Chapter 2: Turtle Shell

"School benefits are indeed the best. A top-grade first-tier spiritual energy cultivation room, available for two hours free every day."

Chen Mobai recalled how, during the holidays, his mother gritted her teeth and used merit points to raise their home's earth vein spiritual energy to top-grade first-tier, just so he could achieve a breakthrough. Even then, the spiritual energy value was only 7, occasionally fluctuating to 8 or 9.

Immortal Sect Fifth High School, on the other hand, was built upon a low-grade third-tier spiritual vein, and a total of three hundred cultivation rooms had been established.

After all, these students were the future flowers of the Immortal Sect and couldn't be left wanting.

Of the three hundred cultivation rooms, one hundred were allocated to each grade level—first, second, and third year—corresponding to low, mid, and top-grade first-tier spiritual energy, respectively.

Third-year students, who worked the hardest, had access to cultivation rooms with the highest concentration of first-tier spiritual energy.

The cultivation room was extremely simple: square-shaped, with only a meditation cushion on the bluestone floor in the center.

Chen Mobai wasted no time. He put away his phone, activated the assisted cultivation recording mode, and sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, beginning to refine spiritual energy.

Since he had just broken through to the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, and that too with the aid of a medicinal pill, his cultivation was unstable. For these two hours, he didn't practice his Five Elements Inner Cultivation but merely ran the most basic Qi Nurturing Art.

Warm currents circulated through his meridians. The pale white spiritual energy in the cultivation room, almost turning into mist, surged into Chen Mobai's mouth and nose like a long dragon. It merged with his enhanced spiritual power, gradually integrating and transforming into his true strength.

He was immediately engrossed in this sensation, unable to extricate himself.

Time slowly passed.

A "ding" sound echoed!

The cultivation room's soul-calming alarm roused Chen Mobai from his practice. Though he was reluctant to leave, he thought of the students who had been waiting outside the door for a long time. He could only pick up his phone and, with hurried steps, walk out of the cultivation room.

The moment he stepped out, a female classmate who had been waiting behind him immediately rushed in, swiping her card and closing the door in one smooth motion.

Not just him, but the other ninety-nine third-year students also reluctantly emerged from their cultivation rooms.

Among them was Lu Hongsheng, Chen Mobai's deskmate.

"Oh, you're lucky! You got into the first batch."

After greeting him, Chen Mobai noticed Lu Hongsheng's eyes were somewhat gloomy and that he seemed unhappy.

"Do you know what I just saw?"

"What?"

Chen Mobai knew Lu Hongsheng couldn't keep a secret, and sure enough, after a short wait, he voluntarily spoke.

"I saw Song Zheng enter a second-tier spiritual vein cultivation room."

"A second-tier spiritual vein? Aren't those exclusive to teachers? Who gave their cultivation room to Song Zheng?"

Naturally, the school not only had cultivation rooms for students but also high-end ones exclusive to teachers.

Aside from the third-tier cultivation room exclusively for the Foundation Establishment cultivator who was the principal, even teachers had to queue for the other ten second-tier cultivation rooms.

For Song Zheng to be able to enter a second-tier cultivation room meant that a teacher had given their cultivation resources to him.

"Who else could it be? It must be Old Man Ding. He failed Foundation Establishment twice and doesn't have much time left. He's completely dedicated to education, and seeing Song Zheng's potential to enter one of the Four Great Daoist Academies, he gave his share of the second-tier cultivation room to him."

As Lu Hongsheng spoke these words, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

He wished he were Song Zheng.

"That's so unfair! The school should do something about it."

While they were talking, a few other classmates nearby overheard them, and one of the boys became indignant.

While there was little fairness to be found in society, within the school, those in higher positions tacitly maintained overt fairness and impartiality.

A teacher giving cultivation resources to a student, even if it was the teacher's own share, was still fundamentally unfair to other students because the true ownership of the cultivation room belonged to the school. If this were reported to the dean's office, it would at least stir up a commotion.

"What do you know?" a female classmate said with an unhappy expression to the boy who wanted to report it. "I heard that Song Zheng officially became Teacher Ding's disciple during the holidays, and it's been registered in the Legacy Hall of the Immortal Sect's Ministry of Education. They are now officially master and disciple. When a master gives resources to a disciple, even the dean's office can't easily interfere."

Song Zheng was handsome and a young prodigy, making him quite popular among the girls.

Chen Mobai, too, felt immensely envious.

If he could cultivate on a second-tier spiritual vein for a semester, he was confident he could reach the sixth layer of Qi Refinement. Students at that level wouldn't be able to enter the Four Great Daoist Academies, but entering a second-tier academy would be possible, and a third-tier academy would be his to choose from freely.

He also possessed a true spiritual root; why hadn't any teacher taken an interest in him?

One could only say that even among those with true spiritual roots, there were varying degrees of talent.

"You guys chat. I'm going home. See you tomorrow."

Chen Mobai still had ambition. Although he felt the unfairness internally, he had no intention of getting involved in these arguments.

After his free time in the school's cultivation room was up, he hurried home. After all, his mother had made a rare financial sacrifice to lease a top-grade first-tier spiritual vein for half a year, all for him to perform well on his college entrance exams.

He couldn't afford to waste it.

When he arrived home, it was empty.

His parents were both working hard to support the family. Especially after leasing the spiritual vein for half a year in one go, they had even more overtime, only returning home late every day.

Chen Mobai first cooked a pot of spirit rice, then in his mother's studio, he cut large sheets of yellow paper into small talisman papers, each measuring a standard 12cm in length and 6cm in width.

By the time the spirit rice was cooked, Chen Mobai had already cut over a hundred blank talisman papers.

He counted them into stacks of twelve, folded each sheet neatly, and then tied them with a special spiritual cord. Six such stacks were arranged into two piles and placed in a packaging box.

These large talisman papers cost 1 merit point. After being cut and packaged, they could sell for 2 merit points, meaning each box earned approximately 1 merit point in manual labor.

To help supplement the family's income, Chen Mobai did what he could.

He neatly arranged the two newly packaged boxes of talisman papers on the table. Adding them to the eight boxes he had cut previously, he now had a total of ten boxes, filling up the entire large table.

He took out his phone, changed angles, and snapped over a dozen photos. Then he selected a few of the better-looking ones and uploaded them to the online trading market officially run by the Immortal Sect.

Normally, bids would gradually come in over the course of a week, and Chen Mobai would then choose the highest bidder to sell to.

Since he couldn't afford the teleportation fees, his items were limited to in-person transactions within Danxia City.

Transportation within the city was well-developed, and he could ride for free using his student ID.

After finishing the full, jade-like grains of spirit rice, Chen Mobai cast a cleaning spell, tidied all the pots and pans, and entered his bedroom.

Although a cultivation room had been specially created in their home at the entrance of the underground spiritual energy conduit, Chen Mobai still preferred to cultivate Qi in his own room.

After all, as long as the cultivation room's door was open, the top-grade first-tier spiritual energy would spread to every room in the entire house. Even with the windows open, the house's overall spirit-sealing enchantment would firmly lock the earth vein spiritual energy within the rooms, so there was no need to worry about waste.

Of course, precisely because the area was expanded, the spiritual energy concentration in the house was not as high as in the school's cultivation rooms.

But Chen Mobai was already very content.

He resisted the urge to browse his phone for live streams, pushing away thoughts of dancing and performing "little fairies." He calmed his mind, sat cross-legged on his bed, and prepared to cultivate. Suddenly, he noticed the turtle shell on his bedside table.

"Mom, really, why did she bring this unlucky thing here!"