In the middle of the ancient palace where the students lived, there was a very high tower. It was a place dedicated to the practicing of cultivation. Students could clearly see the sky when standing in that tower. The tower was a good place to practice cultivation because the natural energy that pulsated through it, the Qi of heaven and earth, were perfectly interconnected at this location.
In the Celestial Academy, there were three other towers which were similar to this one. Those studying governmental affairs and those studying to become assassins also had their own towers. As far as the fourth is concerned, it was on the main public square of the academy and it was also the highest one.
“Lin Feng, the teacher gave us our first task while you were away. We have to practice our cultivation in the tower for a minimum of three months.” said Yuan Shan.
Lin Feng and the others were standing outside of the cultivation tower. They were all staring at the tower and Yuan Shan said: “In simple words, that tower is a perfect place to practice because of its abundance of pure Qi coming from heaven and earth to that location. The pure Qi of heaven and earth is flowing in what forms an endless stream of energy to that location. This energy is the same as those which flow in the veins of the earth. The inside of the tower is perfect for cultivation because the Qi is much denser and flows freely into the tower.”
“Managing to build four towers in which there is such a perfect stream of pure Qi is really masterful work.” said Lin Feng who could already feel some of pure Qi coming from the ground all around the outside of tower.
“Besides, if we don’t count the palace where the Imperial Clan lives, the academy is the place where there is the most pure Qi. Even the Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue only has two locations in which to build these towers. It is also very difficult to find places where there is pure Qi which circulates into the flow. Even the biggest sects usually don’t even have any. Actually, this is one of the reasons why the Imperial Clan is so strong, because they possess an incredible quantity of pure Qi.
Lin Feng nodded. Pure Qi was a thing cultivators longed for day and night. Even in the Yun Hai Sect, there wasn’t even a single location which contained the flow of pure Qi.
“It seems like the Celestial Academy really has a scary amount of resources.” thought Lin Feng. Even though the academy wasn’t famous because it was very secretive in how it recruited its new students, it seemed like it was more powerful than Lin Feng had ever imagined.
The academy required a letter of recommendation which was a difficult thing to obtain. Besides, it trained students for three specific functions: commanders, government officials and assassins. In all of these cases, these kinds of functions were extraordinary and were absolutely detached from the daily life of ordinary people.
Lin Feng and the others went inside the tower. Inside, there were some rooms and some of them were closed as they were already occupied by other people.
Lin Feng could feel the pure Qi of the earth penetrating into his feet and invading his entire body. It was quite an intense experience which he almost found scary. He was not cultivating and the Qi was already attempting to penetrate into his body.
“Let’s go upstairs. Hope we can find some space to practice. Maybe we will get stuck on the last floor.” said Yuan Shan. Unfortunately, the best place to practice in the tower was the ground floor. The closer to the ground, the better the quality of Qi would be. As you moved higher and higher it had slightly less Earth Qi circulating.
Obviously, the pure Qi of the earth was coming from the ground so it was also the place where it was the most intense. Lin Feng nodded and they all walked towards the higher floors.
The higher they were getting, the rarer pure Qi became. The tower was also getting narrower as they went to higher floors in the tower.
Lin Feng looked at a room on the tenth floor. They were extremely small and could probably accommodate only two people at once. If a person wanted to move inside these rooms then it was not convenient as there really was not enough space.
There was a young man in black robes was sitting outside the room on the tenth floor and his eyes were closed.
“What is he doing?” asked Lin Feng surprised. That young man in black robes was practicing outside of the room even though there was a spare one free. How could he enter in a state of meditation in such an open place?
Yuan Shan looked at Lin Feng, stopped walking and said: “You need a purity stone to enter the room. Many people don’t have one and even if they do, they don’t want to take it out. They prefer using other people’s stones.”
When Lin Feng heard Yuan Shan, he made a strange face. Use other people’s stones?
“They wait for people to come and use their purity stones and then they consume the pure Qi from other peoples stones from outside the room.”
At that moment, the young man in black robes suddenly opened his eyes and coldly looked at Yuan Shan.
“Since you know how things work, then no need to talk bullshit. If you want to use the room, use it, if you don’t feel like it, then don’t use it. Get the hell out if you are going to waste my time!” coldly said the young man in black robes. He was being extremely rude.
Lin Feng and the others were stupefied. Jing Yun then opened her mouth: “Yuan Shan, doesn’t the academy care about such things?”
The young man in black robes looked at Jing Yun as if she was an absolute idiot. The academy, care about such things? How ridiculous.
“Jing Yun, did the Yun Hai Sect care when people fought?” said Lin Feng. Jing Yun slightly nodded. Academies and sects were about getting stronger. The weak were the prey of the strong. Who would care about such things?
“Get the hell out of here! You’re disturbing me while I’m trying to meditate.” said the young boy in black robes who was getting impatient. Some of the senior students didn’t understand the rules of the academy which stipulated older students should guide the newer students.
“Lin Feng, let’s leave. If he dares to stay here and wait for other people to come practice then he must have broken through to at least the third Ling Qi layer. Let’s continue onwards.” said Yuan Shan to Lin Feng.
Meng Qing didn’t follow him because Yuan Shan thought they were weak. Since he was wrong, she didn’t feel like following him.
Lin Feng was motionless. He was standing at the same place.
“Third Ling Qi layer? Perfect! I was looking for someone of the third Ling Qi layer.” Thought Lin Feng
“Since there’s a room here, why not use it? Why should we continue onwards?” said Lin Feng. Everybody was surprised, especially the young man in black robes who had already started meditating. Everybody looked interested in what Lin Feng planned to do all of a sudden.
“New students overestimate their own abilities. They think that they are extremely strong because they are students that were accepted into the academy.” said the young man while looking more and more impatient. Practicing on the highest floors of the tower wasn’t a cheap thing to do. They needed to bring at least three purity stones with them. If they cultivated there for a month, they needed to bring at least a hundred purity stones with them.
“Lin Feng, don’t attack him.” said Yuan Shan. They were going to stay there for three months so they would need two or three hundred purity stones. That was a huge number and they didn’t have that many. The best they could do was find a room with a smaller cultivation requirement.
“No problem.” said Lin Feng. Since that guy wanted take advantage of others, Lin Feng wanted to see if he really had the strength for that.
Lin Feng walked towards the entrance of the room. Next to the entrance, there was a hole in the wall.
“Is it where you have to insert the purity stone?” asked Lin Feng to Yuan Shan.
Yuan Shan nodded his head and replied: “Indeed. It’s the same for every room. Inserting a purity stone in that hole then enables you to fully enjoy the functionalities of the room. The veins of the earth fills the entire room with pure Qi making it a perfect place for cultivation.”
“What an intriguing method.” thought Lin Feng.
He then nodded and said to Yuan Shan: “If I practice here for three months, how many stones do I need?”
“That should be three purity stones of lower quality each day.”
Three purity stones of lower quality.
Lin Feng smiled wryly. As expected, cultivation required wealth. Purity stones were precious items to cultivators. Only cultivators who had reached the Ling Qi layer could use purity stones to their maximum effect. It was almost impossible to obtain a great number of purity stones.
Lin Feng took something out of one of his pockets. Suddenly, an extremely dense and strong pure Qi emerged in the atmosphere. Yuan Shan was astonished.
Purity stone of medium quality. Lin Feng surprisingly had purity stones of medium quality.
“Are three purity stones of medium quality enough?” asked Lin Feng.
“Of course! One purity stone of medium quality is the equivalent of a hundred purity stones of lower quality. Besides, they also produce a much stronger and purer Qi.” said Yuan Shan while nodding.
The young man in black robes had a look filled with greed across his face.
That new guy had purity stones of medium quality. He would just easily take them and then use the room himself!