Chapter 731

The rain in the Imperial Capital fell for three days.

On the fourth day, it turned into snow.

Winter had arrived suddenly, and with the first falling snowflakes, a biting chill spread rapidly in all directions, covering the entire Imperial Capital in silver and hanging icicles from the eaves.

Gazing at the snowflakes in the sky and feeling the cold wind on his face, Xu Qing thought of Fenghai County, of Nanhuangzhou, and of the scenes from his childhood.

Even though he had reached his current level of cultivation and had long since lost much of his sensitivity to heat and cold, possessing resistance far beyond that of a mortal, he still felt a bit cold.

That was a memory from his heart.

Everything from his childhood had long since settled into his soul, to accompany him for a lifetime.

At this moment, walking on the path to the Imperial Academy, Xu Qing instinctively tightened his collar and stepped through the gates of the Academy amidst the wind and snow.

The case of the stolen Sun of Dawn was no longer mentioned, and the missing Sun of Dawn itself remained untraced. This matter should have hung over the hearts of all the powers in the Imperial Capital, but strangely... it seemed no one cared.

As for the reason, Xu Qing had analyzed it.

"Because the Human Emperor is here."

To the human race, the Emperor is the existence that holds up the sky.

He can soothe the hearts of the masses.

Xu Qing's perception of the Human Emperor was complex. Before he arrived at the Imperial Capital, the Emperor was just a symbol, a strange and blank sheet of paper in his mind.

As he arrived at the Imperial Capital and made his judgments about the Emperor, that sheet of paper took on color—only, there were too many colors, making it appear inscrutable when viewed now.

Xu Qing shook his head.

But he had a habit: he would bury the things he didn't understand deep in his heart, recording them one by one, waiting for the flaws and clues to emerge as time passed, so he could fill them in.

In this way, when enough clues were mastered, all the answers would emerge in his heart.

And right now, Xu Qing knew that what was most important before him was his cultivation.

"Let's go take a look at the Heterodox Immortal Sect!"

The moment he stepped through the Academy gates, the cold was blocked out, as was the wind and snow. Compared to the changing seasons outside, the Imperial Academy, situated in its own separate space, was no different than before.

It was still bustling with people, still noisy, and the sounds of discussion were constant.

Xu Qing had long since grown accustomed to this environment after spending over a month here. He stepped into the crowd, like a drop of water falling into the sea, inconspicuous, and walked toward the Heterodox Immortal Sect's white tower located in the far east.

"At Princess Anhai's banquet, that person named Mu Nan from the Litu Sect took out a recording showing Chen Daoze's Heterodox Immortal Sect 'Great Completion' form, which was remarkably similar to my God-Spirit State."

"Could it be that the Heterodox Immortal Sect's 'Soul Weaving' and the God-Spirit State are different paths to the same destination?"

Xu Qing was very tempted by this.

Because the God-Spirit State was a product of various coincidences for him; he had never seen it in anyone else, and even Ninth Grandpa had been unfamiliar with it.

That was why Xu Qing had been exploring how to continue cultivating his God-Spirit State.

If he had to use Mother Earth's flesh and blood every time he unleashed the second form... Xu Qing could not afford such consumption.

Not to mention the third form.

"In the first form, I can display power at the peak of Qi Condensation or even the first stage of Void Returning. Such a boost is immense."

"As for the second form, it is close to the second stage of Void Returning... although there is a gap, it is actually not much different."

"And the third form..." Xu Qing recalled his display before Ninth Grandpa and associated it with the experts he had encountered, already having a preliminary judgment in his heart.

"It is comparable to the third stage of Void Returning!"

"Therefore, the focus of my cultivation now is to fully master the three forms of the God-Spirit State."

"In addition, there is the fifth secret storehouse."

As Xu Qing pondered, time passed. Half an hour later, the Heterodox Immortal Sect's white tower appeared in his sight.

Compared to the bustle all around, it was always quiet, deserted, as if it had been submerged in history and eliminated by time.

There was only one disciple in the white tower today, yawning as he sat there, being lectured by the Sect Master.

"Look outside. There are so many students; can't you go out and pull some in?"

"If this continues, there won't even be enough people to do the work. There are so many classics, and I can't be the one organizing them every day!"

"Even though our Heterodox Immortal Sect isn't what it used to be, we still had our glory. You lot spend all day researching those tabloids—what's the use of that?"

The lectured disciple looked impatient and waved his hand.

"Fine, fine. If you keep nagging me, I won't come tomorrow. Our tabloids are just to subsidize our own expenses anyway. You don't give us anything, and we report on some gossip and interesting stories—what does that have to do with you? Why don't we just charge fees? If some fool comes wanting to look up ancient books, we'll charge them, how about that?"

"You!!" The Heterodox Immortal Sect Master's eyes widened. He wanted to say something harsh, but he was ultimately worried that the disciple really wouldn't come back...

He heaved a few times, trying to figure out how to speak, when Xu Qing's arrival caught his attention. He snorted coldly and, with his hands behind his back, looked at Xu Qing.

As for that disciple, he also looked up, and upon seeing Xu Qing, he said lazily.

"Heterodox Immortal Sect. One hundred spirit stones to view each jade slip."

The uniform attire meant he didn't recognize Xu Qing as someone who had been here before. In reality, unless there was frequent contact, it was very difficult to identify people in the Academy.

Xu Qing's gaze swept over, and just as he was about to speak, the Sect Master took one look at Xu Qing, his eyes revealing surprise.

"Why are you here again?"

The disciple beside him was stunned and looked carefully at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was also a bit surprised and bowed to the Sect Master.

"Teacher, I want to learn more about the Heterodox Immortal Sect."

"Of course!" The Sect Master laughed, his eyes lighting up. He rubbed his hands together, stepped forward, and grabbed Xu Qing's arm, pulling him into the white tower as if afraid Xu Qing would run away.

Xu Qing was a bit uncomfortable with this, while the disciple sighed and ignored them.

"You are a person with insight. I felt it the first time you came," the Heterodox Immortal Sect Master said with emotion.

"Your choice of the Heterodox Immortal Sect is a call of destiny, an inevitability after the gears of fate turned. If I am not mistaken, you have only just entered the Imperial Academy, am I right?"

The Sect Master said this, his left hand pinching his fingers to calculate, his eyes revealing shock as he looked at Xu Qing, wanting to say something but stopping.

Xu Qing remained silent. He was used to such tricks, which the Captain often used.

Seeing that Xu Qing didn't take the initiative to ask, the Sect Master coughed and continued on his own.

"When our Heterodox Immortal Sect was at its peak, our Ancestor sensed the heavens and saw a corner of the future, leaving behind a prophecy. The prophecy said that one day, a student would join our Heterodox Immortal Sect and create the peak of our sect."

"I felt something when I saw you last time, but I wasn't sure. Seeing you again today, I don't know why, but that prophecy rose in my heart."

"You are very likely the person our Heterodox Immortal Sect has been waiting for for thousands of years!"

The disciple beside him curled his lip. He had heard this line before; the Sect Master had said the same thing when he joined, and the other two disciples who weren't here today had been told the same.

"Couldn't even change the script."

However, thinking that it would be good to trick another one in, he narrowed his eyes and put on a look of surprise, exclaiming.

"Oh my god."

Xu Qing looked at the two exaggerated people and suddenly felt that the Heterodox Immortal Sect might not be very suitable for him...

Seeing his disciple cooperating so well, the Sect Master was satisfied. He quickly took out a jade slip from the small mountain in the corner and placed it directly into Xu Qing's hand.

"Child, merge your divine sense into this and become a core disciple of our Heterodox Immortal Sect. Then everything here will be open to you. The future of the Heterodox Immortal Sect is in your hands!"

"The cultivation techniques of the Heterodox Immortal Sect are special, so the Human Emperor granted us special permission to decide our own method of inheritance. Therefore, the Ancestor decreed: it shall not be passed on unless one is a core disciple."

"Come, join us, and from this moment on, a new door will open in your life!"

The Sect Master's voice was impassioned as he kept trying to persuade him.

Xu Qing looked at the jade slip in his hand. Since he had decided to come today, he didn't hesitate and directly imprinted it.

As the jade slip shone, Xu Qing became a core disciple of the Heterodox Immortal Sect.

"Haha, welcome to the Heterodox Immortal Sect."

The Sect Master was thrilled, and the disciple beside him was happy. The two looked at each other, both seeing the pride of having tricked another person.

The former thought the sect had grown, while the latter felt there would be more labor to do in the future.

Xu Qing didn't care much about this and bowed.

"Sect Master, may I take a look at the Heterodox Immortal Sect's cultivation techniques?"

"No problem." The Sect Master laughed, reached out, and grabbed more than a dozen jade slips from the small mountain in the corner, placing them all in Xu Qing's hands at once.

"These are all the cultivation techniques of our Heterodox Immortal Sect. Take your time, no rush."

Xu Qing nodded and looked at them intently, his expression beneath the mask becoming thoughtful.

The content of the jade slips was very rich, and the description of the Heterodox Immortal Sect's cultivation was very detailed.

Overall, the cultivation techniques of this sect had requirements.

It required someone with a powerful soul.

Only then could they form a sufficient number of soul threads to theoretically weave a complete god-like creature.

If the soul power was insufficient, it was very easy for the soul to scatter during the weaving process.

In addition, one needed to visualize the totem image of a god-like creature and use soul threads as a brush to complete it.

As for the process, it varied from person to person, but overall, it was extremely slow.

As Xu Qing examined them, the Sect Master continued to introduce the Heterodox Immortal Sect.

"The focus of our sect is the god-like creatures we visualize. I've given them all to you. These were chosen by past generations from countless god-like creatures as the most suitable for our sect. They also introduce the number of soul threads required. Compared to the techniques, this is the essence of our sect."

"But remember, don't be overly ambitious. If the number of soul threads condensed is insufficient, do not force the visualization."

As the Sect Master warned him, Xu Qing saw the visualization images of the god-like creatures. There were dozens of them, each one lifelike.

Among them, the one requiring the most soul threads was 100,000, and the one requiring the least was about 50,000.

He tried to cultivate it, and his mind suddenly felt dizzy, his eyes becoming blurred.

Noticing this, the Sect Master shook his head. For the sake of having just tricked him into joining, he gave a reminder.

"To cultivate the Heterodox Immortal Sect's techniques, you need to calm your mind and focus. Only in an absolutely quiet and fixed formation can you increase your speed. It's normal that you feel nothing when you try to practice it now."

"Generally speaking, if you can condense one soul thread in a month of cultivation, your aptitude is not bad. If you can exceed three, you are a heaven-gifted genius. If you can exceed ten, you have the potential of an Ancestor!"

Xu Qing hesitated and looked into his sea of consciousness. Inside... there were currently more than 10,000 soul threads spreading out.