Chapter 1: Xianmen Fifth High School

【Name: Chen Mobai】

【Age: 18】

【Realm: Fifth Stage of Qi Cultivation】

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

...

In the city of Danxia, at Xianmen Fifth High School, a handsome young man sitting by the window of a classroom took out his thin, jade-like phone and opened his personal interface data.

It was the start of the school year, and the homeroom teacher was checking their cultivation progress during the holiday. Chen Mobai edited some of the content that needed updating.

He connected to the school network, ready to send his personal panel to the homeroom teacher, when he heard a voice beside him.

"Hey, you actually managed to break through to the Fifth Stage of Qi Cultivation during the holiday."

After sending his own panel, his desk partner glanced at Chen Mobai's and saw the "Fifth Stage of Qi Cultivation" he had filled in for his realm, his tone slightly envious.

Although the content on the personal interface was self-reported, the school could easily verify the truth through various exams. No one would dare to fill in false information, as being caught would be recorded in their files, affecting their future college admissions and even war assignments.

In the Xianmen, the punishment for cheating was quite severe.

"I'm different from you. I have true spirit roots. As long as I work hard, I can definitely cultivate faster than you with your false spirit roots."

Chen Mobai's words were tinged with a hint of pride. During the holiday, apart from being taken to the temple by his mother to burn incense, he spent the rest of his time in seclusion at home, finally breaking through his bottleneck with the help of medicinal pills and advancing to the Fifth Stage of Qi Cultivation.

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

His desk partner looked indignant, but there was nothing he could do. That was how the Xianmen rules were.

Spirit root attributes over 20 were considered true spirit roots. His attributes were slightly more balanced, and he was classified as having false spirit roots.

However, in reality, his spirit root attributes were not much different from Chen Mobai's, making them about equal.

"Hmm, not bad, many of you have made progress during the holiday."

At this moment, the homeroom teacher, who was standing at the podium, had finished reviewing everyone's panels. A rare smile appeared on his usually stern face.

He then praised each student who had made progress by name.

Chen Mobai was among them.

The homeroom teacher's praise made the two beautiful girls in the front row turn around, and Chen Mobai couldn't help but stand up straight, looking very pleased.

The Fifth Stage of Qi Cultivation was already in the top twenty in the entire class.

Now that he was in his final year of high school, if he worked hard, he might be able to advance another level before the Xianmen college entrance exam.

Reaching the Sixth Stage of Qi Cultivation would make it difficult to get into the top four elite Dao Academies, but he could still aim for the second-tier Dao Academies. For third-tier Dao Academies, such as the local Danzhu and Chixia Academies, it would be a sure thing.

And as long as he could enter a Dao Academy after the college entrance exam, he wouldn't be conscripted by the Xianmen to participate in the war for the next ten years.

There might even be a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Finally, I want to give special praise to Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan. I never thought I would have the opportunity to teach two students who have reached the later stages of Qi Cultivation."

Chai Deyun had become a homeroom teacher six years ago, and this class was the first he had taught from start to finish. His emotions were running high. He put down the tablet in his hand, his usually stern gaze softening, and looked at the boy and girl who had stood up along with everyone else in the classroom.

They were the top students in the class, with the best spirit root attributes. They had indeed lived up to expectations and reached the Seventh Stage of Qi Cultivation before the college entrance exam.

With such achievements, they were almost guaranteed to enter second-tier Dao Academies and could aim to reach the Foundation Establishment stage within ten years. If they succeeded, they would become Golden Core Daoists, and even within the Xianmen, they would be key cultivation targets.

Chen Mobai also looked envious. Unlike him, who had just barely qualified as a true spirit root, Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan were genuine true spirit roots, with one of their spirit root attributes exceeding 40, making cultivation in that attribute much more efficient.

"Alright, that's all for today's class."

Hearing the bell from the top of the school building, Chai Deyun collected the test papers and announced the end of the class.

All the students immediately scattered.

Even Chen Mobai, grabbing only his phone, jumped out of the window and rushed to the cultivation room.

Thanks to his holiday seclusion, his cultivation had advanced a level, and his agility technique was faster by a third, allowing him to reach the cultivation area before most of the others.

He didn't have time to choose and immediately rushed into an open cultivation room.

"Beep."

Chen Mobai used the electronic student card in his phone to swipe, and the word "Vacant" on the electronic screen at the door of the cultivation room disappeared, and the door slowly closed.

"Damn!"

Outside the door, a classmate who was a step behind cursed and quickly rushed to another vacant cultivation room.

It wasn't their fault for being so eager.

Spiritual energy was hard to come by.

After six thousand years of development by the Xianmen, the resources on Earth were nearly depleted. The territories of the Thirty-Six Cavern Heavens and the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands had all the spirit veins and primordial energy under state control, leaving only a minimal amount of spiritual energy in the air, enough to maintain the basic breathing and cultivation of cultivators.

If cultivators wanted to absorb spiritual energy for cultivation, they had to pay the Xianmen with merit points.

For a first-grade lower-grade spirit vein to be delivered to a living quarters, one had to pay 10 merit points per month.

For Chen Mobai at the Fifth Stage of Qi Cultivation, a first-grade lower-grade spirit vein was no longer useful.

A first-grade middle-grade spirit vein required 20 merit points per month.

A first-grade upper-grade spirit vein required 40 merit points per month.

For Chen Mobai, a first-grade middle-grade spirit vein could only help him stabilize his cultivation and make slow progress. To advance quickly, he needed a first-grade upper-grade spirit vein.

Of course, if he could have a second-grade or even a third-grade spirit vein, that would be even better.

But that was just a dream.

Only families of Foundation Establishment cultivators or companies could apply to the Xianmen to use second-grade spirit veins.

Feeling the concentration of spiritual energy in the three-square-meter cultivation room begin to rise, Chen Mobai opened the app on his phone to measure the spiritual energy value.

After waiting for nearly a minute, the value finally stabilized.

【Spiritual Energy Value: 10】

The grade of a spirit vein could be measured by its spiritual energy value.

According to Xianmen regulations, a spiritual energy value of 1-10 was a first-grade spirit vein.

A spiritual energy value of 10-100 was a second-grade spirit vein.

A spiritual energy value of 100-1000 was a third-grade spirit vein...

And so on, the highest grade in the entire Xianmen, it was said, was the sixth-grade spirit vein in the Cavern Heavens of the two Nascent Soul Ancestors.