Chapter 29: Jade Spirit Waterfall

On a verdant, lush mountain peak behind the Great Zhou Palace, a waterfall resembling the Milky Way cascaded down. Its rumbling sound resonated throughout the entire mountain range, creating an imposing spectacle.

Zhou Yuan, Su Youwei, and all the other students from the Alpha Class stood beneath the waterfall. A vast, clear lake lay before them, its waters as still as a mirror.

"Is this the Jade Spirit Waterfall?" Su Youwei gazed at the plunging waterfall, her beautiful eyes filled with curiosity. She had clearly heard about it before.

Song Qiushui, standing nearby, nodded with a grin. "This is the Great Zhou Palace's precious cultivation ground, the Jade Spirit Waterfall. It's said that at the top of the waterfall, a patch of Purple Spirit Jade Marrow grows. And whenever the water rushes down, it carries a trace of extremely gentle jade marrow energy. When the powerful force of the waterfall hits your body, that jade marrow energy is pushed into your body by the impact, helping us open major meridians."

"Of course, even more importantly, because the jade marrow energy is extremely gentle and won't damage your meridians, even if you reach your daily meridian-opening limit, you can still use the Jade Spirit Waterfall to continue your meridian cultivation."

Upon hearing this, a spark of wonder appeared in Su Youwei's beautiful eyes. Because meridians have a tolerance limit, each person's daily meridian opening is restricted by the number of attempts. But now, this Jade Spirit Waterfall could still aid meridian opening even after the meridians reached their limit, without causing any damage. This alone was enough to reveal the Jade Spirit Waterfall's immense value.

Zhou Yuan also nodded with a smile. This was precisely why he valued the Jade Spirit Waterfall. Every day, after completing his allotted meridian opening attempts, his meridians would reach their limit. But with the help of this Jade Spirit Waterfall, he could continue his meridian cultivation.

This would undoubtedly accelerate his cultivation efficiency.

"However, the Purple Spirit Jade Marrow needs to absorb Genesis Qi from the world to continuously produce jade marrow energy. That's why the Jade Spirit Waterfall only opens once every two days."

Yang Zai chuckled at Zhou Yuan and Su Youwei. "You two are quite lucky; you've encountered it right after joining the Alpha Class."

Zhou Yuan gazed at the waterfall, which subtly carried a hint of purple, and thoughtfully asked, "How is access to the Jade Spirit Waterfall allocated?"

There was only one Jade Spirit Waterfall, but the Great Zhou Palace had five cohorts, with hundreds of students in total. Clearly, it was impossible for everyone to enter the Jade Spirit Waterfall for cultivation simultaneously, so allocation was necessary.

"The Jade Spirit Waterfall opens for sixteen hours," Yang Zai said. "According to past rules, our Alpha Class gets six hours, Beta Class gets four hours, and the other three classes get two hours each. Since we're in the Alpha Class, we get the best time slots and the longest duration."

Zhou Yuan nodded in understanding, then clicked his tongue. "Only six hours, huh?"

Yang Zai chuckled. "Six hours is already a lot, and you might not even be able to last that long."

"Oh?" Zhou Yuan paused, surprised.

Yang Zai chuckled again but said no more, simply stating, "You'll find out soon enough."

"Alright, no more idle chatter. Prepare to enter the huts and inscribe your Genesis Runes." In front, Chu Tianyang clapped his hands, interrupting their conversation, and pointed towards two large bamboo huts near the lake.

"We need to inscribe Genesis Runes too?" Zhou Yuan and Su Youwei both paused in surprise upon hearing this.

"Yes, every time we come to the Jade Spirit Waterfall to cultivate, the Great Zhou Palace sends teachers skilled in Genesis Runes to inscribe a 'Qi Gathering Rune' on each student. This is a first-grade Genesis Rune, and it makes our bodies absorb the jade marrow energy from the waterfall more effectively," Song Qiushui explained.

As they spoke, they arrived before the bamboo huts. There were two huts, one for males and one for females. Students queued up and entered one by one. However, while waiting in line, the male students occasionally cast sly glances towards the female hut.

Soon it was Zhou Yuan's turn. He entered the bamboo hut, where a teacher holding a Genesis Rune brush waved at him, gesturing for him to remove his upper garment and lie prone on the platform. Then, the brush tip descended, gradually inscribing a Genesis Rune onto Zhou Yuan's back.

As the final stroke fell, a faint light immediately emanated from Zhou Yuan's back, then faded away. But as the Genesis Rune took shape, Zhou Yuan faintly felt that he had become much more sensitive to the Genesis Qi in his surroundings.

"This Qi Gathering Rune is quite similar to the Qi Gathering Jade, but its effect lasts for a much shorter time." Zhou Yuan put on his clothes, bowed to the teacher, and exited.

Speaking of Qi Gathering Jade, Zhou Yuan glanced at the warm, cool jade pendant hanging around his neck. Ever since Su Youwei learned that he could cultivate by opening meridians, she had insisted on returning it to him, which left him feeling quite helpless.

However, knowing Su Youwei's stubborn nature, Zhou Yuan didn't force the issue.

Exiting the bamboo hut, he saw Su Youwei also emerging. Zhou Yuan walked up to her and secretly glanced at her back, his gaze passing over her fair neck to vaguely discern some faint luminous patterns.

"What are you looking at?" Sensing his gaze, Su Youwei's pretty face flushed slightly, and she glared at him.

Zhou Yuan smiled, then glanced at the bamboo hut where girls were continually emerging. He couldn't help but ask, "It's not male teachers on your side too, is it?"

If that were the case, that would be too disadvantageous!

Su Youwei, blushing with annoyance, lightly kicked Zhou Yuan's leg. Biting her lip, she retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about! Of course, they're female!"

Inscribing Genesis Runes required removing one's upper garment; it would be outrageous to have a male teacher do that.

Zhou Yuan gave a dry laugh. As the two talked, all the students from the Alpha Class gathered. Chu Tianyang glanced at them, then turned and led everyone towards the waterfall.

Boom! The enormous waterfall roared down like a water dragon, its powerful currents crashing into the lake, sending up huge waves and filling the air with mist.

Chu Tianyang took out a large incense stick, lit it, and stuck it into a crevice in a nearby rock. Then, he looked at the crowd with a serious expression and said, "Prepare to begin. You only have six hours. I hope you don't waste this opportunity."

Saying this, he then looked at Zhou Yuan, Su Youwei, and another new student, adding, "You three can observe for now."

Zhou Yuan and the other two nodded. They watched Yang Zai, Song Qiushui, and the others, whose gazes were a mix of anticipation and apprehension as they looked at the "Jade Spirit Waterfall." Finally, taking a deep breath, they gritted their teeth and charged into the cultivation platform located in the middle of the waterfall.

Boom! The immense water flow constantly roared down. As soon as Yang Zai and the others plunged into the waterfall, they firmly gripped the rocks with their feet, letting the water currents surge against them.

With such a massive waterfall, the impact force of the water was undoubtedly immense. So, even though Yang Zai and the others exerted all their strength, their bodies still trembled.

They gritted their teeth. The force of the surging water, striking their bodies, felt like heavy blows, causing their faces to contort.

The Genesis Runes on their backs emitted a faint glow. Faintly, it seemed that wisps of purple energy were permeating their bodies, carried by the impact of the water flow.

Under the waterfall's impact, many students lasted for about ten minutes before some began to falter. Finally, with a cry of pain, they were successively washed into the lake below.

Yang Zai and Song Qiushui lasted the longest, but they too fell into the lake after only a little over twenty minutes.

When they climbed out of the lake, their skin was bruised all over, as if they had been severely beaten. Their grimacing, disheveled appearance clearly indicated they were in immense pain.

Only then did Zhou Yuan understand why they both loved and dreaded the Jade Spirit Waterfall. While the jade marrow energy here could indeed help open meridians, each time they would be pounded by the waterfall's currents until they were covered in bruises, as if they had been severely beaten.

"Next, you three try," Chu Tianyang said to Zhou Yuan, Su Youwei, and the other new student.

"Hehe, good luck. The first time, it's always quick," Yang Zai chuckled at Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan and Su Youwei exchanged glances, then walked forward. They paused before the waterfall, gazing at the thundering currents plunging downwards. Finally, gritting their teeth, they took a step inside.

The moment he entered the waterfall, Zhou Yuan's skin immediately tensed. His feet gripped the ground like the roots of a great tree. In the next instant, he felt a massive force, accompanied by the surging water, strike him from above, enveloping his entire body.

"So painful!" The immense water flow violently crashed down, causing Zhou Yuan to gasp. The force was so fierce it nearly drove him straight into the lake.

However, under the water's impact, Zhou Yuan could faintly feel the Qi Gathering Rune on his back emitting a pulling force, and an extremely warm, cool current permeating his body.

As soon as that warm, cool current appeared, the sharp pain in Zhou Yuan's body slightly subsided.

"This is the jade marrow energy?" Zhou Yuan's heart stirred. At that instant, he indeed sensed his third meridian inside his body loosen slightly.

Sensing this change, Zhou Yuan was immediately invigorated. He gritted his teeth and endured the pounding of the immense water flow, greedily drawing in wisps of jade marrow energy from it.

As Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and persevered, a cry of pain suddenly came from nearby. It was the new student, who could not withstand the force and was directly swept into the lake by the immense water flow.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Yuan glanced at a spot not far away and could faintly discern Su Youwei's graceful figure swaying precariously under the water's impact, yet she was still enduring with great difficulty.

"This jade marrow energy is truly effective! But unfortunately, it's a bit thin." Thoughts swirled in Zhou Yuan's mind. If the absorbed jade marrow energy could be stronger, it should completely alleviate the physical pain caused by the immense water flow. In that case, he could last much longer.

But the Jade Spirit Waterfall was so wide that the water impacting his body could, at most, contain only wisps of jade marrow energy. Getting more seemed unlikely.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan couldn't help but shake his head. But then his heart stirred. Other students might not be able to perceive the jade marrow energy, but he might be different. This was because his Spirit had already entered the initial Void Realm, and in terms of perception, perhaps no one in the Meridian Opening stage could surpass him.

"I'll try!" Without hesitation, Zhou Yuan closed his eyes slightly. Immediately, the Spirit in his glabella stirred, and his perception spread out. The rumbling sound of the water faded into silence, and in the continuously cascading waterfall, Zhou Yuan could clearly sense wisps of purple energy whistling down with the currents.

"I really can perceive the jade marrow energy!" A surge of pleasant surprise rose in Zhou Yuan's heart. Then, with a thought, he activated the Spirit in his glabella. A strange light appeared there, and faintly, he seemed to see a seated phantom — that phantom was precisely Zhou Yuan's Spirit.

From within the phantom Spirit, a pulling force emanated. This force wasn't strong, but it was highly targeted, drawing only those wisps of purple energy.

As Zhou Yuan activated his Spirit to absorb the purple energy, the water currents continuously impacting his body within the waterfall unconsciously began to emit a faint purple glow, while simultaneously and steadily flowing into his body.

Zhou Yuan's slightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, filled with excited rapture, because he noticed that in the previous instant, the jade marrow energy surging into his body had abruptly increased by more than tenfold!

"It actually works!" Feeling his third meridian inside his body loosening even further, Zhou Yuan couldn't help but jump up in excitement.

However, with that jump, he instantly lost his footing. The waterfall surged down, and with a crash, it violently swept him into the lake below amidst his cries of pain.