Mastery of Spirit Water Needle

Autumn winds began to rise.

More than two months slipped by like a white colt flashing past a crack in the wall.

For the new students at the Dao Academy, their first rush of wonder and excitement had gradually given way to days of tedious yet fulfilling cultivation.

Chu Bai's life had grown as precise and regular as clockwork.

Each morning, as the first ray of dawn pierced the mist and lit the glazed roof tiles of the Scripture Repository, he appeared there on time.

He had not come to read the texts, but to carry out his special assignment.

He sat cross-legged on the eaves at the top of the building, his robes stirring in the mountain wind, as still as a statue fused with the ancient structure.

The Origin Return Formula circulated slowly. The dense spiritual energy around him flowed into his body like streams drawn toward him.

Meanwhile, the overseer's jade slip in his hand gave off a soft, steady glow, faithfully recording the subtle details of the spiritual energy he drew in and released with each breath.

Over those days, he had visited nearly every corner of the Dao Academy, from the bustling Martial Training Ground to the silent Spirit Herb Garden, and from beneath a waterfall wreathed in spray to beside the dry, sweltering Artifact Refining Room.

Though he had yet to find any anomaly in the Law Net worth reporting, the patrols had given Chu Bai an understanding far beyond the ordinary of how spiritual energy differed across the Dao Academy's varied environments.

That understanding had undoubtedly been a tremendous boon to his cultivation of the Origin Return Formula.

With the day's cultivation and records complete, Chu Bai silently tallied his assets.

A steady income of two Dao Merit points a day had let