Dawn had barely broken when Chen Fan was already sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the quiet chamber.
Looking inward, he saw a hazy expanse within his Spirit Sea. Gray wisps of source essence flowed slowly, and his once-scorching fire spirit root had long since dissolved completely into Chaos Qi, circulating along the fine, nascent Dao meridians.
This Chaos Sea was his greatest trump card. Apart from Jiang Qingyuan, who had vaguely glimpsed some of its outlines, he had only told others that it was a special Qi sensation condensed through years of arduous cultivation. He had never revealed the slightest bit of its true nature.
"Knock, knock."
The knocking was soft and measured.
Chen Fan ended his practice and opened his eyes. The person who pushed the door open and entered was none other than Jiang Qingyuan.
Today, she had changed into formal scholarly robes of moon-white with subtle patterns, her long hair gathered into a high crown. She had less of the Law Enforcement Hall's icy severity and more of an academic titan's dignified bearing.
She carried a neatly bound stack of dossiers, their covers stamped with the archaic characters for "Annual Academic Summit."
"Get ready. Come with me to the annual Immortal Palace universities academic summit at Han University's main campus." She set the dossiers on a corner of the desk. "You're my student now. Show your face and get to know people."
Chen Fan picked up the attendee list on top and leafed through it, his pupils contracting slightly: the president of Han University, the president of Jingfu University, the president of Huaqing University, the president of the Dao of Alchemy Association, the chief military defense formation master... nearly the greater part of the Nine Provinces' leading academic figures would be there.
"Such a grand gathering?" He looked up. "Won't a Qi Refining Realm freshman like me stand out too much?"
"Standing out is good." Jiang Qingyuan gave him a cool glance. "In the cultivation world, people ultimately size you up before deciding what dish to serve you. Taking you around today is the same as telling everyone that you're one of mine, Jiang Qingyuan's. From now on, whether you're handling cases or working on research projects, few will dare lay a hand on you lightly."
She paused, then added, "Professor Shen Moru from Jingfu will be there too, along with Li Songyan from Huaqing, an authority on spiritual energy engineering. He's been fighting with Shen Moru for almost two thousand years. They go at each other whenever they meet. Don't mind them; just enjoy the show."
Chen Fan nodded in understanding.
This was hardly just attending a summit. Jiang Qingyuan was taking him along to give him her endorsement, putting a ticket straight into his hands for entry into the Nine Provinces' highest circles.
He did not stand on ceremony either. He changed into clean blue robes and followed Jiang Qingyuan out.
By the time their flying boat landed in the academic center's plaza, it was already packed with spiritual boats and law artifacts of every kind. Law Enforcement Hall guards stood at posts every three paces, maintaining tight security.
The entire academic center was built from white-ink spirit jade, its dome painted with the Zhoutian Star Formation. Spiritual Qi slowly settled along the formation patterns; walking inside, even one's soul felt clear and gently nourished.
All along the way, people kept stopping and bowing, addressing her as "Professor Jiang," "Chief Adjudicator Jiang," or "Envoy Jiang." Their forms of address differed, but their reverence was identical.
Jiang Qingyuan acknowledged them with slight nods without slowing her steps, quietly introducing them to Chen Fan one by one:
"The one in crimson official robes just now was the head of the Xuzhou Academic Administration Bureau, a graduate of Jingfu's fifty-seventh class. You can approach him when your club needs to apply for funding."
"The one in black armor is the deputy commander of the Xuzhou Military Region. He earned merit fighting the Holy See at the border. The Law Enforcement Hall and the military region often conduct joint operations. Remember his face."
"The white-bearded old man is President Zhou of the Dao of Alchemy Association. He has quite a few ancient pill formulas in his hands. If you ever start a pill improvement research project, you can't go wrong approaching him."
Chen Fan silently committed them all to memory, missing no one.
As they reached the entrance to the inner VIP seating area, they could already hear two voices trading barbs. The smell of gunpowder was palpable even from far away.
"Old Li, that Spiritual Energy Conversion Rate Model paper of yours last year had three glaring flaws in its core parameters, and you still had the nerve to present it as your annual achievement?"
"Shen Moru, you have the nerve to criticize me? You've been guessing at that source evolution hypothesis of yours for three hundred years without a single piece of empirical evidence, and you still have the nerve to call yourself a titan? A titan of daydreaming, more like!"
Chen Fan looked up to see two white-haired old men bristling their beards and glaring at each other across a tea table.
The tall, thin man on the left, dressed in blue robes with a piercing gaze, was Professor Shen Moru of Jingfu University. The round-faced man on the right, dressed in brocade robes and no less imposing, was Professor Li Songyan of Huaqing University.
They argued from source Dao theory to spiritual energy engineering, from academic achievements to university rankings. Everyone around them was long accustomed to it and watched with smiles.
After all, Jingfu and Huaqing had been competing for so long that everyone from their presidents to their students had to compare everything. The two titans trading insults whenever they met had long since become a regular summit attraction.
"Professor Shen, Professor Li." Jiang Qingyuan walked over and gave a slight nod.
The two arguing men immediately stopped.
Shen Moru's eyes lit up, and he stroked his beard with a smile. "Qingyuan, you're here! I thought you'd be too busy with Law Enforcement Hall affairs to come this year."
Li Songyan also smiled and nodded. "Young Jiang has ten thousand affairs to handle every day, yet she still managed to make time for the summit. A rare sight."
"I brought a junior to broaden his horizons." Jiang Qingyuan stepped aside, letting Chen Fan come forward. "Chen Fan, my student."
"Chen Fan?" Shen Moru looked him up and down, then nodded with a smile.
Li Songyan also gave Chen Fan a few extra looks, but curled his lip. "Just a false spirit root. Jingfu loves these attention-grabbing gimmicks. If you want real results, you still have to look to Huaqing's approach to spiritual energy engineering. It delivers genuine improvements in cultivation efficiency."
"Bullshit!" Shen Moru bristled on the spot. "The source is the foundation, and engineering is its application! Without a sound foundation, all your fancy tricks are nothing but castles in the air!"
Just as the two were about to start arguing again, the bell rang in the main hall.
Three middle-aged men of extraordinary bearing walked onto the dais together.
On the left was Han University's Principal Zhou, refined and gentle; in the middle was Jingfu's President Gu, steady and imposing; on the right was Huaqing's President Lin, his pride held in check.
With the leaders of all three top universities present, the audience instantly fell utterly silent.
"Sit down. There's not much worth hearing at the opening ceremony. The real substance is in the breakout forums afterward." Jiang Qingyuan led Chen Fan to their seats in the VIP section. "Listen carefully. These old fellows' practical experience will do you more good than half a year of cultivating with your head down."
Chen Fan nodded and listened intently.
The morning's keynote speeches were packed with substance. Shen Moru discussed the underlying logic of source evolution in cultivation, Li Songyan discussed practical applications of spiritual energy engineering, and the chief military defense master discussed innovations in border formations... every point they presented broadened the audience's horizons.
Many cultivation details that had left Chen Fan stuck at bottlenecks were clarified by these big shots in just a few words, giving him the sense that everything had suddenly opened up.
Jiang Qingyuan sat beside him, occasionally turning her head to quietly add a few key pointers. Her light breaths brushed his ear, making even the otherwise dry theoretical discussions clear and easy to understand.
As Chen Fan listened, he pondered inwardly: perhaps he could go up and present something different at the young scholars' forum that afternoon.
His approach to "quantified cultivation," honed through arduous practice with a false spirit root, might just make a different sort of splash in traditional academia.
When the morning agenda ended, Shen Moru made a point of coming over and smiled at Jiang Qingyuan. "Isn't this student of yours going to take the stage and show us what he can do at the youth forum this afternoon?"
Jiang Qingyuan glanced at Chen Fan. Seeing him nod slightly, she said calmly, "He has a few rudimentary ideas. It won't hurt to let him talk about them. He can treat it as practice."
"Good!" Shen Moru slapped his thigh. "Then I'll see what new tricks a student of yours can come up with."
Li Songyan, standing nearby, heard this and snorted. "What could a Qi Refining Realm child possibly have to say? Don't end up unable to get off the stage."
Shen Moru immediately shot back, "Better than certain people's students, who can only parrot their textbooks!"
The two walked away bickering, leaving Chen Fan unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Jiang Qingyuan turned to look at him. "Are you confident? Don't force yourself if you aren't."
"Don't worry." Chen Fan smiled. "I'll talk about something practical. I can't go wrong with that."
He was not boasting. He had honed this approach through three months of arduous cultivation. Every piece of data had come from actual practice and could stand up to scrutiny.