Xiang Tian returned to Changning Immortal Academy, thoroughly satisfied. The whole trip had taken no more than half a day.
When he returned to the classroom, everyone was on break, but Xiang Tian noticed that they all looked listless and exhausted.
Seeing them looking as if life held no more joy for them, he found it inexplicably amusing.
"What happened to you all? Why do you each look like this?"
Hearing Xiang Tian's teasing, quite a few people curled their lips. One of them raised his wrist and pointed at the little blue bracelet on it.
"It's at the training grounds. You should hurry over too. The Academy is conducting a test. Anyone who fails will be confined within the Academy and won't be allowed out until they pass."
Xiang Tian found it amusing. This had to be Qiu Changfeng's doing. It seemed that some people in the Immortal Academy would be receiving special attention from now on.
After leaving the classroom and heading toward the training grounds, he could already hear ghostly wails and wolfish howls from the square while he was still some distance away. In broad daylight, it was rather creepy.
At the center of the square, dozens of people carried enormous stones on their shoulders. The things did not look large, but their weight could gradually increase tenfold, even a hundredfold. The Academy had given it the lofty name of a pressure-resistance assessment.
But Xiang Tian knew very well that when someone mobilized all the spiritual power in their body, their entire body became most transparent. Unless something was hidden within the sea of consciousness, nothing could easily remain concealed.
Modern creations such as auxiliary devices were even less capable of being hidden in the sea of consciousness.
As for storage treasures like Universe Bags and storage rings, did they really think the Academy had no means of searching them from top to bottom?
Over there, the instructors remained fully focused. Several people beside them were checking a list, and a few names had already been circled. Su Tong was conspicuously among them.
This time, from top to bottom in the Immortal Academy, so long as they were human, not a single one could escape.
Listening to the ghostly howls above, even Xiang Tian shuddered. How much suffering had they endured to howl like that?
Suddenly, one instructor spotted Xiang Tian and gestured to another instructor beside him.
The other instantly understood, found Xiang Tian's name, and ticked off that he had passed the test.
Another person quietly stepped off the platform, circled around behind him, ran up to Xiang Tian, handed him a little bracelet, and swiftly left.
This made Xiang Tian feel rather embarrassed. He had originally wanted to go up and experience it himself.
"Look! Sinan Yao truly deserves to be one of the Academy's top-ranked students. What a heaven's favored prodigy! The weight has already risen to a hundred times, yet he still hasn't reached his limit."
Someone ahead exclaimed in amazement, and only then did Xiang Tian notice that Sinan Yao was here as well.
Unlike the nearby students whose faces were twisted as they wailed like ghosts and howled like wolves, Sinan Yao was drenched in sweat but gritted his teeth with a solemn expression, remaining silent. He clearly still had plenty left in him, and compared to those around him, he truly possessed a measure of proud backbone.
"Alright, student Sinan Yao has passed."
An instructor removed the heavy stone from his shoulders and announced that he had passed the assessment.
"Senior Sinan Yao is so handsome."
"Exactly. People like him are the hope of our Academy."
Quite a few girls in the crowd had already become smitten, making the people beside them feel sour inside. But the other party was Sinan Yao, so there was nothing they could do.
Perhaps it was some special twist of fate that made Sinan Yao spot Xiang Tian at a glance after setting down the heavy stone. Their eyes met.
Sinan Yao smiled. Over the past few days, he had dug through Xiang Tian's information from top to bottom. The Immortal King had once backed him up and forced the Ding Family to retreat. No wonder he had been so bold.
Perhaps Xiang Tian's refining of the Sword Comprehension Stone had originally been at the Immortal King's instruction. Sinan Yao was no fool. As one of Riyao's heirs, those people would never simply sit by and watch him obtain this opportunity.
"So it's student Xiang Tian. May I ask whether you passed this assessment? How were your results?"
Only then did everyone notice Xiang Tian. Given his dazzling performance before, not one of them dared to echo Sinan Yao's words.
Xiang Tian deliberately flicked his wrist, revealing the blue bracelet on it. Then he pinched two fingers together and gestured at Sinan Yao.
"Not much. Just this much better than you."
Then he spread his two fingers apart, widening the distance.
Sinan Yao frowned. Hadn't they said Xiang Tian had not been at the Academy these past few days? How had he gotten this bracelet the moment he returned?
He had been looking forward to seeing how Xiang Tian would perform while carrying the heavy stone. At the very least, it would let him prepare for their battle a few days from now.
Since he is someone the Immortal King Changning recommended, I'll prove to you all that he truly is no good!
Xiang Tian's mockery was beneath Sinan Yao's notice. After all, Sinan Yao merely regarded Xiang Tian as a puppet supported by certain people in the Academy and did not take him seriously at all.
He stepped down from the platform and came before Xiang Tian under countless watchful eyes. "Then I look forward to your performance in the arena a few days from now. I hope you won't disappoint me."
Xiang Tian was equally unwilling to yield. "Don't worry. I'll give you a big surprise."
At that, Sinan Yao smiled and left. That carefree departing figure of his left countless senior and junior girls enchanted.
Xiang Tian curled his lips. Rather than returning to the classroom, he headed toward his dormitory. He had not seen Little Huang for several days. The little fellow should have behaved himself on the hilltop, right?
But when he returned to the hilltop, he was completely dumbfounded. This... black and filthy thing that looked like a lump of mud—was that his Little Huang?
It looked like Little Huang had done plenty of scrambling and rolling about the hill over the past few days. More than a dozen wild chickens and rabbits had been lined up neatly across the yard.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
Seeing Xiang Tian return, Little Huang excitedly ran over.
Just as it was about to leap up at him, Xiang Tian grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and carried it as he rushed up the mountain.
He remembered there was a spring at the mountain peak.
He had taken a glance at it long ago but had not paid it much attention.
Before reaching the summit, mist drifted all around, and everything ahead was a vast blur. Xiang Tian did not use any divine ability, feeling it was completely unnecessary. He simply followed his memories forward.
Little Huang behaved too, remaining motionless as Xiang Tian carried it along.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Xiang Tian's feet vanished. With a "Fuck!" he fell straight into the water.
Xiang Tian plunged forward with a fierce dive, and his head seemed to strike something soft. He looked up...
Their eyes met. What entered Xiang Tian's sight was a young girl whose beauty could absolutely topple a city. Yet he seemed to have no impression of this woman at all.
Her lively eyes were filled with astonishment. She had never imagined that someone would barge in.
Xiang Tian had not expected a scene that normally only appeared in novels to happen to him. Who bathed in a mountain spring in broad daylight without taking even the slightest precaution?
Yet Xiang Tian had truly encountered it.
Driven by that damned instinct, Xiang Tian secretly glanced downward. Mm, not bad—rosy beneath the pale skin, fresh and tender. Who could withstand that? Xiang Tian certainly could not. His nose immediately began to bleed.
"Woof!"
Little Huang in his hand barked right on cue, and Xiang Tian immediately covered its dog mouth.
"Ah!"
A scream tore through the sky, making Xiang Tian's heart tremble violently.
"You shameless lecher, I'm going to kill you!"
The girl gritted her silver teeth, rushed out of the little pool, swiftly put on her clothes, drew a silver longsword, and slashed at Xiang Tian.
Xiang Tian was incredibly fast. He immediately cast a spell and shot into the clouds, dragging Little Huang along as he fled for his life.
"Really, big sister, I didn't mean to offend you! I was just bathing my pet dog!"
Xiang Tian did not forget to defend himself. What answered him were streak after streak of Sword Qi soaring into the heavens.
Thus, across the skies above Changning Immortal Academy, streams of Sword Qi descended through the air. Radiance stretched ten thousand zhang, while the color of the heavens changed again and again, leaving onlookers trembling in fear.
"Eh, isn't that Senior Ning Rong? Why is she so angry?"
"Quick, look! Doesn't the person dragging a dog up ahead look awfully familiar?"
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