Chapter 287: Gold Belt Third Seat

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. After three days of adjustment, Zhou Yuan gradually familiarized himself with Saint Genesis Peak. At the same time, he began to truly realize the benefits of cultivating in a cave dwelling.

In the inner mountain, every disciple has a cave dwelling, though their quality varies. Each dwelling is connected to a Genesis Mountain, but higher-grade dwellings are linked to higher-grade Genesis Mountains.

Deep within each dwelling, there is a spring that serves as the connection to the Genesis Mountain. From this spring, vast amounts of pure Genesis Qi continuously gush forth, forming a faint mist that permeates the entire dwelling. Cultivating in such an environment is clearly far more efficient than practicing outside the mountain, where tens of thousands of disciples share a single Genesis Mountain. Thus, in this Golden Source Cave Dwelling, Zhou Yuan noticed a significant refinement in his Genesis Qi after just three days. This allowed him to truly experience the vast difference between inner mountain and outer mountain disciples.

However, despite the benefits of the cave dwellings, there is a price. It is said that cave dwellings can be acquired with Genesis Jade. A Golden Source Cave Dwelling costs around ten thousand Genesis Jade, and after acquisition, several hundred Genesis Jade must be paid monthly for maintenance. This is certainly an expensive cost, but fortunately, inner mountain disciples receive better benefits than their outer mountain counterparts, including a monthly allowance of around a thousand Genesis Jade. Furthermore, the Inner Mountain’s Miscellaneous Affairs Pavilion offers tasks with generous rewards, allowing inner mountain disciples to cover their dwelling expenses.

Zhou Yuan, however, felt no pressure regarding this. He had earned a substantial sum by teaching Genesis Arts previously, and since this Golden Source Cave Dwelling was directly bestowed upon him by Master Shen, he saved the initial ten thousand Genesis Jade. He only needed to cover the daily maintenance costs. In his view, as long as it benefited his cultivation, Genesis Jade was merely an external possession.

After cultivating in the Golden Source Cave Dwelling for three days, Zhou Yuan developed an interest in the even higher-grade Violet Source Cave Dwellings. If a Golden Source Cave Dwelling was already so potent, just how effective would a Violet Source Cave Dwelling be? Moreover, it is said that if one becomes one of the Ten Saint Sons, they can even have an entire Genesis Mountain to themselves. Such a mountain would contain only one dwelling, and all its Genesis Qi would be exclusively supplied to that single dwelling. Cultivating in such a place would likely be even more remarkably swift. These dwellings are known as Saint Son Dwellings, superior even to Violet Source Cave Dwellings. Of course, even Elder Shen and his peers are not qualified to bestow such a high-level dwelling; it requires a joint decision by Sect Master Qing Yang and the five peak masters.

However, Saint Son Dwellings were still a distant goal for Zhou Yuan. For now, he decided to focus on acquiring a Violet Source Cave Dwelling first. Over the past few days, Zhou Yuan had come to understand Shen Taiyuan’s high regard for him. Since the elder truly valued him so much, there was no need for modesty. He knew Shen Taiyuan’s objective: to see him, as the first place in the grand ceremony, make a difference, demonstrate his potential after some cultivation, stand out among the many disciples, and ultimately become Saint Genesis Peak’s chief disciple, retrieving the Peak Master Seal and bringing glory to their lineage. This objective perfectly aligned with Zhou Yuan's own goals. After all, to obtain the second Saint Rune, he had to enter the sealed main peak.

“Are you going to morning lessons today?” Zhou Yuan asked inside the dwelling, having finished his preparations. He looked towards a nearby mountain wall. Beyond it was a deep, mist-shrouded abyss. Yao Yao sat leisurely on a swing made of vines, holding Tun Tun, her eyes fixed on an ancient scroll in her hands. Sunlight pierced through the mist and fell upon her, making her already fair, jade-like skin shimmer and appear translucent. The scene was breathtakingly beautiful. But Zhou Yuan had long been immune to such sights.

Hearing Zhou Yuan’s voice, Yao Yao barely lifted her gaze and idly shook her head. “No.” She seemed to have little interest in cultivation.

Zhou Yuan wasn't surprised by her answer. He nodded, then stepped onto a cloud of Genesis Qi and ascended, heading directly towards the so-called “Primordial Rock.” Midway, he encountered Shen Wanjin and a group of other newly inducted inner mountain disciples. Their journey together was quite lively.

After about ten minutes, their speed slowed. Looking ahead, they saw a colossal peak piercing through the clouds. At its very summit appeared to be a massive azure rock. The rock seemed out of place on the immense peak, clearly moved there by external force. It must be the Primordial Rock. Upon this azure giant rock stood an azure grand hall. At this moment, many clouds of Genesis Qi rapidly approached, one after another, descending towards the hall.

Zhou Yuan and the others also descended towards the azure hall. Above its entrance, they saw three ancient, vigorous characters: “Hall of Seeking the Dao.”

Zhou Yuan and his companions entered the hall. Inside, it was spacious and grand, with a tiered seating arrangement. At the highest point sat a figure: Elder Shen Taiyuan. On the wide steps extending downwards were rows of ancient meditation mats. These mats were divided into three colors: purple, gold, and black. The purple mats were at the very top, closest to Shen Taiyuan, followed by the gold mats, and then the black mats at the bottom. Clearly, these mats corresponded to the disciples' ranks. Zhou Yuan's gaze swept over the mats, and he could faintly sense a peculiar undulation emanating from them, indicating they were far from ordinary.

There were only eight purple mats, and eight figures were already seated on them. The one in the lead was Zhou Tai, who, along with the others, were clearly the eight purple-sash disciples under Shen Taiyuan. When Zhou Yuan entered the hall, numerous gazes fell upon him. Zhou Tai offered him a friendly smile, but the expressions of the other disciples were somewhat inexplicable. Especially two or three purple-sash disciples near Zhou Tai scrutinized Zhou Yuan with sharp, assessing eyes.

“Zhou Yuan, sit here,” Shen Taiyuan also noticed Zhou Yuan. His expression remained stern and rigid like a stone. He pointed a finger downwards. The spot was among the golden mats, ranked third.

Shen Taiyuan's action immediately caused a low stir in the hall, and many disciples looked on with envy. This was because the meditation mats here were not chosen arbitrarily. The closer one sat to the front, the greater the benefits and the higher the status. The third golden mat signified the third seat among the gold-sash disciples. Once seated there, even gold-sash disciples who had joined earlier, if ranked lower than third, would have to address Zhou Yuan as “Senior Brother.” In the inner mountain, the hierarchy was undoubtedly much stricter, far from the relaxed environment of the outer mountain where age determined seniority.

Normally, newly inducted disciples were mostly relegated to the back, respectfully sitting behind older disciples and slowly advancing. For someone like Zhou Yuan to be directly granted the third seat among gold-sash disciples upon entry was exceedingly rare. Zhou Yuan understood all this, but he had also come to terms with it. Since Shen Taiyuan placed such high hopes on him, treating him almost as a last resort, there was no need for excessive modesty. He would simply accept any benefits offered and repay them later.

Thus, he directly disregarded the many scrutinizing and questioning gazes and walked straight towards the third golden mat. However, as he reached the third golden mat, he suddenly felt a hostile gaze. He looked over and saw a long-haired young man on the fourth golden mat, glaring at him with a dark expression. It was the young man named Cao Shi. The third seat had originally been his, but today, it was given to Zhou Yuan.

Shen Taiyuan’s favoritism towards Zhou Yuan filled him with extreme jealousy and resentment. It was true that Zhou Yuan had claimed first place in the grand ceremony, but so what? In previous years, even those who came first were eventually surpassed by many other disciples and faded into obscurity. Did Master Shen truly have such confidence, hoping that Zhou Yuan could become another Chu Qing? But was he even worthy of being compared to Chu Qing?