When the Fatty brothers discovered that Alex had locked himself in cultivation, they made a quiet decision.
They would not disturb him.
They prepared food pills for him every day. They even set aside rare herbs so he could cultivate in peace. Whatever he needed, they supplied it withoutint.
By now, the Fatty brothers had mastered the new recipes for the improved food pills. They could even use the leftovers to refine additional pills on their own. They no longer depended on Alex.
On top of that, they had just won nearly a hundred new servants and arge amount of money. Their days were filled with managing people, counting profits, and
securing their new position. They were busy building their own future.
The least they could do for Alex was give him silence and space.
One month passed.
Inside his room, Alex could feel it clearly-his cultivation rising from the First Level of Qi Condensation to the Second.
The energy inside his body grew denser. Sharper. More controlled.
"Ninth Junior Brother," Eight Fatty said one afternoon, standing at the doorway. "Why don''t you take a break? You''ve been cultivating non-stop for over a month."
The others nodded behind him, concern written all over their faces.
Alex didn''t even open his eyes. "No. I won''t stop until I know I can survive here."
He had set a clear goal. At the very least, he had to reach the Fourth Level of Qi Condensation. Only then would he have the bare minimum strength to protect himself.
Time moved on.
Three months passed.
Alex cultivated like a man possessed.
"It''s been three months," one brother muttered.
"So?"
"So I can''t evenmit to a cultivation for three weeks."
Another nodded gravely. "I once started cultivating seriously."
"What happened?"
"I remembered snacks exist."
They all nced toward Alex''s room as another pulse of Qi throbbed through the walls.
"...He''s built different," someone whispered.
"No," Eight Fatty corrected. "He''s built wrong."
For servants like them, the hardest thing in the world was discipline. Most could cultivate for a day or two before boredom swallowed them whole. The better onessted a week. Two weeks at most.
After that, they drifted.
But Alex was different.
He had already pushed past every limit of discipline. He treated cultivation like breathing. Like survival. Three months of nonstop practice did not exhaust him mentally. It barely challenged him.
In his past life, he had endured far worse.
To him, three months was nothing.
Then another two more months passed.
Six months of continuous cultivation.
Eight Fatty and the others were no longer impressed. They were afraid.
They whispered among themselves, worried that Alex might truly be driving himself
to death. His body looked leaner, sharper. His presence felt heavier.
"He''s going to copse one day," one of them said nervously.
"He hasn''t stopped once."
And then-
It happened again.
A violent explosion tore through the air.
The sound sted outward from Alex''s room, shaking the walls and sending a
shockwave through the courtyard.
Eight Fatty and the others froze.
They looked up at the me time, eyes wide with shock.
The air itself seemed to tremble.
“Little Junior Brother Ninth has broken through!"
"The Fifth Level of Qi Condensation!
He hasn''t been here for a year,
and
he''s already at the fifth level! That''s
unheard off No one in the sects
History has advanced that fast. He''s
practically a monster!"
Alex exhaled slowly, almost amused.
"It took me nearly a year to reach the fifth level,” he said under his breath.
?
Back in Estoria, cultivating had felt like starving. He had scraped energy from the earth like a beggar licking
crumbs from stone
Every breath
brought almost nothing. Every
breakthrough cost blood and sweat.
But here?
The energy of heaven and earth here was so dense it almost felt solid against his
skin.
Back then, he had been surviving on scraps-barely inhaling enough spiritual energy to stay alive.
Here, he wasn''t breathing it in. He was devouring it.
Like a man dying of thirst in the desert who suddenly finds an oasis, he drank in the Heaven and Earth Energy in desperate, greedy gulps.
And with the food pills from the kitchen, the effect was ridiculous. He was like a
balloon being pumped full of air without a single leak.
But the true miracle wasn''t the environment.
It was the Royal Imperial Cultivation technique.
In the past, even if he drew in one hundred percent of the energy around him, his body could only absorb twenty to twenty-five percent. A technique that could absorb thirty to forty percent was
already considered legendary.
The Royal Imperial method?
It took in almost everything.
Ny-nine percent entered his body with no waste, no loss, no escape.
That was the real terror.
Alex knew Wang Junhao had been at the Third Level of Qi Condensation. That was why Alex had forced himself to keep going until he felt safe at the Fourth Level.
But he had thought it through carefully.
Wang Junhao was arrogant, but not stupid. After losing once, he wouldn''t challenge Alex again unless he believed he could win. He would onlye back once he had broken through to the Fourth Level himself.
Only then would he dare.
That was why Alex pushed further.
Fifth Level.
At that stage, even if Wang Junhao reached the Fourth Level, Alex would still have
the advantage.
He finally allowed himself to stop.
Inside the kitchen courtyard, Eight Fatty and the others were already rushing toward
Alex''s room, faces bright with excitement, ready to congratte him.
Then they froze.
Arge group of people stormed into the kitchen.
At the front stood Wang Junhao.
Behind him were twenty others, all wearing the uniform of the Servants'' Disciple
Department. Their expressions were cold and official.
Wang Junhao''s eyes locked onto Alex like a de.
“Number Ninth!” he shouted, his voice sharp and echoing across the courtyard.
"Last time, you used underhanded tricks to win against me."
He stepped forward, chin lifted in challenge
“I officially dere a rematch!” Wang Junhao announced.
"With the Servants'' Disciple Department as witness!"
One Fatty whispered, "Is that good?"
Another whispered back, "It means we can''t bury his body quietly."
Alex finally step forward, dusting off his sleeves.
"Don''t you dare run," Wang Junhao sneered, his voice dripping with contempt.
“Run?” Alex blinked, feeling insulted.
A faint, dangerous smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
"I''ve been cultivating in istion for half a year. I was starting to get bored."
His eyes locked onto Wang Junhao''s.
"I''ve been wanting to stretch my bones... want hit someone. And you just happened
to show up."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Looks like it''s your lucky day."