Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao returned to the quiet room in the villa, cleared his mind of all distractions, and sat cross-legged.

Although all cultivation was lost, the insights gained from breaking through to a higher realm, especially the divine consciousness at the "Divine Gate," remained.

At this moment, being in a second-tier spiritual vein, the spiritual energy, after being transformed by the Azure Jade Tree, is more gentle and pure than imagined, and it integrates into the body with almost no effort required to guide it.

The Five Elements Rhythm Spirit Technique slowly circulated, following a familiar energy path.

The five elements of spiritual energy flowed in like a stream, forming a small but exceptionally stable vortex within the dantian.

One night passed.

Lin Zhao opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them. Refining Qi to the first level was a natural progression.

This speed is more than ten times faster than when I first started cultivating.

However, the relaxation lasts only one day.

In the days that followed, Lin Zhao quickly learned what it meant to be trained as the "Suppressor of the World's Holy Sect".

-----

Three months later, one afternoon, Lin Zhao and Xu Chuan were sprawled out in the courtyard, half-paralyzed, looking utterly disheveled.

Looking up at the sky, fragmented by the shadows of the trees, their eyes were vacant, like two dried-out salted fish.

"Lin Zhao..." Xu Chuan spoke weakly, his voice hoarse, "How were your results this month?"

Lin Zhao was too lazy to move, so she only managed to lift three fingers, paused, and then bent the next one with difficulty:

"Ten courses... Basic Swordsmanship and Basic Spiritual Energy Manipulation, two perfect scores. Five average scores. The remaining three..."

He sighed, "Minimum score."

He scanned the token with his divine sense, and his personal points column showed: 343 points.

"Ah—!" Xu Chuan let out a blood-curdling scream.

"I'm such an idiot! Why does that damn 'Spirit Beast Communication Class' even test my ability to imitate animal language pronunciation?! And the 'Divination of Fortune' class—it recognizes me, but I don't recognize it!"

Lin Zhao didn't even have the strength to offer any comfort.

For the past three months, he seemed to have been caught in a vortex called "Sect Courses".

Each month, the token lists hundreds of courses available for study, covering cultivation, knowledge, various arts, and even miscellaneous studies.

Disciples must select at least ten subjects for study, with an assessment at the end of the month.

Each course will be graded from 10 points (minimum) to 100 points (maximum) based on completion.

The legendary Foundation Building Pill is priced at 5,000 points.

This means that even if you get a perfect score every month, you would still need to endure nearly five months of hardship. And that's simply an impossible task.

The course itself is nothing short of "devilish".

For example, the course "Quick Start Guide to First-Tier Talismans" requires students to go from having no prior knowledge to being able to consistently draw three different types of high-quality first-tier talismans within one month.

The instructor's explanation was indeed insightful and easy to understand;

The auxiliary "Concentration Array" and "Enlightenment Light" can also effectively enhance focus and comprehension.

They even provide a lot of practice materials. But time is the greatest tyrant.

When ten such courses come at once, each with a large amount of theory to memorize and skills to practice,

When the practice is not yet completed, the suffocating feeling of being chased by time is enough to make anyone despair.

The first year's courses were relatively "mild," mainly focusing on sect common sense, cultivation theory, and basic identification.

It is said that in the second year, the entire set of basic skills of cultivating immortality will be systematically taught in turn. Just imagining the scene made Lin Zhao's vision go black.

He had truly experienced firsthand how much tedious practice and time it took to go from beginner to becoming a first-tier high-grade talisman master.

Although their spiritual strength is now much greater and their learning conditions are vastly different, meeting the assessment requirements in such a short period of time is still a huge challenge.

No wonder the sect's teleportation is so efficient. The seemingly random distribution of nearby pavilions and towers is actually the result of precise calculations to minimize the time disciples spend on their journeys.

Everything was designed to squeeze every last drop of time from the disciples and immerse them in their studies.

"Is this what life in a sect is like?"

Lin Zhao gazed at the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves, murmuring softly, his tone complex.

Despite my exhaustion, I felt a long-lost sense of peace.

The memories of that time overlapped somewhat with those of preparing for the college entrance exam in my previous life.

He looked inward and examined himself. After three months of arduous cultivation and self-discipline, his cultivation level had not fallen behind, and he had steadily entered the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Xu Chuan gently nudged Lin Zhao, who was slumped beside him, with his elbow, lowering his voice but unable to hide the excitement of having learned the news:

"Have you heard? This year's class has produced some truly outstanding individuals."

Lin Zhao didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, letting out a tired sigh through her nose:

"How could I not have heard? Fairy Linglong, Old Taoist Kuanglong, Young Master Xiaobai... the comments on the token are practically exploding."

He gazed at the jade tree with its green veins overhead, which emitted a faint light. The halo flowed among the leaves, as if it too carried a touch of spiritual energy.

"The Fairy Linglong"

It refers to a female cultivator with a seven-aperture spiritual body, whose surname is Dongfang.

Rumor has it that she possesses an almost terrifying ability to process and comprehend information.

In three months, she completed nineteen out of thirty courses with perfect scores! She ranked first.

She was described as having a graceful figure and a refined temperament, hence the title "Fairy".

"The Mad Dragon Taoist" is naturally Pei Yue.

This eighty-year-old man, with a Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivation level, who stormed into the sect, might not be as insightful as Fairy Linglong.

However, the knowledge, temperament, and profound understanding of human relationships and various miscellaneous knowledge that he accumulated over nearly eighty years of ups and downs became his unique advantages.

What's even more touching is his relentless, tireless dedication; it's said he hasn't rested since he started his training.

He achieved a perfect score of 17 in that month, ranking second. He carved out a place for himself in this sect full of geniuses. The title "Crossing Dragon" was well-deserved.

As for "Young Master Bai"... Lin Zhao's eyes flickered slightly.

It was that thin young man who was once entangled with the Nascent Soul mark, now renamed Yan Feng.

Rumors, though from an unknown source, spread that his rare spiritual body had caught the eye of a Nascent Soul female cultivator, who intended to forcibly take him as a cultivation vessel or a male concubine.

He refused to comply even at the cost of his life and devised a plan to escape the marriage, which led to the discovery of his mark.

This claim is difficult to verify, but the elements of "escaping marriage" and "being favored by a female cultivator" gave rise to the term "pretty boy".

He himself, through silence and his hard-earned strength of scoring full marks in fifteen subjects and ranking third, transformed this insulting nickname into "Young Master Bai".

This mindset and ability are not to be underestimated.

"Wherever there are people, there is a world of its own."

Xu Chuan sighed, looking up at the sky like Lin Zhao, "I thought that within the sect, everyone could be single-minded in their pursuit of the Dao."

"Sects are also made up of people."

Lin Zhao's voice was calm. "Competition, discussion, and taking sides are all perfectly normal. As long as the competition is generally fair, it can be considered a rare haven of peace."

He paused, a very faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"Moreover, such 'rumors' are a subject of study in themselves."

After resting for a while, he struggled to sit up and patted the grass clippings off his body.

"Let's go, Salty Fish. Tomorrow we have a course on 'Basic Identification of Deadly Poisons,' covering the properties, antidotes, and adverse reactions of thirty common deadly poisons... We have to memorize them tonight."

Xu Chuan let out an even more painful groan, but he could only resign himself to his fate and get up.