Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 114 Chang'an School
The two chatted as they left the bubble tea shop.

Chang'an City has no city walls because the main city of this kind, which is on the system map, automatically comes with protective measures similar to a mountain-protecting formation. In addition, considering that if city walls were built, it would be difficult to expand the city as the number of players and NPCs increases, so everyone simply designed Chang'an City as a city without walls.

Ling Xuan asked curiously, "Chang'an City has no city walls, so how does it prevent outsiders from sneaking in?"

"They have something called a 'local area network' that can monitor cultivators who are not carrying their identity jade tokens. If you are caught without an identity jade token, you will be fined at best, and at worst... well, I don't think I've heard of anyone being caught, so I don't know what the consequences are."

The "entrance" to Chang'an City was a huge square. In front of the square stood a blue stone archway. To the left and right of the archway were two oilcloth awnings, each containing a set of tables, chairs, and documents. Two ordinary people with no cultivation sat in each awning, and wooden signs stood beside them.

The wooden sign on the left reads "Entry Registration Office," while the wooden sign on the right reads "Identity Jade Token Collection Office."

Du Cihuai led Ling Xuan to the oilcloth shed on the left with practiced ease.

Two middle-aged women sat under the oilcloth awning, chatting about everyday matters. When they saw someone coming, one of them took out two sheets of paper, dipped them in ink, and moistened her brush. The other asked succinctly, "Name, place of origin, and if you have any, please also mention your sect and school. Your occupation and cultivation level are optional."

“Lingxuan, Ling as in dawn, Xuan as in daylily,” Du Cihuai quickly answered for him, “As for her place of origin…”

The woman who had asked the question interrupted, saying, "It would be best if he answered in person."

"Uh, my hometown is the Ling family in Taiping Town, Guangcheng Mountain, my sect is Guangcheng Sect, my profession is... alchemist? My cultivation level is... Foundation Establishment..."

By the end, Ling Xuan was a little embarrassed. Her Foundation Establishment cultivation was only considered average in the Guangcheng Sect, and she had never been qualified to leave the mountain before!
"Oh dear, it's a cultivator from the Guangcheng Sect!"

The woman's attitude changed from indifferent to much more amiable. She smiled and said, "To think you're from Taiping Town is quite remarkable! Are you also here in Chang'an to apply for a job? There have been quite a few disciples from the Guangcheng Sect these past few days!"

"what……"

Ling Xuan, who had never been treated so warmly before, was a little at a loss. Du Cihuai, who was standing next to her, quickly and skillfully chimed in: "You flatter me. This is my junior sister. It's her first time coming down the mountain, so she's a bit naive. I'm just taking her with me on our way to the Chang'an Research Institute!"

"You're applying for a job at the Chang'an Research Institute? That's a great place..."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the other woman wrote down two identical pages and handed one of them over: "Make two copies. I'll keep one for my records, and you can keep the other one for yourself. Take it to the other side to get your identity jade token. If you lose it, you'll have to come back and register again, which is quite troublesome, so please keep it safe."

"Okay, okay, thank you!"

Du Cihuai quickly accepted it, thanked him, and then pulled Ling Xuan to process the identity jade token.

The process of obtaining an identity jade pendant is much simpler. You hand the paper with your information to the person in charge, and they will engrave the information on a jade pendant. It only takes a few minutes. After the jade pendant is collected, the paper with your information will be stamped with two marks: one is a stamp that says "Jade pendant issued" and the other is a date stamp.

After finishing these tasks, Du Cihuai breathed a sigh of relief and led Ling Xuan through the blue stone archway into the square.

Holding the cool jade pendant in her hand, Ling Xuan finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been lingering in her heart after walking a dozen steps away from the bluestone archway: "Senior brother, why...why are you so polite to those mortals?"

Du Cihuai turned around and looked at Ling Xuan as if she were a child, and smiled, "Because they are just like us!"

"The same? But, but we are cultivators, and they..."

"They are just ordinary mortals who cannot cultivate, is that what you mean?" Du Cihuai stopped and asked.

Ling Xuan looked even more confused.

“Look over there,” Du Cihuai suddenly pointed to a building complex that looked to be the largest in the vicinity not far away and said, “Junior sister, guess what that place is?”

Apart from the "commercial area" at the entrance, most of the buildings in Chang'an City were under construction, except for the group of buildings that Du Cihuai pointed to, which looked almost completed and in use.

The entire complex appears to share a similar style with the most prominent and imposing building, only the design seems more intricate and is completely enclosed by a wall.

Ling Xuan guessed, "Perhaps... a government office? Or a place like the Immortal's Abode?"

Du Cihuai shook his head and smiled as he revealed the answer: "That's a school, also known as an academy."

Ling Xuan stared in disbelief: "A...academy? Such a big academy!?"

"It's called 'Chang'an School,' and it's right next to the Chang'an City Library. Actually, it's different from the academies in ordinary towns. It's said that anyone with a Chang'an City household registration, regardless of whether they're a cultivator or not, can attend classes there. Moreover, underage residents are required to attend unless they graduate early. As for the so-called underage... it actually refers to anyone under the age of 18, regardless of whether they're a cultivator or not. They all have to go, and it's completely free."

Ling Xuan, realizing she understood, nodded in understanding and exclaimed, "Reading and writing? That's a good deed indeed."

Du Cihuai shook his head: "No, it's not just about reading and writing. That's what I wanted to say. The reason it can't be called an 'academy' is because it teaches more than just the things that ordinary academies teach. It also teaches the basic knowledge and methods of cultivating immortality!"

"This...how is this possible!?"

Ling Xuan's eyes widened, a sense of absurdity welling up inside her.

How can an ordinary person cultivate immortality?! A complete spiritual root isn't something everyone possesses! Those who can cultivate immortality are chosen from among the most exceptional talents and innate abilities! How... how can just anyone do it?!
After the initial shock, she suddenly felt ashamed, because in that instant she realized that her subconscious rejection was simply because this value system, which allowed everyone to cultivate, made her experiences of the past twenty years seem less fortunate, less...special.

Du Cihuai considerately let Ling Xuan calm down for a while before slowly saying, "Junior Sister, are you thinking that most mortals have incomplete spiritual roots, and even if they spend their whole lives, they can only reach the Foundation Establishment stage at most, which only adds a hundred years to their lifespan, and they can't cultivate anything. Cultivating immortality is meaningless, right?"

Ling Xuan hesitated. That was indeed what she thought, but for some reason, this idea, which would never be considered wrong anywhere in the Guixu Realm, seemed somewhat difficult to utter in Chang'an City at this moment.

"But junior sister, think about it carefully. Do we, as alchemists, as well as talisman cultivators, artifact cultivators, and even the Five Flavors and Array Techniques, really need to have a very high level of cultivation to learn them?"

Du Cihuai's voice was like a huge iron hammer, striking Ling Xuan's heart heavily, leaving her at a loss.

"Low-grade Yellow-rank pills and talismans like the Spirit Recovery Pill and Lightness Talisman can be learned without even reaching the Foundation Establishment stage. The Prayer for Sunshine and Prayer for Rain formations can even be mastered by mortals who can't communicate with any spiritual energy. Why can't they learn these? And why aren't they qualified to learn them?"
"Is it simply because their spiritual roots are flawed and they are destined to be unable to become immortals and attain enlightenment that they are not allowed to walk this path?"

“There are countless cultivators, and even more with outstanding talent, but who can guarantee that they will definitely become an immortal and attain enlightenment?”
"Junior sister, as we both know, there has been no Great Dao God in the Guixu Realm for over a thousand years!"

"Then, what's the difference between so-called cultivators like you and me with excellent spiritual roots, and those mortals with incomplete spiritual roots?"

(End of this chapter)