Back at home, Chu Chen immediately opened his computer to check out the Daoist Schools in Celestial Star City.
An hour later, Chu Chen leaned back in his chair and exhaled deeply.
There are over twenty Daoist Schools, large and small, in Celestial Star City, but most are small-scale; there are only five major ones.
The Five Great Daoist Schools are Cyan Dragon Daoist School, Vermilion Bird Daoist School, Black Tortoise Daoist School, White Tiger Daoist School, and Qilin Daoist School.
The Five Great Daoist Schools in Celestial Star City are merely branches of the Alliance's Five Great Daoist Schools, showcasing their profound foundations.
Each Daoist School specializes in its unique domain, with the Cyan Dragon Daoist School excelling in training control-type guardian beasts.
The Vermilion Bird Daoist School excels in training agile attack-type guardian beasts.
The Black Tortoise Daoist School excels in training defensive guardian beasts.
The White Tiger Daoist School excels in training strong attack guardian beasts.
The Qilin Daoist School excels in training support-type guardian beasts.
As for those smaller Daoist Schools, they also have their areas of expertise, though their focus is narrower.
Take Thunder Daoist School for example; it only specializes in training a dozen types of Thunder Element guardian beasts.
The other Daoist Schools have similar limitations.
However, these smaller Daoist Schools have managed to survive under the dominance of the Five Great Daoist Schools due to their unique advantages.
Smaller Daoist Schools provide higher quality services, and the cost of learning skills is only half of that in the larger Daoist Schools.
Currently, Chu Chen has fifty thousand alliance coins, most of which need to be spent on cultivation resources, leaving only a small portion for skills acquisition.
Chu Chen sighed and finally decided to visit Thunder Daoist School to inquire about the prices.
Having made his decision, Chu Chen took out his phone to ask Chen Qian for half a day off.
Although the workload in the third year of high school is quite heavy, most of the time is spent on practice tests and revision, so missing a few days won't affect Chu Chen's excellent grades.
Chu Chen requested only half a day off, not because he feared impacting his studies, but because there's a soul skills class the next afternoon.
After asking for the reason, Chen Qian quickly approved his request.
Putting away his phone, Chu Chen began his cultivation for the day.
The next morning, after breakfast, Chu Chen hurried out the door and arrived at Thunder Daoist School, following the address.
Standing at the entrance of the Daoist School, Chu Chen looked around; Thunder Daoist School has two floors, with a total area of nearly four hundred square meters. Above the entrance hangs a large plaque, and four huge Dao flags are erected at the entrance.
Seeing this, Chu Chen shook his head helplessly, thinking the business of Thunder Daoist School might not be very good, or they wouldn't have gone to such lengths in advertising.
"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" a young girl's voice called out.
Chu Chen looked towards the source of the voice, realizing it came from inside Thunder Daoist School.
"I would like my guardian beast to learn some skills," Chu Chen replied with a smile.
"Please come in; we assure you our services will satisfy you," a girl in her twenties stepped out from the Daoist School.
The girl had fair skin, delicate features, wore her hair in a ponytail, dressed in a white tracksuit, and had a gentle smile playing on her lips, giving off a vibrant and youthful vibe.
Chu Chen nodded and said, "Could you tell me what the cost of learning skills is?"
The girl gestured for him to enter, saying, "Let's talk inside."
Heeding the words, Chu Chen stepped into the Daoist School.
"Bang bang bang."
Upon entering the Daoist School, Chu Chen heard a series of muffled sounds. Looking in the direction of the noise, he saw several Beast Masters already training their Guardian Beasts, among whom he recognized one.
This scene completely overturned his assumptions; though there were only three people, it was now only 8:15, and Thunder Daoist School had just opened at 8, indicating that business was indeed thriving, which was an indirect reflection of the strength of the Daoist School.
"Wang Yang, have you taken leave too?" Chu Chen waved to a boy not far away.
The boy looked over upon hearing his name; seeing Chu Chen, he promptly came over.
"Chu Chen, I didn't expect you to be here. Did you also contract a Thunder Element guardian beast?" Wang Yang said with a smile.
Chu Chen smiled and nodded at his question.
Wang Yang is a student from Class 3 in their third year, and the two had met during a Beastmaster encyclopedia knowledge competition.
After exchanging pleasantries, Chu Chen gained a rough understanding of Thunder Daoist School.
Wang Yang had joined Thunder Daoist School just the day before; he revealed that business was excellent, with dozens of Beast Masters coming to the Daoist School every day for cultivation, and the Daoist School holds monthly Beast Master exchange tournaments with substantial cash prizes and coupons for the winners.
Chu Chen was quite interested in this and, after detailed inquiry, found out the next exchange tournament is ten days away.
The exchange tournament is divided into three groups: Soul Pupil group, Soul Warrior group, and Soul Master group, and the prize money varies for each group—the champion of the Soul Pupil group receives twenty thousand alliance coins, the Soul Warrior group champion receives fifty thousand alliance coins, and the Soul Master group champion receives one hundred thousand alliance coins.
After chatting for a while, Chu Chen finally inquired about the training price for Thunder Blade.
Zhou Ying's face immediately brightened with joy as she replied with a smile, "Thunder Blade belongs to the Elite Level Skills, and the cost to learn it is fifty thousand alliance coins. However, students enjoy a 20% discount at the Daoist School, so you'd only need to pay forty thousand alliance coins."
Zhou Ying was the young woman who had greeted Chu Chen, and she was also the young mistress of Thunder Daoist School.
Lei Yao frowned upon hearing this; the price exceeded his expectations. If he spent forty thousand alliance coins on learning skills, he would be without cultivation resources for the next half month.
Zhou Ying seemed to notice Chu Chen's predicament; she took out a contract from the side and said with a smile, "We also have a contract to support newcomers on this side; you might want to have a look."
Chu Chen scratched his head with a bit of embarrassment as he took the contract.
A moment later, Chu Chen put down the contract and began to ponder.
The contract was not complicated, nor did it contain any hidden pitfalls. The only risk was that Lei Yao must comprehend Thunder Blade within three days, or he must pay forty thousand alliance coins.
If Lei Yao comprehends Thunder Blade within a week, Chu Chen must work at Thunder Daoist School for five months to repay the cost of learning Thunder Blade. Early repayment allows for early termination of the contract, and there's also a performance bonus, which doesn't count towards the debt.
The working hours are quite reasonable, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
After five months, if he wishes to continue working, remuneration will be negotiated based on skill level.
The working hours at the Daoist School do not conflict with his job at Food is Heaven; after some consideration, Chu Chen decisively signed the contract.
This contract from Thunder Daoist School genuinely aimed at supporting newcomers; with Chu Chen's current skills, earning forty thousand alliance coins in five months is as fanciful as dreaming.
"This way, please; I'll take you to learn the skills," Zhou Ying said with a smile.
Chu Chen promptly stood and followed Zhou Ying to the second floor.
The place was quite deserted, presenting rows of neatly arranged wooden shelves, numbering over a hundred. These bookshelves could generally be divided into two sections—the first section consisted of a dozen or so bookshelves placed in the front, each equipped with dozens of wooden boxes of equal specification on top.
The second section consisted of the remaining bookshelves, adorned with many books related to guardian beasts, as Chu Chen glanced over them briefly.
At the corner near the stairway was a study room, twenty square meters in size, with several tables and a dozen chairs inside, presumably used by many for book borrowing regularly.
Curiously observing the first section's shelves, Chu Chen noticed they marked the information relating to guardian beasts.
On the third shelf in the middle, he saw markings for Thunder Ape, with the first row marked Lightning Fist, the second row marked Thunderbolt Fist, the third layer marked Thunder Blade, the fourth layer marked Thunder Armor, and the fifth layer had only a single box marked with the words "Secret Technique".