After hearing his name, Jingxuan calmly stepped inside. The chamber, roughly 300 square feet in size, felt spacious, with dim light emanating from the lamps hanging from the ceiling. These were special lamps designed to make the Mingji feel comfortable.
Each wall was carved with unique recesses, serving as nests for the Mingji. Each wall had around ten to twenty nests. Most of the nests were circular or square, while some had meticulously crafted or unusual shapes. A few Mingji were too large to fit inside the nests, so they were kept outside in large containers scattered around the room.
It was worth remembering that Mingji came in countless varieties—even the total number of Rank One Mingji in the world remained unknown. They differed in shape and abilities, thrived in various environments, and consumed a wide range of foods.
For example, in front of him was a nest glowing with the light of fire. Looking closer, it contained a piece of wood burning with a red flame, called the Red Wood Flame Mingji, burning steadily in a bed of charcoal. This fire-type Mingji was not suitable for combat but very useful for metalworking, as it could increase the temperature of flames.
In the same nest, another Mingji coexisted with the Red Wood Flame—the Hot Python Mingji. It was about a foot long but could extend up to two meters, allowing it to serve as a whip.
On the floor in front of this nest was a large boulder, about a foot in size, surrounded by mud and small rocks. Don't be fooled by its appearance—this boulder was a Mingji called the Construct Rock Mingji. Unlike regular Mingji, it was exceptional due to its enormous size. Its ability was not particularly unique: it could form rocks from sand and mud. That was it.
Jingxuan spared it only a glance before shifting his attention to the other Mingji in the chamber. Though he could not possibly know every Rank One Mingji in existence, his knowledge was deep and extensive. For someone like him—an old demon reborn—there was nothing in the Zhou Clan that could truly surprise him.So he did not need to look at the boards and read to know the details of the Mingji.
He ignored the Fire Python Mingji—it wasn't worth his attention. Its ability wasn't that outstanding. It could be used like a whip, and its body ran at a high temperature, but it could only cause superficial burns. It had another weakness: a skilled mortal swordsman could easily deal with it. If the python were cut and killed, it would be over for the wielder. As for the large boulder, he did not even think about it.
There were many Mingji in the room, and Jingxuan carefully inspected them all. Among the notable ones was the Simple Web Mingji, which resided in a dark, spacious nest. Looking closely, one could see thin strands of webbing stretched across the nest, with the spider-shaped Mingji hanging at the top. This Mingji excelled at trapping. It wasn't suitable for direct combat since it needed time to spin its webs, but once laid, the trap was exceptionally strong—even a sword couldn't cut through it. For a Rank One Mingji, its ability was truly remarkable.
Jingxuan dismissed it as well; trap-type Mingji held no appeal for him. His attention shifted to another presence within the chamber—a thick, white fog swirling within its nest. This was the Strangle Cloud Mingji, a close-combat type.
When wielded skillfully, it could envelop a target , cutting off the air around them and make them unable to breathe, making it a dangerous tool against humans. Yet its limitations were clear: its reach was short, and without direct contact, it posed no threat. Against beasts, it would be even less effective, as savage creatures would have the upper hand in close combat.
In the same nest, beside the Strangle Mist, there was another Mingji that resembled water but appeared to be boiling. This nest was quite large—in fact, the largest in the chamber—and contained many Mingji, all unique to the Zhou Clan. These two Mingji were creations of the Zhou Clan. The water seemed to boil, steam rising from its surface.
These were specialties of the Zhou Clan. The clan specialized in mist-type Mingji, and these were exclusive to them, created artificially.
This boiling-steam Mingji was a combat type. Its ability was to shoot steaming, boiling water at enemies. It was both water and steam type, but its consumption of primordial essence was huge, and it shared the same flaw—weakness against beasts, many of which had thick fur. However, there was an advantage to taking this Mingji. The Zhou Clan specialized in mist-type Mingji, and acquiring it would make future upgrades easier. After some thought, however, Jingxuan gave up on the idea.
Another Mingji caught Jingxuan's eye—a tiny, hairless gorilla capable of temporarily boosting a human's strength. It was called the Angry Hairless Gorilla Mingji. No larger than a pinky finger, it clung to a bonsai within its nest. Its patchy, bare skin made it look as though it had plucked its own hair, though this was natural.
When used, it could grant a person the raw strength of a gorilla—but only for a brief span of about five breaths, followed by a cooldown of an hour.
Some Mingji were built for defense. One such example was the Wood Arm Mingji.
When activated, it transformed the wielder's arms into solid wood. Its defensive capability was remarkable. Its only limitation—covering just the arms—was hardly an issue for a skilled user. Even an axe struggled to break through.
Paired with an offensive Mingji, it became an incredibly formidable combination. Beside it rested the Stone Arm Mingji. Unlike its wooden counterpart, it could be used offensively, though it shared the same brief activation period as the Hairless Gorilla Mingji.
After inspecting all the Mingji in the room, Jingxuan finally made his choice. He selected the Iron Nails Whip Mingji. This was the only available piece in the room, its ability allowing the wielder's fingernails to extend up to two and a half meters, becoming extremely sturdy like iron blades while remaining flexible.
Unlike the Fire Python, which acted as a whip itself, this Mingji caused the nails to grow. Even if they were cut off, it was no issue—once activated again, they would regrow. It was very suitable for combat, and Jingxuan decided this was the one. It could be considered the strongest Mingji in the room.
Jingxuan thought inwardly—if only this were the Steel Nails Mingji. The Steel Nails Mingji was another version of the Nails Mingji, far superior to the Iron variant, but it was extremely rare. It was to be expected that he could not find it in this academy's Mingji storehouse.
He gave the room one final glance before exiting. All the students watched him with eyes full of jealousy. Being in the top three meant he could take any Mingji he wanted. The Headmaster had even promised that if a storehouse had only one Mingji, like the Iron Nails Whip Mingji, and it was taken by one of the other top two, Jingxuan would eventually be provided with it. Jingxuan ignored the jealous stares and headed to the classroom. Two students were already seated, each on opposite sides.
After selecting their Mingji, the students returned to class to await further instructions. Two students were already seated when Jingxuan entered. He merely cast a quick glance at Haoyu and Zhiwei before settling into his usual seat.
Haoyu was itching for a fight, but he couldn't. He had yet to refine his Mingji and make it his own. Even if he had refined it, starting a fight with a Mingji was forbidden for young students inside the clan territory; this rule applied especially in the academy.
Using it here would have been asking for punishment. The three of them waited silently for three hours until all the students had entered the class. As the last student came in, the main instructor, Long, followed just behind.
The instructor waited until the students were seated before speaking.
"From this day forward, your true journey in Mingji cultivation begins. The clan has provided each of you with a Rank One Mingji. Cultivate with unwavering effort and dedication; never disappoint the clan. Remember to remain grateful for the care and guidance you have received from the clan."
The students all replied loudly, "We will not disappoint the instructor."
He continued, "From today onward, each of you will receive seven Genesis Stones weekly to assist in your cultivation. Use them with care. Additionally, there is one more announcement: the student who refines their Mingji first will receive a reward of twenty-five Genesis Stones."
The students, upon hearing the news, were thrilled and began whispering and talking excitedly among themselves.
Then the instructor summoned his Wood Chest Mingji to distribute the pouches. "Use them wisely," he instructed. "Feed your Mingji every day and ensure it does not perish. At the same time, do not neglect your own cultivation. You may now go."
But before the instructor could leave, a student stood up.
"Sir, the Mingji in the storehouse all used one to five spaces. Won't that affect us, since this first Mingji will serve as our core?"
The student who asked the question had obviously been daydreaming during class. If he had asked at another time, Instructor Long, who loved to teach, would have happily explained. But today, Long was very tired from preparing this mingji selection. He said angrily, "You were sleeping while I was explaining before, weren't you? Write this whole book as punishment. Otherwise, you will not get any Genesis Stones next week!" He threw the book as he spoke.
That day, every student eagerly returned to their dorms or homes to begin refining their very first Mingji
Jingxuan went home, drinking wine directly from the bottle. After a few sips, he took out two Mingji: one from his father's inheritance and the other from the academy storehouse.
The Mingji from the academy had the shape of a human finger, with an iron fingernail. The Mingji from his father resembled a flower, with interconnected rings, each shining in a different color. There was a tiny ring at the center and nine larger rings connected to it. These larger rings resembled those in the ring aperture.
This Mingji was not a combat-type Mingji, but Jingxuan had decided it would serve as his core Mingji. It was neither a healing type nor a trap type—so why had he chosen it? There was a good reason.
This Mingji's name was the Space Ring Mingji, one of the rarest Mingji, which could not be artificially created and could only be found in nature. It belonged to a series that extended up to Rank Five, from Rank One through Rank Five Space Ring Mingji. Obviously, the one Jingxuan possessed was only Rank One. Even if anyone in Si Fanghu Town had this Mingji, Jingxuan was sure theirs would be at most Rank Two.
But before understanding the ability of this Mingji, it was important to understand Mingji cultivation. How did Mingji cultivation actually work?
Why was it that only after reaching at least the Initial stage with three rings did the academy host Mingji selection?
What was the connection between the aperture, rings, Mingji, and the cultivator?
More importantly, how did the talent rings matter?
Talent rings determined how much Primordial Essence a wielder could possess and how quickly it could recover. They also acted as additional rings, which would be useful when attempting breakthroughs in cultivation.
The limit of Primordial Essence a wielder could possess depended on their talent rings. For example, Jingxuan had six talent rings, so the limit of his Primordial Essence was 6/12, or fifty percent. His aperture's limit was capped at fifty percent—no matter how many Genesis Stones he used, he could not exceed it.
And what about recovery?
A cultivator could not directly absorb Primordial Essence from the air. There were only two ways to replenish it: either by using Genesis Stones or by waiting for the Primordial Essence to miraculously form within the aperture. Emphasis was on the word form—it was mystically generated, not absorbed.
So, what was Jingxuan's recovery time? Four hours. And what about first-grade cultivators? Their recovery was one hour. This was the true difference between having talent rings and not.
The first ring of a Rank One Initial Stage was considered the Awakening ring because it represented a half-awakened state—there was no generation of Primordial Essence yet. Achieving Rank One Initial Stage was relatively easy if the correct process was known, so talent mattered less at this stage.
After the first ring of the Rank One Initial Stage, the true journey begins. As one advances further along the path of cultivation, the importance of talent rings becomes more apparent.
Moreover, talent rings offered another, arguably their most important, advantage: they could act as additional rings, helping to speed up breakthroughs.
Now let's focus on Mingji. These were living creatures with consciousness or wills of their own. They ate food, bred, and propagated. They were containers of law.
So how did a wielder command a Mingji? To use one, the wielder imposed his will upon it, replacing its own, and in doing so extinguished the Mingji's consciousness—making it his own. Of course, in this process, the Mingji's consciousness died and could never recover.
To force his will into the Mingji, the wielder needed three things. First, his own will—or mental energy—to gain control over the Mingji. Second, the use of Primordial Essence to strengthen the user's will to fight against the Mingji's will and weaken the Mingji. Finally, each Rank One ring produced one thread that acted as a medium to transfer the wielder's mental energy and Primordial Essence.
The thread's function was similar to how nerves and blood vessels worked in the human body: nerves transmitted signals, while blood vessels carried energy to the cells. This thread combined both functions.
The number of threads needed to refine and control a Mingji differed by type. A typical Rank One Mingji, requiring only a single thread, had limited abilities—for instance, the Large Boulder Mingji could only instantly turn sand into stone.
Jingxuan's Iron Nails Whip, however, required four threads for refinement and control. Even after the wielder had broken the Mingji's will, the threads had to remain connected; without them, issuing commands or channeling Primordial Essence would be impossible.
As you can see, the abilities of Mingji that required only one thread to refine and use were limited. That was the reason the academy waited so long to hold Mingji selection. Now, with most students having three rings, they would have three threads—enough to wield a decent Mingji. The Mingji storehouse contained Mingji that used a maximum of five threads.
Of course, some Mingji required twelve threads.But most Mingji in this era were nurtured, bred, and created by humans, designed to retain their abilities even when controlled with fewer threads.
Still, many natural Mingji existed that required up to twelve threads. Even the academy possessed only a few, but they were of no use at the time, since most students had only three threads. Therefore, these Mingji were not presented during the selection.
Most Mingji that required more threads had extraordinary abilities. As Instructor Long had said, in the future, students could complete missions and earn points to exchange for such Mingji.
Although calling them threads would be logical, for convenience, cultivators began using the term space instead. A cultivator could not wield an infinite number of Mingji; they had to manage their space.
The student's question was: would choosing a less powerful Mingji that consumed less space as a core affect the cultivator? In other words, why didn't the academy provide more powerful Mingji that used more space? The answer was simple: there was no need to. The worst-grade talents could reach at most Rank One Peak Stage, and with exceptional luck, perhaps Rank Two in their lifetime. Half the students in the class belonged to this lowest-grade tier.
With only twelve spaces available over a lifetime for the worst grad talents, it was far more practical to wield a Mingji occupying four to five spaces and pair it with a secondary Mingji that took up two to three spaces to support the primary one.
By doing so, they could surpass the power of a Mingji that used more space, like ten to twelve spaces. A Rank One Peak Stage cultivator could divide their resources more efficiently, wielding two Mingji that used four to five spaces each and pairing them with corresponding support Mingji. This strategy was optimal.
So, having a Rank One Mingji that occupied less space and was usually less powerful as a core compared to a Mingji that used more space made no difference for students with the lowest-grade talent.
For students who could reach Rank Two, once they achieved it and earned some money, they could choose to change their core Mingji. By paying a sum of Genesis Stones and using the clan's formation, they could replace their core Mingji.
Why was the core Mingji important? It was called the Life-Bound Mingji, and any damage to it reflected on the wielder. It did not die easily; in fact, it was very hard to kill. But if it was destroyed, the damage could be enormous, sometimes causing permanent injuries such as damage to talent rings.
The talent rings also produced threads that acted not as a medium, but as a shield. No matter how many talent rings a cultivator had, all would produce threads that protected the first Mingji a wielder refined—the core Mingji. The shield was highly effective, making it extremely difficult to destroy a Mingji. While not completely impossible, it was nearly so. This was how Jingxuan had been injured in his previous life.
So why did Jingxuan choose to refine this Mingji from his father's inheritance, which only consumed one space, while it was usually preferred for a first Mingji to occupy three to four spaces?
The answer lay in the ability of the Space Ring Mingji: it could increase the wielder's total space. A Rank One Space Ring Mingji could add nine spaces to the wielder's existing capacity. Each flower petal represented one space, though all were Rank One threads.
If Jingxuan refined this Mingji , it would grant him a total of twelve Rank One threads—or twelve spaces. Jingxuan originally had four spaces; this Mingji would occupy one, leaving three usable spaces. Added to the nine spaces provided by the Mingji, he would have a total of twelve spaces.