Chapter 52: The Gathering Essence Cavern

The next morning, during the martial cultivation class, nearly a hundred first-year students followed Chief Instructor Zhao Man as they left the common classroom and headed toward the academy’s rear mountain. They wound their way along a tranquil mountain path, rounding several bends, until they arrived before a sheer cliff.

At the base of this cliff was a cavern, above whose entrance three bold and ancient characters were carved—Gathering Essence Cave.

At that moment, students and teachers occasionally came and went from the cave, casting curious glances at the group of new students. At the entrance stood two middle-aged men, one on either side, who seemed to be the guardians of the cave.

“All upper-year students know well the benefits of the Gathering Essence Cave. Since today is the first time the new students are here to cultivate, let me give you a brief introduction.” Having led the group to the cave entrance, Zhao Man turned to address them. “This is the Gathering Essence Cave, one of the main attractions that draws countless people from afar to Haotian Royal Academy, willing to pay a hefty price for the chance to study here.”

“Come! Everyone, follow me into the Gathering Essence Cave, and remember—maintain silence along the way. If you are expelled by the cave’s monitors for making noise, there is nothing I can do to plead for you.” She waved the new students onward, reminding them of the most basic rule.

“Instructor Zhao Man! Bringing a new group of students again, I see!” The two men at the entrance were clearly well-acquainted with Zhao Man, greeting her warmly.

“Instructor Liu, Instructor Zhang! You’re on duty at the cave entrance today? Thank you for your hard work! Yes, with new students entering the academy, I have to personally lead them here and make sure they’re aware of the rules,” Zhao Man replied with equal familiarity.

“Everyone, take note—these two are Instructor Liu and Instructor Zhang. In the future, if you wish to enter the Gathering Essence Cave, be sure to wear your Martial Cultivation Department badge. Otherwise, the instructors on duty will not allow you inside at will.” Zhao Man introduced the two men to the students behind her.

Only then did Du Long take a closer look at the instructors guarding the entrance. Their uniforms matched perfectly, and they carried weapons on their backs. At first, he’d mistaken them for ordinary guards, but it was clear now they were instructors. Judging by the aura they exuded, both were quite powerful—at least at the Qi Sea level. With his current abilities, Du Long couldn’t gauge their true strength at all.

After exchanging greetings with the two instructors, Zhao Man led the group into the cave, proceeding along a sloping tunnel that descended into the depths of Azure Dragon Mountain. Every ten meters or so, a luminous crystal was set into the ceiling, bathing the tunnel in gentle white light.

“Truly worthy of being called Haotian Royal Academy! Such wealth and power—using jade spirit crystals for lighting! Each one is worth over a thousand gold coins, and there must be several hundred of them just along this tunnel!” Su Jinbao exclaimed, marveling at the glowing crystals overhead.

Du Long and the others made no further comment, simply following Instructor Zhao Man deeper into the cave. After walking for about one or two kilometers, the passage suddenly opened up before them into a vast cavern.

The enormous cave was supported by giant stone pillars stretching from floor to ceiling, and in each section, a massive jade spirit crystal cast brilliant white light, illuminating the entire chamber.

“Wow! Those jade spirit crystals are enormous! Each one must be worth over ten thousand gold coins!” Su Jinbao, ever alert to matters of money, exclaimed as he gazed up at the crystals, several times larger than those in the tunnel.

“The Haotian Vital Qi here is so much denser than outside!” Stepping into the cavern, Du Long felt as if he had entered the legendary Spirit Cloud Mountain valley, the concentration of energy here rivaling even that sacred place.

“Su, you really should learn from Du Long,” Princess Fire Phoenix said quietly, taking the opportunity to tease Su Jinbao. “Look at him—his concerns run far deeper than yours. You’re always seeing everything through the lens of money, reeking of vulgarity and obsessed with profit. How unbearably tacky!”

The girls around them giggled softly at her remark.

In Du Long’s mind, the spirit ring’s guardian beauty sighed, “Impressive! This academy has some real substance. They’ve actually set up a Gathering Essence Array in a spiritual vein cavern, locking in the world’s energy for students and teachers to absorb and refine!”

“A Gathering Essence Array? No wonder the place is called Gathering Essence Cave,” Du Long mused silently.

“That’s right. The Spirit Cloud Mountain valley where you once trained is the dragon’s head of the Haotian Empire’s spiritual veins, and this is another branch—the two are connected. The founding emperor clearly understood this, which is why the capital was built here,” the spirit ring beauty explained.

“Enough!” Instructor Zhao Man turned to the students. “You must have sensed the intense concentration of Haotian Vital Qi in this cave. Training here, your efficiency in absorbing and refining this energy will be many times greater than outside.”

“With your Martial Cultivation Department badges, you can come here to train at any time. Most of you are currently at the Condensing Qi stage. Your immediate goal is to absorb and refine Haotian Vital Qi to break through to the Qi Whirlpool stage as soon as possible!”

“Usually, most teachers and students come here at night to train. Morning classes focus on martial techniques, while midday brings other academic or military courses.”

“The reason I’ve brought you here during morning class is simply to help you find your way.”

“Remember, no loud noises in the cave, and absolutely no fighting or you will be barred from entering in the future. Take this seriously!”

“Now, you may disperse. Find a training platform and experience the cultivation environment here for yourselves. But remember—silence must be maintained at all times.”

With a brief explanation, Zhao Man set the students free to explore. The Gathering Essence Cave was, in essence, a place to absorb and refine Haotian Vital Qi; there was little more to say. Even Zhao Man herself headed deeper into the cave to find a quiet place to cultivate.

After wandering curiously through the cavern, the new students soon found their interest waning and began to seek out cultivation platforms. Du Long and his companions were no exception, choosing a large platform where a group of ten or so sat cross-legged to begin their training.

Du Long quickly entered a meditative state. As he sensed countless streams of Haotian Vital Qi swirling around him, he realized that even with the Gathering Essence Array, the energy here was still slightly inferior to that of Spirit Cloud Mountain’s secret valley—but not by much.

“Boy, the secret valley at Spirit Cloud Mountain is the dragon’s head of the Haotian Empire’s spiritual veins. The energy naturally leaks out there, so it is denser than here. That is perfectly normal,” the spirit ring beauty explained, sensing Du Long’s thoughts.

“So that’s how it is! Still, even with these conditions, advancing one’s cultivation takes a great deal of time,” Du Long thought.

“Actually, for ordinary people with insufficient bloodline strength, absorbing too much spiritual elixir will leave their foundations unstable and hamper future progress. Thus, one should only use spiritual elixir twice per major realm. But you and Xia Qinglian are different. With your unique constitutions—one of Yang, one of Yin—you can each take the elixir three times per year, spending the rest of your time consolidating your cultivation without harming your foundation,” the spirit ring beauty mused.

Du Long’s eyes lit up with delight. “In that case, as long as I earn enough money, Qinglian and I won’t even need to rely on this environment!”

“No, you still need to come here often. The process of absorbing and refining natural energy is essential. Otherwise, I wouldn’t limit you to three elixirs a year. If you could just take them all at once, you might as well jump straight to the ninth stage of Qi Whirlpool in a single leap,” she replied.

“Even so, three elixirs a year means we’ll reach the ninth stage of Qi Whirlpool in just three years! That’s amazing! Even training here, most people would need at least ten years to reach that level,” Du Long thought, barely able to contain his excitement. With this in mind, he immediately began pondering ways to earn money. Even in this precious training ground, his thoughts had already drifted to the distant land of Java, constantly scheming how to make enough to buy more tier-two spiritual elixirs.

With the five thousand gold coins he’d won from Park Junjie, he certainly wasn’t going to spend it all on a single batch of tier-two elixir. He’d have to make that money grow, then buy more elixir later.

And so, the entire morning slipped away in Du Long’s daydreams.

After lunch, the afternoon brought a literature class. According to his original plan, he collected the textbooks, tossed them into the Serpent Ring’s storage space, and promptly forgot about them, having no interest in paying attention. As soon as the books entered the ring, they disappeared—he knew the spirit ring beauty must have taken them to study.

That afternoon, Du Long was absent from the common classroom. When the girls asked Su Jinbao and the others about him, they learned that Du Long had gone back to the capital on some business and would return that evening.

The Royal Academy’s curriculum was extremely flexible, with pros and cons clearly explained in advance. Students could choose their own focus for future development, and no one bothered to track truancy—your future was your own responsibility.

Imperial Capital, Treasure Pavilion.

Du Long hurried straight to Treasure Pavilion, sought out the familiar female attendant, and, without a glance at anything else, purchased twenty sets of ingredients for refining tier-one spiritual elixir at two hundred and ten gold coins per set, totaling four thousand two hundred gold coins.

Then, under the attendant’s curious gaze, he rushed out and made his way to an ordinary herbal store specializing in practice-grade materials, where he went on a shopping spree. He spent several hundred more gold coins, nearly emptying the entire shop.