Chapter 196 - 195: First Day of School
It was called the "Yang Family Secret Transmission Ancient Skill," but in reality, it was, of course, the *Qi Cultivation Guiding Technique* disguised as Martial Arts.
Yang Shen had always called it that. Even the four little ones, who had been cultivating for so long, thought of it as an Ancient Skill.
The whole family was cultivating, but only Yang Shen knew what they were really doing.
And since it was Cultivation, the term "Spiritual Root" was unavoidable.
"Xu Bamboo: Third-level Qi Cultivation."
"Life Chart: Breaking the Cocoon and Rebirth."
"Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood, Fire, and Earth Four Spiritual Roots."
And...
"Long Jiu: Fifth-level Qi Cultivation."
"Life Chart: Undetermined"
"Spiritual Root: Water and Fire Dual Spiritual Roots."
Xu Bamboo’s Spiritual Root aptitude was the same as Yang Shen’s: Four Spiritual Roots.
One was missing Metal from the five elements, the other was missing Water.
After having the system for so long and checking the Spiritual Root aptitudes of many people, Yang Shen had long since understood the difference between having more or fewer Spiritual Roots.
He was no longer as naive as he was at the beginning.
A Single Spiritual Root had high efficiency when absorbing Spiritual Qi. Multiple Spiritual Roots absorbed Spiritual Qi more evenly and could use a wider variety of Magic, but their efficiency was slightly lower.
In Yang Shen’s perception, the difference was only about 20%.
If they were in a world with scarce Spiritual Qi, or "Source," the gap might be far greater than 20%. But Cyan Blue Star’s Source Content was actually extremely high; the air was filled with the sweet scent of Source... so the gap was likely smaller.
However, this 20% difference brought with it a great wealth of magical adaptability. For example, he could use four of the Five Elements Escape Techniques, whereas Lei Lv and Lei Yi, as Single Spiritual Root users, could only use one Escape Technique despite having "Tunneling Talent."
On the Cultivation Side, with its numerous legacies, a Single Spiritual Root user probably wouldn’t lack for Cultivation Techniques. But they were on Cyan Blue Star, where all rewards came from the system and had a certain degree of randomness. A Single Spiritual Root was actually quite troublesome.
As for how much of a difference this 20% in efficiency would make over a longer timeline—for example, if in 50 years, Single Spiritual Root users like Lei Lv and Lei Yi had reached Core Formation while he was still at Foundation Establishment...
Yang Shen had no way of knowing yet.
But no matter the rules, one had to adapt to local conditions and not just blindly copy them.
Overall, Xu Bamboo’s Cultivation path should be similar to Yang Shen’s in terms of efficiency and approach. She could learn many things.
As for Long Jiu, her Dual Spiritual Roots were standard—not as monotonous as a Single Spiritual Root, but slightly better than Four Spiritual Roots. In Yang Shen’s "Cyan Blue Star-style Cultivation Standards," he felt that two and three Spiritual Roots were the most balanced and stable.
That night, Yang Shen once again emphasized the importance of the "Yang Family Secret Transmission" and taught the two of them the first-level heart-law of the *Qi Cultivation Guiding Technique*.
He personally guided them through their first Cultivation session.
Naturally, Xu Bamboo went through the classic experience of all Cyan Blue Star People: being utterly shocked at absorbing Source from the air.
As for Long Jiu... she didn’t have a brain. She just did whatever she was told.
But the difficulty with her was... Yang Shen wasn’t sure if the big figurine had actually understood anything. After he mumbled on for a long time, Long Jiu’s eyes were just as vacant as glass marbles.
On the first night, neither of them managed to cultivate anything... but that was normal.
Excluding Yang Shen, who succeeded on his first try due to his built-in proficiency, the fastest on record was probably Xiaolei Yi.
He succeeded in half a day after being promised a big candy cake.
Xu Bamboo and Long Jiu would need at least a week to get into the groove...
Compared to the four little ones, once these two succeeded... it wouldn’t just be "potential," but actual, tangible "strength."
For the next two days, the Yang Residence entered a brief period of calm. The apprentices came and went, as they also had to prepare for the start of school.
Aside from spending half a day moving, Xu Bamboo was mostly "trying to get a feel for it." With his Qi Sensitivity and Qi Sea, Yang Shen could provide more guidance than when he first taught the four little ones, so her progress was fairly smooth.
Long Jiu... Long Jiu was hard to say. Visually, at least, she looked very diligent. When Yang Shen told her to practice, she would practice obediently, sitting for more than ten hours at a time. But whether her brain was actually working...
Even Long Jiu herself probably didn’t know...
Oh, right. Yang Shen also wrote an anonymous tip and delivered it to the Jianghuai Criminal Investigation Team in the middle of the night.
It detailed how Luo Sheng had acted on his own and caused the fire.
As for the result... he’d probably have to wait a while to see.
Yang Shen wasn’t very confident...
After all, even though the drop box was on a public street, it had 17 cameras pointed at it... If he hadn’t been wearing a mask, he would’ve turned right around and left!
...
"Over here, over here! New students, come this way! Get your information packets from me first!"
A few days later, Jiangti finally started its school year.
Students from all over the country flooded the campus, ready to start their new lives.
As a massive institution, Jiangti enrolled about 4,000 to 4,500 students each year. Jiangti only recruited the cream of the crop, taking in almost half of all the top students in the country.
The other half went to "Yan Wu," the Yanjing Martial Arts University.
The two top universities, one in the south and one in the north, split the nation’s elite Martial Arts students every year.
At the exit of the Jiangti subway station, a beautifully dressed young senior was calling out to the crowd. She wore a fashionable blouse and an A-line hip-hugging skirt, complete with a pair of black stockings.
The first sight of her was like a blessing from heaven for the new students.
’So this is a university! So progressive!’
’After suffering for so many years, we can finally let loose!’
Unfortunately, most of them had no idea that the absurdity inside Jiangti was even worse than what they’d experienced in high school.
At the subway exit, two figures, a man and a woman, emerged.
The man was tall and handsome, his 186cm height striking a balance between dashing and imposing, with sharp brows and bright eyes.
The woman, around 173cm, had a pretty little face that was the epitome of a "white moonlight." She wore a simple, youthful T-shirt, a large pair of headphones hung around her neck, and a longsword was strapped to her back.
The two of them looked around curiously. Although they had been here before, it was their first time taking the subway, so they were a little disoriented.
Seeing someone handing out materials, they subconsciously went over to get a copy.
"Hey junior, you’re a new student, right? Take an orientation packet first."
The first thing that caught his eye was the sheen of black stockings, followed by a thick stack of colorful flyers being handed to him. Yang Shen took them and had a look.
’What kind of damn orientation packet is this!’
Except for a map of Jiangti on the first page, the rest was all advertisements!
Lifting his head, he shot her a confused look, and Yang Shen realized he had actually seen this stocking-wearing senior before...
Although the stockings had moved from her head to her legs... wasn’t this one of the three people from the Celestial Platform?
’So she’s a Jiangti student?’
Wan Mengjie gave him a sweet smile and had already moved on to hand out flyers elsewhere.
She had been losing a lot of money recently, and her loan payments were about to be overdue. She wasn’t willing to give up any means of making money.
If she wasn’t paid per flyer, why would she bother wearing stockings to hand them out?
After all, stockings were a non-renewable resource. A run in one was a total loss, and she treated each pair as if it were her own child.
Yang Shen kept the stack of flyers for the time being—at least it had a map. He started walking toward the main gate with Xu Bamboo.
"The subway station is near the Jiangti main gate, but it’s still a long way from Qiangwu Tower. Our daily commute will take some time."
As someone who had been here once before, Yang Shen explained the situation to Xu Bamboo.
Xu Bamboo looked at the map curiously. "It’s huge... It feels like a whole town."
Just as she said that, an exaggerated stretch limousine pulled over on the side of the road, causing everyone to turn and stare.
A man who looked like a butler trotted over to open the door. A pair of shiny gold leather shoes stepped out, followed by shiny gold pants... and a shiny gold outfit...
Yang Shen felt like someone had just stuffed a solid gold brick into his eyes.
Jiang Xin still had that same slicked-back hairstyle. His aura was less like a new student and more like a school director... Many people around them started whispering.
"Is that a student?"
"I don’t know... So flashy... I love it!"
"Tch... Damn rich people!"
Jiang Xin scanned the crowd with his head held high, then his gaze fell on Yang Shen and he raised an eyebrow.
After glancing at Xu Bamboo, Jiang Xin shot him a look that said, ’Not a bad hand you’ve got there.’
Then he raised both his arms, making a "flying bird" pose.
And held still.
Just as everyone was wondering what this pose meant, two tall, beautiful young women got out of the back of the stretch limo and smoothly slipped under Jiang Xin’s waiting arms. He had one on each arm!
Jiang Xin looked at Yang Shen again and raised his eyebrows a second time, as if to say: ’I win. I’ve got one more than you!’
Yang Shen turned and walked away.
He felt embarrassed just making eye contact.
But Jiang Xin had no intention of letting Yang Shen go. Maintaining his pose with a woman on each arm, he quickened his pace and relentlessly followed after him.
"Yang Shen, why are you being such a stranger? Let’s go register together~"
The two girls tucked under his arms were dragged along like a pair of air-dried chickens, their feet barely touching the ground as they scrambled to keep up.
The corner of Yang Shen’s mouth twitched.
Xu Bamboo whispered, "Who’s that?"
"That Innate candidate. The unlucky bastard whose Champion Scholar title I stole."
Xu Bamboo was also stunned. "He’s a new student? No way. Jiangti allows people like that to enroll?"
Yang Shen thought to himself, ’This is nothing. Jiangti even allows female students to get ahead by giving leg massages on the athletic field!’
Just as they were speaking, three figures suddenly jumped out as they entered the main gate.
THUD! THUD! They dropped to their knees on the ground.
Yuan Rui was at the front, with Tian Zihan and Cao Wei forming an iron triangle formation behind him.
"We respectfully welcome Master Yang! I’ve already figured out everything for registration. Please allow me to lead the way!"
Now, the crowd of new students at the school gate fell even quieter...
’We thought having a girl on each arm was already flashy enough, but there’s an even bigger master here?’
Even Jiang Xin shot them a shocked look. ’You’re the real pro...’
’I never even thought of this way of showing off!’
’I’ll have to try this later!’
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