Haizhou, Hu Family Market.

The sky had not yet darkened, but pedestrians were few and far between. A glance around revealed desolate streets.

"Has the news about the Foundation Establishment Pill been released?"

Inside the auction house, Hu Haiqing retracted his gaze, his expression impassive.

"Yes..."

Hu Xinyi, a voluptuous and beautiful woman, nodded slightly.

"But it will still take some time to brew. Also, we’ve mostly eliminated the Tribulation Cultivators outside the Market. However, because of our previous reputation, people will probably want to wait and see for a while..."

’Wait and see?’

Hu Haiqing’s eyes narrowed. ’Such a great Market, and Hu Chaohong had managed it into this state.’

’If he hadn’t died at Chen Che’s hands, I would have killed him myself.’

Looking at the deserted streets, Hu Haiqing’s face was grim.

"What about the auction?"

"The auction..."

Hu Xinyi nodded.

"Many families have already come to inquire about the price, and some Loose Cultivators are watching as well. If Jinyun Valley can make a name for itself with a single Foundation Establishment Pill, we can naturally do the same. Besides, our foundation is deeper than Jinyun Valley’s..."

"As for those merchants who fled... it doesn’t matter. When a dog gets hungry, it will naturally come back!"

"Excellent!"

Hu Haiqing’s expression finally relaxed considerably.

"Second Elder, something terrible has happened..."

Just then, an urgent cry came from outside. A short, thin Cultivator in a black robe pushed the door open and froze for a moment upon seeing Hu Haiqing.

"Speak!"

Hu Haiqing frowned.

"Jin- Jinyun Valley has produced a Dragon Fish Pill! They’re saying this Pill is a Treasure left behind by True Master Chilong, and its effects far surpass the Foundation Establishment Pill. Now they’re going to auction it off..."

The Cultivator said, not daring to hide a single detail.

"A Dragon Fish Pill? A Treasure from True Master Chilong?"

Hu Haiqing’s breathing immediately grew heavy.

After the Ten Thousand Fire Cave Mansion appeared, he had also made a trip to Ten Thousand Fire Mountain, only to find nothing but ruins. Everything of value had been swept clean, so he had come back empty-handed.

But he never expected that someone would already be selling the treasures.

Moreover, with the appearance of this Dragon Fish Pill, how could they possibly compete with Jinyun Valley?

"Hmph..."

Hu Xinyi paced back and forth, her heart growing cold, filled with anger and frustration.

’How are we supposed to copy that?’

...

Dragon Fish Pill!

The news was like a clap of thunder on a clear day, shaking many Cultivators.

Yet, no one doubted it.

Since ancient times, whenever the Cave Mansion of a great expert appeared, while some treasures would be consumed privately, many would also flow into the market. A number of Cultivators were extremely interested in this treasured Pill.

"There really is no Dragon Fish Pill in my Cave Mansion!"

After hearing True Master Chilong’s denial for the umpteenth time, Sun Hao stood by a riverbank, staring at the Yin Snake that had died coughing up blood, and slammed his fist into the ground!

"Dammit!"

He was only a few days late, but someone had already beaten him to it, taking all the Treasures from inside the Cave Mansion.

"Who the hell entered the Cave Mansion!"

Sun Hao got up and limped along the riverbank, furious to the extreme.

He thought it was over, but before he could even leave the Cave Mansion, he was spotted by the next group of treasure-hunting Cultivators. Seeing the ruined Cave Mansion and the corpses strewn about, they immediately branded him a Treasure Thief.

Even worse, many Tribulation Cultivators who caught wind of the news came to hunt him down.

"I didn’t take a single treasure from the Cave Mansion, so why did I become the Treasure Thief? Ptooey...

Those Treasures in the Cave Mansion were supposed to be mine! And on top of that, someone is actually using the Cave Mansion’s name to sell Pills..."

Sun Hao nearly ground his teeth to dust. "It takes all sorts to make a world!"

"Forget it, forget it. Let’s just wait for this to blow over."

True Master Chilong’s voice was also weak. "I will pass on another Secret Technique to you. Those people stole my secret treasures, but they can’t steal my knowledge... In a few days, I will pass on a Cultivation Technique to you!"

...

WHOOSH!

Chen Che strode out of the bustling airport.

After arranging matters for Jinyun Valley, he had returned to the Earth Element Star.

Before reporting to school, he gathered with his old classmates from his class for a farewell drink and asked about how everyone was doing:

Huang Zhongfei got into a Yiben Daoist School as he had wished. Lin Yi and Qi Fengzhu, after a final-year sprint, actually got into a second-tier school. Zong Yudao, who almost didn’t get into any school, managed to scrape into a junior college thanks to ten extra points from a competition.

Old Li became the dean of students, and Ding Dawei retired smoothly.

As he was leaving, Old Li drunkenly sent Li Tingyu’s phone number to Chen Che.

"When you get to Zhurong Daoist School, remember to call my older sister!"

The crowd milling about consisted of ordinary university students as well as Cultivators. Several new student registration and information booths were set up at the airport exit. Just as Chen Che walked out, a petite and cute girl in a yellow dress emerged from a group of jostling female students.

"Junior, I’m from Huaqing University. May I ask which school you’re from?"

"Zhurong!"

Chen Che said lightly.

"Zhurong Daoist School!"

The girl in the yellow dress’s eyes immediately filled with awe.

She pointed to an Immortal Crane parked in the distant plaza and said, "For Zhurong Daoist School, go over there and ride the Immortal Crane..."

"Thank you."

Chen Che nodded and walked over.

The girl returned to her group, and under their questioning, couldn’t help but sigh, "Don’t even think about it. He’s from Zhurong Daoist School. We’re just ordinary university students."

To mortals, getting into Huaqing made you a child of heaven.

But those who could get into Zhurong Daoist School were the prodigies among Cultivators.

This Immortal Crane was a full seventy to eighty feet in size, like a veritable Yu Mountain. Seven or eight Zhurong Daoist School students were already sitting on its back. A few of them seemed to be discussing something, and one was an old acquaintance: Qiu Beixuan.

At this moment, Qiu Beixuan had his hands clasped and was bragging to the others:

"I only took the college entrance exam because I failed the competition. Who knew I’d run into a monster who actually defeated Hua Feng... That fight, sigh, the two of them destroyed the entire examination hall."

The other students’ eyes lit up as they listened.

All students of Zhurong Daoist School were exceptionally talented. Many had even started building their foundation before preschool, painstakingly cultivating for over a decade just to barely make the cut. Some students were even meditating and circulating their energy right then, seizing every second to improve their Cultivation.

Their strength was certainly not weak, but compared to the competition students, they were still a notch below.

After he finished speaking, Qiu Beixuan shrunk his neck and said inexplicably, "Strange, why do I suddenly feel a bit cold..."

He turned his head and saw Chen Che standing right behind him. He instantly froze like a statue.

Qiu Beixuan obediently lowered his head. "What I was just saying... was mostly to praise how awesome you are."

"I’m very happy that you’re praising how awesome I am. But I don’t much care for your tone."

Chen Che sat down cross-legged casually, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "I’ll give you a chance. Rephrase that."

"Brother Chen, I was wrong!"

Qiu Beixuan gave an embarrassed laugh.

The others looked on in surprise at this casually dressed student. The only person who could make a Celestial Ranking student cower like that was another existence on the Celestial Ranking.

Although everyone present was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, they were still, in essence, freshmen. The atmosphere quickly returned to normal.

However, this time, Qiu Beixuan deliberately avoided the topic of the competition and started talking about matters concerning Zhurong Daoist School:

"The teachers at the Daoist School aren’t strict like in high school. They don’t care if you study or not. Want to get into graduate school? You have to reach the Golden Core realm in four years! The graduate program at Zhurong Daoist School is incredibly hard to get into... In our class of over a thousand, the acceptance rate is only about ten people!"

As another student arrived, the Spiritual Crane in the plaza finally spread its wings.

With a light flap, it shot up from the ground, soaring straight into the clouds.

Passing over a long street, the Spiritual Crane banked sideways, flew through a large Marble Gate, and then came to a stop.

"Brother Chen, I’m heading off first!"

Upon stepping into the Daoist School, Qiu Beixuan didn’t dare to linger. He called out a greeting and left.

Watching the other boy flee, Chen Che’s expression remained unchanged. He infused his True Essence into his acceptance letter. The thin booklet immediately transformed into a Wooden Token, and at the same time, a stream of miscellaneous information flooded into his mind.

It contained a map of the Daoist School, the freshman handbook, and even a list of professors and leaders for each subject.

"So this is the dormitory!"

Following the Token’s guidance, Chen Che arrived at the A1 Mountain Area and pushed open a retro bronze door with the number ’404’ on it.

A single dormitory room.

There was only a bed, a Pumpon, a bookshelf, and a writing desk.

However, to keep up with the times, the dorm also had wooden floors, an energy-saving lamp overhead, and a washroom. He pulled out his phone and found there was even full-coverage wireless internet.

"Not bad!"

Chen Che looked around and was very satisfied.

After all, he often traveled back and forth between two worlds. If he lived in a multi-person dormitory, it would be extremely inconvenient. Now, that worry was gone.

After looking around a bit more, Chen Che walked out of his dorm. Almost simultaneously, students also walked out from the neighboring dorms. Chen Che only needed one glance before he froze on the spot.

Because the person who walked out of 403 was Ye Youwei. She had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing casual clothes. She didn’t seem much different from when she transferred in their second year of high school, looking just as he remembered her.

And walking out of Dormitory 406 was Ye Zhihan.

He hadn’t seen him in half a year, but this prodigy’s aura had grown even richer. He estimated that Ye Zhihan had already reached the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer.

"Shouldn’t this be the men’s dormitory?" Chen Che asked, baffled.

"Cave Mansions do not distinguish between genders. Cultivators don’t fuss over such trivial matters."

Ye Zhihan explained casually.

’Fair enough!’

’It’s pretty much the same in Yunzhou. It seems the Earth Element Star still holds to the same views as before the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall on this matter.’

"Holy shit, I finally got away from that monster Chen Che. I haven’t seen him in half a year, how did his aura get so terrifying... I wonder who’s living in the dorm next to mine. I should go say hi."

Qiu Beixuan was also quite satisfied with his dormitory.

However, after pushing open his door, his satisfaction vanished. His dorm was actually located right between Chen Che’s and Ye Zhihan’s. Before, when facing Chen Che alone, he had felt his heart pounding like a drum, as if he were facing a Fierce Beast.

One was enough, and now there was another?

After an awkward silence, he forced himself to speak:

"Want to go get something to eat at the cafeteria?"

Ye Zhihan smiled and politely declined, "No, I still have some things to do. I need to make a trip to the library..."

Chen Che glanced at his phone—he had just received a message from Li Tingyu—then looked up and smiled.

"What a coincidence. I need to make a trip to the library too."

He had waited so long.

The Tier Four Technique was finally within his grasp.