The new semester began, and the academy’s teleportation gates activated. Freshmen from all across Shenzhou, along with returning students, appeared one after another within the academy.
The atmosphere inside the academy suddenly became lively and bustling.
Li Yunxian followed Yu Qiyao to pick up the students from Qingdao; everyone was especially excited.
“How do we survive in the academy, Qiyao? Yunxian, you have to teach me.”
“Qiyao, you’ve already found a teacher at the Spirit Division stage! That’s amazing. From now on, we’ll rely on you to watch over us.”
“Yunxian, what about you? Is your teacher at the Spirit Division or the Union stage?” The Qingdao students naturally assumed that since Yu Qiyao already had a teacher, Li Yunxian definitely had one too.
Li Yunxian’s expression was serious as she said, “Neither. I became a teacher myself.”
At these words, the Qingdao students burst into laughter.
They all thought Li Yunxian was joking, but Yu Qiyao quietly smiled with a teasing expression.
She knew Li Yunxian was telling the truth.
“In just a blink, both Qiyao and Yunxian have reached the fifth layer of Qi Refinement. If I’d known earlier, I’d have come to the academy sooner.”
“The academy’s spiritual energy is just too abundant.” The person’s voice was full of uncontrollable envy.
Li Yunxian smiled.
She had just broken through that morning. Only she knew how many spirit stones she had spent to soar two layers in just two months.
Yu Qiyao also smiled but didn’t respond.
Looking back on the past two months felt like recalling another lifetime.
The others were still caught up in the excitement of the new semester, chattering and laughing among themselves.
“You wouldn’t have come even if you knew.”
“You mama’s boy, five years stuck in the academy with no way out. I bet you’ve been clinging to your mother the whole time these past two months.”
The person chuckled, showing no intention of refuting and even seemed proud of it.
“By the way, I saw the new course registration info on my phone. We have to choose courses ourselves. Qiyao, Yunxian, which classes are must-grabs?”
Yu Qiyao replied, “For general courses, consider Assistant Instructor Duan Qiu’s Acupoint class. I asked around; it’s pretty good.”
Back then, Duan Qiu had saved their Qingdao bus, and compared to other assistants, she wasn’t far behind. Qingdao students would naturally choose Assistant Instructor Duan first.
“For specialized courses, you’ll need to find professors that suit you,” Yu Qiyao said slyly, “But recently, the most famous one is Assistant Instructor Hua’s ‘Introduction to Swordsmanship Course.’”
In response, Li Yunxian pinched Yu Qiyao’s side to make her squirm.
Shen Bofeng glanced at the Qingdao group’s laughter and pridefully strode toward the Practice Arena.
He was confident in his own strength. Now that he had arrived at Tiantong Academy, he wouldn’t settle for anything less than first place among this year’s students in combat.
Li Yunxian had defeated him on the Qingteng Ranking platform, but that was a fluke in the virtual setting.
The platform was virtual, which was why Li Yunxian dared to cut off her own arm without blinking.
Hah, would she dare to do that in reality?
This time, he absolutely would not lose!
Ying Qian saw through Shen Bofeng’s intentions and immediately followed behind with a look of anticipation, eager to see a show.
The two arrived at the Practice Arena.
Like Li Yunxian, they saw the leaderboard posted at the arena entrance.
It clearly displayed the current top one hundred competitors.
Their eyes naturally went straight to the first place.
Cao Donghe, Qi Refinement, Great Perfection.
Lian Ping had successfully advanced to Foundation Establishment, completed registration, and was undergoing graduation procedures.
Her name naturally disappeared from the first place on the leaderboard.
The two scanned the entire list casually, finally spotting a familiar name at rank 73.
- Li Yunxian, Qi Refinement, Fifth Layer.
Thanks to the great kindness of the Silver Ginkgo Fairy, the recent Secret Realm experience was thrilling enough for most students. Those who advanced to graduation had increased by batches.
Nearly twenty from the top hundred on the arena leaderboard had moved on at once.
Li Yunxian’s ranking had risen significantly.
Shen Bofeng and Ying Qian couldn’t help but suspect it was someone with the same name, but seeing that the others near that rank were either Qi Refinement Ninth Layer or Great Perfection…
***
Looking again, the Li Yunxian listed was exactly at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer they had just seen her at.
There was no doubt — they were the same person!
“Is this all Tiantong Academy has to offer?” Shen Bofeng was shocked and couldn’t help but blurt out.
His grandfather was a professor at Jifa Academy, and he occasionally trained there.
He knew the weight that the Four Great Academies’ arena leaderboards carried.
He had faced Li Yunxian before. Even though her cultivation quickly rose from Qi Refinement Second to Fifth Layer, martial skills required constant accumulation.
Power didn’t simply double with each cultivation breakthrough.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many Qi Refinement Great Perfection practitioners ranked around one or two thousand.
His words immediately drew attention from the others around the Practice Arena.
All cultivators there were sharp-eared and sharp-eyed — no one had misheard.
They looked at Shen Bofeng with growing displeasure. One by one, they approached and said in unfriendly tones, “Who are you?”
Some didn’t know Shen Bofeng. Seeing his Qi Refinement Eighth Layer level and the tone of his words, they assumed he was a troublemaker from another academy.
Others recognized him.
But it was well known Shen Bofeng was from Jifa Academy, so that made him a troublemaker from an outside academy for sure.
Sensing the hostile gazes aimed at him along with Shen Bofeng, Ying Qian’s expression fell in despair.
He shouldn’t have followed Shen Bofeng here.
Seeing himself about to be lumped in with Shen Bofeng, Ying Qian hurriedly said, “We’re freshmen this year. We don’t know anything!”
The crowd listened. Those unfamiliar with Shen Bofeng immediately became cautious.
“They’re Li Yunxian’s cohort…”
Shen Bofeng and Ying Qian heard the murmurs.
Ying Qian froze at the words, but Shen Bofeng’s expression darkened with displeasure.
Others were always referred to as “so-and-so’s subordinate” or “Shen Bofeng’s whatever.” Even his own grandfather had been called “Shen Bofeng’s grandfather.”
But when was he ever referred to as “Li Yunxian’s cohort”?
“What are you talking about!” Shen Bofeng snapped.
The crowd ignored his displeasure.
They had either seen Li Yunxian completely dismantle Yu Juanshu or experienced the ‘shameless’ Silver Ginkgo Fairy in the Xuanwen Secret Realm.
No matter how they felt about Li Yunxian, there was one thing everyone agreed on: she was strong.
No one thought being called “Li Yunxian’s classmate” was insulting, and no one realized Shen Bofeng’s reaction.
They simply disregarded his complaints and recalled his original arrogant remarks.
“I heard Li Yunxian was first on this year’s Qingteng Ranking. What place are you?” someone asked curiously.
That question struck Shen Bofeng at his sorest spot, leaving him utterly infuriated.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, Shen Bofeng coldly declared, “Whoever dares challenge me and wins, I’ll answer your question.”
Faced with his words, the crowd grew cautious.
When Li Yunxian was at Qi Refinement Third or Fourth Layer, she had already beaten many people to cries of pain.
Yu Qiyao, at Fourth Layer Qi Refinement, had fought fiercely against Du Rong just days ago.
Everyone on this year’s Qingteng Ranking seemed formidable.
Shen Bofeng had reached Qi Refinement Eighth Layer upon entering the academy.
By calculation, his power must be incredible!
Few present dared to accept the challenge.
But backing down was not an option.
As seniors, they couldn’t all collectively chicken out from facing a freshman.
Even if Li Yunxian had put out the challenge herself, and even if they couldn’t win, someone had to step forward.
Winning was one matter, but daring to accept was another.
Their gazes collectively landed on the highest-ranked person among them.
Xu Zhu:
The others in the top hundred were either in seclusion or training, leaving her alone in the Practice Arena.
Xu Zhu showed a helpless expression and drew her weapon — also a spiritual sword.
She bowed slightly to Shen Bofeng, “I am Xu Zhu, currently ranked 81st in the arena, Qi Refinement Great Perfection. Please take care of me.”
Rank 81, slightly lower than Li Yunxian’s.
“Good!” Shen Bofeng immediately accepted.
Li Yunxian and Yu Qiyao happily strolled with the Qingdao students.
Due to previous access restrictions, there were many places they hadn’t visited before. This time, they could experience it together.
While wandering, they suddenly noticed that a classmate from the Capital City looked anxious.
Something seemed wrong.
Li Yunxian and Yu Qiyao exchanged a glance and led the others toward the Capital City group.
“What’s wrong?” Li Yunxian asked.
The Capital City students saw it was Li Yunxian and hurriedly said, “Shen Bofeng and Ying Qian got beaten up!”
Li Yunxian and Yu Qiyao were stunned.
This situation sounded oddly familiar…
And it involved Shen Bofeng and Ying Qian.
These were two completely unexpected people.
Earlier at registration, Shen Bofeng and Ying Qian had noticed Li Yunxian, and of course, she noticed them too.
Over the past two months, whether it was her and Yu Qiyao growing or those two, everyone had advanced a level.
Based on Li Yunxian’s understanding, Shen Bofeng and Ying Qian’s cultivation were still high within the academy.
Ying Qian should be ranked between 500 and 700, while Shen Bofeng, Li Yunxian guessed, was probably around 200 to 300.
That was assuming many Qi Refinement Great Perfection cultivators had broken through recently.
Who was strong enough to seek out the two tough nuts of this cohort?
And they even supposedly won against both.
With Du Rong’s previous example, could there really be such arrogant people inside the academy?
Li Yunxian was stunned and asked, “Where? Who?”
“At the Practice Arena. Xu Zhu and Zheng Jiping.”
Li Yunxian’s expression turned speechless.
The Capital City student added.
Yu Qiyao, seeing Li Yunxian’s odd expression, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Li Yunxian replied flatly, “I know Xu Zhu. She’s a decent person.”
When she first met Yu Juanshu, it was Xu Zhu who kindly explained things to her.
Since Xu Zhu was decent, and leaving Ying Qian aside for now, everyone knew what kind of person Shen Bofeng was.
The few exchanged glances, silently looking away.
Shen Bofeng, Ying Qian, you two just take your beating.
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