Gu Xuanming took his slip, and it read Dorm Room 31.
He would then leave the room.
‘So, I must open my meridians first.
That does indeed sound difficult to do.’
‘Well, since I’m a B-grade talent, my family should send support packages tomorrow.
My servant will also be here tomorrow, so that’s another thing.’
‘How annoying.
Without a doubt, she will continue trying to seduce me.’
Gu Xuanming exited the building and walked around until he found the dorm sector of the sect.
It was a large space, each with a room lined up next to each other and creating a box.
It was about 3 floors, so there were enough rooms for everyone to use.
Gu Xuanming looked around, spotting his room.
It was on the ground floor at the very center.
Walking over to it, he used the slip, which also served as a key to allow him to enter.
Sliding the door open, inside was a bed, a mat, a candle, a dresser, and another window on the opposite side to see the wilderness.
“This is a good room.
I should be comfortable to cultivate here.”
“Although I still can’t find the inheritance.”
Gu Xuanming thought back to when he was 13 years old.
His father had told him all about his true father, being the Liquor Poison Monk, which allowed him to understand why his senses were so high and why he had poisonous blood.
The main thing he was told was that the monk should have left an inheritance, since his mother, being one of the concubines, had told his father about the monk wanting to pass down his treasures to his son.
His father didn’t care much about his concubine cheating, since to him, she was just meant to give birth to children.
She had a child, and it was from a powerful cultivator, so that was all he cared about.
Of course, she would die giving birth to Gu Xuanming, and because of this, his father needed to change things up to save face.
He changed Xuanming’s surname to Gu and then changed Xuanhe’s surname from Gu to Nangong, his father’s current concubine, that woman being Nangong Zhenhua.
His father did know about the inheritance, but had no interest in it, so he had told Gu Xuanming about it.
If he wanted to pursue it, he would have to find it, since the Liquor Poison Monk had mysteriously died, which did hurt business quite a bit since a strong connection was made with such a man.
Of course, his body would be in the central continent, but that’s where the problem was.
Why?
Simple, the central continent was large and vast, with only a single large village at its center, Gue Ming Village, and many forests, holding different insects, animals, plant life, and spirit beasts, which could kill you in an instant if you weren’t careful.
This left Gu Xuanming with no choice but to struggle as he searched for the inheritance.
He was unable to leave the village, since he was too weak, but now that he was following the path of cultivation, he should be able to enter the first once he reaches his first stars.
Taking a deep breath, he took off his shoes, setting them by the side.
‘It would have been nice to change out of this tunic.
A robe would feel a lot better than this.
Hopefully, I will be given a robe tomorrow.
For now, I need to focus on cultivating.
The problem is how to start.’
‘I have heard that one must meditate.
My father did tell me that, but because cultivators never share what they do to mortals, he didn’t spare me any details.’
‘I should have brought a pill with me…’
Seeing he had no choices, he decided to sit on the mat at the center of the room, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his thighs.
Taking a deep breath once again, he calmed his nerves and focused.
He honed his senses, letting himself feel the world a lot better.
He couldn’t rely on his taste and smell, and he wasn’t 100% sure if his senses could even help him.
After all, he’s never felt qi before.
He would sit in this one spot for 6 hours, attempting to open his meridians.
It was by the 5th hour mark that he was finally able to sense his meridians.
They were like spiritual veins coursing throughout every inch of his astral body.
Although he still couldn’t open them.
By this point, he had begun to sweat.
After all, cultivation drains energy.
Just meditation alone was equal to a long walk in energy consumption.
“Phew, I found some of the meridians, but not all of them.
Maybe they possess a Scripture Pavilion here?
But I need to shower first.”
Gu Xuanming stood up, opening the door when he noticed his brother walking away.
‘…’
He looked furious, possibly at his failed attempt at cultivation.
Nangong Xuanhe did happen to look back and see his little brother.
His brows furrowed with anger as he stomped off the premises.
‘How stupid.’
Gu Xuanming searched around the grounds until he found the baths.
There were three types: Men, Women, and Mixed.
“Mixed, huh?
I wonder if I can get Lin Suwen off my back if she sees me eyeing other women.
I could try, although she may become more persistent.”
“Well, if it doesn’t work, then at the very least I can try to divert her attention to my brother.
Although he only has a C-grade talent.”
“That’s average, unlike me, who’s above average, and she can’t pursue Zhao Cangsheng since he comes from a different clan, and she is the property of the Gu Clan.”
By this point, Gu Xuanming had already entered the mixed bath.
The bath itself was surrounded by stones, and steam left the water.
There were bars of soap by the side as well for anyone to use.
He stripped and took a dip in the warm water.
His muscles relaxed, and the liquid had cleaned him of the physical impurities on his body.
He wasn’t physically muscular, far from it, actually.
He was actually quite slim, weak-looking even, but he was fine with that.
Gu Xuanming didn’t care about looks all that much.
As he continued to think of what to do, the door slid open again, and someone else stepped inside.
Opening his eyes, a girl with voluptuous form stepped into the mixed baths.
He noticed her dark brown hair was tied into braid rings on both sides of her head.
He also noticed a very special butterfly pin on her head.
It was this pin that gave him everything he needed to know.
‘That pin is from the Qing clan.
If I recall, they had a daughter.’ Gu Xuanming thought.
“Oh, someone is already here.”
She threw off her towel, exposing her naked body, and stepped into the water.
“Ahhhh, there we go.”
A sigh of relief left her mouth as she blushed from the pleasure she felt.
It wasn’t sexual, but it did make her quite happy.
“If I recall, you’re Young Master Gu Xuanming, correct?” Qing Yuru asked.
Gu Xuanming glanced at her before looking back at himself.
“Yes, I am.”
She dragged herself closer to him, holding no shame in exposing her nudity to a random stranger one year younger than her.
“Senior Qing Yuru.
Don’t forget, you are my junior.
I’ve already been here for a year since I paid to apply for the sect early.”
There was another method by which one could enter the sect, but only those with rich families could do so, and that was by buying an early examination.
By buying an early examination, you could get your evaluation sooner.
In the case of Qing Yuru, she paid last year because she refused to wait another year for her evaluation.
Gu Xuanming had almost forgotten that it wasn’t like grades in school.
You didn’t go up enough grades to graduate.
No.
Instead, it was by examination.
Six examinations you needed to pass in order to graduate, and they were held once every month.
Of course, these examinations got harder and harder, and if you failed three times in a row, you were kicked out.
Of course, if you stay for too long, you will be kicked out as well.
Naturally, incompetent cultivators were discarded.
There was no point in raising them if they could not keep up with the tests.
If they can’t keep up with the tests, they can’t keep up with the world.
“…Senior Qing Yuru.
Yes, I am your junior, Gu Xuanmig.”
She placed her hand on his shoulder, chuckling softly.
Her skin was delicate and soft, yet he was not impressed.
“Good.
Tell you what, since you understand manners unlike most others, how about I gift you an advance of 50 Primordial Stones?”
Gu Xuanming looked at Qing Yuru, his distressed eminent.
He understood from the words of his father that if someone offered you a gift, normally, they would ask for a favor.
It was also done to leave a good impression.
“…why?” He asked.
Qing Yuru smiled.
“As I said, I’m being generous.” She took Gu Xuanming’s hand, squeezing it a bit.
With a passive-aggressive tone, she said, “You know it’s rude to refuse a gift from your seniors, right?”
Gu Xuanming fell silent.
He knew full well that was true, but he didn’t care.
All he cared about was the benefits he could gain from this.
Externally, his expression showed indifference, but deep down, he had a faint smile.
He knew he could use her by being kind.
If he chose to act like a good junior, then who knows what she may give him?
“Yes, you are right.
Junior is sorry.”
Qing Yuru’s expression lightened up, a gentle smile once again on her face.
“Fufufufu, no worries.
I will deliver the stones to your dorm by nightfall, so don’t miss them or someone else might snatch them.”
After that, she stood up, leaving the bath.
‘Well, more primordial stones are always good.
It’s how one’s cultivation consistency can keep a good pace.’
Primordial Stones were the currency of the world.
While yes, they were very valuable for trade, they could also be sold to cultivators for gifts.
With these stones, a cultivator could absorb the energy within them, allowing the cultivator to rejuvenate their energy.
And of course, the longer you could meditate and absorb, the better it was for you.
Gu Xuanming stood up, drying himself off and leaving the bath after that.
He entered the changing room and took one of the spare white robes from a wooden box.
After that, he searched the premises for the scripture pavilion.
It took him a while, but all he had to do was go to the other side of the campus, and there it was.
A great building composed of 9 floors, holding the knowledge that was necessary for a cultivator to possess.
At the entrance stood two statues, both of them being of the one called The Buddha.
He was a man who was quite mysterious in nature.
No one knows his true nature, but what people did know was that he was the first in the Gue Ming village to ever reach the Immortal Stars, specifically, the 7th Stars.
This was a big deal because it solidified the reputation of Gue Ming village across the regions of Junlong Guo, the state.
Taking his first step inside, he could smell the jade slips.
For some, they smelled faintly earthy; others had an ancient parchment and incense, but there was mostly a pleasant fragrance.
Looking around, he could see that many people were already here, reading the jade slips, and now it was his turn.
Walking to the counter, he approached a female servant.
“I am here to read jade slips on meridians.
Do you know anything about that?” He said.
“Young Master, indeed, there is.
You will have to go down that way, then take a right.
You should see a sign that says Astral Body.
If you search, you should find the slip about meridians.”
Gu Xuanming nodded, following her exact instructions.
He continued until he found the sign, searching through the slips until he found the few slips about meridians.
It seems other people had the same idea as him.
Taking the slip into his hand, he found himself a table where he could sit by himself and read.
It was also near the window, so it was a nice way to allow him to see the outside.
Taking a seat on the mat, he looked out the window to see it was getting dark.
‘I should read this quickly.
I need to collect the stones when they’re dropped off.’
When he had opened the slip, it illuminated a bright jade color, shining brightly until it transformed into a map of the human body.
This drawing was an entire layout of all the meridians of the mortal body.
In total, there were 126 meridians within the human body.
‘These are a lot of locations to think of.
And I need to open them all up?’
‘There must be a pill that could assist me with this, no?’
‘Father did say that a pill can do anything as long as it’s made a certain way.
If I don’t get a pill to help with cultivation, I can always go to the market.
People are always willing to sell to cultivators; that’s the business anyway.”
Indeed, it was the business.
It was the only way that mortals could survive.
In a world where a man could wave his hand and tear down a nation, mortals knew they needed to be useful, to have a tight bond with such beings.
That is why people choose to work in farming, alchemy, and other professions that could benefit a cultivator.
They can then sell these materials to a cultivator, and in exchange, the cultivator will give them a gift.
This comes in the form of either returned youth, fertilized land, great treasures, or anything the person can ask for as long as they please them.
It was good business, and Gu Xuanming had every intention of using it.
Closing the jade slip, he placed it back where he found it and left the building.
He could feel the exhaustion kicking in, and so he figured it was best to go to sleep early so he could get up early.
Reaching his dorm, a closed box of primordial stones laid in front of his door.
“Hmmm…”
Picking it up with one hand, he entered his dorm, locking it behind him and going to sleep.
Next Chapters will be next Friday (Never Mind)