Chapter 194: Are the standards for array masters this low now? (6k)

"Brother Zhou, you're here! There's an empty seat over here."

"Brother Zhou, your insights on arrays in class every time truly open our eyes. Could you tell us again how you came up with those unique lines of thought?"

"Yeah, yeah, could you give us some pointers?"

As soon as Zhou Qing entered the room, many students swarmed over enthusiastically.

Zhou Qing had now become the student Lin Shi most loved to question, and he almost never missed a class.

Moreover, this person was truly knowledgeable; every answer he gave left the Master quite satisfied.

"Don't be anxious, everyone. Let's discuss it together after Lin Shi finishes the lecture," Zhou Qing said with a smile.

After pacifying the crowd, he found Er Daye and sat down beside him.

"Array prodigy, how does it feel?" Er Daye asked with a grin, his eyes full of teasing and mirth.

Zhou Qing smiled helplessly and said, "Daye, stop making fun of me. In front of you, what does my meager skill count for?"

"I wouldn't dare say that," Er Daye put away his joking manner and said seriously, "I've seen your rapid progress lately. Tell me honestly, how many spiritual seals have you condensed now?"

Speaking of this, a proud smile appeared on Zhou Qing's face.

It had to be said that with Lin Shi's careful guidance and unique methods, he had now successfully condensed twenty-three spiritual seals; his progress could be called remarkable.

"Guess!" Zhou Qing chuckled.

Er Daye clicked his tongue and was just about to speak when Lin Daochen walked in.

Everyone stood up to pay their respects.

Lin Daochen nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on Zhou Qing for a moment before he began the lecture.

【Neglect Point +1】

Before long, the system's notification sounded in Zhou Qing's mind.

Zhou Qing was stunned for a moment, then immediately overjoyed.

To be honest, ever since he became a star student in Lin Shi's eyes, many people had kept their eyes on him in class, and some even wanted to befriend him.

Plus, Lin Shi's frequent questions left him with fewer opportunities to farm points.

Now, he had been neglected just as the class started—needless to say, it was definitely the credit of the 【Good Luck Post】.

If only he could refresh a few more of these in the future.

【Neglect Point +2】

Soon, the notification sounded again.

Time passed quietly, and the points continued to grow.

Before long, Zhou Qing felt something and immediately checked his personal panel.

Talent Skill 【Lower Presence — LV5 (1/100)】

A brilliant smile appeared on Zhou Qing's face.

It finally reached level five.

Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation.

Different cultivation bases corresponded to different levels; from now on, even Divine Transformation powerhouses would have a probability of neglecting his existence.

To him, this was undoubtedly a powerful trump card.

【Neglect Point +1】

【Neglect Point +1】

The points kept refreshing, and the smile on Zhou Qing's face grew wider.

By the end of the entire class, Lin Shi had rarely even questioned him.

Conversely, Er Daye was asked a few questions, which left Lin Shi in deep thought; after receiving clarification, Er Daye was filled with gratitude.

【Latest news: Facing the two Demon Kings attacking from outside, the post-bearer woke up and set up a large number of Flame Explosion Talismans in their secret base, but due to the recurrence of internal injuries from the retreat, they were accidentally caught in the blast, worsening their condition.】

Looking at the latest news, Zhou Qing couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the other party.

He was having all the luck here, while the other party was plagued by misfortune; it was truly a world of difference.

After the lecture, Er Daye walked over and laughed, "Got time? Want to grab a drink with Daye?"

Zhou Qing looked troubled.

After all, the 【Good Luck Post】 only lasted for one day; he had to seize the time to utilize it to the fullest.

No matter how much he drank with Er Daye, it wouldn't amount to anything special.

"Daye, I'll treat you another day. I really have something urgent today," Zhou Qing apologized.

Seeing Zhou Qing was in a difficult position, Er Daye didn't force it: "Fine, I'll go back and consolidate what I gained today."

After sending Er Daye off, Zhou Qing rushed to another master's lecture.

【Neglect Point +1】

【Neglect Point +1】

【Latest news: After killing the two Demon Kings, the post-bearer was looking for another place to heal when they accidentally ran into a secret meeting between the Five Ghosts Sect and the Wan Huagu, and after being discovered, they are now being hunted down.】

Zhou Qing was stunned.

Currently, in the southwest regions of the Haomiao Prefecture, over a dozen major sects no weaker than the Taiqingmen were locked in a chaotic war.

The Five Ghosts Sect was one of the six major sects of the Western Region, while the Wan Huagu was a major sect of the Southern Region.

Sure enough, there are no eternal enemies, only shared interests.

But this also showed that the other party was indeed a Divine Transformation powerhouse, capable of killing two Demon Kings despite being injured.

It wasn't until the sky turned dark that Zhou Qing reluctantly prepared to return to his residence.

He checked his personal panel again.

Talent Skill 【Lower Presence — LV5 (26/100)】

Now, Divine Transformation powerhouses had a 26% probability of neglecting him, which was thrilling to think about.

"If only the 【Good Luck Post】 could last a bit longer!" Zhou Qing sighed regretfully.

【Today's post is refreshing...】

【New post has been stored in the Strange Qi Qi Tie Lu, please check in time.】

Just as Zhou Qing was calculating the remaining time of the 【Good Luck Post】, the system's notification sounded abruptly.

This made Zhou Qing's eyes widen.

"Is this random, or is it the stacking effect of the 【Good Luck Post】?" Refreshing two posts in a single day—this drop rate was simply ridiculously high.

Zhou Qing couldn't wait to be excited and immediately opened the 【Strange Qi Qi Tie Lu】.

Sure enough, another cyan-blue post appeared inside, its edges inlaid with fine silver patterns.

The characters appearing on it seemed to contain some mysterious rhythm, making one's heart and mind calm down.

【Epiphany Post: Can be integrated into one's own body; once used, the spiritual platform becomes clear, comprehension increases greatly, and cultivation efficiency is boosted a hundredfold, lasting for three hours!】

After understanding its function through his divine sense, Zhou Qing's heart raced with excitement.

"Cultivation efficiency boosted a hundredfold? This... this must be saved... No, I have the 【Good Luck Post】 now, plus the 【Epiphany Post】, I can completely create a stacking buff effect, achieving twice the result with half the effort!"

After thinking it through, Zhou Qing hurried back to his cave dwelling.

"Huh, why is the cave dwelling barrier open? Did I not close it when I came back? My brain is really... Ghost! Old Four, when did you get back?"

Yan Xiao was startled, giving Zhou Qing quite a fright.

With 【Lower Presence】 raised to level five, Yan Xiao had completely started to neglect Zhou Qing.

Even though he came back right in front of him, he simply couldn't see him.

Zhou Qing had to speak up: "Just got back, Hearing San Shixiong. I gained a lot from the lecture today and intend to take this opportunity to cultivate properly. Please, do not disturb me during this time."

After saying this, Zhou Qing walked quickly to the moonlight on the side and sat cross-legged.

He intended to take this opportunity to cultivate the 【Di Huang Jing】 to Great Completion.

Once Great Completion was reached, the power of the Jin Peng True Body and the Imperial Might would reach a higher level.

Seeing Zhou Qing's impatient look, Yan Xiao was full of envy.

Suddenly, his expression changed, because the old hen was hopping and skipping toward Zhou Qing.

Yan Xiao hurried over and hugged it.

"Your master is cultivating, don't disturb him!" Yan Xiao said softly.

The old hen blinked, a flash of human-like thought appearing in its eyes as it stared at Zhou Qing, seemingly completely unaffected by 【Lower Presence】.

At this moment, aided by the moonlight reflecting down from above the cave dwelling, a layer of faint silver radiance soon appeared on Zhou Qing's body.

He took a deep breath, sank his heart into his body, and immediately activated the 【Epiphany Post】.

In an instant, a cool sensation surged from his dantian and quickly spread throughout his body.

Zhou Qing felt his spiritual platform become perfectly clear, and his thoughts became incomparably sharp.

The previously obscure and difficult-to-understand scriptures of the "Di Huang Jing" now felt like looking at patterns on his palm; every word and sentence was perfectly clear.

"The Emperor is like the sun, majestic over the nine heavens; the Brilliant is like the moon, illuminating the ten thousand worlds..."

Zhou Qing recited the scriptures silently in his heart, a flash of realization in his eyes, and the spiritual power in his body circulated accordingly.

In his dantian, the originally calm ocean of spiritual power began to surge, turning into streams of golden torrents that galloped endlessly through his meridians.

The four-colored flower rooted in his sea of consciousness also shone brightly at this moment, echoing in response.

Time passed bit by bit, and soon Zhou Qing's body was gradually shrouded in a layer of faint golden light.

The golden light was weak at first, but as time passed, it grew stronger, eventually turning into a brilliant sun hovering above his head.

Within the sun, a Jin Peng could be vaguely seen spreading its wings to fly high, its feathers like blades, sharp and piercing.

This scene made Yan Xiao very envious.

About an hour later, Zhou Qing's hands moved rapidly, forming seals, and fine golden patterns began to appear on his skin, like ancient runes.

In a trance, his arms seemed to turn into Jin Peng wings, each feather shimmering with a metallic luster, incomparably sharp.

Another hour later, a vast pressure swept across the surroundings, as if an emperor had descended and all spirits were submitting.

The air inside the entire cave dwelling seemed to freeze, making it difficult to even breathe.

Yan Xiao, holding the old hen, felt his legs go weak, and he suddenly had the urge to prostrate himself in worship.

He gritted his teeth, desperately suppressing this urge, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm his Zhou Shixiong!" Yan Xiao kept suggesting to himself.

However, this pressure did not last long.

A moment later, as Zhou Qing slowly opened his eyes, the suffocating imperial pressure receded like a tide.

Golden light flickered in his eyes, and his aura became even more profound.

Every movement seemed to be in harmony with heaven and earth, giving people a feeling of being unfathomable.

Yan Xiao panted heavily, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with lingering fear: "Entering the state so fast, and ending it so fast too—Old Four, this 'Di Huang Jing' of yours..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Zhou Qing's hands dancing like phantoms, spiritual light flickering at his fingertips.

Immediately after, twenty-three spiritual seals appeared out of thin air, hovering around his body, each one emitting a faint light and seemingly containing endless mystery.

"No way!" Seeing this scene, Yan Xiao felt ashamed of himself.

This was too crazy; the "Di Huang Jing" had just ended, and you're already entering the array field to study?

Switching so smoothly, aren't you afraid of getting them mixed up?

The 【Epiphany Post】 had one hour left before it expired; Zhou Qing had to seize the time to maximize its use.

Soon, the inheritance left by Senior Xuan Qingzi surfaced in his mind, and countless complex array patterns and runes flowed through his consciousness.

His brain was running at high speed, his comprehension elevated to the extreme, and combined with Lin Shi's teachings over this period, the originally obscure array knowledge became perfectly clear in this moment.

Before long, under Yan Xiao's gaze, a new spiritual seal gradually took shape, shining brilliantly alongside the previous twenty-three.

"Are spiritual seals that easy to condense?" Yan Xiao scratched his head.

He naturally knew something about array masters; he had heard it required great comprehension, but seeing Old Four like this, why did it feel so easy?

However, Zhou Qing's movements did not stop.

His hands continued to dance, and spiritual seals condensed one after another, so fast that the eye could barely keep up.

"The twenty-fifth!"

"The twenty-sixth!"

"The twenty-seventh!"

Yan Xiao's mouth opened wider and wider, his eyes full of shock.

He had never seen, nor heard of, anyone condensing so many spiritual seals in such a short time.

It completely overturned his understanding!

Zhou Qing, however, seemed to have entered a mysterious state, completely immersed in the world of arrays.

In his mind, Senior Xuan Qingzi's inheritance was constantly being parsed, turning into spiritual seals that hovered around his body.

"The thirtieth!"

"The thirty-first!"

"The thirty-second!"

The number of spiritual seals kept increasing; Yan Xiao, holding the old hen, was long since dumbfounded, feeling as if everything was so unreal.

Damn, it was just like a dream.

No, even dreams weren't this exaggerated.

Could it be that the threshold for array masters had lowered?

【Heart Appraisal Point +9】

The note above Yan Xiao's head, originally 【The Junior Brother who is secretly making progress】, changed in this moment to 【The Junior Brother who is simply not human】.

An hour later, when the sixty-sixth spiritual seal condensed, Zhou Qing's movements finally stopped.

He slowly opened his eyes, a trace of fatigue in them, but more of joy.

"Sixty-six spiritual seals, is this the effect of the 【Epiphany Post】?"

Zhou Qing whispered to himself, his heart full of shock.

In the first two hours, he completely cultivated the "Di Huang Jing" to Great Completion; in the last hour, he condensed forty-three spiritual seals in one go.

He had originally thought that matching Er Daye's thirty-seven would be quite good, but he never expected to break through by so many in one breath!

Normally, this would be absolutely impossible—he knew better than anyone how hard it was to condense spiritual seals—but because of the stacking 【Good Luck Post】, he had achieved such gratifying results.

Yan Xiao finally came back to his senses and hurried forward, stuttering: "Old, Old Four, how... how did you do that? Sixty-six spiritual seals, this... this is simply too terrifying!"

Zhou Qing smiled, not knowing how to answer, so he just said: "Just luck."

Hearing this, Yan Xiao's mouth twitched several times.

Luck?

Condensing so many spiritual seals in one breath is called luck?

Who are you trying to fool?

Do you take me for an idiot?

Afterward, Zhou Qing stood up, his gaze falling directly on the old hen.

The 【Good Luck Post】 was activated at noon today, with a duration of one day, meaning it would end at noon tomorrow.

With such precious time, it couldn't be wasted.

"Hearing San Shixiong, the moonlight is perfect, let's go walk the chicken!" Zhou Qing said excitedly.

Yan Xiao was stunned: "At this hour? No, is your schedule really that tight? You just finished cultivating, you should at least rest."

"No, I just have a feeling that something good will happen tonight!" Zhou Qing chuckled.

Seeing his determined look, Yan Xiao couldn't persuade him otherwise and could only sigh: "Fine, I have nothing to do anyway, I'll accompany you for a walk."

Just as the two tied a rope to the old hen's leg, a message suddenly flashed before Zhou Qing's eyes.

【Latest news: The post-bearer was injured by the joint attack of the Five Ghosts Sect and Wan Huagu, their injuries worsened, and they have found a place of refuge in the southwest direction to hurry and heal.】

Zhou Qing raised an eyebrow, unable to help but laugh in his heart.

He estimated that the other party must have been confused for the past two days, having no idea why they were having such terrible luck, being either seriously injured or hunted down.

Afterward, he calmly put away his thoughts, led the old hen, and walked out of the cave dwelling with Yan Xiao.

The moonlight was like water, spilling onto the mountain paths of the inner academy, reflecting a silvery white.

The old hen flapped its wings, occasionally pecking at the grass leaves on the ground.

Yan Xiao had a blade of grass in his mouth, his fingers crossed, his elbows slightly splayed, his hands casually behind his head, looking lazy and comfortable.

"Who walks a chicken in the middle of the night? Only you could do something like this," Yan Xiao muttered, the grass blade in his mouth swaying gently with his words.

"And the old hen, even if it's a mutated egg-treasure chicken, it should be sleeping on a tree branch by now. Look at how excited it is from all the spiritual stone powder you fed it."

Zhou Qing smiled without answering, just walking around randomly without a set direction.

Yan Xiao suddenly leaned in, excitedly whispering: "Old Four, I have a bold idea. Now that you've condensed sixty-six spiritual seals, you only need a hundred more to become a second-level array master and craft dual-colored restrictions."

"Plus, with Lin Daochen of the White Jade Taixu Academy as a reference, we can completely pull off something big! You use your brain, I'll provide the muscle, and we can split it three-seven or even two-eight!"

Zhou Qing didn't answer, but made a shushing gesture.

Then he quickened his pace, and Yan Xiao, puzzled, hurried to follow.

Under the moonlight, they soon saw a man and a woman rolling on the grass; Yan Xiao couldn't help but click his tongue, laughing in a low voice: "Old Four, is this the 'good thing' you were talking about?"

"You've gone bad! Did you see them here when you came back? Let me take a closer look at who this is... Both seem to be inner academy students; why are they doing this here instead of in their own cave dwellings? Look at this, how scandalous..."

Yan Xiao cursed while squinting his eyes, trying to see the couple's faces clearly.

But soon, they finished, tidied their clothes, looked left and right, and hurried away.

"Boring, still came too late, I didn't even see what the woman looked like."

Yan Xiao muttered regretfully, "Since they like being outside, at least... Hey, Old Four, where are you going?"

Before he could finish, he saw Zhou Qing already walking forward.

He hurried to catch up.

Soon, they arrived at the spot where they had been rolling on the grass, and saw three mid-grade spiritual stones lying on the ground.

"No, what's the meaning of this? Why throw spiritual stones after finishing? Praying for blessings?"

Yan Xiao looked puzzled, scratching his head, completely unable to understand this operation.

Before Zhou Qing could bend down to pick them up, the old hen flapped its wings and rushed over, swallowing the three mid-grade spiritual stones one by one.

Zhou Qing was stunned.

Since when did the old hen have such strong digestive capabilities? It looked like there would be no need to crush them into powder in the future.

Facing Yan Xiao's inquiry, Zhou Qing shook his head: "Don't know, let's walk some more."

After saying this, he picked a direction at random and walked on.

A night passed quietly; during this time, Zhou Qing picked up over twenty mid-grade spiritual stones and one superior-grade spiritual stone, and the old hen laid two more spiritual eggs.

At the same time, news regarding the 【post-bearer】 was constantly updating.

Such a bountiful harvest made Yan Xiao start to doubt his own eyes.

"No, are inner academy people this rich? They don't take money seriously at all!"

He decided that he would come out for a stroll every night from now on.

This was much easier than racking his brain to think of ways to make money, and it had no costs.

Zhou Qing, however, still felt some regret.

No way around it, even with good luck, it couldn't overcome the fact that it was night.

Being able to go out and pick up money was already a pleasant surprise; if it were daytime, perhaps he could encounter even more opportunities.

Before long, as the 【Good Luck Post】 expired, the 【Misfortune Post】 continued to take effect.

It didn't end until the next day.

The last piece of news that came in was that the post-bearer had used a secret treasure on their body to kill all the Divine Transformation experts from the Five Ghosts Sect and Wan Huagu who had been hunting them.

Zhou Qing frowned, his heart filled with even more confusion.

The other party seemed to be extraordinarily powerful, capable of killing so many Divine Transformation experts in just three days despite being injured and falling unconscious.

Such combat power was simply terrifying.

Yet with such strength, why did they spend every night toying with his Hearing San Shixiong? What was their purpose?

Could it really be Sima Yan?

Thinking about it, that mentally deranged guy might really do something like this.

But he should be in the Eastern Region; how could he be here in the Haomiao Prefecture?

And what Senior Gao Xuan said about the other party having been at the academy for a long time—what was that about?

Zhou Qing couldn't figure it out, and couldn't understand it.

In the following days, Zhou Qing continued to attend classes as usual, trying to catch every master's lecture except for Lu Yuanzhi's.

However, after the talent skill 【Lower Presence】 reached level five, gaining points became increasingly difficult.

In the plain and unremarkable classroom environment, it took him a full ten days to barely scrape together two points, a progress so slow it left him somewhat helpless.

Fortunately, Yan Xiao's ability to gather information remained as excellent as ever.

He soon found a new holy land for farming points for Zhou Qing—the Questioning Platform.

The Questioning Platform, as the name suggests, is a place in the academy specifically for students to compete.

Sect disciples from the four regions of Haomiao Prefecture gathered here, with intense competition and frequent conflicts.

The Questioning Platform became the best place for them to resolve grievances and show off their strength.

Especially against the backdrop of the war between the southwest regions, friction between disciples from different sects was constant, and competitions on the Questioning Platform happened almost every day.

Sitting in the spectator stands on either side of the Questioning Platform, watching the slaughter on the stage, he had to say, there was a bit of tension and excitement in it.

If he was lucky, he could harvest two to three points from a single match.

But the times for these duels weren't fixed, and Zhou Qing had to frequently run back and forth between classrooms and the Questioning Platform.

Another half a month later, Zhang Wan Bao came over with a grin.

"Brother Zhou, Brother Yan!" As soon as Zhang Wan Bao saw them, he immediately rushed over excitedly and gave them a big hug.

Both were also very happy.

It had been nearly three months since they last parted, and this guy's waistline had grown another circle.

(End of chapter)