Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 21 Buying a Defective Sky Lantern (Please read further, vote with monthly tickets and recommendations)
[You are absorbing spiritual energy. Spiritual affinity +1, spiritual energy +3]

[Cumulative number of times spiritual energy was absorbed: 56210/100,000]

The next morning, Zhou Ling arrived at the Jia Yi Academy and began his routine cultivation.

As his understanding of the "Spirit Flame Technique" deepened, his speed of absorbing spiritual energy gradually increased.

Previously, during a single cultivation session, the absorption of spiritual energy within the body could only achieve one cycle, but now it has reached two cycles.

Simply put, the speed and efficiency of cultivation have doubled.

As always, he was the first disciple to arrive at the school.

Compared to the original schoolhouse, this place is much more spacious and bright, and the spiritual energy here is more than twice as strong.

Neatly arranged, plain-colored prayer cushions.

In the corner of the school building, wisps of smoke curled from an ancient bronze incense burner.

Next, one disciple after another entered the schoolhouse, their expressions mostly filled with confidence.

Students who are able to enter Class A1 have a high probability of becoming inner disciples of the Lingxia Sect in the future.

To Zhou Ling's surprise, in addition to seeing Wang Xin, Yuan Hu also entered Class 1 of the First Division.

As soon as Yuan Hu entered the schoolhouse, he pretended to be mature and greeted the other disciples. Then, when he saw Zhou Ling, he hurriedly walked over and sat down in the seat in front of him.

With a spirited expression, he said, "Brother Ling, I never thought I'd have the chance to get into Class A!"

A look of confusion appeared on Zhou Ling's face.

Without waiting for him to ask, Yuan Hu explained the situation.

Overall, Yuan Hu's aptitude is not bad either. He has a low-grade single earth spiritual root, is at the first level of Qi Refining, and has activated 8 spiritual acupoints.

In terms of skills, he chose the less common but practical Spirit Plant Master.

After all, these children are probably between 5 and 7 years old, and their cultivation journey has only just begun.

No one wants to choose such a difficult profession as a plant grower or a pharmacist.

In addition to the top ten students who entered Class A, the other disciples who entered the key Daoist classes were randomly assigned.

So it seems that Yuanhu is quite lucky.

At this moment, Wang Xin also entered the dormitory and came over when she saw Zhou Ling and the others.

After greeting him, he sat down next to Zhou Ling.

Everything seemed unchanged.

Of course, the cultivation levels of the surrounding disciples also clearly improved by one grade.

Zhou Ling was originally at the second level of Qi Refining, which would have placed him in the middle to upper ranks within the academy.

Now we're in the downstream phase.

Before long, all the students of the academy had arrived, still thirty-six in number.

At this moment, the sound of the chime rang out, signaling the start of class, and the disciples knew that a new instructor was about to arrive.

Everyone fell silent.

Soon, as footsteps approached, a middle-aged man with a rather solemn expression walked into the school building.

He was dressed in a wide-sleeved Taoist robe and walked slowly to the podium.

The disciples also rose to greet him.

The middle-aged man nodded calmly and looked at his disciples. "Disciples, my name is Fang Lan. I will be your new instructor for the next few years, responsible for guiding your skills and cultivation techniques."

He then waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down.

"Over the next few years, you will receive various basic skills training. If you have any questions now, feel free to ask me!"

Teacher Fang didn't say much; he only said a few words before sitting down on the platform.

For a moment, none of the other disciples spoke up to ask.

Instructor Fang didn't say much, letting everyone cultivate on their own.

The first lesson of Class A1 passed quietly.

······.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Today marks the approaching annual Sky Lantern Festival.

The Taoist academy is having a five-day holiday. After school, Zhou Ling didn't go home, but headed towards the market.

After entering Class A, the competition intensified, making it more difficult for him to obtain the academy's prize money.

They have absolutely no advantage in terms of cultivation level.

Currently, only fourteen acupoints have been activated.

Fortunately, nowadays, instructors mainly focus their assessments on skills.

His proficiency in drawing inscriptions is also constantly improving.

Over the past six months, through continuous hard work and with the help of talent, I have been able to draw six inscriptions.

In terms of skills alone, he is among the top five in the academy.

The others were mostly from prominent families, like Wang Xin.

They wouldn't care about the small bonus from the academy at all.

Therefore, Zhou Ling was able to consistently rank in the top three in every skills test and receive a prize.

In addition to two low-grade spirit stones, the bonus also includes other auxiliary items.

This was also extremely important to Zhou Ling, as it could barely supplement her household income.

At least I can afford the spirit brushes, spirit paper, and spirit ink I consume when practicing inscription.

······.

As the Lantern Festival approaches, the market is exceptionally lively, bustling with people and filled with noise.

Zhou Ling went straight to a small stall at the end of North Street.

The stall owner was an old man with a goatee. His surname was Zhao, and everyone in the area called him Old Man Zhao.

They make a living by selling secondhand goods.

Zhou Ling usually buys materials such as spirit paper and spirit ink from his stall.

Although the quality is slightly inferior, it is sufficient for Zhou Ling's current level, which is mainly for training.

The key point is that it's much cheaper than buying it in a store.

Two ordinary spirit papers cost only one broken spirit, half the price.

Old Zhao was munching on beef jerky when he saw Zhou Ling running up, panting and with a flushed face. He couldn't help but laugh and say, "Little guy, you've come to buy spirit paper again today. Here, fifty sheets of spirit paper have been prepared for you!"

"Uncle Zhao! Here are twenty-five pieces of spirit fragments." Zhou Ling took out a handful of spirit fragments from her backpack, counted out twenty-five pieces, and handed them over.

Taking the spirit stones and seeing that Zhou Ling still had about ten fragments of spirit stones in his hand, Old Man Zhao perked up and quickly said, "Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. I have some substandard lanterns here, I'll sell them cheaply. Would you like to buy one?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling glanced over and saw a piece of burlap spread out to the right of Old Man Zhao, on which were placed ten sky lanterns of various shapes, though their light was somewhat dim.

[You have observed damaged tricolor runes; Basic Insight +1]

Zhou Ling glanced over and found that the inscriptions on these sky lanterns were mostly damaged.

This resulted in it being much dimmer than a normal sky lantern.

But that makes sense, because a high-quality sky lantern wouldn't end up in Old Zhao's hands.

He immediately shook his head. Let alone a substandard sky lantern, he wouldn't be willing to spend spirit stones to buy even a good one.

With this spare money, wouldn't it be better to keep it and buy some Ling rice for the family?

"One lantern will only need two pieces of spirit fragments. If these sky lanterns are intact, they will cost at least ten pieces of spirit fragments."

You can't buy this anywhere else!

Old Zhao recommended it with a smile.

The Lantern Festival is in a couple of days. If these lanterns don't sell, then nobody will buy them in the future, and he'll lose a lot of money!

Zhou Ling bought several spirit papers; although he looked young, he wasn't easily fooled.

But if I come across it, I'll definitely give it a try; who knows, I might just sell it.

"Two Soul Shards! That's too expensive!"

Looking at these sky lanterns, Zhou Ling suddenly had an idea: why not try to repair them?

He was able to see the flaws in these runes through the [Basic Insight], and with a little effort, he could probably fix them.

Then we can sell them at the finished product price and make a profit.

(End of this chapter)