Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

In midsummer, the heat in the capital city gradually intensified.

The lotus leaves in the moat have long since merged into a vast expanse of emerald green, with a few koi occasionally leaping out of the water, creating ripples in circles.

The weeping willows on the bank swayed gently in the warm summer breeze, and cicadas, hidden deep in the dense foliage, chirped their long, intermittent calls.

In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, on this ordinary summer day, an unprecedented and magnificent vitality was quietly emerging.

In the southeast corner of the inner city, there used to be a cluster of old government offices belonging to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, which have now been completely razed to the ground.

They enclosed a vast new government office, the Imperial Academy of Immortal Cultivation of the Ming Dynasty.

The Imperial Academy's Immortal Cultivation Institute is different from the quiet and solemn study places like the Imperial College.

If you close your eyes and just listen to the sounds coming from inside, it sounds more like a large workshop in the outer city of the capital.

The clanging of hammers and the screech of sawing wood mingled with the heated debates of students.

They intertwine into one, never ceasing from morning till night.

At noon, the sun was scorching.

A teahouse diagonally opposite the Imperial Academy was thriving.

Li Changqing, dressed in a light silk robe, gently waved a mottled bamboo folding fan in his hand and chose a private seat by the window on the second floor.

He didn't order any fancy tea; he only ordered a pot of cooling bitter tea and two plates of chilled mung bean cakes.

Since the Longevity System was fully integrated into his soul, he no longer needed to adhere to those rules about attendance.

For him, these long years were like a quietly flowing river.

He sat on the riverbank, watching the water surge and ripple; every time he threw in a pebble or two, it would create a thousand waves.

At that moment, he was gazing with great interest at the bustling Imperial Academy across the street.

On the streets, amidst the bustling crowds, one can see the novel sights brought by this "Cultivation Ming Dynasty".

A man carrying a load of watermelons on a shoulder pole walks with a light step despite the heavy burden on his shoulders.

With each step he took, his breathing perfectly matched the key points of "The First Chapter of Body Strengthening and Breathing in the Great Ming Dynasty." Although there was a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead, his breath was long and steady, showing no signs of fatigue.

A long line formed in front of a shop selling chilled plum juice on the street corner.

The shopkeeper did not go to the ice cellar to buy ice, but instead attached a palm-sized, brass-made array plate to the bottom of the wooden barrel.

The array plate was engraved with shallow "frost patterns". The shopkeeper only needed to press his finger against the array plate from time to time to transfer a faint trace of energy.

A thin layer of white frost would form on the outside of the wooden barrel, which amazed passing merchants.

Once the magic of immortals falls to the mortal world and becomes tainted by the earthy atmosphere of the marketplace, it transforms into the livelihoods of countless ordinary people across the land.

"The dramas in this mortal world are indeed much more vivid and lively than those dramas about hiding in deep mountains and forests to refine elixirs and meditate."

Li Changqing picked up the rough porcelain teacup, took a small sip of the slightly astringent bitter tea, and looked deep and gentle.

Meanwhile, across the street at the Imperial Academy, a grand debate concerning the future of cultivation in the Ming Dynasty was unfolding.

In a spacious hall on the east side of the Imperial Academy, various blueprints and wooden and iron mechanisms were displayed.

Qingxuzi, the former elder of the Penglai Immortal Island who was now forced to serve as an instructor at the Imperial Academy, paced back and forth in the room filled with blueprints, his face gloomy and his hands behind his back.

His once flowing Taoist robe seemed out of place in the room filled with the smell of pine resin and rust.

Standing in front of Qingxuzi were dozens of Imperial Academy students dressed in blue robes.

Standing at the very front was Shen You, the poor scholar who had been guided by Li Changqing and entered the Imperial Academy with a wooden waterwheel.

At this moment, Shen You had several ink stains on his face, held a wooden box about a foot square in his hands, and his eyes revealed a stubbornness and fanaticism.

"Nonsense! This is a complete waste of resources!"

Qingxuzi stopped in his tracks, pointed at the wooden box in Shen You's hand, and his beard stood on end in anger.

"This Cloud and Water Misty Array is a superior array used by my Penglai Immortal Sect to protect its medicine garden and gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish the immortal herbs!"

"You ignorant and arrogant brat, you've completely altered it, even removing the most crucial 'concealment' array pattern. Your reckless alteration has caused the entire essence of the array to be lost!"

Qingxuzi grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, slapping his thigh in anguish.

Ever since he was forcibly enrolled in the Imperial Academy by the Ming Dynasty, he felt his heart bleed every day as he watched these mortals dismantle the formations that the immortals regarded as treasures.

Shen You did not flinch in the slightest when facing this once high and mighty elder of the cultivation world.

He bowed respectfully, then placed the wooden box on the table and carefully opened it.

Inside the box was a miniature model of an agricultural irrigation waterwheel, crafted from a mixture of refined iron and jujube wood.

On the core shaft of that waterwheel, there were densely engraved array patterns that Qingxuzi denounced as "randomly altered".

"Please calm down, Instructor. I did not intend to tamper with the immortal array. It is just that the original form of this Cloud and Water Maze Array is not suitable for the use of the Ming Dynasty's farmland."

Shen You straightened up and spoke in a clear and resonant voice, neither humble nor arrogant, echoing throughout the hall.

"Immortal herb gardens are mostly located in deep mountains and islands, where the key is to conceal the immortal herbs from being detected by demonic beasts. Therefore, the 'concealment' array patterns are of paramount importance. But our Great Ming Dynasty's thousands of acres of fertile land are right here under this bright and clear sky."

"What ordinary people need to farm is water, not to hide their crops."

Shen You stretched out his finger and gently touched the array of patterns on the waterwheel model.

"The students removed the hidden, complex array patterns and focused the saved energy flow onto the gathering and guiding of water. Simultaneously, they adapted to the texture of the jujube wood, tightly binding the array to the refined iron shaft. In this way..."

Shen You silently used his breathing technique to transfer a wisp of energy into it.

"Buzz".

The wooden and iron waterwheel model, without any external force, emitted a deep rumble and began to rotate steadily and powerfully.

The moisture in the surrounding air was quickly drawn away, condensing into a pool of clear water in the waterwheel's trough, which poured down continuously.

Upon seeing this, the other students in the hall all gasped in astonishment, their eyes filled with admiration and excitement.

"Please take a look, instructor."

Shen You pointed to the waterwheel that turned tirelessly.

"If this formation were used in the arid lands of the provinces, it would require no animal power, no strong men to trample it day and night. All it would take is an old farmer who has studied the 'First Chapter' to infuse a wisp of energy into the formation each day, and it would be able to draw water from a deep well to irrigate a hundred acres of fertile land."

Shen You stepped forward, and a breathtaking light shone in his bloodshot eyes, which were usually filled with sleepless nights.

"May I ask you, teacher, how many lives can a single herb save? Yet this waterwheel can save tens of thousands of people from hunger during droughts and keep the granaries full year after year."

"The path of the Great Way lies in benefiting the world and bringing peace to the people. How can this formation, imbued with the essence of the earth and capable of feeding the people, be considered a waste of nature's resources!"

Shen You's resounding words were like a muffled thunderclap, booming throughout the Mingtang Hall.

The students of the Imperial Academy around them were filled with excitement and straightened their backs in unison.

Most of them were from poor families like Shen You, or were craftsmen selected from shipyards and blacksmith shops throughout the Ming Dynasty.

They did not seek to ascend to heaven in broad daylight, but only to use their knowledge to change the vast land of the Ming Dynasty.

Qingxuzi stood there blankly, staring at the small waterwheel that kept spewing out clear water, and then at the ordinary scholar in front of him whose clothes were washed until they were almost white.

He opened his mouth, only to find that all his knowledge of Taoist traditions and the ultimate principles of cultivation seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the simple and profound phrase "saving the world and bringing peace to the people."

Cultivating immortality, cultivating immortality.

After two thousand years of cultivation, what have they accomplished besides the desolation of the island and the scheming and backstabbing over a few spirit stones?

These mortals, who have only been exposed to the basics of array formations for two or three years, are able to transform them into divine artifacts that benefit the country and its people.

Qingxuzi let out a long sigh, and his straight back seemed to hunch over for a moment.

He waved his hand, turned and walked out of the Mingtang, his steps revealing a desolation after the collapse of his beliefs.

"Enough, enough. This world ultimately belongs to you young people. This formation... you've modified it brilliantly."

As Qingxuzi uttered his helpless and resigned acknowledgment, a deafening cheer erupted within the Mingtang Hall.

Shen You clenched his fists tightly, his eyes slightly red.

He knew that this was not just a victory for him alone.

Furthermore, this "practical way of cultivating immortality" of the Ming Dynasty was a complete subversion of the old closed system of the cultivation world.