Basic Qi Gathering Method! Wind and Cloud Platform!

Lin Ze sat cross-legged on the bed and cultivated. Pale green Dou Qi flowed with his breathing, entering his body and circulating through his meridians before finally gathering in the vortex in his lower abdomen.

When he reckoned enough time had passed, Lin Ze set aside a wisp of his focus to perform the day's Death Soldier projection.

White, white, white, blue.

The skill was quite suitable for the situation at hand: business, just like Ma Fugui.

After obtaining another Blue Rare Death Soldier, Lin Ze remained unfazed.

He now had more than thirty Blue Death Soldiers under his command.

Though obtaining a Blue Death Soldier was certainly a pleasant surprise, too many surprises could leave a person numb to them.

Lin Ze even found himself wondering what skills and talents higher-tier Death Soldiers might possess.

His stock of Flesh Essence had now reached more than nine thousand, and he was close to ten thousand.

In just a few more days, he would be able to unlock a new function or obtain a higher-tier Death Soldier!

Suppressing his anticipation, Lin Ze looked at the four Projection Shadows on the surface of the Bronze Mirror. He didn't deploy them in Wutan City.

He planned to send these four Death Soldiers to develop their business in Canaan City.

As for Wutan City, Lin Ze didn't plan to expand any further until the Death Soldiers' overall strength improved.

Further expansion could easily threaten other people's interests.

In fact, the barbecue shop, Blacksmith Shop, and Trading Firm run by his Death Soldiers had already attracted plenty of trouble from petty troublemakers.

Fortunately, Lin Ze had previously projected a Blue Death Soldier with the gift of gab. He'd had that soldier spend some Gold Coins greasing palms.

The City Lord Mansion in Wutan City and the bigwigs connected to the Death Soldiers' businesses had all been taken care of.

In Lin Ze's view, giving up some resources in exchange for a steady income of Flesh Essence was well worth it.

Ultimately, the Death Soldiers were still weak as a whole and couldn't obtain much Flesh Essence.

If their overall strength grew, they'd have far more options.

I'll focus on cultivation for now. Tomorrow, I'll go to the library and look for some tricks to cultivating Dou Qi.

The next day, Lin Ze first left Jia Nan Academy.

He found a secluded spot in Canaan City, summoned the four Death Soldiers he'd projected, and gave them several Gold Deposit Cards, each loaded with five thousand gold coins.

"Focus on developing your business and improving your strength. Try to collect as much Magical Beast meat as you can..."

Lin Ze gave them a general direction. As for the specifics, the Death Soldier with the business skill was obviously more of an expert than Lin Ze.

"Yes, Young Master!"

From then on, he could deploy the Death Soldiers projected each day with Precision Deployment, without needing to leave Jia Nan Academy.

Lin Ze returned to Jia Nan Academy and headed straight for the library.

Following the academy's small map, Lin Ze soon arrived at the library.

He took out his Student Badge and pressed it against the Light Barrier at the entrance. The barrier receded briefly, and Lin Ze slipped inside.

The library was quite quiet. Rows of bookshelves stood in neat formation, holding scrolls, parchment, and bound books.

Near the entrance stood a large wooden table. On it was a device that glowed with Dou Qi Radiance.

Lin Ze took a few steps closer before noticing an old man behind the table, reclining in a rocking chair with his eyes half-closed, dozing.

Lin Ze glanced at the badge on the old man's chest and realized he was a Mentor in charge of the library.

He cupped his hands to the old man but didn't disturb him.

Then he began looking for tips on cultivating Dou Qi.

He spent over an hour searching and found quite a lot.

The advice he found in Jia Nan Academy's library was clearly far better than the experience Lin Ze had gained through his own Dou Qi cultivation.

However, there were no tricks that could significantly speed up one's progress through the Dou Qi stages.

There were very few supplementary methods, either, because the meridians at this stage were quite fragile.

They couldn't even withstand the energy of pills.

Cultivators at the Dou Qi stage could only rely on patient effort, expanding and strengthening their meridians. Only after breaking through to Dou Zhe, when their meridians were strong enough, could they cultivate true Cultivation Methods and absorb the wild Dou Qi of the outside world.

"Even if this can't speed things up significantly, it's still far better than the cultivation notes I gave the Death Soldiers."

Lin Ze memorized the passages he found useful and prepared to leave.

But just as he reached the wooden table by the entrance, the drowsy old man suddenly spoke.

"Young fellow, you look unfamiliar. Are you a new student?"

Lin Ze paused, then turned around and cupped his hands.

"Mentor, I am."

"I can tell you've already developed Dou Qi and broken through to Dou Zhe. Why are you still hanging around the Dou Qi section? Are you regressing the more you train?"

Lin Ze had already prepared an answer.

"Mentor, I come from a small town and have no prominent family behind me. Though I was lucky enough to become a student at Jia Nan Academy..."

"But I have brothers, and I want to find some better Dou Qi cultivation tips for them."

"I'm just not sure if the academy has any restrictions on this. Am I allowed to pass them on?"

The old man was taken aback. He hadn't expected Lin Ze to be doing this for his brothers, and his gaze softened a little.

"There are no restrictions on that. Cultivation tips for the Dou Qi stage aren't worth much, and they're widely circulated across the Dou Qi Continent."

"The academy simply collects and organizes them. Passing them on to your family isn't forbidden; you could say it's one of the benefits of being a student."

Lin Ze's face lit up with delight, and he cupped his hands to the old man.

"Thank you for clearing that up, Mentor."

Seeing Lin Ze about to leave, the old man raised a hand to stop him.

"Wait a moment. If you're looking for cultivation tips for the Dou Qi stage, I have a scroll of the Basic Qi Gathering Method. I collected it for a junior in my family, and happened upon it by chance."

Having finished speaking, the old man finally found a scroll in his Storage Ring. With a turn of his wrist, a parchment scroll appeared in his hand.

"This thing is no use to me. Take it."

Lin Ze was taken aback. He hadn't expected to receive a gift from a senior just by visiting the library.

"This..."

Seeing Lin Ze hesitate, the old man smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm not expecting anything from you. Mentors teaching students is perfectly normal at the academy."

"If you really feel you can't accept it, then work hard and try to make it onto the Wind and Cloud Platform."

"The Wind and Cloud Platform?" Lin Ze asked, a trace of confusion on his face.

"Didn't your Mentor tell you about it? Oh, right. You're a new student. It's too early to tell you about the Wind and Cloud Platform."

The old man chuckled. Perhaps after serving as a Mentor at the academy for so long, he'd grown fond of teaching.

Noticing Lin Ze's confusion, he launched into a detailed explanation.

"Among the Outer Academy students, the outstanding ones are often called prominent figures. That's because of the Wind and Cloud Platform."

"At first, the Wind and Cloud Platform was just a place where students arranged friendly matches and fought. Gradually, it became a popular venue."

"Seeing this, the academy's leaders decided to cultivate the students' combat skills. After all, they couldn't just throw students into the Black-Corner Region to gain experience right away."

"So instead, they let students fight one another inside the academy."

"To encourage students to take part in combat, the top-ranked students receive pills as rewards. Even those at the bottom of the rankings receive Contribution Points."

After hearing this, Lin Ze nodded thoughtfully. Wasn't that much like the Strong Ranking in the Inner Academy?

"What are the requirements to compete on the Wind and Cloud Platform?"

"Heh. Don't think about that just yet, young fellow. Every student who competes on the Wind and Cloud Platform is at least a Dou Master."

"But if you give it a year or two, you may have a chance. Keep working hard."