Cultivation Untroubled by External Things

The moment he opened the door, Zhou Bai saw a little girl with red hair, dressed in a black tracksuit and no more than 1.4 meters tall, standing outside and glaring at him with an unhappy expression.

"You're... Xia Li?" Zhou Bai recognized her identity.

The little girl before him, who looked only fourteen or fifteen, was Xia Li, one of the students in their class whose Primordial Spirit Value had reached 99, ranked tenth in the entrance test.

Though she was ranked tenth, Xia Li was still far too young. In a sense, she might have even greater talent for cultivation than the others.

Xia Li looked at Zhou Bai and said, "Teacher Lü told me to call you to class..."

Zhou Bai thought for a moment, then slammed the door shut with a bang.

Xia Li furiously pounded on the door. "Zhou Bai! Get out here! Did you hear me?!"

"If you don't come out! I'll abort the baby!"

Zhou Bai stuffed tissues into his ears, lay down on the bed, and went back to sleep. Listening to the faint chatter from outside, he muttered to himself, Heart demons, they're all heart demons! Don't think you can stop me from cultivating immortality.

Xia Li banged on the door for over ten minutes, but ultimately did not dare destroy the school dormitory door. Seeing that class was about to begin on the other side, she viciously kicked the door a few times, yelled at Zhou Bai some more, and left.

"Bastard!"

"Idiot!"

"I'm so mad!"

Hearing her leave, Zhou Bai silently breathed a sigh of relief and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept all the way until evening, when the ravenously hungry Elsa pounced on him and licked him awake.

"Zhou~~ Bai~~"

"I'm~~ hungry~~"

"All right, all right, I'll go get you some food."

Zhou Bai looked at the auxiliary cultivation system.

Daoization Degree: 0%

Primordial Spirit Value: 99

Divine Map: Nine Calamities of Heaven and Man

Laziness Qi: 850

"Not bad. Looks like I'll be able to light up the third star point tomorrow."

So Zhou Bai went to the cafeteria to eat and bring back food, only to be stopped by Xia Li again on the way.

"Zhou Bai! Why aren't you going to class?" Xia Li pointed at him and said, "Do you know what your place represents? So many people are silently making sacrifices outside so that we can have the time and resources to cultivate. And what are you doing?"

Zhou Bai could only pretend she did not exist. After all, she was urging him to attend class entirely out of good intentions. He could only listen silently, eat silently, and return to his room silently.

Seeing Zhou Bai completely ignore her, Xia Li shouted furiously, "Zhou Bai! You big bastard!!"

After returning to his room, it was time for self-study again. Zhou Bai stared seriously at the basic textbooks on the desk, occasionally writing and sketching in the notebook beside him as he took notes.

Since he had already earned such a bad reputation, Zhou Bai had a fire burning in his chest. Aside from farming Laziness Qi Value every day, he had to seriously build up his foundations as well, making up for the cultivation knowledge he had missed bit by bit.

"Regarding the understanding of the Five Elements division within Spiritual Machine... it is an abstract concept, rather than actual substances such as water and fire..."

And so he spent another entire night studying on his own.

The next day, under the artificial light source's shifting glow, Zhou Bai looked at the dimly brightening sky, let out a breath, and lay down on his bed.

The Laziness Qi from one whole day should be enough for the next star point, right?

So he slept until nightfall. Zhou Bai opened his eyes and eagerly looked at the auxiliary cultivation system panel. His Laziness Qi Value had reached 1360.

"Good!"

Zhou Bai's eyes lit up. He immediately sank his consciousness into the Supreme Unity Disc and poured 1200 points of Laziness Qi into the third star point.

Buzhou—Skin: Alters the nature of skin and flesh, enhancing the epidermis's resistance to impact.

Cultivation Method: (directly skipped by Zhou Bai)

Laziness Qi (0/1200)

As Laziness Qi flowed into it, Zhou Bai instantly felt an unbearably intense itch across his skin, as though countless ants and insects were burrowing beneath it and constantly gnawing at him.

Just as Zhou Bai was about to lose control and scratch himself, the skin all over his body rapidly cracked, bled, withered, and peeled away.

Like a giant snake shedding its skin, the flesh on Zhou Bai's body transformed into layer after layer of dry keratin, falling to the floor.

Before long, the epidermis all over his body had been completely replaced. It carried a faint dark sheen, giving him an inhuman appearance.

Yet as time passed, that feeling soon gradually faded away.

Zhou Bai took a deep breath and slowly stood up. Looking at his skin, he pressed it hard and felt that it seemed much tougher than before.

Next, he tried punching his chest several times. It felt as though his body was protected by a layer of invisible armor, while his epidermis itself had become like thick rhinoceros hide, more resilient than ever.

A punch at fifty percent strength caused virtually no pain at all. Only when he used seventy percent strength did he feel the invisible armor break, but the remaining force of the punch was blocked by his skin.

Only when he struck himself with a punch at ninety percent strength did it directly break through his defenses and injure some of the muscles and bones in his chest.

"This level of defense..." Zhou Bai calculated inwardly. I probably don't need to worry about ordinary people's knives, spears, clubs, and the like anymore.

After the three layers of enhancement from Buzhou, Buzhou—Foundation, and Buzhou—Skin, Zhou Bai's physical abilities would have made him a minor superhuman on Earth. If he had been born in ancient China, he would likely have been an unparalleled fierce general with the strength to hold off ten thousand men.

And if his 99 points of Primordial Spirit Power were added in, even ordinary firearms would probably be ineffective against him.

"Although my physique has been enhanced continuously, my Primordial Spirit Power is still stronger in terms of combat ability. But once my physique is strengthened, at least I won't be seriously injured at the drop of a hat when I encounter a fight."

Delighted by the further enhancement of his physical body, he looked toward the next star point.

Buzhou—Bone: Transforms bone marrow, strengthens bone quality, and invigorates physical strength.

Cultivation Method: (directly skipped by Zhou Bai)

Laziness Qi (0/1600)

Seeing the requirement of 1,600 Laziness Qi, Zhou Bai let out a light breath. Thankfully, it had not doubled again. Otherwise, his Laziness Qi Value would have been far too insufficient.

Thus, for the next several days, Zhou Bai skipped class every day, studied on his own at night, and immersed himself completely in cultivation. Xia Li, who had previously come to urge him to class, seemed to have completely given up on him and gradually stopped coming.

"Teacher! Zhou Bai is completely beyond saving!" Xia Li stood in a courtyard while Lü Chongyang manipulated large masses of water vapor nearby, watering the medicinal herbs in the yard.

Xia Li shouted, "I asked the dorm manager. This guy stays in his room all day long, and every night he goes out to eat at midnight. He never comes out during the day. He must be living a life with his days and nights reversed, muddling along and waiting to die!"

Hearing this, Lü Chongyang's brows furrowed slightly. He could not understand why, with the talent and comprehension Zhou Bai had displayed, he insisted on skipping class. Could he have some unspeakable reason?

Xia Li continued, "And him not coming to class every day affects the other students too! Many of our classmates are extremely dissatisfied with him. They think he's wasting resources and wasting a place!!"

--

Thanks to Qin Weiyong for becoming a league leader, and thanks to Elegant Earth Cannon for the 10,000 reward.