White Cloud City was prosperous because of the Aspirant Cultivators Academy, which was also why it was spring all year round inside the city.
Rumor has it that it was the work of the masters. As for the cause, the ordinary folk did not know all the details.
The Aspirant Cultivators Academy occupied a vast area. If one were not familiar with the place, it was easy to get lost.
Chen Jingzhai had spent six productive years in the academy.
Relying on his previous life’s experience of preparing for examinations, he already knew the academy’s system like the back of his hand.
His hardworking nature made him Ling Wuque’s role model.
However, others held on to a different view of him. Being too focused on his studies, he frequently ignored his peers, so he naturally appeared to be a loner.
Chen Jingzhai did not seem to mind. He even moved to a more secluded house with Ling Wuque.
It was a slightly dilapidated house, with Chen Jingzhai and Ling Wuque being the only two residents.
Since the academy received many aspirant cultivators each year, there were many houses in the academy.
Every year, there would be a number of aspirant cultivators who would leave the academy after being successfully chosen by masters from various celestial clans. Therefore, there were many empty houses.
Moving into another house was not a hassle as long as aspirant cultivators submitted an application and informed the higher-ups beforehand.
However, there was no such thing as servants in the Aspirant Cultivators Academy.
The academy would provide the aspirant cultivators with three meals a day, but the latter had to attend to everything else independently.
With the memory from his previous life, Chen Jingzhai had no trouble taking care of himself.
Under his influence, Ling Wuque also acquired the ability to live independently.
The first thing the two of them attended to after returning to their house was to boil some water to quench their thirst.
Then, they returned to their respective rooms, shut their doors tight, and began to read through their manuscripts.
They joined the academy when they were six years old. They had spent six years of hard work for this very moment.
The aspirant cultivators reluctantly went through many reading classes and assignments to gain the skills to comprehend mantras and techniques.
The academy had spent the past six years strengthening their foundation of comprehension.
Chen Jingzhai realized this as soon as he joined the Aspirant Cultivators Academy; therefore, he had never slacked off in his studies.
This time, his wish was finally granted.
Chen Jingzhai placed the manuscript on the table as he controlled his breathing and calmed down.
When his heartbeat returned normal, he opened the manuscript and began reading through the Rock Technique.
After reading through the book once, he reread it while memorizing the mantra. He tried his best not to miss a word.
He repeated the step three to five times before he could recite the mantra by heart.
However, right at this moment, he suddenly felt dizzy. There was a prickling pain in his head as something flashed past in his mind.
Even though the sensation only lasted for a second, Chen Jingzhai could feel his heart throbbing violently.
When he regained his senses again, something looked different to him.
[Technique: The Rock Technique]
[Advantage: The cultivators, who succeed in cultivating this technique, will develop a strong foundation as well as pure and rich spiritual power.]
[Disadvantage: Sensing earth essence power is very hard. The level of difficulty for cultivating this technique is high. It is difficult for cultivators to get started on it.]
[Flaw: To get a head start in cultivating this technique, bury yourself under the roots of an old tree.]
Stunned, Chen Jingzhai saw the white writings that faintly appeared on the book of the Rock Technique.
“System?” he called out ina low voice.
No response.
Neither a ding sound popped nor a virtual screen materialized before him.
The four lines of writing slowly disappeared since he wasn’t paying attention on the manuscript.
Chen Jingzhai took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
He looked stoic on the outside, yet he was thrilled from within.
He knew from the start that he was special. Since he had transmigrated here, he would surely possess some sort of special talent.
He was slightly sad that he was not bound to a system, but this talent was not bad either.
Chen Jingzhai branded what he experienced just now as his talent. It didn’t matter to him whether it was a talent or not. He would assume that it was one.
He did not rush into cultivation. Instead, he went straight to Ling Wuque’s room.
“Have you memorized your mantra?” Ling Wuque asked with a smile.
“Of course,” Chen Jingzhai replied, nodding. “Let’s exchange our manuscripts.”
“Sure.” Ling Wuque did not question his suggestion.
The Aspirant Cultivators Academy did not prohibit the aspirant cultivators from cultivating the techniques of others.
It was because these basic techniques, which focused on guiding the cultivators to induct Qi into their bodies, were relatively safe for all to cultivate.
Before this, Chen Jingzhai had proposed that they should exchange their manuscripts, and Ling Wuque had no qualm with his proposal either.
Chen Jingzhai took Ling Wuque’s manuscript and sat in a corner. He fixed his eyes on the scripture of the Mudflow Technique.
[Technique: The Mudflow Technique]
[Advantage: It is easy for cultivators to get started on this technique. With this technique, it only takes a short time to induct Qi into one’s body.]
[Disadvantage: The spiritual power that is refined is not pure. It requires time for cultivators to figure out the technique.]
[Flaw: Fill a wooden tub with 150 kilograms of river sand. Fill it up with water until waist level. Cultivating in such an environment will require half the effort.]
Four simple lines of writing appeared before him. Chen Jingzhai smiled.
As expected, it was his talent and not just an accident!
Also, he did not need to remember or memorize the techniques for this to appear. At that moment, he finally felt a sense of relief.
Since he had confirmed that it was a talent, the next step was to verify whether the flaws highlighted were accurate.
Chen Jingzhai was not interested in the advantages and disadvantages of a technique. He focused his gaze on the flaw section. He was very familiar with this category.
“Isn’t this a bug?” he thought as he sneered to himself.
Although he was not a programmer in his previous life, he was a veteran in video games. He had tried exploiting bugs before.
“As expected, it is much more intricate than my Mudflow Technique,” said Ling Wuque when he finished reading the manuscript. He shook his head and said, “The difficulty in cultivating it is also much higher. Jingzhai, why don’t you also cultivate the Mudflow Technique with me?”
“I don’t have a water spirit root, so the Mudflow Technique is useless to me,” Chen Jingzhai said as he put down the manuscript.
“What a shame,” replied Ling Wuque. “You can’t change your technique after choosing it. Why don’t we find other aspirant cultivators to exchange manuscripts with? I believe quite many people chose the Magma Technique.”
“That won’t be necessary,” said Chen Jingzhai as he took the manuscript for the Rock Technique. “Let’s leave it at that! You don’t need to persuade me. Since I have memorized the mantra, the next step is to prepare to cultivate it!”
“You are too stubborn!” said Ling Wuque in exasperation.
Everything else about this friend of his was perfect. It was just that he was too headstrong. No one could change his stubbornness.
After leaving Ling Wuque’s room, Chen Jingzhai did not cultivate immediately.
He found some tools, followed the instructions of the flaw of the technique, and began to find a place to cultivate.
“Burying myself underneath the root of an old tree?” Chen Jingzhai murmured.
He wandered around the area and found a withered old tree behind their house.
The tree had withered, yet its roots were still intact.
He showed no hesitation and began digging out the soil around the roots.
To his surprise, digging a hole was an arduous task. This was primarily because there were old tree roots in the way.
Even with the help of Ling Wuque, it took the two of them a long time to completely remove all the soil around the roots. They managed to finish the task before dusk.
“What are you planning to do?” Ling Wuque asked while sitting on the ground, sweating buckets.
“I’m planning to cultivate here.” Chen Jingzhai did not hide his intention from Ling Wuque.
“Have you gone insane?” Ling Wuque asked while looking at him, bewildered.
“It is hard to be inducted into the Rock Technique. I have to find a way to overcome it,” Chen Jingzhai explained. “Since it is an earth attribute technique, I think it’s rather logical to cultivate it inside a pit.”
“What kind of logic is that? If this method is really useful, why haven’t others found out about it?” Ling Wuque retorted.
“Leave me to my devices.” Chen Jingzhai dismissed his friend by waving his hand. “Just bury me inside this pit.”
After saying this, he jumped into the pit and pulled the soil in with his hands.
“I…” Ling Wuque was left speechless.
He knew that he could not persuade Chen Jingzhai. The latter was always coming up with strange ideas.
Regardless of whether the latter succeeded, Ling Wuque would let him try as he pleased. Afterward, Chen Jingzhai would naturally not mess around anymore.
As Ling Wuque thought of this, he began to fill in the hole. Finally, the soil reached up to Chen Jingzhai’s chest level.
When he saw this, he nodded in satisfaction. He asked Ling Wuque to return to his own cultivation.
“Are you sure you will be all right?” Ling Wuque asked worriedly.
“If there is any trouble, I will be sure to make some noise,” reassured Chen Jingzhai. “Head on back to your room first.”
Ling Wuque nodded as he got up and left.
As he watched Ling Wuque close the door to the house, Chen Jingzhai finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, he closed his eyes, followed the contents of the Rock Technique, and began to cultivate.
