Jade Wutong

Qing Nü failed to resist the charm of the Jade Phoenix Troupe and agreed to Chen Mobai's request.

After the two exchanged contact information, Chen Mobai took the Hangover Remedy and went home.

At that moment, his uncle Wang Jianyuan had already driven over in his cargo truck. Chen Xinglan was going to live for two years in the Third Tier Spiritual Vein Cave Mansion at Crimson Cloud Academy, so naturally he had to pack up bundles large and small and bring quite a bit of luggage.

When Chen Mobai got home, Chen Xinglan and his wife were moving things. After the former drank the Hangover Remedy potion he had bought, his spirits lifted a little.

"Next time, I'm never drinking again."

Though he said that, Chen Mobai felt that if the whole family gathered again next time, Chen Xinglan would still drink quite a lot.

Many hands made light work. Before long, the bedding and clothes had all been packed and tidied away. Chen Xinglan comforted Tang Pancui, whose eyes were faintly red, then shouldered his own luggage bag.

"All right, our son can just see me over. You stay at home and wait without worrying."

After the old married couple said their goodbyes, Chen Mobai sat in the passenger seat.

Originally, Chen Xinglan had meant that no one in the family needed to see him off, and that he could set out on this road alone.

But Tang Pancui was worried, and Chen Mobai also wanted to see what Crimson Cloud Academy was like, so they had him go along.

Wang Jianyuan's driving skills were excellent. The journey of nearly forty kilometers took less than an hour.

"So this is Crimson Cloud Academy!"

Chen Mobai looked at the complex of buildings nestled amid a vast Wutong Forest and felt the incomparably dense spiritual energy in the surrounding air. He could not help taking a deep breath.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough..."

Then he could not stop himself from coughing violently.

The spiritual energy here truly contained a surge of heat. Without being refined into the Twelve Layers of the Tower, his throat could not quite take it.

The spiritual vein here was a Fire Vein, so naturally Chen Mobai, who had recently been nourished in a Water Vein the whole time, could not adapt.

"Do you see that Spirit Peak?"

Chen Xinglan got out of the car and pointed toward the deepest part of the Wutong Forest, also the tallest mountain peak. It towered into the clouds, white mist spreading around it, yet none of it could cover the peak's summit, where an incomparably enormous Jade Wutong Tree seemed to connect heaven and earth.

From afar, its bark was green as jade, its notched leaves like flowers, graceful and elegant, radiant and pure, steaming clouds and exhaling mist.

"So that's the Jade Wutong that's lived for more than four thousand years!"

As one of the Immortal Sect's Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, Vermilion Cloud City had this Fourth Tier High-grade Wutong Tree as its source. It had witnessed the Immortal Sect's rise, and had also taken root and propagated upon these mountains, gathering spiritual energy, suppressing the earth veins, and elevating what had originally been an ordinary extinct volcano into the present Fourth Tier Spiritual Vein.

It could be said that without this immortal Spiritual Root tree, there would be no Vermilion Cloud City today.

"The summit of that Spirit Peak is True Person Pure Serenity's cultivation place. The Foundation Establishment Cave Mansion I'll be using this time is at the foot of the mountain."

Chen Xinglan had long ago applied on Crimson Cloud Academy's Official Website to return to the school for Foundation Establishment, and had also received approval. Since cars were not allowed inside the school, the three of them carried their luggage, large and small, on their backs and walked to the foot of the Spirit Peak.

Before entering the Cave Mansion, they naturally had to go register with the teacher in charge of management. Their luck was good. That person was actually Chen Xinglan's classmate, though after graduation he had stayed at the school the entire time, handling miscellaneous Logistics affairs.

He looked over the contents of the approval stamped by the school and immediately arranged a vacant Third Tier Low-grade Cave Mansion.

"The school's about the same as it was thirty years ago. Not much has changed. You know where the Dining Hall is too. If you want to save some Merit Points, you can also prepare Bigu Pills yourself."

With an acquaintance helping them, everything went smoothly. Under his guidance, Chen Xinglan replaced his campus card. With this, he could swipe his card to enter the Cave Mansion, and even enjoy most of Crimson Cloud Academy's facilities and benefits, such as sitting in on classes, the Library, and even the on-campus shops selling pills, Magic Artifacts, and spirit talismans exclusively to students.

"Thanks, Old Yan."

This Old Classmate of Chen Xinglan's was named Yan Xiang. After helping him replace the campus card, he also took something from his own office and gave it to Chen Mobai.

"This is your son, right? Since it's our first meeting and I haven't prepared anything, I'll give you this Green Wutong Sapling."

Yan Xiang was a very amiable middle-aged man. This was a green Wutong sapling with only two leaves. After Chen Mobai received his father's permission, he reached out and took it.

"When students enroll at Crimson Cloud Academy, every student receives a Wutong branch, and they have to raise it until graduation. After graduation, they can take it away themselves. If they don't want to spend too much time on being a Spirit Planter, they can plant the grown Wutong branch in the school. This Wutong Forest of ours came about in exactly that way."

Yan Xiang pointed at the lush, verdant Wutong Forest blanketing the mountains and plains, his face full of pride. After he finished speaking, he had other matters to attend to, so he took his leave first.

"All right, then we won't disturb you either. Call me if anything comes up. It's convenient for me to drive over."

Wang Jianyuan carried the luggage in his hands into the Cave Mansion, checked the time, saw it was getting late, and also planned to leave.

"Let's have a meal together. I happened to replace my card, and the food at Crimson Cloud Academy's big Dining Hall is also exceptional."

Chen Xinglan made the suggestion, but Wang Jianyuan shook his head, saying that he still had a job in the afternoon and had to hurry back. Naturally, Chen Mobai could only leave with him.

At the school gate, father and son said goodbye. Chen Mobai was just about to get into the car when he saw someone familiar.

"Teacher Chan, why are you here?"

It was precisely Chan Si, who taught the Array Formation class at school. Today, she wore a red outfit and looked extremely pretty. But she was a student at Vermillion Cinnabar Academy, so Chen Mobai was very surprised to see her at Crimson Cloud Academy.

However, she was not alone. Another blue-robed man was accompanying her.

"It's you. It should be class time right now, shouldn't it?"

Chan Si was also quite surprised to see Chen Mobai at Crimson Cloud Academy.

"I brought my dad over..."

After he explained, Chan Si nodded in realization. She glanced at the Green Wutong Sapling Chen Mobai was holding and smiled as she wished Chen Xinglan success in Foundation Establishment.

"By my tutor's orders, I'm bringing this senior brother to pay a visit to True Person Pure Serenity."

The Blue-robed Man also smiled and nodded at Chen Mobai. He did not introduce himself.

After exchanging greetings, Chen Mobai remembered that Wang Jianyuan had matters to attend to and needed to hurry back, so he did not chat much with Chan Si. After thanking her again for the matter of the Azure Water Formation from before, he got into the car.

"Is he your student?"

After the Blue-robed Man saw Chen Mobai leave, he asked.

"Mm. His temperament is decent, but his aptitude is a bit ordinary."

"Oh, is that so? Could I have seen wrong?"

"What?"

Chan Si did not understand what the Blue-robed Man meant by that. The latter cultivated a secret art that could sense fluctuations of Spiritual Sense. On Chen Mobai, he had sensed that familiar feeling of activity yet disorder.

It was precisely the feeling an ordinary cultivator had when they had just broken through to Late Qi Cultivation and had not yet accurately grasped their own Spiritual Sense.

He had thought that Chen Mobai, despite his young age, was already at Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer.

"I remember he had only just broken through to Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer when school started this term. Given his Spiritual Root aptitude, it should be impossible for him to break through to Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer in a short month, right?"

After Chan Si heard that, she thought back to Chen Mobai's aptitude and said doubtfully. The Blue-robed Man felt that made sense too, so he did not dwell on it.

"I select students for the Immortal Sect, so I'm a little sensitive in this regard. Perhaps I saw wrong."

After the Blue-robed Man said this, he shook his head. These days, he had been constantly pondering what questions should be set for this year's College Entrance Exam. His nerves were taut, so perhaps his senses had been mistaken.

"Let's go. For the next few days, you'll be shut away. You won't be able to come down from the Spirit Peak until after the College Entrance Exam ends."

"To be able to enjoy a Fourth Tier Spiritual Vein is something I couldn't ask for more."

Chan Si brought him to a Cave Mansion halfway up the mountain, close to where the Jade Wutong stood. There were eight Fourth Tier Low-grade Cave Mansions here. As this year's College Entrance Exam question setter, the Blue-robed Man would be isolated in one of them.

"I wonder when the people from the Dao Academy and Academy will come over. After I finish setting these questions, they still have to review them, you know?"

Chan Si listened, smiling without saying a word.