In the end, they didn't get to sleep because Sima Jiao showed no intention of continuing. Even though the two of them treated entering each other's Soul Abodes to sleep as casually as eating or drinking, it was ultimately an intimate and dangerous act. With so many strangers around, Sima Jiao couldn't possibly rest peacefully.
Since it wasn't possible, he just sat there idly, fingers twitching slightly as numerous small spheres floated in his palm. At first, Liao Tingyan thought he was just killing time out of boredom, but upon closer inspection, she noticed each sphere had characters inscribed on them—likely surnames. He wasn't playing around; he was selecting.
Liao Tingyan had no doubt that those chosen would become Sima Jiao's next targets.
While Sima Jiao had little interest in the lecture and was busy with his deadly lottery, Liao Tingyan stayed awake because the teacher's lesson had caught her attention. The Nascent Soul cultivator was covering relatively basic topics like the five-element Spirit Roots and spiritual power circulation—precisely the areas Liao Tingyan was unclear about. So she propped herself up on her elbows, listening intently, even grabbing a soft pillow to cushion her arms for comfort.
Their corner had essentially become a dead zone because of Sima Jiao, ensuring no one could see what they were doing. Liao Tingyan listened to the lecture in the most comfortable position and felt she was gaining some insights.
Her cultivation was like a castle in the air—lofty but unstable. The level of cultivation determined how much spiritual power one could wield and the strength of their Spells. Among these factors, the number and type of Spirit Roots dictated one's control over the five-element spiritual powers and the kinds of Spells they could use.
The skills Liao Tingyan had previously muddled through on her own were akin to solving math problems without knowing the formulas. For simple problems, she could count on her fingers, but more complex ones were beyond her.
The predecessors of the cultivation world had left behind countless Spells. Cultivators not only had to advance their levels but also study various Spells. One reason the Gengchen Immortal Mansion was considered the top immortal mansion was its vast collection of spell classics. However, not all disciples could practice the most powerful Spells.
If cultivation levels were character levels, then learned Spells were character skills—a clear analogy if one thought of it like a game.
"Ancestor, have you learned many Spells?" Liao Tingyan turned to ask her ball-playing desk mate.
The school bully's expression darkened slightly, but he still answered her question. "No."
So all the Spells he used were self-created. Strangely, Liao Tingyan wasn't surprised. Most of the Spells he employed were lethally powerful, designed solely for killing. It was likely he had comprehended them during his murderous endeavors. Creating Spells, especially deadly ones, was incredibly difficult—something only geniuses could achieve.
Faced with such a top student, Liao Tingyan couldn't help but feel a tinge of respect, remembering that her only self-created Spell was a low-tier trick like applying a water-based facial mask. Truly, the ancestor was in a league of his own.
The teacher above was demonstrating a water-attribute Spell as an example. Liao Tingyan tried to follow along but failed. With shaky foundations, failure came easily. She attempted again, only to fail once more. Sima Jiao, watching from the side, couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed her hand, sending a surge of spiritual power rushing through her Spiritual Veins, guiding her stray spiritual energy through a swift cycle.Liao Tingyan spread her palm, and an icy aura immediately surged forth, coalescing into a small ice sculpture tower according to her will. Though she currently looked like a deity holding a pagoda, she couldn’t help feeling a little excited.
Sima Jiao’s straightforward and brutal guidance had allowed her to master this spell at the fastest speed. This was just a test—she could form this small tower now, but if she went all out, she could even create a massive ice sculpture pagoda or shape it into something else, like a weapon.
“Such a simple spell, and you failed twice. Really…” Sima Jiao tapped the hard ice tower, and the scorching heat from his touch melted it into vapor. With a flip of his palm, he condensed it into sharp ice needles—in that instant, he had improvised another spell, switching effortlessly as if it were as natural as breathing.
Liao Tingyan: “…”
Sima Jiao: “Why bother learning from that half-baked teacher up there?” He flicked his fingers, and the ice needles shimmered with a metallic glint.
Big shot?? How did ice turn into metal? Even if you’re cheating, at least follow the basic laws of physics, okay?
Sima Jiao: “My Spirit Root is special. You can’t use it this way, but you can use others.”
He seemed to suddenly find joy in teaching, grabbing Liao Tingyan’s hand and guiding her through the pathways of various spells as they circulated through her Spiritual Veins. He even tried to teach her how to exploit the interactions of the five elements for flashy tricks.
“You excel in water, wood, and earth elements—attack, speed, and defense. You can also use derived spells.” As he spoke, he experimented on Liao Tingyan, flooding her Spiritual Veins with spiritual power.
“This one—if there’s enough water-attributed spiritual power around, going all out could annihilate a city within a hundred-mile radius.”
Liao Tingyan: “…” No thanks, no thanks.
“Most wood-attributed cultivators are useless, but their incompetence is their problem. You can do this… turn a person’s body into wood, then add a fire to burn them to ashes. Simple.”
Liao Tingyan: “…I think…”
“Earth and stone are just a matter of quality change. You can condense earth into stone. Against those a whole major realm below you, you can just smash them with this spell—pulp their flesh and bones.”
Liao Tingyan: “Enough, ancestor, really enough. My Spiritual Veins can’t handle this hands-on teaching—they’re about to crack.”
Sima Jiao withdrew his hand, dissatisfied. “Transformation Stage cultivation is still too weak.”
Liao Tingyan was certain that if the Blood Clot Flower petals hadn’t diminished in effect after the first use, he would’ve made her eat another dozen or twenty to skyrocket her straight to the highest level.
“I’m already satisfied, really. It’s enough. Big shot, you should rest first. Have some beer.” Liao Tingyan pulled out the calming, heat-clearing spirit liquid she had stored earlier and poured him a cup.
If not compared to Sima Jiao, her current cultivation level was actually quite impressive.
Sima Jiao picked up the cup, his eyes filled with disdain. “Beer? What kind of garbage is this?”
This ancestor never ate or drank. Getting him to consume something was harder than getting him to stop killing.
In the end, the cup of spirit liquid was drunk by the Little Black Snake. After shrinking, its presence had diminished drastically. It had followed the two into the classroom, but neither had noticed it for the longest time. Not that it cared—it slithered out, drank the liquid, then coiled on the table to play with a small ball.
The balls Sima Jiao had conjured were rolling all over the table, and one of them was nudged by the Little Black Snake right next to Liao Tingyan’s hand.Liao Tingyan glanced at the wooden plaque inscribed with the character "Mu." "You want to deal with the Shi Shi clan and their closely allied families, but how do you even know which families they're close with?"
She genuinely didn’t understand. This ancestor had been imprisoned on Three Sage Mountain for so long, completely out of the loop. Barely a few days after his release, he was already stirring up trouble—yet she hadn’t seen him conduct any investigations. How did he know about all those complicated family connections?
Sima Jiao gave her that look again—the one that made her feel like an idiot. "They told me themselves."
Liao Tingyan: What on earth are you talking about? I feel like I’ve lost my mind.jpg
Sima Jiao leaned back in the low chair, idly toying with the small balls in his hand. "Lingyan Mountain Platform. The challenges, the hundred-man battles. Watch who they sacrifice, see how those families ally themselves. All the connections become clear at a glance."
Huh??? Liao Tingyan had thought he was just being purely unhinged back then. Did he actually have a purpose?
She turned her head and devoted her attention to the lecturer at the front. Whatever. Sima Jiao was the most complicated problem of all—best not to think about him. The essence of a slacker’s life was to stay idle.
Sima Jiao gathered the small balls together and brushed his fingers against hers. "Pick one."
Liao Tingyan half-heartedly grabbed the Little Black Snake and tossed it into the pile of balls. "Let the dumb kid do it."
The Little Black Snake excitedly slithered through the pile, coiling around three balls at once to play with them. Sima Jiao flicked its head away and picked up the three balls to examine them.
That night, he disappeared somewhere and didn’t return until morning.
Without her cheat device to safeguard her, Liao Tingyan yawned her way into the classroom. Since she was alone today, attending a different lecture, a well-dressed young man promptly took the seat beside her. Though his looks were average, he wore expensive-looking robes and turned to her with an expression that practically screamed "I’m trying to hit on you."
"You’re the younger sister of the Night Wanderer Palace twins, right? How come I haven’t seen you before? Where’s your brother?" The young man leaned in to strike up a conversation.
Liao Tingyan felt he might be digging his own grave and couldn’t help but give him a pitying look.
The young man scooted even closer. "I’m Qi Letian. You’re Yong Lingchun, aren’t you? Our Qi family has always been on good terms with the Mu family. You can call me Brother Qi—maybe I can even look out for you in the future."
Qi… One of the balls the Little Black Snake had picked out yesterday had the character "Qi" on it.
Yong Lingchun was quite pretty, and the young mistress had a notoriously bad temper, exuding an air of arrogance. But now, wearing her skin, Liao Tingyan appeared harmless and a little drowsy, coming off as soft and approachable. Qi Letian liked this type of gentle girl. When she didn’t respond, he assumed she was shy and leaned in closer, hoping to take advantage.
Suddenly, he let out a yelp, clutching his butt as he leaped from his seat.
The stern Nascent Soul cultivator at the front scowled and kicked him out for being unruly. Liao Tingyan maintained the earnest expression of a model student and continued listening to the lecture, thinking to herself—those ice needles she learned from Sima Jiao yesterday were pretty handy. She had just tried condensing a dozen or so and jabbed them right into that guy’s backside.She just wasn't quite skilled enough yet—the ice needles melted after pricking him, leaving the poor guy's backside soaked. Judging by his grimace as he walked out, his butt must have been freezing. Liao Tingyan suddenly felt a bit of that sweet satisfaction that comes from bullying someone above your station.
"Today's lesson is about the Divine Soul and Soul Abode," the stern Nascent Soul instructor at the front cleared his throat.
The keywords "Divine Soul" and "Soul Abode" snapped Liao Tingyan back to attention as the teacher warned: "A person's Soul Abode is their most private space—it must be protected at all costs. If someone forcibly enters your Soul Abode, it will result in either death or severe injury."
A student asked: "What about cultivation partners?"
Most students appeared to be in their teens or twenties, with some mischievous troublemakers among them—not much different from classmates Liao Tingyan had known before. The cheeky question predictably drew muffled laughter and whispers throughout the classroom.
The teacher's face darkened: "Even Dual Cultivation partners would never lightly enter each other's Soul Abodes. It's extremely dangerous behavior. If you're truly fortunate enough to find a cultivation partner willing to share life and death with you, then perhaps you could attempt it. But you're all still young and unaware of the dangers—you must never recklessly try such things for momentary pleasure."
Hearing this, Liao Tingyan realized—this was essentially the otherworldly version of sex ed.
Thinking of herself and Sima Jiao, she suddenly felt like a problem student who'd sneaked a taste of forbidden fruit.
The teacher continued emphasizing the importance and lethality of Divine Souls, spiritual thoughts, and consciousness, as well as the privacy of Soul Abodes: "...The merging of Divine Souls represents the most intimate connection possible. The Gengchen Immortal Mansion once had several cultivation partner pairs renowned throughout the cultivation world—when one died, the other couldn't continue living either. This was because their Divine Souls were too closely linked, their bond so profound they became inseparable."
"Therefore, you must never take this matter lightly."
Liao Tingyan: "..."
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