15: terrifying cultivation speed

"Brother Qing, someone named Qin Sheng invited me to a group. Should I join?"

Xiao Weiqing said, "I received one too. Let's go in and take a look; it should be related to joining Luo Jiang Academy."

Ding... As soon as they entered, the Wristbands of both people started ringing incessantly.

The two of them quickly switched to Do Not Disturb mode.

"Everyone is here, 52 people in total. Everyone, please update your remarks with your county/district, Extraordinary Talent, and Rank. Thank you for your cooperation."

Xiao Weiqing changed his remarks as requested.

"My name is Qin Sheng. Those who have seen the Anqiu City entrance exam honors list should know me. Extraordinary Talent, Rank 4 'Weapon', Stormy Battle Spear."

"I'll keep it short. We report to Luo Jiang Academy tomorrow. I hope everyone stands united. You've probably heard that all academies are extremely exclusionary, and Luo Jiang Academy, as one of the Eight Great Academies, is even more so. In the eyes of those from the Prefecture City, we are outsiders coming to snatch resources."

"Originally, our city had three people with Rank 4 Extraordinary Talents this year, but unfortunately, the other two went to other academies. I won't comment on that; after all, everyone has their own ambitions. People head for the heights, while water flows to the lowlands."

"Alright, Qin Beast, we know you're the only Rank 4 now. Stop being so long-winded. Do you want to be the spokesperson for Anqiu City?"

Qin Sheng: "Exactly."

"I don't have an objection, but didn't Linhai County produce a Rank 3 True Art? Why don't you ask if they have an objection?"

Qin Sheng: "Is student Xiao Weiqing here? What do you think?"

@Linhai County—Xiao Weiqing—Rank 3 'Spell'.

Seeing Qin Sheng @ing him, Xiao Weiqing felt helpless. How did this '@' feature end up everywhere?

"Brother Qing, the group is asking you."

Seeing that Xiao Weiqing hadn't replied for a long time, Zhang Dawei reminded him.

"Reply for me. Say I'm Cultivating and haven't checked the group."

"Okay."

Inside the group.

Zhang Dawei: "Hello student Qin Sheng, Brother Qing is Cultivating and hasn't checked the group."

"I see. I wonder, student Zhang Dawei, what is your relationship with student Xiao Weiqing?"

Qin Sheng was very curious. Zhang Dawei actually called Xiao Weiqing 'Brother Qing'. Both were Rank 3 Spells from Linhai County—one fire, one water. Not only did they know each other, but was their relationship that good?

Zhang Dawei: "We grew up together in the orphanage and have been in the same class since childhood. I call him 'brother'."

"Cough, Brother Qing is indeed a very good person." The speaker was Li Fangnan.

Someone asked: "Li Fangnan, you know Xiao Weiqing too?" The speaker clearly knew Li Fangnan.

Li Fangnan said: "Sun Hao, Xiao Weiqing has always been the top figure in our county. I've admired him from afar for a long time. We met once during the Awakening. He truly is a Genius."

"That's right, Xiao Weiqing is indeed powerful."

This time, the speaker was another Rank 3 'Spell' from Linhai County, Wind Caller, named Ning Zhi.

Someone asked, "Is this Xiao Weiqing you're talking about really that badass?"

"No matter how powerful, he's still just a Rank 3." The speaker was also a Rank 3 'Spell' from Linyun County.

"Student, it's different. Xiao Weiqing's Extraordinary Talent carries the word 'True', so it's not an ordinary Spell. Although you are also a Spell user, you can't be compared to him."

"Exactly. True Arts are generally stronger than ordinary Spells. You'll find out later." These few were from Anqiu City and clearly knew more.

Seeing that everyone's attention was now on Xiao Weiqing, Qin Sheng felt helpless.

"Haha..."

"Qin Beast, your schemes fell through, didn't they? No one is a fool. Linhai County produced three 'Spells' this year, and one is a True Art. If you want to be the spokesperson for Anqiu City, show some sincerity. Don't let us fall into internal strife before the Geniuses from other cities even arrive."

The person who mocked Qin Sheng earlier spoke again, also pointing out why Li Fangnan and Ning Zhi spoke up. These two clearly weren't close to Xiao Weiqing, yet they spoke in his favor; they were essentially forming a clique.

To put it bluntly, it's fine for Qin Sheng to organize this group and be the group leader; everyone can just treat it as a place to stay in touch, or chat and joke around.

But if you want to be the spokesperson for the entire Anqiu City plus the four counties, just having a Rank 4 'Weapon' isn't enough unless it's a 'Spell'.

Even if you say it's to gather everyone so you aren't bullied at Luo Jiang Academy, which is reasonable, most people wouldn't be willing to be tied together so unclearly.

Besides, no one has met each other. How could they possibly listen to you just because of a few words from Qin Sheng?

At this time.

Qin Sheng spoke in the group again:

"Tomorrow, the spaceship we take will pass through Luohe City, Donglin City, and Yueshan City, picking up the Geniuses from those three cities in turn. I will take the lead until I fall."

"That works," someone replied.

"Good job, Qin Beast. You're a man. I acknowledge you."

"Fine."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"..."

Xiao Weiqing: "Fine."

Xiao Weiqing thought for a moment and replied too. It seemed like there would be some conflicts; Qin Sheng was preparing to lead by example.

Seeing the replies in the group, Qin Sheng felt weary. This year's Anqiu City team was hard to lead; every single one of them was very cunning.

Xiao Weiqing took the time just now to browse the forum.

It turned out that from the moment they were admitted, their lives had already changed. They would face their first test tomorrow on the way to the academy.

Once at Luo Jiang Academy, they would still have to compete—compete with people, compete with demons. Without competing, there would be no resources; without competing, they would be eliminated.

From scattered information on the forum, he learned that at Luo Jiang Academy, everything—suppressing River Demons, the Dragon Fish Platform, the Three Academies, the Spiritual Energy Tower, the Heavenly Ladder, and so on—required fighting for.

Before long.

After initial communication in the group, Qin Sheng from Anqiu City would be the leader for now, and they would discuss the rest once they reached Luo Jiang Academy.

Afterward, the group was left with just idle chatter and gossip.

Everyone also found out why Zhu Dong called Qin Sheng 'Qin Beast'—because he was two-timing. Moreover, both girls had very good talent: one with a Rank 3 'Spirit' Extraordinary Talent and the other with a Rank 4 'Martial'.

However, they eventually broke up. The Rank 4 'Martial' went to Azure Dragon Academy, and the Rank 3 'Spirit' went to another academy.

Xiao Weiqing stopped lurking in the group and began to Cultivate. With such a good Extraordinary Talent, not Cultivating would be a crime.

Then, he began to Cultivate Spiritual Qi according to the Samadhi True Fire Spirit Refining Art in his mind.

Starting from the shenque acupoint, he began Qi absorption, passing through the three major gates of the human body, and finally passing through the upper, middle, and lower Dantians before returning to the shenque acupoint.

A trace of Spiritual Qi was refined through the Small Heavenly Circuit circulation, becoming his own Spiritual Qi, and stored in the shenque acupoint.

After obtaining a trace of Spiritual Qi, Xiao Weiqing did not stop. He could feel that the Qi absorption effect of the Samadhi True Fire Spirit Refining Art was countless times better than the basic Qi Absorption Method provided by Planet Blue.

Combined with his Spiritual Qi affinity of well over 40 points, Cultivating felt like flying.

Previously, one circuit took half an hour; now, it was a matter of minutes.

This made him even more excited, like just creating a new character in a game and wanting to reach max level immediately. The thrill of initial leveling was too addictive.

Seeing Xiao Weiqing start to Cultivate, Zhang Dawei sighed, "As expected of Brother Qing. I can't fall behind either."

Then he also began to Cultivate according to the Cultivation Technique that came with his Rank 3 Water Manipulation Art.

However, Zhang Dawei's Spiritual Qi affinity could not compare to Xiao Weiqing's, and the ordinary Water Manipulation Art technique could even less compare to the Samadhi True Fire Spirit Refining Art.

Even so.

Zhang Dawei felt his Cultivation speed was also several times faster than before.

After two hours, Zhang Dawei stopped Cultivating; he felt this session had reached saturation.

But Xiao Weiqing did not stop. According to the Cultivation method in his mind, he began to refine Qi Fire.

The night passed in silence...