This person reminded Xu Qing of Bai Xiaozhuo, the original governor of Sea-Sealing County in the days of the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan. When the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan was destroyed, Bai Xiaozhuo sacrificed all of the people in the county to open the eyes of the broken face. Then he followed the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan in reincarnation.

Just before Bai Xiaozhuo was devoured by Emperor Ancient Spirit, the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan arrived and demanded back the fragment of time that Bai Xiaozhuo had taken. 1

Xu Qing averted his gaze slightly. Considering that the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan was the imperial preceptor, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that he might have brought Bai Xiaozhuo back to life and set him up as the schoolmaster of the God-Merging School.

Xu Qing couldn’t be certain that the seemingly implausible scenario was as he imagined it. However… the concept of ‘god-merging’ made him think about Master Shengyun and his father. Given how new Xu Qing was to the Imperial University, he wasn’t familiar with all the details of ‘god-merging.’ He would need time to learn more, and thus, he melted into the crowd.

Given that he wore the same clothing and mask as everyone else, and his aura was masked, it only took a moment for him to disappear.

***

The schoolmaster of the God-Merging School stopped in place and scanned the crowd, his eyes glittering thoughtfully.

He had sensed that someone nearby was looking at him in an unusual way. However, thanks to the unusual characteristics of the Imperial University, there was no way for him to determine who it was. After a bit of consideration, he put such thoughts aside and went into the tower.

***

Xu Qing left the God-Merging School and spent more time exploring the Imperial University. That was what he usually did.

As he went along, he occasionally went into some of the towers to scan the knowledge therein. The more Xu Qing looked around, the deeper his respect grew for the Imperial University. The wealth of information here would be almost impossible to collect in one place in the outside world. And if it were collected, it would likely be stolen.

Yet in this place, there were no doors or locks. All of the knowledge was there for the taking. In one tower belonging to the Myriad Magics School, he saw secret techniques from Sea-Sealing County sects.

There was even one school of thought that focused on the research of taboo treasures. It specialized in cognitive methods, and would use the power of gods to mass-produce magical treasures. Although the learning curve was incredibly steep, Xu Qing had to admit that they had some very innovative ideas.

A student outside was trying to draw in newcomers. “Magical treasures that get infused with enough mutagen will experience strange transformations. The success rate is very low. However, in the course of our research, our school has discovered that the process can be carried out artificially!”

Xu Qing’s interest was piqued, so he went inside to learn more. Time passed as he went here and there in the university. Eventually, night fell.

Although there were still people around at night, there weren’t as many as during the day time. Xu Qing had spent an entire day visiting dozens of the different schools of thought. He was very pleased. The information he had taken in was extremely eye-opening, and gave him a lot to think about.

This place is amazing!

Before leaving, he looked out at the seemingly endless white towers, and his eyes gleamed with determination. He had already decided to spend all of the coming days here.

Half a month went by.

During that time, Xu Qing immersed himself in study in the Imperial University. In the evenings he would return to Ningyan’s mansion to work on his cultivation, but other than that, he spent all his time at the university. Of the thousands of schools of thought, he had already familiarized himself with about a thousand.

He soaked up the knowledge like a sponge thrown into the sea. Thanks to his studies, his understanding of cultivation techniques changed on a fundamental level. And thanks to the sparks that flew because of the clash of ideas, he was coming to a deeper understanding of his own path of cultivation.

This would never have been possible for him in Sea-Sealing County. And even if the information had been explained to him, without experiencing the process himself, and digging in deeper, he wouldn’t have been able to truly grasp it all.

Most importantly of all, as he amassed more knowledge, he gained a much deeper understanding of the techniques that humans had developed after the departure of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity. He felt like he was standing on the shoulders of giants, and thus glimpsed the distant path to be walked.

From the look of it, most of these schools of thoughts are seeking… a path to breaking through!

Xu Qing was currently in the Myriad Magics School reading a jade slip, a thoughtful expression on his face. That was when he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

“We meet again, Sir Dark-Thunder.”

Xu Qing looked over his shoulder to see a student approaching. Although the university masked everyone’s aura, after spending enough time in the place, most cultivators were able to use certain clues to recognize familiar people.

“Elder Brother Dustcloud,” Xu Qing said politely.

This was a friend he had made in the Myriad Magics School. Over the past half month, they had run into each other several times. At first, they had just nodded to each other in greeting. But eventually they struck up a conversation. At this point, Xu Qing had conversed with Elder Brother Dustcloud more than anyone else in the Imperial University. They had exchanged names, although both knew that they were only code names for use in the Imperial University.

Glancing at the jade slip in Xu Qing’s hand, Dustcloud smiled and said, “Looking at some ancient magics?”

Xu Qing nodded. “I was just thinking that most of these schools of thought seem focused on breakthroughs.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head. As a matter of fact, that’s actually the original reason why the emperor set up the Imperial University.” Dustcloud had long since realized that this ‘Sir Dark-Thunder’ was new to the Imperial University. People like that weren’t very common. Usually, only a few dozen people per month were allowed in. That said, he didn’t feel any need to pry. “The cultivation path of humankind has been severed. Actually, after the broken face of the god arrived, the cultivation path of all species was severed.” He sighed. “Specifically, what was severed was the method of becoming an Imperial Sovereign.

“The heavenly daos were affected, and mutagen entered the world. To the mortals, it’s basically poison. To low-level cultivators, it’s a torment. And to high-level cultivators, it’s a severed path.

“Only people with ancient bloodlines have a chance to force their way into the Smoldering God level and then become an Imperial Sovereign.

“But even that’s a dead end. It’s basically impossible to break through from Imperial Sovereign to Grand Emperor. And that’s why so many schools of thought have spent time and effort researching that topic. They want to reestablish the path to Imperial Sovereign. And the really ambitious ones theorize how to reopen the path to Grand Emperor.

“The God-Merging School is the best example. A lot of people put stock in their theories, which is why they’re the number-one school of thought despite being relatively new. That said, I don’t agree with them.” Dustcloud shook his head.

“What was the ancient path?” Xu Qing asked. He hadn’t seen any ancient records in the Myriad Magics School that discussed this subject.

“That of the Summer Immortal,” Dustcloud said. He looked at Xu Qing, gathered his thoughts, then continued, “But the ancient path isn’t favored in the Myriad Magics School. If you want to learn more about it, you’ll need to visit the Xeno-Immortal School. That school… used to be the number-one school of thought, back when the Imperial University was first founded. Later on, their theories came to be viewed as unrealistic, and they slowly fell into decline.”

Xu Qing nodded, said farewell, and left to find the Xeno-Immortal School.

***

After Xu Qing was gone, another student that knew Dustcloud walked over to him. Looking at Xu Qing walking off into the distance, he lowered his voice and said, “Elder Brother Dustcloud, do you have any idea who that Sir Dark-Thunder really is? It seemed like you spent more time talking to him just now than you have in the past.”

Dustcloud smiled beneath his mask and clasped the other student’s shoulder. “In all likelihood, he’s a very important person who became a student here recently. Either way, it’s still good to make friends.”

The other student nodded thoughtfully.

***

Meanwhile, Xu Qing thought about what Dustcloud had told him, all while searching for the Xeno-Immortal School. He also pondered why Dustcloud had told him so much. It was actually the third time that Dustcloud had volunteered so much information. Xu Qing already had an idea of why. After all, everyone in the imperial capital knew that he’d earned a place in the Imperial University. Anyone who put any thought into the matter would be able to surmise that he would go there eventually.

He’s clever and circumspect. He’s probably someone important.

With a final glance at the Myriad Magics School, he disappeared into the crowd. About two hours later, he found himself looking at a specific white tower in the east of the Imperial University. On the outside, it didn’t look different from the other towers. However, while most of the towers were bustling places, this one seemed bleak and empty. In fact, it almost looked abandoned.

Xu Qing was actually surprised. This was the most depressing tower he had seen in the past half month. After walking inside he found that there were only three students inside, sitting there looking bored. They didn’t even look up when he entered.

There were a lot of jade slips in the Xeno-Immortal School, but they weren’t organized. Instead, they were just piled up in the corners.

The schoolmaster was present. In most other schools of thought, you would only see a schoolmaster if you randomly encountered them. Most of the time, they would stay in the top levels of the towers. But here….

The schoolmaster was squatting in front of a pile of jade slips, which he was rifling through as if looking for something.

Xu Qing looked around for a moment, then said, “Excuse me, do you have any jade slips that talk about the ancient path of the Summer Immortal?” f𝚛we𝗻ovel.𝐜om

“What would be the point of that?” one of the three lazy students said, sounding annoyed. “Get lost, buddy. We’re not fans of strangers here.”

Xu Qing frowned and looked over. Meanwhile, the schoolmaster pulled a jade slip out of the pile and threw it over to Xu Qing.

“We don’t have any real information about Summer Immortals here, just speculation from later generations. If you want to take a look, go ahead. But then you can beat it. I’m not a fan of strangers here.”

Xu Qing took the jade slip and started looking through the information.

The slip didn’t go into detail about Summer Immortals, other than speculations. And even then, the information was vague. There was only one section of text that was relatively straightforward.

“A thought from a Summer Immortal can transform an immortal body.

“Think of it as a concept. However, the Immortal path has been severed, and there’s no way to pursue it. After Imperial Sovereign is Quasi-Immortal. That said, alternative means might be possible.

“I have a theory. Temper the soul to make threads. Use the sea of consciousness to weave the image of a god. Use the soul as the control. Use thoughts as the body. When the image of the god is complete, it could possibly be used to control the same source.

“The mental god can be used as nutrients to restore Immortals!

“Success in this method might lead to, not Quasi-Immortal, but rather, Xeno-Immortal!”

1. The part about the crown prince taking back the “time” from Bai Xiaozhuo was in chapter 536.2. ☜