"The Primordial Yang Spirit Root is also quite popular among the Heavenly Spirit Roots. After all, everyone in our school is a virgin. The Primordial Yang Spirit Root can refine the Pri-mordial Yang Essence Qi in virgins' bodies into mana, with a remarkable effect on enhancing mana."
Zhao Tianxing proudly said, "Especially the Primordial Yang Spirit Root we have in our high school, which has been passed down for nearly twenty years. It has been played with by gen-erations of predecessors, absorbing the Primordial Yang Essence Qi from thousands of stu-dents, adding a mysterious quality to it."
Zhang Yu frowned upon hearing this, always feeling that the Primordial Yang Spirit Root sounded quite dirty, and moreover...
"Hasn't everyone been sterilized? Can they still use this virgin Spirit Root?"
"It's the Primordial Yang Spirit Root," Zhao Tianxing explained. "The sterilization operation only temporarily removes some organs, but the Primordial Yang Essence Qi in our bodies keeps flowing ceaselessly from the kidneys; it just doesn't stimulate our emotions and spirit anymore."
"Otherwise, how would those who undergo repair surgery after reaching adulthood and regain their roots do it."
As Zhang Yu walked, he continued to ask, "In the school's Heavenly Spirit Roots, are there any that significantly aid in mana enhancement?"
Zhao Tianxing's heart stirred at these words, recalling Zhang Yu's recent activities, thinking about how attentive he seemed towards mana enhancement lately.
"Could it be for the magic competition?"
Zhao Tianxing pondered and said, "There are many Spirit Roots that assist in mana enhance-ment. The best in our school is probably the Qi Sea Spirit Root, which is quite expensive, but you don't have to worry about the cost this time since it's a free reward..."
The Qi Sea Spirit Root, nicknamed the Wall Penetrator King, has a significant advantage in its enormous coverage range, capable of penetrating through walls, buildings, and even the earth, capturing spirit machines over a wide area, improving the efficiency of mana refinement.
After listening to Zhao Tianxing's introduction, Zhang Yu had already decided to give this Heav-enly Spirit Root a try.
Arriving at the Spirit Root rental office next to the quiet room, Zhang Yu didn't rush to state his target but picked up a brochure on the table to read.
The administrator at his side was a young female teacher with a baby face.
Seeing Zhang Yu's action, she seized the opportunity to ask, "Student, are you a member here? Are you familiar with any Spirit Roots?"
Zhang Yu replied without looking up, "No, I'm not, and I don't."
The administrator quickly recommended, "We currently have a new member promotion where you get a thousand units free for every ten thousand topped up. Would you like to try it?"
Zhang Yu: "I'm here for the 0% Mental Distraction Rate reward for the Heavenly Spirit Root rental. I'm only here for the reward; I'm not interested in anything else, so no need to sell me anything."
Hearing this, the administrator smiled helplessly and stepped back, "Let me know if you need anything."
Listening to her words, she had already silently labeled Zhang Yu as a cheapskate, losing inter-est in selling him anything.
But Zhang Yu didn't care how she thought of him; he quickly scanned the pamphlet, finding that it matched what Zhao Tianxing had said.
So he told the administrator beside him, "I want to rent the Qi Sea Spirit Root."
The administrator said, "Swipe your Student ID."
Zhang Yu took out his Student ID and handed it to her.
This Songyang High School Student ID represented his identity as a high school student, al-lowing him to legally cultivate and enjoy various related services on the Immortal Road.
Shortly after, the administrator in the office brought a jade box to him.
"The Qi Sea Spirit Root is inside. Once you're in the second quiet room, you open the jade casket and take the Spirit Root."
"You've rented it for an hour. Time starts counting from when you enter the quiet room. If you exceed by a minute, it's counted as an hour. Watch the time yourself..."
After the rental administrator reminded him of the details, she let Zhang Yu head inside.
Nearby, Zhao Tianxing said, "Zhang Yu, you take care now, I've got to go as well."
Zhang Yu nodded at him, "Thanks."
Watching Zhang Yu's back as he left, Zhao Tianxing kept replaying Zhang Yu's expressions and tone in his mind, thinking, "Our relationship should be closer this time, right?"
Meanwhile, inside the second quiet room.
This is a room about twenty square meters in size, with a cushion placed in its center, and the walls are covered with sound insulation material, painted with large and small twisted talis-mans.
It's said these talismans accelerate the gathering of spiritual energy, having a certain effect on improving breath regulation efficiency.
But from the moment Zhang Yu stepped through the door, he only had an hour for breath regulation; he didn't have time to mind the room's arrangement and directly sat down on the cushion, opening the jade casket.
Inside the palm-sized jade casket was a piece of exquisite crystal, shimmering with a faint blue light.
The crystal floated in the center of the jade casket, surrounded by wisps of smoke-like light particles.
This was the Spirit Root he rented, known as the Qi Sea Spirit Root, the Heavenly Spirit Root.
Zhang Yu carefully picked up the Qi Sea Spirit Root, and just as he brought it to his lips, he felt a coolness in his throat. The Heavenly Spirit Root slipped into his body like a mass of icy water, directly sinking into his lower abdomen and entering his dantian.
As soon as the Qi Sea Spirit Root entered the dantian, it seemed to take root and sprout, ex-tending crystalline root-like tendrils that burrowed into the surrounding mana.
Zhang Yu understood that, according to the manual and the administrator's prompt, the Heav-enly Spirit Root had successfully rooted in his dantian.
Next, all he needed to do was to perform breath regulation as usual, and this Heavenly Spirit Root would naturally take effect.
With this in mind, Zhang Yu took a deep breath and started operating the Circulation Qi Gathering Method.
Boom!
It seemed as if a loud boom resonated in his mind.
Zhang Yu felt the spiritual energy around him surging forth, pouring into his Heavenly Spirit Root.
"Two times?"
"Three times?"
"Too fast... still increasing!"
Feeling more and more spiritual energy rushing into his body, Zhang Yu quickly focused himself and fully activated the level 6 Circulation Qi Gathering Method.
As the mana circulation throughout his body accelerated, strands of spiritual energy were re-fined into mana.
Initially, as the surging spiritual energy made his dantian feel strained, it now returned to normal.
But as if sensing Zhang Yu's mana refining speed, the Qi Sea Spirit Root in his dantian con-tracted and expanded, further speeding up the spiritual energy intake.
This time, not only the spiritual energy around Zhang Yu rushed in, but even the energy outside the room was drawn in.
From the hallway... outside the window... the sky... even underground...
With Zhang Yu's mana refining efficiency, the Qi Sea Spirit Root's range for collecting spiritual energy gradually expanded, eventually halting at a 50-meter radius.
Feeling the endless stream of spiritual energy flowing into his body like the mighty Yangtze River, which was then channeled into the full-body mana circulation and ultimately refined into his mana bit by bit.
At this moment, Zhang Yu felt a surge of excitement from the rapid mana increase.
"So this is the true efficiency of the level 6 Circulation Qi Gathering Method?"
Zhang Yu finally understood that normally, he couldn't harness the true power of the level 6 Circulation Qi Gathering Method when gathering and refining spiritual energy.
Now, with the Qi Sea Spirit Root's assistance, he was truly able to maximize the mana refining efficiency of the Circulation Qi Gathering Method.
Not daring to waste a second, Zhang Yu focused wholeheartedly on gathering spiritual energy and refining mana.
Meanwhile, in the Spirit Root rental office, the administrator who just assisted Zhang Yu watched the computer screen in front of her in surprise, "Huh? The concentration of spirit energy has decreased?"
The quiet rooms rented for breath regulation naturally weren't only for silence. They were equipped with Gathering Spirit Talismans to control the concentration of spiritual energy in the room, enhancing the efficiency of breath regulation.
The administrator carefully observed the monitoring parameters and discovered a significant mounting of spiritual energy in the second quiet room, heavily attracting the surrounding spir-itual energy and leading to a decline in the spirit energy concentration in the surrounding rooms.
"The second quiet room, wasn't that just in use by that freshman?"
"Such a degree of spiritual energy gathering, possible for a first-year student?"
The administrator felt increasingly surprised, as in her memory, only second-year students could bring out such effectiveness from the Qi Sea Spirit Root.
"Zhang Yu, huh?"
Recalling the name and class of the student who registered, the administrator recorded it se-cretly, overturning the cheapskate label she had just placed on him.
"So impressive as a freshman, this student must have invested a lot on the Immortal Path."
The administrator thought privately, enabling more Gathering Spirit Talismans to adjust the spiritual energy concentration back, "I'll contact him later. If he could become a platinum member with me, I wouldn't have to worry about my next few months' performance."
She intended to keep this find to herself, focusing on nurturing this potential customer.
In the blink of an eye, the hour had passed.
Zhang Yu, immersed in the ecstasy of spir-itual energy surging in, found his mana unknowingly increased from 9.4 to 9.5, evidently achieving the equivalent of half a day's hard work in the span of an hour.
Just then, a female voice came through the room's intercom.
"Student Zhang Yu, your hour is almost up. Do you wish to extend?"
For some reason, Zhang Yu felt the admin-istrator's voice seemed much softer.
Experiencing the satisfaction from the surging spiritual energy and the full-power operation of the Circulation Qi Gathering Method, Zhang Yu couldn't help but ask, "How much for an extension?"
The administrator quickly replied, "The rental price for the Qi Sea Spirit Root is 5000 per hour, but we're having a promotion today where if you top up 100,000 at once, you get 10,000 free and enjoy an 8.8% discount on the rental fee."
Zhang Yu sighed inwardly, slowly ceasing his breath regulation, "I have other things to do to-day, so I won't be extending."
Returning the Spirit Root, Zhang Yu felt his adminis-trator's courtesy more than ever and had a few questions to ask.
With a reluctant glance at the Qi Sea Spirit Root being placed back in its jade casket, Zhang Yu asked, "If this Spirit Root were for sale, how much would it cost?"
The administrator's eyes flickered slightly, smiling, "The price for the Qi Sea Spirit Root is 60 million."
Zhang Yu drew a breath sharply, outwardly calm, and remarked, "That's expensive."
The administrator laughed, remarking, "It is. We actually don't recommend buying; renting is much more cost-effective. After all, pairing a Heavenly Spirit Root with the Qi Refining Early Stage is far too extravagant; typically, cultivators consider buying Spirit Roots only after entering university."
Zhang Yu nodded slightly, knowing that the final checkpoint when pushing from the Qi Refin-ing Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm was planting a Spirit Root belonging to oneself, which truly was something for university students to consider.
However, whether it was a Heavenly Spirit Root, Earth Spirit Root, or Human Spirit Root, all depended on the cultivator's financial capabilities.
As for higher-level Divine Spirit Roots or Immortal Spirit Roots, those can only be reimplanted when joining special departments or major sects.
"Good Heavenly Spirit Roots are really... damn expensive."
Giving the Spirit Root being taken away one last, deep look, Zhang Yu resolved that one day he would buy a Spirit Root truly belonging to himself.
As he was leaving, the administrator proactively exchanged contact info with him, and that's when Zhang Yu learned her name was Wei Xin.
Wei Xin quietly changed Zhang Yu's note to Zhang Yu (Platinum Member Seed).