Chapter 49: Qi training level 4

After leaving the arena, Li Yunxian finally took out her phone from her pocket, which had been vibrating nonstop.

She opened it and glanced at the group chat she had joined earlier—the one where she reported Yu Qiyao’s condition.

It had now become a dedicated group for their batch of new students at the Academy.

• Actually, Duan Qiu’s course-selling group had more people, but no one wanted to chat there openly under the teachers’ watchful eyes.

Li Yunxian skimmed through the chat and noticed two classmates who had just been below the Top 100 Arena.

There were too many people under the arena; she hadn’t even noticed them.

From the moment Yu Juanshu came to find her, there had been a lot of noise.

When Yu Juanshu fought that Sword Cultivator, those two classmates were wildly spamming messages in the group, urging Li Yunxian to stay calm and not fight Yu Juanshu.

As long as Li Yunxian refused to accept the challenge, Yu Juanshu couldn’t do anything to her.

They had already checked—Yu Juanshu was just a sharp-tongued troublemaker, but he didn’t swear!

Li Yunxian suspected they were implying something.

She was tempted to screenshot their messages and send them to Yu Qiyao, telling her to come out and beat those two up.

Li Yunxian continued scrolling down.

When Li Yunxian jumped onto the arena, the screams in the group chat were the loudest.

Everyone thought Li Yunxian was about to start fighting Yu Juanshu directly.

They frantically tagged her, urging her to get down immediately.

Then, the messages abruptly stopped.

The group chat fell into an inexplicable silence for quite a while, causing others to anxiously ask what had happened.

After some time, the two quietly sent a photo.

The arena was split in two, and on the platform was a stunned Yu Juanshu.

“This was cut by Yunxian.”

Just six simple words silenced the anxious crowd.

As students not yet officially enrolled, their only competition was the arena ranking.

Since they all participated in the Qingteng Selection Exam, they were confident enough to challenge some students with lower rankings in the Academy arena.

All of them, over a dozen, had stepped onto the arena before and knew just how solid the arena platform was.

No one could leave any marks on it.

Having watched many matches, they had rarely seen much damage.

Only today, during the Top 100 duel, had some stone fragments flown off.

But to split the arena in half…….

They had all worried for nothing.

Of course, some attention drifted elsewhere.

“Does the arena need to be compensated for?” a girl asked in the group, sounding deeply concerned.

She had attended two gatherings and was relatively familiar with Li Yunxian.

She remembered that Li Yunxian once mentioned, when chatting casually, how she had once split the school’s Iron Display Board and ended up paying 800 Spirit Stones in compensation.

This moment felt exactly like that.

Li Yunxian took out her phone, and the last message she saw was this one.

Li Yunxian:

“It probably doesn’t need to be….” Her pupils flickered as her fingers tapped the screen faster than ever.

“The arena is meant for students to spar casually, right? Surely nobody expects us to treat it like a priceless artifact while we practice sword moves?!”

Once Li Yunxian said this, the group chat instantly burst into laughter.

Soon after, the two noisy ones who had been screaming earlier finally replied to Li Yunxian after a brief pause.

“We asked a senior nearby. No compensation needed, it counts as normal wear and tear. But if it’s intentional damage, the finance teacher will want a serious talk.”

Li Yunxian breathed a sigh of relief and was about to put away her phone when a new message popped up.

“Yunxian, why did you leave just now? I heard you weren’t here just for the Top 100 matches? You only watched two rounds.”

Li Yunxian replied with a serious expression.

“Because it was cool!”

“Handle affairs with a sweep of the sleeve, hiding achievements and fame.”

“Staying there wouldn’t have that effect.”

The group fell silent again for a few seconds before bombarding her with a string of ellipses.

From a distance, Li Yunxian could faintly hear two people laughing uproariously near the arena.

Li Yunxian:

“I heard that…” she quietly tagged the two in the group.

Ignore them.

The two immediately sent a serious emoji and slid into a kneeling posture at lightning speed: “Sis, we’ll record everything for you!”

“The upcoming matches, we’ll record everything!”

Li Yunxian finally showed mercy in the group and expressed her satisfaction.

***

In the afternoon, Li Yunxian went to class as usual in Building 3.

Before reaching Room 1007, she was stopped by a group of people.

Looking at their anxious faces, Li Yunxian recognized them—they were students from the classes she had substituted for before.

None of them had attended yesterday’s class.

“Teacher, we just had something come up yesterday. We didn’t mean to skip; please give us another chance!”

“I was tricked. They said Assistant Instructor Cen is a Golden Core Sword Cultivator, and his beginner swordsmanship class would definitely be better than yours.”

“Assistant Instructor Cen even purposely scheduled his class at the same time as yours to lure us over.”

“We know we were wrong.”

Listening to their pleas, Li Yunxian sighed and repeated what she had said yesterday: “I only substitute teach. That’s all.”

“Just sign up for the classes. Nothing else matters.”

They all wore expressions of helplessness and despair.

“But there are no spots left.”

Li Yunxian’s expression remained indifferent as she walked past them.

“Then go to Assistant Instructor Hua.”

“I only substitute teach.”

Li Yunxian entered the classroom and glanced around.

The number of students was exactly 35 again.

However, among the newcomers, only one was a returning student from before; the rest were all new.

The returning student noticed Li Yunxian’s gaze and blushed deeply.

He had actually attended Assistant Instructor Cen’s class.

After the assistant released news about the class, he had made quite an intimidating promotion among the students.

It was a course that would last until the new students officially enrolled.

In the blink of an eye, several people booked all his classes.

His classroom was huge, fitting at least 120 people.

Half the seats filled up quickly.

Those who hadn’t come yesterday were caught between listening to accusations of Li Yunxian being a scammer and watching the assistant’s aggressive marketing.

That student had been a bit smarter.

When he saw the assistant switch on the PPT, he immediately sensed something was off.

He hurriedly rebooked the follow-up lessons, barely securing the last spot.

The new students in other classrooms, upon hearing that some fools had indeed been duped, rushed to snatch the remaining seats in “Assistant Instructor Hua Shunyu’s” course.

—Cultivators really need to improve their cultural scores!!

Otherwise, there are too many fools, and scammers might run out of targets!!

Li Yunxian wasn’t interested in whether the student returned or not.

Standing on the stage, she announced, “Class starts! Those who attended the previous class will practice the standard sword moves as usual.”

“Those who didn’t, please stand aside and start from the Sword Techniques Foundation Nine Forms.”

This time, no one caused any trouble.

Everyone obediently split into two groups as Li Yunxian instructed.

The six new students standing quietly in the back had shining eyes.

They had heard about what happened in class yesterday.

Li Yunxian calmly stated that she was only responsible for teaching the classes.

When they signed up, they implicitly agreed that Li Yunxian would proceed at the pace of the majority.

Those who signed up later and fell behind would have to catch up on their own.

That was normal.

Because other assistant instructors… more accurately, all teachers’ courses operated the same way.

No one would disrupt the entire class for the sake of a few students.

But Li Yunxian chose to split the class into two groups instead of ignoring the latecomers.

Recalling their past experiences, the new students felt tears welling up.

If only other teachers were as straightforward as Li Yunxian—“just teaching the class.”

However, their moment of gratitude was brief.

What awaited them next was the cruel, unrelenting version of Instructor Li, stripped of any warmth.

Simply put… pounding!!

After the class, Li Yunxian left with an indifferent air, leaving behind a mess of students groaning and massaging their limbs and backs.

“I used to watch from the window, and the teacher wasn’t like this!” one burst into tears.

The older students who had experienced yesterday’s class grimaced but still gave Li Yunxian some credit.

“The teacher is hitting you in the wrong spots deliberately to create pain memory.”

“After class, pay special attention to where it hurts and adjust your exertion there.”

This was what they discovered when practicing as instructed after class yesterday.

This teaching method was far more effective than relying solely on memory.

They felt their progress accelerate!

The new students wiped tears from their eyes.

“Teacher Li is so kind!!!”

Li Yunxian had no idea she was receiving thanks for hitting people.

After returning to her room, she watched some videos her classmates had taken and then resumed her cultivation.

She had decided to give up on Wanwuwu for the time being.

Whenever she went online, it was just a bunch of people chattering without any substantial suggestions.

All of them intended to take a shortcut and win the competition before the proposals were even submitted.

So, Li Yunxian tacitly assumed no one had any real issues and comfortably waited out the previously agreed week.

The only result of spending Wanwuwu’s time on cultivation was…

A huge consumption of Spirit Stones.

Four stones a day were insufficient to meet Li Yunxian’s needs.

She was grateful for the kind support from Director Chen Shuzhang in Jincheng.

Watching her Spirit Stones rapidly drain, Li Yunxian couldn’t help but feel more fondness for Chen Shuzhang, who was thousands of miles away.

Such a generous investment finally allowed Li Yunxian to exhaust all her Spirit Stones on hand and break into Qi Refinement Fourth Layer.

A new level unlocked, and Li Yunxian let out a deep breath.

The 144 Apertures could form a magical loop, a breakthrough with profound significance for cultivators.

Starting from Qi Refinement Fourth Layer, cultivators could use all kinds of spells!

Li Yunxian immediately cast a Cleanse Spell in her room.

The entire space looked brand new!

Being able to use magic was truly wonderful~

Li Yunxian sank comfortably into the soft, plush sofa.