Earth Element Star, First Middle School.

September. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

After two months of silence, the campus came alive again, bustling with the energy of returning students.

As Chen Che casually watched the students milling about, he reflected that for everyone else, it had been a short vacation. But for him, not only had he successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, his power had increased more than several times over.

He had even undergone a complete transformation, becoming the Lord of Jinyun Valley.

Ever since awakening his Innate Wisdom, he had constantly felt an immense pressure—an urgent, desperate need to survive.

In a world of Immortals and Demons, a mortal with no power to speak of was nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter.

That was why he cultivated almost nonstop.

Only now, having stepped into Foundation Establishment, could he finally catch his breath.

With the resources of Jinyun Valley, his Sword Pill, and Earth Element Star to fall back on, he was confident he could resolve any problem he might face.

He let out a slow breath.

It was just that after reaching Foundation Establishment, when he looked at the underclassmen who were still in the Qi Refining Stage, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of distance from them.

’Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment really are on completely different levels!’

Sighing at the thought, Chen Che walked into the classroom.

The students were chattering away as usual, talking about their summer vacations.

Quite a few people greeted Chen Che. Just then, Li Xiaoshuang, dressed in baggy shorts and carrying a thermos, passed by the classroom. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted Chen Che and called him out.

"You’ve reached Foundation Establishment?"

"Yes."

Chen Che nodded.

A hint of shocked suspicion appeared in Li Xiaoshuang’s eyes. He raised a hand slightly and sent a palm strike toward Chen Che.

Calmly, Chen Che met the attack with a palm of his own.

The moment their palms met, Chen Che felt a vast and mighty wave of True Essence surge toward him, like the crashing currents of the Nine Heavens Milky Way. If his Realm had been insufficient, he would have been sent flying in an instant.

A small smile played on his lips as he instantly circulated his own True Essence to meet the incoming force head-on.

"Your True Essence is condensed and ceaseless. Good, very good!"

Li Xiaoshuang was full of praise, his heart filled with delight.

He hadn’t expected this student to actually come so far. So what if his Spiritual Root was only average? This just proved that Chen Che’s talent for Cultivation was remarkably high!

After all, of the only two remaining Divinity Transformation Ancestors on Earth Element Star, one of them had a Middle Spirit Root.

"I’m no match for you, Teacher Li!"

Slowly pulling back his hand, Chen Che shook his head with a hint of disappointment.

His True Essence reserves were no match for his teacher’s. He had only lasted a few breaths before being completely overwhelmed. Old Li’s Cultivation had to be in the Late-stage Foundation Establishment, likely around the Seventh Layer, if not the Eighth.

"You’ve only just reached Foundation Establishment, and you’re already trying to compare yourself to me? I didn’t reach your level until I was three years into it! You must have opened up quite a few meridians, haven’t you? Your True Essence reserves are already on par with a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Third Layer!"

Seeing Chen Che nod, Li Xiaoshuang was very pleased. He asked expectantly,

"Getting into one of the Four Great Daoist Schools should be no problem for you now. Are you still going to participate in the Immortal Sect competition?"

"I am!"

"Good, I was worried you wouldn’t. Students who get in through the competition are a cut above those who just pass the exam, and the hidden benefits after enrolling are significant! Most importantly, you get to choose a Tier Four Technique right after you start!"

Li Xiaoshuang clapped Chen Che heavily on the shoulder.

"The students who get in through the regular exams don’t get that kind of perk!"

"Is that really a thing?"

Chen Che was overjoyed.

In the Immortal Sects’ educational system, you could only choose a corresponding Cultivation Technique after reaching the appropriate Realm. If you never reached it, you would never get access. Techniques of Tier Three and above were considered restricted. The requirements were extremely high, and they were not taught lightly.

’After all, this was a Tier Four Technique! The kind used by a Nascent Soul True Monarch!’

"Come on, let’s go to my office for some tea. I’ll give the principal a heads-up."

With that, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, Xiaozhao, a student in my class just reached Foundation Establishment. Come to my office."

...

...

"Whoa, what a strong wind!"

A powerful gust of wind swept out as the door was pushed open, making Lin Yi stumble. He looked toward the figure at the back of the classroom, his eyes instantly filling with envy.

WHOOSH!

The shimmering sword light was so dense it was almost tangible. Huang Zhongfei’s body followed his sword’s path, moving like a roaming Flood Dragon.

SHING!

A moment later, he made a gesture with two fingers, and the longsword flew back into its sheath.

"That’s the Tier Two Low Grade Wandering Dragon Swordsmanship! You can only learn that kind of Swordsmanship at a Daoist School!"

"The class monitor is insane!"

"He actually learned that Swordsmanship over the summer!"

A smattering of applause broke out from the students.

The students who had trained hard all vacation had all changed quite a bit, but the one who had changed the most was naturally Huang Zhongfei. He had now reached the Qi Refining Eighth Layer and had learned two different Tier Two Swordsmanship techniques.

"Heh heh!"

Mentally tuning out the muttered insults of ’show-off’ and ’moron,’ Huang Zhongfei, his vanity now greatly satisfied, couldn’t help but glance toward Chen Che’s seat.

In truth, he was more interested in competing with him.

But he’d heard from his classmates that Li Xiaoshuang had called Chen Che away as soon as he’d entered the room.

’After two months of summer vacation, he must have reached Qi Refining Great Perfection by now, right? Even though I’m still not his match, with my current strength, I could definitely hold my own for a little while. I really want to see how I measure up against him...’

Just then, the first bell rang, and Huang Zhongfei turned to walk back to his seat.

"Class is starting, everyone back to your seats!"

However, Li Xiaoshuang, who was always punctual, didn’t show up. Not only him, but none of the other subject teachers appeared either. Even the grade-level coordinators, the dean, and the principal—who was usually impossible to track down—had all rushed to the office.

It was as if something major had happened.

’What’s going on?’

Huang Zhongfei wondered.

The classroom grew a bit rowdy; without a teacher present, the students could never stay quiet.

"Holy shit!"

Just then, Qi Fengzhu shot up from his seat, phone in hand. As everyone stared at him in surprise, he gulped and announced, "Chen Che reached Foundation Establishment!"

"For real?"

"How do you know?"

"It’s on the school’s official website!"

In response to the questions, Qi Fengzhu held up his phone and read aloud, enunciating every word:

"Congratulations to our school’s student, Chen Che, on successfully achieving Foundation Establishment!"

BOOM!

The entire classroom erupted.

The pen in Huang Zhongfei’s hand dropped onto his desk, his face a mask of disbelief.

’He reached Foundation Establishment!’

...

’As I thought, reaching Foundation Establishment really is different. In any realm, it means you’ve escaped the lowest rungs of society.’

After leaving the office, Chen Che walked out of the school gates.

At his current Realm, staying in high school would just be a waste of time.

In fact, to ensure he could prepare for the Immortal Sect competition without any distractions, the principal had personally approved his leave.

He made a stop at the Ou Yazhi After-Sales Center, where he handed over his Pure Jun Sword—now broken in two—and Ye Jingzhou’s Black Scale Saber to Zeng Buke, asking him to melt them both down and use the materials to reforge the Pure Jun Sword.

Zeng Buke had thoughtfully built a hidden feature into the sword; all Chen Che needed to do was break a restriction to upgrade the Pure Jun Sword to Tier Two Middle Grade.

Unfortunately, it had been instantly shattered under the assault of the Soul-Calling Banner.

"Tsk!"

The moment Zeng Buke saw the broken surface of the Pure Jun Sword, he couldn’t help but click his tongue.

"This was shattered by brute force... by a Tier Three Top Grade weapon."

"Tier Three Top Grade?"

’Looks like the Soul-Calling Banner is a pretty high-grade item!’

The corner of Chen Che’s mouth lifted into a slight smile.

’Then again, my Sword Pill seems to be even stronger.’

That made sense, though. The Sword Pill was created for slaughter, so it couldn’t be compared to ordinary Magical Artifacts. Besides, the Soul-Calling Banner’s primary functions were Nourishing the Soul and Soul Refining.

"And there’s the Celestial Secret Umbrella. Could you trouble yourself to repair this for me as well? You can use the leftover materials from the Black Scale Saber as payment for the repairs..."

Chen Che then took out a pile of wreckage.

"Did you go to war over the summer? Why are all your Magical Artifacts broken?"

Zeng Buke’s eye started twitching the moment he saw it, the corner of his mouth drawing into a tight line. The Celestial Secret Umbrella—from canopy to ribs to handle—was completely destroyed. The difficulty of repairing it would be almost the same as forging a brand new one.

"Yeah, I got into a scrap with a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

Chen Che nodded.

Zeng Buke took his truthful words as a joke and didn’t believe him at all, even chuckling that Chen Che should take him along next time.

He passed by the locksmith’s shop and chatted with Wu Neng for a while before finally heading home.

Wu Rui had gone to a regular high school, and Master Wu had resumed the Cultivation he had previously abandoned. He said he was striving to reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible. At the very least, with a higher Realm, he would have access to better resources, which he could then use to extend Wu Rui’s lifespan.

Back home, Chen Che thought about Ye Jingzhou again and searched for "possession" online. The page immediately went blank, and a single box popped up:

[In accordance with Immortal Sect law, this content is prohibited from being displayed]

Unwilling to give up, Chen Che tried to circumvent the keyword filters, even using homophones, but he couldn’t find a single shred of information.

"The censorship on this is insane!"

Chen Che couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

But it made sense. After all, such a practice went against the harmony of nature; even the Great Dao itself would not permit it. In a society like the Immortal Sects, where everyone practiced Cultivation, a huge number of Cultivators would surely choose this desperate path if it weren’t strictly controlled.

The consequences would be unimaginable.

Just as he was thinking about this, his phone sounded with a DING. It was a link from Li Xiaoshuang.

"The Celestial Ranking?"

He clicked on it and was surprised to find it was a ranked list.

It was a list that ranked everyone participating in the Immortal Sect competition based on when they had achieved Foundation Establishment.

He glanced at the update date. It was today.

He scrolled down.

In the top spot was none other than Ye Zhihan.

First:

Ye Zhihan, Earth Spirit Root, 18 years old, Student Council President of Zhurong Middle School. Achieved Foundation Establishment in the second semester of his sophomore year, the first in the 16th cohort of Xianmen High School students to do so.

Second:

Hua Feng, Earth Spirit Root, 18 years old, Student Council President of Rushou Middle School.

Third:

Huo Zhenguo, Upper Spirit Root, 18 years old, Student Council Vice President of Zhurong Middle School.

...

Of the thirteen people Old Li had originally placed in the "Foundation Establishment Preparation Group," all but Chen Zhuo, who had failed his attempt, had now entered the Foundation Establishment Realm.

’Could I be number thirteen?’

Chen Che thought as he continued to scroll.

However, to his surprise, he wasn’t number thirteen.

That spot belonged to a student from Jiaoxu Middle School, an affiliate of Yiben Daoist School, named Xie Yu, who had an Upper Spirit Root.

The list went on and on.

There were thirty or forty names in total. Finally, at the very bottom of the list, Chen Che found himself.

Thirty-fourth:

Chen Che, Middle Spirit Root, 18 years old, student of Six Continents First Middle School. Suspected to have achieved Foundation Establishment three days before the start of the school year.