Xu Qing looked in the direction of the Imperial Academy.
On this night, the cold winter wind swept through the capital, lifting the remnants of snow from the ground, swirling into the sky.
Amidst the howling cold wind, a new life started for the three core disciples of the Variant Immortal School who had obtained the green snowflakes.
Their number of soul threads soared from the original hundreds.
As the three earliest core disciples of the Variant Immortal School, although there was nothing special about cultivating the Variant Immortal School's cultivation art, their souls were still much denser than ordinary people after cultivating it day and night.
Hence, when the sun rose into the sky and dispersed the darkness, a completely different temperament appeared on the three of them.
As their cultivation bases increased, their gazes became even sharper.
Their bodies emitted soul fluctuations that uniquely belonged to the Variant Immortal School. The lowest number of soul threads reached more than 3,000, and the highest number… was more than 6,000.
When they arrived in the tower, this changed aura was immediately sensed by the other nine core disciples, including the mysterious woman. All of them couldn't help but be surprised.
The school head looked at the three people walking over with admiration in his eyes.
"Thank you, Teacher!"
The three of them looked at each other and could see the excitement in each other's eyes. Compared to the hidden dangers that might exist, the explosive increase in their soul threads was a gain that could be seen clearly. It caused excitement and determination to rise in their hearts.
"You guys have absorbed the Variant Immortal Dao seed very well. What you have to do next is to increase the density of your soul as soon as possible and let it continue to strengthen."
"Remember, the denser your souls are, the more astonishing the number of soul threads you will possess."
"My Variant Immortal Dao seed is a cultivation art seed that belongs exclusively to the Variant Immortal School. Just like an emperor-level cultivation art, this Dao seed is required to cultivate properly!"
The school head nodded slightly.
When his words fell into the ears of the other core disciples, all of their hearts were in turmoil. That mysterious woman's breathing became slightly hurried and she was about to ask.
At that moment, Xu Qing's figure appeared outside the gate of the white tower. The moment he walked in, many gazes instantly gathered over and tried to sense him.
At the next instant, the three core disciples who had obtained the dao seeds like him were all shocked. The school head's eyes even revealed an intense light and he even stood up.
The other nine core disciples all had even greater emotional fluctuations.
There were even stronger soul thread fluctuations from Xu Qing's body. The feeling he gave off was that there were at least tens of thousands of soul threads.
"Good, good, good. Xuan Leizi, when this old man first saw you back then, I already felt that your future was extraordinary. Now that I look at you, you're indeed suitable for my Variant Immortal School."
The school head laughed loudly. His gaze swept past Xu Qing and the more he looked at him, the more surprised he became. He could sense that his soul seed had fused perfectly with Xu Qing's body. Moreover, through this soul seed, he could sense that Xu Qing's soul was much denser than others.
This kind of integration meant Xuan Leizi was a person who was born with a powerful soul.
There might not be many of these individuals, but they did exist, especially among those who could join the academy as they possessed their own unique qualities.
Xu Qing bowed, feeling a little helpless.
He didn't want it this way, but he also wasn't willing to reveal his identity so quickly. If he didn't produce any soul threads at all, it would be easy for others to spot the problem.
Hence, he tried to form some normal soul threads to blur the perception of the external world. However, the soul threads of his divine source were too astonishing. Even if he only scattered a little, they contained the fluctuations of tens of thousands of ordinary soul threads.
It couldn't continue to decrease.
Hence, this scene appeared.
However, compared to this worry, the harvest from last night made him even more satisfied.
Last night, as the other three core disciples absorbed the soul seeds and began their cultivation, it produced a backfeeding effect on him, causing traces of divine source to appear in the vortex in Xu Qing's sea of consciousness again.
At that moment, in the white tower, compared to Xu Qing's worries, the school head's excitement was incomparably high. He looked at Xu Qing and the other three core disciples and grand ambitions rose in his heart. He then turned and his gaze was like lightning as it landed on the other nine core disciples.
"You guys are seeing it too. I know that you all have your own forces behind you, but it's fine. You guys are lucky to have entered during the rise of our Variant Immortal School."
"Imperial Academy is tolerant. Although our Variant Immortal School has the core disciple rule, we are tolerant as well."
"Therefore, you guys have to perform well. Whoever among you is the first to recruit a hundred core disciples, this old man will make an exception and give you a Variant Immortal Dao seed!"
When the nine core disciples, including the mysterious woman, heard this, they immediately bowed. Each of them had their own thoughts. However, no matter what, the success of Xu Qing and the other three was right in front of them. They were all extremely tempted by this.
Just like that, a competition to recruit people began in the Variant Immortal School.
The news of Xu Qing and the other three advancing by leaps and bounds also spread throughout Imperial Academy a few days later. There was an endless stream of people coming to verify the truth. A storm… rose in Imperial Academy.
The repeated statements and incidents proved that the inner method of the Variant Immortal School really existed. Hence… the 14th and 15th core disciples appeared one after another.
In just seven days, the number of core disciples of the Variant Immortal School broke through the 100th barrier.
As for the cultivation of Xu Qing and the other three, they continued to improve in these seven days. The lowest number had reached more than 5,000. As for Xu Qing and another person, they each reached 13,000 to 14,000.
When the other core disciples saw this, their eyes turned red. Some of them were doing this for themselves, while others were carrying out missions. However, no matter what, the temptation of the dao seed had successfully attracted the attention of the entire Imperial Academy.
Finally, on the dusk of the twelfth day, a core student successfully completed the mission of recruiting a hundred people.
In front of all the core disciples, the school head held a grand ceremony. Through the solemnity of the ceremony, he emphasized the value of the Variant Immortal Dao seed. He didn't give the core disciple any time to hesitate and pressed the dao seed into the core disciple's hand, fusing it into his body.
This scene wasn't the focus of just the core disciples of the Variant Immortal School who had joined later. The various schools of Imperial Academy were also paying attention to this matter.
Under the attention of everyone, the core disciple's entire body trembled. The soul threads in his body suddenly soared from single digits to more than a thousand in two hours.
The aura of the soul threads spread out, completely stirring the storm of the Variant Immortal School in Imperial Academy.
In an instant the topic of the Variant Immortal School became a hot topic in the Imperial Academy. The number of people who joined the Variant Immortal School also increased every day.
The vast majority of core disciples also began to recruit more people. As time passed, more and more core disciples obtained dao seeds and initiated Variant Immortal cultivation.
Their successes were like a vortex that attracted even more students.
However, not all core disciples were obsessed with this. There were still a portion of spectators.
The purpose of these people joining was to observe. They had more doubts and guesses about the dao seeds.
For example, that mysterious woman was one of them.
They had always felt that there might be some fatal drawbacks to the Variant Immortal Dao seed.
However, the Variant Immortal School's school head's earliest saying of comparing the Variant Immortal Dao seed to an emperor-level cultivation art was very in line with their understanding.
After all, if someone wanted to cultivate an emperor-level cultivation art, they indeed needed a seed of the cultivation art in their body.
As such, even though there were still people who guessed the drawbacks, it was just a guess in the end and it was difficult to confirm.
As for Xu Qing, he watched as the white tower of the Variant Immortal School transformed from a deserted place to its current state. He also admired the school head of the Variant Immortal School.
He was well aware that his soul seed had only given the other party an opportunity. The other party's persistence and hard work were the main reason for the rise of the Variant Immortal School.
As for the flaws of the soul seed, Xu Qing wasn't worried about this. He had studied the green snowflake before. The structure of this soul seed was mystical and sensed natural. It was perfect.
What was especially strange was that there was a faint hint of the Heavenly Dao on it. It was as though this item had been blessed by the Heavenly Dao.
As more and more core disciples absorbed the green soul seeds, the school head clearly felt the benefits. After spreading out more than 90 soul seeds, the number of his soul threads increased to more than 80,000.
As for Xu Qing, the source, the benefits were naturally even greater.
In the vortex in his sea of consciousness, divine sources formed every day and transformed into soul threads.
The number of soul threads went from one million to more than 1.1 million.
All the people who absorbed the soul seeds were like roots. While they grew stronger, they also provided nutrients for the main stem.
"I wonder if there will be another branch if a disciple also cultivates to 50,000 soul threads?"
Xu Qing was looking forward to this.
Just like that, in the Imperial Academy, the once glorious but long-declining Variant Immortal School had truly revived. The various forces in the Imperial City also paid attention to this matter.
The other schools in Imperial Academy cared even more about the recovery of the Variant Immortal School.
Among them, the Divine Fusion School was the main one.
After all, there was a huge difference in the ideals of Variant Immortal and Divine Fusion. Not to mention that fire and water couldn't coexist, the rise of one side would definitely have a strong impact on the other.
Hence, when the recovery of the Variant Immortal School was on the rise, on this afternoon, an internal council was held in the white tower of the Divine Fusion School regarding the Variant Immortal School.
Other than the school head of the Divine Fusion School, there were also all the higher-ups of the school. There were a total of over a hundred people who sat down in an orderly manner.
The Seventh Prince was among them, seated on the left hand of the school head. The eyes of the student opposite him were a little peculiar; they were red, and this person was none other than the chief student of the Divine Fusion School.
At the start of this meeting, there was no discussion about the Variant Immortal School. Instead, everyone reported about their cultivation during this period of time.
As the current spokesperson of the Divine Fusion School, the Seventh Prince also spoke about his cultivation.
After hearing everyone's words, the head of the Divine Fusion School nodded slightly. His gaze swept past everyone and gave them some encouragement. He then looked at the Seventh Prince with admiration in his eyes.
"The Seventh Prince's talent is extraordinary and is very suitable for the path of Divine Fusion. If you continue to cultivate like this, you will surely become a great figure in 60 years."
The Seventh Prince cupped his hands and didn't speak. One couldn't see any fluctuations.
The Divine Fusion School's school head smiled and retracted his gaze, landing on the chief student on his right.
"Ling Hunzi, show me the Variant Immortal Dao seed you obtained."
The student with red eyes lifted his right hand and waved it. Immediately, a green snowflake emerged in front of him.
A calm voice rang out from his mouth.
"A core disciple of the Variant Immortal School dug it out of his body for me outside of Imperial Academy. School head, please take a look."
With that, he flicked his sleeve and the green snowflake headed straight for the school head.
The school head pointed with his fingertip, suspending the snowflake in the air. His eyes revealed a dark glint as he observed it carefully.
At the next instant, his pupils clearly constricted. When he bent down to observe carefully, red threads grew out of his eyes. In the end, hundreds of them pierced into the snowflake.
The snowflake trembled and commenced to disintegrate until it disappeared.
During this process, a solemn feeling gradually spread out from this school head's body.
After a long time, the red threads retracted and he closed his eyes.
The white tower was completely silent. Everyone gazed at the school head.
A while later, a hoarse voice slowly rang out from the mouth of the school head.
"This thing is evil and domineering. It devours the souls of the living."
"There are heretics in the Variant Immortal School."
As he spoke, he slowly stood up.
"Follow me to the Variant Immortal School to take a look."
