Banyan City.
First Middle School, classroom.
Name: Jiang Ding
Chinese (full score 150): 109
Mathematics (full score 150): 70
Ideological and Moral Education (full score 150): 137
Science Comprehensive (full score 300; biology, chemistry, physics): 151
Humanities Comprehensive (full score 100; history, geography): 61
Bonus electives--
Cultivation (full score 300): Bone Refining Realm Peak, 50
Primary weapon elective (full score 60): Heavy Machine Gun: 17
Cold weapon secondary weapon elective (full score 40): Low-level swordsmanship—Gale Triple Slash, 25
Practical combat (full score 150): 23
Total score: 643
At the back row,
A handsome young man stared at the mock exam results that had just been handed out for a long time.
"The cultural subjects total 850 points, and I could only score 534."
"The cultivation bonus totals 400 points, and I could only get 97. As for practical combat, there's no need to mention it—I couldn't beat anyone." Jiang Ding sighed.
"Ah... At this rate, forget getting into Spirit Veil University's Cultivation Department. I won't even get into an ordinary third-tier college. Maybe entering a vocational college early to learn a craft is the true path..."
Relying on spirit veins across the globe, the Immortal Sect had built thirty-nine universities.
Most students at these universities were ordinary people. Only the twenty-year Cultivation Departments taught cultivation knowledge, allowing students to wield extraordinary power and perhaps achieve immortality.
To enter a university's Cultivation Department, however, no one looked at spirit roots, cultivation level, or family background. Even being the direct son of a Golden Core True Person was useless.
There was only one standard: college entrance examination scores!
You could even ignore cultivation and electives entirely. Even if you were useless at both cultivation and martial arts, as long as your college entrance examination score met the cutoff for a university's Cultivation Department, you would definitely be admitted.
The Immortal Sect College Entrance Examination was the greatest fairness offered to students around the world!
Of course, throughout the Immortal Sect's history, there had not been many godlike people capable of giving up all 550 cultivation bonus points and still getting into a university Cultivation Department.
And aside from entering a Cultivation Department, cultivation bonus electives had no other use whatsoever.
Ordinary university departments looked only at cultural subject scores.
"Bone Refining Realm Peak!"
His deskmate said sourly, "That's already pretty good. You can carry eight hundred jin of force. In ancient times, wearing heavy armor, you'd at least have been a warrior capable of facing ten thousand enemies."
Li Junhao was short and skinny, making his head look oversized. He looked somewhat comical.
"Nowadays, that's just one magazine from a submachine gun." Jiang Ding shook his head and sighed, changing the subject. "Your cultural subject score—was it 690 or 698?"
Rongcheng First High School was known as the cradle of Cultivation Department students. Other than someone like him, admitted through a special ideological and moral education quota, everyone else had real skills.
"701."
The sourness vanished from Li Junhao's voice, replaced by pride.
"You broke 700?!!"
Jiang Ding was startled.
That was no trivial matter. Although cultural scores and cultivation scores were separate, they were not opposed to each other. They were interconnected, inseparable.
Chinese included a great deal of foundational knowledge and principles concerning talismans and cultivation techniques. A student who could write a good essay would certainly not have a poor understanding of talismans and cultivation techniques once they stepped onto the path of cultivation.
Mathematics explicitly covered calculations and foundational knowledge related to arrays.
Physics, chemistry, and biology in Science Comprehensive, along with history and geography in Humanities Comprehensive, were all closely connected to spirit beasts, spirit materials, artifact forging, spirit veins, and everything else in cultivation.
But!
Cultivation was a discipline where theory and practice were tightly bound together.
Without becoming a cultivator, without magical power and spiritual sense, one could not truly observe and put into practice the things written in textbooks.
It was like a eunuch painting an erotic spring palace picture. Everything relied on imagination. One could only use the principles in books, array structures, magical power circulation diagrams, and calculations to derive an answer.
It was like being separated by a thick layer of cloth.
No matter how intelligent a person was, there was a limit. Even with talent and diligence, under such conditions, an ordinary person scoring four or five hundred points was already excellent.
"You can start considering which of the TOP2 universities to attend." Jiang Ding could not hide his envy.
Even the best ordinary academic prodigies scored only in the six hundreds. That already marked them as prospects for Pure Breeze University and Big Dipper University, with a considerable chance of entering these two top-ranked Immortal Sect institutions.
Of course, that was only for ordinary departments. The most exceptional cultivation geniuses would not compete with them.
Seven hundred points was a threshold.
It meant that in one or several cultivation-related subjects, he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the most exceptional cultivation geniuses.
Unfortunately, among the three body-refining realms—Skin Refining, Muscle Refining, and Bone Refining—where one developed inner qi and returned from the acquired to the innate, Li Junhao had only barely reached late-stage Skin Refining. He received ten realm bonus points, while his hot weapon, cold weapon, and practical combat electives were equally dreadful. All three were single-digit scores of five, leaving him with a pitiful total of only twenty-five cultivation elective points.
"Ah~"
The two exchanged a glance, bitterness written across both their faces.
Over the past ten years, even the cutoff for the Cultivation Department of the local Spirit Veil University—the university with the lowest score requirements—had been 842. Neither of them had any hope at all.
"This really is unfair."
Li Junhao secretly glanced at the dozen or so people in the front rows.
"Their cultural subject scores aren't even 400, yet because they were born with spirit roots, they don't need to learn martial arts or temper their bodies, develop inner qi, or return from the acquired to the innate. They can naturally cultivate immortal techniques and become lofty Qi Refining cultivators. Without studying, they can gain more than 200 cultivation bonus points, leaving people like us, who stay up studying until two in the morning every day, far behind."
Li Junhao revealed a trace of unwillingness.
Jiang Ding knew that Li Junhao had always been extremely proud of himself. Without magical power or spiritual sense, he had forced his cultural subject scores above those of most Qi Refining cultivators.
But that pride had been smashed to pieces against the gulf of reality.
Whether it was school scores, future social status, or even lifespan, he was far inferior.
"...Fourteenth place, Zou Xiyuan. Cultural score: 411. Cultivation score: 377. Total score: 788."
Homeroom teacher Guo Kui's perpetually stern face finally showed a trace of a smile, and he slightly raised his head.
"Qi Refining Level Two. You've improved from before. Keep up this momentum. There's still a year until the college entrance examination. If you can break through to the Qi Refining Mid Stage by then, or improve your geography, biology, history, and chemistry scores a little more, Spirit Veil University's Cultivation Department is within reach!"
The reason those subjects were singled out was that education on Luminous Blue Star aimed to select cultivation talents. Chinese, mathematics, and physics involved the principles of cultivation technique meridian circulation, along with talismans and arrays—three major related fields. They were exceedingly difficult, impossible to improve without both talent and effort.
Yet the high school curriculum had already been completed in the first and second years. Unless a miracle occurred in the remaining year, it was basically impossible to make major gains in those three foundational disciplines. They could only work on the other subjects.
As for Ideological and Moral Education, it tested one's understanding of and support for the Immortal Sect system. As long as someone was normal, studied normally, did not harbor too many heretical thoughts, and did not write them down, they could generally pass.
But high scores were equally difficult. They were highly subjective, with no fixed answers. The Central Array Spirit Computer, backed by the legacy of the Immortal Sect Sages, graded the exams. Based on its program logic, it assigned scores according to the examination paper, the student's past experiences, online and real-world statements, and even their family's political background.
Over the years, high-scoring Ideological and Moral Education papers had appeared, but almost every paper was different. Countless tutors had studied them for who knew how many days and nights, yet had found no common thread. Improvement was extremely difficult.
That was also why Jiang Ding, despite being unremarkable in both cultural and cultivation subjects, had been able to enter First Middle School.
The teachers and principal of First Middle School all supported the Immortal Sect, after all. Their political awareness was extremely high. How could they let someone with talent be left outside the school?
The gazes of more than twenty people in the classroom all fell upon a somewhat freckled girl, filled with complex emotions such as envy, fervor, and inferiority.
A Cultivation Department was within reach!
Jiang Ding's feelings were equally complicated.
Cultivators possessed
far too many advantages!
During the Qi Refining Stage, cultivation added 200 points. Qi Refining Level Two added 20 points. For the three major heavy machine gun subjects—precision shooting, beyond-limit shooting, and suppressive shooting—the assistance of spiritual sense let them easily obtain the martial artist's maximum score of thirty.
—The remaining thirty points were called tank driving and combat. Martial artists without spiritual sense, even Innate Martial Artists who were said to rival Qi Refining cultivators, were not even qualified to participate.
"Tenth place..."
"Ninth place..."
"Second place, Wu Tianli. Qi Refining Level Five. Cultural score: 730. Cultivation bonus: 467. Total score: 1197."
Swish!
In an instant, nearly everyone's gaze turned toward him, including those fellow Qi Refining cultivators.
He was a handsome youth with confidence and sunlight in his bearing. He gave a slight nod, politely acknowledging the students around him.
"Qi Refining Level Five!"
An uproar broke out all around.
"Wu Tianli seems to have metal, wood, water, and fire Four Spirit Roots. How could his cultivation speed possibly be this fast?"
"His spirit root attributes are relatively good. It's possible he's extremely close to Three Spirit Roots."
"Three Spirit Roots! Excluding Outer Realm cultivators, that's practically top-tier talent..."
Jiang Ding silently listened to the surrounding discussion, like a transparent man.
More than ten thousand years ago, Luminous Blue Star had still been a spiritless planet. Even after intersecting with the Cultivation World for more than ten thousand years, its local spirit veins and spirit roots remained exceedingly scarce. Four Spirit Roots were already extremely rare, appearing in perhaps one out of every eighty or ninety thousand people, much less Three Spirit Roots, Two Spirit Roots, or the legendary Heavenly Spirit Root.
Cultivators with Four Spirit Roots, called false spirit roots beyond the realm, were already geniuses on Luminous Blue Star.
"A guaranteed place in the lower fifteen universities' Cultivation Departments, with hope for the Top Twelve Universities. Even the upper Twelve Universities aren't entirely impossible." Guo Kui beamed.
Among the thirty-nine universities with Cultivation Departments, the middle Top Twelve Universities were generally something only Three Spirit Roots cultivators could dream of.
"I'll work hard, Teacher," Wu Tianli said seriously.
Everyone knew what he meant.
The upper Twelve Universities, including Pure Breeze University and Big Dipper University, had a title: the homeland of Golden Cores!
According to statistics from previous cohorts, cultivators from the upper Twelve Universities had a tenfold, even more than tenfold, greater chance of becoming Golden Core Cultivators than all other schools and Rogue Cultivators combined!
"This..." Guo Kui encouraged him. "Keep it up. Teacher believes in you!"
The upper Twelve Universities' Cultivation Departments were also known as the Twelve Dao Palaces. Each Dao Palace had a Nascent Soul True Lord in secluded cultivation. Even local Three Spirit Roots cultivators found entry unimaginably difficult. Only geniuses who had reached the pinnacle in both Dao studies and cultivation could enter.
Outer Realm cultivators had a name for students of the upper Twelve Universities.
Named disciples of Nascent Soul True Lords!
At least in the eyes of Outer Realm cultivators, the status of an upper Twelve Universities student was equivalent to that of a Nascent Soul ancestor's named disciple. If they met, they would be treated as equals.
From this, one could imagine the difficulty.
Basically, among the hundreds of millions of people in a province, only around a hundred students each year qualified to enter the upper Twelve Universities.
"First place, Hua Bing! Qi Refining Level Six. Cultural score: 723. Cultivation bonus: 479. Total score: 1202."
Many admiring and respectful gazes turned toward the woman at the center of the first row. Her skin was wheat-colored, and she was heroic and strikingly pretty, carrying the presence of a big sister.
"Very likely the middle Top Twelve Universities, with a slight chance at the upper Twelve Universities."
Drawing on his professional experience, Guo Kui made his judgment.
She appeared to be only five points ahead of Wu Tianli, but people were different. With Three Spirit Roots and the wholehearted cultivation of a Foundation Establishment Realm father, she had already reached the peak of Qi Refining Level Six and could enter Qi Refining Level Seven at any moment, becoming a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator.
For Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators, magical power and spiritual sense underwent a slight qualitative transformation. This was the foundation enabling them to crush early- and mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
An extra ten bonus points meant little. The increase and slight qualitative transformation in magical power and spiritual sense—especially spiritual sense—could modestly improve a cultivator's computational ability, memory, and Spiritual Sense Scan precision, all crucial abilities.
It would bring a modest increase in learning ability.
Scores in Chinese, mathematics, physics, biology, and other subjects would likely rise modestly across the board. If the increase was great enough, the upper Twelve Universities would not be beyond hope.
"These are students with spirit roots. As for the rest of you, you must not lose heart either." Guo Kui withdrew his gaze from Hua Bing and looked toward ordinary students such as Jiang Ding and Li Junhao, his expression serious.
"Unlike long-lived professions such as cultivators, whose progress is extremely difficult and slow—even peerless talent requires years of step-by-step accumulation—according to teachers' experience, after entering the third year of high school, young martial artists with top-tier talent and deep foundations will see explosive growth in cultivation."
"Every Immortal Sect Citizen has their flesh, bones, and sinews cleansed by an Innate Martial Artist using at least thirty years' worth of great medicine within twenty-four hours of birth. Within three days, a Qi Refining Stage cultivator cleanses their meridians with Essence Nurturing Spirit Liquid."
"In terms of aptitude, any Immortal Sect Citizen would be a genius in certain lower small worlds possessing only martial arts inheritances."
"The Immortal Sect did not allow martial artists to take the college entrance examination merely so they could serve as foils for those with spirit roots!"
Guo Kui's tone was exceptionally earnest.
"On the contrary, the vast number of educated ordinary people are the Immortal Sect's most important foundation. The most exceptional among them will not achieve anything inferior to those with spirit roots."
"Many great Immortal Sect powers likewise have no spirit roots, yet that does not stop them from roaming freely through heaven and earth!"
Many students without spirit roots were invigorated, recovering their hope.
Jiang Ding pressed his lips together.
He noticed the words "top-tier talent" in Teacher Guo's speech.
Come to think of it,
If an ordinary person wished to cultivate immortality, how could they dare hope for it unless they were a dragon or phoenix among men?
"All right. Since the results of the last mock exam are out, those who improved must not grow proud and complacent, while those who fell behind must work even harder, so as not to betray their youth."
Guo Kui placed the class score sheet aside, rubbed his shiny scalp, and opened the Ideological and Moral Education textbook.
Ever since the emergence of the extraordinary, Ideological and Moral Education had leapt into becoming a core subject comparable to Chinese and mathematics. With a total score of 150, it was extremely important. A low score was acceptable, but failing to even pass was an exceptionally serious problem.
It would not go so far as to prevent university admission, but many future opportunities would be shut off directly.
"Recite the Immortal Sect's First Law. Your tone must be solemn and reverent. Begin," Guo Kui said.
Clear voices reading aloud immediately rose.
"The Immortal Sect's First Law!"
"All knowledge within Luminous Blue Star, including that of public institutions and private institutions; that owned by individuals; patented and unpatented knowledge; cultivation knowledge and non-cultivation knowledge; all knowledge created and discovered in the past, present, and future, belongs to all citizens!"
"Any citizen who has not been deprived of political rights may, upon application and proof that they possess the ability to understand such knowledge, read any knowledge and any inheritance on Luminous Blue Star!"
"If that knowledge is within its patent period, a patent fee approved by the Central Array Spirit Computer must be paid!"
Jiang Ding and the others recited aloud in solemn voices, every punctuation mark and every pause perfectly exact.
As for their thoughts on it, they had none at all.
Because they had begun learning this on their first day of preschool. The same went for literacy; for the vast majority of Immortal Sect Citizens, these were the first words they learned.
"If an institution or individual violates the Immortal Sect's First Law and refuses a lawful citizen's lawful request to read, that citizen shall immediately report it to the local Immortal Sect institution and the Array Spirit Computer at their place of household registration."
"Any institution or individual that, after repeated warnings, still refuses to fulfill the Immortal Sect's First Law, shall be subject to strict material and soul destruction procedures by the military of their place of household registration under the supervision of the Central Array Spirit Computer."
The clear reading voices fell silent.
"I won't say any more about the importance of the Immortal Sect's First Law. I, as well as your middle school and elementary school teachers, have said it many times. It is a required college entrance examination topic; even its placement, question format, and score have been stipulated."
"These are free points, fifteen points handed to you for nothing. But!"
Guo Kui's expression darkened. "This time, two students actually wrote one character incorrectly! This is copying. There are no trick questions whatsoever—it is merely copying!"
The anger of a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator sent fierce winds swirling through the classroom.
The books rustled in the wind, and only everyone's breathing gradually became clear.
"I won't say who it was."
Guo Kui calmed himself and said sternly, "I'm the one grading your papers now. You still have a chance to correct yourselves. Once the college entrance examinations come, the Central Array Spirit Computer will grade them, and everything will be set in stone. All these years of hard work will have been wasted."
"Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
Before a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator in a towering rage, every student answered obediently.
"Good. Now let's continue with the example from last time: the first confidentiality rule triggered by the words 'legal citizen of Luminous Blue Star' in the Immortal Sect's First Law."
"First question: if exchange cultivator students from the Five Elements Heavenly Sect, an ally of the Immortal Sect beyond the realm, are composed of True Disciples and obtain temporary Citizen Rights at customs, then if you have a chance to speak with them, what knowledge may be exchanged, and what must not be leaked in the slightest, lest you trigger the [Immortal Sect Great Curse]?"
"For this, you may refer to the customs regulations and the detailed rules on temporary citizen authority..."
At the podium, Guo Kui spoke with eloquence, extending the example into reality before returning to theory, while the students below took notes at high speed.
The difference was that ordinary students like Jiang Ding wrote as if their pens were flying, sweat scattering everywhere, while cultivators like Wu Tianli in the front row held jade slips and recorded with divine sense and spiritual power. They looked relaxed and carefree, yet their efficiency far surpassed the former.
Ring...
"You must remember the key points from this lesson. Go back and do more practice questions..."
Two hours later, Guo Kui reluctantly closed his textbook and left the classroom.
The instant he left, whooshing sounds rose everywhere as figure after figure vanished at high speed.
The fastest were naturally the cultivators empowered by the Wind Riding Technique. Like wisps of green smoke, they vanished in the blink of an eye; some classmates with lower martial arts realms could not even see when they had left.
Next came the three Inner Qi Realm martial artists in the class. Though inner qi was far inferior to a cultivator's spiritual power, it was more than enough to crush a group of Body Tempering martial artists.
Only then came martial artists at the Bone Refining Realm Peak like Jiang Ding. With one hand braced against the ground, he sprinted toward the cultivation rooms beneath Li Junhao's envious gaze.
From four to six in the afternoon was cultivation class.
In the cultivation area, as expected, the top ten cultivation rooms had already been claimed by all sorts of formidable people.
Jiang Ding swiped his student card at the entrance to cultivation room forty-one, and the steel door slowly opened.
The students behind him showed regretful expressions and rushed toward cultivation room forty-two beside it.
Luminous Blue Star had intersected with the Cultivation World for only a little over ten thousand years. Spiritual qi was thin, resources were scarce, and all spiritual qi had currently been taken under the Immortal Sect's control. Only enough remained outside for cultivators to barely maintain their breathing and meditation.
Of course, Jiang Ding was only a martial artist. He could neither sense nor use spiritual qi.
What they were truly competing for was the Essence Condensing Bone Strengthening Soup uniformly provided by the Immortal Sect Ministry of Education to third-year Bone Refining Realm students in the cultivation rooms. Developed by the Immortal Sect Academy of Sciences, it was brewed from hundreds or even thousands of medicinal ingredients, refined to perfection. Though mass-produced, its effects were not the slightest bit inferior.
In certain low-level small worlds, it could absolutely be called a heavenly treasure. To obtain it, one needed both strength and fortune.
The higher a cultivation room ranked, the better the effects of its Essence Condensing Bone Strengthening Soup.
If one was a cultivator or a martial artist of a lower realm, the things received would differ as well. It might be the spiritual qi concentration corresponding to that number, or a rich tonic soup that nourished the muscles and bones.
The door opened. The room covered over a hundred square meters, with a weapon rack at the side holding sabers, spears, swords, and halberds.
At its center was a banyan tree root twisted and knotted into the shape of a hand. Resting in its palm was a bowl of milky-white thick soup, giving off an irresistible fragrance.
As he stepped into the cultivation room, the metal door slowly closed behind him.
A blue light screen like a postcard slowly unfolded.
[Name: Jiang Ding] [Student Number: 1246215] [Realm: Bone Refining Realm Peak] [Previous Training Subject: Sixty-eighth Set of Eagle's Takeoff Sword Art (Proficiency 32%)]
Below the light screen was a virtual little person formed from threadlike meridians. Every muscle, every bone, and every patch of skin was clearly labeled, and it could be freely enlarged or reduced.
The skin and muscles were mostly at 100%. Only a small number of difficult-to-train areas—such as the skin beneath the armpits, the scalp, cheek muscles, and gastrointestinal muscles—were at varying levels of 12%, 46%, or 0%.
No matter how one trained, these areas were extremely difficult to reach. Only after inner qi was born could one use it as assistance to train them perfectly.
Overall, most of his skin and muscles had reached their current limits. The cultivation room computer was connected to Banyan City's Array Spirit Computer, equivalent to the observational confirmation of a clone of a Mighty Being's Clone. There could absolutely be no mistakes or omissions.
The true difficulty lay in the spine.
His limbs, ribs, sternum, outer skull, and the like were all at 100%. Yet even among the vertebrae, those showing 60% were rare; most were at 1% or 2%, with an extremely low degree of tempering.
Jiang Ding knew the reason.
"Sixty-eighth Set of Eagle's Takeoff Sword Art (Proficiency 32%)."
He sighed.
Sixty-eighth Set of Eagle's Takeoff Sword Art!
This cultivation method had an ordinary name and was merely the lowest rank among "scripture, classic, method, art, formula." It was a cultivation method for young children among ordinary people, and it looked utterly worthless.
In reality, it had a reputation across dozens of surrounding worlds, including the Cultivation World.
The number one foundational divine art of all realms!
No one disputed it!
Because this cultivation method possessed an exceedingly terrifying effect: if an ordinary person could successfully enter the Innate Realm through it, they would forge a Dao Body Prototype, with cultivation aptitude approaching that of the very highest Four Spirit Roots aptitude.
It could be called defying heaven and changing one's fate!
Chapter Two had been blocked and was currently under review for unblocking.
Before you continue