The Spiritual Value Hall was an extremely important place for the students of the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, accompanying them throughout their entire cultivation journey within the Academy.
After finishing his challenge on the Spirit Ranking, Liu Bai quickly left the freshman dormitory area and headed deeper into the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy.
Unlike the Northern Spiritual Academy where Liu Bai had once studied, the students of the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy enjoyed tremendous freedom, and were not restricted by any mentors.
Of course, it was not that mentors never intervened.
It was just that many of the students within the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy were even more powerful than the instructors, so there was little they could actually teach.
That being said, it was not as if the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy lacked powerful renowned mentors. However, those top-tier instructors were considered elites even across the entire Northern Heaven Continent. If one wished to receive guidance from them, they would have to pay an enormous amount of spiritual value to hire them.
Such a burden was not something a newly enrolled freshman could afford.
After more than twenty minutes of travel, Liu Bai finally arrived in front of the Spiritual Value Hall.
It was a grand and indescribably majestic hall, resembling a mountain that towered in the middle of the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy. Mist and clouds coiled around its surroundings, making it look like an immortal realm.
Standing outside the Spiritual Value Hall, Liu Bai looked up and saw enormous golden characters hundreds of feet tall glowing brilliantly in the sky.
Silhouettes of people swept across the sky like locusts and entered the grand hall in a steady stream that never ceased.
"Looks like this place is really popular." Liu Bai chuckled softly, then quickly walked into the Spiritual Value Hall.
The moment he entered the hall, he felt a special spiritual formation sweep over his body. It was clearly the protective formation of the Spiritual Value Hall.
The interior of the hall was also exceptionally vast. Suspended in mid-air were numerous floating circular crystal displays. Within each crystal, one could vaguely see various scrolls, spiritual artifacts, and rare treasures.
Liu Bai couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Whoever came up with this idea must have been a genius. To openly display such valuable items like this was clearly designed to tempt people.
Reluctantly withdrawing his gaze, Liu Bai suppressed his impulse. Though tempted, he didn't dare to have any improper thoughts.
After all, the Spiritual Value Hall wasn't just protected by formations. It was also guarded by powerful figures from the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy. If he remembered correctly, the guardian of this hall was none other than the Academy's guardian beast, the Northern Sea Dragon.
This being was a pinnacle Ninth Grade Sovereign Realm Beast, whose combat strength was unmatched below the Earth Sovereign Realm. With him here, it was impossible for any mishap to occur within the Spiritual Value Hall.
Scanning the surroundings, Liu Bai saw that students were heading toward crystal counters for assistance. Without hesitation, he chose the nearest counter and walked over.
The one who received Liu Bai was not some mysterious figure but a beautiful girl who looked only slightly older than him. Judging by her appearance, she was likely also a student at the Academy.
"Junior, what would you like to exchange for?" she asked cheerfully upon seeing the handsome boy approach.
A faint smile appeared on Liu Bai's face as he replied, "Senior Sister, I'd like to exchange for the Spirit-grade Middle-level cultivation technique Golden Crow Exploding Flame Art, the Rank Three Spiritual Array Diagram Hundred Spirit Sword Formation, Fundamentals of Spiritual Artifact Forging, and Fundamentals of Pill Refinement."
The beautiful senior was momentarily stunned upon hearing him list four items in one breath.
Though she didn't yet know the exact cost of each item, having worked in the Spiritual Value Hall for quite some time, she clearly understood the value of a Spirit-grade Mid-level cultivation technique and a Rank Three spiritual array diagram.
"Senior Sister?" Liu Bai called softly, seeing that the girl had spaced out.
"Oh, right. Please wait a moment. I'll get them for you right away…" Snapping out of it, the girl's cheeks flushed red. She was both annoyed at herself for losing composure in front of such a handsome junior and curious about who he was to be able to afford so many items at once.
"I thought he was just some new freshman, but that's clearly not the case..."
After all, freshmen had just entered the Academy. There was no way they had enough spiritual value to exchange for such valuable things.
Her assumption wasn't wrong. Even Liu Bai himself had originally planned to exchange for all these items over the span of a month.
What he hadn't expected was that after taking first place on the Spirit Ranking, he would be rewarded with fifty thousand spiritual value points. That was thirty thousand more than Mu Chen had received for his third-place rank in the original story. It gave Liu Bai the confidence to redeem everything at once.
Before long, the beautiful senior returned holding a box, still wearing an expression of shock.
"Junior, here are your items. Please verify them. The total cost is fifty-one thousand spiritual value points."
From the look in her eyes, Liu Bai could tell that she didn't quite believe he could afford that much.
But it didn't matter. He had originally possessed eight thousand spiritual value points, and with the fifty thousand reward, it was more than enough.
Besides, as the top-ranked on the Spirit Ranking, he also received a daily reward of two thousand spiritual value points. Just one day's reward would be enough to live in the Class A residential area for an entire month. At this rate, even moving into the Class A zone was no big deal for him anymore.
After verifying the items and hearing the system's prompt confirming that all four had been recorded, Liu Bai suddenly had a strange thought…
If he said he didn't want them anymore at this point, would that make him a real scumbag?
"Junior?" the beautiful senior called again, thinking Liu Bai might not have enough spiritual value.
Snapping out of it, Liu Bai felt a bit embarrassed by his own thought. He quickly pulled out his Spiritual Value Token.
"Swipe it."
The beautiful senior blinked, clearly confused.
Well, she might not have understood exactly what he meant, but his action made it clear.
After fifty-one thousand spiritual value points were deducted from his token, the beautiful senior looked at him with wide eyes full of astonishment.
Now she was dying to know whether this junior was truly a freshman.
Of course, Liu Bai had no intention of answering that. After receiving the items he needed, he immediately returned to his freshman dormitory. It was time to strengthen himself.
"Ding. Spirit-grade Mid-level spiritual art Golden Crow Exploding Flame Art detected. Begin fusion?"
"Yes."
In an instant, Liu Bai felt the fire-type spiritual energy within his Heart Acupoint suddenly surge. The originally crimson Blazing Sun spiritual energy rapidly transformed into dazzling gold. A golden Golden Crow Spirit Flame suddenly ignited and began burning throughout the entire Heart Acupoint space.
As the Golden Crow Spirit Flame blazed, the fire-element spiritual energy within his Heart Acupoint was being rapidly refined. The original Blazing Sun spiritual energy swiftly transformed into Golden Crow Flame Energy.
"Ding. Fusion successful. Golden Crow Exploding Flame Art has advanced to the fifth level."
Following the system's prompt, a sharp cry of a Golden Crow suddenly rang out from the depths of Liu Bai's soul. In the next moment, from within the Golden Crow Spirit Flame, a massive golden bird burst forth. With a flap of its wings, it unleashed a torrential downpour of spirit flames.
"Golden Crow Manifestation?!"
This sudden development truly stunned Liu Bai, as if the heavens themselves had dropped a surprise into his lap.
He clearly understood that Spirit-grade Mid-level spiritual arts were not capable of manifestation. This was the fundamental difference between Spirit-grade Mid-level and Spirit-grade High-level arts, and the main reason for the huge gap in their value.
Upon careful inspection, Liu Bai realized that this golden bird had form but lacked true spirit. It was merely a vague silhouette rather than a complete manifestation produced through a true technique. This realization slightly tempered the excitement in his heart.
Nonetheless, this was already an impressive outcome and made the Golden Crow Exploding Flame Art far superior to ordinary Spirit-grade Mid-level techniques.
The fifth layer of the Golden Crow Exploding Flame Art still corresponded only to the mid-phase of Divine Soul Realm. Liu Bai did not immediately seek to advance it further. Instead, he first upgraded the other three: Hundred Spirit Sword Formation, Basic Principles of Artifact Forging, and Basic Principles of Pill Refinement, all to the Greater Mastery stage.
The Hundred Spirit Sword Formation, being a Rank 3 Array, required 7,150 experience points to master. Meanwhile, the other two foundational arts needed only 900 experience points each to reach Greater mastery.
After this series of upgrades, Liu Bai's remaining experience dropped to just over 38,000.
What he gained in return was a powerful Rank 3 offensive spiritual array, and two new professions: Spiritual Forging Master and Alchemist.
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Player: Liu Bai
Cultivation Level: Late-phase Divine Soul Realm
Profession: Rank 3 Spiritual Array Master; Artifact Forger; Alchemist
Spiritual Pulse: Grade Three Earth Pulse (50/1000)
Physique: Spirit-Skin Jade-Bone Physique
Spiritual Soul: Three-Headed Stone Flood Dragon (Heaven-Grade Mid-level Spiritual Beast)
Techniques:
Golden Crow Exploding Flame Art (Fifth Layer, 0/12500)
Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao · Volume I (Greater Mastery · High-Tier • Heart Array Stage)
Low-grade Body Refining Diety Art · Ice-Skin Jade-Bone Art (Greater Mastery, 4500/30000)
Mountain God Art (Fourth Layer, 0/18000)
Basic Principles of Artifact Forging (Greater Mastery)
Basic Principles of Pill Refinement (Greater Mastery)
Skills:
Spirit-grade High-level Great Sun Burning Sea Palm (Greater Mastery 35/6000)
Spirit-tier High-levrl Mountain Shattering Divine Fist (Greater Mastery 0/6000)
Array's:
Hundred Spirit Sword Formation (Greater Mastery)
Pill Formulas: None
Blueprints: None
Experience Points: 38,080
Beast Soul Points: 72
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Refining pills required pill formulas and pill furnaces, while forging artifacts required blueprints and forging furnaces. Liu Bai was not in a hurry for these items. After all, his goal in leveling up his forging and pill refinement skills was to prepare for upcoming quests. If he could get the formulas and blueprints for free during those, why not take advantage of it?
"These remaining experience points should be used to improve my cultivation… I wonder when that guy I pushed off the Spirit Rankings will come looking to reclaim his position. Should I play it safe and hide my strength until the critical moment for a surprise, or face him head-on in my strongest state…"
After thinking for a moment, Liu Bai gave up on his mischievous plan and straightforwardly allocated 18,000 experience points into the Mountain God Art.
Very soon, a faint spiritual light radiated from the top of Liu Bai's head. Within that light, a palm-sized divine soul slowly emerged and hovered above his head, sitting cross-legged in midair.
As the Divine soul appeared, Liu Bai's body suddenly trembled. His vision of the world changed. It was a shift from foreignness to familiarity.
If the world had previously felt completely alien to Liu Bai, then now, it felt as though he had formed a subtle but profound connection with it.
Liu Bai felt a sudden insight blossom in his heart. He formed a hand seal, and atop his crown, the tiny spirit soul mirrored his gesture with identical seals.
Rumble!
Around the lake, the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly surged violently. Like rivers rushing forward, it howled into Liu Bai's residence, pouring directly into his body.
Boom!
In that moment, the spiritual power within Liu Bai's body erupted like a volcano. His three Spirit Wheels spun at their utmost speed, resembling black holes as they wildly devoured both internal spiritual power and the vast surrounding energy.
Woooooo...
Low, whimpering sounds echoed within Liu Bai's place. The sudden shift in spiritual energy across the new students' residential area startled countless cultivators from their meditation.
"What's going on now?"
Those who had been pleased about claiming residences near Liu Bai were now completely exasperated.
Had they known this guy would stir up so much trouble, they'd never have moved in nearby. It hadn't even been a day, and he had already caused so many disturbances. How were they supposed to focus on cultivation?
"Is that… a breakthrough?" An Ran looked toward Li Jing with a confused expression.
Half a day ago was the Spirit Rankings attempt. This time, there shouldn't be any more surprises, right?
Li Qing's expression was equally helpless. She could only nod and say, "This time, he really is breaking through…"
"But why is the commotion so huge?" An Ran still didn't understand.
Given Liu Bai's cultivation level of late-phase Divine Soul Realm, his breakthrough should only take him to peak Divine Soul Realm or possibly half-step Heaven Fusion Realm. It shouldn't cause such a wide-reaching spiritual fluctuation.
"No, I think… he's breaking through to Heaven Fusion Realm!" Li Qing said with full certainty.
She herself was at the peak of Divine Soul Realm, so she understood perfectly well what a breakthrough looked like. Her judgment was clear.
Her words shocked An Ran. She turned to look again at Liu Bai's place, now completely stunned.
Directly attempting to break through from late-phase Divine Soul Realm to Heaven Fusion Realm—it had to be due to either a special cultivation method or spiritual pills assisting him. Clearly, Liu Bai must have obtained some great items when he went to the Spiritual Value Hall earlier.
"Looks like I need to make a move to challenge the Spirit Rankings as well…" Li Qing murmured with furrowed brows.
But her words made An Ran's expression dim.
The more she interacted with people like Liu Bai and Li Qing, the more her own pride was crushed into pieces.
Compared to these true heaven-blessed talents, An Ran's performance was simply too ordinary.
Yet, this didn't break her spirit. Instead, it sparked a flame of defiance in her heart. She wanted to prove that even if she didn't possess Liu Bai's heaven-defying rate of progress or Li Qing's exceptional talent, she, An Ran, could still rely on her own efforts to become a powerhouse of the academy!
A dozen minutes later, the intense fluctuations of spiritual energy across the sky finally began to subside.
Liu Bai slowly opened his eyes, and the aura emanating from him had undergone a complete and earth-shaking transformation!
..
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