Ancient Cultivation Is Outdated!

"As everyone knows, under the Immortal Estate's rule, whether Confucian, Buddhist, Daoist, or demonic—or from the eight hundred unorthodox schools and three thousand heterodox paths—every cultivator starts with Qi Refinement!"

"Qi Refinement has thirteen levels in all. You climb step by step, aiming for perfection at the ninth level before attempting Foundation Establishment. If you aren't confident, you can cultivate to the twelfth or thirteenth level first."

"Unlike Foundation Establishment and Core Formation, Qi Refinement is divided into thirteen levels to evoke the long stairway to immortality!"

"In the first three levels, you gather energy in the Dantian, open the meridians, and nurture true essence, using Spiritual Qi to nourish the body."

"Once your muscles and bones are strong as iron, your organs work as one, and your body reaches perfection, you can enter the fourth level of Qi Refinement and open your 'Dantian inner residence.' Only then do you truly store energy in its sea."

"In other words, at the first three levels of Qi Refinement, you haven't opened your Dantian Qi Sea. Spiritual Qi merely gathers at the Spiritual Root inside your body, then races through your meridians to nourish your flesh."

"And this is your chance to overtake everyone on the bend. The stronger your body becomes, the more it will benefit your future cultivation!"

The Immortal Estate, Taiqing City.

At Taiqing Alchemy Vocational Technology College, a young woman barely five feet tall stood at the lectern, spraying spittle as she earnestly laid out a cruel "truth" for the dozens of cultivators below who had enrolled through special admissions.

"Juniors, I know you were the best of the mortals. That's how you passed the exam and qualified for Spiritual Root implantation... But you received your Spiritual Roots too late! Compared with innate cultivators born with them, you've lost a full ten years of cultivation. How can you compete?"

"Let's see... Only this junior named Chen Zhuo has reached the second level of Qi Refinement. Everyone else is still at the first! Meanwhile, the other freshmen who enrolled alongside you have reached the sixth or seventh level. How are you going to close that gap?"

The cultivators below who had received Spiritual Root implants looked conflicted. Chen Zhuo's expression remained unchanged.

He had a cheat, after all.

For the past three months, apart from checking the day's messages on his Spirit Message Jade Slip, Chen Zhuo had spent all his time in the Microcosm, greedily absorbing Spiritual Qi. He had progressed so quickly that he had already broken through to the second level of Qi Refinement, making him one of the Mortal Class's top talents.

Still, the senior student giving the talk was telling the truth.

Cultivators like them, whose Spiritual Roots had been implanted after birth, had already lost ten years. How could they compare with those born with Spiritual Roots?

Those were the rising stars who could go further in the future, the talents with a chance to make the Junior College-to-University Transfer.

As for them...

To put it bluntly, they were essentially vocational students at Taiqing Alchemy Vocational Technology College. After graduation, they would get priority for assembly-line jobs at the Taiqing Sect's various enterprises.

Enterprises like Taiqing Pharmaceutical, a major taxpayer.

"But!"

Just then, the senior student at the lectern took an abrupt turn. She cleared her throat and raised her voice. "Luckily, you applied to Taiqing Alchemy Vocational Technology College! Here, you can legally take injections and medicine to overtake the competition on the bend!"

"Ancient Spell Cultivator methods won't cut it. These days, scientific cultivation is the way forward, and efficiency comes first!"

"Great Purity Pharmaceutical's latest creation, the 'Myriad Mechanisms Essence-Nourishing Raw Liquid, First-Generation Model,' is designed to build a foundation for cultivators at the first through third levels of Qi Refinement. It's now available throughout the Immortal Estate! Just 299 Spirit Coins per vial! It deeply nourishes your organs and greatly boosts your body's explosive strength, letting you breeze through the first three levels!"

"And there's more! The Iron Marrow Essence-Replenishing Injection, Spirit-Flow Stabilizing Injection, Dark Tendon Silicon-Based Solution, and plenty of other tried-and-true medicines are waiting for you! Our college makes them all, and students get a discount!"

"Of course, some of you may not know my name. I'm Sijing. Follow my Spirit Message Platform account and tune in to my livestream every night at eight. I'll give out an exclusive code phrase there. Use it to get two percent off medicines on the college platform!"

The room erupted.

Everyone looked fired up, though hesitation lingered on their faces.

Chen Zhuo, meanwhile, sat there looking perfectly composed. He wanted those medicines too, but reason told him ancient cultivation suited him better. Being an Ancient Cultivator wasn't so bad. Delivering takeout or working as a security guard would both be decent career options.

The reason was simple.

He had no money.

Who wouldn't want to pump themselves full of medicine if they could afford it?

Who would cling to ancient cultivation if they had the cash?

Chen Zhuo thought Senior Sijing had come purely to stir things up. She expected people who had to earn their Spiritual Root implants through excellent exam scores after turning sixteen to spend money on medicine? How was that possible?

Just then, a bespectacled young man who had only recently reached the first level of Qi Refinement looked tempted. After a moment's hesitation, he timidly raised his hand. "Senior, we don't have any Spirit Coins..."

Senior Sijing glanced at her roster and immediately said, "Well said, Junior Meng Yan! No Spirit Coins? Turn to Xiuxiu Tong, the small-loan platform! Short on Spirit Coins for Qi Refinement? Take out a Spirit Coin loan and get them today!"

"Borrow and repay whenever you like, without delay. Cultivate hard without worrying about coming up short on Spirit Coin!"

"Loans start at just ten Spirit Coin, with limits based on your individual cultivation progress!"

"Xiuxiu Tong, your trusty helper on the path to immortality! Enter the code 'Senior Sijing Is Amazing' for zero interest for the first three months!"

Chen Zhuo: ?

Damn it, medicine sales and moneylending all in one?

After the room had settled a little, Senior Sijing tapped the desk and said in an unexpectedly gentle voice, "Of course, cultivation ultimately depends on you. If you really lack talent, don't take out a loan. Just attend your online classes and graduate in twenty years to work on an assembly line. Don't overthink it."

"If you believe you're heaven's chosen and want a loan or medicine, add me on Spirit Message and we can discuss it. I can help you plan your Early Qi Refinement career path and future prospects for free."

"All right, class dismissed. Enjoy college life!"

"..."

Sijing left the classroom, and the whole room instantly burst into chatter.

Her final remark had truly fired up these sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds.

"Getting an injection wouldn't be so bad. We already owe three to five thousand Spirit Coins. If we borrow another two or three thousand for medicine, we might break through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement within twenty years. Then we could graduate early."

"Didn't I hear... these medicines have side effects?"

"If it can greatly speed up Cultivation and nourish the body, I can live with a few side effects."

"It took me three months just to reach the first level, and each level gets harder. Without medicine, I might never get past the fourth."

"I'll ask my dad when I get home. He had a Spiritual Root implanted too, and he's at the fifth level now. I'd better hear what he thinks first."

"..."

Honestly, the senior student's final remark had struck a nerve with the young people here.

Anyone who qualified for Spiritual Root implantation at their age had been among the hardest-working, highest-achieving mortals.

None of them thought they were useless. Each believed they could carry the team and take on the world.

So while Senior Sijing's final remark had sounded considerate, it was really meant to spur them into spending.

What a wicked woman!

Chen Zhuo let out a long sigh, picked up his Spirit Message Jade Slip, and added Senior Sijing as a contact.

"Hello, Senior. I'm Chen Zhuo, a new student. I'd like to ask about Xiuxiu Tong's small loans..."