Chapter 18: The Monster Core’s Cultivation Rate Support

"Every month a Class 1 Monster Core will be given, as well as free access to the first five levels of the library?" Hearing Bai En's explanation, Jian Chen's heart swelled up in marvel. Could it be that the students weren't able to even get a monster core every month? And who would have thought that the library would have a restriction imposed on it?

Receiving the medal, Jian Chen had already planned to ask his brother Changyang Hu about this later. He had already been in this academy for three or four days, but three of the days had been completely occupied by the martial arts competition. Even for the first day, he had barely half the day to himself, so he had very little time to find out more about the academy.

After Jian Chen exited from the arena, both Tie Ta and Tian Mu Xiong walked forward to accept their own prizes. After the ending ceremony, the crowd of students had already begun to disperse.

"Fourth brother, you're seriously amazing! You really did win first place in the competition; once father hears about this, he'll definitely be very happy about this." As the two walked towards his dorm, Changyang Hu kept chattering away happily with Jian Chen.

As the two continued to talk, Jian Chen started to laugh, as he couldn't help but feel the warm feelings he had remembered from his mother.

"If Mother found out about this, she would definitely be beyond happy." Jian Chen thought to himself.

In a flash, Changyang Hu and Jian Chen arrived at the dorms and entered Jian Chen's room. Changyang Hu impatiently asked Jian Chen, "Fourth brother, hurry up and show me the Class 3 Monster Core."

Looking at Changyang Hu's still excited expression, Jian Chen laughed and brought out the monster core from his space belt, handing it over to Changyang Hu.

Changyang Hu took the core into his hand and turned it around endlessly almost as if it was a treasured object. He clicked his tongue in admiration, "Fourth brother, you're seriously amazing, to immediately get a Class 3 Monster Core straight after entering the academy. Your older brother has already been at this academy for over 2 years, and the most I ever got was a Class 2 Monster Core. Moreover, I had to pay money for it."

Hearing this, Jian Chen could only chuckle, "Big brother, I've heard that you've already reached the peak of the 10th layer and will soon break through to the Saint level. You should take this Class 3 Monster Core." Jian Chen didn't regard the monster core as an important item, and although the Class 3 Monster Core would increase the rate of cultivation, Jian Chen didn't need it at all.

Changyang Hu was stunned at Jian Chen's words, but he quickly regained his wits and placed the Class 3 Monster Core back within Jian Chen's hands and said, "That won't do. This Class 3 Monster Core was something that fourth brother got after going through a painstaking amount of trouble. How could your big brother take something like this?"

Looking at the newly returned Class 3 Monster Core, Jian Chen smiled; he truly admired his big brother's actions just then. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry that Changyang Hu would be like third brother Changyang Ke, and become an obstacle towards him.

Once again, Jian Chen placed the Class 3 Monster Core in Changyang Hu's hands, "Big brother, this Class 3 Monster Core would be best with you." This time, Jian Chen really wanted Changyang Hu to accept the monster core.

"Definitely not!" Changyang Hu's refusal came out strong and clear, without any hesitation. He handed the monster core back to Jian Chen and said, "Fourth Brother, this monster core should be used by you. This is your reward for being the Freshmen Ruler. This item is definitely not something your big brother would want from you."

Seeing how persistent his brother Changyang Hu was, Jian Chen could only helplessly take back the Class 3 Monster Core.

After that, Jian Chen began to ask his older brother a few questions regarding the affairs of the academy. It had taken 3 hours for Changyang Hu to carefully explain every single rule that Jian Chen didn't understand about the academy, increasing Jian Chen's familiarity with the academy. First was Kargath Academy's headmaster, who favored students that weren't from a noble background. If he found a noble bullying a commoner, the student would definitely not be able to escape from punishment. Regarding battles between nobles, he would turn a blind eye, as long as it didn't turn into a major deal. Other than that, he didn't care about them at all.

Also, within the Kargath Academy, one would have to reach the Great Saint level in order to graduate. Those who graduate had the choice to remain in the academy, or with the Kargath Academy's recommendation, they could vow loyalty to a kingdom and join their army. Those with a great amount of potential would be able to earn a higher salary with the academy's recommendation.

Within the academy, those under the level of a Saint would have the chance to receive a Class 1 Monster Core every month to use to help their cultivations. The students who were at the Saint Level and condensed a Saint Weapon would be able to earn a Class 2 Monster Core every month. Aside from this, these students would also be able to go to the forest 20 miles away from the Kargath Academy to hunt magical beasts for their cores. Although the forest wasn't big, it still took up around 10 kilometers of area. The magical beasts inside the forest were all set free by the academy, but most of them were generally low leveled magical beasts. Their attack strengths were amongst the lowest of the beasts, and receiving a serious injury was unlikely.

Kargath Academy bred these low leveled magical beasts for the students to practice their martial arts in a real combat situation, as well as to allow the magical beasts to adapt to the wild. The strongest magical beast in the forest was no stronger than a Class 2 beast, while many of the animals were just regular wild beasts who couldn't even measure up to a Class 1 magical beast. However, if a Class 2 magical beast were to appear, then the academy would send out a few experts to take care of the monster in order to prevent the students from getting hurt.

The forest was separated into three regions: the first region was full of wild beasts who didn't even reach the level of a Class 1 magical beast. The second region was a place where Class 1 magical beasts dwelled. The final region was full of Class 2 magical beasts. All three areas had been successfully sealed and blockaded against the other areas by the previous generations of the headmaster, so no one would have to worry about the monsters escaping from the forest.

The academy also had a library, which was separated into 7 levels. Inside the library was a great amount of books, with an abundant amount of information. Aside from books about the continent's history, there were also many secret training manuals for practitioners. Students who had not yet reached Saint level would only be able to access the first two levels of the library. The moment a student reaches the level of a Saint and condenses his/her Saint Force into a Saint Weapon, then he/she would be able to enter the third and fourth levels. For any level above the fourth, the only people who could enter were teachers, or students at Great Saint level.

....

By the time Changyang Hu had finished telling Jian Chen about the information regarding the school, it was already quite late during the night. Changyang Hu thus hurried out of Jian Chen's dorm, and ran towards his own dormitory.

Meanwhile, at the top of a tower that was situated in the center of Kargath Academy, the vice-headmaster Bai En respectfully stood in front of an office desk. In front of him, was actually the headmaster Jian Chen had met before.

The headmaster of Kargath Academy extended his arm and stroked his long beard. Indifferently looking at the vice-headmaster, he said, "Bai En, did you say that the name of the freshman who won the competition was a kid called Changyang Xiang Tian?" The headmaster's tone held a hint of surprise.

Bai En nodded his head and said, "Yes, headmaster, I found out that Changyang Xiang Tian is quite remarkable. He is only at the 8th layer of Saint Force, but can already defeat freshmen that are at the 9th layer. His attacks are not only aggressive, but also quite agile and nimble. It also seems that he has plenty of combat experience, which does not match up with the strength he should have. Even Tie Ta, who has a body with heavenly force, lost to Jian Chen in a simple manner, unable to even counterattack"

Hearing this, the headmaster furrowed his brows and asked, "Bai En, is what you're saying really true? Is Changyang Xiang Tian really that amazing?"

"Headmaster, everything I said is the truth." said Bai En in a firm voice.

The headmaster slowly rose from his chair and muttered, "It looks like this kid Changyang Xiang Tian is a bigger genius than Chang Bai said. He didn't use any sort of monster core or heavenly treasure, and was still able to reach the 8th layer of the Saint Force by the age of 15; how astonishing of a feat. To think that he also has an abundant amount of battle experience, something like this is unfathomable." Even the headmaster's voice carried a hint of astonishment.

Hearing the headmaster mumble to himself, Bai En also had an astonished look on his face. The fact that he had not used any heavenly treasure or monster core to reach the 8th layer by the age of 15 was a type of talent within the Gesun Kingdom that could only be regarded as something a gifted genius could have.

"Headmaster, it looks like this Changyang Xiang Tian has a limitless future." Bai En sighed.

The headmaster nodded his head and said, "As long as he can continue to grow this way, then the skill he displayed today will definitely develop into something greater. It looks like our Kargath Academy will finally be able to boast of a strong individual, as long as he doesn't die on the road to greatness."

"As long as he really grows into a strong individual of the Tian Yuan continent, then not only our Kargath Academy become well known, but our Gesun Kingdom's reputation within the continent would also increase. Right now, the surrounding kingdoms around us are getting more and more restless; after these 10 or so years, if our Gesun Kingdom doesn't have any strong individuals, then I'm afraid that sooner or later, one of the kingdoms around us will attack."

After hearing this, Bai En's face gradually grew solemn; the Gesun Kingdom was neither a big kingdom nor a small kingdom, but it had fertile lands that many of the surrounding kingdoms were envious of. If it were not for the 6 experts of Gesun Kingdom, then the surrounding kingdoms would have long since attacked them.

Bai En pondered for a bit, before carefully asking, "Headmaster, should we consider giving away Class 1 and 2 Monster Cores to Changyang Xiang Tian for free then? That way, we could improve our relationship with him."

The headmaster considered the vice headmaster's proposal for a bit, before shaking his head, "That won't be possible. Although using a monster core can be used to increase one's cultivation rate, there are side effects of abusing it. Changyang Xiang Tian is currently very young, we cannot allow him to become addicted to using monster cores. Otherwise, when he reaches the later levels, his foundation will be very shaky, which will obstruct his future progress. At his current age, he should quietly focus on self discipline; it would help lay down the foundations and increase his chance of success in making a breakthrough."

"Yes, headmaster. Bai En understands what to do now." Bai En didn't dare to act against the headmaster. Besides, what the headmaster had said made plenty of sense.

"Headmaster, how do you plan to handle Tie Ta?" Bai En asked.

"Tomorrow morning, bring Tie Ta to me. If he is willing, I will take him in as a personal disciple." The headmaster replied after thinking about it for a while.

"Yes, headmaster!"

After Changyang Hu left his room, Jian Chen sat on his bed and contemplated the new information for a while. Afterwards, he crossed his legs, and with the Class 3 Monster Core in his hand, he began to absorb the energy from the Class 3 Monster Core into his body.

Inside the monster core was the soul of a magical beast. The energy within was not only pure, but also fairly strong. According to what Changyang Hu had said, the moment Jian Chen started to absorb the monster core, then he would start to feel a long stream of pure and strong energy flowing out of the core. It would flow up through his arm, and slowly be absorbed within his body.

Jian Chen manipulated the constant outward flow from the monster core to guide the energy into his body. Constantly refining the energy into his body, he gradually changed the energy into Saint Force, before gradually absorbing it into his dantian.

Using a monster core to cultivate really did increase the cultivation rate by many times.. Because of the normal way of cultivation, one would normally have to absorb the World Essence slowly before finally converting to one's own energy, but that couldn't compare to the speed of a monster core. The natural Qi couldn't compare to the pure soul energy of a monster core; after all, the soul of a monster core was the purest part of the beast. Using the energy from a monster core, the speed of cultivation would increase by 10 times. For this reason, monster cores were extremely expensive, even if it was only a Class 1 Monster Core.

Multiple rays of light gradually appeared between the sky and land. The bright red sun finally struggled to climb into the sky, sending forth the soft and warm rays of sunlight. The golden sunlight with tens of thousands of rays of light illuminated the earth, as if the whole ground was dyed into a golden carpet.

At the same time, the Jian Chen who was sitting cross-legged on the bed slowly opened his eyes. His eyes showed a happy expression, and the corners of his mouth also showed a hint of a smile. After last night's cultivation, Jian Chen had received many gains, equivalent to a few days' worth of training. By absorbing the power within the Magical Stone, Jian Chen's cultivation speed had actually increased by 10 times. Right now, he could clearly feel that the Saint Power inside his body had increased by a ton. Based on his calculations, he wasn't far from reaching the 9th Saint Force layer. According to his current speed, at most it would only take a weekend's worth of time to reach the 9th Saint Force layer.

Of course, this was only Jian Chen's estimate. The exact values had to be tested.

If the fact that the amount of power that Jian Chen had absorbed from within the Magical Stone was 10 times more than the amount normally gained from cultivating was discovered by others, they would definitely be devastated from shock. Even though the Magical Stone could quickly increase the rate of cultivation, it was also far from achieving the frightening pace of 10 times faster under normal circumstances. The average person using the Magical Stone to cultivate would normally only increase cultivation rate by two or three times. Even if the person was slightly more powerful, his or her cultivation rate would only be raised by six or seven times. Considering the fact that Jian Chen's power wasn't even Saint level, the fact that he could increase his cultivation rate by ten times was definitely an extremely frightening pace.

Seeing the Magic Stone in his hands, although the stone's color didn't change at all, Jian Chen clearly felt that the Magic Stone had shrunk by a circle after being gripped in his hand for the whole time.

After leaving the dorm, Jian Chen directly arrived at the dining hall. This morning, the dining hall's breakfast was a bit more plentiful. Besides from a glass of magical beast milk, there was also some magical beast meat. Jian Chen had eaten quite a bit of magical beast meat in the Changyang household, and the taste was quite delicious. In his previous world, Jian Chen had never eaten such savory meat before.