With the cheating scandal blown wide open, the higher people had hoisted Wang Baole up before, the harder everyone's hearts crashed now. In an instant, talk about Wang Baole exploded again. His "popularity" didn't just crush every other new student— even the upperclassmen were overshadowed.
Plenty of people went straight onto the spiritnet to post furious threads, demanding that Wang Baole be punished.
Seeing the worst-case scenario he'd imagined coming true, Wang Baole could only sigh deeply. Sitting gloomily in his cave dwelling, he looked around at the walls and felt nothing but sorrow.
"They say when Heaven is about to place a great burden on a man, it must first distress his mind, strain his body, starve his flesh…Is this Heaven testing me?"
He tried to comfort himself.
He felt the trouble this time was enormous; the slightest wave could overturn his little boat. After a brief spell of panic, his brain revved up again, frantically searching for solutions.
A few days later, when the departments on the lower academy island of Ethereal Dao College finally settled into routine and held their very first lectures for the new students, Wang Baole walked out of his cave that morning hugging his small bag, his expression solemn.
"It's not that big a deal. What's there to be afraid of? Afraid of a fart!"
He took a deep breath, staring up at the sword-sun in the sky. Determination flashed in his eyes. Clad in his distinctive special-recruit red robe, he strode toward the Spirit Stone Lecture Hall—one of the three main classrooms of the Armament Department.
On the way, small groups of students moved in the same direction, each carrying some anticipation, steps light as they chatted. But as soon as they caught sight of Wang Baole's red robe, they all froze for a moment, instantly recognizing who he was.
Their expressions changed. The low conversations shifted topics in unison.
"That's Wang Baole!""He actually showed up!""How long do you think he'll last in the academy? I heard some teachers have already proposed expelling him as a warning to others…"
Their voices were quiet, but there were just too many students on the way. Snatches of discussion still reached Wang Baole's ears.
If it were anyone else, they'd probably already be panicking, heart on fire, embarrassed out of their mind. But Wang Baole, who had studied the memoirs of high officials since childhood, had a skin thick as city walls. His expression stayed calm as he strode forward with big steps, heading straight for the lecture hall.
From afar, the stone platform where the lecture hall sat was immense, enough to hold tens of thousands. The building itself was simple in structure, but it radiated an ancient, weathered air. Seven or eight massive stone pillars supported a huge flying-phoenix-style roof.
Under that roof, the place was a sea of people. Only the central lectern area was empty; the surrounding stepped seats were packed. On the right side of the lectern, the most eye-catching thing was a huge stone wall.
The wall was a bluish-green. On it floated one hundred names. After each name, numbers were marked— from 90 beside the first place, down to 82 at the hundredth, with decimal points trailing in a line.
Outside the hall, near the entrance, stood another large stone slab. On it was carved the motto of the Armament Department:
"Of the myriad paths under Heaven, all can be crushed by artifacts,all can be suppressed by spirit treasures,and if none of that works—a divine weapon will cut them down!"
As Wang Baole approached, the hall was even noisier inside than outside. There were old students as well as new ones, all kinds of discussions swirling.
Even so, he remained unfazed, staring at the motto on the stone.
The words were filled with overwhelming dominance, a sense of "one method suppresses all Dao"—the imposing intent practically leapt off the stone. Even with worries crowding his heart, once he read that line, his steps halted for a moment and his spirit trembled.
If before this, he'd been merely interested in the Armament Department, then at this moment—after seeing those words—he felt a genuine yearning for it.
"Expel me? Don't make me laugh. I've studied the memoirs of high officials for ten years—what storms haven't I weathered in theory?!"
Steeling himself, Wang Baole stepped through the entrance and walked into the hall.
The moment his bright red special-recruit robe appeared inside, he immediately drew the attention of those seated. No one knew who started it, but a sharp voice cut through the noise and called out his name.
As soon as that voice came, a torrent of gazes shot over from all directions, landing squarely on Wang Baole. Ten thousand sets of eyes focusing on one person— that pressure could make anyone's legs go weak.
Boos and jeers followed almost instantly.
"Wang Baole, you still have the face to come to class?""Special recruit, my ass! He cheated his way into that identity! If someone like him isn't punished, where's the justice?""Wang Baole, you're not welcome here!"
In another setting, people might not have spoken so bluntly— it's not like any of them had deep grudges with him. But in this lecture hall, with so many people, the atmosphere was easy to ignite. In a heartbeat, the cries of condemnation roared up.
Liu Daobin was among the crowd. His feelings were complicated. When he looked at Wang Baole, he sighed inwardly. He also found the situation strange: even though he knew this guy had cheated, the memory of Baole covered in blood, staggering toward the Ghost Bear, still wouldn't leave his mind.
"If it were me, I'd probably turn around and leave right now."
As Liu Daobin shook his head in quiet sympathy, his eyes suddenly widened.
He saw Wang Baole standing at the entrance to the hall, calmly pulling a massive loudspeaker out of his bag. Then he raised it to his mouth, eyes bulging, and bellowed:
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"
His voice was already a full-force shout. Amplified by that heavily modified loudspeaker, it boomed like heavenly thunder, blasting across the entire lecture hall. Even with tens of thousands talking at once, their noise couldn't even come close to competing; his roar simply flattened everything.
The students who had been booing the loudest and sitting closest almost stumbled to the ground from the shockwave. In an instant, everyone's ears were ringing. The hall fell dead silent; people sat there, stunned.
They had never in their lives imagined a student would actually carry something like that—a blatantly over-engineered mega loudspeaker—around in his school bag.
This was school. Who brings a loudspeaker?
It was too absurd. The turn of events was too sharp. And the sheer volume of the thing had completely blown their minds. Even Liu Daobin forgot to breathe for a second, his gaze locked on Wang Baole's ridiculous, over-sized horn.
Satisfied with the effect, Wang Baole calmly stuffed the loudspeaker back into his small bag. This was one of his essential treasures. Having painstakingly studied election campaigns in high officials' memoirs, he understood deeply just how crucial a powerful loudspeaker could be in a rally.
With everyone cowed into silence, Wang Baole puffed out his chest and strode inside. Spotting Liu Daobin, he saw the other boy hesitate, glance at his small bag, then wave him over.
"Liu Daobin is a real bro."
Wang Baole's eyes lit up. He hurried over and sat down next to him.
Only then did the rest of the hall slowly recover. A wave of anger surged once more; many people were about to launch into another round of verbal attacks when a deep bell sounded.
A thin, black-robed elder with a head of white hair slowly walked in.
His expression was cold, and a natural chill seemed to radiate from him, giving off a heavy pressure. Without knowing why, every student in the hall felt their heart tighten. Conversations died out as eyes turned toward the lectern where this black-robed elder now stood.
Wang Baole also quickly focused his attention.
The old man let his gaze sweep across them and spoke in a calm tone.
"The Armament Department has three main lecture halls—Spirit Stone Studies, Inscription Studies, and Spirit Core Studies."
"I… am one of the five lecturers of Spirit Stone Studies. My name is Zou Yunhai."
"The stone wall beside me is the Spirit Stone rankings for the Armament Department. I hope that one day, all of you will have your names inscribed upon it."
"Class starts now."
"But before we talk about how to refine spirit stones, you must first understand one thing—Why do we refine spirit stones?Why does everyone practice the Spirit-Nurturing Art?"
As he spoke, the old man casually raised his right hand and grabbed at the air. A milky-white stone, about the size of a fist, materialized in his palm.
The sight caused another stir among the students. Liu Daobin, well-informed as he was, sucked in a breath and whispered beside Wang Baole:
"Lecturer Zou has a storage artifact!"
Wang Baole's eyes were also wide.
He'd heard of storage artifacts, but had never seen one. You couldn't buy them on the open market— the only time you'd see them was on the news, when some major auction house occasionally brought one out. Every single piece eventually sold for a price he couldn't even imagine.
As for that milky-white stone, no one in the hall was unfamiliar with it.
That was a blank—the raw material required to refine spirit stones.
"Thirty-seven years ago, when the Starry Sky Sword descended, a new form of energy appeared in this world—Spiritual energy!"
"Spiritual energy is incredibly dense. But it appeared suddenly. Before that, it didn't exist at all. According to the Federation's research, if we let the world soak in spiritual energy for several hundred years, it will start transforming jade and stone, eventually forming natural spirit stone mines!"
"But right now, we're only in Year 37 of the Spirit Origin Era. We're far from the point where natural spirit stone veins can form. If we want spirit stones, we can only make them ourselves. That is why all it took all factions to promote the Spirit-Nurturing Art as a universal technique—to turn everyone into miners, forging spirit stones that can serve as currency and circulate as cultivation resources around the globe."
While he spoke, the stone in his hand glowed brighter and brighter. The air around the old man seemed slightly distorted, as if invisible spiritual energy had been guided over and was continuously poured into that blank stone.
"Because each person's affinity with spiritual energy differs, and there are many other factors, the purity of refined spirit stones varies from person to person. That is the basis of 'aptitude.'"
"For example, to be accepted into White Deer Dao College, the number one academy in the Federation, you must be able to refine spirit stones with at least 70% purity."
"Our Ethereal Dao College's entry requirement is lower, but even so, we still require a minimum of 50% purity."
His words, coupled with the ongoing transformation in the blank stone, left the students stunned. The view he was presenting was very different from the official explanations they'd heard in the past, and his effortless refining method was equally shocking.
"Everyone is a miner… and he's refining spirit stones while talking like it's nothing…"
Wang Baole's heart pounded wildly.
He could refine spirit stones too, but every time he had to give it his full focus. The slightest distraction meant instant failure.
The black-robed elder paid no attention to their shock. His expression remained calm as he continued infusing spiritual energy into the stone and went on speaking.
"That leads us to the next question—Is there truly only one version of the Spirit-Nurturing Art?"
"I can tell you with certainty—the version practiced by the masses is only the upper section: Spirit Intake."
"It strengthens the body and lets spiritual energy enter the flesh. But it cannot store that energy; it just flows through like a gust of wind. However, if you hold a blank spirit stone and focus your will, your body acts as a conduit, allowing you to refine spirit stones."
"Spirit stones themselves are graded—lower, middle, upper… and the pinnacle, seven-colored spirit stones!"
"As for the lower section—only artifact refiners of the Armament path ever see it, because the sword hilt fragment that contains the Spirit-Nurturing Art was, from the beginning, a treatise on armament forging."
"It was only because its upper half allowed the refinement of spirit stones that it was ever spread and turned into a universal technique."
The old man's voice was measured and steady. At this point, the blank stone in his hand had become dazzling. With a flick of his wrist, the light suddenly faded. A layer of ash flaked away from the surface of the stone, drifting down.
What was left in his palm—
was a much smaller, diamond-shaped spirit stone.
A soft radiance swirled within it. It was beautiful.
"The lower section is wonderful, yes. But if you can't refine spirit stones of at least 80% purity, you're not qualified to learn it."
"In this lecture hall, I will not be teaching the lower section—only the techniques of refining spirit stones with the upper section."
The hall was dead silent.
Everyone stared at the spirit stone in the old man's hand. For a moment, everything else seemed to lose color. Compared to that stone, the spirit stones they'd produced so far looked… fake.
"Speaking so casually while refining a spirit stone of at least 90% purity…This Lecturer Zou— outside the academy, he must be someone truly formidable!"
Wang Baole took a deep breath.
This first class felt like it had opened a whole new door in front of him.