"The Profound Heaven Origin Scripture transitions from Meridian Opening to Qi Nourishment, drawing Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into the Dantian..."

Lu Qing followed the guidance on this cultivation technique and began to practice cross-legged.

The Spiritual Qi on the nameless peak where he was located was abundant, and the courtyard itself stood atop the high cliff summit, allowing it to come into contact with even more abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Lu Qing suddenly felt his vision pull back from the external scene into his own body.

The formless Spiritual Qi seemed to transform into points of light before his eyes.

Lu Qing tried to reach out and touch them, and those points of light drifted and dispersed into his body bit by bit.

Boom!

There was another roar.

He hurriedly guarded his mind closely.

After the time of an incense stick had passed,

he opened his eyes, a hint of joy involuntarily appearing on his expression. To the disciples here, Meridian Opening was merely a transitional phase for laying a foundation.

Only by truly stepping into the Qi Nourishment stage could one be considered a person of cultivation.

Lu Qing could now confirm his Aptitude; since he could enter at such a fast speed, those superior to him would surely be even faster.

"No wonder they say immortal cultivation Aptitude is extremely important."

Even with Lu Qing's usual composure, being able to truly take this step without needing to go through too many hardships naturally filled him with joy.

"Right, now is a good time to go in and see what is inside the Jade Token space."

The Jade Token space had previously been a blank, misty white.

Earlier, Lu Qing could not see it clearly.

But now, having attained a shallow level of cultivation, he found that the layer of obstructive white mist had receded.

Appearing before him was impressively a massive palace.

Supporting the palace was a vast, towering mountain.

Written in bold, sweeping calligraphy on the palace plaque were the four characters "Mission Hall".

A mysterious prompt appeared in his mind.

"Mission Hall: Dao Academy disciples can claim missions, settle missions, and conduct transactions here."

"Upon entering the Mission Hall, one can alter their appearance and conceal their aura."

"So that's how it is."

Lu Qing's mind stirred, and his figure changed. Within this Jade Token space, unaffected by his cultivation level, he arrived directly at the Mission Hall.

Finding that the Mission Hall was bustling with people coming and going, all of whom were Dao Academy disciples, though most of their figures were illusory, Lu Qing finally understood why the Xuantian Dao Academy site he saw after entering was so massive, yet by contrast, the number of Dao Academy disciples did not seem to match that scale.

It turned out to be because they were all claiming missions here.

It had to be said that this cultivation differed quite a bit from what Lu Qing had imagined.

At least judging from the situation discovered so far, spells were already applied to every aspect of daily life and cultivation here. No, should rather say, for the convenience of cultivation, miscellaneous chores needed to be handled with more efficient time management.

However, what roughly remained the same was that in no matter which world, circulating resources were never dime-a-dozen.

At least Lu Qing felt that he needed to earn Spirit Stones next.

Of course, leaving the Mountain Gate to go out was still not allowed. He had also studied the Sect rules; newly enrolled disciples needed to complete an internal Sect mission before they could go out to execute external mountain missions.

This was also for the good of these new disciples, at least to familiarize them with the application of spiritual power and spells in the initial stages of cultivation.

After Lu Qing entered the Mission Hall, sky-screens resembling flowing light appeared across dozens of large areas, and quite a few disciples paused in front of them to observe and choose the missions they wanted to accept.

Moreover, in each sky-screen area, a disciple sat behind a desk. Those wishing to settle missions or claim mission rewards could choose to complete them through that disciple.

They could also complete the settlement directly through their disciple Token.

The entire process was convenient and fast, and Lu Qing took note of it in his heart.

After watching for a while, Lu Qing left this place, and his consciousness returned to his body.

He currently only had spiritual power in vain without corresponding methods, so naturally he would not rush to accept missions at this time.

"Spirit Stones, ah, Spirit Stones."

Cultivating silently on his own peak, the sense of security brought by having magical power and spells by his side was incomparable to anything else.

That illusion of nearly being beheaded back then—although he didn't die, Lu Qing did not want to experience that kind of feeling again; it was truly not pleasant.

He was thinking just like this.

But whether it was because his thoughts reached that point, or because certain conditions were triggered,

the Ominous Divination that had not appeared after joining the Dao Academy emerged once again.

【Great Ominous Divination: The trees desire stillness, but the wind will not cease. Because you are preparing to claim an internal mountain mission to earn Spirit Stones, on the way leaving Nameless Dao Peak, you are solicited by Bai Yunqing. You refuse, suffering resentment, and are later killed by a stranger during the execution of the mission. Great Calamity.】

【Great Ominous Divination: The trees desire stillness, but the wind will not cease. Because you are preparing to claim an internal mountain mission to earn Spirit Stones, on the way leaving Nameless Dao Peak, you are solicited by Bai Yunqing. You agree, and you are killed by a stranger during the execution of the spirit plant irrigation mission. Great Calamity.】

【Neutral Divination: Stay on Nameless Mountain to cultivate for a month, with no worries and no Killing Tribulation. Neutral.】

"What grudge do I have with you? If solicitation fails you want to kill, and even if I agree you still want to kill."

Lu Qing was truly fed up with these people. One by one, instead of earning Spirit Stones or practicing cultivation, they were messing around with solicitation, and their petty mindedness was simply too much.

Lu Qing's eyes looked towards that stranger.

The familiar name made him think of what had happened last time in Profound Heaven City.

"The stranger, are the two strangers actually the same person? The Dao Academy is not absolutely safe either."

"No, wait."

Lu Qing thought of many things in an instant, including that this stranger was actually the Old Demonic Thief from Elder Mo's mouth last time.

Or perhaps it was some disciple inside the Dao Academy, or some Elder.

"The missions I claimed all started out steady, like this spirit plant mission."

Lu Qing's memory was already quite good to begin with, and after cultivation, his ears and eyes became even clearer. The people he had met and events that had occurred were all organized by his mind into a memory palace.

As soon as he thought about it, he quickly recalled the spirit plant irrigation missions he had filtered through in the Mission Hall.

These missions were not particularly high in difficulty, but most of their basic requirements demanded that disciples reach the Qi Nourishment stage.

Without the Qi Nourishment stage, one also had to practice a common cloud and rain spell.

What he noticed was not the mission conditions, but these locations.

"Because it's spirit plant cultivation, it's generally one hundred and eight thousand miles away from the main peak, even further than my Outer Court here; it's probably in the Servants' Courtyard."

"That is to say, if I am killed there, that place definitely has danger."

What kind of cultivation level was Lu Qing at now? At the very least, he was a proper Outer Sect Qi Nourishment disciple, whereas given the Aptitude situation in the Servants' Courtyard, they were probably still lingering around Meridian Opening right now, or had not yet entered the Meridian Opening stage.

Seeing how effortlessly the Great Ominous Divination description portrayed it, this stranger couldn't truly be that Old Demonic Thief from before, right?

"There are twenty-eight managers in the Servants' Courtyard; never mind their cultivation level, but they are definitely stronger than me."

"Could there be a secret in that spirit plant area? That's not right either; if there were a secret, the hexagram reading hex would show breaking in upon a secret and being killed, just like last time."

"That Old Demonic Thief."

Lu Qing's greatest suspicion in his heart right now was actually still the Old Demonic Thief. That region was the most remote place within the Dao Academy's coverage range.

The Formation there was probably not as stable as the one here.

If something really were to be stirred up over there, following the style of that old Demon, it would surely be doable.

...