Chapter 567: Chapter 349: Changes

[Ranked 26th on the Lingyun List, Points +200]

[Entered the Celestial Strategy Academy, Points +1000]

[Current Points: 2523]

Xu Yang looked at the prompt on the panel, a smile creeping onto the corners of his mouth. With the two rewards stacked, he directly obtained 1,200 points in one go. This was the largest single reward he had ever received.

"Add to Root Bone!"

He sat up from the bed with a smile and directly added all the newly acquired 1,200 points to his Root Bone.

In an instant, a surge of power appeared out of thin air within his limbs and bones, sweeping through him like a raging fire.

Xu Yang felt his entire body heat up. His flesh became scorching hot, and his bones squirmed as if they were being reconstructed.

His Qi-Blood surged, his flesh and blood seemingly stirred by an invisible hand. The surrounding Power of Heaven and Earth fluctuated in tandem, converging upon his body.

A few breaths later, these changes vanished, but Xu Yang still keenly noticed that his body had undergone some transformations.

His pores had expelled some tainted blood, and his body’s vitality was far more abundant than before. He felt much lighter, and his control over the Power of Heaven and Earth seemed to have strengthened.

"The Spirit Bone is about to appear!"

This was the first time his body had shown such obvious changes. Xu Yang knew his persistent efforts had been right; his Root Bone could indeed be upgraded into a Spirit Bone.

After spending one more point on his lifespan, he began to absorb the Spiritual Qi in the Quiet Chamber.

"This Quiet Chamber’s ability to gather Spiritual Qi is roughly equivalent to me cultivating for an extra half-day every day."

Half a shichen later, he finished refining all the Spiritual Qi. He discovered that the amount of Spiritual Qi the Quiet Chamber gathered in one night was about the same as what he could absorb from three shichens of cultivation.

On the surface, the Celestial Strategy Academy seemed to offer no extra resource favoritism to the geniuses on the Lingyun List, but this Quiet Chamber’s ability alone gave them an extra half-day of cultivation time compared to everyone else.

Just this point alone was enough for them to widen the gap between themselves and the ordinary students.

"I heard the Quiet Chambers for the top ten geniuses on the Lingyun List have even better effects."

Xu Yang was a bit envious, but he knew he lacked a background and foundation. He absolutely could not draw attention to himself at this time. In a place like Yunzhou City, there were too many people who could crush him with a flick of their fingers. He couldn’t risk it for a small profit.

Since he was immortal, he had plenty of time to slowly improve his Cultivation. There was no need to rush.

As the sun rose, Xu Yang finished his morning exercise. He originally wanted to call Sun Tao to grab a meal together, but after knocking on his door a few times with no response, he realized Sun Tao was either in secluded cultivation or out of his room.

Arriving at the dining hall, he didn’t see Sun Tao either. Xu Yang didn’t mind; he ordered his food and sat down at an empty table.

"There’s no rush to choose a Cultivation Technique. I’ll check out the Library Hall this afternoon after I finish my cultivation," Xu Yang thought to himself.

The Celestial Strategy Academy was different from the Purple Sun Sect.

While eating with Jiang Fan yesterday, he learned that the teachers at the Celestial Strategy Academy were all very responsible. They would help students formulate cultivation plans and recommend Cultivation Techniques that truly suited them based on their specific conditions.

Although he had previously made up his mind to exchange for the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength, the Blood Prison Heart Blade Scripture, and the follow-up Cultivation Techniques for the Golden Gang Skill, he also wanted to see what the teachers would suggest. If there were better options, it wasn’t absolutely necessary to cultivate those specific ones.

Moreover, he didn’t know much about the Cultivation Techniques stored in the Celestial Strategy Academy, so there was no need to rush a decision.

The Library Hall housed a wide variety of books. There were Jianghu secrets, biographies of famous figures, records of dangerous and wondrous lands, and even encyclopedias introducing various heavenly treasures.

His knowledge was very lacking, and he had long needed such a place. He planned to set aside some time every day to read.

"Brother Xu, eating alone!"

Suddenly, someone sat down across from him. Xu Yang looked up and saw it was Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei.

"You two don’t seem very happy," Xu Yang noted with a smile.

He could see that both Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei looked dispirited.

Zhang Jun smiled bitterly. "To be honest, Brother Xu, my junior sister and I regret agreeing to the deal with Gu Qingfeng. If we had known, we should have listened to you and Brother Sun back then."

Xu Yang raised an eyebrow. "You want to back out of the deal?"

Back then, the two of them thought they were dead for sure. In order to successfully enter the Celestial Strategy Academy, despite the objections of Xu Yang and Sun Tao, they agreed to give Gu Qingfeng thirty credits a month for a year in exchange for his help.

They never imagined that Xu Yang and Sun Tao would be so fierce as to kill Lin Jingyu.

What they expected even less was how valuable and difficult to earn credits were at the Celestial Strategy Academy. They simply couldn’t afford the expense of thirty credits a month.

Under these circumstances, the two of them were filled with bitter regret.

"We wouldn’t dare!" Zhang Jun smiled bitterly again. "Gu Qingfeng has the Qin Family backing him. How could we dare to renege on the debt? It’s just that since you and Brother Sun seem to have a good relationship with Gu Qingfeng, we were hoping you could put in a good word for us to see if we can use other things to offset the debt. Without credits in the Celestial Strategy Academy, it’s truly hard to take even a single step."

The Celestial Strategy Academy had plenty of resources, but apart from the Cultivation Quiet Chambers, enjoying any other resources required credits.

Back then, they felt that thirty credits a month was nothing as long as they could enter the Academy, believing there would always be opportunities.

Now that they were actually in the Academy, they realized that earning thirty credits a month might be impossible, even if they risked their lives.

Xu Yang shook his head. "Brother Zhang, you think too highly of me. We’ve only exchanged a few words with Gu Qingfeng. We don’t have any real friendship. I’m afraid I can’t help you with this."

Putting himself in Gu Qingfeng’s shoes, he wouldn’t let go of such a large sum of credits either. What made them think he could persuade Gu Qingfeng?

Besides, he and Gu Qingfeng really weren’t on good terms. They merely interacted often during the Secondary Dragon Ascension because they shared a common enemy. He didn’t think Gu Qingfeng actually considered him and Sun Tao close friends.

When interests weren’t involved, they could chat a bit. But to think his face was big enough to ask for such a favor would just be bringing humiliation upon himself.

"Brother Xu, please lend us a hand. We will definitely repay this favor," Zhang Jun pleaded, cupping his fists.

"I’m sorry!"

Xu Yang shook his head. Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei fell silent, eating their food in disappointment.

"I’ll take my leave first!"

After finishing his meal, Xu Yang strode away.

"If I had known, we should have listened to him back then," Liu Rumei said, her face full of regret.

Thirty credits a month for a year was simply impossible to achieve, even if they didn’t spend a single credit on themselves.

Zhang Jun’s face showed a hint of anger. "It’s all their fault. They had such formidable strength, yet they didn’t tell us."

If they had known Xu Yang and Sun Tao were so strong, how could they have let Gu Qingfeng take advantage of their misfortune? That bastard was clearly going to snipe Huo Xiaochen anyway, yet he pretended to be a good person to scam them out of their credits.

"Keep your voice down. We can’t afford to offend them right now," Liu Rumei reminded him in a low voice.

"Mhm!"

...

Returning to his courtyard, Xu Yang took out a spirit coin and continued his cultivation, not daring to waste a single moment.

He had too many Cultivation Techniques to practice. Aside from eating and sleeping, he didn’t have much time left in the day.

Half a shichen later, the Spiritual Essence of one spirit coin was drained, turning it into scrap iron.

After resting for a while to let the pain of Body Refining ease, he began to comprehend the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength again.

The Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength was currently his strongest Secret Technique. Once this technique reached Perfection, it could multiply his Combat Power by four times when activated. He valued it highly, and apart from the Li Fire Technique, it was the Cultivation Technique he spent the most effort on.

However, the subtlety of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength was even above that of the Blood Prison Heart Blade Scripture. Despite practicing it for over a year, it was still stuck in the Minor Achievement Realm.

Of course, the manual he possessed was incomplete, only reaching the Great Success stage. To reach Perfection in the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength, he would have to obtain the remaining portion from the Celestial Strategy Academy.

As he slowly advanced his progress in the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength, Xu Yang lost track of time.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door and had to withdraw from his comprehension.

Opening the door, he saw two unfamiliar men standing outside. Both wore smiles, exuding an easy grace and a palpable, oppressive aura.

Xu Yang estimated that both of their Cultivations had surpassed the Celestial Essence Second Layer. He couldn’t tell their exact levels; if they hadn’t intentionally left their auras unhidden, he wouldn’t have noticed them at all.

"You two are?" Xu Yang asked, puzzled.

One of them, a man wearing a blue cloud-patterned robe, smiled and cupped his fists. "I am Cao Guan, a Middle Level Student and your neighbor living next door."

As he spoke, he pointed to the courtyard on the right of Xu Yang’s, then continued, "This is Brother Hu Ping, also a Middle Level Student. That one over there is his courtyard."

The man who called himself Cao Guan pointed to the courtyard on Xu Yang’s left and said, "We have a new neighbor, so the two of us came together to introduce ourselves. We hope we aren’t intruding."

Xu Yang suddenly understood. No wonder their auras were so strong; they were geniuses from the previous Lingyun List.

Having entered the Celestial Strategy Academy five years ago, with the talent of Lingyun List geniuses, their lowest possible Cultivation would be the Celestial Essence Second Layer. Reaching the Celestial Essence Third Layer wouldn’t be surprising at all.

"Not at all. Please come in, brothers." Xu Yang smiled and led the two into the courtyard, taking seats in the main hall.

"May I ask your name, brother, and your rank on the Lingyun List?" Hu Ping asked with a smile.

Since they wanted to get to know Xu Yang, they naturally needed to find out his background. Knowing his rank on the Lingyun List would tell them what attitude they should adopt.

Xu Yang smiled. "I am Xu Yang, untalented, ranked twenty-sixth on the Lingyun List."

"The Xu Yang who beat Lin Jingyu to death?" Cao Guan was somewhat surprised.

Xu Yang noticed that while his tone showed surprise, the smile on his face had faded considerably, and his enthusiasm waned.

The other man, Hu Ping, had a similar reaction. While surprised, his expression lacked its previous warmth, and he began exchanging glances with Cao Guan.

Xu Yang’s talent wasn’t bad, and he had made a name for himself in Yun Province by beating Lin Jingyu to death. Unfortunately, he hadn’t killed Huo Xiaochen as well, meaning he would inevitably face significant trouble in the future.

He was relying on his few extra years of cultivation to hold his own against Huo Xiaochen for now, but after Huo Xiaochen trained at the Celestial Strategy Academy for a few years, he would undoubtedly settle the score with Xu Yang sooner or later.

"That is indeed me," Xu Yang said, cupping his hands.

"So it is Brother Xu. Your reputation truly precedes you."

Cao Guan smiled, then quickly shifted his tone. "Brother Xu, you’ve just enrolled and must have quite a few credits on hand. I wonder if you’d be willing to trade them? Any resources you need can be easily arranged."

"I apologize, but I plan to keep my credits for my own use for now," Xu Yang declined, shaking his head.

Even if he lacked Cultivation Resources, he wouldn’t trade his credits for them. Having just entered the Celestial Strategy Academy, he needed to figure out how things worked first.

Seeing Xu Yang refuse, the two exchanged a few more pleasantries before quickly taking their leave.

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