Chapter 768: Not Quasi-Immortal, But Rather, Xeno-Immortal

Chapter 768: Not Quasi-Immortal, But Rather, Xeno-Immortal

This person reminded Xu Qing of Bai Xiaozhuo, the original governor of Sea-Sealing County in the days of the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan. When the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan was destroyed, Bai Xiaozhuo sacrificed all of the people in the county to open the eyes of the broken face. Then he followed the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan in reincarnation.

Just before Bai Xiaozhuo was devoured by Emperor Ancient Spirit, the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan arrived and demanded back the fragment of time that Bai Xiaozhuo had taken. [1]

Xu Qing averted his gaze slightly. Considering that the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan was the imperial preceptor, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine that he might have brought Bai Xiaozhuo back to life and set him up as the schoolmaster of the God-Merging School.

Xu Qing couldn’t be certain that the seemingly implausible scenario was as he imagined it. However... the concept of ‘god-merging’ made him think about Master Shengyun and his father. Given how new Xu Qing was to the Imperial University, he wasn’t familiar with all the details of ‘god-merging.’ He would need time to learn more, and thus, he melted into the crowd.

Given that he wore the same clothing and mask as everyone else, and his aura was masked, it only took a moment for him to disappear.

***

The schoolmaster of the God-Merging School stopped in place and scanned the crowd, his eyes glittering thoughtfully.

He had sensed that someone nearby was looking at him in an unusual way. However, thanks to the unusual characteristics of the Imperial University, there was no way for him to determine who it was. After a bit of consideration, he put such thoughts aside and went into the tower.

***

Xu Qing left the God-Merging School and spent more time exploring the Imperial University. That was what he usually did.

As he went along, he occasionally went into some of the towers to scan the knowledge therein. The more Xu Qing looked around, the deeper his respect grew for the Imperial University. The wealth of information here would be almost impossible to collect in one place in the outside world. And if it were collected, it would likely be stolen.

Yet in this place, there were no doors or locks. All of the knowledge was there for the taking. In one tower belonging to the Myriad Magics School, he saw secret techniques from Sea-Sealing County sects.

There was even one school of thought that focused on the research of taboo treasures. It specialized in cognitive methods, and would use the power of gods to mass-produce magical treasures. Although the learning curve was incredibly steep, Xu Qing had to admit that they had some very innovative ideas.

A student outside was trying to draw in newcomers. “Magical treasures that get infused with enough mutagen will experience strange transformations. The success rate is very low. However, in the course of our research, our school has discovered that the process can be carried out artificially!”

Xu Qing’s interest was piqued, so he went inside to learn more. Time passed as he went here and there in the university. Eventually, night fell.

Although there were still people around at night, there weren’t as many as during the day time. Xu Qing had spent an entire day visiting dozens of the different schools of thought. He was very pleased. The information he had taken in was extremely eye-opening, and gave him a lot to think about.

This place is amazing!

Before leaving, he looked out at the seemingly endless white towers, and his eyes gleamed with determination. He had already decided to spend all of the coming days here.

Half a month went by.

During that time, Xu Qing immersed himself in study in the Imperial University. In the evenings he would return to Ningyan’s mansion to work on his cultivation, but other than that, he spent all his time at the university. Of the thousands of schools of thought, he had already familiarized himself with about a thousand.

He soaked up the knowledge like a sponge thrown into the sea. Thanks to his studies, his understanding of cultivation techniques changed on a fundamental level. And thanks to the sparks that flew because of the clash of ideas, he was coming to a deeper understanding of his own path of cultivation.

The other student nodded thoughtfully.

***

Meanwhile, Xu Qing thought about what Dustcloud had told him, all while searching for the Xeno-Immortal School. He also pondered why Dustcloud had told him so much. It was actually the third time that Dustcloud had volunteered so much information. Xu Qing already had an idea of why. After all, everyone in the imperial capital knew that he’d earned a place in the Imperial University. Anyone who put any thought into the matter would be able to surmise that he would go there eventually.

He’s clever and circumspect. He’s probably someone important.

With a final glance at the Myriad Magics School, he disappeared into the crowd. About two hours later, he found himself looking at a specific white tower in the east of the Imperial University. On the outside, it didn’t look different from the other towers. However, while most of the towers were bustling places, this one seemed bleak and empty. In fact, it almost looked abandoned.

Xu Qing was actually surprised. This was the most depressing tower he had seen in the past half month. After walking inside he found that there were only three students inside, sitting there looking bored. They didn’t even look up when he entered.

There were a lot of jade slips in the Xeno-Immortal School, but they weren’t organized. Instead, they were just piled up in the corners.

The schoolmaster was present. In most other schools of thought, you would only see a schoolmaster if you randomly encountered them. Most of the time, they would stay in the top levels of the towers. But here....

The schoolmaster was squatting in front of a pile of jade slips, which he was rifling through as if looking for something.

Xu Qing looked around for a moment, then said, “Excuse me, do you have any jade slips that talk about the ancient path of the Summer Immortal?”

“What would be the point of that?” one of the three lazy students said, sounding annoyed. “Get lost, buddy. We’re not fans of strangers here.”

Xu Qing frowned and looked over. Meanwhile, the schoolmaster pulled a jade slip out of the pile and threw it over to Xu Qing.

“We don’t have any real information about Summer Immortals here, just speculation from later generations. If you want to take a look, go ahead. But then you can beat it. I’m not a fan of strangers here.”

Xu Qing took the jade slip and started looking through the information.

The slip didn’t go into detail about Summer Immortals, other than speculations. And even then, the information was vague. There was only one section of text that was relatively straightforward.

“A thought from a Summer Immortal can transform an immortal body.

“Think of it as a concept. However, the Immortal path has been severed, and there’s no way to pursue it. After Imperial Sovereign is Quasi-Immortal. That said, alternative means might be possible.

“I have a theory. Temper the soul to make threads. Use the sea of consciousness to weave the image of a god. Use the soul as the control. Use thoughts as the body. When the image of the god is complete, it could possibly be used to control the same source.

“The mental god can be used as nutrients to restore Immortals!

“Success in this method might lead to, not Quasi-Immortal, but rather, Xeno-Immortal!”

1. The part about the crown prince taking back the “time” from Bai Xiaozhuo was in chapter 536.2. ☜