Astral Ascendant: My Goldfinger's Forte is Deception

Spiritual District

Zhao Fao's reaction was neutral on the surface but his heart rapidly skipped several beats at Su Jie's words.

"What are you talking about?" He feigned ignorance.

Su Jie only gave a mischievous smile and didn't reply. The next second, he turned to his right to chat with some other classmate, answering her questions on how the talent assessment went.

Zhao Fao thoughtfully gazed at Su Jie's side profile and frowned worriedly. He articulated his thoughts and communicated with his goldfinger in his mind.

"System, what are the chances that....."

*****

Three days later, when Zhao Fao gathered in the school yard with the rest of the class, the worry in his heart was only slightly reduced.

Although the system had assured him otherwise, he was still paranoid about the possibility of his goldfinger being exposed and snatched away. Who knew if Su Jie's event reset or whatever he called it was capable of affecting him, a goldfinger user too?

"Other goldfingers would initiate a rapid growth function to aid their hosts in times like this. For the umpteenth time, I can't help but wonder–"

[Ding! –what is the use of having me?]

Zhao Fao couldn't respond to the system humoring him as the loud voice of the principal echoed across the square that very moment.

"As you all know, you'll be leaving on a one-week trip to the Spiritual District today. Based on your individual preference, you will undergo the entrance assessments of your chosen universities. I wish you the best of luck!"

Following his words, the hooded figure from before threw a compass into the air.

Under the surprised gazes of the young students, it transformed into a portal.

"The legendary wormhole technology, a fusion of cultivation methods and advanced technology!"

Zhao Fao was impressed. In this world, the presence of cultivation made a lot of scientific inventions more applicable.

The portal technology was one such application that combined scientific methods of creating a wormhole with cultivation methods of space control.

By refining this ability and sealing it into a compass, it could be used as a handy transport tool anytime.

Of course, this technology was extremely expensive and could not be replicated on a grand scale. In the Federation, there were only thirteen of such Artifacts.

The hooded figure would go to other schools in the mortal district to open the portal for them after this.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Go in, the lot of you!"

The students moved in a bunch after the principal's snarl and entered the portal.

Su Jie and Zhao Fao entered too.

The former's expression was of heroic grandeur and undisguised ambition.

The latter's expression was a mix of curiosity and composure.

One looked like he was out to conquer some new territory....

The other looked like he was visiting a historical landmark as an archeologist.

........

The first thing that struck Zhao Fao the moment he stepped foot in the Spiritual District was the peculiar spirit in the air.

The feeling was quite strong and even caused his body to instinctively react.

It was....as if his body wanted to devour the 'oxygen' around him but lacked an organ with the corresponding function.

"This sensation should be because I've arrived in a spiritual energy-rich environment for the first time. My body knows that absorbing the Qi in the atmosphere is beneficial to it but can't do so without cultivation techniques and arts."

They place they landed was a primitive forest. Around them, there were tall trees blocking off their view.

Zhao Fao even wondered if they were still on the planet as the discrepancy in normalcy was too large.

"You lot should be the thirteenth batch of applicants!"

A melodious voice suddenly came from the horizon.

Majestically, a man dressed in white robes suddenly came flying into view.

As he moved closer, the branches of the tall trees were slashed off to make way for his entrance.

Under his feet, the beautiful silver sword supporting his weight shone coldly.

It was the famous Sword Kinesis Flight!

"Wow, he looks like an Immortal!"

"Wow, I want to look just like him in two years."

Su Jie took one look at the guy and snorted silently, "Humph, pretentious!"

Meanwhile, Chen Wang was secretly pleased upon seeing the dazed look in the eyes of some of the students.

Even though he wasn't very strong, seeing so many future powerhouses stare at him in hero worship was a pleasant feeling.

It was one of the reasons he applied for the escort role every single year.

"I'm Chen Wang, but I go by the pseudonym, Gleam. I will your tour guide."

Guo Meng was eager to make a first impression and hurriedly spoke, "Immortal, where do we sign up to cultivate the way of swordsmanship like your humble self?"

This time, Zhao Fao and Su Jie simultaneously cringed in embarrassment, both at the appellation and the 'wannabe' attitude.

Chen Wang replied, "I'm a member of the Azure Sword Institution. It's one of the only four Sword Colleges in the Spiritual District. Upon joining, you gain access to top inheritances on the Way of the Sword and other unimaginable benefits."

"Gleam, this is an escort task, not a private open poaching session for your college!" A bashful voice echoed mockingly as yet another person made an appearance.

Instinctively, most of the boys in the crowd glanced lecherously in the direction of the newcomer.

Her killer face was simply a perfect combination with the figure eight, the slim waist that was simply begging to be straddled, the red lipstick and high heels, the corset top and the leather pants she was wearing.

"Hello. I'm your co-guide and future senior sister, Zi Yun."

Her voice was very coy and made most of the guys start breathing heavily. It could almost be seen on their faces how very much they liked the idea of having a 'senior sister' like her.

"Damn vixen!" Chen Wang cursed under his breath.

The path of swordman advocated for strong willpower and naturally was against any methods that influenced the mind such as charm.

The sword colleges often had disagreements with the School of Rhythm that Zi Yun was from.

"Humph!"

With a loud bellow, Chen Wang mitigated the effect of Zi Yun's minor charm spell on the students.

"Our task is to lead you safely through the forest to the general admission campus and also impart to you some general information you need. I hope we have a fulfilling journey!"

Chen Wang guarded the rare while Zi Yun led the students forward through the thicket.

"What is cultivation?"

"Different school of thoughts have different answers to this. For example, to my School of Rhythm, cultivation is about grasping the natural rhythm of the universe.

To the swordsmen, to cultivation is to nurture the sword.

To the Buddhist practitioners, reality is a dream and cultivation is the journey.

To laymen like yourself, you can spare yourself the headache and think of cultivation as.....the path to becoming a walking nuclear reactor, or gaining the power of one!"

Zhou Jun was quite impressed by the last analogy. Indeed, cultivators absorbed the energy of the universe and used it to simulate natural processes similar to nuclear fission and fusion reactions of the sun.

Zi Yun continued, "I won't dwell on the categorization of each level, but cultivation is graded in star units. For example, I'm a two-star cultivator, and so is Chen Wang. As a result, we are significantly stronger than one-star cultivators, who are significantly stronger than ordinary mortals.

Universities and other advanced institutions in the Spiritual District will provide you the method to breakthrough the mortal limit and start cultivation. They also offer cultivation arts, techniques and resources, all of which can be exchanged for to advance your strength rapidly. Actually, Chen Wang and myself took on the escort task for your batch to earn credit points for our own cultivation later!"