The First Cultivation

Nanmen Xiu’s words were like Pandora’s box.

Even though they would most likely be force-fed another dose of dog food, no one present didn’t want to hear it.

Gossip is a human nature that cannot be defied, especially gossip about outstanding individuals close at hand.

Seeing everyone nodding like chickens pecking at rice, Nanmen Xiu’s fox tail finally couldn’t be hidden anymore.

“Tonight’s lesson ends here. I’ll cover the rest next time. Make sure you come on time. I’ll only teach it once. Miss it, and it’s gone.”

Huang Xiu’s expression shifted slightly.

Teacher Nanmen Xiu was using a clever strategy, baiting them with herself to lure them into the trap!

But just listening shouldn’t have much impact.

“Just… is class over?”

She checked her phone: it was only 7:40. This psychological counseling session was shorter than she had imagined.

“Well, this isn’t a traditional course. You’ve only just enrolled, and I don’t have much time. Besides, I need to go home and rest.”

Nanmen Xiu explained with a smile, then like a big sister, slapped her phone on the table.

“Come on, let’s create a group chat face-to-face. From now on, if there’s anything good, I’ll notify you first.”

“And after building the group face-to-face, add each other as friends.”

And so, this unconventional psychological counseling session, which had taken Huang Xiu by surprise, finally came to an end.

The teacher’s dormitory area was separate from the students’.

So on the way back, only Huang Xiu and the other three were together.

It was almost eight o’clock, and the campus streetlights were already on, clusters of warm orange light pushing back the darkness.

Every building in sight was lit up.

Inside, students were burning the midnight oil studying and researching, or busy with experiments as science majors.

Thanks to the selection process of picking the best from the best, the learning atmosphere at Tiandu University was excellent.

Everyone was working hard, striving for a better future.

Therefore, there were few people leisurely strolling late at night.

The entire campus was very quiet.

Huang Xiu walked back to her dorm, the lights reflected in her eyes like stars scattered across the sky.

The four of them were silent, no one spoke, all the way.

Even though they knew they were kindred spirits, to hit it off on a first meeting was too difficult for a group like them—transitioners.

Thus, in silence, they reached the dormitory area, politely said goodbye, and dispersed to their respective rooms.

“Today’s experience… was absolutely insane!”

Huang Xiu pushed open the door, entered her room, kicked off her shoes, and immediately flopped onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow.

Meeting so many transitioners out of the blue was already absurd.

And then there was a teacher who had fully transitioned from male to female, sharing her love story with them.

It was downright ridiculous.

“I wonder if Teacher Xu Gaoxuan knows that Teacher Nanmen Xiu used to be a guy.”

Huang Xiu’s voice came muffled from the pillow.

He probably knows.

After all, since Teacher Nanmen Xiu had confessed her transitioner identity to them, there was no reason not to tell Teacher Xu Gaoxuan.

Maybe this was common knowledge among the faculty.

“But it’s still crazy, falling for a man, falling for a woman who used to be a man.”

Huang Xiu shook her head.

Such mutual commitment was far too rare.

She was about to get a cup of water when she noticed a thick book sitting on her desk, which had previously only had her computer.

“What’s this?”

Huang Xiu rolled off the bed and hopped over to the desk.

A thick hardcover book was quietly resting on the computer.

The book was not small at all, as long as her 17.3-inch laptop was wide.

The cover was pure white, with no title.

It didn’t have many pages, maybe a dozen.

But each page was made of a glass-like material, as thick as the exercise books they used in high school.

Huang Xiu weighed it; the book was about twenty pounds.

“This is probably the heaviest book I’ve ever held! This is the power of knowledge, damn it!”

The book seemed quite sturdy; she felt it could even serve as a weapon.

With its weight and sharp corners, even an anomaly couldn’t withstand a blow to the head.

Curious, she opened the book, and the first thing she saw was:

【Basic Tempering Method of the White Tower Lineage, Version 2.3】

【Author: Tiandu University】

【Warning: Photographing, sharing, or taking this book off campus is prohibited. Violators will be severely punished.】

“Holy crap, it’s the Tempering Method!” Huang Xiu got excited.

In class, Teacher Wen Zhidi had said she would send over the necessary materials for practicing the Tempering Method.

But she never expected Tiandu University, which hadn’t even issued textbooks, to be so efficient.

Morning class, and by evening the cultivation materials were already in the dorm.

“Finally, I can start cultivating!”

With an excited heart and trembling hands, Huang Xiu had been waiting for this day until she was about to wither.

She ignored the warning and continued flipping.

Still those glass-like pages.

But on the second page, right in the middle, was a stone slab embedded, taking up eighty percent of the page.

The slab was just ordinary stone, Huang Xiu could tell nothing special.

But what was on it was extraordinary: carved the same visualization diagram she had seen in class.

Though not exactly identical to the stone in the photo, it was a perfect copy.

Below the slab on the page, a line of small text described the diagram’s effects.

【White Lotus Visualization Diagram ① (Mercury Rank), applicable to the White Tower Lineage, can slightly increase mental strength and enhance control over anomalous abilities.】

“Special effects…”

Huang Xiu remembered Teacher Wen Zhidi talking about this, and the principle behind the special effects of practicing the Tempering Method.

Probably because the visualization diagram itself came from the Void Realm, possessing some indescribable mystery.

And this mystery, each time they visualized, would attach to their peculiar mental energy.

It was harmless.

She flipped further, and the next two pages also had visualization diagrams.

【Taotie Visualization Diagram ① (Mercury Rank), applicable to the White Tower Lineage, can slightly increase physical strength and Void energy level. Caution: During cultivation, side effects of increased appetite may occur. If it develops into binge eating, please contact the teacher immediately.】

【Demon Seed Visualization Diagram ① (Mercury Rank), applicable to the White Tower Lineage, enhances resistance to mental manipulation type Void techniques or abilities, and increases Void energy recovery speed.】

“Three visualization diagrams, all with different effects.”

Huang Xiu smacked her lips as she looked at the three diagrams, instantly falling into a state of choice paralysis.

Since the school had issued these three diagrams, they must all be high-quality products that had passed the test.

No matter which one she chose, it wouldn’t be too bad.

“But based on the ‘Mercury Rank’ and ‘①’ in the names, these diagrams probably have follow-ups.”

Teacher Wen Zhidi might not have had enough time during class, so she didn’t cover this.

So Huang Xiu could only speculate for now.

Since the diagrams had ‘Mercury Rank’ in their names, there must be higher ranks like Gold Rank, Turbid World Rank…

“It can’t be changed later, can it?”

Huang Xiu didn’t want to make a wrong choice and regret it forever.

She quickly flipped through the entire book, trying to find any helpful tips.

And she did find them.

【School’s friendly reminder: Choosing a visualization diagram depends on your heart. Pick one that suits you. If it doesn’t fit, you can change it at any time.】

“I can change it at any time! Then that’s fine.”

With the warning cleared, Huang Xiu began analyzing which diagram would suit her best.

Just based on effects, the Taotie Visualization Diagram was undoubtedly the most attractive.

After all, increasing Void energy level and physical strength was a pain point for most anomalies.

As for the increased appetite, that was hardly a side effect.

Tiandu University provided free meals and even unlimited specialty snacks—no charge.

But Huang Xiu felt that this effect wasn’t very suitable for her.

“I rarely engage in close combat, and my current Void energy level already surpasses all Mercury Rank anomalies. It’s already sufficient. Increasing it further seems unnecessary.”

Huang Xiu turned to the White Lotus Visualization Diagram.

Mental strength and control over abilities… This could increase her manipulation time for anomalous plants.

It felt pretty good.

“Since I can change it later, I’ll go with this one.”

Huang Xiu stopped thinking and made her decision.

As for the Demon Seed Visualization Diagram, it was never on her list.

Both of its effects were even more useless to her than the Taotie diagram.

With her target chosen, Huang Xiu read through the entire book.

The cultivation method in the book was much clearer and more detailed than what the teacher had covered in class.

But the precautions Teacher Wen Zhidi mentioned during class were the cumulative experience of previous generations.

Many things weren’t explicitly written in the book.

Taking out the notes she made in class, Huang Xiu memorized all the precautions Teacher Wen Zhidi had given.

Then, following the instructions in the book, she began her first Tempering Method cultivation as an anomaly.

Cultivating the Tempering Method was a bit like daydreaming…

Huang Xiu had actually felt this way during class.

And now that she was personally starting, the feeling was even stronger.

She first looked at the White Lotus Visualization Diagram on the stone slab, then closed her eyes and tried to imagine the shapes of the lines on the slab in her mind.

She attempted to make them appear clearly in her thoughts.

But strangely, even though she had a good memory before and it had improved since awakening, she kept failing.

Just a moment ago, she had looked and confirmed she had temporarily memorized the lines and symbols.

But when she closed her eyes, she found her mind blank, unable to recall even a single line.

Huang Xiu opened her eyes and concluded, “It’s like I’ve never seen the visualization diagram before.”

She clearly sensed the mystique of the diagram.

She practiced until ten at night with no progress, but she wasn’t discouraged.

The teacher had emphasized in class that cultivating the Tempering Method was a gradual process.

Haste makes waste; you can’t rush it.

It was possible to make no headway even after hundreds or thousands of attempts, but as long as she persisted, she would eventually make progress.

With the teacher’s advice firmly in mind, Huang Xiu’s mentality was incredibly good.

She even logged in and played a couple of games before bed.

She played on her main account.

During the game, Huang Xiu, seeing an enemy she one-shot with a critical hit, suddenly thought of Yun Ning.

After the game ended, she checked his account on the platform.

And was surprised to find that he was already at level thirty-three!

“I remember, last time Senior Yun spent the night gaming, he was only level twelve!” Huang Xiu rubbed her chin.

In just four days, playing games in his spare time after classes, he managed to level up eighteen times.

“So this is what a tryhard is? Either don’t do it, or go all out.”

Huang Xiu feared Yun Ning’s liver power.

“But he wasn’t interested in games before. Why is he suddenly playing so intensely?

Wait, did I lead him astray?”

At that thought, her face turned pale.

If Yun Ning really got addicted to games because of her last time, and his studies plummeted as a result,

Teacher Yuan Fei would probably fold her up with a single palm strike, turning her into a real paper person.

“I don’t want to become a paper person!”

Fearing death, Huang Xiu decided to keep an eye on it.

If Yun Ning continued to play games heavily, she planned to step in and help her senior kick his internet addiction.

“Senior Yun Ning, don’t turn from a sportsman into an internet addict! Otherwise, I’ll be guilty of a grave sin!” Huang Xiu prayed.

Over the next few days, after finishing her packed daytime classes,

Huang Xiu’s first task upon returning to the dorm was to log in and check if Yun Ning was online.

Only then did she continue her Tempering Method cultivation.

But Yun Ning didn’t seem to have truly become an internet addict.

After observing for a few days, Huang Xiu noticed that his gaming time was very fixed.

He started at eight, played three matches, and immediately logged off—not a single match more.

He treated it like a task-based game.

Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief and canceled her monitoring plan.

For the first two days, the Tempering Method still made no progress.

Huang Xiu asked a few friends around her.

Except for Shi Xue, who successfully visualized the first line on the second day, everyone else had no progress either.

Compared to the stagnant Tempering Method cultivation, the daytime classes were much more colorful.

The Introduction to Void Realm Knowledge class had already covered Origin Items.

Teacher Hua Song, to help them understand better, even brought out a real Origin Item as an example.

A weapon named Finger Gun was Teacher Hua Song’s private collection.

This Origin Item looked like a man’s finger.

Its effect was simple.

Whichever hand held the finger, that hand would turn into a gun, capable of firing invisible bullets.

Of course, it was only a gun in a conceptual sense.

Its appearance didn’t change.

The power of the Finger Gun was affected by both the user’s Void energy and the target’s Void energy level.

Hua Song’s comment on it was that it was a chicken rib.

But Huang Xiu thought it was strong; with her sufficient Void energy, she could use it as a long-range tool.

But it wasn’t her Origin Item, so she could only watch longingly as Teacher Hua Song put it away with a look of disdain.

Huang Xiu had tears of envy streaming from the corner of her mouth. “If you don’t want it, give it to me!”

But this incident gave her a real understanding of the mystique and power of Origin Items, and she started to pay attention to them.

On the Void Net, discussions about Origin Items were scarce, as they were very precious.

Each Void Realm had only one.

Usually, only high-ranking anomalies possessed them; average anomalies used imitations, known as Void Tools.