Chapter 3562 — Spirit Jade

"Favoring these cultivation second-generations right from the start—so much for treating everyone as equals!" The crowd of grassroots rogue cultivators below the platform erupted in fury.

If favoring the cultivation second-generations had always been the Welcoming Pavilion's rule, then so be it—the others might resent it, but they would have no choice but to accept it. Yet Hu Yunfeng had put on a show of fairness and impartiality, dangling beautiful hopes before these grassroots rogue cultivators, only for reality to prove so cruel. No wonder they were so incensed!

Hearing that voice, Hu Yunfeng's expression flickered slightly, but he quickly recovered and looked out at the crowd. "You all come from the mortal cultivation world or from the cultivation tribes on this island," he said calmly. "Tell me—in the cultivation world, what do you call fairness? Skyward Pavilion and Mystic Mechanism Pavilion are simply stronger than Azure Cloud Pavilion. This arrangement is made according to overall strength. If you think you have what it takes, then one day, when you enter Azure Cloud Pavilion and turn it into the greatest pavilion on our Heaven-Tier North Island, surely the finest caves will go to Azure Cloud Pavilion first. So tell me, where is the favoritism? What I do, I do for fairness and justice, with no selfish motive. Even when I assign you the finest cave, I gain nothing myself—is that not so?"

Fine and high-sounding as these words were, they conveyed one simple truth: might makes right. And though the Azure Cloud Pavilion people chafed to hear it, there was nothing they could do.

With those few sentences, Hu Yunfeng had laid the cruelty of cultivation bare before everyone. For the weaker grassroots rogue cultivators of Azure Cloud Pavilion especially, it came down to eight words: if you've got a way, think of it; if you haven't, drop dead.

Fairness? When in the history of the world had there ever been true fairness? That the strong are honored—that is the most fundamental truth of this world, and it holds everywhere.

With Hu Yunfeng's speech concluded, the Welcoming Assembly came to a hasty end. For all the newcomers, however, what came next was what they cared about most: the allocation of caves.

By the Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng's account, the finest cultivation caves must naturally be reserved for the cultivation second-generations of Skyward Pavilion, the slightly inferior ones for the old men of Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, and only the worst of the lot for the grassroots rogue cultivator newcomers of Azure Cloud Pavilion.

The tide had turned this way, and with the newcomers' meager strength, it certainly could not be reversed. For the grassroots newcomers of Azure Cloud Pavilion, the most practical concern now was how to pick the relatively better ones among these worst caves. After all, one must pick the tallest among the dwarves—even this worst batch of cultivation caves had good and bad among them.

The cultivation second-generations of Skyward Pavilion were not to be provoked; the old men of Mystic Mechanism Pavilion were not to be provoked. That left only their own Azure Cloud Pavilion people—all of them rootless grassroots rogue cultivators alike, so surely they could contend among themselves.

Led by Meng Jueming and the Miserable Senior Brother, everyone set off toward the Azure Cloud Pavilion cultivation caves, each nursing their own thoughts. The caves were not far from the main pavilion of the Welcoming Pavilion—they lay in the mountain range just behind it.

"Brother Lin, the spiritual qi on this mountain is incredibly dense," Xiao Che said with feeling to Wei Zhao. "By comparison, the spiritual qi in the mortal world is so thin it might as well not exist—a difference of a hundredfold at least. No wonder everyone dreams of coming to this Cloud-Tier Island."

Wei Zhao could not help nodding. Both of them had come up from the mortal world, so they felt this especially keenly. Back at the Welcoming Pavilion they had not noticed it, but the moment they set foot in the mountains, they immediately sensed the spiritual qi permeating the air—something almost unimaginable in the mortal world.

Still, Wei Zhao had the jade pendant space, so his need for the world's spiritual qi was not particularly great. At this moment, he simply feigned surprise.

"Hey! Regular country bumpkins who've never seen the world—making a fuss over such a little bit of spiritual qi. You're really an embarrassment to our Azure Cloud Pavilion." Meng Zhou, walking up ahead, turned his head and sneered in that sly, insinuating way.

The others chimed in with jeering laughter. They had been fretting over the upcoming cave allocation, each with a nervous heart, but seeing these two country bumpkins from the mortal world, Wei Zhao and Xiao Che, they instantly found their confidence. The two worst cultivation caves would, needless to say, go to these two.

Mocked and ridiculed so brazenly, Xiao Che's face flushed crimson. Wei Zhao, however, showed no reaction beyond a faint smile. These people were nothing but warped-minded buffoons—unable to breathe under the pressure of Skyward Pavilion and Mystic Mechanism Pavilion, they had come running to him to assert their existence. Why take them to heart?

Seeing this, the Miserable Senior Brother could only smile bitterly and come to their rescue. "You two juniors may not know," he said, "but the mountain beneath our feet is no ordinary mountain. It is a spirit mountain; a vast vein of spirit jade lies buried below, which is why spiritual qi seeps up from the ground and diffuses through the air, far denser than anywhere else on the island."

"A spirit jade vein? Could it be that this spirit jade vein holds the world's spiritual qi?" Wei Zhao's heart stirred; it reminded him of the true-qi energy stones of the mortal world.

"Indeed. Spirit jade can be mined from the spirit jade vein, and within the spirit jade is stored an extremely dense spiritual qi—a superb item for assisting cultivation. According to the rules, the Welcoming Pavilion distributes one piece of spirit jade to each of you every month. You'll understand once you've tried it," the Miserable Senior Brother explained.

A piece of spirit jade every month? That sounded like a decent benefit—though he had no idea how effective it would be, or how it compared with his own jade pendant space.

But from what Wei Zhao could sense so far, even if this spirit jade was stronger than the energy stones, it probably could not hold as much energy as his jade pendant space.

What Wei Zhao was more eager to know at this moment was something else entirely. Spirit jade might sound a notch above the mortal world's energy stones, but in essence, both held the world's spiritual qi. Since his jade pendant space could recharge the energy stones of the mortal world, would it have the same effect on spirit jade?

For instance, could he take spirit jade that others had used up and recharge it? If spirit jade really was better than the jade pendant space, and he could recharge it too—then that would be a peerless weapon for cultivation!

This question bore on his grand plans for cultivation in the days ahead. Once the spirit jade was in hand, he would have to test it as soon as possible.

"Senior Brother Ku, are these cultivation caves also connected to the spirit jade vein?" Xiao Che asked suddenly from the side.