The teachers and leaders on the stage of the assembly hall ignored the commotion below and announced the final item of the selection trial.
The Four Great Academies’ enrollment.
“Jifa, Tiantong, Wenwu, Pingnan — each of the Four Great Academies’ Qingteng Classes has 25 slots, to be filled in order of ranking.
If a class’s slots are already full, those who still choose that academy will be placed into the Ordinary Class.”
“Now, please pick up your testing devices and begin selecting.”
“First place, Jin City’s Li Yunxian.”
Li Yunxian picked up the device and, looking at the four academy names, directly pressed the ‘Tiantong’ option.
On the big screen behind the podium, under the name Tiantong, the number 1 appeared.
“Second place, Xia City’s Qu Yingzi.”
Qu Yingzi hesitated upon seeing Li Yunxian’s choice but still selected the academy she had decided on from the start.
The number 1 appeared under Pingnan Academy.
“Third place, Capital City’s Shen Bofeng.”
The Jifa teacher on stage looked ashen.
He had already notified Shen Bofeng’s grandfather, who was their academy’s Professor Shen.
But distant aid could not solve immediate troubles. Shen Bofeng stubbornly refused to listen to his own grandfather.
In the end, the number under Tiantong changed to 2.
The entire hall was stunned by this.
Everyone had assumed Shen Bofeng would definitely choose Jifa.
The most shocked was, of course, Ying Qian.
He widened his eyes at Shen Bofeng and asked, “You’re not going to Jifa?”
“Why would I? Whatever Jifa can teach, I can get directly from my grandfather. What he can’t teach, I can learn at Tiantong, right?” Shen Bofeng hadn’t made this decision lightly to follow Li Yunxian.
And… it actually made some sense.
Ying Qian looked at the four academy names on the screen and decisively chose Tiantong.
“Tiantong is the home ground for Martial Cultivators. There, I’m going to be the top dog, and you’ll be second!” Ying Qian bragged.
Shen Bofeng glanced at Ying Qian’s right shoulder blade and sneered. Everything was clear without a word.
Li Yunxian was taking advantage of his weakness in close combat, but she hadn’t lost in spellcraft.
Ying Qian and Li Yunxian were both Martial Cultivators, and at Qi Refining Sixth Layer, when facing each other directly, Ying Qian was skewered through in just a few moves.
Ying Qian was the one truly embarrassed.
He clearly caught the mockery in Shen Bofeng’s laugh and gritted his teeth.
Ying Qian was not someone who couldn’t stand losing, but precisely because of Shen Bofeng’s awful attitude, he was determined to defeat him at least once!
Seeing these results, the Jifa teacher’s face turned completely gray and defeated.
The teachers from Tiantong recalled how smug the Jifa teacher had been at the start of the trial and couldn’t help but laugh.
This was truly a blessing falling from the sky.
Li Yunxian paid little attention to the two; she was mainly focused on the choices of people she knew.
Lin Xiufeng ultimately chose Jifa, as he was a Spell Cultivator.
Jifa, being the first choice for Spell Cultivators, was the first academy to fill all 25 spots.
The other three academies’ numbers weren’t too far apart, and by the time it was Yu Qiyao’s turn at rank 76, there were still slots available.
She also chose Tiantong.
After selecting, Yu Qiyao waved towards Li Yunxian, and immediately, a message popped up on Li Yunxian’s phone.
“Yunxian, looking forward to working with you!”
Li Yunxian smiled warmly and replied with a smiley face.
With several top-ranking students like Li Yunxian leading the way, those who could go wherever they wanted also chose Tiantong.
By the time Jiang Yuan’s turn came, only Wenwu and Pingnan remained.
Jiang Yuan looked a bit regretful.
He actually wanted to go to Tiantong as well.
In the end, Jiang Yuan chose Pingnan and said, “Being closer to home isn’t bad either.”
***
After the last candidate finished selecting, the trial ended, and the students began to disperse.
Li Yunxian stood up as well.
Carrying blankets, cushions, and other miscellaneous items, she headed back to Qingdao.
Li Yunxian returned the items to their owners and asked aloud, “How are we going to get to the Four Great Academies later?”
The Qingdao students knew Li Yunxian was still unfamiliar with these matters.
For such common knowledge among geniuses, they had no doubts and answered directly, “If you want to go to the academies early, follow the teachers of your respective academy the day after tomorrow.”
“We’ll gather at the Cultivation Hall.”
“But since official classes start in two months, if you don’t want to go so early, you can wait.”
“The Four Great Academies will send people to provincial capitals to pick up accepted students and take them to the academies.”
Li Yunxian was surprised: “Do the academies really have to send someone to pick us up?”
A Qingdao student answered, “It’s not a strict rule, but all Four Great Academies are built deep in the mountains, where monsters and demons roam.”
“We, in Qi Refinement, aren’t strong enough to handle them.”
“I heard only Golden Core True Persons can freely come and go in the academies.”
After the explanation, Yu Qiyao turned to Li Yunxian and asked, “Yunxian, when are you planning to go to Tiantong?”
Li Yunxian answered decisively, “The day after tomorrow.”
At Qi Refinement Second Layer, spiritual energy was just too scarce.
Every battle ended quickly because her Qi ran out so fast.
For Li Yunxian, that was unbearable.
She wanted to get to an academy rich in Qi as soon as possible to cultivate.
Yu Qiyao smiled, “Then I’ll go the day after tomorrow as well.”
Just then, Shen Bofeng’s mocking voice came from behind: “Go early and cultivate well, so you don’t still end up at Qi Refinement Second Layer when classes start.”
He had obviously overheard Li Yunxian and the Qingdao student’s conversation.
His words made the atmosphere awkward.
The Qingdao students, who had been excitedly planning their future arrangements, all turned cold and gave Shen Bofeng hostile looks.
Li Yunxian turned around with a bright smile and looked at Shen Bofeng: “Thanks for your concern. I’ll take good care of my injuries, and you remember to take care of yourself too.”
“Don’t end up unable to withstand a beating.”
Li Yunxian’s words immediately left the Qingdao crowd confused and unsure.
Huh?
So Shen Bofeng’s words were actually concern for others’ health?
Shen Bofeng himself went through a range of expressions, finally settling on red.
He had come to provoke, but Li Yunxian had turned the tables using a beauty’s wiles!
That was too much!
Blushing and speechless for a long moment, Shen Bofeng clicked his tongue and left in embarrassment.
Li Yunxian:
What was going on? Did she just flirt with him?
She suspected Shen Bofeng didn’t even realize the true meaning behind her words.
Ying Qian smiled broadly, watching the scene.
After Shen Bofeng left in frustration, he said to Li Yunxian, “That guy really talks like he wants to get smacked, doesn’t he?”
Li Yunxian looked at Ying Qian calmly and said softly, without hurry, “Not really. Who told him he can’t beat me.”
“How to put it…
When others make a fuss for no reason, it’s just annoying noise.
But when you’re the one who provokes it, it’s an absolutely beautiful melody.”
Ying Qian, who hadn’t beaten Shen Bofeng:
Ying Qian mournfully: “Your mouth is even more venomous than Shen Bofeng’s!”
Shen Bofeng was just annoying; Li Yunxian’s words were outright piercing!
Seeing Ying Qian sulk and walk away, Li Yunxian shrugged innocently and looked back at the Qingdao crowd.
Someone was the first to laugh, and soon everyone was laughing together.
They left the assembly hall and all returned to the hotel for a deep sleep.
After nearly ten hours of competition, even with their enhanced physical condition, it was a heavy burden.
When Li Yunxian woke, it was already halfway through the next day.
After a simple meal, Li Yunxian logged into Ten Thousand Things.
After being ill for two days, it was time to heal her body.
Her first outing had been to the Testing Center, where she encountered an attack.
Her second outing, perhaps her arrival at the Capital City, was also met with an attack.
The chance of being attacked during outings was just too high, so Li Yunxian thought she should be more careful.
Logging into Ten Thousand Things, Li Yunxian glanced at her account balance: just over 6,300.
In just two days, her earnings had grown at a normal rate, but… it seemed the income was mostly from Symbol Talismans, while potions hadn’t been credited yet.
Li Yunxian wanted to check on Sheng Yu’s situation, but when opening the message panel, she saw the number 999+ next to Sheng Yu’s name.
Had something big happened?
Li Yunxian was startled and hurriedly opened the messages, but after scanning them, she expressionlessly closed it again.
Nothing serious, just that Sheng Yu had accidentally added a chatterbox.
Anyway, 6,000 was enough for her to use.
Li Yunxian felt she wasn’t ready to deal with an overly talkative friend.
Opening the exchange shop, Li Yunxian habitually scanned the product list.
Her eyes suddenly froze when she saw the Bloodbone.
Why was the exchange shop’s price increasing?
Below the Bloodbone’s price was boldly marked 5,000 game coins.
More than double the previous price.
And only the Bloodbone’s price had risen.
Li Yunxian was a bit confused.
But since she didn’t currently need Bloodbone, she didn’t pay much attention.
She went to the herbal section, exchanged for two Lingcao, and without lingering, logged off.
At that moment, the auxiliary medicinal materials she ordered via rapid delivery also arrived.
— This was proof that the Capital City truly was the heart of Shenzhou.
Whatever you wanted, as long as you had the money, you could buy it immediately with no waiting.
Borrowing the hotel kitchen, Li Yunxian used the spiritual power of Spirit Stones to refine the Revitalizing Pill.
It was perfect quality.
The mastery of technology over the cooking process was truly precise.
Li Yunxian returned to her room and swallowed the pill.
A boundless itching spread through her body, like countless ants crawling inside.
This was the sign of damaged meridians healing within.
Half an hour later, Li Yunxian’s internal injuries were fully restored.
The remaining spiritual power from the Revitalizing Pill also stimulated her acupoints.
Two previously unopened acupoints were activated.
Li Yunxian opened her eyes.
She had reached Qi Refining Third Layer.