The suffocating silence within the Grand Meeting Hall of the Central Administrative Building was finally broken.
Teacher Ruo Lin remained bowing, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. The combined spiritual pressure of over a dozen Dou Huangs was not meant for a Da Dou Shi to endure.
"Deputy Headmaster Hu Gan," Ruo Lin began, her voice steady despite the trembling in her hands. "I have already submitted a comprehensive written report detailing every single piece of information regarding the Wu Tan City recruitment. I assure the council that I withheld nothing regarding the youth named Xiao Ning."
At the head of the obsidian table, the white-haired man gently shook his head. The ambient worldly energy in the room seemed to mimic his movement, swaying softly like a physical breeze.
"Paper is cold, little Ruo Lin. It lacks the nuance of human experience," Hu Gan said, his raspy voice carrying an undeniable, absolute authority. "We have read your report. Now, we need to hear it from you. Completely. From the moment you laid eyes on him, to the moment he stepped off that griffin today."
The Deputy Headmaster leaned back in his grand chair, a faint, calculating smile touching his lips.
"Do not hold back out of fear of sounding ridiculous," Hu Qian continued.
"We are here to conjure our theories on how this strange incident occurred and bring this anomaly to a finality. Furthermore, for your absolute honesty and service in bringing such a terrifying variable to our academy... I will personally authorize an allocation of resources from the treasury. Enough high-tier alchemical pills and access to the inner Qi-gathering towers to guarantee your breakthrough to the Dou Ling realm within the year. So... tell me what you saw."
Ruo Lin's eyes gleamed brilliantly. A guaranteed path to Dou Ling! It was a reward that usually took decades of blood-soaked missions to earn.
Instantly invigorated by the promise, Ruo Lin straightened her posture. She took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts, and began her narration.
"At the recruitment day in Wu Tan City, Xiao Ning appeared as an ordinary, albeit talented, youth," Ruo Lin started, her voice echoing clearly in the vast hall. "He passed the assessment with a stable one-star Dou Zhe foundation. I noticed his physical condition was dense, but I initially dismissed it as a unique bodily constitution or a specialized low-tier body-tempering technique. I assigned him a 'C' rank based purely on his measured Dou Qi output, reserving the 'A' and 'S' ranks for his cousins, whose elemental affinities were vastly more explosive."
The Core Elders listened in absolute silence. They were all monsters who had lived for a century; they possessed specialized soul-techniques that could detect the microscopic physiological changes associated with lying. They knew every word leaving Ruo Lin's mouth was the unvarnished truth.
For the next hour, Ruo Lin detailed everything. She spoke of how Yoriichi had calmly observed her Da Dou Shi-level water whip during Xiao Yan's challenge. She spoke of his absolute lack of fear or intimidation.
And then, she reached the climax. She recounted the horrifying, impossible scene at the hot springs in the back mountains of the Xiao Clan estate.
"We rushed to the ridge, fully expecting to fight a catastrophic Beast Tide," Ruo Lin said, her voice dropping to a hushed, reverent whisper. "Instead... we found dozens of magical beasts. Predators and prey. Rank 1 Iron-Hide Boars sitting peacefully beside timid Mountain Hares. And in the center of it all... Xiao Ning was simply sitting under a willow tree, playing a rough bamboo flute."
Several Dou Huangs around the table leaned forward, their eyes narrowing in intense concentration.
"He was in a profound state of trance," Ruo Lin continued, her hands gesturing slightly to emphasize the memory. "The music was not a Dou Skill. It carried no hypnotic spiritual branding. It was simply... peaceful. And when he finished the song and walked right through the middle of the beast horde, they did not attack. When he bowed to them... the entire congregation of wild, bloodthirsty monsters bowed back to him before leaving."
The Grand Meeting Hall plunged back into absolute, dead silence.
Ruo Lin finished her story and stepped back into her designated circle, lowering her head once more.
For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the soft, rhythmic tapping of Deputy Headmaster Hu Gan's finger against the obsidian table.
Finally, the Head of the Beast Taming Department, a heavily scarred man with the fierce aura of a High Dou Huang, slammed his hand down on the table.
"Heavens!" the scarred elder exclaimed, his eyes burning with a manic, obsessive light. "That boy possesses an absolute, heaven-defying talent for Beast Taming! To subjugate wild monsters not through fear, but through sheer, overwhelming spiritual resonance... he could become the greatest Beast Tamer this continent has seen in a millennium! We must transfer him to my department immediately! I will personally groom him to command Rank 6 beasts!"
"You fool, think before you speak," countered the Head of the Combat Department, an elegant woman radiating a sharp, cutting aura. "Did you not hear what Tutor Ruo Lin just said? The boy did not bind them. He did not claim them. He simply thanked them and let them go. A true Beast Tamer desires absolute control over their familiars. That youth clearly has no desire to own a beast."
"She is right," another elder chimed in, rubbing his bearded chin thoughtfully. "What Ruo Lin described... that profound harmony with nature and the world... that is a state of Dao comprehension. Usually, a cultivator only begins to faintly brush against the Dao when they reach the Dou Wang realm, and they only truly merge with it at the Dou Zong realm. How did this young Dou Zhe achieve such resonance? Does he harbor a highly confidential, ancient secret within his body?"
"Perhaps it is tied to his diet and lifestyle," suggested a scholarly-looking elder from the Records Pavilion. "Did Ruo Lin not note in her report that the boy strictly consumes a vegetarian diet and refuses to eat meat? Perhaps his absolute rejection of violence against the natural world has allowed him to walk a path of extreme non-violence, thereby gaining the world's favor and resonance?"
"Non-violence?" snorted the Head of the Alchemy Department, a portly man smelling faintly of medicinal herbs. "Do not be naive. He carries a katana forged from Solar-Vein Iron. He is a warrior. The answer is obvious. The boy must possess an exceptionally terrifying Soul Strength. To achieve that level of external resonance without a Dou Skill, his soul must already be at the High Mortal State, perhaps even bordering on the Spirit State!"
The debate erupted. The Core Elders argued passionately, tossing out theories ranging from ancient reincarnations to mythical bloodlines. The sheer impossibility of Yoriichi's feat had reduced these century-old titans to bickering scholars trying to decipher an alien language.
As the argument reached a crescendo, Deputy Headmaster Hu Gan slowly raised a single, wrinkled hand.
The silence was instantaneous. Every elder at the table immediately shut their mouths, turning their absolute attention to the white-haired leader.