Starting the Rise from Canaan Academy - Part 5

"Wuu~"

The Heavenly Dipper Earth Tiger let out a miserable shriek. Its massive body was blasted away before crashing heavily to the ground. After twitching a few times, it fell silent.

Looking at the mangled Heavenly Dipper Earth Tiger on the ground, Qin Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded in satisfaction. This earth-tier combat technique was indeed formidable. With just one move, he had killed the Heavenly Dipper Earth Tiger, a beast renowned for its defense.

The Eight Wastes Burning Heaven Palm, a mid-level earth-tier combat technique, was something Qin Chen had obtained through years of refining fifth-tier and higher medicinal pills for the academy.

With it, he now had the capital to run rampant in the Jia Ma Empire, where profound-tier cultivation methods and combat techniques were generally the highest level available.

At this moment, Zi Yan, who had been hiding in the shadows, also came to Qin Chen's side. The little girl looked at the corpse on the ground, surprise flashing through her clear eyes before she turned to Qin Chen and said, "I didn't expect you to be this powerful. You killed that big guy in one blow."

At this point, Zi Yan felt utterly depressed. When they had first met, she had been a Dou King while Qin Chen had merely been a Da Dou Shi, unable to withstand even one of her punches. Now Qin Chen had already cultivated to the Dou King realm, while she was still a Dou King.

Qin Chen smiled faintly and descended to the ground with Zi Yan. As he dealt with the Heavenly Dipper Earth Tiger's corpse, he explained, "You're still in your childhood stage. On top of that, your true body is a magical beast, so it's normal for your cultivation speed to be a little slower. Once your body fully matures, your cultivation speed will surely advance by leaps and bounds."

Upon hearing this, much of the gloom on Zi Yan's little face faded. Her large eyes blinked for a moment before a sly smile appeared on her face. "If that's the case, then make more delicious food for me. I want to grow up quickly. Then, whoever bullies you, I'll beat them up for you. Hehe..."

"You little girl." Seeing that Zi Yan was practically drooling, Qin Chen could not help but laugh.

After storing the Heavenly Dipper Earth Tiger's corpse in his storage ring, Qin Chen patted the dust from his clothes and said to Zi Yan, "All right, let's go take a look at the treasure that big fellow was guarding."

With that, the two set off toward the mountains in the distance. Before long, they arrived at a cave concealed behind vines.

Qin Chen scanned the cave with his soul power. Only after confirming that there was no danger inside did he reach out, push aside the vines, and lead Zi Yan into the entrance.

The moment they entered the cave, the two smelled a faint fragrance. Zi Yan's nose twitched, and her watery eyes immediately lit up. Qin Chen, meanwhile, was overjoyed, because the instant the fragrance entered his body, he felt a slight tremor in his soul.

The cave was not particularly deep, and they quickly reached its end. A smooth stone platform came into view. On it grew a lotus that was emerald green all over, its petals adorned with tiny golden patterns. That faint fragrance was emanating from it.

The Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus!

This was an exceptionally precious medicinal herb. Like the Seven-Illusion Green Spirit Saliva from the original story, it affected the soul. However, the Seven-Illusion Green Spirit Saliva mainly restored soul power, while the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus could directly strengthen soul power!

Qin Chen swallowed hard and forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart. He took a jade sword and a jade box from his storage ring. Such heavenly treasures required special containers for preservation, or their medicinal potency would easily dissipate.

Qin Chen slowly stepped forward and gently cut through the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus's roots. Only then did he carefully place it into the jade box, close the lid, and store the box in his storage ring.

After doing all that, even someone with Qin Chen's composure could not help but burst into laughter.

Zi Yan, standing nearby, was completely puzzled. Tilting her little head, she asked, "Qin Chen, what kind of treasure is that? Why does it make you so happy?"

Looking at Zi Yan's curious expression, Qin Chen's smile did not fade as he patiently explained, "This lotus is called the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus. It is a heavenly treasure that can directly strengthen soul power."

"Ah, you don't like hearing about this stuff anyway. You only need to know that after I take it, I'll be able to make even more delicious food."

Zi Yan truly had no interest in medicinal theory, so she treated the first part as though it had gone in one ear and out the other. But the latter part made her eyes light up. She hurriedly grabbed Qin Chen's sleeve. "Really? Then let's hurry back. I want to eat something delicious."

"Mm. It looks like it'll be dark soon anyway. In that case, let's head back."

Heaven-Burning Qi Refining Tower, Cultivation Room Number One.

At this moment, Qin Chen sat cross-legged in the room. A black medicinal cauldron stood before him, several precious medicinal herbs lay on the floor, and he held a prescription scroll in his hand.

"The Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus can be combined with auxiliary herbs into a medicinal liquid and consumed to directly strengthen soul power. The formula is as follows..." After studying the prescription once more, Qin Chen took a deep breath, removed the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus from its jade box, and tossed it into the cauldron.

The instant the emerald lotus entered the cauldron, a cluster of crimson flames swiftly enveloped it. As the temperature continued to rise, the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus gradually melted under the intense heat, releasing strands of strange, delicate fragrance.

The fragrance not only carried the freshness of vegetation, but also possessed a soothing power that calmed the mind. The instant it entered his body, Qin Chen felt as if even his soul had been elevated.

Once the essence of the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus had been extracted, it had to be quickly fused, or its medicinal properties would rapidly dissipate. Unlike blending Earth Core Soul Marrow, he could not use tiny samples for trial attempts. In other words, Qin Chen had only one chance. If he failed, all his previous efforts would be wasted.

Fortunately, blending the Clear Aperture Soul-Nurturing Lotus was not complicated. Only a few auxiliary herbs were needed, and he merely had to add them in sequence according to the prescription. The difficulty was not even comparable to refining certain fourth-tier medicinal pills.

As time passed, the lotus in the cauldron rapidly withered, gradually turning into a pool of emerald liquid tinged with gold that floated in the center of the cauldron. The delicate fragrance it emitted also grew increasingly rich.

Qin Chen's gaze sharpened. He swiftly tossed the precious herbs on the ground into the medicinal cauldron one after another in the order stated by the prescription.

What followed was an extremely tedious refinement process. Qin Chen focused his mind and meticulously controlled the beast flame to refine the medicinal liquid within the cauldron. Earlier, he had merely performed a simple extraction. Now, he needed to slowly remove every trace of impurity from the liquid.

A full day slowly passed amid the dull process. The refinement was simple enough, but it was exceedingly time-consuming.

On the third day of refining, Qin Chen finally opened his tightly shut eyes. With a wave of his hand, a cluster of emerald medicinal liquid with golden radiance flowing through it flew out of the cauldron and quietly hovered before him.

"After working so hard for so long, I've finally refined you." Looking at the successfully refined medicinal liquid before him, Qin Chen was overwhelmed with excitement.

But when he thought of the hardship of the past three days, Qin Chen could not help sighing. "If I had a Heavenly Flame, why would I need to spend so much time refining it?"

"Still, once I refine you, I'll be one step closer to a Heavenly Flame."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Chen opened his mouth and drew the emerald medicinal liquid into his stomach. He then closed his eyes and began absorbing its medicinal power.

Leave Request

The instant the medicinal liquid entered his body, a gentle yet immense warm current rapidly spread through his limbs and bones. It then transformed into a strange mist that surged toward Qin Chen's brow, nourishing his soul.

Qin Chen could clearly feel the mist slowly seeping into the depths of his soul, intertwining and merging with his soul power. Every fusion made his soul perception sharper, while an indescribable sensation of comfort rose from the depths of his soul.

As the mist continued to nourish him, Qin Chen's soul strength grew at a visible rate. A faint glow gradually radiated from between his brows.

At a certain moment, the strange mist was finally completely absorbed by his soul. With a muffled sound coming from within his body, Qin Chen suddenly opened his eyes.

Bang!

A powerful wave of soul energy burst forth from Qin Chen's body, sending ripples outward that slammed fiercely against the cultivation room's walls. Fortunately, the room was built from special materials, blocking all of his soul energy.

Qin Chen nodded in satisfaction. His mind now felt incomparably clear. "Not bad. It seems my previous efforts were not wasted."

"I wonder what realm my soul power has reached now."

Although Canaan Academy's collection was extensive, it contained no records regarding soul realms. Thus, Qin Chen could not determine exactly what level his soul power had reached. However, he could clearly sense that with soul power alone, he was already capable of contending with a low-level Dou Huang.

Feeling his dramatically increased soul power, Qin Chen murmured, "With my current soul realm, refining sixth-tier medicinal pills should not be a problem. As for those so-called seventh-tier pills, my Dou King realm battle qi still isn't sufficient to support the refinement of such high-grade medicinal pills."

"Still, I didn't expect this increase in soul realm to bring me an unexpected benefit as well."

With a light touch of his finger on the storage ring, his Fire Energy Card turned into a streak of light and slid into the cultivation room's card slot. Clusters of invisible Heart Fire surged out from all around, instantly filling the entire room.

Qin Chen took a deep breath, swiftly formed cultivation seals with both hands, and circulated his cultivation method as he entered a cultivation state.

As everyone knew, an increase in battle qi level would drive an increase in soul power, and the reverse was true as well. Just now, Qin Chen had sensed a subtle change in the battle qi within his body. The bottleneck of his four-star Dou King realm had shown signs of loosening!

With his soul power enhanced, Qin Chen's control over his battle qi became increasingly precise, and his cultivation speed greatly improved as well. The aura radiating from his body grew stronger and steadier.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Today, Qin Chen had learned an important piece of news: the long-legged beauty named Xiao Yu from the Outer Academy had requested leave from the academy, claiming that she was returning to her clan to attend the coming-of-age ceremony.

Qin Chen stroked his chin and carefully recalled the original story's timeline, thinking to himself:

"After Xiao Yu returns, she'll stay in the Xiao Clan for roughly half a year. After that, she'll follow the recruitment team heading to Wutan City back to the academy. Xiao Yan will also successfully enroll in Canaan Academy at that time, and after registering, he'll head straight into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to cultivate."

"Mm, it's time to set off for the Jia Ma Empire. With my current five-star Dou King strength, along with soul power far beyond that of ordinary people, I'll be able to travel unhindered throughout the Jia Ma Empire."

Qin Chen knew that as long as he invested a little in Xiao Yan, he could make a fortune just like Hai Bodong had in the original story. However, the moment this thought emerged, he extinguished it.

The returns would indeed be great and the risks low, but the hope of reaching the Dou Di realm that way would be exceedingly slim, let alone becoming a Sovereign of the Great Thousand World.

As for intercepting the Gu Clan's eldest young lady or Yao Lao, that was even more impossible. Qin Chen had already missed the best opportunity. Trying it now would be nothing more than courting death.

Qin Chen's gaze turned sharp as he thought, Rather than rely on others, I'd rather carve out my own path to strength.

If transmigrating could not make him stronger, then he might as well become dust!

Early the next morning, Qin Chen arrived at Elder Su Qian's office.

"You want to request leave and go out?" Su Qian looked at the young man before him with a face full of confusion.

Qin Chen nodded, his expression serious. "That's right, Great Elder. This student has recently encountered a bottleneck in cultivation, so I wish to travel abroad and seek an opportunity for a breakthrough."

That was naturally a lie. With Qin Chen's talent, he would not encounter any cultivation bottlenecks before reaching the Dou Zong realm. However, the classic plot of "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river" had already begun. He had to reach the Jia Ma Empire as soon as possible and claim some precious opportunities for himself.

Su Qian had clearly sensed that something was off. His brows furrowed slightly as his gaze swept over Qin Chen's calm face, as if trying to see something in his eyes.

"Ah..."

After a moment, Su Qian sighed softly and waved his hand. "Forget it. You've always had your own ideas. Since that's the case, this old man approves your request. How long do you intend to be away?"

"About two or three years," Qin Chen replied.

"Two or three years?"

Hearing this time frame, Su Qian frowned again, clearly finding it somewhat too long. However, since he had already agreed, it would not be right to go back on his word. He could only remind him, "When traveling outside, remember to be careful in all matters. The world beyond the academy is far more complicated. You must not be careless."

As he spoke, Su Qian took out a green jade token and handed it to Qin Chen. "This is the academy's travel token. If you encounter trouble that you cannot resolve, display this token. In this northwestern region, Canaan Academy's name still carries considerable weight."

Qin Chen accepted the jade token with both hands and bowed. "Thank you for your concern, Great Elder. This student will remember it."

Afterward, the two discussed several specific matters before Qin Chen finally turned and left the office.

Qin Chen's residence, within the courtyard.

"What!? You're leaving?" Zi Yan stared at Qin Chen with wide eyes, her face full of disbelief.

"That's right. I plan to travel outside for a while." Qin Chen was somewhat helpless as well, but there was no helping it. He was not the sort of person who could remain indifferent when opportunities lay right before him.

"Then can you take me with you?" Zi Yan blinked her large eyes and looked at Qin Chen pitifully.

Of course, she would not easily let Qin Chen leave. If he were gone, would she not return to those lonely, hungry days from before?

As for Great Elder Su Qian, she had already thrown him to the back of her mind. She truly was a little darling who had been led astray.

"No. I have important matters to deal with during this trip, so I can't take you along." Qin Chen gently stroked Zi Yan's little head and shook his head.

"Please take me with you. I won't cause you any trouble." Zi Yan shook Qin Chen's sleeve and pleaded coquettishly.

Qin Chen took a deep breath, crouched down to meet little Zi Yan's gaze, and patiently explained, "What I need to do this time is extremely important. There can't be the slightest mistake. Be good and wait for me at the academy. The next time I go out, I'll definitely take you with me."

Jia Ma Empire

Zi Yan had never seen Qin Chen wearing such an expression before. The coquettish words she had prepared were completely stuck in her throat. In the end, she bit her lip and said softly, "O-Okay... But you have to come back quickly, or I'll get angry."

"Okay. I'll come back as soon as I'm done, and I'll bring you lots of delicious food." Qin Chen chuckled, stroking Zi Yan's smooth purple hair as he promised her.

"This little girl may be mischievous normally, but she's still sensible when it matters."

With that thought, Qin Chen took Zi Yan's little hand and headed inside. "Come on, Zi Yan. While there's still time, I'll make you more delicious food."

"Okay! I also want to drink that fizzy drink!"

Over the following days, Qin Chen spent his time either hurrying to make food for Zi Yan or taking time to bid farewell to his classmates and elders one by one.

Especially Liu Qing and Lin Xiuya. Under Qin Chen's encouragement and assistance, their cultivation was much higher than in the original story. They would likely break through to the Dou King realm by the next Strong Ranking Tournament. He wondered whether Xiao Yan would still be able to defeat the two of them then.

Half a month later, Canaan Academy's back mountain.

On a cliff rarely visited on ordinary days stood three figures, two large and one small.