"What kind of buildings are you looking to pick this time?" Han Li asked curiously.
"Hmm, I want two buildings that can speed up cultivation," Zhou Yan replied directly.
"Buildings that accelerate cultivation?" Han Li looked at Zhou Yan, then said, "You're probably not preparing them for yourself, are you? If it were for yourself, you'd only want one."
"We new students summon soldiers in our territories slower than others, so we can only use these buildings to compensate for the deficiencies in our cultivation realms," Zhou Yan answered.
Han Li nodded, summoned a magic artifact with a wave of his hand, and then flew towards a certain part of the academy with Zhou Yan.
"Elder, where are we going?" Zhou Yan asked.
"Of course, we're going to the place where the academy stores buildings. Do you think I, an outer sect elder, can casually carry those buildings around with me?" Han Li said.
"Oh, is that place very far?" Upon hearing about the building storage, Zhou Yan's heart fluttered with an inexplicable impulse.
"Kid, what's the point of telling you? If you're not afraid of death, go ahead and try to snatch them," Han Li said.
"Elder, what kind of person do you think I am? I'm a model student, recognized by the school. How could I possibly do something like raiding?" Zhou Yan replied with an air of utmost righteousness.
"You destroyed the twelve territories of the Long family, no, thirteen, and plundered everything inside. You even took hundreds of thousands of their soldiers. If you're a good person, then I must be a savior," Han Li said, refusing to believe Zhou Yan. He knew this kid was cunning.
"You can't say that. If they hadn't provoked me, I wouldn't have done it. Everything I did was out of necessity; I'm the victim."
Zhou Yan felt wronged. It was the Long family who attacked first, and in the end, he, the victim, won the "case," so how did he become the villain?
"Alright, if you have the ability, take whatever buildings you want from inside."
Han Li pointed to a location: a circular pagoda surrounded by mysterious formations and hidden powerful auras.
The formations alone were enough to cause demigod-level powerhouses to perish, not to mention the hidden experts.
"I have a feeling the elder really wants me to steal," Zhou Yan remarked.
"Don't spout nonsense, kid. I've brought you here. Take this and go in directly. You can find your own way back afterward."
After tossing a token to Zhou Yan, Han Li flew away, completely disregarding how Zhou Yan would return.
"Damn it! Not a shred of public spirit," Zhou Yan muttered, clutching the token and walking forward.
A winding bluestone path led upwards, revealing formations intertwined with the sky, filled with faintly discernible killing arrays.
Powerful divine senses swept over Zhou Yan. These individuals were formidable, perhaps even on par with Li Chungang. There was a demigod present, though Zhou Yan couldn't pinpoint their location, he could sense them clearly.
Before reaching the building, he saw an old man standing outside, ancient and wizened, sitting cross-legged like a statue.
Zhou Yan approached, presented his token, and said, "I've come to pick my prize."
"Wait," the old man said, uttering only one word.
"Wait?" Zhou Yan didn't understand. How long would he have to wait?
Soon, Zhou Yan sensed something. He turned and saw a beam of light flying from a distance, carrying three figures.
"Outer sect disciples." Zhou Yan recognized their status from the color of their robes.
Zhou Yan now understood; they were waiting for other disciples to arrive together to select their rewards, as he wasn't the only one who had achieved first place.
Two outer sect disciples arrived and also presented their tokens. They were also first in this trial, but not everyone was like Zhou Yan, capable of achieving dual first places.
"It's you." Upon seeing Zhou Yan, the two outer sect disciples recalled the previous trial with the introductory disciples.
Zhou Yan, not recognizing them, said, "Greetings, senior brothers."
"Indeed, indeed. I am Feng Wenwen."
"And I am Xie Boxue."
The two introduced themselves and then asked, "Are you alone?"
"Yes, I got two first places," Zhou Yan replied.
The two were speechless.
Indeed, one shouldn't compare themselves to others. Everyone who entered Ziwei Academy was exceptional, but there were still a few anomalies among them.
A while later, two more figures appeared, dressed in blue robes, an introductory disciple pair, a male and a female.
They glanced at Zhou Yan and the others before presenting their tokens.
Finally, the core disciples, dressed in yellow, also arrived.
The building's entrance opened, and seven people walked in.
Zhou Yan's reward was two R-grade buildings. The first floor contained S-grade buildings, which Zhou Yan ignored, proceeding directly to the fourth floor.
The two outer sect disciples were also rewarded with buildings of this quality and were browsing on the same floor.
As for the inner and core disciples, they ascended to the fifth floor and above.
There were numerous shelves, each labeled with the type of building, allowing them to select based on category.
Barracks, Houses, Rivers, Bridges, Defensive Towers, City Walls...
Ziwei Academy's collection of buildings was indeed vast. Each type had over a hundred variations.
Zhou Yan naturally wished to take them all but only dared to think about it.
He finally found a building of the [Cultivation] type. There were only three of them.
The first was [Spiritual Gathering Mountain]. Its description stated it was a place that gathered spiritual energy and enhanced cultivation. The higher its level, the larger the mountain range would become.
This place was quite suitable for territories with a large population, and Zhou Yan found it excellent.
He then looked at the second building, called [Cultivation Space]. This building created a cultivation dimension where the cultivation time inside differed from the time outside.
However, this building required a significant amount of materials, making it difficult for most people to gather them, thus hindering its level progression.
"This building is perfect. Material issues are nothing for me," Zhou Yan said without hesitation, taking the box.
The box was sealed with a restriction that required the elder outside to unseal it. Zhou Yan had no idea what the building inside looked like.
The last building was a solitary cultivation structure, allowing only one person to cultivate. Although its effects were good, Zhou Yan's primary goal was to enhance the overall strength of his territory, so he did not choose it.
After making his selection, Zhou Yan took the [Spiritual Gathering Mountain] and [Cultivation Space] buildings outside and handed them to the elder.
The elder circulated his spiritual energy, broke the seal, and gave the buildings to Zhou Yan.