Chapter 19: Two and a Half Years Later!
Two and a half years later.
Soft rays of light shone through the window onto the young man's handsome face—brows like swords, eyes like stars, red lips and white teeth. Jiang Yun opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and awakened from his cultivation.
"8-star Da Dou Shi." Jiang Yun sensed that the vortex of Dou Qi within his dantian had fully solidified into crystalline form. A smile surfaced on his face, though he then sank into contemplation.
"I've already spent three years in the Outer Academy. I've finished reading all the books in the Outer Academy's collection. There's no reason to linger here any longer. It's time to set off for the Inner Academy."
A year ago, at 9-star Dou Shi, it would not have been difficult for him to secure a place in the Inner Academy by relying on his skills. However, the strength of a 9-star Dou Shi in the Inner Academy could hardly be considered strong.
Although Zi Yan's strength was formidable, Jiang Yun couldn't hide behind Zi Yan's back every single time, could he? Furthermore, there were still some books in the Outer Academy's library he hadn't finished. Thus, Jiang Yun had delayed his entry into the Inner Academy by a year.
Having resolved himself, Jiang Yun walked out of his room. Seeing Zi Yan's door tightly shut, he knew she had run off somewhere to cause havoc again.
Over these two and a half years, thanks to Zi Yan's 'colossal' supply of medicinal ingredients, Jiang Yun had refined a tier 5 pill and become a tier 5 alchemist. As for where the pill formulas came from?
For this, he had to thank the selfless teachers of the Alchemy Department. Over these past two and a half years, quite a few elders had fired up their cauldrons to refine pills and answer questions for the students, and Jiang Yun had taken the opportunity to collect quite a number of pill formulas.
Yet, most were formulas below tier 4. However, after one particular incident, that changed—and that was also the time of his greatest harvest.
Jiang Yun still remembered the day Elder Huo from the Inner Academy suddenly paid a visit to the Outer Academy's Alchemy Department. He answered questions for a gathering of students and even fired up his cauldron to personally refine a King-Breaking Pill, a tier 5 pill. As the name suggested, it was a pill used to break through to the Dou Wang realm.
Jiang Yun had harbored some questions about Elder Huo's visit, but the moment he saw the elder and sensed the surging, billowing soul power around him, he understood the reason.
It was because of the soul cultivation method he had left behind back then.
That metal sheet had ultimately been discovered by the academy. After the Outer Academy personnel found themselves unable to decode its mysteries, Hu Gan had sent it to the Inner Academy, where it eventually landed in Elder Huo's hands.
What followed was quite simple. Elder Huo obtained the soul cultivation method within, and half a year later, formally broke through to the tier 6 alchemist level. In gratitude for this fortuitous encounter, he specially came to lecture at the Outer Academy for three whole days.
One could only say it was a cycle of cause and effect. Had Jiang Yun not left behind that soul cultivation method, Elder Huo would not have broken through to tier 6 in that short span of time, would not have come to the Outer Academy to lecture, and Jiang Yun would not have obtained that tier 5 pill formula.
And under Jiang Yun's feeding, Zi Yan could be said to have lived an extremely comfortable life. Her cultivation had surged upward without pause. By now, she had reached the late stage of rank 5 demonic beast—equivalent to a 7-star human Dou Wang. With the constitution of the Taixu Ancient Dragon, she was more than capable of contending with a human Dou Huang.
When Zi Yan went out to run rampant in the Demonic Beast Forest now, Jiang Yun was more than confident in her safety!
"Bang! Bang! Bang—"
"Enter—"
A deep voice called out. Jiang Yun pushed the door open and entered. He saw a middle-aged man bent over his desk, writing. Hearing the commotion, the man raised his head. Upon seeing Jiang Yun, a hint of bewilderment flashed through his eyes.
"Hello, student. You are...?"
Hearing the inquiry, Jiang Yun slowly replied, "Teacher, I am a student of Huang Class Three—Jiang Yun!"
"Huang Class Three? Isn't that my class? But I don't recall having a student like you in my class?" At Jiang Yun's words, Wu En grew even more confused. He examined Jiang Yun carefully.
Jiang Yun was nearly ten now. He had grown to a height of 1.5 meters, already surpassing Zi Yan—causing her to sulk for a very long time, followed by an even more obsessive pursuit of growing up.
At ten years old, though Jiang Yun still possessed some childishness, his delicate, handsome face paired with that refined, scholarly temperament made him anything but a face one would forget with a single glance. Yet Wu En simply could not recall having such a student in his class.
"Three years ago, Vice Principal Hu Gan—" Seeing this, Jiang Yun was not surprised. He and Zi Yan had never attended a single class in these three years—the very picture of 'problem students.'
"Oh, it's you!" Hearing Jiang Yun mention Hu Gan, Wu En suddenly understood. He finally recalled this little genius he had met once before.
Back when Jiang Yun first enrolled, Hu Gan had personally arranged it. Wu En was naturally aware of this little prodigy. However, over these three years, neither Jiang Yun nor Zi Yan had ever attended a single one of his lessons. He never expected that three years later, the other would appear right before his eyes.
"Yes, Instructor Wu. Zi Yan and I are signing up for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament in three days!" Seeing the other finally remember, Jiang Yun nodded, clearly not realizing just how outrageous his own behavior over the years had been.
"You?" Just hearing Jiang Yun's request, Wu En was somewhat stunned. Although he couldn't discern Jiang Yun's cultivation level, the boy three years ago had already met the admission requirements—at least the 8th Stage of Dou Zhi Qi. At his age, that was indeed an unheard-of genius.
He supposed three years' time should have brought him to Dou Shi? He was indeed qualified to compete for a place in the Inner Academy.
But Jiang Yun was still far too young. When Wu En was his age, he was still muddling around in the Dou Zhi Qi stage. This caused a momentary daze in Wu En.
"Is it not possible?" Seeing the other's reaction, Jiang Yun furrowed his brows and asked somewhat strangely.
"It's possible!" Wu En nodded numbly. He looked at Jiang Yun with curiosity and asked, "Jiang Yun, could you tell your teacher—just what is your current cultivation level?"
"Teacher will find out when the time comes!" Jiang Yun smiled mysteriously. Having settled the matter, it was time for him to leave.
Watching Jiang Yun's departing silhouette, Wu En's heart suddenly began pounding furiously. He had an intuition—for this year's Inner Academy slots, his class would be adding two more names. This was all performance merit.
Earning performance while just lying down—was there anything in this world more joyful than this?
Snapping back to his senses, Wu En hurriedly pulled out the prepared registration roster and personally wrote in Jiang Yun and Zi Yan's names. Afterward, staring at those final two names, he couldn't help but break into a goofy grin.
He could see the rank of Mysterious Class instructor beckoning to him!
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
That morning, after washing and dressing, Jiang Yun brought Zi Yan along from their residence toward the venue of the Inner Academy Selection Tournament.
Along the way, Jiang Yun saw a great many young men and women wearing the Jia Nan Academy uniform heading in the same direction. Every one of their faces bore expressions of excitement and eager anticipation.
The Inner Academy!
That was the true core of Jia Nan Academy. Those who had come here were all geniuses from every corner of the land. Who didn't want to enter the Inner Academy and become a legendary figure of the time?
And those first-year students who had just entered Jia Nan Academy were clearly very interested in this annual Inner Academy Selection Tournament. After all, all of this was closely tied to themselves—who knew whether or not they'd be among the participants a few years down the line?
This was their first time watching the Inner Academy Selection Tournament. Although their strength was insufficient to participate, they could still broaden their horizons and witness the brilliance of the geniuses gathered from all around. Therefore, toward the upcoming matches, expressions of anticipation practically overflowed from their faces.
(End of Chapter)