By passing all the alchemy books Ye Sheng was reading down to his dantian, Earth, he was making it possible for the Earthlings to study this topic, as well as helping him to speed up his cultivating.

His photographic memory was extremely useful to him now. He only had to read a book once, and he would remember all of it. Ye Sheng didn’t feel like sleeping at all the first night he got home with all the books.

In fact, it wasn’t only this one night. Ye Sheng spent the second day and the third day in his room doing nothing but reading.

By the time the third day rolled around, Zhou Meiren frowned. He wanted to call Ye Sheng to come out of the room. Going three days without food, water, or sleep was very taxing on the body. If one hadn’t reached Inborn Level yet, it wasn’t possible to supplement the body with energy absorbed from the Qi in the air around you.

But before he could knock on Ye Sheng’s door, Ye Sheng walked out with his hair all disheveled, his cheeks sunken in, and huge bags under his eyes. He was clearly extremely exhausted, although his eyes were bright and alert and gleamed intelligently.

“You’re finally out. If you hadn’t walked out by yourself today, I’d have gone in to drag you out.” Zhou Meiren looked at Ye Sheng in disgust, because his body emanated a terrible stench. He smelled absolutely awful.

“Can you get me some food. One bull, one goat,” said Ye Sheng weakly.

“I’m not your servant, so why should I order food for you?” Zhou Meiren shook his head and refused to do it.

Ye Sheng replied, “I’m going to bathe first. I’m going to die from hunger soon. If you don’t want to order food for me, I’ll go get food myself.”

Splash!

Ye Sheng jumped into the river that was behind their house and started to clean himself. His muscles were lean, and he had no excess fat on him.

Once Ye Sheng was finished bathing and had changed into a new set of clothes, he saw that Zhou Meiren was having a meal.

There was a bull and a goat on the table.

Ye Sheng looked at him in surprise.

“Don’t misunderstand me, I happened to feel like eating, and I ordered a bit too much by accident. If you don’t want to eat, then I’ll just throw the remainder away,” said Zhou Meiren nonchalantly.

Ye Sheng just laughed, grabbed one leg of the bull, and started eating.

He was terribly famished, so once the meat had entered his stomach, it was quickly digested and turned into a warmth that flowed through his body.

Just like that, Ye Sheng started wolfing down all the food even as Zhou Meiren looked at him with great disdain. He finished off the bull and the goat and gave a long satisfied sigh after he was finished eating all of it. He stood up and started moving his limbs and joints.

Crack! Crack!

His joints all started cracking at the same time, and it seemed as if he was on the verge of breaking through to the next level. He was now in between Acquired Level Third Stage and Fourth Stage, and he’d been working hard every day to get himself from Novice Phase to Mid Phase. His hard work hadn’t gone to waste. After accumulating days of cultivation, he had finally found a way to break through.

“You’ve spent the last three days memorizing those books?” asked Zhou Meiren, after he saw that Ye Sheng was finished eating.

“That’s right. 81 scrolls about the basics of alchemy, 365 books on herbs, and more than 100 books on the medicinal effects of various herbs. I now know everything like the back of my hand,” said Ye Sheng with great confidence.

“81 alchemy scrolls? That’s at least 100,000 words. You know everything like the back of your hand after only just three days?” Zhou Meiren stared at Ye Sheng in great shock.

“Who am I?” Ye Sheng raised an eyebrow with a smug expression on his face. “I’m a genius.”

“Tsk, tsk, that’s the first time I’m hearing someone boast about himself,” snapped Zhou Meiren disdainfully.

“Hey, don’t doubt me. Once I successfully refine some pills in a few days, I’ll give you a few. That’ll be your reward for helping me order food,” teased Ye Sheng. He was in such a good mood now.

“Go away, I just wanted to eat, so I ordered food. You’ve eaten so much that I’m the one left hungry, and you’re standing here daydreaming? Even a genius needs several years of accumulated experience to successfully refine pills. You think you’re a god or something?” sneered Zhou Meiren contemptuously.

“You’ll find out in a few days.” Ye Sheng just laughed it off. He stood up and turned to leave.

“Hey! You’re not going to clear up all the bones that you’ve left behind?” yelled Zhou Meiren in frustration from behind him.

There were bones and other bits all over the floor, and the students had to clean up their own houses since Jixia Academy didn’t allow anyone to bring their own servants into the school.

“You help me clear up the mess, I’m going to see Priest Qingxu,” said Ye Sheng as he waved his hand and walked off coolly.

Zhou Meiren was completely speechless. He looked at the mess on the floor and was extremely annoyed. He was a clean freak.

…

After three days, Ye Sheng arrived at the Daoist Court again.

The tiny Daoist was still guarding the entrance, but he wasn’t doing a good job of it. He had actually fallen asleep in his position. His tiny body was all curled up and looked a little pitiful.

“Oh, it’s you. You’re here again,” said the tiny Daoist as he rubbed his eyes after being shaken awake by Ye Sheng.

“You can continue sleeping, I’m going in to see Priest Qingxu,” said Ye Sheng.

“No, you can’t. All outsiders have to wait here while I go in to tell the priest,” said the tiny Daoist as he shook his head.

“I became Priest Qingxu’s disciple three days ago, so from now on, I’ll be part of the Daoist Court too,” said Ye Sheng with a smile.

“You’re one of his disciples?” The tiny Daoist immediately lit up.

“That’s right,” said Ye Sheng with a nod.

“Then hurry up and call me Senior. I’m finally not the most junior anymore.” The tiny Daoist was so happy that he wasn’t sleepy anymore.

Ye Sheng blinked a few times and asked, “You’re also one of Priest Qingxu’s disciples?”

“That’s right. I’m your Second Senior, so you’d better greet me now.” The tiny Daoist puffed his chest out and pretended to be an adult.

“Since you’re my Second Senior, then why are you out here guarding the main entrance?” Ye Sheng didn’t quite believe him.

The tiny Daoist got upset. “I am the second disciple that Master took in, but Master said that I’m naturally lacking in Daoist Aspirations, so I need to guard the main entrance for one year. It’s been 11 months already, so in one month’s time, I can return to Master’s side and regain my identity as his second disciple.”

Ye Sheng felt that this little boy wasn’t lying to him, so he asked, “Since you’re my Second Senior, how about you accompany me to see Master?”

“Let’s go then. I didn’t know Master took you in as a disciple. If I had known earlier, I’d have made you call me Second Senior then,” grumbled the tiny Daoist.

“Why are you so insistent on making me call you Second Senior?” asked Ye Sheng curiously.

“If you call me Second Senior, that means that I’m no longer the most junior. On top of that, I’ll protect you too. I’m very formidable, okay,” said the tiny Daoist as he patted his own chest.

“You’re very formidable?” Ye Sheng was quite doubtful. This tiny Daoist didn’t emanate any Qi at all. Also, how powerful could a seven- or eight-year-old child be?

“I’m very formidable. Master said so too. I’m very formidable, but I’m lacking in Daoist Aspirations. I just need to guard the main entrance for a year and feel these Daoist Aspirations, and I’m done.” The tiny Daoist nodded resolutely.

“All right then, Second Senior. What’s your name?” asked Ye Sheng as he decided to believe the little boy and called him Second Senior.

The tiny Daoist beamed from ear to ear and looked rather adorable when he heard Ye Sheng call him Second Senior. He patted Ye Sheng’s arm and said, “Your Second Senior’s name is Daoming, so if you run into any problems in the future, you just need to shout for me. If I hear it, I’ll definitely come and help you.”

“Thank you so much, Senior Daoming.” Ye Sheng didn’t take his words seriously and just played along with this Second Senior Daoming as if he was just having fun with a child.

The two of them chatted and laughed all the way until they reached Priest Qingxu’s living quarters.

Priest Qingxu was watering his plants when he saw that Ye Sheng was here. He was very surprised. “Instead of taking the time to memorize the books, you’ve come all the way here?”

“Don’t tell me you intend to give up?” Priest Qingxu’s expression darkened and his tone of voice was unfriendly.

Ye Sheng smiled faintly and replied, “Master, your disciple has memorized everything.”

Priest Qingxu’s wrist trembled slightly. Even though he had been cultivating as a Daoist for 100 years and was generally unfazed by anything in the world, he was still shocked by these words. He looked at Ye Sheng and frowned, “Do you know what the punishment for lying is?”

“Master, go ahead and test me all you want. I’m confident in myself.” Ye Sheng puffed his chest out.

“All right then, come in with me.” Priest Qingxu could tell that Ye Sheng wasn’t lying, so he wasn’t sure about anything anymore. He turned and walked into his room.

Ye Sheng and Daoming followed after him.

Priest Qingxu spun around and pointed at Daoming. “Go and guard the entrance, your one year isn’t up yet.”