Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer, Mission News

Still, it wasn't a complete failure.

To be precise, it had succeeded halfway.

Lu Qing lowered his hand, and strands of golden lines appeared in his eyes.

"Take it slow."

This formation wasn't like the Spirit-Gathering Formation or the Cloud Mist Formation, which could be activated once the formation was set up and its Formation Eye established.

Because this Golden Light Formation acted upon the physical body itself, it began with only one layer. Once it was successfully refined or one's cultivation deepened, one layer could be stacked atop another.

A thousand layers of rolling waves wouldn't be an exaggeration. That was why it was called an almost invincible defensive formation.

Only after studying it did Lu Qing finally figure out its underlying principles.

He put away the formation diagram.

He remembered everything inside the storage pouch.

Ever since entering Foundation Establishment, Lu Qing had implanted a wisp of Divine Sense into each of those items.

He didn't know artifact-refining techniques, but as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, once Divine Sense had formed, separating off a thread of it wasn't much of a problem.

At the Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment, Lu Qing had entered Foundation Establishment after only half a year of cultivation. He was undoubtedly among the ranks of geniuses.

The years of cultivation knew neither cold nor heat.

Another month passed.

Lu Qing emerged from seclusion, his cultivation having reached the Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer.

The same realm as that Senior Brother Qian from before.

Still, Lu Qing didn't know whether it was because of his cultivation technique, but the Spiritual Power in his Dantian had now turned into a lake—a vast golden lake, incomparably dense.

He had emerged today because White Crane Boy had brought him something: several Water Dragon Fruits from the Spirit Medicine Garden.

"Good stuff."

"Of course. Anything I, White Crane Boy, bring out is bound to be good stuff."

"Give it a try."

Ever since he had inexplicably awakened an affinity for tea, White Crane Boy would exchange tea leaves from his tea trees with Lu Qing every time he came over.

"It tastes good."

The Water Dragon Fruits on the fruit platter were pale blue all over, like seawater.

The moment he bit into one, before he could even taste it, he felt a cool liquid slide down his throat.

Cool as water.

After eating one fruit,

Lu Qing clearly felt much more refreshed, and his Spiritual Power had also increased by a thread.

"Boy, don't tell me you plucked these from someone else?"

Earlier, Lu Qing had been wondering where White Crane Boy got so many things.

They were all strange and varied, with no duplicates among them.

White Crane Boy smugly raised his neck. "How's that plucking wool? A few old men didn't have Spirit Stones when they went out, so they traded fruit with me."

"Hey, if I hadn't seen that they were old and frail, I wouldn't have agreed."

White Crane Boy carried people around whenever it felt like it.

It lived as carefree as the drifting clouds.

Lu Qing had heard of this as well. Apparently, the attendant beside a certain ancestor was from the White Crane Clan.

With such status, it might surpass even many of the Dao Academy's spirit beasts and disciples.

As for how Lu Qing knew, White Crane Boy simply couldn't keep secrets.

Even though Lu Qing hadn't asked, it had laid out its origins in full.

After all, it was a descendant of the White Crane Ancestor, and judging from White Crane Boy's tone, it was quite favored.

"They probably weren't old men."

Lu Qing didn't believe it.

White Crane Boy curled its beak. It was always most respectful toward the familiar elders, but most elders concealed themselves away in cultivation.

Ordinarily, perhaps only direct disciples could meet them.

It said, "I'll bet they weren't from the Dao Academy, because I picked up those people outside the Dao Academy."

"I was originally planning to go catch fish at the White Sea. The White Sea Fish there are in season lately, and they're at their freshest."

"But then I ran into a few old men. They looked so weak they couldn't even walk, so I kindly carried them away from there."

"They kept saying something about being poor, something about showing their appreciation..."

Unlike Lu Qing, who devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating within his own domain, White Crane Boy was born yearning for the outside world.

Once it grew tired of the scenery here, it would usually fly out for a few laps.

The White Sea lay north of the Dao Academy. Its skies were white with snow, it was frozen year-round, and there was an icy ocean there—that was why it was called the White Sea.

Of course, this geographical knowledge wasn't the important part. Hearing White Crane Boy recount its outing,

Lu Qing's mouth twitched.

White Crane Boy still hadn't caught on.

They had said they were poor and had no Spirit Stones, only a few fruits to offer as a token of appreciation.

Just looking at this Water Dragon Fruit, selling it would surely be more worthwhile than giving White Crane Boy a single Spirit Stone.

White Crane Boy was indeed big-hearted, but the White Sea wasn't far from the Profound Heaven Dao Academy. The Dao Academy was the largest power in the Profound Heaven Domain, and no one would oppose it—Demon cultivators aside.

Under those circumstances, it was only natural that White Crane Boy's identity had been recognized.

White Cranes were quite common around the Dao Academy.

"Forget that. I heard a lot of things outside. Lu Qing, you've entered Foundation Establishment?"

Just as it was about to say what it had heard,

White Crane Boy's mind finally caught up.

Because he had just emerged from seclusion, Lu Qing had yet to completely conceal his aura.

"Mm." Lu Qing took a sip of tea and nodded calmly.

"Hiss. At your pace, won't you be able to enter the Inner Academy after this year?"

White Crane Boy stared at Lu Qing eerily.

It suddenly realized that the young man before it looked so young. When it had met him half a year ago, he had still been an ordinary mortal with no cultivation. Yet in such a short time, he had entered Foundation Establishment in the blink of an eye?

As a Foundation Establishment White Crane, White Crane Boy didn't like flaunting its cultivation. It was an inborn cultivation instinct; for spirit beasts, even breathing was instinctive cultivation.

But it had never expected this either. Half a year—he had reached Foundation Establishment in less than half a year.

"Are you really of Superior Aptitude?"

With such performance, he should at least have Earth-Grade Aptitude.

"I am Superior Aptitude."

"Forget it, forget it. Let's not talk about that. I happen to have news you'll be interested in."

"What news? Go on, Boy."

White Crane Boy opened its beak. "Foundation Establishment cultivators have one more duty than Qi Nourishment Realm disciples: a garrison mission. At the very least, you need to serve as a garrison cultivator once. After a year, you'll have to leave, and the news is that the protection period for your batch of new disciples has been shortened."

"It won't be calculated by the protection period anymore, but by cultivation realm."

"So, Lu Qing, I reckon you'll be leaving the mountain gates very soon."

White Crane Boy let out a faint sigh.

Lu Qing was slightly startled by the news, but he quickly reacted. "Why was it suddenly brought forward?"

His expression remained calm. He had already considered this matter.

Still, Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer was somewhat too low.

His thoughts turned.

White Crane Boy said, "I only heard about it recently. Didn't the Spirit Vein explosion last time kill a large batch of disciples? There are shortages of manpower in various places now."

"But you don't need to worry too much. I heard they're using a lottery this time."

"It'll be decided by the three chief elder stewards of the Outer Academy."

White Crane Boy knew far more than just a little.

When Lu Qing heard it would be decided by lottery, his expression turned somewhat strange. It seemed his Calamity Avoidance might be activated—just in time to test that idea of his.