Myriad Daos of the Heaven

Chapter 344: Chapter 342: Academy’s Back Mountain, Heavenly Refining Ancient Road

He was dressed all in black, with a longsword strapped to his back.

His entire demeanor was cold and sharp, like a drawn Treasure Sword.

His aura was incredibly powerful, suppressing everyone present.

Jiang Jichen stood on the high platform and said, "Well, everyone is treated the same. You might be cool, my friend, but you’re no exception!"

The black-clad youth stared coldly at Jiang Jichen. His gaze was like a sword, capable of piercing the void and injuring one’s Divine Soul.

It was the manifestation of Sword Thought. This young man was powerful and terrifying!

Without unsealing his Cultivation, Jiang Jichen... would be no match for him!

The people around had already backed away, distancing themselves from the black-clad youth.

Jiang Jichen didn’t recognize this person. As a newcomer to the Academy, and having spent almost all his time being used by that Elder Yao for Alchemy, he naturally hadn’t met many people.

But how could the surrounding student Cultivators not know him?

Fang Ying, the number one expert under the Sword Sect Young Pavilion Master!

Five years ago, he had already reached the Heavenly Level Dao Platform Foundation Establishment Perfection Realm, placing him infinitely close to becoming a Transcender, a super genius. He was ranked fifteenth on the Young Experts list!

How could the many students of the Academy not know of such a prominent young figure?

How could they dare to get close to such a terrifying individual?

But that Demon Young Pavilion Master, Lingchen, was actually standing on the high platform, not only rejecting but also teasing Fang Ying!

This scene made the hearts of everyone who recognized Fang Ying pound with fear.

’Rejected and teased by Lingchen?’

In the next moment, they expected Fang Ying to draw his sword and start a huge battle with Lingchen.

But Fang Ying didn’t. He actually took out... a bag of Spirit Stones from his robes.

Then he tossed it to Jiang Jichen!

"Big Brother, I told you to stay out of my business! I’ll defeat the Demon Young Pavilion Master with my own two hands!"

Just then, a woman’s voice rang out, and a pretty girl approached, a greatsword slung over her shoulder.

Very fierce, very uninhibited...

Jiang Jichen remembered this woman quite vividly.

She was the first female student to challenge him... Fang Hong!

Back then, she had been so fierce, charging at him with her greatsword.

Unfortunately, Jiang Jichen had sent her flying with a single kick, a miserable end to the fight.

"Lingchen, you can hold on to that Storage Bag for now. This young lady will defeat you with her own hands and take it back."

Fang Hong slammed her greatsword onto the ground, her voice crisp and her tone firm.

’She’s got character!’

Jiang Jichen smiled faintly, then looked at the black-clad youth. "Sorry, your sister said she wants to take it back herself through her own efforts. So, I’ll be accepting your Spirit Stones, and I’ll hold on to the Storage Bag for her in the meantime!"

"..."

Everyone stared speechlessly at Jiang Jichen!

They could only think that this Demon Young Pavilion Master was an absolute scammer, daring to even swindle Spirit Stones from Fang Ying.

That was just too bold!

But once again, it was Fang Ying who subverted everyone’s expectations.

He was very calm. He just glanced at Jiang Jichen and said, "If you enter the Academy’s back mountain and walk the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road, I hope you can help my sister if she gets into trouble. I, Fang Ying, will owe you a favor!"

After speaking, Fang Ying coolly departed.

But when the crowd heard his words, they were shocked.

Aside from Jiang Jichen, who didn’t know what the Academy’s back mountain or the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road was, everyone present—even Qingya—knew.

All new students were required to learn the basics about the Heavenly Sword Academy.

This included information about the Academy’s back mountain and the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road.

It was said that the Academy’s back mountain was a mysterious land filled with infinite fortunate encounters and opportunities.

In the past, people had found things there like fragmented Divine Artifacts, a strand of fur from one of the Ten Ancient Fiends, or a blood-stained object belonging to an Immortal.

The place was too extraordinary; legend had it that it was a lost battlefield from ancient times.

But to enter the Academy’s back mountain, one had to pass through the Celestial Refining Path!

Only two Celestial Refining Paths were open: one for those at the Spirit Infant Realm, and one for those below it.

As long as one could traverse the Celestial Refining Path, they could enter the back mountain and search for those legendary opportunities and fortunate encounters.

However, the Celestial Refining Path was incomparably dangerous. It was a highly unstable Ancient Dao.

It connected to different times and spaces, linking to various realms and even the Mysterious Space-Time.

On the Ancient Dao, beings from other realms would appear, and even mysterious space-time creatures would be teleported over.

Fortunately, they were all beings of an equivalent level!

Unfortunately, those creatures were boundlessly tyrannical and could dominate human Cultivators of the same realm, which made them very dangerous.

Basically, encountering such a creature was a death sentence.

But for generations, no one had ever given up the chance to tread the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road and enter the Academy’s back mountain.

And the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road only opened once every twenty years!

Coincidentally, the opening day of the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road was just one month away this year.

No wonder Fang Ying would ask Lingchen for such a favor!

And upon hearing Fang Ying’s words, many people understood something.

Fang Ying had already reached... the Spirit Infant Realm!

Qingya used a sound transmission to relay this information to Jiang Jichen.

A thought struck him, and he asked, "How did Fang Ying know I would definitely set foot on the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road?"

Qingya chuckled softly, her alluring charm captivating all who saw her.

Below the stage, many people’s hearts began to race, their eyes glazing over in a daze!

"The Academy has a rule: all Young Masters of the Pavilion must participate in the Celestial Refining Path."

Qingya finished, sending the last part to Jiang Jichen via sound transmission.

"Hmph, Demon Young Pavilion Master, this young lady doesn’t need your help! I can walk the Heavenly Refining Ancient Road by myself!"

Fang Hong snorted coldly, then turned and left haughtily.

This was just a minor interlude; Jiang Jichen paid it no mind.

At that moment, he was just about to open his mouth and continue his speech, telling people to hand over their Spirit Stones to ransom their Storage Bags.

But this time, before he could even speak, the student Cultivators conscientiously came forward one by one, paid their Spirit Stones, and retrieved their Storage Bags.

Their imprints and auras were on their respective Storage Bags, so naturally, no one took the wrong one.

Jiang Jichen just hadn’t expected them to be so compliant.

Qingya was over to the side collecting the Spirit Stones. Watching the Storage Bag swell up, a smile blossomed on her stunning face.

Her peerless charm was on full display, leaving the crowd of onlookers completely stunned.

’A goddess! She truly is a goddess!’

’Even the way she collects money is so perfect!’

A few of the geeky student Cultivators drooled in amazement.

Meanwhile, Qingya seemed to notice Jiang Jichen’s confusion and sent him a quiet sound transmission: "Even Fang Ying gave you his Spirit Stones. Who do you think would dare refuse? Besides, you had the guts to swindle Spirit Stones from Fang Ying himself. Who among them would dare try to get their Storage Bag back without paying up?"

It dawned on Jiang Jichen. He simply hadn’t realized that Fang Ying held such immense prestige in the Heavenly Sword Academy.

Soon, all two thousand-plus Storage Bags were ransomed by the student Cultivators, earning the pair a total of over two million Seventh Grade Spirit Stones.

This was an absolutely enormous fortune!

Seventh Grade Spirit Stones were resources used exclusively by Spirit Infant Realm Cultivators. Among those in the Foundation Establishment Realm, only the talented disciples of the Great Families could afford to use them.

For an ordinary genius student Cultivator, having a few thousand Seventh Grade Spirit Stones on hand was already their limit.

But over two million Seventh Grade Spirit Stones... even the primary Young Clan Leaders of the top-tier Noble Families might not be able to produce such a sum.

Many people were green with envy!

But they had already witnessed the terror of the Demon Young Pavilion Master. Who would dare try to rob him?

"Well, we’ve made a huge profit. It’s the perfect time to go shopping. Let’s go, Young Master of the Pavilion!"

The goddess Qingya took the initiative to invite him. There was a peculiar glint in her eyes that made Jiang Jichen feel a little guilty.

’Did she discover something?’

Jiang Jichen wondered silently.