Two months later
Main World
Yan'an No. 7 High School
Outside the entrance to the independent teaching building for the Elite Class.
The autumn sun at noon was like melted glaze, pouring down in clear, radiant streams.
The edges of the ginkgo leaves had begun to yellow, as though coated in gold foil. Whenever they trembled lightly in the breeze, they scattered fragmented specks of light across the ground.
The young man beneath the tree, dressed in ancient-style white robes with a jade pendant at his waist and his hair tied up, possessed the air of a noble young master and drew the attention of quite a few female students returning from lunch.
Ye Liuyun paid no attention to the gazes of the girls who had just returned from the cafeteria. Instead, he looked at the tightly shut transparent doors and, out of habit, walked to the access-control camera on the other side, preparing to call the intelligent housekeeper in Li Xijun's room and have it open the door for him.
"Liuyun, let me do it."
Zhou Shenghao, who had also just finished eating, strode forward in two or three steps, directly used facial recognition to open the building's main entrance, and said proactively,
"You're here to see Li Xijun again today, right? Next time, we might as well eat together. That way, you won't have to call the intelligent housekeeper to open the door."
"Yeah, yeah. Brother Li has been improving incredibly fast lately. I heard he's already above Level 7, so he must be working hard. Why not come eat on the second floor when you have time? My cousin recently got a box of Spirit Nourishing Tea."
Zhou Yibai spoke with a smile as if nothing had happened.
In response,
Ye Liuyun admired the interior's technologically advanced yet aesthetically pleasing design while responding as calmly as usual, with impeccable manners and a faint detachment. He never gave them a direct answer.
Only when they reached the Private Martial Arts Room belonging to the Zhou brothers did Ye Liuyun politely bid them farewell and part ways.
That attitude made Zhou Yibai think of how Liu Yunmeng had treated Li Xijun that afternoon—courteous, yet distant.
Instinctively, he wanted to imitate Li Xijun: to face it with an ordinary heart, to act utterly unconcerned and maintain unwavering confidence in himself.
But that was only a fleeting fantasy that had arisen the instant he sensed that distance.
The real situation was that his always-fragile self-esteem had been badly provoked. His smile remained warm on the surface, but deep down, he was growing ever more resentful of Ye Liuyun.
And along with that,
He began hating Li Xijun again. Why could Li Xijun always seem so self-assured, neither servile nor overbearing no matter what he faced?
Why could he improve so rapidly so easily and earn the favor of a beautiful, mature teacher like Su Nianying?
Compared to him, Zhou Yibai only looked even more pathetic.
Why couldn't he do the same?!
With those thoughts in mind, while his cousin beside him also wore a rather unpleasant expression, Zhou Yibai seemed to mutter jealously under his breath,
"If those two had run into a Blood God Cult follower back then, that would've been perfect. If they had, that cultist definitely wouldn't have spared two geniuses like them."
After saying that, he entered his own private Martial Arts Classroom.
Zhou Shenghao's expression remained unchanged as though he had heard nothing. After passing fingerprint verification, he also returned to his room to cultivate.
Meanwhile,
After knocking and receiving permission, Ye Liuyun entered Li Xijun's Martial Arts Classroom.
The classroom was exceptionally spacious and bright, full of futuristic technological beauty. It was fully equipped with strength-testing devices, speed-testing devices, humanoid dummies, and various instruments for examining the body.
There was a Therapy Room, hot spring hall, meditation room, and lounge, along with a thermostat box and all kinds of appliances. Its comfort was no less than that of a residence in Bocheng's most expensive housing development.
Ye Liuyun felt that if he were not certain to rank in the top thirty of the grade by the end of the term, he would probably be unable to avoid feeling envious like the students in the ordinary classes.
With that thought in mind, he took the initiative to walk beneath the doorway-shaped Blood Essence testing device.
Ye Liuyun's Blood Essence Level instantly appeared on the Martial Arts Classroom's large screen.
Ye Liuyun, Blood Essence Level: Level 8.1.
"You broke through again. Congratulations, congratulations. At this rate, reaching Blood Essence Level 9.0 before the College Entrance Exam should be a sure thing."
Li Xijun had just finished cultivating for a while. Thanks to the self-cleaning function of his black integrated nano suit, he had barely sweated at all. He merely took the Blood Essence Potion delivered by a mechanical arm from the nearby thermostat box and drank it in one gulp.
Ye Liuyun shook his head, took off his coat, and began warming up on his own. Calmly, he said,
"Compared to you, I'm still behind. You're already at Level 7.2 now, aren't you?"
"To be precise, I was at Level 7.2 this morning. Just now, I broke through to Level 7.3."
Those words made Ye Liuyun pause, and the corner of his mouth twitched despite himself.
Li Xijun, meanwhile, focused his consciousness and summoned his panel, checking it while Ye Liuyun warmed up.
Name: Li Xijun Age: 17 Realm: Apprentice Level 7 Blood Essence Level: 7.3 Spirit Level: 16.3 Spirit-Refining System: Spirit Solidification Realm (73%) Martial Arts System: Tendons and Bones Realm (61%) 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 100%) Subduing Tiger Bone Refining Method (Mastery 97%) Martial Skills True Martial Thirty-Six Forms (Mastery 91%) Basic Saber Art: (Beginner 98%) Unifying the Heavens (0%)
"With your rate of improvement, I really can't think of anything that could stump you," Ye Liuyun could not help complaining.
"There is." Li Xijun was not being modest. He truly sounded troubled. "My Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method has hit a bottleneck. I've clearly practiced it to the point of complete mastery, but I just can't break through to the next level."
"At Blood Essence Level 7, my cultivation is indeed progressing as Teacher Su predicted before—an increase of 0.1 levels every ten days."
"But after reaching Level 8, if my Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method still doesn't break through, it'll probably hold me back and slow the rate at which my Blood Essence improves."
Since his current cultivation speed met Li Xijun's expectations, he could still accept it.
But if things remained like this after some time, once he reached Blood Essence Level 8, he would genuinely feel rather uncomfortable.
Because he had to set aside a considerable amount of time for Spirit-Refining and martial arts cultivation.
Especially the Spirit-Refining System—he was simply too talented in it.
In just two months, he had achieved minor success in Spirit-Refining. The time he could control the Blood Vein Cord Flying Sword had increased to five or six minutes, while its speed and lethality had also improved significantly. Just as the books said, if an Organ Refining Martial Artist seized the opportunity, he could successfully carry out an assassination.
At the same time, his Spirit-Refining cultivation fed back into his Tendons and Bones Realm, basically ensuring that he would achieve Greater Bone and Tendon Refinement within another month.
He was unwilling to give up either Spirit-Refining or martial arts cultivation.
So if the Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method, the foundational cultivation method that increased Blood Essence, remained stuck at its bottleneck without breaking through, it would seriously affect the efficiency of his Blood Essence Level advancement.
At that, Ye Liuyun, who had just finished warming up, opened the control panel and had a mechanical arm retrieve a standard longsword for him.
"Hm? Liuyun, has your martial skill proficiency reached the third-stage level where you can use weapons?"
"Enough nonsense. Take a sword from me first!"
Before you continue