As the Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster passed out green snowflakes over the past two months, Xu Qing was able to use his connection to them to keep tabs on many of the students from the Xeno-Immortal School.

If Xu Qing wanted to know their true identity, it would be a simple matter of course. That said, he wasn’t interested in that. The Xeno-Immortal schoolmaster had remained in the Imperial University this entire time. He hadn’t left even once. As a result, Xu Qing had no idea who he actually was.

These three weren’t the only people he had sensed leaving the imperial capital after receiving Xeno-Immortal dao seeds. After all, members of the Imperial University were more than just students. They all had identities on the outside, and those came with various personal and public matters that had to be handled.

After sensing the three people leaving, Xu Qing closed his eyes and went back to breathing exercises. When the light of dawn shone over the city, he opened his eyes. Straightening up his garments, he pushed open the door of the private chamber and walked out. Snow landed on his face, which quickly melted.

He looked at the blue sky filling up with snow. He felt the cold wind. And he could hear the swordsages from Sea-Sealing County working on their breathing exercises. Xu Qing gradually came to feel absent-minded.

The aura of winter was getting stronger.

It’s been three months.

That was how long he’d been in the imperial capital. When he arrived, it was autumn. Now, it was nearly the middle of winter. During those three months, he had done a few high-profile things. But after joining the Imperial University, he had gradually melted into the crowd. That was how Xu Qing liked to do things. A high-profile action could establish some prestige. But after that, he preferred to stick to the shadows.

He wasn’t the only one to fade from public view. The same occurred with Plumdark and the Captain.

Plumdark had been gone for half a month now. The difference between Ling’er and Plumdark was clear. The former stuck close to Xu Qing, while the latter was independent. Plumdark had her own things to deal with. Her own life to live. After the Dawning Sun went missing, and the atmosphere in the imperial capital became tense, she had gone to one of the other rings in the Imperial Region.

To her, this whole place was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. And thus, she had gone to look for traces of the ancient past. She didn’t come to say goodbye to Xu Qing. But she left behind a jade slip that had some of her aura attached to it.

Xu Qing respected her decision not to come in person, and didn’t reach out to ask any questions.

After the big heist, the Captain vanished and had not yet shown up again. That made Xu Qing even more curious about what he’d stolen from the Star Emperor Preeminence Sect. Given what he knew of the Captain and how restless he was, Xu Qing knew he couldn’t hole up anywhere for long. And that seemed to indicate there was a good chance the Captain had assumed a new identity.

As for what identity that was…. After some thinking, he looked in the direction of the branch sect of the Star Emperor Preeminence Sect.

I’d say there’s a nine out of ten chance that he went back there. He probably wasn’t aiming to steal only one thing.

Wu Jianwu and Kong Xianglong were both pursuing their own personal destined opportunities in the imperial capital.

Wu Jianwu went to the Daoist Literary Academy, which was an academy originally set up by Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity. It had fallen into decline, and was mostly a historical archive now. But for some reason, it really captured Wu Jianwu’s attention. For roughly two months now he had been doing odd jobs there.

Kong Xianglong had chosen to pursue training at the Swordsage Division, in the hopes of following in the footsteps of his grandfather.

Everyone was wrapped up in their own pursuits.

In contrast to everyone else, Ningyan seemed very quiet. After the Dawning Sun incident, he spent most of his time in secluded meditation in front of his mother’s portrait. He rarely came out. However, on this particular evening, because Xu Qing was heading out earlier than usual, they happened to pass each other. They exchanged a nod.

Xu Qing could sense that Ningyan’s time spent in the shrine hall had resulted in his aura changing. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Everyone is growing.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing strode off into the snow. He was also growing. The wind picked up. By the time he reached the entrance of the Imperial University, snowflakes were everywhere.

Just like that, half a month passed.

Four more students in the Xeno-Immortal School reached the level of 50,000 soul threads. The schoolmaster treated them all with great importance, promoting them from the conclave to being successor students. They also earned the right to give lectures.

Rankings for ordinary students were as follows: initiate, conclave, successor.

And the successor students were allowed to recruit initiates and give them dao seeds.

According to new rules set forth by the schoolmaster, there would be a chief student competition every three months. The chief students would be able to practice cultivation in the presence of the patriarch, and receive personal instruction. What was more, they had priority pick of items from the sect that bolstered the soul, as well as the chance to get upgraded dao seeds.

Of course, such exciting possible rewards were guaranteed to lead to some chaotic developments. But at the same time, it led to rapid growth in membership for the Xeno-Immortal School.

Soon, white dao seeds were being distributed. In the past, there hadn’t been enough dao seeds to simply give them to every conclave student. But now, as the Xeno-Immortal School expanded and white dao seeds appeared, conclave students who previously didn’t have the chance to absorb green dao seeds were now getting their chance.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, more students than ever were hoping to join the Xeno-Immortal School. Xu Qing had just entered the Imperial University and noticed the new recruitment efforts. There was already a crowd gathered outside the tower.

Soon enough, a hierarchy developed among the Xeno-Immortal students. Even when it came to daily cultivation routines, there were various cliques and groups. Xu Qing and the other older students did not bask in glory. Though they worked hard, it was a fact that the Imperial University was full of elite chosen. Therefore, it was only natural that the older students were ultimately surpassed.

Though no one else reached the level of 50,000 soul threads, the sight of the successor students advancing so dramatically caused many people to start getting nervous. As a result, some students’ identity and status outside the university started to become relevant.

Xu Qing noticed all of that and didn’t interfere.

The Xeno-Immortal School could make its own decisions about how it expanded. Besides, the more the school grew, the more he would benefit. During the half month that passed, his soul thread count reached the level of 1,300,000.

If I went all out, I could probably form my third-level god state. I just need to complete a secret trove, and I could step from Spirit Trove and into Void Returning

As for Xeno-Immortal techniques, they’re actually suitable for any cultivation level. Going forward, I’ll be able to take the power of gods and the techniques of cultivators and combine them. The resulting blessing will be even more effective.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with anticipation. The Xeno-Immortal School was the best thing that happened to him since arriving in the imperial capital. The Emperor’s Sword was different, as it represented a mission. But the Xeno-Immortal techniques were a way to constantly improve himself.

Before finding the Xeno-Immortal School, his godsource was completely independent. His cultivation base was also independent. Although they could be combined by means of his secret troves, that was only the first part of a larger process. And fundamentally speaking, they were still completely unique from each other. But the Xeno-Immortal School’s techniques changed that.

I guess I’ll just wait for the dao debate. Given Patriarch Chen Daoze’s soul thread count right now, even if they can’t come out on top against the God-Merging School, they’ll still be in a good position. The Xeno-Immortal School is definitely on the road to a major revival.

Xu Qing was in a good mood that morning as he pondered such matters and walked toward the Xeno-Immortal School’s white tower. He was just getting ready to step inside and start working on breathing exercises when a voice interrupted him.

“The lot of you go to the daoist rite center and get everything set up. Upperclassman Darkforest invited people from several schools of thought to a gathering. Make sure the incense is lit, the nice tea is ready, and that there isn’t a speck of dust anywhere in the rite center.”

The person speaking was a conclave student with more than 30,000 soul threads, and he was giving instructions to a handful of new students who hadn’t yet joined any faction in the school. The Upperclassman Darkforest he had mentioned was one of the four newly promoted successor students. The factionless students were initially inclined to refuse to comply with his instructions. But considering it related to a successor student, they finally agreed.

Xu Qing ignored them, walked over to his usual corner, and sat down cross-legged. Before he could even close his eyes to begin meditating, the conclave student who had just given the orders looked at him. Considering that Xu Qing had been around since the beginning, he was obviously familiar with him.

“You too,” he said. “You go with them.”

Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever as he closed his eyes.

Seeing that kind of reaction caused the conclave student to frown beneath his mask. He then walked over to Xu Qing, which attracted the attention of many other students. Numerous eyes were fixed on the conclave student as he stopped in front of Xu Qing.

“I’m talking to you, Sir Dark-Thunder!”

Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes and looked calmly at the student in front of him. That single look caused the student to shiver from head to toe. All of his soul threads went into complete chaos. Some of them seemed like they might explode, and it caused intense pain to strike the students’ internal organs. Shocked, the student backed up a few paces.

The onlookers were surprised. They hadn’t sensed a thing. All they saw was the conclave student walk up to Xu Qing, and then suddenly back up looking surprised. There were already numerous theories in the minds of the onlookers.

Xu Qing closed his eyes and went back to meditating.

The conclave student shivered. A moment ago, he’d felt like the shadow of death was looming over him. His heart pounded with lingering fear, and he wanted to just drop the matter. But there were a lot of people watching, and as the saying goes, if you ride a tiger, it’s hard to get off.

He turned in place and quickly walked over to the spot where he and his faction usually meditated. There, he took out a communications jade slip unique to the Imperial University. With it, he sent a voice message.

Not long after, someone walked into the tower. It was none other than the successor student Darkforest. His arrival prompted many of the other students to get to their feet and bow to him. The conclave disciple who had clashed with Xu Qing hurried over, bowed, then whispered a few things into Darkforest’s ear, all while pointing at Xu Qing.

Darkforest turned to look coldly at Xu Qing.

“How amusing.”

He started walking toward Xu Qing, his 70,000 soul threads pulsing out to create a powerful pressure in the area.

Before he could take more than seven or eight steps, the sound of an explosive commotion rose up from the outside of the tower.

“Something big just happened in Heavenbright County! 1,000,000 mortals were sacrificed in some sort of ceremony!”

“The governor of Heavenbright personally went to investigate, and ended up executing the culprit. The murderer tried to destroy his own body, but the governor stopped him before he could. And guess what, a strange seed was found inside him!”

“People are saying that the governor of Heavenbright County suspects it’s a Xeno-Immortal dao seed. The matter has already been reported to the emperor. And that dao seed is already on the way to the emperor to be inspected!”

“People in the imperial palace are absolutely furious!”

As the words drifted into the Xeno-Immortal School, the students looked around in shock. Darkforest stopped in place, then turned to look outside.

Xu Qing opened his eyes, and they shone with a steely light.