Chapter 180: Opening the Book

"I suggest that we arrange a schedule where only one person needs to come and help with spirit infusion each day. This way, we can save everyone's time."

This was the first item discussed by the newly formed small group, and it was unanimously approved. Ming Yihua also supported the proposal and was temporarily elected as the representative for the God Transformation class. He seemed delighted and immediately offered to assist everyone with spirit infusion the next day.

After leaving Building No. 1 on Scarlet City Mountain, everyone went out for a meal. After finishing, Ming Yihua invited Chen Mobai and Yun Yangbing for a second round. When only the three of them remained, Ming Yihua was the first to speak, asking, "Your mentor is also True Person Shaoyang, right?"

"That's correct," Yun Yangbing replied, a hint of worry in his voice. "I heard he's been in seclusion for ten years, trying to break through from the third to the fourth level of the Golden Core stage." It seemed Yun Yangbing had also made many inquiries. In the Wuzhi Daoist Academy, True Person Shaoyang was the only one who had formed a Golden Core using the Pure Yang Scroll. Therefore, any student choosing to cultivate the Pure Yang Scroll could only be assigned to him.

"I heard that True Person Shaoyang has already reached the fourth level of the Golden Core stage. The reason he's still in seclusion is because of delays in cultivating his Pure Yang Dharma Body," Ming Yihua said with a helpless expression. "I wonder if we'll even get to meet this mentor during our ten years at the academy."

Seeing the mood turn somber, Chen Mobai immediately changed the subject. "From now on, we're fellow disciples. Let's keep in touch if anything comes up." He then raised his cup, and the other two immediately clinked theirs.

"By the way, which courses do you plan to take as electives?" Ming Yihua asked first, then began to discuss his own plans. "I want to become an artificer, so I'll major in 'Artifice' and 'Treasure Appraisal.' For electives, I'll choose 'Spirit Material Identification,' 'Raw Ore Extraction,' 'Metallurgical Engineering,' and 'History of Magical Artifacts.'"

Chen Mobai couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up after hearing Ming Yihua's choices. The Wuzhi Daoist Academy offered a total of 18 major courses and 72 elective courses. Major courses were worth 3 credits, while electives were worth 2 credits. The academy required each student to earn 10 credits annually. If Ming Yihua enrolled in all these courses and passed them, he would accumulate 14 credits in a year, truly making him a super academic achiever. Chen Mobai, on the other hand, only aimed to earn 10 credits, as he also needed to dedicate time to his activities within the Shenmu Sect and thus had less time for studying.

"'Spirit Material Identification' and 'History of Magical Artifacts' are closely related to treasure appraisal, and 'Raw Ore Extraction' and 'Metallurgical Engineering' are fundamental to artifice," Ming Yihua explained enthusiastically. "My two major courses and four electives were all carefully considered. Do you want to join me? That way, we'll have company in class."

However, both Chen Mobai and Yun Yangbing shook their heads, declining the offer. Yun Yangbing then shared his intentions: "I want to research array formations, so I'll probably choose related courses like 'Geology,' 'Environmental Studies,' 'Atmospherics,' 'Celestial Phenomena,' and 'Spirit Vein Studies.'"

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai stared at him in disbelief and couldn't help but ask, "Are you planning to study 'Earth Arrays' and 'Heavenly Arrays' simultaneously?"

The Way of Array Formations is divided into three categories: Heaven, Earth, and Man. Human arrays involve forming arrays with people, Earth arrays involve arranging formations using mountains, seas, and spirit veins, and Heavenly arrays involve arranging formations using celestial bodies and phenomena. Among these, Earth arrays are complex, Heavenly arrays are vast, and Human arrays fall in between. Many who study array formations first choose one of the three categories. Only when their array formation practice hits a bottleneck do they consider studying the other two, seeking insights through analogy. For Yun Yangbing to challenge the highest difficulty by studying both Earth and Heavenly arrays right from the start, it only goes to show his confidence, truly befitting someone admitted to the Wuzhi Daoist Academy.

"What about you, Lao Chen?"

Chen Mobai hesitated as he saw both of their gazes turn to him. He had originally planned to only major in 'Talismans' and then take related electives such as 'Talisman Ink and Pigment Extraction,' 'Solid-State Chemistry,' 'Talisman Paper Manufacturing Techniques,' 'Calligraphy,' and 'Talisman Paper Layout,' aiming to simply get his 10 credits each year. However, with his two fellow disciples being so diligent, he really couldn't bring himself to say he wanted to take it easy. "Is this what it means to be a student who legitimately got into the academy? They're already competing even before classes start!" he thought.

"I'll probably major in 'Talismans' and 'Puppetry'," he replied. "As for electives, I'll choose two related to each."

"Puppetry? Why would you choose such an obscure field?" Ming Yihua asked, looking surprised.

"Since I was little, I've loved robots and figurines," Chen Mobai explained. "And using puppets can allow me to explore dangerous places without putting myself at risk. Plus, after seeing that incredible Formless Puppet today, I feel this discipline has a lot of potential." Chen Mobai wasn't lying; he was indeed interested in the Formless Puppet, thinking if he could use it to simulate his cultivation of the Longevity Scripture and the Two Phases Skill. He felt that as he ventured deeper into the Tianhe Realm in the future, learning puppetry would be incredibly useful.

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. Chen Mobai couldn't help but tap the table. "Come on, let's toast to our ten years of hard work in the academy!" The three of them drained their cups, having drunk quite a bit.

"Lao Chen, which dorm are you in?" Ming Yihua and Yun Yangbing asked curiously after they finished eating, seeing Chen Mobai walk in the opposite direction.

"I prefer living alone, so I rented a small house off-campus."

"You can do that?" Yun Yangbing was quite tempted upon hearing this. He also preferred peace and quiet, and researching array formations required a large space, ideally a private experimental area.

After the three parted ways, Chen Mobai returned to his wooden house. He glanced up and saw the mountain-top villa on Meng Huanger's side was brightly lit, indicating she had returned. After cleaning up, he lay on his bed and took out his phone.

After mentioning his intention to study puppetry, Chen Mobai suddenly had a great idea. In the Tianhe Realm, since he trusted no one, he had to handle the firewood business entirely by himself. Although it was very profitable and the demand from the New Bud Hall was high, he also needed time for cultivation and to avoid being discovered, which left him feeling stretched thin. He wondered if using puppets to chop firewood in his place could perfectly solve this problem.

This thought made Chen Mobai unable to lie still. He began searching online for puppet robots that could replace manual labor. His search, however, made him curse the unscrupulous merchants. The cheapest puppet robot capable of operating a first-tier magical artifact and simply recognizing commands cost nearly 100,000 merit points. It wasn't that he didn't have the money, but investing such a large sum all at once made Chen Mobai's heart ache. He couldn't understand why puppets were so expensive. Unable to resist, he directly consulted a seller for more information.

After chatting, he learned that the high price was because he had included the keyword "recognize commands" in his search. Puppet robots themselves weren't expensive, but those capable of recognizing commands contained artificial intelligence chips. These chips, which integrated circuits onto spirit stones, were certainly not cheap.

So, it was the spirit stones that were expensive! Chen Mobai understood now. But upon understanding, he felt it was even less worth the price.