Gou Zai Qingluo Cave Heaven Cultivation

"Today, we're going to talk about something that's not in the textbook."

Zhou Xuezheng stepped down from the podium and walked to the window.

"Let me ask you, what is the difference between the myths told by mortals and the world as seen through the eyes of us cultivators?"

The hall was completely silent; no one wanted to be the first to speak out at this moment.

"Su Wan, you speak."

Zhou Xuezheng pointed at the girl in the first row with her hair in double buns with a ruler.

Su Wan stood up, pondered for a moment, and said crisply, "Master, ordinary people with mortal eyes cannot understand. For example, when it thunders and rains, mortals think it is the wrath of the gods or the movement of the Dragon King. But that is just a spell cast by high-level cultivators using their own magical power to draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"Well said."

Zhou Xuezheng nodded slightly, then changed the subject, "What if I said someone could move mountains and fill seas, but had no spiritual roots and no spiritual energy fluctuations whatsoever?"

Su Wan was stunned, her small face wrinkling: "How is this possible? Without spiritual roots, one can't even draw qi into the body, so how can one move mountains and fill seas? To cultivate immortality, one must have spiritual roots."

"From our current perspective, that is indeed the case."

Zhou Xuezheng slowly said, "But in ancient times, there were many secrets that even cultivators could not fathom, just as mortals could not fathom that the Thunder God's wrath was a cultivator's magic."

On Zhou Baoqing's desk, the book "Records of Ancient Immortals" was open.

The book tells ancient myths and legends, including both mortals' imaginations of gods and immortals and actual historical records.

"Are you familiar with the ancient legend of 'The Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains'?"

Zhou Xuezheng's voice echoed in the school, "The Taihang and Wangwu Mountains are so majestic. That old man has never nurtured a trace of innate breath, nor does he possess any magical treasures for cultivating immortality, yet he dares to claim that he can level the mountains."

"The common saying is that the Heavenly Emperor was moved by his sincerity and ordered the immortals to move the mountain. But there is another story circulating in the cultivation world today."

Zhou Xuezheng's gaze deepened. "Perhaps there is no divine grace at all. The mortals there can move mountains simply by relying on their bloodline and physical bodies."

Upon hearing this, several students raised their heads.

Zhou Xuezheng continued, saying that on the shore of the South China Sea, there are ancient city ruins that have remained uncorrupted for thousands of years, and it is unknown what kind of divine craftsmanship sculpted them.

In the Eastern Continent's hidden realm, mountains hang upside down, and the vegetation on them grows in reverse, with streams flowing from the ground to the sky.

There are also many wondrous sights that cannot be understood using mortal magic.

"Master, I still don't believe it." It was Su Wan who spoke.

"Cultivators absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to attain mystical and profound understanding. Such ancient myths must be nonsense fabricated by later generations."

A slight commotion arose inside the hall.

Many students nodded in agreement, clearly sharing Su Wan's thoughts.

Zhou Xuezheng was not angry. His gaze swept around the hall, past everyone, and landed on Zhou Baoqing, who was sitting in the last row by the window.

"Zhou Baoqing".

Zhou Baoqing sat up straight as a reflex.

"Stand up and share your thoughts," Zhou Xuezheng said.

In the past, Zhou Baoqing would cower like a quail when the teacher called his name, and answering questions felt like being led to the execution ground.

But now it's different.

Zhou Baoqing stood up and replied, "Master, I believe it is not a fabrication. Perhaps there are ingenious craftsmen who, without relying on any spiritual energy, have built flying boats that traverse the nine heavens, or colossal objects that have dug thousands of miles into the earth..."

"impossible!"

Su Wan turned to glance at him, "Without spiritual energy to support it, how can an inanimate object fly?"

Zhou Baoqing remained unperturbed by the young girl's questions.

"Heaven and earth give birth to all things, and there is a reason for it. Spiritual energy is a reason, as are wind, water, thunder, and lightning. If mortals could understand this reason and create a wingless steel giant bird, or a flying shuttle propelled by raging fire straight into the sky, it would not be a fool's dream."

He reached out, picked up a piece of paper from the table, tore it into several small pieces the size of fingernails, and scattered them casually on the table.

Then, he picked up a smooth calligraphy brush from the side of him.

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Zhou Baoqing held the jade penholder, rubbed it back and forth quickly on his sleeve a few times, and then gently suspended the still-warm penholder about an inch above the scraps of paper.

There was a soft "whoosh" sound.

The scraps of paper on the desk rose into the air and stuck firmly to the pen holder.

He looked at Su Wan, "Look, without using even a trace of spiritual energy, this paper still flew up, didn't it?"

The room fell silent for a moment.

On the podium, a bright glint flashed in Zhou Xuezheng's eyes.

Su Wan's eyes suddenly widened.

Zhou Changping, standing to the side, gaped, his face clearly saying, "When did you become so eloquent?"

Zhou Baoqing smiled at the chubby boy.

There are too many things in this world that cannot be understood using knowledge from the cultivation world.

For example, in his previous life he was a disciple of the civil engineering school, his patriarch was a tunnel boring machine master and his master was an excavator master. Not to mention the ability to move mountains and fill seas, it would be easy for him to simply tunnel through mountains and create lakes.

Another example is the magical powers of creation in the Green Snail Cave.

And that is precisely why.

Zhou Baoqing held the ancient secrets told by Zhou Xuezheng in awe.

…………

"clang."

The bronze bell hanging in front of Qingjin Hall rang.

Morning classes are over.

Zhou Baoqing put down his pen and rubbed his sore wrist.

Master Gan's "Qingjin Talisman Manual" was so confusing that it made my head spin. Fortunately, the spiritual water in the cave nurtured my soul, and I managed to remember most of the complicated introductory passages.

"Come on, come on, we'll miss out on the good food if we're late!" Zhou Changping was eager to finish class, his round body squeezing through the crowd and pulling him outside.

Stepping out of the hall, the sun was already high in the sky, and the late spring sunshine felt warm on my skin.

The clan school's dining hall was built on the side facing the water, and it was spacious and bright.

Along the cobblestone path, students walked in twos and threes, hurrying along.

Before abstaining from grains, one of the methods for cultivators to nourish their vital energy is through food supplements. Children, especially those in their late teens, are at the stage of rapid growth and get hungry very quickly.

"Today they have stir-fried bamboo shoots with pheasant meat. I can smell the aroma!" Zhou Changping looked excitedly towards the cafeteria.

Zhou Baoqing glanced at the price and took a step back without making a sound.

A bowl of stir-fried chicken with bamboo shoots and spirit rice costs ten spirit crystals, far exceeding his daily budget of about six spirit crystals.

Zhou Changping, who was well-off, readily ordered fish soup and "spirit meat".

After he finished ordering, Zhou Baoqing didn't spend extravagantly as usual, and ordered the simplest set meal.

A bowl of half a bowl of spirit rice, served with a dish of pickles, cost a total of three spirit crystals.

There was also a bowl of tofu soup, cooked with spiritual spring water, which also carried a bit of spiritual energy. It was served free of charge, as a benefit provided by the clan school to some students from poor families.

Smelling the aroma of chicken in Zhou Changping's bowl, Zhou Baoqing began to "reminisce about the bitter past and appreciate the sweet present."

The pickled vegetables were slightly salty, and the half-cooked rice had a hint of sweetness. Only after finishing the bowl of rice did I feel a little warm.

He sipped his soup slowly, feeling as if he had "traveled through time," and that life shouldn't be lived like this.

To eat spiritual food, wear ceremonial robes, and sleep... on a spiritual mat.

On the path of cultivation, wealth, companions, methods, and land are essential, with wealth being the top priority.

Make money.

We need to find a safe way to get some spirit stones!