In the past two months, with the school head releasing green snowflakes, Xu Qing knew the locations of many disciples of the Variant Immortal School in the outside world through the perception of the soul seeds.
If Xu Qing wanted to know their respective identities, he could easily do so.
It was just that he wasn't interested in it. As for the Variant Immortal School's school head, he stayed in Imperial Academy all the time and hadn't gone out once. Hence, Xu Qing didn't know anything about his identity in the outside world.
Those who had left the Imperial City after merging with the dao seeds of the Variant Immortal School weren't just the three individuals he currently sensed. Several others had left the city before.
After all, the identity of a student was just one aspect of their lives. It wasn't a constraint. The students of the Imperial Academy held other roles outside, so it was normal for them to go out for various reasons.
Hence, Xu Qing only sensed for a moment before retracting his perception. He then closed his eyes and continued to cultivate. When the sky gradually brightened and the light of the sunrise scattered down, Xu Qing opened his eyes.
He tidied his clothes and pushed open the secret chamber's door. The wind and snow landed on his face and gradually melted into icy water.
Looking at the snowflakes floating in the blue sky and feeling the cold wind blowing over, Xu Qing gradually fell into a daze.
The scent of winter was exceptionally intense.
"It's been three months."
Xu Qing mumbled. It had been three months since he arrived at the Imperial City.
When he arrived, it was still autumn. Now, it was already midwinter.
During these three months, apart from initially acting rather conspicuously, his presence gradually faded from public view as he integrated into the academy.
Xu Qing had done this on purpose.
At the start, he was high-profile because he wanted to establish his might. After establishing his might, he had to choose to settle down.
Zi Xuan and the captain disappeared along with him.
Zi Xuan had already been gone for a month and a half.
Xu Qing was very clear that, compared to Ling'er's dependence, Zi Xuan was independent.
She had her own things to do and her own life to live, so after the atmosphere in the capital stabilized, she went to other rings of the Grand Imperial Capital Region.
To her, everything here was familiar but also unfamiliar, so she wanted to search for traces of the old.
Before she left, she didn't bid farewell to Xu Qing. She only left behind a jade slip that carried her aura.
Regarding this, Xu Qing chose to respect her decision.
As for the captain, he had disappeared after what happened last time. This made Xu Qing curious about the things he had stolen from the Star Emperor Sect.
Also, according to his understanding of the captain, with the other party's active personality, it was very difficult for him to remain hidden in one place for so long. Hence, it was more likely that the captain had changed his identity long ago.
As for his identity…
After Xu Qing pondered, he looked in the direction of the Star Emperor Branch Sect.
"There's a high chance that the captain has returned there. Perhaps there are more things he wants to steal from there."
As for Wu Jianwu and Kong Xianglong, they also had their own opportunities in the Imperial City.
Wu Jianwu had gone to the Academy of Literature, which had been established by the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether and had now declined, becoming a place for old records. It was unclear what had caught Wu Jianwu's attention, but he had spent two months there and had successfully become a handyman at the Academy of Literature.
As for Kong Xianglong, he headed to the Sword Holding Palace to further his cultivation and walk the path of his father.
Their respective lives had begun in the Imperial City. Compared to them, Ning Yan was much quieter.
After experiencing the incident of the Sun of Dawn, Ning Yan cultivated in seclusion in front of his mother's portrait all day. He rarely went out and because Xu Qing left early in the morning and returned late at night, the two of them didn't see each other much.
However, Xu Qing could sense that the aura of Ning Yan, who was in the ancestral hall, was changing.
"They're all growing."
Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked out against the wind and snow.
He also wanted to grow.
The wind and snow gradually grew heavier. When Xu Qing arrived at the gate of Imperial Academy, snowflakes had already spread to the world.
This lasted for half a month.
Four more disciples cultivated to 50,000 soul threads. All of them were valued by the school head and were promoted from core disciples to personal disciples. They were also given the right to impart the cultivation art.
Disciples were divided into inner disciples, core disciples, and personal disciples.
These personal disciples could impart their dao seeds to inner disciples.
At the same time, the school head also established a rule: every three months, there would be a competition for the position of chief disciple. As the chief disciple, one would have the privilege of practicing in front of the ancestor, receiving guidance, and even inheriting techniques.
Also, all resources that enhanced the cultivation of souls within the school would be provided to the outstanding disciples, as well as opportunities in the future to replace the dao seeds with higher-level dao seeds.
This stimulation and a certain degree of delegation of authority would cause chaotic variables. However, at the same time, it could also rapidly increase the number of people in the Variant Immortal School.
Hence, the white dao seeds gradually spread out among the students of the Variant Immortal School. Previously, due to limitations in quantity and rules, not all core disciples were able to absorb the dao seeds.
However, now that the Variant Immortal School had expanded and the white soul seeds had appeared, some of these core disciples who had no chance to absorb the green dao seeds chose to join.
As for the students who joined the Variant Immortal School later on, under the efforts of various parties, there were also more and more of them.
The act of recruiting people Xu Qing saw when he first reached in the Imperial Academy was now frequently happening outside the Variant Immortal School.
With this development, factions naturally emerged among the students of the Variant Immortal School.
They even cultivated with only their own groups.
Xu Qing and the other old disciples gradually lost their halos. Although all of them were hardworking, there was no lack of genius cultivators in Imperial Academy. It was inevitable that they would be surpassed.
The other disciples' soul threads had yet to reach 50,000. After seeing the glory of those few personal disciples, they each had their own anxiety. Hence, their identities and statuses in the outside world proved useful at this moment.
Xu Qing saw all of this, but didn't interfere.
How it developed was the choice of the Variant Immortal School. Moreover, the large-scale expansion of the Variant Immortal School gave him an extremely obvious advantage. In this half a month, his divine source soul threads had reached more than 1.3 million.
'If I unleash my full strength now, I can weave the third layer of the god form.'
'I only need to form another secret repository and I'll be able to break through the Spirit Repository and step into Nihility.'
'This Variant Immortal School cultivation art is suitable for any cultivation realm. It can allow me to perfectly fuse the power of the god and the cultivator's method in my future cultivation. They will augment each other and produce stronger powers.'
Xu Qing's eyes revealed anticipation.
He felt that the Variant Immortal School cultivation art was his greatest gain after coming to the Imperial City. As for the Emperor Sword, that was a mission. This Variant Immortal School cultivation art was a tangible improvement for himself.
Before coming into contact with the Variant Immortal School, the divine sources in Xu Qing's body were independent from his cultivation. Although they merged with each other with the help of the secret repositories, this was only the initial stage. Fundamentally, they were still distinct.
However, the cultivation art of the Variant Immortal School changed everything.
"Now, I'll just have to wait for the Dao discussion. According to the number of soul threads Ancestor Chen Daoze has now, even if his performance in the Dao discussion isn't as good as the Divine Fusion, the trend is already set and the Variant Immortal School is already on the path of recovery."
Xu Qing was in a good mood. This morning, he pondered as he walked into the white tower of the Variant Immortal School, preparing to continue cultivating. However, just as he stepped into the white tower, a voice rang out.
"You few, go and prepare the training hall. Today, Senior Xuan Lin has invited students of other schools to the training hall for a reception. Remember to light incense, prepare tea, and ensure that the entire hall is free of any dust."
The person who spoke was a core disciple with more than 30,000 soul threads. At that moment, he was instructing a few students in the tower who hadn't joined any factions.
As for the Senior Xuan Lin he mentioned, he was one of the four personal disciples.
When the few students who hadn't joined any factions heard this, they wanted to refuse. However, this matter was related to a personal disciple, so they could only tacitly agree.
Xu Qing's gaze swept over but he didn't bother with them. He walked to the corner where he usually meditated and sat cross-
legged. Just as he was about to close his eyes, the core disciple who had instructed others glanced at Xu Qing.
He was naturally not unfamiliar with the earliest batch of core disciples, including Xu Qing. He calmly spoke.
"And you, go with them."
Xu Qing's expression was calm. He closed his eyes and focused.
Seeing Xu Qing like this, the core disciple frowned under his mask and walked toward Xu Qing. His actions attracted the attention of the other disciples of the Variant Immortal School in the white tower.
As everyone's gazes gathered, the core disciple reached in front of Xu Qing.
"Xuan Leizi, I'm talking to you."
Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes and calmly gazed at the student in front of him. With just a glance, the student's entire body trembled and the soul threads in his body became chaotic. It was as though they were frightened and showed the intent to explode, causing his internal organs to feel a piercing pain.
Fear instantly spread in the disciple's heart. He couldn't help but take a few steps back in surprise.
As for the others, they were all surprised. They didn't sense any fluctuations. They only saw Xu Qing glancing at the core disciple in front of him before the core disciple retreated on his own, his eyes filled with panic.
This scene made everyone have their own guesses.
Xu Qing closed his eyes again and continued to meditate.
The disciple trembled inwardly. Just a moment ago, he felt a sense of impending doom, and now he still felt palpitations, unable to continue. However, the gaze of those around him made him hesitate, feeling stuck in a difficult situation.
Hence, he turned and left. After he reached at the place where his faction usually meditated, he took out the communication jade slip of Imperial Academy and transmitted his voice.
Not long later, a person walked over from outside the white tower.
This person was none other than Xuan Lin, one of the personal disciples of the Variant Immortal School. His arrival caused many disciples to stand up and greet him. The core disciple who had tried to order Xu Qing also rapidly approached. After he bowed, he whispered in this person's ear while pointing at Xu Qing.
Xuan Lin lifted his head and gazed at Xu Qing with a cold gaze.
"Interesting."
As he spoke, he walked toward Xu Qing. The fluctuations of the 70,000 soul threads on his body formed a pressure that spread in all directions.
However, after he took seven to eight steps, an uproar suddenly rang out outside the white tower. The sound continued to rise and in an instant, it was like cold water had been poured into boiling oil, directly exploding.
"A major event has happened. In Tianzhao County, a million mortals have been sacrificed!"
"The Tianzhao County Governor personally investigated and killed the culprit. Before this culprit died, he tried to self-
destruct, but was suppressed by the Tianzhao County Governor. He discovered a strange seed in this culprit's body!"
"It's uttered that the Tianzhao County Governor suspects this item to be a dao seed of the Variant Immortal School and has submitted it to the Human Emperor. The dao seed is currently on the way to the Imperial City!"
"The Human Emperor is furious!"
The voices from the outside boiled and entered the white tower of the Variant Immortal School.
Everyone from the Variant Immortal School felt their hearts tremble. Xuan Lin, who was walking toward Xu Qing, also stopped in his tracks and abruptly turned his head to look outside.
Xu Qing also opened his eyes, revealing a gloomy glint.
