Chapter 432: Seven Days
Chapter 432: Seven Days
Turning around, Yi Chen glanced at the entire chamber that was shrouded in darkness, as his eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness.
’Well... it’s not like darkness is a huge problem for me.’ He thought while producing a small flicker of flame on top of his index finger, and as a result, the entire chamber was brightened.
It was a 5x5 meter room which had a pit dug in the ground in one corner, which was also the source of the disgusting smell that had made Yi Chen cover his nose.
’Just who the hell thought of creating a toilet pit inside a room with almost no ventilation, little to no ventilation?’ Yi Chen thought with annoyance as he made his way towards the pit and looked inside in order to check something.
’Phew... It’s clear.’
Letting out a sigh of relief, he caught hold of a bunch of soil using his spiritual energy and threw it inside the pit, hoping that it would help cover up the smell a little. However, it didn’t.
"This... whatever, I’ll just burn the entire ground then!"
He snorted in irritation, and a burst of flame completely covered the ground, charring the surrounding soil black as the flames made their way towards the walls, only to be dispelled the moment they made contact with it.
’Yeah, if they didn’t have such a function, then this wouldn’t have been called a confinement chamber in the first place. Not like that matters anyway since the goal has already been achieved.’
Yi Chen thought while taking in a deliberate sniff.
"Indeed, a charred smell is much better than a shitty one."
Nodding to himself in a satisfied manner, he soon took a seat on the muddy ground that was still a little hot because of being grazed by his flame.
’Luckily, the items inside the storage ring don’t expire...’ With that thought, he took out a piece of beast meat which he had procured while travelling through the Great Beast Forest and began his dinner preparation.
"You guys want me to eat only one time a day? Yeah, dream on." He snorted in mockery and started roasting the meat over the fire.
Once he had taken care of his hunger, it was finally time to analyse his current situation.
’Let’s see, there’s enough space here for me to swing my sword, so practising the three moves won’t be hindered in the next seven days,’ Yi Chen nodded to himself while thinking about his cultivation and other things he would be spending his time on in the next seven days.
’Luckily, I managed to take a few weeks’ worth of books from the library before being confined here...’ Yi Chen thought as he thought about the enormous time he would have otherwise wasted here.
"It’s decided then. Three hours of cultivation, three hours of swordsmanship practice and the rest of the time would be allocated towards reading and learning as much about the basics of Pill Refining as possible." He muttered to himself while thinking smugly, ’Thanks to my fire Qi, the darkness won’t hinder me from progressing at all.’
The next moment, he stood up and started practising his swordsmanship just the way he intended to before focusing on his cultivation and finally calling it a night.
The next morning, he started his day by reading the books for several hours before immersing himself in swordsmanship practice and cultivation.
Days kept passing, and the progress Yi Chen had attained in the following days was pretty significant as he began to realise that this seven-day confinement period was turning out to be a boon rather than a bane for him.
The Seventh Day.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Yi Chen closed the last textbook that he was going through, the last of the two hundred and forty-two books he had acquired from the library.
Leaning his back against the wall a second later, he muttered with a confident smile, "Now only gaining practical experience is left, and soon I’ll be able to refine my very first pill!"
With that said, he soon closed his eyes and started cultivating, not wanting to waste the remaining couple of hours he still had left.
Once the time had elapsed, the Enforcement Hall Disciple responsible for keeping order in here arrived and guided Yi Chen out of the place.
Chu Feng, who had been busy with his paperwork, looked up to glance at Yi Chen, who was being guided out of the basement and thought to himself, ’I still don’t understand... at first I thought that he would be trying to escape from here, but despite possessing all his items, he made no such moves and had instead quietly spent the seven days in here...
...Just what is it that the Elder Jao Tian is thinking?’
A confused expression soon formed on his face as he saw Yi Chen leave. However, with no way to get to the truth, he soon shook those thoughts away before busying himself with his work.
...
"Brother Chen!"
Zhou Mei, Qin Yao and the group who had been patiently waiting outside the Enforcement Hall for almost an hour rushed towards Yi Chen while calling out his name the moment they saw him coming out of the building.
Noticing that they all had been waiting for him, Yi Chen couldn’t help but smile brightly.
Noticing Qin Yao and Dong Yun, who seemed to be rushing towards him with the intention of giving him a welcoming hug, Yi Chen gestured for them to stop.
"I haven’t taken a bath for an entire week, so if you guys don’t want to stink alongside me, you better stop."
He reminded them with a playful smile, which indeed did the trick.
"A-Ah..."
"Oh... so that’s how it is"
Seeing them both back away a little the very next moment, Yi Chen let out a light chuckle while glancing towards Zhou Mei, Feng Ning, Feng Min and the rest.
"Welcome back, Brother Chen," Zhou Mei greeted, breaking the momentary silence as everyone started to do the same.
"It’s good to see that you all have been doing well." Yi Chen nodded with a smile and asked while momentarily glancing at the setting sun behind them, "So what happened in the last seven days while I was inside? What’’s our schedule like, and what am I supposed to do starting tomorrow?"
"It’s pretty flexible, Brother Chen. Unlike the orientation classes, it isn’t restrictive at all, and we are free on most of the days!" Qin Yao answered energetically.
"Indeed," Dong Yun added from the side, "After registering ourselves at our Occupation Hall, it’s up to us whether we attend the extra biweekly classes or not and use the Hall’s various facilities.
However, since all of these things require contribution points which we lacked, we’ve been fully focused on doing as many missions as possible."
"On that note, we’ve all collected more than enough contribution points to aid Brother Chen for this week, so you need not worry. Open your identification bead’s panel, and we’ll start sending it."
Zhou Mei said, which made everyone else also come forward, making Yi Chen’s attempt to explain that they don’t need to worry about this end in vain.
[Contribution Points: 570]
[Send]
[Receive]
"This... isn’t this a lot? I don’t need it, so let me send a few back to each one of you." Yi Chen muttered, seeing the total amount of contribution points he possessed on the screen in front of him.
"It’s not a lot, Brother Chen. You’ll be needing two hundred contribution points per week to attend the specialised classes based on your chosen occupation, leaving you with the remainder to make use of other sect facilities.
So, it isn’t a lot when you look at the expenses, Brother Chen. Anyways, if you feel indebted, you can just pay us back after that one-month ban is over. With your abilities, I’m sure you’ll be able to race through most of the missions assigned at our level."
Qin Yao explained with a cheeky smile.
"Then, let’s go for dinner. It’s been a while since all of us had it together," Zhou Mei said with a smile and agreeing with her, they all left for the dining hall.
A few minutes later, they were sitting and enjoying the meal together after a long time. Suddenly reminded of something, Yi Chen glanced toward Feng Ning, who had a subtle smile on her face and asked,
"How did it go, Brother Wei Tian, Sister Ning? You had gone to visit him during the day of my duel, right?"
"I-It... went well." Feng Ning said with a subtle blush on her cheeks and continued, "Just like you’ve said he was very grateful that I went back to visit him. He’s now preparing for the Golden Lion Sect’s entrance test, which will be held in two weeks."
"That’s good." Yi Chen nodded with a smile when he heard this news.
"So, Junior Brother Chen, have you decided on what Occupation you’re going to take? You need to register yourself at the respective occupation hall first thing tomorrow morning." Senior Sister Yun Xi stated from the side.
"Yes, I have already decided. It’s going to be Pill Refining." Yi Chen stated with a confident glimmer in his eyes.