"Level Four."
Chen Yulan's words settled over the classroom.
The other four turned toward Chen Ba.
Chen Ba remained seated, one hand resting on his knee.
Chen Yulan withdrew her fingers from his wrist.
"Stable too."
Chen Gao frowned.
"He only reached Level Four on Friday."
"I know."
That was exactly why Chen Yulan had checked twice.
No instability.
No signs of a forced breakthrough.
No damaged meridians.
Chen Ba's cultivation sat firmly at Qi Initiate Level Four.
Fast.
Unusually fast.
But clean.
Chen Yulan returned to the front of the room.
"Good. This makes today's lesson easier."
She wrote four words across the board.
Absorb.
Refine.
Retain.
Advance.
Chen Yulan turned.
"Most new cultivators think cultivation means absorbing Qi."
She tapped the first word.
"It doesn't."
Chen Gao raised a hand.
"Then why do we spend so much time doing exactly that?"
"Because without water, there is nothing to drink."
A few confused expressions met her.
Chen Yulan continued.
"Imagine drawing water from a muddy river."
"Absorption is how much water you pull out."
She tapped the second word.
"Refinement is how much mud you remove."
The third.
"Retention is how much clean water you actually keep instead of spilling it."
Then the last.
"And advancement comes from what remains."
She looked across the room.
"If you absorb one hundred portions of Qi, refine eighty properly, and retain seventy, then your cultivation gains seventy."
"Not one hundred."
Chen Yiru nodded slowly.
"So absorbing faster doesn't always mean advancing faster."
"Correct."
Chen Yulan pointed toward her.
"A cultivator can absorb twice as quickly as you and still progress more slowly if half of it is wasted."
Chen Gao leaned back.
"What if someone is good at all three?"
"Then they cultivate quickly."
"Simple."
"Usually."
Her gaze shifted to Chen Ba.
There was the problem.
Chen Ba absorbed well.
His circulation was stable.
Nothing about his foundation suggested serious wastage.
Yet reaching Level Four this quickly was still unusual.
Chen Ba noticed her attention.
"Is something wrong?"
"Probably not."
Probably.
That word caught him.
Chen Yulan folded her arms.
"There is another factor."
She drew two circles on the board.
One small.
One large.
"Dantian capacity."
She pointed to the smaller circle.
"Two cultivators can have similar absorption, refinement and retention, but different internal capacities."
"A smaller dantian fills faster."
She moved to the larger circle.
"A larger one requires more Qi."
Chen Xueyin glanced toward Chen Ba.
"You think his is small?"
"I think it may be."
Chen Ba's brow tightened.
That did not sound good.
Chen Yulan noticed.
"Don't make that face."
"Isn't smaller worse?"
"Not necessarily."
She tapped the smaller circle again.
"A smaller dantian can make advancement easier. Less Qi is required to reach each threshold."
"So I can advance faster."
"Possibly."
Chen Ba looked at the larger circle.
"But someone with a larger dantian has more Qi at the same level."
"Yes."
That part was worse.
Chen Yulan continued.
"A larger reserve matters in a long battle. More techniques. More reinforcement. More room to recover from mistakes."
"Someone with a smaller reserve has to fight differently."
"How?"
"Do not fight their battle."
Chen Ba waited.
"If your opponent has more Qi than you, don't stand there trading techniques until one of you runs dry."
"Use movement."
"Timing."
"Judgment."
"End the fight before reserve becomes the deciding factor."
Chen Ba glanced at the Black Pole beside him.
Thunder God's Three Steps.
Movement was already the path he had chosen.
Chen Yulan erased the two circles.
"For now, this is only an assessment."
"We cannot measure exact dantian capacity by looking at someone."
"There are specialized methods, but there is no reason to use them every time a child advances quickly."
"So don't decide your future based on one classroom explanation."
Chen Ba nodded.
Still—
small dantian.
The thought stayed with him.
The lesson continued until late morning.
By the end, the four terms had become harder to confuse.
Absorb.
Refine.
Retain.
Advance.
Chen Yulan dismissed the lesson, then stopped the five before they could leave.
"Not you."
Chen Gao froze halfway out of his seat.
"What did we do?"
"Nothing."
"That usually comes before punishment."
"It isn't punishment."
She took out five small jade markers.
"You earned these last Friday."
Chen Yiru recognized them first.
"The Combat Bell?"
Chen Yulan nodded.
Their Friday combat lesson had ended with Chen Yiru securing the bell.
The reward extended to the five disciples who had completed the training.
Chen Shun had not participated.
His injuries would keep him recovering for roughly three weeks.
Without attending the lesson, he had earned no reward.
Chen Yulan placed a jade marker before each of them.
"Two hours in the Qi Gathering Chamber."
Silence.
Then Chen Gao stared at the marker.
"Free?"
"Yes."
"Completely?"
"Yes."
He picked it up as if expecting someone to change their mind.
Chen Yulan sighed.
"The normal price is one thousand Achievement Points for a two-hour session."
The marker nearly slipped from his hand.
"One thousand?"
Chen Ba looked down at his own.
One thousand Achievement Points.
His current balance was nowhere near that.
Chen Yulan continued.
"Which is why most Outer Court disciples do not enter casually."
"The chamber is generally used near bottlenecks, before difficult breakthroughs, or when someone has a specific reason to accelerate cultivation."
Chen Xueyin examined the jade marker.
"So this reward is worth five thousand points?"
"No."
That answer stopped them.
Chen Yulan shook her head.
"You are confusing access price with the value of the Qi you personally consume."
"At your levels, your meridians are narrow, your circulation is slow, and you can only absorb so much in two hours."
"The chamber itself is expensive to maintain."
"Formation upkeep."
"Qi concentration."
"Scheduling."
"Access."
She looked at the five.
"You are being given a chance to experience it."
"So when you eventually have a real bottleneck and one thousand points to spend, you will know what you are paying for."
Chen Ba closed his fingers around the marker.
One thousand.
The number stayed in his mind.
The Qi Gathering Chamber stood deeper inside the Outer Court cultivation grounds.
From outside, it looked almost plain.
Thick stone.
A sealed door.
Formation lines carved around the frame.
Chen Yulan led them inside.
Five meditation platforms were arranged around the chamber.
Chen Ba.
Chen Xueyin.
Chen Lanyue.
Chen Yiru.
Chen Gao.
Each took one.
Chen Yulan remained near the entrance.
"Two hours."
"No forcing breakthroughs."
"No competing."
"If your circulation becomes unstable, stop."
Chen Gao glanced around.
"How much stronger is the Qi inside?"
Chen Yulan placed her palm against the activation seal.
"You'll know in a moment."
The door sealed.
Darkness lasted a heartbeat.
Then the runes beneath them ignited.
And the Qi Gathering Chamber awakened.