Chapter 4 - A Class of Prodigies Plus One Loser
An Lin grudgingly wiped the tea off his face.
After spitting her tea out and seeing the earnest and sincere expression on An Lin’s face, Xu Xiaolan finally accepted the reality that he didn’t know how to cultivate with great difficulty.
Xu Xiaolan pondered for a moment before pulling out a book from her storage ring. This was a book introducing cultivation through expiration.
“This is the expiration method cultivation book that I studied when I was three years old. Here, I’ll gift it to you.”
Having said this, Xu Xiaolan generously handed the book introducing cultivation methods over to An Lin.
An Lin: “…”
The night was placid, and the vast sky was full of stars. Yet, there was a single room which remained ablaze with lights.
An Lin flipped through the cultivation method book earnestly and Xu Xiaolan patiently answered all of his questions.
To An Lin, cultivation was a completely new realm and all the theories appeared very unfamiliar to him.
For example, which meridian 1 one would need to channel the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth through when performing expiration, how one should utilize the cultivation methods, what rhythm one should follow when determining the force needed during the guidance of vital energy and so forth…
An Lin listened extremely carefully to Xu Xiaolan’s explanations and was also particularly proactive in asking questions, even taking down some notes from time to time.
As for Xu Xiaolan—a prodigy from the Stone Dragon State—teaching An Lin how to cultivate felt no easier than trying to teach an orangutan how to cultivate.
Holy sh*t… He can’t even differentiate between the meridians in his body, how did he survive till eighteen?!
He doesn’t even know how to channel and transform vital energy?! Even if you haven’t eaten pork, you should at least have seen a pig run right?! 2
Xu Xiaolan had a small mental breakdown. She painstakingly explained the foundation knowledge to An Lin and occasionally gestured with her hands.
An Lin was stupefied once, stupefied twice, stupefied god knows how many times…
For the two of them, this was a painful night worthy of commemoration.
After a long, long time, An Lin gratefully left Xu Xiaolan’s villa.
Xu Xiaolan thanked the heavens as she saw off this Big Buddha 3 .
In any case, An Lin had reaped massive gains, as he had finally learnt how to cultivate and channel vital energy through expiration.
He impatiently started to meditate and perform expiration once he got back to his room.
During his meditation, he could feel himself slowly becoming stronger. Even though the results weren’t evident, it did provide him with a slight sense of hope.
“Ah… as expected. The road of transformation from a weakling to a prodigy is a rugged and bumpy one,” An Lin lamented as he meditated in his room.
The next day, An Lin’s life as a student at The United University of Cultivation officially began.
The United University of Cultivation was founded by the Heavenly Court and was a university specially used for educating cultivators.
Countless prodigies from the Kingdom of the Nine States converged at this university.
The students that were capable of entering this university were all talented individuals of the cultivation world.
In this university, the strongest and most impressive students were those of Class One. They were the geniuses amongst geniuses.
Many of the future rising stars in the cultivation world came from these ‘Class Ones’.
For a large majority of cultivators in the Kingdom of the Nine States, the highest rank they could attain in their entire lifetime was likely that of a Fifth Stage Dao Body.
However, in Class One, the lowest rank was an Eighth Stage Dao Body. Of course, that was excluding An Lin…
To be honest, An Lin felt immense pressure being in the same class as these prodigies.
The buildings in which they attended their classes were constructed from high-grade white jade which had been piled together. All of the buildings were flowing with a rich vital energy.
This allowed the students to improve their cultivation base imperceptibly, even as they were attending lessons in the university buildings.
If it wasn’t for a spell formation preventing the students from forcefully absorbing the vital energy of the spirit stones, perhaps the teaching block would collapse the very next day.
An Lin felt uneasy as he entered the classroom.
The ‘geniuses’ disdain’ which he was anticipating did not take place.
Although the prodigies in this class all took a glance at him, most of them looked him up and down with a hint of curiosity in their eyes.
An Lin’s reputation as the ‘most networked backdoor entrant’ had already spread throughout the entire campus on the first day of enrollments.
Fortunately, he wasn’t the most well-known student of this cohort and was only ranked in third place.
Who were the other two?
He heard from Xu Xiaolan that the other two well-known individuals also had letters of recommendation from a True God.
From the past enrollments of new students at The United University of Cultivation, it could be seen that there often wasn’t even a single student who had a True God’s letter of recommendation in any given year. Judging from this fact, it could be seen just how difficult it truly was to receive a letter of recommendation from a True God.
Rather than labeling a True God’s letter of recommendation as a notice of admittance, it would be better to view it as a document acknowledging the strength of a student.
It was an acknowledgment from the True Gods—unsurpassed in the cultivation world—and was a great honor to be bestowed.
It could be said that all new students who obtained a True God’s letter of recommendation were supremely talented individuals.
In this cohort, the two other students who had received a True God’s letter of recommendation were the supremely talented individuals that Xu Xiaolan spoke of.
Xuanyuan Cheng was the son of the Sect Leader of the Ten-Thousand Spirit Immortal Sect, which resided in the Wind Plain State. His rank was also that of Spirit Nurturing Initial Stage
Su Qianyun was the princess of the Green Wood Imperial Family, which was located in the Purple Star State. Her rank was also that of Spirit Nurturing Initial Stage and it was rumored that she was a Dao addict.
After ranking up from the Tenth Stage Dao Body, the next rank is the Spirit Nurturing Stage. So, based on this, how difficult is it to reach the Spirit Nurturing Stage? An Lin had heard that most prodigies in Class One couldn’t even reach the Spirit Nurturing Stage when they graduated after five years of study.
After reaching the Spirit Nurturing Stage, one could be regarded as a member of the Immortal Ranks of the Heavenly Court and receive the title of ‘Young Immortal’.
These two had the ability to enter the Immortal Ranks as soon as they had entered the university. This caused quite a stir throughout The United University of Cultivation.
Like them, An Lin had received a True God’s letter of recommendation. For some reason though, he felt very ashamed and wanted to bury himself in a hole…
The students of Class One were obviously more interested in Xuanyuan Cheng and Su Qianyun, so they paid little heed to the ‘backdoor entrant An Lin’, though they didn’t taunt or ridicule him either.
An Lin breathed a long sigh of relief at this situation and his entire body relaxed. Having a peaceful society is the most important thing, huh. He sat at the back of the classroom and quietly read the expiration method cultivation book that Xu Xiaolan had gifted him.
Quickly, cries of surprise sounded throughout the room. Even with his eyes closed, An Lin could tell that either Xuanyuan Cheng or Su Qianyun had entered the room.
Sure enough, a girl walked in slowly. She was dressed in a star robe and had jet-black hair that reached her waist. Inside her sky-blue eyes, fantastic colors glimmered.
Upon seeing her appear, An Lin was unable to shift his gaze away.
An Lin felt that it would not do her any justice even if one were to label her as exceedingly beautiful.
Simply put, the title of ‘school beauty queen’ would undoubtedly be hers from now on!
Faced with the marveling of her classmates, Su Qianyun had a face of indifference. She walked to a corner of the classroom and sat down in repose.
“The heavens are so unfair! It’s one thing that she’s supremely talented, but why does she also possess such captivating beauty?” Xu Xiaolan muttered as she furrowed her eyebrows.
“What’s wrong? Are you jealous?” An Lin found Xu Xiaolan’s expression to be hilarious.
“Go read your book, idiot!” Xu Xiaolan snapped.
It wasn’t long before cries of surprise once again sounded in the classroom. The squeals of some female students could even be heard amongst all the commotion.
A male with dashing eyebrows and piercing eyes entered the classroom gracefully, and there was a refreshing smile on his face.
This newcomer was clearly Xuanyuan Cheng, son of the Sect Leader of the Ten-Thousand Spirit Immortal Sect!
He conducted himself very naturally despite this fact, politely smiling and nodding as he greeted the students.
Afterwards, he sat down at a spot that was closest to the front of the classroom.
An Lin also considered himself to be handsome. Yet, under the brilliance of Xuanyuan Cheng, he couldn’t help but admit that he was ‘slightly inferior’.
This time, it was Xu Xiaolan who couldn’t avert her gaze.
Even when Xuanyuan Cheng turned around and sat down, she still gazed at his figure affectionately.
An Lin sighed in grief as he looked at Xuanyuan Cheng. “Ah, this is the type of person I hate the most. They can make a living off both their appearance and their talent. They can even make a living by relying on their parents…”