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[Name: Chen Mobai]
[Age: 18]
[Realm: Qi Cultivation Level 5]
[Spiritual Root: Metal 23, Wood 27, Water 23, Fire 17, Earth 10]
…
Red Sandstone City, the fifth high school of Immortal Gate, at a spot next to the window in a classroom, a handsome young man took out his slim, jade-like smartphone and opened his personal data interface.
Just after school started, the homeroom teacher wanted to check the cultivation progress of everyone during the holidays, and Chen Mobai edited some information that needed updating.
After connecting to the teaching network, he was about to send his personal panel to the homeroom teacher with a click when he heard a voice next to him.
"Hey, you actually went into seclusion for cultivation during the holidays and broke through to Qi Cultivation Level 5."
His deskmate, having sent his own panel, glanced at Chen Mobai's and saw what he had filled in for the realm section: "Qi Cultivation Level 5," his tone slightly sour.
Although the content on personal interfaces is self-documented, the school can easily verify the authenticity through various assessments. Hardly anyone would falsify information since being caught cheating would be recorded in their file and affect future schooling and even wartime resource allocations.
Within the Immortal Gate, the punishment for deception is quite severe.
"I'm different from you; I have a True Spirit Root. As long as I work hard, my cultivation will definitely be much faster than yours with your False Spirit Root."
Chen Mobai's words contained a hint of pride. Over the holidays, apart from going to the temple to burn incense with his mom, he spent the rest of his time in seclusion at home, painfully cultivating until he finally made a breakthrough with the help of elixirs and entered Qi Cultivation Level 5.
"It's so unfair that your Spiritual Root Attributes could be classified as a True Spirit Root."
His deskmate looked furious but was helpless; those were the rules of the Immortal Gate.
Spiritual Root Attributes above 20 count as possession of that attribute's Spiritual Root. His deskmate's talent distribution from Heaven was slightly more even when in the womb, with four attributes, resulting in classification as a False Spirit Root.
But in reality, his deskmate's Spiritual Root Attribute Points were not much different from Chen Mobai's, more or less six of one, half dozen of the other.
"Hmm, not bad. Quite a few people have made progress over the holiday."
At this moment, the homeroom teacher on the podium had finished reviewing everyone's panels, and a rare smile appeared on his typically stern face.
He then called out and praised each student who had shown improvement.
Chen Mobai was among those mentioned.
The homeroom teacher's praise caused two beautiful girls sitting in front of him to turn around, making Chen Mobai involuntarily stand tall and proud, a look of self-satisfaction on his face.
Having reached the realm of Qi Cultivation Level 5, he was already considered among the top twenty in the class.
Now a senior, if he worked hard, he might climb another level before the high school exams of the Immortal Gate.
With Qi Cultivation Level 6, there wouldn't be hope for the top four Daoist Academies, but the slightly less prestigious Rank-2 Daoist Academies were within reach. The Rank-3 Daoist Academies, such as the local Dan Zhu and Chixia institutions, were almost a certainty.
And as long as one entered a Daoist Academy after exams, they would not be recruited by Immortal Gate to participate in resource wars for ten years.
Perhaps he would even have a chance to reach Foundation Establishment.
"And finally, I want to especially commend Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan. I never imagined that in my lifetime, I could teach two students who've reached the latter stages of Qi Cultivation."
Chai Deyun had just become a homeroom teacher six years ago, and this class was the first he had taught from the beginning. He was the most emotionally invested at this time. He put down his tablet with a look of emotion, and his stern gaze softened as everyone's attention, including his own, turned to the boy and girl who had stood up.
These were the two top students in their class, also with the most outstanding Spirit Root Attributes, and they had not disappointed. Before the exams, they entered the Seventh Layer of Qi Cultivation.
With such achievements, their admission into a Rank-2 Daoist Academy was nearly guaranteed, and within ten years, they would have a chance at Foundation Establishment. If they succeeded, they would be Gold Core Tao Seeds and would be key candidates for cultivation within the Immortal Gate.
Chen Mobai also looked envious; unlike his borderline True Spirit Root, Song Zheng and Yan Bingxuan had genuine True Spirit Roots. One of their Spirit Root Attributes even exceeded 40, which made cultivating techniques associated with that attribute especially efficient.
"Alright, today's lesson ends here."
Hearing the bell of the school's tallest building, Chai Deyun collected the test papers, summarized them, and announced the end of class.
All the students dispersed at once.
Even Chen Mobai swiftly grabbed his smartphone and jumped out from the window beside him, heading straight for the Cultivation Room.
It was a good thing he had elevated one level in his cultivation during the vacation, as his Propulsion Technique was now three times faster, allowing him to arrive at the cultivation area ahead of most people.
He didn't have time to choose; seeing an unoccupied and open Cultivation Room, he dashed in.
"Beep."
Chen Mobai swiped his electronic student card from his smartphone, and the "Vacant" sign on the electronic screen at the entrance of the Cultivation Room instantly disappeared before the door closed slowly.
"Damn!"
A student who was one step too slow cursed and hurried to another vacant Cultivation Room.
They couldn't be blamed for being so desperate.
It was because Spiritual Energy was so hard to come by.
After six thousand years of exploitation by the Immortal Gate, the resources on Di Yuan Star were nearly exhausted. The territories covering the Thirty-Six Heavenly Caves and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands had all their Spirit Veins and Elemental Energy taken into state control. The Spiritual Energy left to overflow into the world was barely sufficient for cultivators to maintain their basic breathing and energy circulation.
For cultivators who wanted to absorb Spiritual Energy for cultivation, they had to pay Good Deed Points to the Immortal Gate.
To channel lower-grade Rank-1 Spirit Vein energy to one's Cave Dwelling for a month, it cost 10 Good Deed Points.
Chen Mobai, at Qi Cultivation Level 5, found lower-grade Rank-1 Spiritual Energy virtually useless.
Intermediate-grade Rank-1 Spiritual Energy cost 20 Good Deed Points a month.
And for superior-quality Rank-1 Spiritual Energy, the monthly cost was at 40 points.
For Chen Mobai, intermediate-grade Rank-1 Spiritual Energy was enough to stabilize his cultivation level but barely enough for progress. To advance quickly, superior-quality Rank-1 was preferable.
Of course, if there were Rank-2 or even Rank-3 Spirit Veins available, that would be even better.
But that was just wishful thinking.
Only families of Foundation Establishment Practitioners, or those owning companies, could apply to the Immortal Gate for the use of Rank-2 Spirit Veins.
Feeling the concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Cultivation Room, about three square meters in size, begin to rise, Chen Mobai turned on the Spiritual Energy measurement app on his smartphone.
After waiting for nearly a minute, the number on the screen finally stopped changing.
[Spiritual Energy Value: 10]
The grade of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy could be measured with the Spiritual Energy Value.
According to Immortal Gate laws, a Spiritual Energy Value of 1-10 is a Rank-1 Spirit Vein.
A Spiritual Energy Value of 10-100 is a Rank-2 Spirit Vein.
A Spiritual Energy Value of 100-1000 is a Rank-3 Spirit Vein...
And so on. It is said that the highest-grade Spirit Veins in the entire Immortal Gate, located within the realms of the two Divinity Transformation Ancestors, are Sixth Grade Spirit Veins.
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