Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that he couldn’t possibly fool Old Mi with the same excuse he’d used on Chu Zhongtian and Qin Wanru. Of everyone in the Chu Estate, the one person who knew Zu An’s circumstances the best was none other than Old Mi. Old Mi knew that, only a month ago, Zu An had just been an ordinary human, and that his journey towards becoming a cultivator was only possible through the cultivation technique the the old man had imparted to him.

“How did you raise your cultivation so quickly?” Since Zu An was slow to respond, Old Mi repeated his question, his tone getting impatient.

“I think it’s because I’m still young, that’s why I’m cultivating a bit faster?” It took Zu An some effort to squeeze out an excuse.

However, Old Mi simply glared at him coldly, not bothering to respond.

Zu An’s face heated up. That excuse sounded ridiculous, even to him. He pondered once again before replying, “I entered the academy. The academy distributes ki stones to each of us to use in our cultivation. On top of that, the ki in the academy is much richer, so…”

Before he could finish, Old Mi cut in, “Even with ki stones, there’s no way you could have progressed that quickly. Besides, the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra relies mainly on getting beaten up to raise your cultivation. Ki stones are of limited effectiveness to you.”

Zu An was surprised by that. Old Mi mentioned that ki stones were of limited effectiveness, not that they were...