Chapter 1: Immortal Sect Fifth High School

Name: Chen Mobai

Age: 18

Cultivation Level: Qi Condensation, Fifth Layer

Spirit Roots: Metal 23, Wood 27, Water 23, Fire 17, Earth 10

In a classroom at Immortal Sect Fifth High School in Danxia City, a handsome young man sat by the window. He took out his slim, jade-like phone and opened his personal data interface.

It was the start of the new semester, and the homeroom teacher was checking everyone's cultivation progress over the holiday. Chen Mobai edited some information that needed updating.

He connected to the school network and was about to click 'send' on his personal profile to submit it to the teacher when he heard a voice beside him.

"Huh, you really did seclude yourself for cultivation over the break, and even broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation!"

His deskmate, having just submitted his own profile, glanced at Chen Mobai's and saw "Qi Condensation, Fifth Layer" filled in the cultivation level section. His tone was subtly tinged with envy.Although the information on the personal interface was self-reported, the school could easily verify its authenticity through various exams. Almost no one dared to fill in false information, as being caught fabricating data would result in a permanent record in one's file, affecting future academic progression and even assignments in expansion wars. The Immortal Sect imposed relatively severe penalties for dishonesty.

"I'm different from you. I have true spirit roots, so as long as I work hard, my cultivation will definitely be much faster than your false spirit roots."

Chen Mobai's words carried a hint of smugness. This holiday, apart from being taken to the temple by his mother to burn incense, he had spent all his time in secluded, arduous cultivation at home. Finally, with the aid of medicinal pills, he had broken through the bottleneck and advanced to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation.

"It's so unfair that your spirit root attributes can be classified as true spirit roots!"

His deskmate looked indignant, but there was nothing he could do; that was the Immortal Sect's rule.A spirit root attribute score exceeding 20 was considered possessing that spirit root. When his deskmate was in the womb, the heavens hadn't been careful when distributing his talent, making his four attributes too evenly distributed, thus categorizing him as having false spirit roots.However, in reality, his deskmate's total spirit root attribute points were not significantly different from Chen Mobai's; they were, in essence, quite similar.

"Very good, many of you made progress over the holiday."

At this moment, the homeroom teacher, who was standing at the podium, had finished reviewing everyone's profiles. A rare smile appeared on his usually stern face.He then called out and praised every student who had shown improvement, including Chen Mobai.

The teacher's praise made two beautiful female classmates in front of him turn their heads, causing Chen Mobai to involuntarily puff out his chest, a look of self-satisfaction on his face.Reaching the fifth layer of Qi Condensation placed him among the top twenty students in the entire class.He was now in his final year of high school. If he worked hard, he might even advance another layer before the Immortal Sect College Entrance Exam.While the top four Dao Academies would be out of reach even with the sixth layer of Qi Condensation, he could still hope for a second-tier Dao Academy. As for third-tier academies, like the local Danzhu and Chixia Academies, admission would be virtually guaranteed.Furthermore, as long as he could enter a Dao Academy after the college entrance exam, he would not be conscripted by the Immortal Sect to participate in expansion wars for ten years.This might even give him hope of reaching Foundation Establishment.

"Finally, I want to specifically commend Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan. I never thought in my lifetime I'd mentor two students who reached the late stage of Qi Condensation!"

Chai Deyun had only become a homeroom teacher six years ago, and this class was the first full cohort he had guided from start to finish, making it a particularly emotional moment for him. With a look of profound emotion, he put down his tablet. His usually stern gaze softened as he, along with everyone else in the classroom, looked at the young man and woman who had stood up.These were the top two students in their class, and also the most outstanding prodigies in terms of spirit root attributes. They had indeed lived up to expectations, reaching the seventh layer of Qi Condensation before the college entrance exam.Such an achievement virtually guaranteed them a spot in a second-tier Dao Academy. Within ten years, they could attempt Foundation Establishment. If successful, they would become Golden Core Dao Seeds in the future, marking them as individuals to be specially nurtured within the Immortal Sect.

Chen Mobai also wore an envious expression. Unlike his "borderline" true spirit roots, Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan possessed genuine true spirit roots, with one of their spirit root attributes exceeding 40. This meant cultivating techniques aligned with that attribute yielded double the results with half the effort.

"Alright, that concludes today's lesson."

Hearing the bell from the school's tallest building, Chai Deyun collected the test papers, compiled them, and then announced the end of class.All the students immediately dispersed.

Chen Mobai was no exception. Grabbing only his phone, he leaped out of the nearby window and dashed straight for the cultivation rooms.Fortunately, his cultivation had advanced a layer during his holiday seclusion, making his Lightness Skill three times faster. He managed to reach the cultivation grounds before most of his classmates.

Without time to choose, he saw an empty cultivation room with its door open and rushed inside.*Beep.*Chen Mobai swiped his electronic student card on his phone, and the "VACANT" sign on the electronic screen by the room's entrance instantly vanished, after which the door slowly closed."Damn it!"Outside, a student who had been a step too slow cursed and quickly dashed towards another vacant cultivation room.

Their urgency was understandable.Spiritual energy was simply hard to come by.After six thousand years of development by the Immortal Sect, Diyuan Star's resources were nearly depleted. All spiritual energy veins within the territories of the Thirty-Six Grotto-heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands had been nationalized. The spiritual energy left freely circulating in the world was barely enough for cultivators to maintain basic breathing and meditation.If cultivators wished to absorb spiritual energy for cultivation, they had to pay merit points to the Immortal Sect.

Having low-grade Tier 1 spiritual energy from a ley line channeled to one's dwelling required 10 merit points per month.For Chen Mobai, at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, low-grade Tier 1 spiritual energy was already of little use.Mid-grade Tier 1 spiritual energy cost 20 merit points per month.And high-grade Tier 1 spiritual energy had a monthly cost of 40 merit points.For Chen Mobai, the amount of mid-grade Tier 1 spiritual energy was only enough to stabilize his cultivation and allow for minimal progress. To advance quickly, high-grade Tier 1 was preferable.

Of course, it would be even better to have Tier 2 or even Tier 3 ley line spiritual energy, but that was just wishful thinking.

Feeling the spiritual energy concentration begin to rise in the roughly three-square-meter cultivation room, Chen Mobai opened the spiritual energy testing app on his phone.After waiting for almost a minute, the displayed value finally stopped changing:Spiritual Energy Value: 10The grade of ley line spiritual energy could be measured by its spiritual energy value.According to the Immortal Sect's regulations, a spiritual energy value of 1-10 indicated a Tier 1 spiritual vein.A value of 10-100 indicated a Tier 2 spiritual vein.A value of 100-1000 indicated a Tier 3 spiritual vein, and so on.By this progression, the highest-grade spiritual vein in the entire Immortal Sect was said to be in the grotto-heaven where two Spirit Transformation Patriarchs resided, a Tier 6 spiritual vein.