"Indeed, the school's benefits are really good. I get to use a Rank-1 top-quality Spirit Energy Cultivation Room for two hours every day for free,"
Chen Mobai remembered that during the holidays, his mother grudgingly used Good Deed Points to upgrade the Spirit Energy of their home's Spirit Vein to Rank-1 top-quality. Even so, the Spiritual Energy Value was only 7, occasionally fluctuating to 8 and 9.
Furthermore, this Fifth High School of the Immortals was established on a Rank-3 lower-grade Spirit Vein, with a total of 300 cultivation rooms opened up.
After all, these students are the future flowers of the immortal gate, and they cannot be starved.
Three hundred cultivation rooms, with one hundred each for first, second, and third-year students, correspond to lower, middle, and upper-quality Spirit Energy of Rank-1.
Third-year students have it the hardest; the concentration of Spiritual Energy in their cultivation rooms is at the pinnacle of Rank-1.
The cultivation room is extremely simple, with only a meditation mattress in the middle of the blue stone floor.
Without wasting any time, Chen Mobai placed his mobile properly and activated the auxiliary cultivation video mode, then sat down on the meditation mattress and started refining the Spirit Qi.
Having just broken through to the fifth layer of Qi Cultivation and relying on the power of pills, his realm was unstable. Thus, he did not practice the Five Elements Internal Work during these two hours, and only ran the most basic Qi Nourishing Technique.
Warm currents flowed through the meridians in his body. The pale white Spirit Qi in the cultivation room seemed to turn into a long dragon, pouring into Chen Mobai's nostrils and mouth. It merged with his increasing spiritual power, slowly integrating and transforming into his real power.
He was immediately captivated by this feeling, losing himself to it.
Time slowly passed.
"Ding!"
The Soul Stabilizing Charm in the cultivation room awakened Chen Mobai from his cultivation. Even though he was reluctant to leave, considering the classmates who had been queuing outside for a long time, he could only pick up his mobile and hastily step out of the cultivation room.
As soon as he stepped out, a female classmate who was lined up right behind him rushed in, instantly swiping her card and closing the door.
Not just him, the rest of the ninety-nine third-year students also left the cultivation room with lingering affections.
Among these was Chen Mobai's desk mate, Lu Hongsheng.
"Hey, you're lucky to get in the first batch!"
After greeting him, Chen Mobai noticed a gloomy look in Lu Hongsheng's eyes. He seemed down.
"You know what I just saw?"
"What?"
Chen Mobai knew that Lu Hongsheng could not keep a secret and waited for him to spill the beans, which he indeed did after a while.
"I saw Song Zheng enter a Rank-2 Spirit Vein cultivation room."
"Rank-2 Spirit Vein, isn't that exclusively for the teachers? Who let their cultivation room be used by Song Zheng?"
Within the school, there are not only students' cultivation rooms but also exclusive high-end cultivation rooms for the teachers.
Except for the Rank-3 cultivation room exclusively for the Foundation Establishment Cultivator principal, the other ten Rank-2 cultivation rooms are also subject to a queue even for the teachers.
That Song Zheng could enter the Rank-2 cultivation room meant that a teacher had relinquished their cultivation resources for him.
"Who else, of course, it's old man Ding. He failed the Foundation Establishment twice and doesn't have much time left. So, he set his heart on education. Seeing that Song Zheng has the hope to enter one of the four major Daoist academies, he gave up his share of the Rank-2 cultivation room for him."
When Lu Hongsheng said this, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred, wishing he were Song Zheng.
"It's so unfair, and the school just lets it slide."
As the two of them were talking, some of their classmates also heard. One of the students showed indignation.
Although there's little to be said for fairness in society at large, there's a tacit understanding among the elites to maintain a sense of fairness and justice within the confines of school.
There is this teacher who gives his cultivation resources to his students, even though these resources are part of his own share. The true ownership of the cultivation room still belongs to the school. The students deem it is unfair, and if they were to report it to the school administration, it could cause some trouble.
"What do you understand? I heard Song Zheng officially joined Master Ding's school during vacation. He's already registered in the Heritage Hall of the Immortal Education Department. They are formally teacher and student now. The teacher providing resources to his pupil is not something the school administration can interfere with," a female student said to a male student who was considering reporting the incident.
Song Zheng was good-looking and a young genius genuinely popular among the girls.
Chen Mobai was also deeply envious.
If he could cultivate in a Rank-2 Spirit Vein for a semester, he was confident that he could advance to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation. Students at this level may not be able to enter the four major Daoist academies, but they do have a chance of entering the second-tier academies, and can easily choose from the third-tier ones.
He too was a True Spirit Root. Why was it that no teacher took notice of him?
One could argue that even among those with a True Spirit Root, some are better than the others.
"You guys continue the discussion. I'm going home. See you tomorrow."
Chen Mobai was still ambitious. Even though he felt the situation was unfair, he had no intention of getting involved in the dispute.
After using up the free time allotted in the school's cultivation room, he rushed back home. After all, his mom had finally coughed up the money to rent a high-quality Rank-1 Spirit Vein for six months, hoping for him to do well in his college entrance exams.
He couldn't afford to waste it.
Back home, the house was empty.
Both mother and father were working hard to provide for the family. Ever since the family had rented the Spirit Vein for half a year, they were working a lot more overtime, often coming home late at night.
Chen Mobai first cooked a pot of Spirit Rice, then in his mom's studio cut large pieces of yellow paper into standards size talisman papers that were 12cm long and 6cm wide.
By the time the Spirit Rice was cooked, Chen Mobai had cut out over a hundred blank talismans.
He counted twelve at a time, stacked them neatly, and tied them with a specially made Spiritual Rope. He made two stacks of six and put them in a jewel box.
The cost of making these big talisman papers was one Good Deed Point. After cutting and packaging, each talisman paper can be sold for two Good Deed Points, netting an estimated one point of Good Deed Points per box.
Chen Mobai would do whatever he could to help out at home financially.
He placed the two boxes of neatly packed talismans on the table, joined by eight boxes he had cut earlier. Ten in total, filling up an entire table.
He took out his phone, changed angles, and took over a dozen photos. Then, he selected a few of the better-looking ones and put them on the official online marketplace set up by the Immortal Division.
Usually, people will start bidding on them within a week. Chen Mobai will choose the highest bidder to sell to then.
Because he couldn't afford the teleportation cost, his transactions were always face-to-face within Red Sandstone City.
The city had a well-developed transportation system, and his student card allowed him to travel for free.
After eating the plump Spirit Rice that resembled jade, Chen Mobai used a Cleaning Technique to clean up the dishes and pots and went into his bedroom.
Although there was a specifically designed cultivation room near the energy pipeline from the Spirit Vein underground in his house, Chen Mobai preferred to practice Qi Cultivation in his own room.
As long as the door of the cultivation room was left open, the Rank-1 Spirit Energy would spread to every room in the house. Even if a window was opened, the Spirit Sealing Prohibition throughout the house would lock in the Spirit Energy from the Spirit Vein, ensuring minimal waste.
Of course, because of this, the concentration of Spirit Energy in the house is less than that of the school's cultivation room.
Regardless, Chen Mobai was already satisfied.
Resisting the urge to watch live streams on his phone, not thinking about the dancing and singing fairies, he calmed his mind, sat cross-legged on his bed, and prepared to cultivate. Suddenly, he noticed the turtle shell on the bedside table.
"Why did mom even bring this unlucky thing here!"