Chapter 176. Deadline Approaching

Words : 1138 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 176: Chapter 176. Deadline Approaching "Spring of Life?" Fan Niang asked. "Should you be telling the students about that secret?" Xu Shi asked. "What secret?" Li Shi asked back. "Every senior student who is about to graduate from our academy knows about the spring of life under our academy." "Really?" Fan Niang turned to Zong Kui. Seeing Fan Niang’s lovely stare, Zong Kui immediately explained, "The Spring of Life is an extremely rare natural occurrence. It was formed from a concentration of groundwater said to have directly touched the ley lines. Such a pond was extremely beneficial for cultivators. Submerging your body into this water will bring drastic improvement to your cultivation as well as strengthening your body directly." "We have a spring of life under our academy?" Fan Niang asked. "It is the only two places in our kingdom to possess a spring of life," Lei Gun answered. He won’t let Zong Kui hoard the cute girl’s attention. "One is under the king’s palace, usable only by the royal family. The other, which is a smaller pond compared to the one in the palace, is under the royal academy." Zong Kui didn’t let Lei Gun take Fan Niang’s attention away. He added, "It was said that the discoveries of these Spring of Life were the basis of where the palace and the royal academy were built. Additionally, only the place with significant ley lines presence can produce a spring of life, so it was the most ideal place for cultivators to stay." "That is not wrong. Our capital used to be in another city," Li Shi said. "It is moved after a large spring of life is discovered." "Are you sure this water came from a similar spring of life as our kingdom’s?" Xu Shi asked. He didn’t know the thing he had confiscated was such a significant thing. "From the concentration of aether I sensed from these droplets, I can say it is so. I’ve been to the spring of life under our academy myself. These droplets give off a similar feel," Li Shi answered. "You said before that every senior student who will be graduating from the academy knows about the spring of life under the academy," Amon asked Li Shi. "Why is that?" It was Jie Mei who answered, "It’s because the reward for being in the top ten on the graduation exam is the right to use this spring of life. The higher your rank, the longer you are allowed to submerge yourself in." "Yeah! That’s what we have been striving for as Royal Academy students!" Lei Gun declared. "You? Hah! You can forget about setting sight on the spring of life. There is no way you are going to be in the top ten," Zong Kui mocked. "You...! And you think you do? I can guarantee you that I will at least get a higher rank than you!" Lei Gun shot back. "In your dream!" Zong Kui laughed. Fan Niang tried to persuade the two to calm down, which instead had a reverse effect. Seeing their quarrel attracted the cute girl’s attention, the two became more heated. Everyone else ignored the two. Xu Shi, who realized the importance of the droplets, immediately asked Jie Mei, "You didn’t drink any of the droplets you found down there, did you?" "If she did, she would need medication already," Li Shi told Xu Shi. "The water from a spring of life is too potent. A normal person’s body won’t be able to contain the power raging inside. If she ingested the water, even if it is a droplet, the best thing is she gets comatose for days. The worst is her body will explode." Jie Mei secretly heaved a sigh of relief. She didn’t know that. She didn’t even know the water she found was from a spring of life. She had thought about drinking the droplets after sensing their aether when she found them, but she was a careful person. The purpose of her discussing her findings was also to see if anyone had any knowledge about the water. If it was safe, the next time she went down there, she would drink the remaining droplets. "Too bad this spring of life has dried up," Li Shi sighed. "If not, our kingdom will have the third spring of life. Such a find will increase our kingdom’s future potential." During the remainder of the discussion, Amon wondered if he should ask for permission to follow Jie Mei in her section so he could get his hands on those remaining droplets down there, but he decided against it. Jie Mei had found it first. She no doubt knew how many droplets were left down there. If they disappeared once he followed in, it would be easy for everyone to pinpoint him as the reason. It would just put him under intense interrogation and search, which in turn might expose the ability of his black space ring. He couldn’t afford the risk. So, Amon remained cultivating under Lei Gun and Zong Kui’s section. The next day after Jie Mei found the dried-up spring of life, Yong Lei also found something. He shared his findings with the rest of the group. It was a room with some kind of machine and lots of words of power etched around the room. After a detailed description, both Li Shi and Xu Shi concluded it was the center of the enchanted formation that protected this ruin. That room should be the place where the mental pressure was produced. Li Shi gave Yong Lei the order to destroy the machine, but she told him to do it gently. A device that produced such a mental defense was not something available in this era anymore. If it was possible, she wanted to study it. Xu Shi expressed a similar demand, but his intention was so the military could use it if they could somehow activate the machine again. Yong Lei went in the next day. He poked at the machine while having constant communication with Li Shi, who had entered the ruins as well. She was still affected by the mental pressure, so she would know when Yong Lei succeeded in shutting down the machine. She didn’t wish Yong Lei to inflict more damage than was necessary. After Yong Lei’s few poking, she felt the headache that assailed her was suddenly gone. That’s when she knew Yong Lei had succeeded. She told Yong Lei to stop what he was doing. She then asked Amon to take her to the great hall Amon found earlier. She wanted to see the murals herself. Xu Shi wanted to enter with his soldiers, but Li Shi forbade him. She said she still had around one week before the deadline. Until then, this ruin was hers.

Chapter 176. Deadline Approaching

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