Cultivation begins with the Druid panel

Senior Water Dragon did not detain Lu Lin any further and saw him off at the door. He led Lu Lin to the exit of the Dragon Palace. Looking at the pitch black outside the Dragon Palace, Senior Water Dragon turned to Lu Lin and said, "The journey up will be very stressful for you, so be careful."

Lu Lin also looked up towards the outside of the Dragon Palace, took a deep breath in the bubble, and said, "Senior, don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Please remove these bubbles."

Senior Water Dragon nodded slightly and waved his hand. The bubbles surrounding Lu Lin burst open, followed by immense pressure. In the blink of an eye, Lu Lin felt a stinging pain all over his body, as if thousands of needles were pricking him, and his blood flow suddenly accelerated.

In that instant, Lu Lin nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Senior Water Dragon witnessed Lu Lin's performance but chose not to intervene, instead offering verbal guidance:

"Cultivation is a personal matter. On this path, willpower is the only weapon. I may be able to save your life, but in reality, no one can help you. Kid, if you regret it now, activate the dragon scales I gave you, and you will no longer have to suffer this torment."

Lu Lin shook his head slightly upon hearing this, his eyes revealing a firm resolve, but he was unable to speak.

He demonstrated his determination with his actions. Lu Lin leaped into the darkness before him, using all his spiritual power to orient himself.

Lu Lin sensed the direction of the undercurrents on the lake's surface and used them to propel himself upwards towards the surface. Watching Lu Lin disappear into the distance, Senior Water Dragon chuckled and remarked, "A promising young man with considerable courage and determination."

Lu Lin naturally couldn't hear this sigh. At this moment, his five senses were weakened several times over, and he could only hear the sound of the ever-flowing water. He couldn't hear any other sounds.

The darkness before him made Lu Lin uneasy. He felt endless malice attacking him from all directions, and the restrictions in the lake seemed to be desperately trying to keep him underwater.

The pain in his body was amplified, and the power of his spiritual sense was also being frantically squeezed. This body tempering was more dangerous than the one he had under the waterfall. If it weren't for the dragon scales given to him by the senior water dragon, Lu Lin might not have had the courage and determination to use the restrictions in the lake to temper his body.

While Lu Lin was training his body, in the study of the sixth-floor pavilion inside the Cliff Academy, the candlelight flickered on the desk and candlestick. A scholar put down his book, looked up through the window towards the direction of Cliff Lake, and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement:

"The children who came to the Ancient Spirit City branch for the assessment this time are truly hidden talents. They even dared to jump into the lake."

But after the scholar finished his exclamation, he withdrew his gaze and focused his attention back on his book. Clearly, Lu Lin's performance was indeed impressive, but not enough to distract the scholar from much of his attention.

After all, as a scholar of the Cliffside Academy, he had seen too many outstanding individuals on his path of cultivation.

Lu Lin was unaware that he had already attracted the attention of some people. At this moment, cracks appeared all over his body, and blood slowly seeped out from the cracks, completely staining Lu Lin's clothes red. Gu Ji noticed Lu Lin's predicament and took the initiative to release the power of Jia Wood to heal Lu Lin.

In this way, Lu Lin's body kept breaking down and healing, breaking down and healing again, and his meridians became more resilient, and even his flesh and blood became more solid.

Under such intense forging, the fifth meridian was finally unblocked. The spiritual energy contained in the lake water was frantically absorbed by Lu Lin's flesh and blood, and Lu Lin's Qi Sea also became more spacious under the feedback of this power.

Finally, this force landed on Lu Lin's spiritual sea, and his spiritual consciousness became more refined at this moment, with his perception being more than doubled.

At the same time, the long-unseen panel reappeared in front of Lu Lin.

[You have used the restrictions of the mountain cliff lake to temper your body, refine your soul, and achieve breakthroughs in both your Qi Sea and Spirit Sea. Your Heart of Nature experience points have increased by 50, and your Divine Transcendence experience points have increased by 50.]

[You have broken through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage, and feel that your strength has more than doubled. Now you are full of confidence in your future.]

Whoosh!

As the panel finished refreshing, Lu Lin finally broke free from the water. The pressure on his body suddenly lessened, and his five senses snapped out of their confusion. He looked at the pavilion that was now within reach and let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Finally back. And I didn't even need to use the dragon scales Senior Water Dragon gave me." Lu Lin's face lit up with joy. He quickly emerged from the lake, went to the pavilion, and with a wave of his hand, used his spiritual power to evaporate all the lake water from his body.

The wounds on his body began to heal quickly after the pressure of the lake water was removed. In a short while, Lu Lin's body was fully recovered. However, he was a little sleepy as soon as he got ashore because he had exhausted too much energy.

Lu Lin looked up at the sky.

It's probably almost dawn.

Lu Lin returned to the second floor of the attic, took off his blood-stained clothes, and immediately lay down on the bed. He covered himself with the blanket, closed his eyes, and began to snore softly in the room.

Guji and Xiaohei finally relaxed and fell asleep with Lu Lin.

So much happened today.

……

crunch--

After Lu Lin fell asleep, the door to the study on the sixth floor of the cliff academy was pushed open. Lu Lin recognized the person who entered; it was the scholar who had traveled with him in the carriage.

This scholar seemed to hold a high position in the Cliff Academy. After entering the study, he came up behind the scholar who was reading and said, "The seeds used for this year's assessment were intercepted, and half of them fell into the hands of those bandits. We can only use old seeds to fill this gap."

The scholar reading the book was not very old, appearing to be around twenty-five years old. His appearance was incredibly effeminate, with a male-female face.

After hearing what the scholar behind him said, he closed the book he was reading and asked, "Those old seeds were already substandard from previous years. Wouldn't it be unfair to this year's candidates to use them in the exam?"

So-called aged seeds are actually seeds that are still viable, but have failed to germinate even after being planted for several years.

Those seeds couldn't even be grown by a true spiritual plant master, let alone by these cultivators who were taking the exam.

Anyone who plants old seeds can be declared unqualified for the assessment.

The scholar pondered for a moment and said:

"During the assessment, they all choose the seeds themselves. It all depends on their own judgment. If they don't even have the ability to choose seeds, they can't become a spiritual plant master. Using old seeds as substitutes is fine."

"What about seeds available on the market? Can't we buy them now?" The female scholar frowned slightly.

"You know perfectly well that the seeds on the market are all activated, so they'll survive as soon as they're planted in the soil. Using those seeds is even more unfair than using old seeds." The scholar shook his head.

The seeds available on the market are for ordinary cultivators, while the seeds used for the assessment are for future spiritual plant masters; there is a fundamental difference between the two.

To preserve the credibility of the assessment, the Cliff Academy preferred a lower pass rate to a higher one.

The female scholar frowned slightly and asked, "Have you found out where those robbers came from?"

"I never participate in investigations, you've asked the wrong person." The scholar shook his head and turned around: "This assessment is settled. Also... I'll be proctoring this Spirit Plant Master assessment."

"You're going to proctor the exam?" The female scholar was taken aback.

He knew that this guy was most afraid of trouble, and proctoring exams, though seemingly insignificant, was actually the most troublesome thing. This year, he actually took the initiative to participate.

"Hmm." The scholar didn't explain further and turned to leave the study.

The female scholar raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself: This is unusual, I should investigate. Just treat it as gossip.