Chapter 97 - 97: Promotion to Star Palace Disciple
After obtaining the Superior True Artifact, the White Scale Purple Gold Knife, Chen Tianyun took care of the matters concerning Lu Yun’s promotion to a Star Palace disciple.
Passing through an area filled with pavilions and halls, they arrived in front of a towering and magnificent building. Chen Tianyun introduced, “This building is called the Star Tower. It has nine floors, and each floor has dedicated cultivation rooms.”
On the ninth floor, there are nine cultivation rooms; on the eighth floor, there are twenty cultivation rooms; on the seventh floor, there are thirty cultivation rooms… on the first floor, there are ninety cultivation rooms, for a total of 450 cultivation rooms.”
Glancing at Lu Yun, whose expression remained unchanged, Chen Tianyun added, “Don’t underestimate the Star Tower. There is a special Spirit Gathering Array set up inside. The higher you go, the higher the concentration of spiritual energy.”
“Spirit Gathering Array?”
Lu Yun had read about this in a book from the Book Collection Pavilion. The Spirit Gathering Array was a product of the sect era, its function being to gather the Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Qi from the surrounding area. It can be used for operating other arrays or for the daily cultivation of Martial Artists.
Spirit Gathering Arrays are divided into low, intermediate, and high levels.
To accommodate such a large building with just a low-level Spirit Gathering Array, the resources consumed would be no fewer than those consumed by an intermediate-level Spirit Gathering Array.
The higher the realm of a Martial Artist, the greater the demand for Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Qi. Whether it is for improving one’s cultivation or recovering True Qi or True Origin, all require Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Qi. Even when Lu Yun uses energy points to break through realms, he still needs to absorb the surrounding Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Qi.
Similarly, when refining True Qi in the True Qi Realm, one also needs to absorb Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Qi for replenishment and recovery.
Therefore, a place with a rich concentration of Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Qi is undoubtedly essential for Martial Artists.
Thinking of the function of the Spirit Gathering Array, Lu Yun couldn’t help but feel admiration for the Martial Academy that set up such an array for the Star Palace disciples to cultivate in.
With this in mind, Lu Yun became quite interested in the Star Tower, asking, “Elder Chen, what is the ratio of spiritual energy concentration between each floor of the Star Tower and the outside world?”
Chen Tianyun didn’t conceal anything, as it was his duty to explain. He said, “The first floor of the Star Tower has relatively thin spiritual energy, but it is still twice as dense as the outside world. The second floor is three times… as for the ninth floor, the concentration of spiritual energy is ten times that of the outside world.”
Hearing this, Lu Yun’s eyes turned fiery.
This was definitely not a low-level Spirit Gathering Array, as a low-level array could only increase the concentration of spiritual energy by three times.
Meanwhile, the concentration of spiritual energy on the ninth floor of the Star Tower was ten times that of the outside world, an effect that could only be achieved by an intermediate-level Spirit Gathering Array.
That is to say, the Star Tower has more than one Spirit Gathering Array.
At least two: both low-level and intermediate-level Spirit Gathering Arrays.
Thinking of this, Lu Yun couldn’t help but feel admiration for the methods of the Martial Academy in his heart.
“May 1 ask, Elder, with so many cultivation rooms in the Star Tower, I assume that every Star Palace disciple has a cultivation room?”
Chen Tianyun couldn’t help but glance at Lu Yun, surprised, “Do you know how many disciples there are in the Star Palace?”
Lu Yun shook his head.
“Including you, there are a total of 3,358.”
Lu Yun furrowed his brow.
According to his understanding, within the Martial Academy, there were at most five or six thousand elite disciples. As for the higher-ranking Star Palace disciples, there would likely only be a few hundred. After all, he knew how difficult the tenth floor of the Myriad Phenomena Tower was, and most of the elite disciples were unable to pass it.
Now, Chen Tianyun was telling him that there were more than 3,000 Star Palace disciples.
Chen Tianyun seemed to have guessed Lu Yun’s thoughts and laughed, “You must be wondering why there are so many Star Palace disciples, almost catching up with the number of elite disciples, right?”
Lu Yun nodded, not expressing an opinion.
“Haha, don’t you remember, as long as you pass the tenth level of the Myriad Phenomena Tower, you don’t have to leave the Martial Academy unless you voluntarily leave, are over thirty-five, or encounter other unpredictable situations.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yun finally came to his senses.
The Martial Academy recruits at least a thousand new disciples each year, so after decades of accumulation, there are naturally many Star Palace disciples.
Moreover, when compared to the massive population of Spirit Martial Prefecture, the three thousand-plus Star Palace disciples seem very few.
“Kid, work hard, I believe you will soon be able to snatch a cultivation room in the Star Tower.” Chen Tianyun patted Lu Yun’s shoulder and continued showing him around the Star Palace area.
Star Tower is just the first privilege possessed by the Star Palace disciples.
“The Star Palace disciples are considered the core of the Martial Academy, and are worth nurturing with resources. Therefore, in addition to the spiritually-rich cultivation land of Star Tower, there are other special cultivation areas such as the Heart Inquiry Pavilion and the Thousand Illusion Hall…”
Standing in front of an imposing, seemingly white jade-built pavilion, Chen Tianyun said, “This is the Heart Inquiry Pavilion. It actually has some similarities to the Myriad Phenomena Tower, but because of some limitations in the Tower, not all Star Palace disciples can reach the higher levels. So the Heart Inquiry Pavilion was created specifically to hone willpower and martial arts ambition. One hundred Contribution Points can allow you to spend two hours inside.”
“In that case, the Heart Inquiry Pavilion is useless to me.” Lu Yun thought privately.
Given that the Heart Inquiry Pavilion and the Myriad Phenomena Tower serve similar purposes, he naturally prefers the Myriad Phenomena Tower, which doesn’t require payment, and can even gain Contribution Points through it.
Next, Chen Tianyun took Lu Yun to the Thousand Illusion Hall.
The Thousand Illusion Hall is mysterious, capable of creating illusions and using other spiritual materials to simulate corresponding illusory realms, specifically to help the Star Palace disciples comprehend their martial arts realms.
For example, disciples who practice swordsmanship can enter an illusory realm about swordsmanship to comprehend Sword Intent.
Other disciples will enter corresponding illusory realms based on their individual True Qi or True Origin attributes to comprehend their martial arts realms.
Lu Yun’s Slaughter Conception could be improved in the Thousand Illusion Hall by simulating a large-scale war scenario, where killing and honing skills would contribute to its elevation.
If he wanted to comprehend other martial arts realms, such as Cold Ice Intent, Water Conception, or Fire Intent, he could enter the corresponding illusory realms to do so.
Unfortunately, even with the special training grounds like the Thousand Illusion Hall, very few Star Palace disciples could comprehend martial arts realms at the True Qi Realm stage. Most of them would only succeed in the Transforming Origin Realm or even the Origin Fluid Realm.
The reason Lu Yun managed to comprehend Slaughter Conception was because the panel helped him take the Seven Kill Saber Technique to an unprecedented realm, and he utilized a large amount of energy value to achieve success.
If he were to rely solely on himself, it might take him a long time to get even a glimpse of the path.
However, if 1 cultivate the Gale Thunder Flash Step, can 1 comprehend Thunderbolt Intent or Wind Intent by relying on it…?
Lu Yun contemplated this, suddenly looking forward to the Thousand Illusion Hall.
Chen Tianyun unconsciously revealed a smile, satisfied with Lu Yun’s expression of anticipation.
“After entering the Star Palace, you can freely access the Martial Academy without having to complete missions. However, you must remember to make the most of your youth, develop your talents as much as possible, and build a solid foundation. This will be beneficial for you to reach higher martial arts realms in the future. Otherwise, you will regret it.”
There was no need for Chen Tianyun to tell him this, as Lu Yun was well aware of the pros and cons involved.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Tianyun officially guided Lu Yun through the process of promoting him to a Star Palace disciple.
The process was simple, involving only registration, updating of records, and the replacement of his identification token.
The Star Palace disciple’s identification token is more advanced, completely purple in color. In addition to serving as identification proof and for completing missions, it also functions as a certificate to access certain special training grounds.
Apart from that, Lu Yun received two Star Robes, which were the garments worn by the Star Palace disciples. Both robes had the same style and design, one in purple-black and the other in pure white, with star patterns on their sleeves..