Shocking the Immortal Academy

He transformed into a seed, carried by the wind and dropped into the soil, nourished by rain and warmed by spring breezes, finally breaking through the earth. Scorched by the blazing sun, battered by frost and snow, Shen Yi grew strong amidst green vitality, becoming a towering giant tree.

Even when lightning shattered his branches and drained his life force, the giant tree remained undying and imperishable. Through the cycle of cold and heat, he finally sprouted into a spirit, as if becoming a deity, his body bathed in golden light. With a raised hand, he could pluck the sun, moon, and stars; with a stomp, he could shatter the veins of the earth and mountains. A single punch made heaven and earth tremble!

Who knew how long passed before Shen Yi finally awoke from this mysterious sensation.

"Body Forging Peak!"

Shen Yi was astonished. This Essence of Flora was truly as miraculous as the books described. If he hadn't deliberately suppressed his cultivation realm, fully merging with that surge of vitality, he might have charged straight into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"For now, Body Forging Peak is enough. My foundation was already weak; breaking through rashly would only leave my roots unstable—more loss than gain."

Shen Yi was clear-headed, not intoxicated by the rapid advancement. He could now clearly sense the flow of spiritual energy in heaven and earth. Whenever he wished, he could break through to the Qi Condensation Realm.

"Did you all gain something too?"

Seeing Shen Yi awake, his battle beasts gathered around, their eyes shining with reverence. Only then did Shen Yi notice that each of them had improved—all were at the peak of Tier 1 demonic beasts, and the Azure Stone Boar had even advanced to Tier 2.

"I wonder if a single drop of this essence can speed up the spiritual bamboo's maturation."

A green light cluster the size of a grain of rice seeped from Shen Yi's fingertip—a single drop of Essence of Flora.

He casually dripped the light cluster onto a withered blade of grass. The grass turned from yellow to green, restored to life, and with a shudder, visibly shot up a large section, reaching straight for the cave ceiling.

Shen Yi was overjoyed and began to form a plan.

With a thought, he started today's simulation.

First year: You cultivate to Body Forging Peak and complete the Immortal Academy's tasks on time! You also make a name for yourself in the Immortal Academy Grand Competition, are selected by the academy, and represent it in the battle for the Grotto-Heaven Ruins.

Second year: The Grotto-Heaven Ruins open. You enter with the crowd, but an enemy finds you. You fight with all your might but cannot prevail. Your bones are ground to dust, your soul scattered. You die.

Shen Yi's face was full of black lines. Another death ending. Internally, he grumbled that this was clearly a fancy death simulator.

Still, from the brief simulation, he gleaned a lot of information.

The Immortal Academy Grand Competition—yes, counting the time, it was nearly a year away. They said cultivation knew no time, and it seemed true.

The Grotto-Heaven Ruins—there lay great fortune. The Golden Age was drawing closer.

As for the enemy in the Grotto-Heaven Ruins, it stirred a sense of crisis in Shen Yi. His first thought was of the Li Family behind Li Yue. He had made the Li Family lose face, so it wasn't impossible they'd seize the chance for revenge.

Another was the Qingxuan Sect, which Wang Minghui had mentioned before he died. The unknown was the most terrifying.

"Luckily, I covered up the scene back then and left traces of beast attacks. I believe the Qingxuan Sect won't easily trace it back to me."

Still, a hint of unease lingered. Shen Yi decided to return to Ninghai Town immediately, not staying any longer in the Yunluo Mountain Range.

Wang Mingxuan received orders from his father, Wang Shangren, and set out from the Qingxuan Sect at once. By the time he reached the Falling Cloud Mountain Range, three days had passed.

"Boom!"

Wang Mingxuan split the ground with a single sword strike, uncovering Wang Minghui's corpse, which had been dead for days.

He searched the surroundings, then kicked out Wang Si's mangled remains.

"Kill for money, then disguise it as a demonic beast attack. Interesting."

Wang Mingxuan looked at his brother's corpse without a flicker of emotion, even with some disgust. Though they were blood brothers, they had never gotten along, and Wang Mingxuan had always looked down on his younger brother.

"Collect!"

But it was his father's order, so Wang Mingxuan couldn't defy it. He took out a pouch and stowed both bodies. As for who had killed his brother, he didn't care.

To him, losing Wang Minghui was actually a relief.

"Dean Chen! Shen Yi requests an audience!"

At the Beast Taming Court, Shen Yi stood at the entrance, leading ten demonic beasts behind him. Each exuded a powerful aura, chilling many onlookers.

"Not seeing him! Tell Shen Yi that the Beast Taming Court doesn't receive him!"

Chen Chong had long forgotten his earlier words. He only thought Shen Yi had come to ruin his precious battle beasts again.

"Dean, the battle beasts have gone wild!"

Hearing this, Chen Chong flashed outside in an instant.

No need to guess—it had to be Shen Yi's doing again.

"Shen Yi, you brat, you dare come to my Beast Taming Court again!"

Chen Chong spotted Shen Yi from afar as he walked into the court, and seeing the beasts behind him, assumed he was up to some new trick.

"Greetings, Dean Chen. This student has come to turn in a task."

Shen Yi bowed to Chen Chong, looking utterly harmless.

"Dean, behind him—those are all demonic beasts!"

Someone whispered a reminder. Chen Chong took a closer look and realized it was true.

"You, you—did you catch all these?"

Chen Chong stepped forward to examine the beasts. Each one was fierce and brimming with wildness, showing no sign of fear even before him, a Golden Core Master.

"A Tier 2 demonic beast, the Azure Stone Boar. Not bad!"

Chen Chong patted the boar's head, then turned to see his own battle beasts cowering into a huddle, with none of the spirit of war beasts. He let out a helpless sigh.

"Yeah, I saw them and just went up to arm-wrestle them. If they wouldn't give in, I'd beat them until they did, and then they listened."

Shen Yi spoke as if it were nothing, but to everyone else, the more they heard, the more unsettling it felt. Normally, catching a single battle beast required meticulous preparation and careful planning—how had it become so simple for him, just beating them into submission? When had beast-catching ever been this easy?

Chen Chong found it hard to believe too, but once he sensed Shen Yi's cultivation level, he no longer found it strange.

A decent lad, really, but when he got going, he sure could stir up trouble.

"Well then, these ten spirit beasts are all yours. I've got to hurry off and tend to my fields!"

Shen Yi shoved the rope into Chen Chong's hands, turned, and dashed away in a flash, leaving the ten beasts with tears in their eyes and reluctant gazes. The refuge they'd finally found—gone.

Fengyang Thatched Cottage.

"Dean, the bamboo you wanted has been planted."

Fengyang had thought Shen Yi had finally come to his senses and wanted to apologize, but the first words out of his mouth left him momentarily speechless.

"Ten acres of Spirit Bamboo? Planted?"

"Ten acres of Spirit Bamboo, planted."

Fengyang instantly lost his composure. A streak of light shot out, heading straight for the Spirit Field planting area.

There, ten acres of Spirit Bamboo stood neatly arranged, every single stalk shimmering with an emerald-green glow.

"High-grade! High-grade Spirit Bamboo! A full ten acres of High-grade Spirit Bamboo!"

That day, Dean Fengyang's laughter echoed across the entire immortal academy, lingering in the air for a long, long time.