The Last-Rank Class and the Library Pavilion

Three days passed quietly in cultivation.

As the morning sun once again filled the inn room, Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was deep and bright, like stars in the dark night. Every breath he took carried a peculiar rhythm, subtly resonating with the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy.

Body Refinement Fifth Level!

Profound-Grade Mid-Tier aptitude!

Feeling the surging, boundless spiritual power within him and an unprecedented affinity with the heaven and earth spiritual energy, Lin Xiao's heart was filled with immense ambition. Compared to three days ago, he was now worlds apart.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A polite knock sounded at the door.

Lin Xiao got up and opened it. Shi Lei and Su Yue stood outside, full of energy.

"Lin Xiao, you're out of seclusion!" Shi Lei grinned when he saw Lin Xiao, but his smile immediately froze. He widened his eyes, pointing at Lin Xiao in disbelief. "You... your aura... you broke through?!"

Su Yue also sensed the completely different aura emanating from Lin Xiao. It was a confidence and power that radiated from within, several times more potent than when they were in the Myriad Beast Mountain Range!

"I made some progress," Lin Xiao said with a faint smile, not elaborating further.

"Some progress? More like a lot!" Shi Lei circled Lin Xiao twice, marveling. "You're a monster! You can break through just by going into seclusion? Are you even letting us mortals live?"

Su Yue's beautiful eyes sparkled. She knew Lin Xiao must have a big secret, but she was smart enough not to ask. She handed him a heavy package, her face beaming with excitement. "Lin Xiao, I didn't fail you! I asked my father to find the best artifact refiner in Cloud Creek City – Master Ouye. His eyes lit up when he saw the Second-Tier Giant Crocodile hide, and he immediately agreed to custom-make three inner armors for us! This is the receipt for the deposit. The master said we'll get the goods in half a month at most!"

"Thank you for your trouble," Lin Xiao took the package, his heart filled with joy. With these three inner armors, their team's survivability would greatly increase.

"Let's go. Today is the day for new student registration. We can't be late."

The three tidied their belongings, checked out of the inn, and headed towards the colossal academy standing in the city center, full of spirit under the rising sun.

The outer court of Cloud Creek Academy covered thousands of acres, divided into living areas, cultivation areas, lecture areas, and several other zones. Pavilions and ancient trees towered everywhere, exuding a profound heritage.

At this moment, over a thousand newly admitted students who had passed the assessment gathered in front of the "Academic Affairs Hall" in the lecture area, awaiting their class assignments.

Unlike the tense atmosphere during the assessment, the students' faces were now filled with anticipation for the future and a touch of the arrogance befitting geniuses. They chatted in groups of three or five, discussing their preferred mentors and future cultivation paths.

The appearance of Lin Xiao, Shi Lei, and Su Yue still drew considerable attention. Especially when people saw Lin Xiao, their eyes held a mix of awe and curiosity. After all, the dark horse who emerged during the assessment had left a deep impression on them.

"Hmph, what's there to be proud of? It was just good luck. Once we're assigned to classes and you lose those two helpers, let's see how you die alone!"

Not far away, Wang Chen stood with several young masters from aristocratic families, glaring venomously at Lin Xiao and muttering curses under his breath. Li Mo, standing beside him, remained silent, but the coldness in his eyes indicated he hadn't forgotten the humiliation of that day.

Lin Xiao had long since stopped paying attention to such provocations.

Soon, a middle-aged man in a mentor's uniform walked onto the high platform at the front of the hall, holding a thick roster. He announced loudly, "Silence! We will now announce the new student class assignments!"

"Cloud Creek Academy's outer court has four tiers of classes: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Class assignments are primarily based on your comprehensive performance in the aptitude test and entrance assessment."

"Those with Profound-Grade aptitude or higher, or who ranked in the top fifty in the assessment, will be admitted to Heaven Class." "Those with Upper-Grade Mortal aptitude or who ranked in the top two hundred will be admitted to Earth Class." "Those with Mid-Grade Mortal aptitude or who ranked in the top five hundred will be admitted to Profound Class." "All remaining students will be admitted to Yellow Class."

As soon as these words were spoken, a stir erupted in the crowd.

The academy's hierarchical system was evident from the very first day. Everyone knew that the cultivation resources and mentor allocations for different tiers of classes would be vastly different.

"Now, we will begin calling names."

"Su Yue, Profound-Grade Mid-Tier aptitude, ranked seventy-second in the assessment, admitted to Heaven Class Three!"

"Wow! It's Goddess Su Yue! She really got into Heaven Class!" "The City Lord's daughter lives up to her reputation!"

Amidst envious exclamations, Su Yue winked playfully at Lin Xiao and Shi Lei before walking into the queue representing Heaven Class.

"Shi Lei, Upper-Grade Mortal aptitude, Innate Divine Strength, ranked ninety-first in the assessment, admitted to Earth Class One!"

Although Shi Lei didn't get into Heaven Class, he still secured a spot in the best class of Earth Class with his excellent performance. He gave Lin Xiao a thumbs-up and joined his own queue.

As names were called one after another, the people in the square were continuously sorted.

Wang Chen and Li Mo also successfully entered Earth Class based on their family background and decent scores. Before leaving, they glanced back at Lin Xiao with a gloating, provocative look.

This was because they knew Lin Xiao's aptitude was listed as blank on his profile! And while his assessment score of thirty-fifth was impressive, according to the academy's comprehensive evaluation rules, those with unknown aptitude were usually demoted!

As expected, after the quotas for Earth Class and Profound Class were filled, Lin Xiao's name still hadn't been called.

At this point, only a few hundred people remained in the square. Most of them were students with mediocre aptitude or those who had ranked at the bottom of the assessment, all looking dejected and lost.

"Finally, all remaining students are admitted to Yellow Class Nine!"

The mentor uttered the last sentence in a tone that was almost a pronouncement, then put away the roster and left without looking back, as if even looking at these "underachievers" was a waste of time.

Yellow Class Nine!

The worst class in the entire outer court, also known as the "bottom class" or "garbage dump"!

This result elicited undisguised laughter from many in Heaven Class and Earth Class.

"Hahaha! This is hilarious! The dark horse Lin Xiao was actually assigned to Yellow Class Nine!" "I knew it! A bumpkin with no background must have gotten lucky during the assessment! Now his true colors are revealed!" "From heaven to hell, I wonder what he's feeling right now?" Wang Chen laughed heartily, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

Even Shi Lei and Su Yue felt deep indignation and worry for Lin Xiao.

However, Lin Xiao, the person involved, remained outwardly calm.

He calmly glanced at his bronze token. Sure enough, "Yellow Class Nine" appeared on it. He felt no disappointment, not even a flicker of emotion.

Class? Resources? Mentors?

These things, so crucial to others, were far less tangible to him than the system in his mind.

He slowly walked into the queue representing Yellow Class Nine.

The surrounding students sized him up with complicated gazes. There was sympathy, curiosity, and a touch of shared misfortune.

Soon, a white-haired, thin old man with a goatee ambled over to them. He wore a faded instructor's uniform, carried a wine gourd, and exuded an aura of laziness and decadence.

"Ahem... everyone's here, right?" the old man said, hiccuping after a swig of wine, his voice weak. "This old man is Sun Simiao, your instructor for Yellow Class Nine. You can call me Elder Sun from now on."

"There aren't many rules in my class. Don't cause trouble and don't add to my burdens. Whether you want to sleep or daydream is up to you. Anyway... this is as good as it gets for you."

His undisguised perfunctoriness and disdain caused many of the new students to blush, their anger suppressed by fear.

"Alright, follow me. I'll take you to your first lesson."

Elder Sun finished speaking and leisurely led the way with his hands behind his back.

The classroom for Yellow Class Nine was located in the most remote corner of the teaching area. It was a dilapidated courtyard overgrown with weeds, exuding an air of decay.

After bringing everyone to the classroom, Elder Sun tossed them a Human-Tier Low-Grade introductory cultivation technique, the Body Tempering Art, and then pointed to several training stones in the yard, saying lazily, "This is your main cultivation technique for the next year. Practice it yourself. If you don't understand anything... don't ask me. I find it troublesome. Good, dismissed!"

With that, he walked over to a large tree in the corner of the yard, lay down on a rocking chair, and began drinking his wine with his eyes closed, resting.

This irresponsible teaching method left all the new students exchanging glances, their hearts filled with disappointment and anger.

Lin Xiao, however, paid it no mind. He didn't even look at the Body Tempering Art tossed on the ground. Instead, he turned and left the dilapidated courtyard.

"Hey! You new guy! The instructor told you to cultivate, where are you going?" a student with a brutish face, who looked like a class leader, shouted at him.

Lin Xiao paused and glanced back at him indifferently.

With just one glance, the student felt as if he were being stared at by an ancient ferocious beast. A chill shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, and the rest of his words got stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.

Lin Xiao ignored them and walked straight out of the courtyard.

He didn't go to the training area or back to the dormitory. Instead, he followed the map in the introductory manual to the academy's Library Pavilion.

It was a nine-story octagonal pagoda, ancient and solemn, housing hundreds of thousands of cultivation techniques, martial skills, and various classics of Cloud Creek Academy. It was the knowledge core of the entire academy.

"Stop! Show me your identity jade token!" Two calm-looking senior students at the entrance blocked his way.

Lin Xiao handed over his jade token.

The senior student glanced at it and a hint of disdain appeared on his face. "Yellow Class? You can only enter the first floor. Remember, you can only look at the books inside, not take them out, and definitely not damage them. Otherwise, you'll face the consequences!"

Lin Xiao nodded and stepped into this hall of knowledge.

The first floor of the Library Pavilion was vast. Rows of towering bookshelves, ten feet high, stood like a forest, filled with a dazzling array of books that exuded an ancient and profound ink fragrance.

Countless outer court students were immersed in the ocean of knowledge. The entire floor was so quiet that not a needle could be heard.

Lin Xiao didn't flip through the books one by one like the others.

He simply walked slowly between the bookshelves, his gaze calmly sweeping over the titles.

And with every bookshelf he passed, the system panel in his mind frantically refreshed with information.

[System Prompt: Scanned Human-Tier Low-Grade cultivation technique Spirit Condensation Art. Learn?]

[System Prompt: Scanned Human-Tier Low-Grade martial skill Wind Chasing Sword Technique. Learn?]

[System Prompt: Scanned miscellaneous information Xuan Yuan Continent Monster Compendium. Record?] ...

"Learn!"

"Learn!"

"Record!"

Lin Xiao chanted silently in his heart.

Instantly, the cultivation methods of various techniques and martial skills, and the knowledge points of continental secrets, transformed into the purest information streams and surged into his mind, where he instantly absorbed and mastered them!

This was his true golden finger!

This was the greatest confidence he had in being assigned to the "bottom-tier class"!

The entire Library Pavilion was an inexhaustible treasure trove for him!

As the sun began to set, Lin Xiao walked out of the Library Pavilion. His mind now contained over a hundred Human-Tier Low-Grade cultivation techniques and martial skills, as well as a massive reserve of knowledge.

He looked up at the sunset clouds in the sky, a confident smile playing on his lips.