Several days later,
Li Xijun went to the martial hall to train as usual, showing no difference from his normal routine.
Deng Gao's sudden disappearance did not cause much of a stir. Some merely claimed that after becoming a Viscera Refinement Martial Warrior and gaining the status of Martial Graduate, he had been unwilling to remain beneath others and had gone out into the world. Others said he had gone to work for the Su Family's maritime trade business to make a fortune.
Su Qiuzhen, on the other hand, drew quite a bit of attention after repeatedly failing to show himself. Faintly ominous speculations had already begun to spread—talk of how wealth tempted people's hearts, and perhaps someone had taken the risk of killing him for his money.
However, none of this had anything to do with Li Xijun. He still rarely interacted with the outside world and focused entirely on martial training.
Nor did anyone suspect that Su Qiuzhen and Deng Gao's affairs had anything to do with him.
After all, to outsiders, the two sides had never had any dealings at all. Li Xijun was also known at the martial hall as a wealthy young master who had studied abroad, and even Yu Xiangyang had not harbored the slightest suspicion.
Only in the main hall of the Life-Slaying Martial Hall's residence did Zhang Fuhu, Old Master Zhang, seem thoughtful after hearing the news. Then he turned back to reading the newspaper, teasing his bird, and behaving as usual.
Until the day of the school's monthly exams arrived.
As the assembly bell rang,
Li Xijun and Ye Liuyun went downstairs to gather for the flag-raising ceremony.
As the voices of students discussing the exams reached him,
he finally remembered the scholarships and cultivation resources awarded to the top hundred students of each grade under the Ten-Year Cultivation Plan.
Before the students had fully gathered in the great plaza, while the scene remained noisy and bustling,
Li Xijun focused his consciousness, and the Attribute Panel naturally appeared before his eyes.
Name: Li Xijun Age: 17 Realm: Apprentice Level 6 Blood Essence Level: 6.4 Spirit Level: 9.8 Spirit-Refining System: Spirit Solidification Realm (8%) Martial Arts System: Skin and Flesh Realm (99%) Cultivation Methods: Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method: (Proficient 99%) Spirit-Refining Detailed Explanation Orifice-Sensing Method (100%) Contemplation Method "Twenty-Four Rank White Lotus Salvation Chart" (Proficient 20%) Subduing Tiger Bone Refining Method (Proficient 100%) Martial Skills True Martial Thirty-Six Forms (Mastery 29%) Basic Saber Technique: (Beginner 98%) Unifying the Heavens (0%)
Looking at his absurd panel, Li Xijun could not help sighing inwardly:
"I thought I was merely an ordinary martial dao genius with excellent talent."
"I never expected my talent for spiritual cultivation to be even more outrageous!"
Previously, the Aperture Opening Realm had mainly involved sensing and manifesting the soul rather than cultivating and strengthening it.
Therefore, Li Xijun's talent in the path of spirit refinement had not been apparent.
However,
after Li Xijun spent less than twenty-four hours in total to completely cultivate the entire "Twenty-Four Rank White Lotus Salvation Chart" through visualization,
then compared it with the book and discovered that ordinary people needed a month to fully cultivate a mid-grade Contemplation Method,
he suddenly realized just how powerful his talent for spirit refinement was.
Later, after buying and reading books on common knowledge about spirit refinement from the Contemplation Society, he realized even more clearly:
Ordinary people tempered their spirits by reading the scriptures of the three teachings, opened the Ancestral Aperture between their brows, and manifested their soul through perception.
That gave them the various traits and abilities of the Aperture Opening Realm.
But although they had reached that realm,
it did not mean that the source soul they manifested after opening their apertures
could compare with Li Xijun's soul at the limit of Level 9.0.
It was like in "Douluo Dalu," where everyone awakened a martial soul. Ordinary people might awaken with two or three innate soul power levels, while Li Xijun directly possessed full innate soul power. Naturally, they were not on the same level when it came to later cultivation and advancement.
Especially since he had spent most of the past seven days focusing on spirit refinement,
and raised his Spirit Level by 0.8 in one go,
only then did he truly realize how absurd the cultivation aptitude granted by his powerful Soul Origin was.
"At this rate, it's hard to say about reaching Viscera Refining in martial arts, but breaking into the Sitting in Oblivion Realm and becoming a true person capable of projecting spiritual power is practically guaranteed."
"Still, martial training has slowed down for a few days, though my skin and flesh have basically been fully refined."
"That final 1% of the Skin and Flesh Realm requires outside help. I need to keep taking hits during sparring to experience the feeling of skin and flesh becoming one before I can truly reach completion."
"After the exams, I'll spar with Senior Brother Yu for a while. I'll be able to enter the Tendons and Bones Realm tonight."
Just as Li Xijun felt pleased with his growth over the past month,
the crisp sound of heels striking the steps came from the podium in the school's great plaza.
It left many students, including Li Xijun, rather puzzled.
Based on past experience, after the flag-raising ceremony ended, shouldn't several middle-aged male administrators come up and deliver some repetitive drivel?
Then,
as that long-legged, purple-haired beauty with a high ponytail and perfect proportions appeared on the podium before everyone's eyes,
the students of Yan'an No. 7 High School erupted into thunderous discussion and cries of surprise.
Only twenty days had passed since the Mythic Rift riot.
Of course, they still remembered this Outer Scenery Expert who had slain an Overlord-Level mythical creature with a single slash.
Many Elite Class students had fantasized that the teacher coming to guide them would be this powerful and beautiful woman.
They had never expected it to come true!
At that moment, whether they were students from Martial Arts Class Six, where Li Xijun was, or from the other classes, they could not help casting envious looks toward the beaming students of the Elite Class.
Zhou Yibai, who had awakened Martial Dao Spirituality and stood among the Elite Class students in a black Nanofiber Suit,
boldly stood at the front, looking around from side to side and thoroughly enjoying his sense of superiority.
He was already imagining being noticed by this purple-haired Outer Scenery Level teacher and being envied by the other students—especially Li Xijun.
Zhou Shenghao, on the other hand, shuddered the instant he saw her. His hand instinctively moved to his stomach, and he looked somewhat unwell.
Li Xijun recalled Zhang Haifeng's envious expression while watching the livestream that day, along with his words telling Li Xijun that he absolutely had to display his talent and, if possible, receive saber instruction from this Outer Scenery Teacher.
"Su Nianying, fourth-year graduate of Imperial Capital's Clear Spring Dawn Palace."
"From today onward, I will be the guidance teacher for all third-year students at Yan'an No. 7 High School, responsible for guiding you through the College Entrance Exam."
Those words first shocked many students with the revelation that she had graduated from one of the top universities of the Imperial Capital Two Heavens.
Then they realized something else.
Shouldn't this Outer Scenery Expert be the guidance teacher for the Elite Class students? Why was she saying she was here for all third-year students?
"Next, I will explain my teaching philosophy."
"The Human Federation is still far from peaceful. We still face countless crises from Mythical Worlds."
"I came to this high school as a guidance teacher for only one purpose:"
"To select true geniuses!"
"Not the sort who grow complacent merely because they have awakened Martial Dao Spirituality."
"Nor ordinary geniuses who can only reach Blood Essence Level 9 before hitting their limit."
"But true prodigies who can satisfy me and challenge the records once set by the Wood Sage!"
Su Nianying's words threw all of Yan'an No. 7 High School into an uproar. Whether it was the school leadership or the tens of thousands of students in the great plaza, everyone could not help discussing it heatedly.
Yet the tall purple-haired beauty merely lifted her face proudly and said calmly:
"I know that you do not yet understand my philosophy."
"But that does not matter. When the Ten-Year Cultivation Plan ends ten years from now,"
"after you have gone through the College Entrance Exam, university, and all manner of experiences in Mythical Worlds, you will understand one truth:"
"When you are fortunate enough to enter one of the thirty-three Martial Arts Universities, you will discover that the brilliance of the Nine Schools Alliance leaves you unable to breathe."
"If you truly reach the pinnacle of the Nine Schools Alliance, look up and see the twin suns hanging over Kyoto."
"Perhaps you are a true genius, an outstanding figure among the Imperial Capital Two Heavens, but the top universities of the Federation's Western Alliance also have people walking the same path."
"When you finally become the undisputed prodigy of this era, you will discover that the seven Federation Saints have long been waiting atop the mountain. Heroes under heaven have always been as numerous as carp crossing a river."
Su Nianying's proud words echoed through the skies above Yan'an No. 7 High School for a long time without fading.
The third-year students had yet to recover from those words,
but the incomparably tense and urgent monthly exams had already begun.
However,
when the main event of the afternoon, the martial arts practical assessment, arrived,
both the martial arts students of Third-Year Class Six and Li Xijun were stunned to discover that the chief examiner was Su Nianying.
Before you continue