Formal Cultivation

The spring eyes had all been claimed, leaving the ordinary disciples, who had no information and reacted a beat too slowly, in an awkward position.

They did not dare provoke the family disciples who had taken the spring eyes.

Fortunately, Mo Shuying had said that apart from the spring eyes, watching the stream could also speed up cultivation.

And Dragon Stream Peak's stream was long, with plenty of places alongside it.

Thus, everyone ran to the stream and began comprehending nature's mysteries.

Zhong Ming did the same.

As he arrived, Zhong Ming also noticed that in this very short time, the several hundred students of Dragon Stream Peak had already been divided into several tiers.

There were only three cultivators at the highest tier—one man and two women. One of the girls was dressed very plainly, looking as if she came from a commoner background.

Yet she was surrounded by disciples from Cultivation Families, and all of them treated the girl with great respect and courtesy.

Zhong Ming knew something of the reason for this.

The girl was named Xue Yao. Her talent was exceptionally high: she possessed a First-grade Spiritual Root, as well as an ice-element variant spiritual root. With gifts like hers, she was almost guaranteed a Class A rating.

With such outstanding talent and such a high potential for future achievement, marrying her would be like securing an immensely powerful immortal maiden as one's wife. Naturally, countless people were willing to curry favor with her.

Perhaps due to the influence of her ice-element variant spiritual root, however, Xue Yao was extremely aloof, cold as ice toward everyone.

The man and woman apart from the girl also possessed First-grade Spiritual Roots and came from Cultivation Families. Countless followers gathered around the two, who radiated nobility.

Each of these three had claimed a spring eye—the very best ones.

Beyond the three were people of Jiang Yue and Jiang Xiaoyu's tier.

Their spiritual roots were Second-Class, and they were also disciples of Cultivation Families. A Class B rating was practically guaranteed for them, though a Class A rating was less certain.

The third tier consisted first of Second-Class Spiritual Root holders from commoner backgrounds.

Without resources to assist them, it was somewhat dangerous for them to seek a Class B rating.

Family disciples with Third-grade Spiritual Roots also belonged to this tier.

They were the opposite of the commoner prodigies—ample spirit stones, but insufficient talent.

Beyond them was the fourth tier, the very bottom. Zhong Ming and Dong Hai belonged to this group.

This was also the largest group.

—If Dark Moon had not appeared, Zhong Ming's assessment would have been one tier above Dong Hai's.

But those rated Class C or Class D all had to join the Demon Suppressing Division, so Zhong Ming and Dong Hai were placed in the same tier.

In everyone's eyes, it would be difficult for both Zhong Ming and Dong Hai to earn a Class B rating.

The only difference was that Zhong Ming could still struggle a little, while Dong Hai could only wait for someone to give him a hand.

This division of tiers left Zhong Ming deeply moved, but after cultivating beside the stream for a while, he helplessly discovered that such a division... did make some sense.

"Breathe in, breathe out..."

With the True Intent Diagram, Zhong Ming and the others had all etched the circulation route of the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique into their bodies and minds.

At this moment, with a shift of thought, he instinctively began breathing according to the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique, imagining a stream flowing and surging through his body.

"Buzz..."

This visualization and breathing truly did draw a portion of the Spiritual Energy from nature into Zhong Ming's body.

But that portion of Spiritual Energy was extremely small.

Moreover, as the stream Zhong Ming visualized flowed through his body, it moved with great difficulty.

It would be an exaggeration to say it was blocked at every turn, but the stream's flow truly could not be called fast.

As a result, more than half of the Spiritual Energy was wasted halfway through.

After the stream circulated around his body once, and the Spiritual Energy within had been stained with Zhong Ming's aura, only ten or twenty percent remained.

Then, under Zhong Ming's control, that faint Spiritual Energy surged toward the location of the Qi Sea Acupoint.

"Buzz..."

Because it was so sparse, that faint Spiritual Energy merely made Zhong Ming's Qi Sea Acupoint warm slightly, and then... there was nothing more.

"The Spiritual Energy I absorb is already scarce. Eight or nine parts out of ten are worn away on the way, and only one or two parts out of ten finally enter the Qi Sea Acupoint. It's far too little."

This cultivation speed was undoubtedly extremely slow.

But this was what it meant to have a Third-grade Spiritual Root.

"There is a reason Third-grade Spiritual Roots are rated as mediocre."

Though he could cultivate, the Qi Sea Acupoint needed a great deal of Spiritual Energy because it had to be nurtured to perfection before it could be opened. Eighteen Days were absolutely not enough.

"Under normal circumstances, I would need twenty or thirty days to open the Qi Sea Acupoint and enter early Qi Condensation."

That exceeded the eighteen days required for a Class B assessment, which was clearly not what Zhong Ming wanted.

Fortunately, Zhong Ming's cultivation speed was not fixed now. He could use certain methods to increase it.

"The most convenient and quickest method is naturally medicinal pills."

Thinking this, Zhong Ming looked toward the family disciples. At this moment, they had all swallowed medicinal pills, and with the pills' support, their cultivation speed would increase severalfold at the very least.

"But I have no money to buy medicine..."

Shaking his head, Zhong Ming employed the second method for speeding up cultivation—raising his technique's realm.

"My Dragon Creek Breathing Technique is only at the first realm, beginner level. This is the lowest realm. Cultivating with it naturally has extremely poor efficiency."

With this thought, Zhong Ming opened the Attribute Panel and checked how much proficiency his cultivation just now had added.

"It was originally 13, and now it's 14. One point... that makes sense. My cultivation just now was only an experiment; I had no thoughts of my own, so I only received the guaranteed 1 point."

Even that guaranteed point was only added because Zhong Ming possessed the Heaven Rewards Diligence System.

If ordinary people cultivated absentmindedly, they would gain nothing at all.

They had to cultivate attentively and gain some insight before their technique proficiency would increase.

This also applied to Zhong Ming. If he cultivated with focus and gained some understanding, each session would yield more than +1 proficiency.

With that in mind, Zhong Ming opened his eyes, preparing to cultivate while watching the stream.

But just as Zhong Ming was thinking of cultivating attentively, a voice suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Brother Zhong, come over here. I still have a spot."

It was Jiang Yue calling out. Although he had seen Zhong Ming's pale face earlier, he still felt Zhong Ming was worth recruiting.

His call made everyone look at Zhong Ming with envy and jealousy.

Mo Shuying's words had made everyone understand that the Hundred Day Assessment rating was closely tied to their own safety.

She had also told them that spring eyes and streams could accelerate their cultivation progress.

At such a time, Jiang Yue's willingness to offer Zhong Ming a place was no different from giving him a hand when he was in danger.

Naturally, Zhong Ming became the target of everyone's envy and jealousy.

But soon, something happened that astonished everyone.

Upon hearing the call, Zhong Ming cupped his hands and actually refused.

"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Jiang, but I'll pass. I'll cultivate here."

"Huh?"

Zhong Ming's refusal was also beyond Jiang Yue's expectations.

In the end, however, he merely shrugged and said nothing more.

But while he did not wish to say more, his companions cultivating with him brought up the matter with smiles.

"Jiang Yue, you think highly of that Zhong Ming?"

"Yes."

After calling out to Zhong Ming just now, Jiang Yue could hardly deny it.

His nod made Wei Jie burst into laughter.

"Brother Jiang, you misjudged him this time."

"Such a good opportunity was placed before him, yet he did not know how to seize it. A man so timid is not worth recruiting."

"But for you, this is also fortunate. It is better to see Zhong Ming's true colors now than to find out after recruiting him as a subordinate."

Wei Jie was deeply disparaging toward Zhong Ming.

He was not deliberately targeting Zhong Ming—in Wei Jie's eyes, Zhong Ming was not worthy of his attention.

Rather, he used Zhong Ming as an excuse to attack Jiang Yue, saying that Jiang Yue could not judge people properly.

The reason he did so was simple.

There were four people at their spring eye. Apart from the siblings Jiang Yue and Jiang Xiaoyu, one was Wei Jie, while the other was named Liu Wanyu.

True to her name, the latter was a beautiful girl as delicate as jade. Her white dress made her seem like an immortal maiden beneath the moon.

Clearly, Wei Jie was interested in Liu Wanyu.

Jiang Yue was as well.

To strike at his rival, Wei Jie brought up Zhong Ming.

His words did indeed make Jiang Yue's expression darken somewhat.

Did I really misjudge him?

Thinking this, Jiang Yue unconsciously looked toward Zhong Ming.

The moment he looked over, his brows rose.

—While everyone else was gathered by the stream cultivating, Zhong Ming's behavior was strange. He had left the stream and was trekking across Dragon Stream Peak with Dong Hai.

From time to time, he would stop where he was and gaze toward the stream.

This behavior made Jiang Yue extremely curious.

"What is he doing?"

As he wondered, Jiang Yue unconsciously recalled the moment Zhong Ming had suddenly turned pale while staring directly at the Mountain Stream Diagram.

Wait, I remember Father saying that besides insufficient soul strength, there is another possibility that can cause severe soul damage when one looks directly at a True Intent Diagram... It is comprehending the true intent of a technique beyond one's ability to bear.

Zhong Ming... could he be the latter?

Did he comprehend something from the True Intent Diagram? Did he refuse me earlier not out of timidity, but because he has a better cultivation method?