Buying Substandard Sky Lanterns (Requesting Follows Monthly Tickets Recommendation Tickets)

[You are absorbing Spiritual Energy. Spiritual Energy Affinity +1, Spiritual Energy +3]

[Total Spiritual Energy Absorption Count: 56210/100,000]

Early the next morning, after arriving at Jia Yi Study Hall, Zhou Ling began his routine cultivation.

As his comprehension of the Spirit Flame Art deepened, the speed at which he absorbed Spiritual Energy gradually increased as well.

Originally, a single cultivation session could only circulate the absorbed Spiritual Energy through his body once. Now, it could complete two cycles.

Simply put, his cultivation speed and efficiency had doubled.

As before, he was once again the first disciple to arrive at the study hall.

Compared to his previous study hall, this one was more spacious and brighter, with more than twice the Spiritual Energy.

Pristine meditation cushions were arranged in neat rows.

Wisps of green smoke curled upward from an ancient Bronze Incense Burner in the corner of the study hall.

Soon, disciples entered the study hall one after another, most of them wearing confident expressions.

Students who could enter the Jia Yi Daoist Class had a high chance of becoming Inner Disciples of the Lingxia Sect in the future.

What surprised Zhou Ling was that, aside from seeing Wang Xin, Yuan Hu had somehow also entered the Jia Yi Daoist Class.

The moment Yuan Hu entered the study hall, he put on an air of maturity and greeted the other disciples. Then, when he spotted Zhou Ling, he hurried over and sat in the seat in front of him.

Brimming with energy, he said, "Brother Ling, I never thought I'd get the chance to enter Class Jia Yi too!"

A puzzled look appeared on Zhou Ling's face.

Before Zhou Ling could ask, Yuan Hu explained the situation.

Overall, Yuan Hu's aptitude was not bad either. He had a low-grade single Earth Spirit Root, was at the Qi Condensation First Layer, and had opened eight Spiritual Acupoints.

As for his Skill, he had chosen the relatively unpopular but practical profession of Spirit Planter.

After all, these children were only around five to seven years old, and their path of cultivation had only just begun.

No one wanted to choose such grueling professions as Spirit Planter or Herb Seeker so early on.

Besides, apart from the top ten in the assessment who entered Class Jia Yi, the other disciples assigned to the key Daoist classes were placed there at random.

It seemed Yuan Hu's luck was quite good.

At that moment, Wang Xin entered the study hall as well. Seeing Zhou Ling and the others, she walked over.

After greeting them, she sat down beside Zhou Ling.

Nothing seemed to have changed.

Of course, the cultivation of the surrounding disciples had all clearly risen by one level as well.

Back when Zhou Ling was at the Qi Condensation Second Layer, he had ranked around the middle to upper range in the study hall.

Now, he was at the bottom.

Before long, all the disciples had arrived. There were still thirty-six of them.

Then the sound of a chime rang out. Class had begun, and the disciples knew their new instructor was about to arrive.

They all fell silent.

Soon, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, a rather stern-looking Middle-aged Man entered from outside the study hall.

He wore a wide-sleeved Daoist robe and slowly made his way to the lectern.

The disciples all rose to greet him.

The Middle-aged Man nodded calmly, his gaze sweeping over the disciples. "Disciples, my name is Fang Lan. For the next few years, I will be your new instructor, responsible for guiding your cultivation in Skills and cultivation arts."

He then waved a hand, signaling everyone to sit.

"For the next few years, you will undergo training in all kinds of foundational Skills. If you have any questions now, you may ask me!"

Instructor Fang was a man of few words. After saying only a couple of sentences, he sat down at the lectern.

For a moment, none of the other disciples spoke up with any questions.

Instructor Fang said nothing more and had everyone cultivate on their own.

And so, the first lesson of the Jia Yi Daoist Class passed quietly.

In the blink of an eye, another half year slipped by in silence.

This day, the annual Sky Lantern Festival was about to arrive once more.

The Dao Academy was giving them five days off this time.

After school, Zhou Ling did not head home. Instead, he made his way toward Market Street.

After entering the Jia Yi Daoist Class, competition had intensified, making it harder for him to earn bonuses from the Dao Academy.

He had no advantage at all when it came to cultivation.

By now, he had only opened fourteen Spiritual Acupoints.

Fortunately, Instructor Fang now based his evaluations mainly on skills.

And Zhou Ling's proficiency in drawing inscriptions had also been steadily improving.

Over the past half year, bolstered by constant effort and talent, he had already become capable of drawing six inscriptions.

In terms of skills alone, he ranked among the top five in the Study Hall.

The others were mostly Scions of Noble Families, born into circumstances like Wang Xin's.

They simply did not care about the small bonuses offered by the Dao Academy.

Thus, Zhou Ling was basically able to place in the top three in every skill assessment and receive a bonus.

And besides two Low-grade Spirit Stones, the bonus also included other supplementary items.

This was extremely important to Zhou Ling, barely enough to help subsidize the household expenses.

At the very least, he could afford the Spirit Brushes, Spirit Paper, and Spirit Ink consumed by his inscription practice.

As the Sky Lantern Festival approached, Market Street was exceptionally lively, packed with people and filled with clamor.

Zhou Ling went straight to a small stall at the end of North Street.

The stall owner was an elderly man with a goatee, surnamed Zhao. Everyone in this area called him Old Man Zhao.

He made his living selling secondhand goods.

The materials Zhou Ling usually bought, such as Spirit Paper and Spirit Ink, all came from his stall.

Though the quality was somewhat inferior, Zhou Ling was still mainly training at his current level, so they were sufficient.

More importantly, they were much cheaper than buying from a shop.

Two sheets of ordinary Spirit Paper cost just one Broken Spirit, half the usual price.

Old Man Zhao was gnawing on Beef Jerky when he saw Zhou Ling run over, panting and red-faced. He could not help but smile. "Little fellow, here to buy Spirit Paper again today? There—I've already prepared fifty sheets for you!"

"Uncle Zhao! Here are twenty-five Broken Spirits." Zhou Ling took a handful of Broken Spirits from his backpack, counted out twenty-five, and handed them over.

Taking the Spirit Stones and noticing that Zhou Ling still had around ten Broken Spirits in his hand, Old Man Zhao perked up and hurriedly said, "Tomorrow is the Sky Lantern Festival. I have some Substandard Sky Lanterns here, selling cheap. Want to buy one?"

Hearing this, Zhou Ling swept his gaze over to the right of Old Man Zhao, where a piece of burlap had been spread out. Ten Sky Lanterns of varying shapes lay atop it, though their glow was somewhat dim.

[You observed damaged Tri-Color Inscriptions. Basic Insight +1]

Zhou Ling looked them over and found that the inscriptions on these Sky Lanterns were all more or less damaged.

That was why they were so much dimmer than normal Sky Lanterns.

But that was only to be expected. How could Sky Lanterns of good quality ever end up in Old Man Zhao's hands?

He immediately shook his head. Forget Substandard Sky Lanterns—even good Sky Lanterns were not worth spending Spirit Stones on in his eyes.

Wouldn't it be better to save that spare money and buy some Spirit Rice for the family?

"Just two Broken Spirits per lantern. If these Sky Lanterns were intact, they would cost at least ten Broken Spirits each."

"You can't buy them anywhere else!"

Old Man Zhao recommended them with a smile.

The Sky Lantern Festival was only two days away. If he could not sell these now, no one would buy them later, and he would suffer a huge loss!

Zhou Ling had bought Spirit Paper from him several times. Though he was young, he was not easy to fool.

Still, since the opportunity had presented itself, Old Man Zhao naturally had to give it a try. Who knew? He might just make a sale.

"Two Broken Spirits! That's too expensive!"

As Zhou Ling looked at the Sky Lanterns, an idea suddenly sprang into his mind. Why not try repairing these Sky Lanterns himself?

Using [Basic Insight] just now, he had been able to see the flaws in these inscriptions. With just a little effort, he might be able to repair them.

Then he could sell them at the price of finished products—wouldn't that let him make a profit?