Chapter 180: Chapter 128: Mobilization_1
Translator: 549690339
Three days later, inside the academy.
Liang Xiao had recovered from the blow to his ego dealt by Wuhua and began to adapt to this novel academy life.
As a prince, and once the much-favored Ninth Prince, not only had he been taught by Great Scholars within the palace walls and browsed through numerous Scriptures, but he had also incognito sought learning at Yingtian Academy, the foremost of the four great academies in the land.
But even when he was masquerading, he traveled with a procession of three horse-drawn carriages, hundreds of maids and servants, and guards, with all his luggage filling up three entire carriages. Upon admission, he received even more special attention.
Unlike now, when he was assigned to a small school and even forcibly separated from his sole protector and servant.
Without a single person to attend to him, this prince, who’d grown accustomed to luxury and had never lifted a finger in his life, became the butt of many jokes.
Fortunately, the academy’s system was well-established, and its framework meticulous. His temperament was also extraordinary, so he quickly adapted to life here.
“Dong!!!”
The morning bell resonated at dawn, carrying a Zen-like quality as if waves were crashing against the shore, an endless echo cleansing the mind and spirit.
Liang Xiao opened his eyes, sat up, and stretched, instantly dispelling any drowsiness. He felt energized and rejuvenated.
This was an experience he had rarely encountered in his eighteen years of life.
With the Heavenly Family Bloodline and as a prince, not only was cultivation of mana difficult, but the effectiveness of various Taoist Spiritual Objects was also significantly reduced.
The usual Spirit Pills and magical medicines had no effect on him. The offerings of fruits and vegetarian dishes from various Taoist Temples and monasteries were akin to chewing wax, providing him with little to no benefit.
Only Supreme Grade Spiritual Objects—the kind that provided benefits even to Taoist True Monarchs—had any noticeable effect on him.
But those of such caliber were rare treats even for his emperor father, so how much could a mere prince like himself enjoy?
But now, this bell sound…
According to the instructor, this bell, known as the Morning Bell, was one of the treasures of the academy; it would ring every morning at dawn. Its tone could purify the soul and invigorate the spirit.
Coupled with the Evening Drum that sounded at night to promote peaceful sleep, its cyclic nature, morning and evening, day and night, effectively nurtured the soul and boosted energy.
Together, they were known as the Morning Bell and Evening Drum!
Liang Xiao had heard of this Morning Bell and Evening Drum, famous magical instruments of Buddhism. Several large Buddhist temples in the capital city had them set up, but only the Morning Bell and Evening Drum at Longhua Temple had any effect on a prince like him.
Yet, even the one at Longhua Temple wasn’t as effective as the academy’s.
It revealed the miraculous nature of this place.
But Liang Xiao had already grown accustomed to it.
After just three days of attending school, everything he saw and learned was strikingly novel, and even turned some of his beliefs upside down.
After the continuous barrage of shocks, amazement turned to numbness, and he no longer found anything out of the ordinary.
“Liang, are you up?”
“Hurry and wash up; don’t be late again.”
A glance around showed that his dorm mates had already started their morning routines, and the dorm leader Li Daniu reminded him.
“Oh, oh!”
Liang Xiao dared not delay. He quickly got up, finished his ablutions, and followed his dorm mates out the door, heading toward the dining hall.
At Guo Bei Academy, lodging and basic meals thrice a day were provided for free. If you had academic credits or Mana Money, you could even add extra dishes and enjoy various Taoist Spiritual Objects exclusively provided to the students, including milled rice and Spirit Rice harvested from the academy’s fields, delicacies made from the rare breeds of Spirit Beasts and Alien Beasts raised within the academy, and various Spirit Pills…
In addition, the Tiangong and Mingxiao produced various Soldier’s Armor, Magic Artifacts, Talismans, and even high-tier Spiritual Treasures. If you had enough credits, you could exchange for them. In fact, there was no need to exchange if you could complete your studies and pass the assessments to progress to the branch schools or the main school, as there was a standard set of benefits endowed upon you.
As he had enrolled in Shushan Sword Institute, the main school disciples were each equipped with a Flying Sword, albeit only at the level of Magic Artifact. Despite this, their power was not to be underestimated, and each was also issued a sword robe, armor, and a Storage Bag as standard gear.
This was something many envied.
Sadly, he was currently just a freshman in a small school.
Flying Swords and the like felt too far out of reach.
The academy had provided him with a longsword and several sets of uniforms for changing and daily use.
The group walked down from the dormitory building to the equally extensive and elaborately constructed dining hall.
Then came the grueling wait in line.
The number of students at Guo Bei Academy was simply too vast, and even after dividing them into main, branch, and small schools and building a large dining hall to segregate the streams, serving tens or even hundreds of thousands of students and faculty was still a daunting task.
As such, queuing up for meals every morning took up a significant amount of time.
Time-wasting was one thing, but within the dining hall, the aroma of food was irresistible. Various dishes crafted from milled rice and Spirit Rice along with cuisines made with Spirit Beasts and Alien Beasts were incredibly fragrant, impossible to conceal.
The academy’s students were mostly cultivators, so all had hearty appetites. Queuing hungrily for meals each day was a torturous ordeal.
The veterans were used to it, but newcomers often found it hard to endure.
Seeing Li Daniu ahead of him virtually drooling, Liang Xiao shook his head and took out a volume of Taoist Scriptures to read.
Supreme Pure Great Cave True Scripture
This was a… False Sutra!
What is a False Sutra?
In this world, where the cultivation of Taoism is based on the Divine Soul, it is necessary to gather the Power of the Souls of All Beings and use falsehood to cultivate truth.
Therefore, Taoist Scriptures are divided into True Scriptures and False Sutras.
A False Sutra embodies the “false” in using falsehood to cultivate truth—a crucial intermediary.
Reciting a False Sutra not only yields no cultivation of mana but also depletes one’s mental and spiritual energy.
The expended mental and spiritual energy will, through the False Sutra as an intermediary, merge into a True Scripture, enhancing the power of the True Scripture.
In doing so, cultivators who possess True Scriptures can absorb the souls of all beings through the scripture to cultivate their mana.