Chapter 99: Chapter 82 Warning from Empyrean Kong Shi [Seeking First Subscription]_3
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“Yes!”
Not knowing his thought process, Yu Longqing mistook it for simple astonishment and involuntarily nodded in agreement.
“Does this ‘Heavenly Mandate Baptism’ have any requirements?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Yu Longqing: “There are two requirements. First, your cultivation must reach the Eightfold Divine Soul Realm of the Source Pool; otherwise, you won’t be able to withstand the pressure of the Yuan Power tide and the spiritual shock from destiny.”
Zhang Xuan nodded.
It was as the other party said, there are countless forks in destiny, and without firm resolution, it’s easy to be tempted astray by various allurements and end up with nothing.
“Secondly, a registration fee of thirty million Origin Currency must be paid, which is non-refundable regardless of success or failure.”
Seeing a look of confusion in Zhang Xuan’s eyes, Yu Longqing explained, “Each Heavenly Mandate Baptism session invites numerous Fate Masters to expend their energy, channeling the River of Destiny, which consumes a great deal. This money is essentially their service fee…”
Zhang Xuan responded with a sound.
This was somewhat similar to the Pill Debate on the Master Teacher Continent, where one needs to pay a certain fee to invite apothecaries for assessments, as no one has the obligation to help for free.
The same goes for master teacher assessments. If you pass, the fee is paid by the Master Teacher Pavilion; if you fail, you have to pay for it yourself. Without such a rule, everyone would want to be tested, and the Master Teacher Pavilion would have nothing else to do.
“Reaching the Eightfold Divine Soul Realm of the Source Pool is easy… but thirty million Origin Currency, that’s a bit difficult!”
After listening to the explanation, Zhang Xuan pondered.
For him, as long as he had sufficient Heavenly Mandate Vitality, reaching the Eightfold Realm of the Source Pool was just a matter of time, and extremely likely within a month. But earning that much money… that was another story.
It wasn’t that his money-making ability was lacking, but the depth of Baiyan City was there for all to see. Even the combined wealth of the Three Premier Clans might not be enough to produce that much cash on demand…
In other words, he would have to earn almost all the liquid assets from the three premier families’ balance sheets to have that much money!
The difficulty was unimaginable.
Of course, this wasn’t too urgent a matter. After all, Baiyan City was just a small city; getting to the royal capital would surely make things easier.
Knowing there was no way to undergo the Heavenly Mandate Baptism for the time being, Zhang Xuan stopped pondering and voiced his doubt, “Then… without the Heaven Mandate Hall, where do I find Heavenly Mandate Vitality?”
“Firstly, you can deploy some special formations to decompose artifacts, thereby generating this kind of power, just like the one I arranged for Xiaoyu and Mo Yanxue in the Book Collection Vault!”
As Yu Longqing said this, he carefully looked at the young man, trying to discern from his eyes whether the Spiritual Origin Bamboo had been completely consumed by him. However, the other’s face showed no expression at all, as if he didn’t know about this matter whatsoever.
“Could it be a misunderstanding?”
A sliver of doubt flashed through his mind. However, since so much time had passed, it wasn’t appropriate to inquire further, and Yu Longqing continued:
“Secondly, look for Destiny Plates that have been used by Baiyan Academy over the years. Destiny Plates are celestial treasures crafted by Heaven Mandate Hall containing a large amount of Heavenly Mandate Qi. Not all the Origin qi contained might be fully used after the evaluations every year, so these discarded artifacts should still contain some…”
Zhang Xuan’s eyes brightened, “Then where can I find these Destiny Plates… Do I ask School Head Lu?”
As the number of students varies each year, so does the amount of Yuan Power they can absorb. It’s impossible for the power contained within the Destiny Plates to be exactly depleted, so… within the discarded plates, there would surely be a considerable amount of residual power. If found, he might be able to profit handsomely from it.
“Asking him is useless!”
Yu Longqing said, “Each year’s leftover Destiny Plates would flow into the merchant guilds to provide cultivation opportunities for cultivators who don’t have the chance to attend the school, which is a requirement from the Heaven Mandate Hall. School Head Lu has no say over this…”
Some families who are well-off start their cultivation early, finding the Source Pool and activating it at a young age. Such individuals can apply to the academy to become students.
Others, like Zhang Xuan, have never been exposed to cultivation and miss their best cultivation years. Only discovering the Source Pool when over twenty, they are unable to attend the academy and thus cannot become Origin warriors.
To let these people also practice cultivation, the Heaven Mandate Hall requires the academy to send used Destiny Plates to merchant guilds, allowing ordinary people to seize the opportunity to cultivate.
“Of course, there’s a third way, and that is to find a powerful Fate Master. Such a person can communicate with the River of Destiny and actively draw in Heavenly Mandate Vitality! It’s just the hardest way, and unless you are kin or a close friend, who would be willing to help you?”
Yu Longqing said.
Zhang Xuan nodded.
It was the same on the Master Teacher Continent; if you weren’t strong enough, expecting master teachers to take time out to provide guidance was a sheer fantasy.
However, from what the other party implied, once he became a Fate Master himself, he would be able to draw Heavenly Mandate Vitality at will and needn’t worry about running short of it again.
It seemed that in the future, this was a direction he should work towards.
Putting these thoughts aside, Zhang Xuan asked, “What are the requirements if I go to the merchant guild for a Source Pool evaluation?”
Yu Longqing: “You also need to pay a certain fee, at least around 200 Origin Currency!”
Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s not too bad…”
Whereas others might absorb one or two strands of Heavenly Mandate Vitality for 200 Origin Currency, he could completely absorb hundreds, even thousands of strands, which certainly meant a massive return on his investment.
With a sigh of realization, the two mounted their steeds and swiftly galloped toward Baiyan Trading Company.
…
As Zhang Xuan left the academy, Liu Tianzheng finished teaching Liu Mingyue the “Fuyao Energy Accumulation Technique” and stopped Dean Lu Mingrong, who was planning to head to the merchants.
“School Head Lu, isn’t it time to send over this year’s used Destiny Plates to our trading company?”
“Hmm.”
Lu Mingrong nodded his head and gestured to Wu Yunzhou, who stepped forward and handed over a round disc.
Liu Tianzheng caught it with a flick of his hand, about to express his thanks, when he suddenly froze.
He noticed that the object handed to him was already broken into several pieces, resembling a pile of rubble.
“What’s this about?”
Liu Tianzheng’s expression turned extremely ugly.