pjbooks Chapter 127 Let's see who's faster
Chapter 127 Let's see who's faster
On the third day after Kahn declared war, the Ice Flower Storm arrived right on time.
The first wave of attacks targeted South America, specifically Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Black ice flowers fell from the sky at midday, covering the entire city. The white sand of Copacabana Beach quickly turned black, collapsed, and turned into puddles of viscous black liquid under the erosion of the ice flowers. The Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado was damaged for the second time in the ice flower storm; its right arm, which had been eroded through last week, had not yet been repaired, and a huge hole had been eroded in its left shoulder. The entire statue teetered precariously in the black snow.
But this time, humanity did not panic.
Rio de Janeiro's Awakened defenses went on high alert after the first ice flower attack last week. The moment the black ice flowers began to fall, the city's defensive barrier activated simultaneously. Estrada, an S-rank Awakened from the South American United Bureau of Evil, hovered above the Christ the Redeemer statue, his hands forming a massive earthen-yellow spiritual energy shield that enveloped the entire mountain. The shield's surface was covered with dense earth-elemental runes, each flashing wildly, peeling away the corrosive power of the ice flowers layer by layer.
Beneath the shield, hundreds of Awakened Ones were positioned at every key point in the city. Some were using flames to vaporize the ice flowers, some were using wind blades to cut them, and some were using ice-based spiritual energy to condense crystal walls to stop the falling ice flowers. Their coordination was still somewhat rough, and the defenses at some points were sometimes breached by the ice flowers, but no one retreated; the breaches were always filled by nearby Awakened Ones within seconds.
On the streets of Rio de Janeiro, pedestrians no longer screamed and scattered as they had the previous week. Wearing gas masks, they hurried along pre-arranged routes to the nearest underground shelters. Occasionally, mothers carrying their children would run past, but their faces no longer held despair; instead, they wore a heavy, unwavering belief that tomorrow would come, even under the shadow of impending doom.
In less than a week, this city learned how to survive amidst the ice flowers.
At the same time, the spirit-gathering array of Qingyun Academy was officially activated at noon.
Jiang Chen stood in the center of the factory's open space, the Primordial Sword hovering before him, its tip pointing upwards, the seven stars on its hilt beginning to rotate simultaneously. Seven beams of light, each a different color, surged forth from the stars, spreading in all directions along predetermined paths—golden Zhou Tian Starfire, dark red Burning Silence Fire, silver-white Primordial Sword Intent, cyan wind-elemental spiritual power, blue water-elemental spiritual power, yellow earth-elemental spiritual power, and green wood-elemental spiritual power. The seven forces intertwined, merged, and settled at the edge of the formation, ultimately transforming into a pale golden light membrane that covered the entire Qingyun Academy's tens of thousands of acres of land.
The moment the light membrane formed, everyone inside the academy felt a strange warmth.
With each breath, one can feel extremely subtle energy flowing from the nasal cavity into the lungs, from the lungs into the blood vessels, and from the blood vessels into the dantian.
Artificial spiritual energy.
Jiang Chen used the Primordial Sword as the array's core and the seven spiritual energy attributes as its veins, continuously transforming the true essence he had accumulated over a thousand years of cultivation in the immortal realm into spiritual energy that could be absorbed by human spiritual roots. The concentration of this artificial spiritual energy was only five percent of that of the lowest-level spiritual veins in the immortal realm, but it was enough for Wang Kai, who was breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
Wang Kai sat cross-legged on the core of the formation—the bluestone slab marked with the Primordial Sword Intent beneath Jiang Chen's feet—his hands resting on his knees, palms facing upwards. Deep within his dantian, the rice-grain-sized light core was visibly expanding, solidifying, and rotating. Spiritual energy surged into his meridians from all directions, circulating again and again along the path Jiang Chen had taught him. With each rotation, the light core grew larger, his meridians widened, and his bones became denser.
His training clothes were soaked with sweat, veins bulged on his forehead, and his lips were bleeding from being clenched so tightly, but he didn't stop. Yesterday, when Jiang Chen asked, "Half a month, is that enough?" he answered, "Yes." That sentence is now the driving force behind the circulation of every strand of true energy within his body.
Shen Qingxue stood on the open ground on the other side of the factory, her body enveloped in the lingering dark red heat emanating from the edges of the Burning Soul Fire array. She was undergoing her first formal tempering of flesh through fire refinement. The second stage of body cultivation required tempering flesh and blood in flames, gradually burning away impurities and increasing the purity of her blood and qi. Her long, silvery-white hair was slightly curled by the heat, and her icy-blue eyes gleamed with an unusual light under the flames. The icy-blue spiritual energy patterns that were usually hidden beneath her skin were now fully revealed, flickering under the scorching dark red flames.
Jiang Chen stood in the very center of the formation, the Primordial Sword slowly rotating above his head. He could feel the flow of every wisp of spiritual energy in the entire Spirit Gathering Formation, he could feel the light core deep in his dantian expanding, solidifying, and rotating at the fastest speed, and he could feel the meridians in his body being stretched and aching by this expanding power, but he did not stop.
"How long will it take to break through to the Golden Core stage?" He had asked himself this question last night. The Dao Fruit of the Primordial Immortal Emperor within the Primordial Sword gave him the answer—three months, that would be enough. He needed to break through to the Golden Core stage before keeping his appointment.
Because Kahn's power level is still above the Foundation Establishment stage.
Seven days after Kahn declared war, the first batch of students at Qingyun Academy completed their spiritual root testing and class assignments.
Five hundred people entered the orthodox cultivation class, three hundred entered the physical cultivation class, two hundred were temporarily placed on the observation list due to insufficient purity of spiritual roots, and more than one hundred were assigned to logistical support positions after comprehensive quality assessment. From today onwards, one thousand one hundred people officially become students of Qingyun Academy.
At six in the morning, on the playground inside the academy's main gate, 1,100 people stood in neat square formations, all dressed in matching dark blue training uniforms. The morning light had just crossed the still-standing factory wall and fallen on the makeshift platform at the front of the formation. There was only one chair on the platform, and Jiang Chen sat there. He wasn't wearing his school uniform today; he was wearing the same dark blue training uniform as the other students, with a pale gold sword embroidered on the cuffs. A dark blue hairband was wrapped around his right wrist—Jiang Xueqin had given it to him that morning, saying, "Your hair is getting a bit long; tie it up so it doesn't block your eyes."
He tied it on. The hairband swayed slightly in the morning breeze, turning a pale blue in the rising sun.
"Today is the first day of the official start of the semester at Qingyun Academy."
Jiang Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated the eardrums of everyone on the playground, the pale golden light membrane of the spirit-gathering array, and the sparse ice flowers falling outside the academy.
"You come from different countries, different cities, and different backgrounds. Some are awakened individuals, some are ordinary people, some have served in the military, some have just finished the college entrance examination, some rode motorcycles for three days and three nights from the border to Jiangzhou, and some ate compressed biscuits in the shelter for a whole day until dawn."
He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the 1,100 faces in the formation.
"But you have one thing in common—you all want to cultivate immortality."
The playground was quiet. Some people were clenching their fists, some were biting their lips, and some had reddened eyes but didn't let the tears fall. Wang Kai stood at the front of the formation, his back straighter than usual. Shen Qingxue stood at the very front of the physical education class line, her silver ponytail gleaming coldly in the morning light. Zhao Tieshan stood in the third row, the alloy joints of his prosthetic leg motionless beneath his trousers. Zhang Ziming stood in the tenth row, his glasses reflecting the figure on the platform with the light blue hairband.
"Three months from now, on the hundredth floor of the First Apostle's Hall. I will keep my appointment there, and what you need to do is to guard the human world's defenses on my way there, before the ninety-ninth floor. The Ice Flower Storm will descend on a city every three days; that will be your battlefield, not mine."
Jiang Chen raised his right hand, palm facing up. The Primordial Sword condensed in his palm, with seven stars slowly rotating on the hilt, illuminating the entire playground with pale golden sword light.
"You are currently at the first level of Qi Refining. In three months, you will need to be at least at the peak of Qi Refining to be qualified to stand at the entrance of the Apostle Hall. Only Foundation Establishment is qualified to enter the first thirty levels, mid-Foundation Establishment is qualified to enter the sixtieth level, and peak Foundation Establishment is qualified to enter the ninetieth level. As for the ninety-ninth level—that's a matter for Golden Core cultivators."
He clenched his fist, and the Primordial Sword transformed into a golden stream of light and was stored in his palm.
"I'm not here to give you pep talks. Cultivation is never an easy path. Some of you will get injured, some will stop progressing, some will fall in the ice storm, and some will die in some corner of the Apostle Hall. The path of cultivation is one of relentless advancement. It doesn't matter what your background is, only your heart for the Dao. You are my first batch of students. Three months from now, you will be the first batch of cultivators for all of humanity."
Jiang Chen stood up from his chair. He walked to the edge of the stage, looked at the 1,100 pairs of eyes below, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"Attend class."
A deafening shout erupted from the formation. The shout pierced through the light membrane of the Spirit Gathering Array, through the sparse ice flowers outside the academy, and through the thick clouds above Jiangzhou City, rippling across the light screen of the Apostle Realm's Void Temple.
Kahn sat on the first throne, his amber pupils reflecting the boy with the light blue hairband who stood calmly before the thousand-strong formation and uttered the word "Class begins." His lips twitched slightly, a faint curve, but undeniably present.
"interesting."
He raised his right hand and lightly tapped the air with his index finger. The scene on the screen instantly switched—from the playground of Qingyun Academy to five other cities in the human world that were being ravaged by ice flower storms.
"Let him teach his methods, we'll do ours. Three months from now, let's see if his students can withstand our ice flowers, or if our ice flowers will break through humanity's defenses first."