The Feathered Immortal Cult?

"Whew..."

Chen Zhuo breathed out a cloud of stale air, feeling almost intoxicated.

A tingling clarity spread from his lungs through his entire body, leaving him refreshed. Even his cultivation speed shot up!

His lungs itched. He almost wanted to raise a snow leopard as a Spirit Pet.

Right now, Chen Zhuo felt as though everything was going his way.

The surroundings were good, and he had taken the medicine.

The environment was good, and he had absorbed the medicine. He was also using the best Wood Attribute Qi Refinement technique, revised many times by the Immortal Estate.

With all three working together, he got twice the result for half the effort!

In an instant, Spiritual Qi surged into his body at a much faster rate!

If absorbing Spiritual Qi had once been a thin stream flowing steadily, it was now a mighty river in full flood!

"Damn, this stuff is strong!"

Chen Zhuo gritted his teeth, steadied himself, and looked inward.

The stronger the medicine, the more careful he had to be.

If any side effects appeared, he would be in trouble out here!

Keeping his guard up, Chen Zhuo soon finished his Cultivation. He felt the Spiritual Qi surging inside him and was thoroughly satisfied.

"At this rate, I should have no trouble breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer before my time at the market runs out."

Chen Zhuo considered his next steps.

To be honest, trading goods for goods could get him quite a lot now.

But his Spirit Coin balance was still too low.

He did not dare make trades recklessly, either.

After all, the Immortal Estate had a charge for "large sums of Spirit Coins from unexplained sources."

Fortunately, Chen Zhuo was in the Taiqing Domain, not the Zhongtian Domain under the Immortal Estate's direct rule. Things were relatively lax here.

The Immortal Estate governed the Five Domains and Nine Heavens.

The five domains were the Taiqing Domain, Yuqing Domain, Shangqing Domain, Daluo Domain, and Zhongtian Domain.

They had once been five great realms, pressed together into one.

The Nine Heavens were nine Microcosms situated above the Five Domains.

The Nine Heavens' Spiritual Qi had yet to run dry. They belonged to high society, far above everyone else.

The Taiqing Domain, where Chen Zhuo lived, was the territory of the Taiqing Immortal Sect.

The Immortal Estate had been founded by several major sects. The sects and the Immortal Estate now existed side by side. Though the Immortal Estate appeared to be in charge, places like the Taiqing Domain were still ruled by their sects.

That was why the Immortal Estate's Law Enforcement Cultivators were lax about managing those at the bottom, and why Black Markets had sprung up all over the Taiqing Domain.

Of course, the Great Purity Immortal Sect no longer went by that name. It was now called the "Taiqing Group," and ran everything as a company.

The other three domains were the same.

The power of capital kept growing, while the Immortal Estate's power kept shrinking.

Perhaps in a few thousand years, the Immortal Estate would exist in name only. By then, this would be a world of cultivation ruled entirely by capital.

Chen Zhuo still thought well of the Immortal Estate. After all, it had lent him the money for his Spiritual Root implantation surgery.

But for Chen Zhuo now, the Immortal Estate had become his greatest obstacle...

"Sigh."

Chen Zhuo shook his head and set the matter aside.

He was still some way from ten thousand Spirit Coins, so he did not need to worry about attracting attention yet.

He would need at least three thousand Spirit Stones to his name before he would spend one thousand of them to obtain ten thousand Spirit Coins.

For now, there was another problem to solve.

His safety.

The world of ancient cultivators was fraught with danger.

Chen Zhuo would bet anything that someone was waiting for him outside.

He had received seventy Spirit Stones in one go. The shopkeeper at Jishi Hall could easily spread the news and draw Robber Cultivators looking to rob him.

For his own safety, Chen Zhuo had to improve his fighting strength.

"I still have sixty Spirit Coins, but not many Spirit Stones left. Only thirteen..."

Chen Zhuo felt a headache coming on. To improve his combat ability, he could only learn new Spell Arts or rely on external tools.

But learning a new Spell Art powerful enough to boost his fighting ability dramatically would take too long.

He would not make much progress in a month.

That left external tools.

But what could he buy with this little money?

After turning it over in his mind, Chen Zhuo decided talismans were still his safest bet.

"Having to do this every time is such a waste."

Chen Zhuo winced at the thought.

Talismans were consumables, after all. Using them up hurt.

But given his circumstances, he had no choice.

Otherwise, danger might be waiting as soon as he stepped out of the market.

With that decided, Chen Zhuo headed out to make his purchases.

He would trade his Spirit Stones for Premium Talisman Paper, then exchange the paper with Yu Xia for talismans.

No defective goods this time.

This time, Chen Zhuo wanted the good stuff!

With that thought, Chen Zhuo picked up his Electronic Cigarette and took a deep drag.

That woke him right up!

"Now that's strong!"

After a long pull, Chen Zhuo felt his energy surge. He sat down cross-legged again and resumed Cultivation.

Half a month later, at the Immortal Estate.

Chen Zhuo left his Cave Abode and headed for the classroom to attend an in-person lesson.

He could feel that half a month of Cultivation had tempered his body to its current limit.

His sinews and bones were like iron, his flesh dense and firm, and his organs seemed joined into a single whole!

He was now at the absolute peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer, with one foot already in the Qi Refining Fourth Layer!

All right, that was a lot of qualifiers. It was not quite that dramatic, but Chen Zhuo truly was close to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

There were still two puffs left in his "Electronic Cigarette." He was confident he could break through to the Middle Qi Refinement within the next half month.

But valuable as his time was, Chen Zhuo still had to attend the in-person lesson.

Online lessons did not matter much. He had taken them seriously when he first arrived, but once he realized they mostly covered basic knowledge, he had largely stopped watching.

In-person lessons were different. Each one came with a Waste Pill.

Those were useful to him.

Chen Zhuo pushed open the door and immediately saw Wang Heng sitting in the front row.

Wang Heng was gathered with several cultivators from the regular class, discussing something.

When Chen Zhuo entered, Wang Heng stopped talking and swept him with a cold glance. Then he snorted, turned away, and went on chatting with his companions as though Chen Zhuo did not matter at all.

Chen Zhuo did not care.

A dog might bite a man, but a man could not bite a dog back.

Chen Zhuo looked around the classroom for a familiar face.

He soon spotted Meng Yan sitting beside a window in the back row.

Chen Zhuo walked over and sat beside Meng Yan as usual, intending to ask how his Waste Pill Appraisal report was coming along.

But as he drew near, he paused.

The fluctuations of Spiritual Qi coming from Meng Yan suggested he was on the verge of reaching the Qi Refining Third Layer!

Surprise flashed through Chen Zhuo's eyes.

It had only been half a month since they last met. Was Meng Yan already about to break through from the Qi Refining Second Layer to the third?

That was far too fast.

Did he have a cheat too?!

Meng Yan, like Chen Zhuo, had been implanted with a poor-quality, low-grade Acquired Spiritual Root. His spiritual energy sensitivity should have been around fifteen.

Chen Zhuo had been extraordinarily lucky to receive a Spiritual Root with a sensitivity of nineteen.

And the only reason Chen Zhuo had reached the Qi Refining Third Layer so quickly was the abundant Spiritual Qi in the ancient cultivators' world that the World-Breaking Pearl had brought him to, along with the help of medicines.

What did Meng Yan have?

Though puzzled, Chen Zhuo betrayed nothing as he sat down beside Meng Yan.

"Good afternoon, Meng Yan."

Chen Zhuo said casually, "You're making quick progress. Your Immortal Dao Potential is impressive—you're already at the Qi Refining Third Layer. Looks like you'll overtake me soon."

Meng Yan stiffened. Then he said, sounding a little guilty, "Good afternoon, Brother Zhuo. I just got lucky and found some cheap pills."

With that, Meng Yan avoided Chen Zhuo's gaze, not daring to meet his eyes.

Chen Zhuo frowned slightly.

Something was clearly wrong with Meng Yan's reaction!

Then Meng Yan glanced down at his Spirit Message Jade Slip and sprang to his feet.

"Brother Zhuo, I've got something to do with some other classmates. I'll see you later."

He walked straight over to the area where the regular-class students had gathered.

Chen Zhuo watched him sit beside another student. They exchanged a few quiet words, and the student, whose name Chen Zhuo could not remember, glanced his way.

This was too strange.

Meng Yan had always despised the discrimination shown by those with Innate Spiritual Roots. Why would he choose to sit with them?

Alarm bells rang in Chen Zhuo's mind.

He recalled running into Meng Yan in the square a few days earlier: the way he had avoided Chen Zhuo's gaze and hurried off.

It had seemed odd at the time. Now, though...

There was probably more to it.

As his thoughts raced, Chen Zhuo looked across the classroom at Liang Ningwan.

She sat alone in a corner, leafing through some documents.

Noticing his gaze, Liang Ningwan raised her eyes slightly and nodded to him.

After a moment's thought, Chen Zhuo got up, walked over, and sat beside her.

"There's something wrong with Meng Yan. Don't go looking for him these next few days."

Chen Zhuo had barely sat down when Liang Ningwan gave him the warning in a low voice.

His heart tightened, but he kept his expression calm. "What do you mean?"

Liang Ningwan took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "I heard it from my father. A third of Taiqing City is under lockdown, and no one is allowed in or out of University Town."

"Lockdown?"

Chen Zhuo was startled. "Why?"

"Because of the Feathered Immortal Cult!"

Liang Ningwan's expression turned grave. "The Feathered Immortal Cult has returned. They're mainly targeting vocational college students and students with implanted Acquired Spiritual Roots. Don't let them fool you."