Chapter 39: Jade Wutong Tree

Qing Nü couldn't resist the charm of the Jade Phoenix Troupe and agreed to Chen Mobai's request. After exchanging contact information, Chen Mobai took the hangover cure and headed home.

Meanwhile, his uncle, Wang Jianyuan, had already arrived in his cargo van. Chen Xinglan was moving to a third-tier spiritual cave abode at Crimson Cloud Academy for two years, so he naturally had a lot of luggage to bring. When Chen Mobai arrived home, Chen Xinglan and his wife were busy moving things. After drinking the hangover remedy Chen Mobai bought, Chen Xinglan felt a bit more refreshed.

"I'm never drinking again," Chen Xinglan declared. Although he said that, Chen Mobai felt that if their whole family gathered again, Chen Xinglan would still drink a lot.

Many hands make light work, and soon the bedding and clothes were all packed up. Chen Xinglan comforted Tang Pancui, whose eyes were slightly red, and slung his own bag over his shoulder.

"Alright, our son can take me," Chen Xinglan said. "You just wait comfortably at home."

After the old couple said their goodbyes, Chen Mobai got into the front passenger seat. Originally, Chen Xinglan had intended for no one from the family to see him off, preferring to embark on this journey alone. However, Tang Pancui was worried, and Chen Mobai also wanted to see Crimson Cloud Academy for himself, so he went along with them.

Wang Jianyuan was an excellent driver, and the nearly forty-kilometer journey was completed in less than an hour.

"Is this Crimson Cloud Academy?" Chen Mobai exclaimed, gazing at the cluster of buildings nestled within a vast Wutong forest. Feeling the incredibly rich spiritual energy in the surrounding air, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough..." he sputtered, then found himself coughing violently. The spiritual energy here contained a strong heat, and since it hadn't been refined into his 'Twelve-Story Pagoda,' his throat couldn't quite handle it. The spiritual vein here was a fire vein, making it naturally difficult for Chen Mobai, who had recently been nourished by water veins, to adapt.

"Do you see that spiritual peak?" Chen Xinglan asked. He got out of the car, pointing to the highest peak in the deepest part of the Wutong forest. It towered into the clouds, shrouded in white mist, but couldn't conceal the top of the spiritual peak, where an enormous Jade Wutong tree, seemingly connecting heaven and earth, stood tall. From a distance, its bark was as green as jade, its leaves shaped like flowers, elegant, refined, and pure, exuding a misty aura.

"Is that the Jade Wutong tree that has lived for over four thousand years?" Chen Mobai marveled.

Danxia City, one of the Seventy-Two Blessed Lands of the Immortal Sect, owes its origin to this high-grade fourth-tier Wutong tree. It witnessed the rise of the Immortal Sect and rooted itself deeply in these mountains, gathering spiritual energy and suppressing the earth's veins. This transformation elevated what was once an ordinary dormant volcano into the current fourth-tier spiritual vein. It can be said that without this spiritual root immortal tree, Danxia City would not exist today.

"The top of that spiritual peak is where True Person Shiqing cultivates," Chen Xinglan explained. "My foundation-building cave abode this time is at the foot of the mountain."

Chen Xinglan had long ago applied on Crimson Cloud Academy's official website to return for his foundation-building, and his request had been approved. Since driving was not allowed within the academy, the three of them walked to the foot of the spiritual peak, carrying their various bags and luggage. Before entering the cave abode, they naturally had to register with the teacher in charge. Luckily, the person turned out to be Chen Xinglan's former classmate, who had remained at the academy after graduation, working in various logistical roles.

After examining the school's stamped approval document, he immediately arranged for an available low-grade third-tier cave abode.

"The academy is pretty much the same as thirty years ago, not much has changed," the classmate said. "You know where the dining hall is. If you want to save some merit points, you can also prepare your own Bigu Pills."

With the help of a familiar person, everything went smoothly. Under his guidance, Chen Xinglan reissued a campus card. With this card, he could swipe to enter the cave abode and even enjoy most of Crimson Cloud Academy's facilities and benefits, such as auditing classes, using the library, and purchasing items from the academy's stores that offered elixirs, magical artifacts, and spirit talismans exclusively for students.

"Thanks, Old Yan," Chen Xinglan said.

Chen Xinglan's old classmate, Yan Xiang, after helping to reissue the campus card, also brought a potted item from his office and gave it to Chen Mobai.

"This must be your son, right?" Yan Xiang said. "I didn't prepare anything for our first meeting, so please accept this Green Wutong seedling."

Yan Xiang was a very amiable middle-aged man. The gift was a green Wutong seedling with only two leaves. After getting his father's permission, Chen Mobai reached out and accepted it.

"When students enroll at Crimson Cloud Academy," Yan Xiang explained, "they all receive a Wutong branch, which they must cultivate until graduation. After graduation, they can take it with them, or if they don't wish to spend too much time on its upkeep, they can plant the grown Wutong branch within the academy. This Wutong forest of ours came about in precisely this manner."

Yan Xiang pointed to the lush Wutong forest stretching across the mountains, a proud expression on his face. After speaking, he had other matters to attend to, so he excused himself and left.

"Alright, we won't disturb you any longer," Wang Jianyuan said. "If you need anything, just call me; it's convenient for me to drive over."

Wang Jianyuan moved the luggage he was carrying into the cave abode, and seeing that it was getting late, he also prepared to leave.

"Let's have a meal together," Chen Xinglan suggested. "I just reissued my card, and the food at Crimson Cloud Academy's main dining hall is excellent."

Chen Xinglan proposed this, but Wang Jianyuan shook his head, saying he had another business deal that afternoon and needed to rush back. Chen Mobai naturally had no choice but to leave with him.

At the academy gate, the father and son said their goodbyes. As Chen Mobai was about to get into the car, he spotted a familiar face.

"Teacher Chan, what are you doing here?" Chen Mobai asked.

It was Chan Si, who taught array formation classes at his school. She was wearing a beautiful red outfit today. However, she was a student at Danzhu Academy, so Chen Mobai was surprised to see her at Crimson Cloud Academy. However, she wasn't alone; another man in a green robe was accompanying her.

"Oh, it's you," Chan Si replied. "Shouldn't you be in class right now?" Chan Si was also surprised to see Chen Mobai at Crimson Cloud Academy.

"I'm just dropping my dad off..." Chen Mobai explained.

After he explained, Chan Si nodded in understanding. She looked at the Green Wutong seedling Chen Mobai was holding and smiled, wishing Chen Xinglan success in his foundation-building.

"I'm here on my mentor's orders," Chan Si added, "bringing this Senior Brother to meet True Person Shiqing."

The man in the green robe also smiled and nodded at Chen Mobai, but he did not introduce himself.

After exchanging greetings, Chen Mobai remembered that Wang Jianyuan had to rush back for business, so he didn't chat much longer with Chan Si. After thanking her again for the previous Azure Water Array matter, he got into the car.

"Is he your student?" the man in the green robe asked after Chen Mobai left.

"Yes," Chan Si replied. "He has a good character, just average aptitude."

"Oh, really?" the man wondered. "Could I have been mistaken?"

"What?" Chan Si asked.

Chan Si didn't understand what the man in the green robe meant. The latter practiced a secret technique that allowed him to sense fluctuations in spiritual consciousness, and he had felt a familiar sense of activity, yet also disarray, from Chen Mobai. This was precisely the feeling of a cultivator who had just broken through to the late Qi Cultivation stage but hadn't yet precisely grasped control of their spiritual consciousness. He had thought Chen Mobai, at such a young age, had already reached the seventh level of Qi Cultivation.

"I remember he had just broken through to the fifth level of Qi Cultivation at the beginning of this semester," Chan Si said thoughtfully. "And given his spiritual root aptitude, it's impossible for him to break through to the seventh level in just one month, right?"

Chan Si, listening, recalled Chen Mobai's aptitude and spoke with doubt. The man in the green robe found her point valid and didn't ponder it further.

"I select students for the Immortal Sect, so I'm a bit sensitive in this regard," the man in the green robe said. "Perhaps I was mistaken." After speaking, the man in the green robe shook his head. He had been pondering what questions to set for this year's college entrance examination for days, and his mind was tense, so he might have misjudged the sensation.

"Let's go," Chan Si said. "For the next few days, you'll be confined, and you won't be able to come down from the spiritual peak until after the college entrance examination."

"To be able to enjoy a fourth-tier spiritual vein, I couldn't ask for more," the man in the green robe replied with a smile.

Chan Si led him to a cave abode on the mountainside near the Jade Wutong tree. There were eight low-grade fourth-tier cave abodes there, and as this year's college entrance examination question setter, the man in the green robe was isolated in one of them.

"I wonder when the people from the Dao Academy and the Imperial College will arrive," the man in the green robe mused. "After I've finished setting the questions, they still need to review them."

Chan Si listened, smiling but saying nothing.