I Acknowledge Your Degree!

"Current environmental spiritual energy density: 8.98! Heavens, you must be cultivating in some blessed land! I'm so jealous! Wuwu, Xiao Yu wants to cultivate in a blessed land too!" Listening to Sima Xiaoyu's moronic voice prompt, Chen Zhuo felt a little weak in the limbs himself. He was truly going to suffer from spiritual intoxication this time. A spiritual energy density of nearly nine points! What did that even mean? Even Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Immortal Mansion couldn't afford a cave dwelling of this caliber, and a Golden Core True Person would have to ponder for a long time before deciding to move into one! Yet Chen Zhuo only needed ten spirit stones to live in luxury for a full month! "Ah, so this is the ancient cultivation world. It packs quite a punch!" Chen Zhuo sighed in wonder, taking a deep, greedy breath, still longing for more. Though Chen Zhuo behaved a bit like an unsophisticated bumpkin who had never seen the world, in truth... ...he really hadn't seen the world. Clutching the bronze token and following its guidance, Chen Zhuo bypassed the core area of the market and walked toward the cave dwellings densely clustered along the adjacent mountain face. These cave dwellings were arrayed in neat, dense terraces. At a glance, there were at least several thousand of them! These cave dwellings were nothing like the ones in the Immortal Mansion world—places called cave dwellings that were actually apartments. These were genuine cave dwellings chiseled out of the rock face, actual holes hollowed into the mountain... Very retro. Holding the token, Chen Zhuo searched around for a while before finding his own cave dwelling. The door of the dwelling was made of dark iron. After he opened it with the token, inside stood only a simple stone bed, a stone table, and two stone chairs. Spartan. Moreover, it was completely devoid of sunlight year-round. Yet the spiritual energy was rich, and that was all that mattered. Chen Zhuo nodded in satisfaction. As he sat down on the stone bed, a chilly sensation welled up beneath him. "Not bad..." Chen Zhuo nodded slightly. Then, without hesitation, he immediately deployed his drone and activated the Boundary-Breaking Bead. Black light flashed instantly, and Chen Zhuo vanished. Upon returning to the Immortal Mansion, Chen Zhuo wasted no time contacting Senior Sister Si Jing, typing: "Senior Sister, the pills are sold. Can we settle in spirit stones?" Chen Zhuo was in a hurry. A month's time was exceedingly precious! He had paid spirit stones for it! Right now, Chen Zhuo only wanted to settle the transaction, get another shot, and head back to cultivate! Within a month, with the aid of technology, Chen Zhuo was confident he could break through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining! As for the spirit stones, Chen Zhuo had no time to slowly convert them into spirit coins via talisman paper and the like; bartering directly was the way to go. Since it was black-market business anyway... ...barter seemed to be the safest method! Si Jing: "???" Wait, bro, you moved them all in half a day? In the female dormitories of the Taiqing Vocational and Technical College of Alchemy, Si Jing, who was just getting ready to finish her alchemy assignments for the day, was utterly baffled. Half a day ago, she had recruited a junior brother who seemed full of potential to be her pharmaceutical representative. Half a day later, all those low-tier waste pills were sold? And he wanted to pay in spirit stones? At this thought, Si Jing sank into deep contemplation. At that moment, only one thought crossed her mind: Could this Junior Brother Chen Zhuo have bought them himself? Did he become a representative just to source goods at rock-bottom prices? Thinking of this, Si Jing couldn't help drawing a sharp breath. Good heavens. I acknowledge your Immortal Dao potential now—you are a true vocational college warrior! At that moment, Si Jing was filled with deep respect. She reached out her slender, jade-like fingers and replied: "Sure! Just give me twenty spirit stones, and I'll hand over the rest of the pills to you later!" Previously, in Si Jing's eyes, someone like Chen Zhuo, who had been promoted from the mortal class, was essentially a vocational secondary school student. Though he held a junior college student status, in essence he was still a secondary vocational kid. Nobody took that seriously—it dragged down the prestige of their college! But now, Si Jing acknowledged him! Chen Zhuo was a qualified vocational college student—a true higher-education scholar! Before Si Jing could ponder further, Chen Zhuo sent another message. "Senior Sister, I still have some spirit stones left. Could you recommend an enhancer for breaking through from the early stage of Qi Refining to the middle stage? I want to dose myself hard!" Si Jing: "!!!" Where did you get so many spirit stones? Si Jing badly wanted to ask, but held back. Everyone had their secrets. Where could spirit stones come from? First, exchanging them at the Immortal Mansion Bank. Second, acquiring them from the black market underworld. It was blindingly obvious! Still... "Sure. For thirty spirit stones, there's some super pure stuff, crafted by the pride of our vocational college—Senior Brother Li Hao, who successfully upgraded his vocational diploma to a bachelor's degree! It's the Synapse-Type Spirit-Guiding Aerosol!" Si Jing immediately introduced the products she knew about: "Besides that, there's Senior Sister Su Wan, who graduated last year and went to work at the Wuyin Pharmaceutical Factory. The one she stole from the factory... ahem, secretly refined—the Aptitude Condensation and Qi Tempering Enhancer (Entry Model)—is also very good, but it's pricier. You can have it for forty stones!" "The Synapse-Type Spirit-Guiding Aerosol comes in a specialized nebulizer device. When in use, press the button, and the liquid medicine atomizes into a vapor to be inhaled through the mouth and nose. "The medicinal mist goes straight into the lungs and is absorbed from there. The upside is fast results—you feel it after a single puff—and it's convenient to use. You can take a hit anytime, making it a steady, sustainable boost." Si Jing continued messaging: "As for Senior Sister Su Wan's Aptitude Condensation and Qi Tempering Enhancer (Entry Model), that's a completely different approach. "That stuff requires injection. I don't need to explain the rest, do I? You've injected before; you know how it goes." To put it simply: one was a vape, the other an injection! Chen Zhuo evidently pondered for a moment. A moment later, Chen Zhuo replied: "Thank you for the explanation, Senior Sister. Could you please hook me up with Senior Brother Li Hao's Synapse-Type Spirit-Guiding Aerosol?" Seeing this, Si Jing wasn't surprised at all. Although the Aptitude Condensation and Qi Tempering Enhancer offered a stronger one-off punch, the Synapse-Type Spirit-Guiding Aerosol was obviously more cost-effective. "Junior Brother Chen Zhuo, come find me in the academy district. We'll do the deal offline." "Understood." Once he had the location, Chen Zhuo set off immediately. Before long, Chen Zhuo met Senior Sister Si Jing in the academy district. She was petite, looking barely one and a half meters tall. No unnecessary gestures were made; only their eyes met. Instantly, like secret agents making a drop, they executed the exchange. Chen Zhuo handed over a pouch of spirit stones, while Si Jing passed the silver nebulizer device to Chen Zhuo. "All done. Next time we meet, it'll be right here." Si Jing spoke in a low voice and hurried away immediately. Gripping the exquisite silver nebulizer device, Chen Zhuo could hardly conceal his excitement. Having completed the transaction with Senior Sister Si Jing in the academy district, Chen Zhuo headed straight back to his cave dwelling without hesitation. In barely ten-odd minutes, Chen Zhuo was back inside. "Time to head to the real place to cultivate." Chen Zhuo took a deep breath, and with a stir of his mind, the black Boundary-Breaking Bead in his sea of consciousness began to vibrate. A flash of black light came and went, and Chen Zhuo's figure vanished from the dwelling. ... Ancient cultivation world, Yunjin Market, Cave Dwelling No. 73 of C-Ward. The black light retracted, and Chen Zhuo's figure appeared atop the icy stone bed. The instant he arrived, spiritual energy so dense it was almost viscous rushed over him, making every pore on his body rejoice. "Phew... Now this is what an environment for cultivating immortality should be!" Sighing with emotion, Chen Zhuo retrieved the silver device from his storage bag. "According to Senior Sister Si Jing, once the button is pressed, the medicinal solution will atomize and can simply be inhaled through the mouth and nose... That shouldn't be a problem." After mulling over the method of use for a moment, Chen Zhuo aimed the mouthpiece of the device toward his mouth and nose, hovered his thumb over the button, and took a deep breath. "Let's do this." Chen Zhuo pressed the button. Immediately, a pale blue vapor surged from the device, carrying a crisp, refreshing scent of mint. Chen Zhuo inhaled deeply at once, drawing every wisp of the medicinal vapor into his lungs. "Yee! Woo!" The moment the gas entered his nose and mouth, Chen Zhuo's spirits soared. "Woohoo!" "Now that, that, that packs a real punch!"