Chapter 7

"By the Seine, on the Left Bank, I hold a cup of coffee in my hand, savoring your beauty, leaving a lip print on the cup~"

Li Qian listened to the melody of "Confession Shot Put" and frowned as she asked Lu Chuan, "Did you really sing it like that?"

Lu Chuan nodded helplessly. He hadn't agreed to Li Qian's request for a fortune-telling, so he had to sing the new song by Jay Chou that Li Qian wanted to hear.

Of course, his singing level was just so-so, and there was a significant difference compared to Jay Chou.

"Brother, little junior brother's singing is so terrible." Jiang Mo looked at Lu Chuan with disdain, almost covering her ears.

"Be polite, call him Second Senior Brother." Li Qian patted Jiang Mo's head, and the two of them standing together looked like sisters.

"Why should I? I was already in the sect when I was born, I came the earliest, I should be the eldest senior sister! Old He, call me Senior Sister!" Jiang Mo condensed a piece of ice in her hand and threw it at He Changge, who was walking ahead.

The small piece of ice was effortlessly caught by the overpowered He Changge, and in the next second, he appeared in front of Jiang Mo, placing the ice on her head.

"Hey! You cheated again! Dad, teach me, I promise I won't cause trouble after I learn~" Jiang Mo angrily threw away the ice on her head and ran up to Jiang Tao, clinging to his arm and pouting.

"Sect secret techniques are passed down to males, not females. Little junior sister, you might as well give up on it." He Changge said smugly, earning a grimace from Jiang Mo.

Lu Chuan watched with interest. Jiang Mo, being a second-generation cultivator from the city, could already release spells at such a young age. In contrast, Lu Chuan knew a second-generation cultivator from the mountains, Lu Hu, who was two years older than Jiang Mo, was still just an ordinary person jumping around in the forest.

The streets of Beining City were still bustling, showing no signs of being affected by the Jing Kingdom's siege. The crowds were busy, and the streets were lined with vendors selling their goods.

There seemed to be some issues between Old Jiang and Aunt Li. Li Qian's request for a fortune-telling seemed like a joke, but Lu Chuan also noticed some unusual details.

No matter what Old Jiang said, Aunt Li would always contradict him, and the two of them had no private communication. They would sit far apart in the same room and walk one in front of the other on the road.

Old He might know some of the inside story, and if there was a chance, Lu Chuan would try to find out from him to avoid accidentally stepping on a landmine.

...

Beining Academy was where everyone worked and studied. The house Old Jiang bought was very close to the academy, and the group walked there, arriving at the academy gate in no time.

Before coming, Lu Chuan had many speculations about the academy. A cultivation school built in a city, he wondered if it would be like the Academy in "Will of the Night," the Carcel Academy in "The Dragon," or Hogwarts.

The Beining Academy that came into view was a city within a city, with a tall wall surrounding it. Around the wall were many watchtowers, each with a guard standing on it. The spires of the watchtowers emitted beams of light that converged at the central tower of the academy, forming what looked like a magical array.

The main gate of the academy was closed, and the group had to enter through a side gate not far from the main gate.

The guards at the side gate bowed respectfully to Old Jiang, addressing him as Dean Jiang, and were familiar with his family. They only gave Lu Chuan a few extra looks but said nothing and let them pass.

After entering the academy, the first thing they saw was a black stone stele inscribed with "Cultivate for the Rise of the Martial Nation." The inscription had no name, making Lu Chuan's eyelids twitch.

The group split up after entering the academy. Li Qian and Jiang Mo were spirit cultivators, while Old Jiang and Old He were martial cultivators. Lu Chuan naturally followed Old Jiang, listening to Old He introduce the various buildings in the academy along the way.

The central tower of the academy was the core, a large-scale spirit-gathering array used to collect the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The entrance they had just entered was the south gate of the academy, close to the urban area of Beining City. The area inside the south gate was the living area of the academy, with dormitories, cultivation areas, and trading areas all nearby.

Beining Academy was a cultivation academy, divided internally into the Spirit Cultivation College in the east and the Martial Cultivation College in the west. Old Jiang was the dean of the Martial Cultivation College.

The north area of the academy was almost adjacent to the north gate of Beining City and was known as the training area or combat area. It was designed so that in times of war, the faculty and students of Beining Academy could exit through the north gate and directly defend the city walls of Beining.

Old He had already graduated and was now a teacher at the Martial Cultivation College, with his own classes to teach. Before parting, he mysteriously put his arm around Lu Chuan's shoulder and whispered three words, "Choose a mage," then winked and left, leaving Lu Chuan puzzled as he followed Old Jiang to complete the enrollment procedures.

Old Jiang seemed to have a lot of prestige in the academy. People greeted him wherever he went, and Lu Chuan also noticed that many people turned and walked away when they saw Old Jiang, perhaps because of his reputation for being fierce.

The enrollment procedures were not complicated. Beining Academy operated on a master-apprentice system, and since Lu Chuan had already "joined" the Haqi Sect, with Jiang Tao and Li Qian as his masters, there was no problem.

After completing the procedures, Lu Chuan received a small jade token. However, the person handling the registration kept staring at him, making him feel a bit uncomfortable.

After leaving the archive office, they also went to the warehouse. For some reason, Lu Chuan noticed that many people were looking at him along the way, and some even had the nerve to greet Old Jiang while sneaking glances at him.

"They are staring at you to figure out who you are." Old Jiang finally spoke as they entered his office, "Jiang Tao and I have only had Xiao He as a disciple for many years, and he is very outstanding, even the most outstanding student in Beining Academy in the past few decades.

With him setting the standard, many people have wanted to join our sect over the years, and there have been some good prospects, but we have always refused them. So when people know you are a disciple of our Haqi Sect, they will be very curious and hopeful about you."

"But I still know nothing about cultivation, and I don't seem to have any special abilities in combat."

Lu Chuan lacked confidence. He felt like he was walking into Carcel Academy like Lu Mingfei, who had nothing special about him, but others had already set their expectations for him at S-level.

"Don't worry too much." Old Jiang pulled out his chair and sat down, gesturing for Lu Chuan to do the same.

"You are a chosen one."

...

Old Jiang did not immediately teach Lu Chuan cultivation techniques. He had a class to teach soon, so he only gave him a brief introduction to the basic concepts of cultivation in this world.

Yuan Qi is the fundamental unit of cultivation in this world, whether for martial or spirit cultivation. The difference lies only in the application of Yuan Qi.

Cultivators can communicate with Yuan Qi, absorbing it from the world to begin their cultivation journey. When they can store Yuan Qi in their Dantian, they have entered the path of cultivation.

As they continue to cultivate, their Dantian gradually fills with Yuan Qi, which then spreads to their body, meridians, and acupoints. Their connection with Yuan Qi grows stronger, allowing them to use various methods to release spells, known as the Lingdong stage.

When cultivators summarize the rules of using Yuan Qi, form their own understanding and path, and can combine their will with the Yuan Qi of heaven and earth to cast spells, they reach the Ruyi stage, which is where He Changge is now.

The next stage is the Shentong stage, where cultivators have fully walked their own path, fundamentally grasped the laws of the operation of Yuan Qi, and formed unique spells, thus achieving Shentong.

Yang Ming and Wu Ji, who fought at the Northern Gate, as well as Old Jiang and Li Qian, are all Shentong stage cultivators.

The extraordinary realm above Shentong is something Old Jiang himself has not yet reached, and he doesn't know how to describe it.

However, there is an unwritten rule: if a cultivator can simultaneously fight five Shentong cultivators or easily defeat a Shentong cultivator in a one-on-one battle, they are considered extraordinary, and the path of the extraordinary has not yet been fully explored.

"My class is about to start. This is a cultivation Yuan Stone. Take it and familiarize yourself with Yuan Qi. It's much more direct than sensing the Yuan Qi in the world directly."

Old Jiang took out a fist-sized, crystal-clear stone from somewhere and placed it on the table. "It's best not to leave this room."

After saying that, he left the office, leaving Lu Chuan staring at the Yuan Stone on the table.

What do I do with this thing? Old Jiang, you didn't teach me how to use it. If I just mess around, will I go into a state of madness?

Lu Chuan carefully picked up the Yuan Stone. It was cool and comfortable to touch, but nothing happened when he poked and tapped it. It was definitely not meant to be eaten.

He remembered Old Jiang's mention of "sensing" and "communicating" and recalled the web novels he had read, where cultivation stones like this were usually held and absorbed directly.

So he tried holding the Yuan Stone and closing his eyes. Soon, his system activated, and he saw a copper coin slowly spinning in his mind.

Lu Chuan sat there with his eyes closed for a while, but nothing happened. The Yuan Stone in his hand remained cool and unchanged.

It seems I need a cultivation technique to absorb it, Lu Chuan thought, and picked up the Yuan Stone to put it back on the table, waiting for Old Jiang to return.

As Lu Chuan moved the Yuan Stone closer to his head, he noticed that the copper coin in his mind seemed to spin faster.

Hmm?

Lu Chuan held the Yuan Stone with both hands and moved it, observing the copper coin in his mind. He quickly discovered that the closer the Yuan Stone was to his head, the faster the copper coin spun.

He felt a calling, the copper coin spinning rapidly as if expressing a desire.

Lu Chuan pressed the cool Yuan Stone to his forehead, and the copper coin began to jump joyfully. A light orb surged into his mind, then scattered into points of starlight.

Is this the Yuan Qi Old Jiang mentioned? It's pretty cool.

The starlight was attracted to the copper coin, adhering to it, while a small part fell and drifted down his body, eventually gathering in his lower abdomen.

Lu Chuan felt a change in his body. He focused his mind, and his perspective shifted outside his body.

He saw faint light points floating in the air, much thinner than those that had entered his body. He also saw a huge light column in the distance, which he quickly realized was the central tower of the academy.

He closed his eyes and extended his left hand, touching a larger light point in the air. The light point shattered into smaller pieces when he touched it, and one of the pieces drifted into his body, slowly floating down to his lower abdomen, joining the other starlight.

Lu Chuan recalled the basic knowledge of cultivation that Old Jiang had just explained and suddenly opened his eyes.

He had entered the path of cultivation.