The Feathering Cult?

"Phew..." Exhaling a cloud of murky mist, Chen Zhuo felt a wave of intoxication. The tingling, transparent clarity in his lungs swept across his body in an instant, leaving him clear-headed and refreshed. His cultivation speed skyrocketed! His lungs itched slightly; he almost felt the urge to raise a snow leopard as a spiritual pet. Right now, Chen Zhuo felt that everything was going astonishingly smoothly. The environment was superb, and he had inhaled the booster. On top of that, he was practicing the optimal wood-attribute Qi Refining cultivation art, revised multiple times by the Immortal Mansion. With all three factors working in tandem, he achieved twice the results with half the effort! In an instant, the speed at which spiritual energy flooded into his body surged! If Chen Zhuo's previous absorption of spiritual energy had been a gentle trickle, now it was a rushing river! "Holy crap, this thing packs way too much of a punch!" Chen Zhuo gritted his teeth, steadied his posture, and directed his inner vision inward. The more potent the efficacy, the more cautious he had to be. If some side effect cropped up in a place like this, he would be in deep trouble! Remaining vigilant, Chen Zhuo soon concluded this cultivation session. Feeling the surging spiritual energy within him, he was thoroughly satisfied. "At this rate, breaking through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining before my time in the market expires shouldn't be an issue at all." Chen Zhuo pondered silently, turning his thoughts to his next moves. To be honest, although he could barter for plenty of things now, his balance of spirit coins was still far too low. He didn't dare convert them recklessly, either. After all, within the Immortal Mansion, there was a crime known as [Holding Unexplained Huge Sums of Spirit Coins]. Fortunately, Chen Zhuo was in the Taiqing Domain rather than the Zhongtian Domain directly governed by the Immortal Mansion, so things were comparatively lax. The Immortal Mansion governed five domains and nine heavens. The five domains were the Taiqing Domain, Yuqing Domain, Shangqing Domain, Daluo Domain, and Zhongtian Domain. They were five grand worlds that had been forged together. Meanwhile, the Nine Heavens were nine minor worlds situated above the five domains. The spiritual energy in the Nine Heavens had not yet been depleted; they belonged to high society, perched lofty and supreme. The Taiqing Domain, where Chen Zhuo resided, was the territory of the Taiqing Immortal Sect. The founding of the Immortal Mansion had originated from several great sects. Today, sects and the Immortal Mansion coexisted. Although the Immortal Mansion was ostensibly the authority, in places like the Taiqing Domain, the sect held the real sway. This was also why the Immortal Mansion's law-enforcement cultivators were lax in grassroots management, leaving the Taiqing Domain rife with black markets. Naturally, the Taiqing Immortal Sect no longer went by that name; today it was called the "Taiqing Group," running everything under the banner of a corporation. The other three domains operated much the same. As the power of capital grew ever greater, the power of the Immortal Mansion shrank. Perhaps in a few thousand years, the Immortal Mansion would become a mere formality, giving way to an entirely capitalist world of immortal cultivation. Chen Zhuo actually felt quite a bit of goodwill toward the Immortal Mansion; after all, it had provided the loan for his spiritual root implantation surgery. However, for the present Chen Zhuo, the Immortal Mansion had become his greatest obstacle... "Sigh." Chen Zhuo shook his head and set those thoughts aside for now. Ten thousand spirit coins was still a distant target for him, so he didn't have to worry about being targeted just yet. He would need a net worth of at least three thousand spirit stones before he would ever convert one thousand spirit stones into ten thousand spirit coins. Right now, another issue demanded his attention: Safety. The ancient cultivation world was fraught with peril. Chen Zhuo could guarantee that people were waiting outside to ambush him. He had pocketed seventy spirit stones in one go, and the shopkeeper at Jishi Hall was bound to leak the news and attract robber cultivators. For his own safety, Chen Zhuo needed to enhance his combat strength. "Right now, I only have sixty spirit coins left, and not many spirit stones either—just thirteen..." Chen Zhuo had a bit of a headache. Boosting his combat capabilities could only come down to learning new spells or relying on external aids. However, learning a new spell that could drastically increase his prowess right now was simply too slow. He wouldn't see much improvement within a single month. He could only turn to external aids. Yet what could he buy with so little money? After mulling it over, Chen Zhuo still felt that getting his hands on some talismans was the safest bet. "Doing this every time is pretty wasteful, though." Chen Zhuo felt a pang of pain. Talismans were single-use consumables, after all; for him, it was undeniably an agonizing waste. Under his current circumstances, though, he had no choice. Otherwise, the moment he stepped past the market gates, he would be courting disaster. With that thought, Chen Zhuo headed out immediately to begin shopping. Next, he would exchange his spirit stones for premium talisman paper, and then use that paper to trade with Yu Xia for some talismans. No defective goods this time. This time, he wanted the real deal! Reaching that decision, Chen Zhuo picked up the e-cigarette and took a massive drag. Instantly refreshing! "So strong!" Taking another fierce pull, Chen Zhuo felt his spirits surge, and he sat cross-legged once more to resume cultivating. ... Half a month later, in the Immortal Mansion. Chen Zhuo stepped out of his cave dwelling and headed for the classroom to attend his in-person lecture. He could feel that, through the past half-month of cultivation, his physical body had been tempered to its current limit. His sinews and bones were like iron, his flesh dense and solid, and his internal organs harmonized into a single whole! By now, he was at the peak great perfection of the third layer of Qi Refining, with half a foot already planted in the fourth layer! All right, that was a lot of flowery adjectives—in plain terms, he was genuinely not far from the fourth layer. With two puffs left in the "e-cigarette," Chen Zhuo was confident he could break through into the middle stage of Qi Refining within the next half-month. Even though time was precious, he still had to attend the in-person classes. Online classes didn't matter. He had only taken them seriously when he first arrived, but once he realized they mostly covered basic knowledge, he hadn't bothered much with them. In-person classes, however, were mandatory—each session handed out a waste pill. That was useful to him. Chen Zhuo pushed open the door and entered, immediately encountering Wang Heng sitting in the front row. Wang Heng was clustered with several formal-class cultivators, discussing something. Seeing Chen Zhuo walk in, Wang Heng broke off the conversation at once. His gaze swept over coldly; then, letting out a cold snort, he turned his head away and went back to chatting with his companions, ignoring Chen Zhuo entirely. Chen Zhuo didn't care either. When a dog bites a man, the man doesn't bite the dog back. Chen Zhuo scanned the classroom for a familiar figure. Soon, he spotted Meng Yan sitting by the window in the back row. Chen Zhuo walked over and took a seat beside Meng Yan as usual, intending to ask how his waste-pill appraisal report was coming along. Yet as Chen Zhuo drew close, he froze slightly. The fluctuations of spiritual energy radiating from Meng Yan faintly hinted at an impending breakthrough to the third layer of Qi Refining! A flicker of astonishment crossed Chen Zhuo's eyes. Barely half a month had passed since they last met, yet Meng Yan was already on the verge of breaking through from the second layer of Qi Refining to the third? This speed was absurdly fast. Did he have a cheat code too?! Meng Yan was just like him: he possessed an acquired, low-grade inferior spiritual root, with a spiritual energy sensitivity rating around 15. Chen Zhuo having an implanted spiritual root with a sensitivity rating of 19 was already a stroke of immense luck. And Chen Zhuo had reached the third layer so quickly entirely thanks to the abundant spiritual energy of the ancient cultivation world provided by the Boundary-Breaking Bead, combined with booster aids. How on earth had Meng Yan managed it? Though suspicious, Chen Zhuo kept his face neutral and sat down beside Meng Yan. "Good day, Meng Yan." Chen Zhuo remarked casually, "You're making rapid progress. Quite the immortal cultivation potential you've got there—already at the third layer of Qi Refining. Looks like you'll be surpassing me in no time." Hearing this, Meng Yan's body stiffened. Looking somewhat guilty, he stammered, "G-good day, Brother Zhuo. I just had a bit of luck and came across some cheap pills." With that, Meng Yan averted his eyes, not daring to meet Chen Zhuo's gaze. Chen Zhuo's brow furrowed slightly. Meng Yan's reaction was distinctly off! Then, Meng Yan glanced down at his spiritual communication jade slip and abruptly stood up. "Brother Zhuo, I have something to take care of with some other classmates. I'll take off first. Talk to you later." With that, Meng Yan walked straight toward the area where the formal-class students were gathered. Chen Zhuo watched him sit down beside a student. The two murmured a few words, and that student—whose name Chen Zhuo couldn't recall—even glanced over in his direction. This was far too bizarre. Meng Yan had always deeply loathed the discrimination from innate spiritual root holders. Why would he proactively go sit with them? Alarm bells rang in Chen Zhuo's mind. He recalled encountering Meng Yan in the square a few days earlier—his evasive manner and hurried departure. At the time, it had only seemed a little abnormal, but now... There was likely more to it. Turning over his thoughts, Chen Zhuo shifted his gaze toward Liang Ningwan on the other side of the classroom. Liang Ningwan was sitting alone in a corner, leafing through some materials. Noticing Chen Zhuo looking over, Liang Ningwan raised her eyelids slightly and gave him a nod. After a brief hesitation, Chen Zhuo stood up, walked over, and took a seat beside Liang Ningwan. "There's something wrong with Meng Yan. Don't go near him these days." As soon as Chen Zhuo sat down, Liang Ningwan cautioned him in a low voice. Chen Zhuo's heart tightened, though he maintained a calm demeanor. "What do you mean?" Liang Ningwan took a deep breath and kept her voice barely above a whisper. "I heard it from my father. A third of Taiqing City has been placed under martial law, and travel in and out of the university town has been prohibited." "Martial law?" Chen Zhuo was startled. "Why?" "Because of the Feathering Cult!" Liang Ningwan said gravely, "The Feathering Cult has made a comeback. Their targets are primarily vocational college students and cultivators with acquired spiritual root implants. Don't let yourself get deceived by them."