I'll Post One Too
Baek Cheong hurried her steps toward the family's rear mountain. The entire mountain was one of the Baek clan's key sites, enveloped by a massive formation.
Climbing the winding mountain path revealed the cave entrance. Sturdy guards exuding a solemn aura stood vigil on either side of the entrance. In front of the cave sat a rickety old table, where an elderly monk dozed with his head nodding.
He was Jin Elder, who controlled access to the cultivation chambers and managed the formations. Baek Cheong straightened her clothes and approached the table.
"Uncle Jin, I hope you've been well."
At the sound of Baek Cheong's clear, ringing voice, Jin Elder cracked open his bleary eyes.
"Oh, it's Cheong. I thought you were confined to the pill room on the family head's orders. What brings you here?"
"Father gave me permission to use the eastern wing."
Baek Cheong lied without batting an eye, her face the picture of innocence.
Jin Elder's eyebrow twitched.
"The family head gave permission? Heh, that's odd. He explicitly ordered me to bar you from the eastern wing."
Baek Cheong's heart sank at the words. It seemed her father had taken thorough precautions before departing for Bangsi.
But her quick wits, honed from endless forum trolling, shone brightest in crises. Without flinching, she pressed on with her brazen performance.
"Ah, this is something different. A few days ago, Grandpa Gok saw my pill-refining skills and was deeply impressed. He convinced Father that I needed to tackle a special task in the dense spiritual energy of the eastern wing right away. Father must have rushed off to Bangsi without informing you, Uncle Jin."
At the mention of Gok Elder, Jin Elder's expression wavered slightly. Rumors had spread throughout the clan that Gok Elder, staying with the Baeks, had taken a special liking to Baek Cheong.
Moreover, considering her breakthrough to Qi Refining 3-star in one go, granting her a cultivation chamber for a special task wasn't unreasonable.
"If Gok Elder said that... Hmm."
Jin Elder stroked his goatee, deep in thought, clearly torn on whether to believe her.
Baek Cheong seized the moment to drive the nail home.
"Time's tight, Uncle Jin. Grandpa Gok said I have to finish by today. If there's a delay and he gets angry, will you take responsibility?"
It was a bold threat delivered with her adorable looks.
Jin Elder let out a helpless chuckle and shook his head.
"Tsk tsk. Such a cheeky little thing, talking back like flowing water. Fine. If Gok Elder insists, I'll open the eastern wing. But the top-grade eastern chamber consumes a high-grade spirit stone every hour—I can't give you that. Make do with a mid-grade one."
Even a mid-grade cultivation chamber offered the undeniable effects of the Qi-gathering formation that drew in heaven-and-earth spiritual energy. Its efficiency far surpassed meditating in her room.
"Thank you, Uncle Jin!"
Baek Cheong bowed deeply and darted into the cave.
The cave interior glowed faintly from the intertwined formations. Navigating the maze-like paths, she reached a stone door marked for a mid-grade cultivation chamber. Pressing the jade token Jin Elder had given her against it produced a grinding sound as the door slid open.
The chamber was modest, with a single jade platform in the center. But the density of spiritual energy floating in the air was incomparable to outside. Just inhaling made her lungs feel purified, her dantian pleasantly tingling.
This is like an oxygen bar.
Baek Cheong promptly sat cross-legged on the jade platform and pulled a jade bottle containing pinnacle-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan from her bosom.
In this dense spiritual energy, consuming Chwi-ryeong-dan would gather an insane amount.
Everything for the meme.
Without hesitation, she popped one pinnacle-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan into her mouth. The pill slid down her throat, unleashing explosive medicinal effects. At the same time, the Qi-gathering formation beneath the chamber floor spun fiercely, shoving external spiritual energy roughly into her body.
The pill's effects tangled with the formation's energy in her dantian. The five-elements mutual generation cycle whirled madly, grinding down the influx. Her spiritual energy, a mere fraction before, surged to two, three fractions, then filled to ten in a flash.
"Hngh."
Abnormal energy inflow swelled her veins and tore at her skin with excruciating pain. But Baek Cheong gritted her teeth and endured. Focusing her will, she suppressed the rampaging energy and crammed it into the five-elements orbit.
If her control slipped, it could lead to qi deviation and explosion—a deadly gamble.
...
How much time passed? The pinnacle-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan's effects fully digested. Nearly half her vast dantian sloshed with thick, deep blue spiritual energy.
But to stably craft memes and troll the board, she needed it filled to the brim.
One more should be fine...
Baek Cheong wiped sweat from her brow and lifted the jade bottle again. She swallowed another pinnacle-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan in one gulp, accounting for potential stacking.
"Hngh!"
Soon, her meridians screamed. Five-colored five-elements energies materialized around her, whipping up a storm. Amid bone-shattering, organ-twisting agony, her consciousness flickered.
If I pass out here, the energy scatters, and I can't post on the Nameless Board...
Her pathological obsession with trolling forcibly gripped her fraying reason. Drawing on the tenacity from her past life—pulling all-nighters for raids and keyboard wars—she suppressed the pain.
Baek Cheong desperately gathered the pouring energy. Finally, her massive dantian filled without gaps. The sloshing energy rose to her chin; even breathing felt burdensome.
At mere Qi Refining 3-star, it rivaled the overwhelming quantity of a typical Qi Refining perfection cultivator.
"Haa, haa... I survived."
Baek Cheong panted roughly, opening her eyes. Soaked in cold sweat, a bizarre smile crept across her lips. The fullness in her dantian brought indescribable security.
This should be enough for one solid meme.
Still seated on the jade platform, she immediately activated her divine sense to access the Nameless Board. Though vitality had dipped since Jinseonka's appearance, the pill-refining debate sparked by her nonsense post still dominated the board.
Baek Cheong crafted her post to douse the serious discussion. Pouring massive divine sense into the board, the familiar ripple appeared, projecting the chamber floor hazily.
"Heehee."
She couldn't suppress her mischievous giggle. Pushing her divine sense to the limit, she enlarged the projection from pinky-nail size to thumbnail size. Headache assaulted her as she hit its limit.
"Almost... there..."
But Baek Cheong wouldn't stop. She angled the projection to capture a crude scribble etched into the chamber wall—a grotesque, comical face gouged by some sharp tool.
For the title, she typed a short, agro-maximizing phrase.
Her dantian's spiritual energy evaporated rapidly. Alone, it wouldn't suffice, but
"Even the Qi-gathering formation's barely enough."
Baek Cheong urgently pulled another pinnacle-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan from the bottle. Ignoring consequences, she dumped it in her mouth. The formation and pill combined to replenish the deficit.
After endless cycles of depletion and refill, as her dantian neared empty.
"Done...!"
The image uploaded to the post just in time, halting the energy drain. But exhaustion from emptying her dantian and overtaxing her meridians brought vertigo. Her depleted divine sense showed no sign of recovery.
"Gotta... post it...!"
Clinging to consciousness, she successfully posted. Soon, her image post rose to the top with its thread number.
Baek Cheong beamed at the sight, forgetting her pain.
"It's up!"
Meanwhile, the Nameless Board fell into stunned silence. Cultivators mid-debate recoiled at the sudden image post. No sooner had the nightmare faded than another mystery image appeared.
Terrified cultivators spam-warned in replies. But some bold soul, unable to resist curiosity, opened it.
Dou(201.9)'s confirmation emboldened others to cautiously open it. Seeing the grotesque scribble and mocking title, they erupted in fury.
Hundreds of rage-filled insults flooded in, nearly crashing the board. Worship and scholarly fervor evaporated.
"Puhahaha!"
Baek Cheong clutched her empty dantian and rolled on the jade platform, laughing until her sides split.
If the Nameless Board cultivators knew she'd endured extreme pain in dense spiritual energy just for this troll, they'd be baffled—but they had no way to find out.
This is what a proper gallery's all about.
In the harsh cultivator world, nothing beat this dopamine rush. Satisfied after a long-overdue troll session, she rose.
"Before Father finds out..."
Baek Cheong quickly straightened her clothes and exited the chamber. Midway through the maze-like paths toward the entrance.
"Did you complete the task Grandpa Gok assigned?"
There stood her father, stern-faced, guarding the spot.