I Level Up By Making Enemies

The temporary clearance token was lighter than it looked. Lin Feng turned it over between his fingers as he and Lu Cang left the shadow of the Outer Reception Hall. The jade was pale, almost unfinished, and restriction seals ran through it in hair fine lines. It was not the deepbcolored token of a true inner disciple. It was a pass with conditions carved into its bones.

Lu Cang kept staring at it as if it might explode.

”One hundred days,” he said for the fifth time. ”Level 3 to Level 8 in one hundred days. They’re setting up you to fail, you know?”

”You don’t think i can do it Little Lu? ”

”You are injured and you are still under observation.”

”I’m aware.”

”You only have partial access.”

Lin Feng held the token up so sunlight caught the restriction marks. ”Which means the sect is willing to open the door slightly and slam it if I am slow. Very motivational i would say.”

Lu Cang ljust sighed seeing how determined he ls. They were not given time to theorize for long. A registry deacon intercepted recommended disciples at the side pavilion and began converting the morning’s judgments into practical limits. True inner acceptances received deep jade tokens and entry times for formal registration. Rejected disciples were told to leave. When Lin Feng’s turn came, the deacon inspected his pale token, checked the record twice, and only then spoke.

”Lin Feng. Conditional clearance, You may enter designated outer inner boundary grounds. You may exchange resources at the Restricted Counter, not the main Inner Hall. Technique access is limited to the lower supervised shelves. You will not receive monthly inner allocation. You will not reside in inner dormitories. Observation status remains active. Clearance expires upon failure to reach Qi Condensation Level 8 and pass stability verification within one hundred days.”

Lin Feng nodded. ”And if I succeed?”

”Then the temporary token is replaced by formal registration.” The deacon’s eyes lifted briefly. ”If you fail, this token is void. No second recommendation through the assessment board.”

The final line was unnecessary. Lin Feng had already heard it in the hall. He left the pavilion with a thin document slip listing the grounds he could enter and the counters that would acknowledge his token. Lu Cang read over his shoulder, lips moving.

”Selected training grounds, restricted counter. Supervised shelves.” Lu Cang exhaled.

Lin Feng’s first practical stop was the Restricted Counter. It stood at the boundary between outer administrative buildings and the rising stone paths toward the inner ridges. The structure was smaller than the main halls above, and the disciple on duty inspected Lin Feng’s token for a full breath longer than courtesy required before acknowledging it. The available list was narrower than true inner exchange, but denser than outer sect trash: mid low recovery medicines, basic consolidation materials, restricted grade qi guidance notes, and a few cultivation aids priced high enough to insult anyone without backing.

Lin Feng scanned the board and found most of it was useless to him right now. Medicine could stabilize injury, but it would not create five levels in one hundred days. What he needed was denser practice conditions and a method of growth that did not rely on polite closed door meditation.

He bought only a mild meridian soothing decoction, watched his token get marked with the exchange, and left before the counter disciple’s expression became a lecture.

The first allowed training ground on his list sat halfway up the boundary slope: East Mist Terrace.

From below, it looked modest, a stone platform surrounded by low barriers and pale formation posts. When Lin Feng stepped through the entrance range of his token, however, the difference was immediate. The air thickened. Ambient qi gathered more readily against the skin, less scattered than in the outer courtyards. Even injured, he could feel his Level 3 circulation respond to the density like dry cloth meeting oil.

Lu Cang stopped at the entrance seal and loudly did not follow.

”I am not cleared for this,” he said. ”Which is good. If I absorb denser qi, I may become ambitious, and ambition is how people die in this sect.”

Lin Feng stepped fully onto the terrace. He sat cross legged near the barrier edge, placed the decoction aside, and guided a slow current of qi through his bound torso. On East Mist Terrace, the denser ambient qi made both the opportunity and the danger clearer. If he forced progress like a desperate outer disciple, he could tear the foundation he needed for Level 8. He narrowed the current.

The first complete cycle was slower than his instincts liked and better than his old habit deserved. A faint portion of qi that would previously have leaked into wasted tension now stayed inside the route long enough to be useful. Only a portion. Enough to prove the direction was real.

The system screen surfaced instinctively

[ Conditional Main Quest Issued ]

[Objective: Reach Qi Condensation Level 8 within 100 days]

[Secondary Condition: Pass stability verification]

[Failure: Recommendation void]

He ran another cycle, then another, until sweat gathered at his spine and the injured ribs began to pulse in warning. He stopped before the warning became damage. That alone was new. Old Lin Feng collected gains until the scene ended. This version had a timer and a body that submitted invoices.

When he opened his eyes, an inner path attendant was standing near the terrace steps with a record board.

”Lin Feng,” the attendant said. ”East Mist Terrace access logged. Remain within marked boundary. If you attempt a sealed path beyond your clearance, your token will be frozen for review.”

Lin Feng just nodded. The attendant did not appear to hear approval or mockery. He marked the board and left.

Lu Cang rejoined him on the lower path with the look of a man collecting a dangerous package from a high shelf.

”Well? Is the inner air magical? Do you feel enlightened? Do you feel Level 8 approaching on a flying sword?”

”I feel that the outer courtyards were watered down,” Lin Feng said. ”And that one hundred days is not a lot of time if I cultivate like this.”

”Then cultivate like a careful genius.”

”I don’t do careful genius.” Lin Feng glanced once more toward the higher roofs hidden in mist. ”I do workable routes.”

They descended toward Block C with the pale token resting against Lin Feng’s palm. Partial access had not made him an inner disciple. It had made the sect’s upper grounds measurable.

At the bottom of the slope, Lin Feng stopped and checked the document slip again.

East Mist Terrace alone would not finish the climb. He needed more than cleaner air. He needed accelerated recovery, structured breakthrough conditions, and enough conflict density to keep the system productive without inviting formal shutdown. That meant he could not treat the next one hundred days like another assessment bracket. He had to build a route.

Lu Cang noticed the look on his face and groaned.

”I hate that expression. That expression means you are planning to improve in a way that involves other people’s suffering.”

Lin Feng closed his hand around the token.

He turned toward the dormitories, already sorting what he had:

”Come on Little Lu, for next 100 days atleast you’ll have me as the roommate again. ”