The rain in the Imperial Capital lasted for three days.
On the fourth day, it started snowing.
Just like that, winter suddenly arrived. As the first snow fell, the chill rapidly spread in all directions, causing the entire Imperial City to be covered in silver ice flowers.
Looking at the snowflakes and feeling the cold wind blowing at his face, Xu Qing thought of Fenghai County, the Nanhuang Continent, and the scenes when he was young.
With his cultivation, he longer felt much cold or heat. He now possessed a resistance beyond that of ordinary people. However, he still felt a bit chilly.
This coldness came from a memory.
Everything about his childhood had long been settled in his soul and would accompany him for the rest of his life.
At that moment, on the way to Imperial Academy, Xu Qing instinctively tightened his collar. In the wind and snow, he stepped through the gate of Imperial Academy.
No one mentioned the theft of the Sun of Dawn anymore. As for the missing Sun of Dawn, its whereabouts were also unknown. This matter should have been hanging in the hearts of the various forces in the imperial city, but… no one seemed to care.
As for the reason, Xu Qing had analyzed it.
"Because the Human Emperor is here."
To the human race, the Human Emperor was an existence that could support the sky.
Therefore, everyone's hearts were at ease.
Xu Qing had mixed feelings about the Human Emperor. Back then, before he came to the Imperial City, the Human Emperor was just a symbol. To him, it was just an unfamiliar and blank paper.
As he arrived at the Imperial City and saw the Human Emperor's actions, this piece of paper gained color. However… there were too many colors, so it was confusing to look at it now.
Xu Qing shook his head.
He had a habit of burying things he couldn't understand at the bottom of his heart and recording them one by one. He would wait for the flaws and clues that would be revealed during the passage of time and fill them all in.
This way, when he had enough clues, all the answers would surface in his mind.
Now, Xu Qing knew that the most important thing in front of him was still his cultivation.
"Let's go take a look at the Variant Immortal School!"
The moment he stepped through the gate of Imperial Academy, the cold was isolated. It was the same for the wind and snow. Compared to the changes in the seasons in the outside world, Imperial Academy, which was in a separate space, was no different from the past.
There was still a crowd, and it was still bustling with activity.
Xu Qing, who had been here for more than a month, was already used to this environment. With a step, he blended into the crowd like a water droplet falling into the sea. He walked toward the white tower of the Variant Immortal School that was located in the east.
"At Princess Anhai's banquet last time, the record shown by Mu Nan of the Litu Sect showed the appearance of Chen Daoze who had achieved proficiency in the method of the Variant Immortal School. It is very familiar with my god form."
"Could it be that the soul weaving of the Variant Immortal School is similar to the god form?"
Xu Qing was quite moved by this.
This was because his god form was a product of various coincidences. He had never seen it on others before. Even ninth grandfather was unfamiliar with it.
Hence, Xu Qing had been exploring how to continue cultivating his god form.
If he had to use the flesh of the Crimson Goddess every time he unleashed his second form… Xu Qing wouldn't be able to withstand this consumption.
Not to mention the third form.
"In the first form, I can display the strength of the perfected Spirit Repository or even the first stage of Nihility. This enhancement can be said to be huge."
"As for the second form, it's close to the second stage of Nihility… Although there's a difference, it's actually about the same."
"As for the third form…" Xu Qing recalled the display in front of ninth grandfather back then and thought of the experts he had encountered. He already had a preliminary judgment.
"The combat strength is comparable to the third stage of Nihility!"
"Therefore, the main point of my cultivation now is to completely master the three god forms."
"Also, there's the fifth secret repository."
As Xu Qing pondered, time flowed by. An hour later, the white tower of the Variant Immortal School appeared in his eyes.
Compared to the commotion in the surroundings, this place was quiet. There were only birds at the door and no one cared about it. It was as though it had been drowned in history and was eliminated by time.
The three disciples were not all present today. There was only one. He was sitting there and yawning as he was reprimanded by the school head.
"Look outside. There are so many students. Can't you go out and recruit people?"
"If this continues, there won't be enough people to work. There are so many books. Will I have to organize them every day?!"
"Although our Variant Immortal School might not be as strong as before, we still have our glory days. What's the point of you guys researching those newsletters all day long?"
The disciple who was reprimanded had an impatient expression as he waved his hand.
"Alright, if you keep talking like this, I also won't come tomorrow. Our newsletters are just to make some extra money for ourselves. Since you're not helping us, what does it have to do with you if we report some gossip and fun stories? Otherwise, let's start taking fees. If there are any fools who want to inquire about ancient texts, we can charge them, how about that?"
"You!!" The school head glared. He wanted to say some harsh words but in the end, he was worried that the other party really wouldn't come…
His chest heaved a few times as he pondered over how to reply. However, Xu Qing's arrival attracted his attention. Hence, he snorted coldly and placed his hands behind his back as he looked at Xu Qing.
As for that disciple, he also lifted his head. When he saw Xu Qing, he spoke lazily.
"Variant Immortal School, you will have to pay 100 spirit stones for every jade slip you check."
The same attire caused him to be unable to recognize that Xu Qing was someone who had been here before. In reality, in Imperial Academy, unless one had interacted with someone many times, it was very difficult to recognize each other.
Xu Qing's gaze swept over and he was about to speak. However, at that moment, the school head glanced at Xu Qing with surprise in his eyes.
"Why are you here again?"
When the disciple beside him heard this, he looked at Xu Qing carefully.
Xu Qing was also a little surprised and cupped his hands toward the school head.
"Teacher, I want to understand more about the Variant Immortal School."
"Not bad." The eyes of the school head lit up and he couldn't help but rub his hands. He stepped forward and grabbed Xu Qing's arm, pulling him into the white tower, as though he was afraid that Xu Qing would escape.
Xu Qing wasn't used to this. As for that disciple, he sighed and ignored him.
"You are someone with insight. I sensed it the first time you came here," said the school head with a hint of emotion.
"You chose the Variant Immortal School because it was the call of destiny, the inevitable turn of fate's wheel. If I'm not mistaken, you've only recently entered the Imperial Academy, right?"
As the school head spoke, he raised five fingers on his left hand and counted silently. Surprise flickered in his eyes as he looked at Xu Qing, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Xu Qing remained silent. The captain often used such tricks and he was already used to it.
Seeing that Xu Qing didn't take the initiative to ask, the school head coughed and spoke on his own.
"Back then, when our Variant Immortal School was glorious, the ancestor sensed heaven and earth and saw a corner of the future. He left behind a prophecy that one day, a student would join our Variant Immortal School and create the peak of the Variant Immortal School."
"The last time I saw you, I had a feeling but wasn't sure. Now, seeing you again, I can't help but recall that prophecy."
"It's very likely that you're the person our Variant Immortal School has been waiting for thousands of years!"
The disciple beside him curled his lips. He had heard these words before. Back then, when he came, the school head had said the same thing. It was the same for the two disciples who didn't come today.
'At least change a word or two.'
However, at the thought that he could trick another one over, it was also good. Hence, his pupils contracted and he pretended to be shocked as he cried out involuntarily.
"Oh God."
Xu Qing looked at the two people and suddenly experienced that the Variant Immortal School might not be very suitable for him…
Seeing that his disciple was so cooperative, the school head was satisfied. He quickly received out a jade token and placed it in Xu Qing's hand.
"Child, fuse your divine sense into it, and you will become a core disciple of the Variant Immortal School. Everything here will be open to you. The future of the Variant Immortal School is in your hands!"
"The cultivation art of the Variant Immortal School is special. Back then, the old Human Emperor specially allowed our ancestors to decide how the inheritance would proceed. Hence, the ancestor decided to only impart the inheritance to the core disciples."
"Come, join us. From now on, your life will welcome a new start!"
The voice of the school head was impassioned as he continued to persuade.
Xu Qing looked at the jade token in his hand. Since he was here today, it meant he had already made a decision. Hence, he didn't hesitate and directly imprinted it.
As the jade token shone, Xu Qing became a core disciple of the Variant Immortal School.
"Haha, welcome to the Variant Immortal School."
The school head was excited and the disciple beside him was happy. The two of them looked at each other and could see the smugness of tricking another person into joining.
The former experienced that the school had grown stronger, while the latter felt that there would be one more worker to do manual labor in the future.
Xu Qing didn't care much about this. He cupped his hands and spoke.
"School head, can you show me the cultivation art of the Variant Immortal School?"
"No problem." The school head laughed. He then grabbed more than ten jade slips from the small mountain in the corner and set them all in Xu Qing's hand.
"The cultivation art of our Variant Immortal School is all here. Take your time to read them. There's no hurry."
Xu Qing nodded and focused on reading them. Gradually, his expression under the mask fell into deep thought.
The content of the jade slip was very rich and the description of the cultivation of the Variant Immortal School was also very detailed.
Overall, the cultivation art of this school had requirements for cultivation conditions.
It needed majestic soul power.
Only such a person could form a sufficient number of soul threads and weave a complete divine creature in theory.
If one didn't have enough soul power, it was very easy for their soul to dissipate during the weaving process.
Other than that, they also needed to visualize the image of the divine creature and use the soul thread as a brush to complete it.
As for the process, it varied from person to person but overall, it was extremely slow.
The school head continued to introduce the Variant Immortal School while Xu Qing read the content.
"The main point of my school is to visualize divine beings, and I've given them all to you. These are the most suitable ones selected from countless divine beings by generations of people. It also introduces the required amount of soul threads. This is the essence of my Variant Immortal School."
"However, you must remember not to bite off more than you can chew. For example, if the number of soul threads condensed isn't enough, you can't forcefully visualize the divine being."
When the school head reminded him, Xu Qing perceived the images of the divine creatures in the jade slips. There were dozens of types inside, and every one of them was lifelike.
Among them, the one that required the most soul threads was 100,000. The lowest requirement was about 50,000.
He attempted to cultivate one. His mind instantly experienced a little dazed and his eyes became blurry.
Noticing this scene, the school head shook his head and reminded him on account of how he had tricked the other party into entering.
"To cultivate the Variant Immortal School's art, you have to calm your mind and focus. Only in an absolutely quiet and fixed array formation can your speed increase. If you refine it now, it's normal for it to have no effect."
"Generally speaking, if you can condense one soul thread after cultivating for a month, your aptitude can be considered good. If one can condense three, they will be a heaven chosen. If they surpass ten, they have the aptitude of an ancestor!"
Xu Qing hesitated and gazed into his sea of consciousness. Inside… there were more than 10,000 soul threads spreading.
