The Immortal Alliance of today had many concepts that Ancient Method Cultivators could not understand.
For example: "Any pill formula requiring extremely rare spiritual herbs, or spiritual herbs over a hundred years old, has no value."
That statement was enough to infuriate ninety-nine percent of Ancient Method alchemists to death. These people spent their entire lives on "finding formulas, finding precious herbs, refining pills" and "finding mutated herbs, researching formulas, refining pills." This statement was practically a denial of their lifelong cultivation.
Modern Dharma alchemists, on the other hand, thought like this—what a joke. Those pills that only produced one every few centuries provided so few samples; how could they possibly become research subjects? If they could not be researched, then they could not be improved, all right? Rather than waste time tinkering with individual specimens that had no research value, they might as well use ordinary ten-year spiritual herbs to study medicinal properties!
As for the conduct of Modern Dharma alchemists, it was—our goal was to make the cultivation world free of... ahem, to use ten-year spiritual herbs to refine the effects of ten-thousand-year heavenly treasures!
And—one pill was not enough? No problem, eat them by the handful. The cost was low anyway!
According to measurements, pills made by Modern Dharma methods using hundred-year herbs could already rival ancient pills refined from peerless spiritual herbs over three thousand years old, while the former cost less than one-thousandth as much as the latter.
Another concept that Ancient Method Cultivators found difficult to accept was, "A cultivator who does not understand theory and cannot conduct research is not a good cultivator."
All of a Modern Dharma Cultivator's abilities were built upon exploring the Great Dao. Therefore, how could a cultivator who, like a lowly animal, only knew mechanical training, accumulating experience, relying on instinct, and fighting, fighting, fighting possibly be a good cultivator?
It was precisely because of this concept that the Immortal Academy's curriculum focused primarily on theory.
Immortal Academy students had to finish breakfast before seven-thirty every day. At seven-thirty, all students gathered at the drill grounds and, under the guidance of Foundation Establishment Realm teaching assistants, performed the Basic Fist Art once and the Basic Sword Art once.
After that, until lunchtime, newly enrolled students had to study all sorts of theories. From enrollment until November, all courses arranged by the Immortal Academy were compulsory. From December until June of the following year, new students could arrange their own courses.
After lunch, there was a two-hour noon break. Afternoon classes mainly covered martial techniques, spells, and the like. At night, there was another theory class. Only after that class ended did these disciples of the immortal sects finish their day's lessons.
For every newly enrolled student, the half-day spent in the morning was exceptionally precious, because every word spoken by the instructors here concerned their future prospects.
Wang Qi, however, was an exception. Most of the time in theory classes, his mind wandered beyond the clouds. The Immortal Academy only offered introductory courses and rarely taught in-depth theory. Several figures Wang Qi cared most about, including the Planck constant, had not been given specific values. This left Wang Qi deeply frustrated.
"Photoelectric Precision-Guided Flying Sword..." Bored out of his mind, Wang Qi flipped through the textbook. "I'm more curious why Qi Refining disciples are assigned theory classes on flying swords."
Zhen Chanzi quietly answered in his mind, "Actually, the only reason you cannot do it now is that you have not learned the Object Control Technique. Using flying swords to injure people is considered a basic skill for Qi Refining cultivators."
"If that can be explained... then I'm even more curious why Liuyun Sect's theory course is being taught by a cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain."
Wang Qi watched Xiong Mo, the flying-sword theory instructor on the platform, lecture with spit flying everywhere, and silently mocked him.
Instructor Xiong Mo looked to be only around thirty, and he taught with considerable passion. By Wang Qi's standards, Xiong Mo's lecture was actually quite good.
But the robe this guy wore was clearly a green robe bearing the emblem of Spirit Beast Mountain, all right! Why was he openly teaching Liuyun Sect's course?
The profession did not match the field at all!
As Wang Qi was thinking, Xiong Mo had already moved on to the next commonly used Heavenly Origin Formula. With a light sweep of his hand across the watery radiance screen serving as a blackboard, a formula and several major applications appeared upon it. Xiong Mo cleared his throat and prepared to continue.
At that moment, his expression changed. The spiritual power in his hand slipped beyond his control, and the light screen became a blur of white static.
All the disciples in the lecture hall were greatly startled, but Xiong Mo revealed a delighted expression. "Classmates, study on your own for now—I'm going to face my tribulation! Before I return, finish Questions Two, Three, Five, and Nine on page forty-two of the exercise book! I'll explain them when I get back!"
That savage declaration stunned everyone, Wang Qi included. After saying it, Xiong Mo immediately rushed out of the classroom, leaving everyone standing there in disarray.
Wang Qi blankly asked Zhen Chanzi, "You seem to have said that a cultivator facing tribulation is in the gravest danger, right? But judging from this Master Xiong's tone... this is no different from saying, 'I need to take a leak!'"
Zhen Chanzi was speechless. "Perhaps he is simply confident... This old man truly cannot keep up with the times..."
Three minutes after Xiong Mo rushed out, the weather rapidly darkened. The sky had been clear for thousands of miles just moments ago, yet in the blink of an eye, dark clouds from nowhere blanketed the entire heavens. Thunder rumbled without cease, as though enormous wheels were rolling across the clouds. Blue-white serpents of light swam through the dark clouds, emanating a terrifying aura.
All newly enrolled students who cultivated thunder or magnetism techniques, Wang Qi included, felt the spiritual power within their bodies faintly slipping out of control. In midair, a powerful electromagnetic field was continuously gathering strength.
"So that's how it is... A powerful magnetic field interfered with the magnetic poles of magnetic crystals in water vapor, causing clouds to form in the sky... The brewing of a lightning tribulation begins with a magnetic field?" Wang Qi had wanted to study the principles behind the lightning tribulation, but the magnetic field of Tian Ge Xing, already on the verge of losing control, gave him no such opportunity. He could only sit down and silently circulate his cultivation technique to regulate his breathing.
On the drill grounds, Xiong Mo stared carelessly at the dark clouds overhead. He affectionately patted the back of another Primordial Spirit cultivator standing beside him—though with a little too much force, nearly making the other man's chest cavity resonate—and said, "Yun Xiang, I'm counting on you this time!"
The Primordial Spirit cultivator named Yun Xiang nearly spat out blood. "Brother Xiong... lighter. If you pat me to death, no one will help you face your tribulation!"
Xiong Mo rubbed his hands together. "Easy, easy. By the way, how is your Imprisoning Thunder Mantra? If you can't hold up, do you need me to transform?"
Yun Xiang Daoist shrank back, looking as though he wanted to vomit. "Absolutely not! My mental health rating will drop!"
Xiong Mo wore a smug expression. "A move that devastates enemies mentally as well is a good move! It's coming."
"Yes, yes." Yun Xiang Daoist looked helpless. "Fly off the ground. It'll be safer."
Xiong Mo followed his advice and floated with Yun Xiang thirty feet above the ground. Yun Xiang swept his wide sleeves, sending several streams of "magnetic qi" derived from Tian Ge Xing flying from his hands. This spiritual power condensed in the air without dispersing, bound around the two of them by Yun Xiang Daoist's hand seals. Once the magnetic qi around them had become dense enough, Yun Xiang clasped his hands into a circle and actually used the magnetic qi within his body to drive the spiritual power he had just released outside. The magnetic qi surrounding them rolled without end, ultimately forming a perfectly round sphere.
Yun Xiang wiped the sweat from his forehead. "All right. The Void Refining lightning tribulation cannot get in now. Once the lightning tribulation dissipates and the interference of heaven and earth's breathing is gone, you will be a genuine Void Refining Grandmaster. Congratulations, congratulations."
Modern Dharma cultivators faced their first lightning tribulation when advancing from the Golden Core stage to the Primordial Spirit stage, and another when advancing from the Primordial Spirit stage to the Void Refining stage. The Void Refining stage was the second hurdle of the third stage of Modern Dharma cultivation, the "Grandmaster" stage. If Primordial Spirit cultivators were experts capable of suppressing an entire region, then Void Refining cultivators were the backbone of the Immortal Alliance.
As they spoke, a bolt of tribulation lightning crashed down. Yet when the lightning touched the round sphere formed from magnetic qi, it was actually blocked. Blue arcs of electricity crawled across the sphere's surface, but however they roared, they could do nothing to the two cultivators within!
If Wang Qi had been there, he would definitely have recognized the true nature of this protective barrier at a glance—a Faraday Cage, a structure used to shield electromagnetic waves!
Xiong Mo laughed wildly. "Ahahahaha! What can this lightning tribulation do to me?"
Yun Xiang covered his face. "You're talking as if you blocked it yourself."
Xiong Mo again affectionately patted Yun Xiang's shoulder. "That's not the point! Ahahaha..."
"I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying! My bones are broken, broken!"
Yun Xiang's screams were drowned out by the increasingly violent thunder.
As Xiong Mo faced his tribulation, at the summit of Xinyue Mountain, in the rear hall of the Immortal Alliance's main headquarters.
A layer of haze covered the rear hall. Chen Jingyun, the Crown of Myriad Dharma, sat upright before its main entrance. Sensing the aura of a lightning tribulation, he looked toward the mountainside. A rare trace of a smile appeared on his dull face. "Someone else has advanced to Void Refining."
At that moment, a violent bout of coughing came from within the hall. Chen Jingyun immediately stood and quickly walked to the entrance of the rear hall. Then a beautiful middle-aged woman pushed the door open and emerged. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled. "Sect master Chen, you may enter now. Palace Master Deng is no longer in danger."
This woman was none other than Laser Lady Ma Juli.
Chen Jingyun revealed a delighted expression and pushed open the door to enter the rear hall. A bed had been placed in the opened-up interior, and Deng Jiaxuan, Palace Master of Sky Sword Palace and Sword Roaring the Heavens, lay upon it with a face like gold paper.
Chen Jingyun sighed in relief. "Brother Jiaxuan, how do you feel?"
Deng Jiaxuan smiled and barely managed to nod toward Ma Juli. "Not bad. Many thanks to Madam Juli for saving me."
Ma Juli shook her head. "It was only right."
More than half a month ago, Ma Juli had brought the gravely wounded, near-dead Deng Jiaxuan back to Xinyue Mountain and asked Chen Jingyun to serve as Dharma Protector. Afterward, she had remained in the rear hall, treating Deng Jiaxuan's injuries.
Chen Jingyun asked doubtfully, "So many of you went together. No matter how strong the Unforgiving Taoist was, you should not have been injured this badly, should you?"
Deng Jiaxuan shook his head. "It had nothing to do with the Unforgiving Taoist... cough, cough. In the end, it was because I myself was useless. I collapsed before I could even see the enemy."
"Wasn't it said that you only needed to wait seven days in the South Sea?"
Deng Jiaxuan wanted to speak again, but Ma Juli stopped him and answered in his place. "Divine Lord Bai Ze's Bai Ze Calculation had not yet reached perfection, and it overlooked one matter. Bu Rong Dao Ren of Misty Palace had a fiery temper and could never forgive the Unforgiving Taoist's betrayal. When he blocked the Unforgiving Taoist, he actually fought in earnest. Divine Lord Bai Ze's plan was only to tie down the Unforgiving Taoist for a moment, but Bu Rong Dao Ren chased him for ten thousand miles, disrupting the plan. As a result..." At this point, Ma Juli shook her head with a bitter smile. "The two martial brothers fought until their oil was exhausted and lamps ran dry in the Northern Abyss Sea, and both fell into the water. Palace Master Deng's old injuries relapsed because he hurried from the South Sea to the Northern Abyss Sea."
"Where are those two now?"
"Bu Rong Dao Ren has been found with the Immortal Alliance communication artifacts, but the Unforgiving Taoist is still missing."
The three discussed the matter of the Unforgiving Taoist for a while longer. Then Ma Juli rose to take her leave. Deng Jiaxuan asked Chen Jingyun, "How is the Immortal Academy?"
"The same as always. Teaching and educating people are not my strengths, so I have not interfered much over there."
Deng Jiaxuan nodded and smiled. "That is best... I still need to enter secluded cultivation in secret to recover from my injuries. I will have to trouble you to continue presiding over the overall situation."
"Also, someone just faced a tribulation outside. A Void Refining lightning tribulation, in the direction of the Immortal Academy."
"That youngster from Spirit Beast Mountain, I suppose. Cough, cough." Deng Jiaxuan said, "I sensed it too."
Chen Jingyun's expression was somewhat hesitant. "There is one last matter, and I do not know whether I should mention it. It concerns that newly enrolled disciple called Wang Qi..."
At that moment, Laser Lady Ma Juli ran back into the main hall in a bedraggled state. "Sect master Chen, there's a problem!"
Deng Jiaxuan instinctively reached for the Sky Sword. The movement tugged at his wounds, triggering a burst of coughing. "Cough, cough, what is it?"
Ma Juli pointed outside. "Look."
Deng Jiaxuan followed her finger and looked outward. Outside the rear hall lay a haze, within which several golden bridges appeared and disappeared faintly.
"Isn't that Myriad Dharma Sect's 'Primordial One Qi Array'?"
Chen Jingyun nodded. "I set it up."
The Primordial One Qi Array disrupted space and time within the haze. To break the formation, one had to traverse several Primordial Golden Bridges within it without repeating any path. The foundation of this formation was called the "One-Stroke Drawing Method," also known as a "one-stroke drawing," a derivative of topology.
Ma Juli cautiously asked, "Do you remember how many formation flags you used?"
"Seven. That was the most secure arrangement."
Ma Juli looked on the verge of collapse. "Hasn't the Seven Bridges Problem been proven unsolvable?"
"The enemy cannot get in."
"But have you considered how we are supposed to get out?"
A stunned expression appeared on Chen Jingyun's face.
Before you continue