"The Feathering Cult?"
Chen Zhuo felt somewhat bewildered; the term sounded completely foreign to him.
Foreign as it was, Chen Zhuo had taken history classes back when he was in the mortal preparatory program.
This had to be some kind of evil cult!
In official textbooks, evil cults were depicted as guilty of every conceivable crime, an endless record of atrocities. Countless cultivators had been poisoned and ruined by them, and their followers were condemned and hunted by all.
Except...
Reading Chen Zhuo's confusion, Liang Ningwan lowered her voice and explained, "The Feathering Cult was a sect from five thousand years ago. During the Sect War era, they opposed corporatizing the sects, so the Immortal Mansion and the Taiqing Group joined forces to wipe them out.
"Ever since, remnants of the Feathering Cult have lurked in the shadows, bewitching minds in a vain attempt at restoration. They peddle fallacies and heresies, tricking cultivators into rebelling against the established order so they can reap illicit profits..."
Liang Ningwan continued, "Here in Taiqing City, quite a few frustrated, unsuccessful cultivators have been taken in by them, secretly supporting their operations, stirring up chaos, and carrying out terrorist attacks."
Truth be told...
Hearing the Feathering Cult's platform, even Chen Zhuo felt a slight twinge of interest.
Propaganda that sounded so enticing was indeed easy to fall for.
If it had been the Chen Zhuo of the past, had someone whispered such ideas to him in private, he might have joined up already.
Now, however...
"In reality, it's all just empty slogans," Liang Ningwan warned. "To put it bluntly, they're just using resources to bait us lower-tier cultivators into causing destruction.
"And those aren't even real resources—most of it is flesh-and-blood technology! The Feathering Cult used to be a demonic sect. You know how it is—those primitive demonic paths are far more brutal than corporatized demonic paths. Demonic companies aren't allowed to kill people indiscriminately nowadays, so when it comes to flesh and blood, they lag way behind the primitive demonic paths...
"Which is why the only really popular demonic companies right now are outfits like Hehuan Entertainment.
"Meng Yan's progress has been ridiculously fast; there's definitely something wrong with him!"
With that, Liang Ningwan gave Chen Zhuo an odd look. "Though you seem a bit strange yourself..."
Indeed.
Meng Yan had made rapid strides, cultivating from the first layer of Qi Refining to the peak of the second layer in a mere four or five months.
Liang Ningwan herself was currently only at the second layer.
As for Chen Zhuo...
He was already barreling toward the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
Liang Ningwan came from a Foundation Establishment family, yet even she couldn't keep pace with Meng Yan and Chen Zhuo!
If Meng Yan had something fishy going on, what about Chen Zhuo?
Hearing that, Chen Zhuo paused for a moment, then straightened his spine and declared proudly, "Every shred of my cultivation comes from my tireless, unflagging effort! There are no shortcuts!
"Have you ever seen the sun over Taiqing City at four in the morning?! Have you felt the pain of taking two needles at once?!"
Righteous and impassioned, Chen Zhuo boomed, "Sword cultivators don't have rearview mirrors, and talismans have no eyes! Have you ever been battered by a magic tool the way I have?!"
Listening to him rant, Liang Ningwan felt utterly baffled.
She hadn't seen Taiqing City at four in the morning? She'd never felt the pain of taking two needles at once?
How could that be possible? Even if I'm just a vocational college student, there's no need to insult me like that!
Us vocational students cultivate through the night without sleep, just like the university undergraduates! Only mortals sleep!
Still, Chen Zhuo seemed to have a channel for selling physical spirit stones, and word around their circles was that Senior Sister Si Jing had him covered. If anyone dared mess with him, Senior Sister Si Jing would tear off their scales.
Senior Sister Si Jing was a top talent of the Alchemy Academy!
Across the entire university's second stage, she had the absolute best shot at upgrading from vocational to undergraduate!
On many levels, academic progression was measured in five-year stages.
Years one through five were the first stage, and by extension, years sixteen through twenty were the fourth stage.
Whether for skill and knowledge competitions or any other contest, brackets were organized by these stages rather than specific academic years.
After all, when it came to immortal cultivation, a year or two made hardly any difference.
Liang Ningwan bit her lip and whispered, "By the way, Brother Zhuo... do you have any more physical spirit stones? Can you sell me a few? I'll offer fifteen spirit coins each this time."
The spiritual energy stored within a spirit stone was rich and pure. In this era of depleted environmental spiritual energy throughout the Immortal Mansion, absorbing it directly served as a substantial cultivation resource—certainly more precious than whatever resources fifteen spirit coins could buy at the same grade.
Furthermore, its uses didn't stop there. When refining elixirs or manufacturing enhancers, grinding spirit stones into powder dramatically improved success rates and eliminated impurities.
As for artifact crafting, its utility went without saying.
Meanwhile, Chen Zhuo did the math in his head.
He had originally held seventy-five spirit stones, along with some spirit sand.
Twenty spirit stones went toward collecting goods, thirteen went to renting the market cave dwelling, thirty went to buying the electronic vape, and over the past half-month, six went toward buying six sheets of talisman paper to trade for finished talismans.
He had only six spirit stones left for emergencies.
After a moment's consideration, Chen Zhuo decided it was best to maintain a good relationship with Liang Ningwan.
Her family background was respectable, after all. Her father was a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Law Enforcement Bureau, giving her access to informational channels Chen Zhuo lacked.
Though Chen Zhuo had ranked third in the mortal preparatory program, that was merely the result of rote memorization for standardized exams.
Concepts like evil cults and pill toxins were never tested on those exams.
"I can spare you three spirit stones," Chen Zhuo said. "But I don't have them on me. We'll trade after class."
How could Chen Zhuo carry something like a storage bag around with him?
What if someone with powerful divine sense noticed it?
Except when he was in the ancient cultivation world, he usually kept it hidden in his cave dwelling.
Yet listening to Liang Ningwan, his home didn't seem terribly safe either.
What if an investigation into the evil cult swept through and stumbled onto his storage bag?
Chen Zhuo hesitated briefly, deciding to move his belongings to the ancient cultivation world in a couple of days... At any rate, he had barely any spirit stones left, only the black net magic tool.
"Deal," Liang Ningwan nodded.
Just as she was about to say more, the lecturer from earlier walked into the room!
Unlike during the previous lecture, when he had worn a forced, lifeless smirk, the lecturer was beaming today, his spirits visibly more than twice as high.
"Attention, students! I have wonderful news to announce!
"We have the immense honor of welcoming 'True Person Luo' from our Taiqing City law enforcement department to our classroom today to deliver an educational lecture on preventing cult infiltration!
"Let's give him a warm round of applause!"
*True Person Luo?*
Chen Zhuo froze. But the very next second, a gentle, warm voice drifted into everyone's ears:
"No need to make such a fuss. I've only come today to show some care for the future blossoms of our Immortal Mansion."
Startled, Chen Zhuo turned his head to look.
Only then did he realize that at some unknown point, another figure had appeared at the head of the room.
The man looked no older than twenty-seven or twenty-eight. His hair was coiled in a Daoist topknot, and he wore cloud-stepping shoes. Though he didn't wear a Daoist robe or feathered vestment, he carried the unmistakable aura of an ancient cultivator.
In an instant, Chen Zhuo felt as though an immense mountain were pressing down on him, and everything clicked into place.
A True Person!
Whether in the Immortal Mansion or the ancient cultivation world, only those who achieved the Grand Dao of the Golden Core could be hailed as a True Person!
The man before him was a Golden Core True Person!
What more was there to say?
Chapter 27