Han Yue, a Prominent Figure of the Academy!

The Inner Academy Selection Tournament was a major event at Jia Nan Academy's Outer Academy. It could even be called its grandest competition, so it naturally attracted enormous attention.

In particular, the academy's prominent figures, who were rarely seen on ordinary days, would all appear during the tournament.

That made it especially appealing to those who admired or even loved them.

The academy had chosen its largest square as the venue, but even so, it was still a sea of people.

Students scrambled for seats closer to the front. Looking down from the stands, all that could be seen was a dense mass of heads, while the clamor shot straight into the clouds.

Around the square, rings of stone steps rose upward, making it resemble a giant arena.

In Yellow Class Two's section, Xiao Yao leaned against the railing and looked down.

Two people were locked in a fierce battle on the square.

Both students were Fire Attribute Dou Shi. Brilliant light filled the arena, dazzling the onlookers, and waves of cheers and applause erupted around them.

Although Xiao Yao's gaze rested on the two fighters, he was reviewing his abilities in his mind, thinking about how to make better use of them.

His Sun-Swallowing Qi Gathering absorbed the energy in sunlight and refined it through his cultivation method, turning it into his own Dou Qi.

But after Sun-Swallowing Qi Gathering improved, its Qi recovery ability was indeed different.

The Qi recovery ability absorbed the energy in sunlight directly into his body and stored it in his Dou Crystal without refining it.

There was no need to circulate his cultivation method to refine the energy, which was why his Dou Qi recovered so quickly.

For other cultivators, this was unimaginable.

Storing unrefined energy directly in a Dou Qi cyclone could, at best, make one's Dou Qi impure and unstable. At worst, the energy could clash with one's original Dou Qi and backfire on the cultivator.

But Xiao Yao had strong control over the energy he absorbed from sunlight and could use it to perform Dou Techniques.

The energy produced no negative effects. Not only would it not clash with his original Dou Qi, it would not even make the Dou Qi impure or unstable.

And if Xiao Yao wanted to cultivate, he only needed to refine the energy in his Dou Crystal to transform it into Dou Qi.

However, using the Qi recovery ability solely to recover Qi seemed rather wasteful to Xiao Yao.

For instance, the solar energy that Sun-Swallowing Qi Gathering could draw in actually exceeded the limit of what Xiao Yao could refine.

That was especially true after its analysis progress increased; the refining efficiency of his cultivation method lagged far behind.

For example, Xiao Yao's Sun-Swallowing Qi Gathering could draw in a hundred units of solar energy a day, but his cultivation method could refine only twenty to thirty units into his own Dou Qi.

As long as Xiao Yao deduced his cultivation method to a higher grade, his cultivation speed could rise even further.

The same was true of his Qi recovery ability. It recovered Qi so quickly that, unless Xiao Yao was in a high-intensity battle, he could hardly make full use of it.

Xiao Yao wondered whether he could store the energy provided by his Qi recovery ability.

When he needed it, he could unleash all that energy at once in a full eruption. Its power should be quite formidable.

Thinking of storing energy, Xiao Yao naturally thought of Magic Cores.

These energy crystals formed inside Magical Beasts were natural containers for storing energy.

As it happened, Xiao Yao had previously killed a third-tier giant bear and obtained a third-tier Earth Attribute Magic Core.

Magic Cores were also affected by their attributes, and those of different attributes had different properties.

Although the energy in an Earth Attribute Magic Core was also violent, the core was likewise extremely suitable as a storage container.

That was because the Earth Attribute possessed the properties of heaviness and bearing weight.

Xiao Yao had already gained some understanding of the properties of attributes.

His Yang Attribute, for example, possessed both the destructive power to burn all things to nothing and the vitality to nourish all things.

The same was true of other attributes: the Fire Attribute was scorching and burned, while the Water Attribute was gentle and moistening, among countless other properties.

It was also natural for the Earth Attribute to have the property of bearing weight. After all, the earth bore all things.

At that thought, Xiao Yao was immediately eager to try it.

If he really could pour the energy in his body into a Magic Core for storage, then unleash it all at once when needed, wouldn't that give him another method at his disposal?

But he had a match today, so Xiao Yao could only restrain himself and wait until he had time to try it afterward.

After all, achieving a dazzling result in the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, getting the academy's upper ranks to relent, and obtaining permission to read high-grade cultivation methods were also very important to improving Xiao Yao's strength.

While Xiao Yao was lost in thought, several rounds of opponents had already come and gone in the arena.

Just then, the clamor of the crowd around the square abruptly rose several notches, making even Xiao Yao unable to resist looking over.

Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian, and the others beside him also looked over curiously.

Ruo Lin smiled and said, "It's Han Yue. She's a prominent figure in the academy."

Instructor Ruo Lin leaned against the railing, her upper body tilted slightly forward, bringing the curves of her mature, voluptuous figure into full relief.

The students around her couldn't help having their gazes drawn to her, stealing sidelong glances at Instructor Ruo Lin from time to time.

Xiao Yao's gaze shifted slightly. Han Yue? Didn't Han Yue only appear in the original story once it reached the Inner Academy?

Xiao Yao thought back carefully. When Xiao Yan entered the Inner Academy, an elder had said that Han Yue had already been there for three years.

And Xiao Yan had been absent for two years because of the Three-Year Agreement, which meant that students from the year before Xiao Yan's could have seen Han Yue take part in the Inner Academy Selection Tournament.

At that thought, Xiao Yao understood. Looking at the figure slowly walking toward the square, aloof and cold as a snow lotus on an iceberg, he thought to himself,

Then wouldn't that mean I'll enter the Inner Academy alongside Han Yue?

Seeing the curious looks from the students around her, Ruo Lin smiled and explained to them.

"Han Yue has outstanding talent. After she entered the academy, her beautiful appearance and exceptional talent quickly made her a prominent figure here."

"Actually, she was strong enough to pass the Inner Academy Selection Tournament and enter the Inner Academy last year."

"However, Han Yue wanted to aim for the top five, so after making it into the top fifty, she voluntarily gave up and continued to compete."

"After a year of cultivation, I'm afraid she's determined to take a place in the top five, or even first place, this year."

As Ruo Lin spoke, she glanced at Xiao Yao and teased him with a smile. "Xiao Yao, what do you think? Feeling any pressure? She's your number one rival."

Xiao Yao smiled and said confidently,

"Then I hope Senior Han Yue doesn't run into me in the elimination rounds. Otherwise, she might have to spend another year honing herself."

Instructor Ruo Lin rolled her eyes at Xiao Yao in exasperation.

"You're certainly confident."

"But don't worry about that. The academy naturally has plans for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament. It won't let students at the Da Dou Shi level meet too early."

Xiao Yao nodded in understanding. This was the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, the channel through which the Outer Academy sent its geniuses to the Inner Academy.

Luck was certainly a factor, but unexpected circumstances still had to be ruled out.

After all, without any arrangements, if things went terribly wrong and the Outer Academy's handful of Da Dou Shi met in the elimination rounds,

it would be awkward if only one or two Da Dou Shi managed to enter the Inner Academy in the end.