Chapter 14

"Of course it's the broadcast..." Ji Luofei saw Ning Cheng standing there muttering to himself and couldn't help but say helplessly. The broadcasting array at the Cangqin Two-Star Academy had only been introduced not long ago. Since the academy was applying to join the Three-Star Academy, it needed to strengthen not only its strength but also its facilities.

The dueling platform outside the academy was built for this reason, and this broadcasting array was also established by a high-cost invitation to an array master from Huazhou. Not only that, the academy also sold sound stones. The sound stones of the Cangqin Two-Star Academy could broadcast events over most of Pingzhou, and the sound transmission was constructed by various sound transmission arrays.

"Where did this bumpkin come from? He doesn't even know about the sound domain array." A long-haired boy walked past Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei, hearing their conversation, and sneered disdainfully.

Ning Cheng had already figured out that the broadcast here was not transmitted through electricity but through another method. When he heard someone mocking him, he was about to respond, but Ji Luofei pulled his hand and said, "Ignore them, let's go."

"Who is it, oh, it's the ugly girl Ji." The boy who spoke had already recognized Ji Luofei and continued to mock her without restraint.

Ji Luofei's face remained calm, showing no signs of being affected by the mockery. Ning Cheng suppressed his inner anger and was led away by Ji Luofei. He knew that with his cultivation, if there was a conflict, he would most likely be killed instantly.

"Gu Fei is really useless, he can't even beat such an ugly monster." After Ji Luofei and Ning Cheng left, the person behind them still sneered coldly. His purpose was already very clear, to provoke Ji Luofei.

Ning Cheng could feel Ji Luofei trying to suppress her inner anger. At this moment, Ning Cheng almost couldn't resist turning back to grab and beat up the mocking guy.

"His name is Chu Chenjun, he is at the third level of Qi Gathering, and his cultivation is even higher than mine." Ji Luofei explained in a calm voice.

Ning Cheng didn't speak. He knew that without sufficient strength, any words would be meaningless. Ji Luofei's words were also a reminder to him. If his strength was powerful, then Chu Chenjun wouldn't dare to speak so arrogantly in front of him. He kept thinking about who Gu Fei was, and from Chu Chenjun's words, it seemed that Ji Luofei had fought with Gu Fei before. He wondered if Ji Luofei's previous injuries were due to this incident.

The Cangqin Two-Star Academy was vast, and Ning Cheng knew that Ji Luofei had brought him here for his own safety. He thought Ji Luofei would find a secluded place for him to stay, but he didn't expect her to bring him to a simple and sturdy tower-like building.

This tower looked extremely magnificent, and there were quite a few people coming and going in front of it. It was called a tower, but it was only similar in shape. More accurately, it was a tower-like building, as the top of the tower was also flat.

In the middle of this tower-like building, there were several huge characters: Cangqin Cultivation Tower.

"Follow me inside, don't talk randomly." Ji Luofei warned Ning Cheng and then walked in first.

This tower-like building looked huge from the outside, and when Ning Cheng followed Ji Luofei into the basement, he realized it was several times larger than he had imagined.

Ji Luofei brought Ning Cheng all the way to the third floor and then walked to a black stone door in the corner of the third floor.

"Old Master Mu lives here. This is the cultivation room of the academy, managed by Old Master Mu. You should be respectful when you see Old Master Mu..."

Ji Luofei was still warning Ning Cheng when the black stone door opened. An old man with thinning hair, a face full of wrinkles, and eyes that couldn't even open stood at the door. "Since you're here, come in."

His voice was surprisingly clear and loud. If Ning Cheng had heard this voice first, he would have thought it belonged to a young man in his twenties or thirties.

"Old Master Mu, this is Ning Cheng." Ji Luofei walked into the stone door first and bowed respectfully to the old man.

Ning Cheng followed behind and bowed, saying, "Ning Cheng greets Old Master Mu."

"First level of Qi Gathering, barely good enough to help. How about your spirit roots?" Old Master Mu glanced at Ning Cheng with his dull eyes and said.

Ji Luofei quickly added, "Ning Cheng doesn't have a main spirit root, but he has three secondary spirit roots."

"What color?" Old Master Mu asked again.

Ji Luofei answered with some trepidation, "Murky yellow..."

Ning Cheng didn't understand much about spirit roots, but he knew they represented one's aptitude. His aptitude was poor, so his spirit roots probably weren't good either.

Old Master Mu, who had clearly asked Ji Luofei about Ning Cheng's spirit roots, now snorted and said, "You're here to clean the cultivation rooms, and it has nothing to do with the quality of your spirit roots. That's all, you can leave now."

"Yes, I'll take my leave." Ji Luofei bowed and left, not even saying a word to Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng felt something was off. Ji Luofei had said Old Master Mu was kind to her, and he was only able to work here because of Old Master Mu's help. But from the way Ji Luofei treated Old Master Mu, it didn't seem like she was highly regarded. If that was the case, why was Old Master Mu helping him?

After Ji Luofei left, the seemingly stern Old Master Mu coldly said to Ning Cheng, "The seventh floor of the cultivation tower needs cleaning. You're responsible for the seventh floor."

Ning Cheng was confused. Responsible for the seventh floor? The old man just said he was responsible for the seventh floor and then said nothing more. Who knew what he wanted him to do? Where was he supposed to live?

"This is for you. Go to the seventh floor, and don't disturb me unless it's necessary." Old Master Mu threw a wooden token and a thin piece of paper to Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng caught the wooden token and the paper and felt a strong force pushing him out of the room. The next moment, Old Master Mu's black stone door was already closed.

"This Old Master Mu doesn't seem to be a good person to talk to, and he doesn't seem to be a good person either." Ning Cheng muttered to himself but didn't dare to ask Old Master Mu any more questions.

The paper was simple. It said that before the hour of Mao (5 AM) every day, he must clean the unused cultivation rooms on the seventh floor. If there were any abnormalities, he must report them immediately. The wooden token was the key to open the doors of the cultivation rooms. As long as no one was staying in a room, he could use the token to open it. If he violated the rules, he would be severely punished.

Ning Cheng looked at these simple instructions and was puzzled. Violate the rules? There were no rules mentioned. What were the abnormal situations? Who was he supposed to report to? How was he supposed to clean the rooms?

Ning Cheng knew nothing about these things. The only thing he understood was that the cultivation tower had seven floors, and he was working on the seventh floor. He didn't even know where he would eat or sleep.

Ning Cheng wanted to find Ji Luofei to ask, but he had no idea where she was. The Cangqin Two-Star Academy was so vast that even if he walked around, it would take a long time to find her.

Ning Cheng didn't go out to look for Ji Luofei. He knew it was better for him to stay out of sight as much as possible. Since Ji Luofei knew he had offended Xian Yuankui, it meant that Xian Yuankui had a high status in the Cangqin Two-Star Academy, or the person who saved him, Jian Sujie, had a high status. Otherwise, the news wouldn't have reached Ji Luofei.

Ning Cheng climbed to the seventh floor of the cultivation tower. The seventh floor was much smaller than he had imagined. Although the cultivation tower wasn't a real tower, it was built in a tower-like shape. The tower had only seven floors, so it was expected that the upper floors would be smaller.

On the seventh floor, Ning Cheng counted eighteen cultivation rooms. He quickly figured out that if the red light at the door was on, it meant someone was cultivating inside. If the light was off, the room was empty. Clearly, very few people cultivated on the seventh floor, as only three rooms had the red light on, and the rest were off.

Ning Cheng tried to insert the wooden token into the slot of an empty room, and the stone door automatically retracted. He then saw the inside of the room. The room was quite large and divided into two sections.

The outer section was like a small playground, with debris scattered on the ground and some burn marks. The inner section seemed to be a resting area with a wooden bed.

Ning Cheng left this room and checked the other empty rooms. They were all similar, with either water stains on the ground, various burn marks, or dead plant stems scattered around.

After a quick look, Ning Cheng understood what he needed to do: clean the empty cultivation rooms every day. In simple terms, he was now a cleaner.

After a round, Ning Cheng found his living quarters in a corner of the seventh floor, a small stone room of only a few square meters. Like Old Master Mu, he lived in a small stone room, but his was much smaller, only a fraction of Old Master Mu's.

Inside the small stone room, there was a bed and a few cleaning tools: a large broom, an iron shovel, and a dustpan. These three items took up about a tenth of the room.

Ning Cheng felt relieved. At least he had a place to stay. Although the cultivation tower was busy with people coming and going, his location was relatively secluded. The only thing he urgently wanted to know was where he could eat and wash.

Ning Cheng didn't dare to ask Old Master Mu, and he didn't want to face his stern face. He went to the sixth floor and knocked on the door of a small stone room where another cleaner lived. A tall, thin man opened the door, looking more emaciated than Ning Cheng.

Seeing the tall man's impatient face, Ning Cheng quickly asked politely, "I'm new here, responsible for cleaning the seventh floor. Could you tell me where to eat?"

"Who told you that cleaners get meals?" The tall, thin man sneered and slammed the door shut.

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