CH-19: Cave And Refinement Revolutions

I took my tablet and looked for my cave. These caves were in the mountain range that gave the institute its name. 'It is said that Clear Sky Mountain is so high that at the top of it, even the clouds are too far below to see, only the clear sky remains.' Such a mountain had a Spiritual Vein equal to its might, being one of the few Peak Seventh Rank Spiritual Veins. Spiritual Veins are also a manifestation of World Source, making the environment full of Qi.

'Even back in the clan we are not allowed near the vicinity of our Seventh Rank Spiritual Vein, and use those that are collected from around. Thundering Cataclysm is a special one, although it is a Low-Grade Seventh Rank Vein, the phenomena make it harder to cultivate and the safe spots are limited. Though because of this it is also open to everyone with enough Credit.'

Finding my way into the mountains, I followed the map on the tablet, nearly reaching the summit of one of the mountains. It was a mountain much shorter than the Clear Sky Mountain or those near it, but it was still well over 10 km. Reaching a cave entrance I held my tablet forward, opening the formation and the entrance of the cave. Amp Qi surrounded me, clearly a High-Rank Vein. 'I wouldn't be able to use such a vein as a cave without being at least Foundation Establishment, clans are really too stingy with their resources.' It was understandable they were so. Maintaining billions of mortals and millions of cultivators needed many resources. No need to say that those elders or even older generations were still alive, most of them still striving to reach a higher realm, using most of the resources.

"So empty, I should decorate this place when I get the chance," I said while looking at the almost empty cave, with just a futon where the concentration of Qi was the highest and a table and chair. 'No sleep from now on I guess...' Body Building Practitioners and Qi Condensation Experts still had to sleep, being still mortals. Only when one reached Foundation Establishment and opened their Soul Sea, there wouldn't be a need to sleep. Soul Sea itself would increase the mental capacity of cultivators, unless one used extreme means to tire their souls they wouldn't have the mental exhaust that mortals had when they didn't sleep periodically.

Two jade bottles were on the table, they were the rewards for being ranked two. 'I can't use them yet, such bad luck for the rewards. I will refine my body first, I gotta be fast since everyone only needs at most a day to start Qi Refining. I still have 10k contribution points, I should be able to exchange them for materials, but first, let's have a look at the rules.'

There weren't many rules. Some of them were even basic common sense.

'So there is a yearly grading system. They set a cultivation goal for the person depending on their talent, if the students overpast that goal they will be awarded, if they can't reach it they will have a warning, three warnings will cut your benefits that come from being a student, while fourth is for material debt and fifth ones is having to work here.'

There were also rules about attendance. Attendance was not required in any of the lessons, and there were punishments for not attending. The only things that forced attendance were the finals that I just read and the annual competition between continents.

'So this novel fixes the lack of other academies' existence with other sects from overseas. The competition is held in an archipelago near the Central Continent, only the top 32 students are required to participate. There were also spots for other professions such as alchemy, refining, talisman making and formation masters. Even a beast-rearing competition would be held during that time.'

Although attendance to normal lessons was not required, there wouldn't be many absentees when the lecturers were Golden Core True Persons. After checking the rules I opened the map of the Institute and looked for the Exchange Market. For the Qi Refining equivalent realm I had to use the same materials I used for building my body, only that it needed a lot more.

'It needs more because I will have to do the same with my whole body this time, not just parts.'

The realm was called Refinement Revolution Realm, as one would refine their body in a manner of revolving. There were multiple ways one would go about it, as there were countless Body Refining techniques.

Golden Scintillation Body* makes its revolutions by catching lightning in your body and using it to break both your body and materials, causing them to merge during the process. As with all stages of Refinement, there were 9 stages and each stage required 9 rounds of revolutions.

'Every round of revolution gets harder as you progress through the technique, slowing the whole thing down. I should be able to finish the first two stages, but the rest would be hard to do this week alone. I will have to change the spot for Essence Lake Shores to some mountain peak with thunder too, so let's get going.'

First I headed for an administrative peak, where officials lived and worked mostly. Resource Hall was the place I was looking for. Finding an official with Foundation Establishment cultivation I spoke my case.

"Hello, I would like to change my spot for Essence Lake Shores.

"Oh, you too? Alright, do you have a place in Mind?"

"Well, I'm not familiar with the Institute yet. I'm looking for a place with rich Lightning Qi, of the same quality as my spot in Essence Lake Shores."

"Now that makes things hard, give me a few moments." With that he went inside, probably to look for spots.

'He said 'you too?', which means Iyana was here too. No wonder, she would want a place with Yin Qi to cultivate and Essence Lake is just too general of a place for those with rare roots. I will also have to divide my time there into three-hour periods if I want to use it fully. I certainly can't finish these revolutions in a day.' As I was thinking about how to proceed the official came back.

"You are in luck, I found a spot for you. Give me your tablet so I can update it."

"Is it possible to divide my time into three-hour periods?"

"A strange thing to ask but yes, it is possible. Here, done. Don't forget to show your tablet to the official there when going in and out."

Thanking the official, I headed for the Exchange Market this time. I had a surplus of contribution points, so I had to spend it. Getting the same materials wasn't hard, I had only spent half of my contribution points. I could use the rest for more time in Stormy Peak, the spot that the official arranged but I refrained from doing so.

The next realm of body cultivation requires even more resources so I should save where I can. It will be only annoying to walk back to my Cave with captured bolts of lightning in my body.'

The next day was the first day of the orientation week where students bid farewells to their families and acquainted themselves with the layout of the Institute. Also, most of the teachers got out of seclusion during this time. Except for some noble scions, there were barely any students that breakthrough in Qi Refining as they would listen to Golden Core True Persons preaching first.

I went to Stormy Peak with my formation, but it was unnecessary. Giving my tablet to the female official, I walked towards one of the cushions placed in a formation. As I sat down she activated the formation. Rest was the waiting game. I needed to capture at least 18 bolts of lightning in my body, as I wanted to reach at least the second stage during this week. Luck was not on my side as I could only capture 9. With a frown and occasional spasms, I made my way to my cave. I spent two days and a half cultivating, reaching the first stage. But I had a dilemma.

'Should I innovate in my cultivation techniques?'

Many protagonists would do something different with their cultivation that is different from the norm, one of the examples was doing 13 refinement stages during Qi Refining, instead of 9 or 12.

'It doesn't make sense, not every realm has that many stages anyway. And if I tried to change how I go about Refinement, it wouldn't be the same cultivation technique anymore. I had already done something more when I first built my body, with those 27 lightnings. I should ask about this during lessons.'

I had totally forgotten that a grandma was living next to me with the answers.