Chapter 70 – The Warning Bell Rings

The consequences would come later. After leaving the crowd, Mu Lin’s first priority was reflection.

He reviewed the recent battle, contemplating his own shortcomings.

After some thought, he indeed identified several weaknesses and flaws.

“I was careless in the final battle. From now on, unless absolutely necessary, I must never reveal my main body in combat.”

As long as his main body remained hidden, no matter how badly Mu Lin was defeated, he would always have a chance to recover.

With this firmly in mind, Mu Lin continued to reflect on the battle, and soon realized:

“With the cunning of the Yin Eight Gates’ Paper Crafting Lineage, combined with my Grandmaster-level skills in paper folding, painting, and calligraphy, I could easily ambush and kill a Gushing Spring Realm cultivator from the shadows.”

“However, while I excel at covert attacks, I struggle in direct confrontations, especially sudden, unexpected encounters.”

Although Mu Lin had managed to kill the Yaksha by unleashing all his techniques when it attacked, he hadn’t forgotten that he had obtained the Yaksha’s blood beforehand, crafted a Yaksha paper figure, and could curse it at any time.

Without that advantage, he might not have been able to defeat the Yaksha.

“No, if I hadn’t prepared the paper figure curse in advance, I would likely have been defeated… The Blackwater Profound Serpent’s realm was forcibly elevated using my essence blood and wouldn’t last indefinitely. If the Yaksha hadn’t been cursed and had stalled for even a moment, I would have been the one to die.”

His relatively lacking direct combat ability was Mu Lin’s first weakness.

The second was his insufficient mana, which was also his greatest and most urgent flaw to address.

“In a way, my lack of direct combat ability is also due to insufficient mana. If I had enough mana, I could summon hundreds, even thousands of paper figures. With such an army, I would have no shortage of direct combat power.”

However, such a scenario was merely wishful thinking for now.

Among the three treasures of a Qi Refiner—essence, qi, and spirit—Mu Lin’s spirit was the easiest to cultivate.

By channeling Sky Burial Power daily and confronting the Arrogance Heart Lamp, his divine soul and willpower were tempered and strengthened through this struggle.

Even the monsters in his mindscape became more dangerous and powerful due to the influence of the Sky Burial Power.

Admittedly, this carried some risks, but risks also brought opportunities. The Little Girl had become one of his trump cards precisely because of this.

After spirit, his essence cultivation was also progressing steadily.

Although the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art was only an Earth Grade low-tier cultivation method, thanks to Snake Swallowing Elephant, Hibernation, and most importantly, the spirit cuisine provided by Chu Lingluo, Mu Lin’s physical strength and vitality were rapidly increasing.

“If nothing unexpected happens, within two to three months, my physical strength will advance from the Spirit Awakening Realm to the Gushing Spring Realm.”

With abundant essence blood and a powerful divine soul, Mu Lin’s progress in these two areas was entirely smooth.

In contrast, his cultivation of Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi was progressing very slowly.

Its circulation pathways were complex, it could only absorb Moonlight Power, and most critically, Mu Lin’s Spirit Root Talent was only third-grade. This meant that improving his mana cultivation required painstaking, gradual effort.

“If nothing unexpected happens, it will take me a full month to advance my Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi cultivation level to the Spirit Awakening Realm…”

This speed was actually not slow.

After all, for a Third-Class Spirit Root, the normal time for Spirit Awakening is between sixty to eighty days.

Moreover, this is while cultivating an Earth Grade Low Rank cultivation method. For the Earth Grade High Rank Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture, 120 to 180 days for Spirit Awakening is considered normal.

The fact that Mu Lin only needs to cultivate for another month, totaling two months, to accumulate enough mana to reach the Spirit Awakening Realm is still thanks to his powerful Divine Soul and high cultivation method realm.

However, even though the speed of entering the Spirit Awakening Realm is reasonable, Mu Lin couldn’t bear it.

“I need to find a way to increase my mana cultivation speed…”

While Mu Lin was searching for methods to rapidly improve his cultivation level, the impact of him securing first place gradually spread after he left.

The first to be affected were his classmates.

Regardless of their previous attitudes toward cultivation, after Mu Lin took first place, fearing ridicule, they all began cultivating diligently.

At the same time, a fire burned in many people’s eyes.

“Mu Lin has a Third-Class Spirit Root, and he still managed to take first place. I… maybe I have a chance too…”

“…Spirit Root isn’t everything…”

“Give it a shot. If I succeed, I’ll have everything…”

Although Teacher Dongfang Ya always said that Spirit Root isn’t everything, it’s undeniable that in the early stages of cultivation, Spirit Root has a significant impact on Qi Refiners. As a result, many people viewed Spirit Root Talent as an insurmountable barrier.

Many Qi Refiners with Second-Class Spirit Roots thus lost the drive to catch up to those with First-Class Spirit Roots.

But now, the situation had been stirred up by Mu Lin, this ‘catfish.’

His success ignited everyone’s ambition, boosting their confidence and motivation for cultivation.

This scene greatly pleased Mu Lin’s instructor, Dongfang Ya.

As a truly responsible teacher and a senior who genuinely enjoyed guiding juniors, Dongfang Ya naturally wouldn’t be stingy with Mu Lin, who had excelled in his task.

Seeing the results, she immediately wanted to reward him.

However, deciding on the reward proved difficult for Dongfang Ya.

“Securing first place and even making it onto the Prodigy list… that little brat has given me too big of a surprise. I can’t just brush him off with something trivial. I need to reward him with something he needs… Got it…”

Soon, Dongfang Ya thought of something, which prompted her to ring an alarm bell within the Anping Dao Palace.

“Dong! Dong! Dong!”

The alarm bell rang three times consecutively. To ordinary people, such sounds meant nothing.

But some teachers and seniors within the Dao Palace were startled. Many hurriedly emerged from their secluded cultivation spots or rooms, rushing toward the direction of the alarm bell.

Soon, over a dozen people gathered in the tower where the alarm bell was located.

Moreover, many of those who arrived had spell shields activated around them, appearing ready for battle.

Only when no enemies were found did their tension ease slightly.

At the same time, someone asked Dongfang Ya:

“Senior Dongfang, why did you ring the warning bell? Are there ghosts or monsters invading?”

“No, but there’s another matter requiring your discussion.”

After speaking, and seeing that everyone had assembled, Dongfang Ya waved her hand, signaling everyone to take their seats. She then proactively explained the reason for ringing the warning bell.

“Someone from our Anping Dao Palace has entered the Hidden Dragon Rankings, at ninety-third place.”

Upon hearing this, some in the room beamed with joy, while others… furrowed their brows.

It must be made clear that having disciples enter the Prodigy Rankings actually has an impact on the teachers within the Dao Palace.

No matter where, those in power are unwilling to support idlers.

The Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty established the Dao Palace system, and to ensure its proper functioning, there naturally exists a system of rewards and punishments.

—The Dao Palace conducts assessments of its disciples. Those with outstanding results receive rewards and higher status, while those with poor performance have their benefits reduced or are even expelled.

Similarly, the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty also assesses each Dao Palace. Those that pass the assessment receive more resources, while those that fail have their resource support reduced.

If a Dao Palace’s disciples consistently fail to meet the assessment standards for several consecutive years, the teachers of that Dao Palace may be dismissed and replaced by others.

In a previous life, there was a saying that the ultimate destination of the universe is a stable position.

Although this world is not that exaggerated, being a teacher in the Dao Palace, aside from offering relative stability, also allows one to receive offerings from the royal family and aristocratic families. For most teachers in the Dao Palace, this is an exceptionally well-compensated job.

Therefore, no one wants to be dismissed.

And this assessment is closely tied to whether the disciples of the Dao Palace can enter the Hidden Dragon Rankings, as well as their ranking within it.

(End of Chapter)