Chapter 565: Chapter 347: Core

Many geniuses on the Lingyun List brought followers. Few were alone like Xu Yang and Sun Tao; some even brought their wives and concubines.

Beside Huo Xiaochen walked a woman of outstanding temperament and looks. Xu Yang had heard people say she was the woman the Xiao family had married to Huo Xiaochen.

The group followed a few senior students of the Celestial Strategy Academy inward. The deeper they went, the more Xu Yang noticed that the Spiritual Qi was becoming increasingly abundant.

After walking for a while, a cluster of houses soon appeared in their line of sight. The Spiritual Qi here was even richer, and fields of medicinal herbs and flower beds could be seen everywhere. These houses were exquisite. In the distance, palaces and tall towers could be faintly seen scattered like stars, all inscribed with mysterious runes.

"This is the Lower Courtyard of the Celestial Strategy Academy. It’s primarily where disciples with Cultivation from the Celestial Essence First Layer to the Third Layer train and study. Most of you will likely spend the next ten years right here," the leading student explained.

Everyone already knew that the Celestial Strategy Academy was divided into the Upper, Middle, and Lower Courtyards. The Middle Courtyard was mainly for disciples with Cultivation from the Celestial Essence Fourth Layer to the Sixth Layer, while the Upper Courtyard was for those at the Celestial Essence Seventh Layer and above.

Proceeding along a main road, the group soon arrived at an area filled with massive palaces.

"These are the lecture halls, where you will attend classes in the future."

The guide didn’t offer a detailed introduction; instead, he led them straight through the lecture halls to the residential area.

The layout here was similar to the residential area for Inner Sect Disciples at the Purple Sun Sect. Exquisite little courtyards were scattered neatly on both sides of the road, alongside a few shops selling daily necessities.

"Those on the Lingyun List, follow me," the leading student called out as a reminder before continuing further inside.

They walked all the way to the foot of a mountain, which was also covered with various courtyards. These, however, were even more refined than the ones they had seen earlier and covered a much larger area. The environment was spectacular as well; not only was it planted with all sorts of exotic flowers and rare grasses, but there were also clear springs and flowing streams.

From some of the courtyards, faintly palpable, heart-palpitating auras seeped out, or there were signs of the Power of Heaven and Earth gathering in massive amounts. Xu Yang had a thought. These courtyards seemed to possess the ability to automatically gather Spiritual Qi.

"Take out your Waist Tokens. The last three digits on your token correspond to your courtyard number. Once you find the matching courtyard, you can use the Waist Token to unlock it."

Looking closely, Xu Yang indeed noticed that each courtyard had a plaque hanging by the door with its number written on it.

"Mine is 231. What’s yours?" Sun Tao leaned over and asked.

Xu Yang glanced at his own Waist Token. "Mine is 192."

The two were clearly assigned quite far apart.

The group dispersed to find their respective courtyards, and Xu Yang quickly located his.

It had vermilion doors, and the courtyard walls were covered in an unknown creeping vine blooming with fresh flowers. Even before getting close, a refreshing fragrance filled the air. Spiritual Qi flowed sluggishly through the air, converging toward a specific direction within the courtyard.

There was a groove on the main door matching the shape of the Waist Token. He inserted it, and the token flashed faintly. With a CLACK, the door popped open a crack. Retrieving his Waist Token and putting it away safely, Xu Yang pushed the door open and slowly walked inside.

The first thing to greet his eyes was a massive yard, likely no less than a hundred square meters. There was an Ancient Pine on both the left and right sides. Beside the left Ancient Pine was a well, and beneath the right was a pavilion.

Not far away was a flower bed that originally must have had things planted in it. However, it was now completely empty. There wasn’t even a single weed—only the craters left behind after whatever was planted there had been dug up. This spot likely hadn’t been used for flowers, but rather medicinal herbs. After the previous occupant moved out, they must have dug up all the herbs.

Xu Yang sensed his surroundings; the Spiritual Qi within the courtyard was somewhat denser than outside, indeed making it highly suitable for growing medicinal herbs. However, the bulk of this Spiritual Qi was still converging toward a particular room. He figured that must be the Quiet Chamber prepared by the Celestial Strategy Academy for their Cultivation.

"What generosity!"

Just based on this Spiritual Qi-gathering Quiet Chamber alone, even if the rest of the rooms were dilapidated, it would still be an invaluable Cultivation residence—let alone the fact that these rooms were built extremely luxuriously. There were side rooms on both the left and right. Even excluding the kitchen and dining hall, there were still multiple rooms that could serve as bedrooms. The main house was even larger and more spacious, complete with both a main hall and side halls.

But since Xu Yang was living alone, he didn’t care about these things. Instead, he headed straight for the Quiet Chamber capable of gathering Spiritual Qi. Standing outside, he tried to permeate his Heart Spirit into the room, only to find it blocked by a mysterious force, preventing him from sensing anything within.

"Not bad!" Xu Yang smiled. This level of privacy was exactly what he needed.

There were too many experts in the Celestial Strategy Academy. Without a place like this, he would fear someone prying into his secrets.

The Quiet Chamber’s door also had a keyhole that required the Waist Token to open. Xu Yang once again took out his token and inserted it. Along with a CLICK, a dense wave of Spiritual Qi seeped out from the crack in the door.

"I can’t let this go to waste!"

He hurriedly pushed the door open and darted inside. He felt all his pores open up as his body instinctively absorbed the Spiritual Qi.

"Having a Quiet Chamber like this is equivalent to cultivating twenty-four hours a day."

He took a feel of his surroundings; the density of the Spiritual Qi inside the Quiet Chamber was several times higher than outside. Of course, this was probably because the Spiritual Qi had gone unabsorbed for a long time. Once he started living here, it would be impossible to maintain such a high concentration.

Setting down his luggage, Xu Yang sat directly on a meditation cushion, circulating the Li Fire Technique to begin his Cultivation.

The Spiritual Qi in the Quiet Chamber swarmed over and poured into his body. For a moment, he felt as if he were cultivating after swallowing Spirit Medicine; his Gang Yuan increased incredibly fast. Half an hour later, the stored Spiritual Qi in the Quiet Chamber was completely drained, and he stopped.

Only then did he have the time to carefully inspect this special Quiet Chamber. He saw that the walls on all sides, the ceiling, and the floor were all inscribed with mysterious runes. It was exactly these things that continuously absorbed Spiritual Qi from the outside.

Instead of continuing his Cultivation, Xu Yang took out the handbook he hadn’t finished earlier and continued flipping through it. The second page detailed some precautions for newly admitted disciples. For instance, class assignments would take place in three days, and they needed to go to the lecture halls to find their respective teachers. Also, if they had talent in Alchemy or Weapon Forging, they needed to report it to their teachers.

He carefully read through the points of attention, gaining a general understanding of the Celestial Strategy Academy in his heart.

The Celestial Strategy Academy was vastly different from Martial Arts Sects. Its requirements for students weren’t as strict as those of a Sect; it functioned much more like a school that imparted the Martial Dao. Its background wasn’t civilian either, but rather belonged to the Court. Not only did the Court provide annual funding and resources, but even the appointment of teachers required the Court’s authorization.

Therefore, students couldn’t stay here indefinitely. Once their term was up, no matter what their Cultivation was, they had to leave. And once they left, the Celestial Strategy Academy wouldn’t care whether they lived or died. This term limit, according to the handbook, was twenty years.

The Celestial Strategy Academy recruited students every five years. The newly enrolled were Basic-level Students. Those who had completed five years since entry were Middle Level Students, ten years were Advanced Students, and at fifteen years, on the verge of leaving the Academy, they became Top-level Students.

Of course, a student’s level only denoted time spent, not their Cultivation. Some people, even as Top-level Students, might only possess Cultivation at the Celestial Essence Second or Third Layer. Others might only be Middle Level Students, yet their Cultivation could already be at the Celestial Essence Fourth Layer.

Xu Yang continued flipping through. Next up was an introduction to methods for earning academic credits. Breaking through in Cultivation, fighting into the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List, completing cultivation tasks assigned by teachers, or finishing missions issued by the Academy—all of these could earn credits.

The booklet then introduced the true core assets of the Celestial Strategy Academy—the Spirit Tower, the Martial Tower, and the Battle Tower. The three towers each had their own mysteries.

The Spirit Tower was used for Cultivation, maintaining a Spiritual Qi density at least five times higher than the outside world all year round. The Martial Tower was used for comprehending Martial Techniques. According to the booklet, once inside the Martial Tower, understanding Martial Techniques would become much simpler. The final one, the Battle Tower, was a place to hone combat skills. According to the text, the rankings on the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List originated from the Battle Tower.

"Truly worthy of being the Celestial Strategy Academy!"

Xu Yang was somewhat shocked. He had never even heard of such things when he was in the Purple Sun Sect.

Of course, besides the three towers, there was also the Hidden Skills Hall, the Pill King Hall, the Forging Pavilion, the Beast Taming Pavilion, and the Library Pavilion. These were also highly important places. The Hidden Skills Hall housed numerous Cultivation Techniques, the Pill King Hall was filled with Pill Master inheritances, and the Library Pavilion contained all kinds of exotic books...

Xu Yang read the various introductions with great relish. Before he knew it, evening had arrived, and a knock sounded on the door. He put the booklet away and went out to check, only to find Sun Tao standing outside.

It turned out it was time for dinner, and Sun Tao had come to call him to go eat together.

The Celestial Strategy Academy also had a dining hall. After all, besides the geniuses on the Lingyun List, others couldn’t bring followers. If they didn’t want to cook for themselves, they had to go to the dining hall to eat communal meals.

The two walked out of the residential area for Lingyun List geniuses side-by-side. They soon spotted two men with faces full of smiles standing by the roadside—it was none other than their fellow senior brothers, Lü Fengxing and Yuan Chengji.

"Junior Brother Xu, Junior Brother Sun, congratulations on successfully achieving Secondary Dragon Ascension! Entering the Celestial Strategy Academy as Lingyun List geniuses truly promotes the prestige of our Purple Sun Sect. You have no idea, but after your rankings on the Lingyun List came out, even we basked in the reflected glory."

Lü Fengxing and Yuan Chengji grinned from ear to ear, cupping their fists in continuous praise, wearing expressions that showed they felt honored by association.

Xu Yang ranked twenty-sixth on the Lingyun List, while Sun Tao ranked fourteenth. People like them, who had barely scraped their way into the Celestial Strategy Academy back in the day and struggled for years, deeply understood the potential and future achievements this ranking represented.

It was impossible for Xu Yang to step onto the Final Dragon Platform, but in the future, within the Yun Province territory, he would certainly be an all-powerful overlord. Sun Tao’s ranking even held the possibility of stepping onto the Final Dragon Platform. Although the chances were slim, the mere existence of this possibility gave it an entirely different significance.

As disciples who also hailed from the Purple Sun Sect, they possessed a unique advantage that others lacked in befriending the two. Thus, upon seeing their rankings, they had eagerly run over to wait here and cozy up to them, completely forgetting their previous ungrateful and treacherous faces when Yue Zhong and Bai Shaoling had asked them for help.

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