long, child Long, or even little brother, however I like."

Lei Kongming explains this with patience and a smile like a teacher educating a 10-year kid.

"Good, Good, Lei Kongming! Come here, I will let you understand why you should not bully the young and poor." Said Lei Longwei while trembling in anger.

"So, you still know that you are a young child."

"LEI!!! Kong!! Ming!!, I will fight with you to death."

Saying this Lei LongWei pulled his sword from his space ring and charged toward Lei Kongming.

…

Actually, What Lei Kongming said is not false, because according to clan rules, people who have not yet participated in the clan's Guan Li ceremony are not considered adults and are treated as children.

This also becomes a talk household talk in all the big clans of the city, while the children of other big families can spend money lavishly, stay outside till late at night, and visit brothels. Because of the clan rules the Lei family members who are not qualified to participate in the Guan Li ceremony have a lot of restrictions, like they cannot access higher-level exercise, they can only have a limited amount of monthly expenditure, also they cannot stay outside after the sunset, and they cannot lose their virginity…...yes, they cannot lose their virginity.

You should know that this is an ancient-immortal world and most people, especially males lose their virginity by the age of 16, but the Lei clan children cannot afford to lose their virginity otherwise according to clan rules they will be punished and in severe cases, they will become eunuch and enter the palace.

This was also done to protect the clan as well as the clan's children and prevent them from going the wrong path, teaching them discipline and the value of money. After all, if a useless person who cannot even take care of himself, indulges in sex and gambling but then suddenly gets a responsibility like managing some clan's business or simply becoming a father because he was unable to control his little brother then the results can be imaginable.

As for the requirement for participating in the Guan Li ceremony? There are many ways to obtain the qualification to participate in the Guan Li ceremony, like being good at a business that can gain the recognition of at least 3 elders of the clan or being able to make high-level 1st-grade pills, but the most common method is to breakthrough to the 7th level Qi refining realm.

The method used by Lei Kongming is also the most common one of breaking through the 7th-level Qi refining realm. The only difference was that he was able to breakthrough right before the start of the Guan Li ceremony and was able to successfully participate in it, while the unlucky Lei LongWei had a breakthrough right after the Guan Li ceremony ended.

…

Lei LongWei was lying on the ground with a black and blue face, staring blankly at the sky, "When did you breakthrough to the 9th level of the Qi refining realm."

Originally Lei LongWei thought that now that he had broken through the 8th level Qi refining, he could at least have a tie in a duel between them, but now it seems that he could only wait till Guan Li ceremony and get rid of this 'child' status.

You should know that he is the son of the first elder and one of the top seedlings of the clan, his status in the clan was very high but due to clan rules, he has always been treated like a child, which was very embarrassing. He also wants to access higher-level exercise and more importantly, he wants the freedom of losing his virginity.

*cough*

I mean it is more important to access higher-level exercise, losing virginity is only a secondary benefit.

"Just this morning, probably around 2 hours before you came." Said Lei Kongming as he stretched out his hand to pull LongWei up.

"Get up now, I have to go to the patriarch to report the progress, will you come with me?"

"You go there alone, I don't have time to waste. I'm going to rent a cultivation Room, also for some reason my father suddenly wants to hold a banquet tonight to celebrate my breakthrough, don't forget to come, it will be held in the clan's main hall."

Lei LongWei quickly puts his sword back in his space ring and leaves in a hurry.

Lei Kongming enviously looks at Lei LongWei using the space ring and frustration once again flashes in his eyes, he starts thinking of beating LongWei once again but then his thoughts where quickly attracted to the 'banquet' mentioned by Lei LongWei.

Looking at the Lei LongWei back, Lei Kongming fell in deep thought.

'Brother Long, you might be uncertain as to why the first elder has decided to hold a banquet all of a sudden but I can make a guess. My assumption was that it would happen after the Guan Li ceremony, but it appears that either the first elder or the city lord is in a rush.'

*tsk*

Lei Kongming clicked his tongue as he felt a sense of closeness with Lei LongWei, 'Although brothers are good, but brothers who are suffering together are better.'

Taking a last look at Lei Longwei moving towards the cultivation hall where people can rent rooms filled with a high concentration of Qi, Lei Kongming moves towards the patriarch hall.