Turtle Shell

"As expected, the school's benefits are still the best. A Grade 1 High Rank spiritual energy Cultivation Room can be used for two hours free every day."

Chen Mobai thought back to the holidays. In order to help him break through, his mother had gritted her teeth and used Merit Points to raise the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy at home to Grade 1 High Rank. Even so, the Spirit Energy Value had only been 7, only occasionally fluctuating to 8 or 9.

And this Immortal Sect Fifth High School had been built atop a Third Tier Low-grade spiritual vein, with a total of three hundred Cultivation Rooms opened up.

After all, students like them were the future flowers of the Immortal Sect. They absolutely could not be allowed to go hungry.

Three hundred Cultivation Rooms: one hundred each for the first, second, and third years, corresponding respectively to Grade 1 Low, Middle, and High Rank spiritual energy.

Third-year students had it the hardest, and the concentration of spiritual energy in these Cultivation Rooms was already the very peak of the first tier.

The Cultivation Room was extremely simple, perfectly square, with only a meditation cushion on the Qingshi floor in the center.

Chen Mobai did not waste time. He set down his phone, turned on Auxiliary Cultivation Recording mode, then sat upright on the meditation cushion and began refining spiritual energy.

Because he had only just broken through to Qi Cultivation Level 5, and had done so by relying on the power of pills, his realm was unstable. During these two hours, he did not cultivate the Five Elements Inner Art, only circulated the most basic Qi Nourishing Technique.

Streams of warmth flowed through the meridians in his body. The pale white spiritual energy in the Cultivation Room, so dense it was nearly turning into cloud and mist, surged like a long dragon into Chen Mobai's mouth and nose, merging with his elevated spiritual power, slowly grinding together and becoming power that was truly his own.

He was instantly intoxicated by the feeling, unable to pull himself free.

Time slowly flowed by.

With a "ding," the Soul-Calming Mantra in the Cultivation Room woke Chen Mobai from his cultivation. No matter how reluctant he was to leave, when he thought of the classmates who had already been lining up outside the door for ages, he could only pick up his phone and walk out of the Cultivation Room, turning back every three steps.

The moment he came out, a female classmate waiting behind him immediately rushed in, swiped her card, and shut the door in one smooth motion.

It was not just him. The other ninety-nine third-year students also walked out of the Cultivation Rooms with lingering reluctance.

Among them was Chen Mobai's Deskmate, Lu Hongsheng.

"Yo, your luck's pretty good. You actually grabbed the first batch."

After greeting him, however, Chen Mobai noticed Lu Hongsheng's eyes were a little gloomy, his mood sullen.

"Do you know what I just saw?"

"What?"

Chen Mobai knew Lu Hongsheng simply could not keep things bottled up. After waiting a moment, sure enough, Lu Hongsheng took the initiative and spoke.

"I saw Song Zheng enter a Cultivation Room with a Second Tier Spiritual Vein."

"A Second Tier Spiritual Vein? Aren't those all exclusively for teachers? Who gave their Cultivation Room to Song Zheng?"

In the school, naturally, there were not only student Cultivation Rooms, but also high-end Cultivation Rooms exclusive to teachers.

Apart from the Third Tier Cultivation Room that belonged exclusively to the principal, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, even teachers had to line up for their turn at the other ten Second Tier Cultivation Rooms.

For Song Zheng to be able to enter a Second Tier Cultivation Room meant that some teacher had given him their own cultivation resources.

"Who else could it be? It's definitely Old Man Ding. He failed Foundation Establishment twice and doesn't have many days left. His whole heart is rooted in the education cause now. Seeing that Song Zheng has hope of entering one of the Four Great Dao Academies, he gave him his own Second Tier Cultivation Room quota."

When Lu Hongsheng said this, he was practically boiling with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

He wished he were Song Zheng.

"That's too unfair. Why doesn't the school do something about it?"

As the two spoke, several classmates nearby also heard them. One of the boys was filled with righteous indignation.

Though there was no such thing as fairness to speak of in society, inside the school, the upper ranks still had a tacit understanding to maintain fairness and justice on the surface.

A teacher giving cultivation resources to a student—even if it was the teacher's own quota, the true ownership of the Cultivation Room still belonged to the school. To students, this was already unfair. If it were reported to the Academic Affairs Office, at the very least it could stir up a storm.

"What do you know? I heard Student Song Zheng already formally entered Teacher Ding's tutelage during the holidays and was registered in the Ministry of Education Inheritance Hall of the Immortal Sect. They already address each other as Master and Disciple. A master giving resources to his disciple is not something even the Academic Affairs Office can easily interfere with."

A female classmate said this unhappily to the male classmate who wanted to report it.

Song Zheng had decent looks and was also a young genius, so he was still quite popular among the girls.

Chen Mobai's heart was also filled with envy.

If he cultivated on a Second Tier Spiritual Vein for a semester, he was confident he could rise to Qi Cultivation Level 6. A student at that realm still might not make it into the Four Great Dao Academies, but a second-level Dao academy was still possible, and third-level Dao academies could be chosen at will.

He was also a True Spirit Root. How come no teacher had Taken a Liking To him?

It could only be said that even among True Spirit Roots, there were highs and lows.

"You guys keep chatting. I'm going home. See you tomorrow."

Chen Mobai still had a heart that wanted to improve. Though he also felt things were unfair inside, he had no intention of taking part in these disputes.

After using up the school Cultivation Room's free time, he hurried home. After all, it was rare for his mother to bleed money and buy half a year of Grade 1 High Rank spiritual vein access, all so that he could get good results on the College Entrance Exam.

He absolutely could not waste it.

When he got home, there was no one there.

His parents were both working hard to support the family. Especially after renting a spiritual vein for half a year in one breath, they had been working even more overtime, not getting home until very late each day.

Chen Mobai first cooked a pot of Spirit Rice, then went into his mother's workshop and cut large sheets of yellow paper one by one into standard small Talisman Paper, 12 cm long and 6 cm wide.

By the time the Spirit Rice was cooked, Chen Mobai had already cut over a hundred blank sheets of Talisman Paper.

He counted out twelve sheets as one bundle, stacked them neatly one by one, then tied them with special spirit cord. Six bundles were arranged into two stacks and placed into a packaging box.

This kind of large Talisman Paper cost 1 Merit Point. After cutting it and adding packaging, it could sell for 2 Merit Points. Converted that way, each box earned about 1 Merit Point in manual labor fees.

In order to help with the household expenses, Chen Mobai did some work within his ability.

He neatly arranged the two packaged boxes of Talisman Paper on the table. Added to the eight boxes he had cut previously, it made a round total of ten, filling an entire large table.

He took out his phone and took a dozen Photos from different angles, then picked several of the better-looking ones and posted them on the online marketplace officially opened by the Immortal Sect.

Under normal circumstances, people would bid one after another within a week. When the time came, Chen Mobai would choose the highest bidder and sell to them.

Because he could not afford teleportation fees, all of his items were limited to in-person transactions in Vermilion Cloud City.

The city had developed transportation, and his Student Card allowed him to ride for free.

After finishing the plump, jade-like grains of Spirit Rice, Chen Mobai cast a Cleaning Spell, tidied up all the pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, then entered his bedroom.

Although his home had specifically opened up a Cultivation Room at the Earth Vein pipe opening where spiritual energy was delivered underground, Chen Mobai still liked practicing qi in his own room.

After all, as long as the Cultivation Room door was open, Grade 1 High Rank spiritual energy would spread to every room in the whole house. Even with the windows open, the house's overall spirit-sealing Restriction would firmly lock the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy inside the rooms, so there was no need to worry about waste.

Of course, precisely because of this, with the range expanded, the concentration of Spirit Energy Value inside the house could not compare to the school's Cultivation Rooms.

But Chen Mobai was already very satisfied.

He forcefully held back the urge to scroll on his phone and watch livestreams, refusing to think about those little fairy maidens dancing and singing. He calmed his State of Mind, sat cross-legged on his bed, and prepared to cultivate, when he suddenly spotted the Turtle Shell on his bedside table.

"Mom, seriously. Why did she bring over this unlucky thing!"