Chapter 7

A month later, Mei Xue returned from the depths of Mount Tiantai in a wretched state. His long robe was tattered, and his body was wrapped in spirit-patterned bandages, looking a hundred times more pitiful than when he had last suffered a broken heart. He returned to the seaside market.

"I was too careless. I didn't expect there to be a group of large macaques there," Mei Xue recalled with lingering fear, thinking of the greatest danger of his rash actions—the group of macaques living deep in the swamp.

These macaques were incredibly strong and agile, fond of brewing monkey wine, and were one of the few specialties of the barren Mount Tiantai. Mei Xue hadn't anticipated that merely observing their habits from a distance would anger them, and he was chased for three days and three nights before he managed to escape by crossing a river using the Cloud Mist Technique.

If the clouds summoned by the Cloud Mist Technique didn't have a levitation effect, he would have been caught by those large macaques, with unimaginable consequences.

This lesson taught Mei Xue that even with the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* and the top-tier auxiliary immortal technique, the Cloud Mist Technique, he couldn't go just anywhere. A small swamp on Mount Tiantai almost cost him his life, and the dangerous places he would need to visit to complete the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* would be even more perilous.

Travelling through the seas and mountains was the best way Mei Xue thought of to supplement the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*. He had to see and record everything himself, not relying on existing records.

Seeing is believing, and hearing is understanding. Since he had become the possessor of this generation's *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, he would strive to complete this book with its incredible power.

He didn't have many other thoughts; this was simply the choice he made after obtaining the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, just as he had chosen to sever his romantic ties and enter the Buddhist path.

During this month, he almost traversed the entire Mount Tiantai, recording its terrain, resources, and scenic spots. After completing this, he noticed that something seemed to have been added to the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* in his mind. Upon closer inspection, it was the map and records of Mount Tiantai, indicating that his efforts had been effective.

However, the near-death experience of being chased by the macaque group also reminded Mei Xue that he still lacked the strength to freely explore the mountains. Even a relatively safe mountain like Mount Tiantai was dangerous for him, let alone the legendary immortal mountains and forbidden places.

He needed to improve his strength; otherwise, completing the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* would be an impossible task.

To be free and at ease, he needed sufficient combat power.

However, the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* didn't give him such power. The mysterious little dragon had fallen into a deep sleep after teaching him the Cloud Mist Technique and never woke up. The wisdom sword showed no special abilities, not even able to cut a small tree. Mei Xue couldn't think of any way to immediately improve his combat power.

In essence, he was just a junior alchemist who had barely passed the initial exam and mastered one or two low-level immortal techniques. With his current status, he could live a comfortable life, but advancing further was a pipe dream.

The Cloud Mist Technique was indeed a top-tier auxiliary immortal technique, but it didn't help much in improving his combat power. He was still an alchemist who couldn't even perform a single sword technique, and he hadn't become a great cultivator overnight just because he possessed the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*.

So, where could he quickly improve his combat ability, at least enough to defend against the attacks of beasts in the mountains and seas, and calmly depict the landscapes of various mountains and seas, gradually completing the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* in his hands?

Although it was a peaceful era, with no major wars in the mountains and seas since the rise of the Great Xia over a decade ago, even in the most peaceful times, the depths of immortal mountains were off-limits to ordinary people. The "death to intruders" warning was not a joke, even for a small mountain like Mount Tiantai, which also had such forbidden areas, the only places he couldn't enter.

Thus, completing the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* was more difficult than he had imagined. Without sufficient strength, it was an impossible task.

Realizing this, Mei Xue sat under an apple tree laden with red apples and began to seriously plan his future.

First, traversing the mountains was the most effective way to supplement the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*. Since it was named the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, the seas would also be places he needed to visit, representing even greater unknown risks. Compared to the mostly explored mountains, the vast seas held countless dangers.

To effectively explore the mountains and seas, he needed to improve his combat power. A junior alchemist was clearly not enough; he needed to go to a higher academy to learn stronger immortal techniques.

Considering his current advantages, being an alchemist with a top-tier auxiliary immortal technique like the Cloud Mist Technique, the best place to go was...

"Bang!" While Mei Xue was deep in thought, a red apple hit his head, making his neck twist, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

"Right, the Azure Dragon Academy!"

"Bang!" Another apple hit him.

"I should go to the Azure Dragon Academy first to learn advanced immortal techniques, especially combat-oriented ones..."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Red apples kept falling, forcing Mei Xue to look up to see who was targeting him.

However, to his surprise, there was no one around. This wasn't a hundred-year-old tree; a few meters tall apple tree could be seen from top to bottom, and there wasn't a single person.

Hundreds of meters away, a charming girl in a green robe was wagging her tail, biting into a freshly picked apple, and humming a song:

"Fresh apple scent, hitting the fool, hitting the fool."

"Clear sky, hitting the fool, hitting the fool."

"Sunshine and breeze, apple scent, apple scent."

Unable to find the culprit, Mei Xue ultimately attributed the falling apples to a mysterious natural phenomenon and clarified his path under the apple tree.

For most ordinary immortal practitioners, graduating from a junior academy was the end of their academic career.

Those skilled in offensive immortal techniques would join hunting teams to capture various rare spirit beasts for profit, those skilled in defensive techniques would join guard teams, and those skilled in auxiliary techniques would generally pursue careers as alchemists, painters, or sculptors.

Only those with outstanding talent and family support would go to higher academies or sects to try to advance further.

In the mountains and seas, there were different sects and academies with different entry requirements.

For example, the Little Thunder Sound Temple on the Western Spirit Mountain only accepted Buddhist disciples, which was where Master Huiguo planned to take Mei Xue.

On the prosperous Yellow Mountain, the Tianlin Sect, established by the powerful Huang family, was famous for its close-combat immortal techniques. There was also the White Cloud Qi Cultivation Sect, known for its magical techniques.

On the Yin Mountain, the strongest sect was the Yellow Spring Immortal Sect, which specialized in the Yellow Spring and Netherworld path, intimidating the world.

However, not all sects were like this. There were also academies that opened their doors to all, regardless of race or background, such as the four major immortal academies that dominated the four regions.

The Eastern Azure Dragon Academy, primarily for alchemists and auxiliary professions, also had a powerful combat school that mastered the power of azure lightning and the Azure Dragon combat techniques.

The Southern Vermilion Bird Academy, established by shamans and demon races, was the academy with the most demon race practitioners among all sects, and the holy bird Vermilion Bird was said to still exist.

The Western White Tiger Academy, the birthplace of sword cultivators, was the mainstream academy of sword cultivators, known for the saying "one sword breaks all techniques," and it was said to have a thousand sword cultivation schools.

The Northern Black Tortoise Academy, primarily focused on divination, was the place of inheritance for the先天 and 后天 Bagua, astrology, and water mirror techniques, and was the most mysterious of the four major academies.

These four major academies were the most prestigious immortal academies in the entire mountain and sea region, and countless immortal practitioners vied to enter these cultivation places.

However, despite the open doors of the four major academies, which did not consider the students' race or background, the entrance exams were extremely strict, with only one in ten thousand being accepted.

Even in this era of flourishing immortal techniques, the number of admissions for each academy was never full. Each year's exam left many so-called geniuses in tears, their dreams shattered.

Those who had the confidence to take the entrance exams of the four major academies were all top talents, even the most gifted in a mountain. The fact that 99% of these geniuses were eliminated demonstrated the difficulty of the entrance exams.

If it were the previous Mei Xue, he would never have thought of taking such a high-level entrance exam. He had no outstanding talent, no family support, and couldn't even meet the basic entry requirements.

However, he was no longer the same person he was a month ago, no longer an ordinary alchemist who could do nothing.

Because he possessed the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* and the Cloud Mist Technique.

As a Flame Clan alchemist, he was more certain than anyone else that his ability to manipulate clouds and mist had already put him ahead of countless geniuses. While those geniuses were still practicing intermediate immortal techniques, he already had a top-tier auxiliary immortal technique.

A top-tier immortal technique, even an auxiliary one, was a level that so-called geniuses couldn't imagine, and even the elites who graduated from the four major academies might not possess such a level of ability.

This was the gift the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* had given him, the great fortune bestowed by the seemingly unreliable little dragon. With such a top-tier immortal technique, why shouldn't he have confidence in himself? Why shouldn't he take the entrance exams of the four major academies, which seemed unattainable to ordinary people?

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