Yellow Class Nine and the Mentor's Disdain

When Lin Xiao walked out of the Martial Arts Pavilion's profound starry sky and bathed again in Cloud Creek City's warm sunlight, his entire being underwent an indescribable transformation.

His realm was still Body Refinement Sixth Level. His strength had not increased by even a fraction. But deep within his sea of consciousness, the "Unbending" brand, formed from a gray light cluster, pulsed slowly like a heart. Each pulse emanated an indestructible will, perfectly merging with his soul.

This was a sublimation at the soul level.

His perspective on the world seemed to have changed. In his eyes, the superficial strength or weakness, nobility or baseness of people and things no longer mattered. He could faintly sense a unique "momentum" from their very existence.

Xiao Lang's momentum was sharp and revealing, domineering and fierce, like a peerless, deadly weapon unsheathed. Shi Lei's momentum was heavy and steady, firm as rock, like a majestic, immovable mountain. Su Yue's momentum was agile and swift, elusive, like an unfathomable wisp of clear wind.

And after he comprehended the "Unbending True Meaning," his "momentum" finally took shape—it was an undercurrent hidden beneath the abyss, seemingly calm, yet containing power capable of overturning everything. Silent he may be, but when he speaks, he will astound!

"Lin Xiao, you... are you really okay?" Su Yue looked at Lin Xiao's increasingly deep eyes, and for some reason, a sense of awe arose in her heart.

"What could be wrong with me?" Lin Xiao snapped out of his contemplation, a gentle smile appearing on his face. The heart-pounding "momentum" instantly vanished without a trace, and he returned to being the approachable young man. "Let's go. We need to get familiar with your new equipment. Our real academy life officially begins tomorrow."

Back in the dormitory area, the three of them celebrated briefly before returning to their respective rooms.

Shi Lei eagerly began refining the "Immovable Wisdom King Art," while Su Yue, holding the "Firefly Soft Sword," danced gracefully under the moonlight, familiarizing herself with the characteristics of this divine weapon.

Lin Xiao sat cross-legged, sinking his consciousness into the System.

[Name: Lin Xiao]
[Realm: Body Refinement Sixth Level (Physical Body Half-Step Extreme)]
[Level: 5 (121/200)]
[Cultivation Techniques: Basic Breathing Technique, Book of Ten Thousand Laws (Fragment)]
[Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Perfect), Basic Swordplay (Perfect), Basic Movement Technique (Perfect)... (Total 1324)]
[Special Ability: Unbending True Meaning (Initial Glimpse)]
[True Meaning Effect: When the host is in adversity (HP below 30% or facing an enemy of higher realm), all attributes increase by 10%, insight into the enemy's weaknesses increases by 50%! The stronger the willpower, the greater the effect!]
[Merit Points: 350] [Novice Gift Pack (Opened)]

Looking at the new line "Unbending True Meaning" on his status panel, Lin Xiao was filled with immense pride.

This was his greatest gain this time!

Cultivation techniques and martial skills were ultimately external things, mere techniques. But the True Meaning of Martial Dao was the "Dao" that directly pointed to the origin! With it, Lin Xiao could truly possess his own unique core competitiveness!

He didn't start cultivating immediately. Instead, he took out the basic texts on formations, alchemy, and artifact refining. With the System's powerful analytical ability, he began to frantically absorb this knowledge he had never encountered before.

He knew very well that his future path would not be that of a mere martial artist. He wanted to combine modern scientific thinking with the profound system of this world, forging an unprecedented path of omnipotence!

The next morning.

On the outer court's training grounds of Cloud Creek Academy, thousands of newly admitted students who had passed the assessment stood in formation according to their classes.

The Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow classes were clearly demarcated.

The students of the Heaven Class exuded powerful auras and had arrogant expressions, enjoying the reverent gazes of everyone. The students of the Yellow Class, on the other hand, were mostly dejected and listless, feeling inferior.

Lin Xiao, Shi Lei, and Su Yue stood in the queue for Yellow Class Nine.

Unlike the self-pitying classmates around them, the three of them had expressions of curiosity and anticipation.

"I never thought the three of us would actually be assigned to the worst class," Shi Lei said, scratching his head with a somewhat honest smile.

"Isn't that good? No one will pay attention to us, so we can develop in peace," Lin Xiao replied, happy to have some quiet.

Just then, a middle-aged man wearing a gray mentor's robe, with a stern face and a hint of weariness in his eyes, slowly walked to the front of the Yellow Class Nine queue.

He first lazily scanned the listless students below, his impatience and disdain undisguised.

"My name is Fang Yuan. From today onwards, I will be your instructor for Yellow Class Nine."

His voice was flat, without a trace of emotion, as if he were just going through the motions.

"I know many of you are dissatisfied and feel humiliated about being assigned to the Yellow Class. But I want to tell you that the academy's assignments are absolutely fair!"

A mocking curve appeared on Fang Yuan's lips.

"The reason you are here is not because of bad luck, but because your aptitude and potential only deserve to be here! Cloud Creek Academy is a place that values talent! Without talent, no amount of effort is anything but waste!"

His ruthless, even vicious words made all the students' faces turn even uglier.

Fang Yuan seemed to enjoy the pleasure of verbally crushing others. He cleared his throat and continued, "I've seen your aptitude test results. Most of you are 'Lower Grade,' 'Middle Grade,' not even a single 'Upper Grade.' Oh, right, our class seems to have one more exceptional case whose aptitude test result is... 'None'?"

His gaze, like a venomous snake, precisely landed on Lin Xiao in the queue.

"Heh, this is truly absurd! A trash who doesn't even have a Spiritual Root could pass the assessment and sneak into the academy? You must have had an incredible stroke of luck! But I'll warn you, luck always runs out. In Cloud Creek Academy, without talent, you will ultimately achieve nothing and will be trampled under everyone's feet, shamefully driven out like a stray dog!"

As soon as he said this, everyone's gaze turned uniformly towards Lin Xiao, their eyes filled with sympathy, disdain, and schadenfreude.

Shi Lei's face turned red with anger, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked, and he was about to lash out on the spot.

But Lin Xiao put a hand on him.

Lin Xiao's face remained as calm as ever. He simply met Fang Yuan's gaze on the stage with a calm expression.

That glance held no anger, no humiliation, only a bottomless calm.

For some reason, the moment Fang Yuan met Lin Xiao's gaze, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat, as if all his thoughts had been seen through by that young man.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable.

"Hmph! What are you looking at? I'm talking about you! Don't think you're so great just because you got a high score through trickery in the assessment! I'm telling you, that little bit of false fame is worthless in the face of absolute talent!" Fang Yuan reprimanded him in embarrassment and anger.

After the scolding, it was time for the first class of the day—Fundamentals of Spiritual Qi.

Fang Yuan stood on the podium, reading the textbook's content verbatim. His voice was dry and devoid of emotion, making the students below drowsy.

"...Spiritual Qi is the most basic energy unit that constitutes our world. Drawing Spiritual Qi into the body and tempering oneself is the first step in cultivation. Whether one can sense and absorb Spiritual Qi, and the efficiency of absorption, depends on the cultivator's own Spiritual Root aptitude..."

Just as everyone was dozing off, a calm voice suddenly rang out in the classroom.

"Instructor Fang, I have a question."

Everyone was stunned and looked towards the source of the voice. It was Lin Xiao, the one Fang Yuan had publicly humiliated moments ago.

Fang Yuan's brow immediately furrowed. He said impatiently, "What question? It better be related to the class. Don't waste everyone's time with nonsense!"

Lin Xiao stood up and said neither subserviently nor arrogantly, "Instructor, you just said that Spiritual Qi is the most basic energy unit that constitutes the world. However, I've seen records in some ancient books in the Library Pavilion stating that above Spiritual Qi, there seems to be a more fundamental energy called 'Primal Qi'. The books describe Primal Qi as formless and shapeless, yet omnipresent, being the source that constitutes all things, and even Spiritual Qi itself. Instructor, is this statement correct? If it is, then shouldn't the essence of our cultivation not just be absorbing Spiritual Qi, but rather pursuing that more fundamental Primal Qi?"

As soon as this question was asked, the entire classroom fell into dead silence.

The students who had been dozing off were now staring with their mouths agape in astonishment.

Primal Qi? What is that? They had never even heard of it!

And on the podium, Fang Yuan's expression instantly became incredibly complex. His face first turned the color of a pig's liver, and he opened his mouth a few times but couldn't utter a single word. Then, that pig's liver color gradually faded, turning into a dark blue.

Because Fang Yuan had heard of the "Primal Qi" Lin Xiao mentioned! But that was also only mentioned vaguely in a few sentences in extremely obscure ancient rare books! It was related to the most fundamental level of the cultivation system, a level of "Dao" that even core instructors in the inner court might not be able to explain clearly!

Asking him, a bottom-tier instructor in the outer court, to explain it? Wasn't that asking the impossible?!

He couldn't answer it at all!

To be publicly stumped by an "idiot" student he had just belittled to worthlessness, with an academic question he couldn't answer, right in front of the entire class—this was an utter humiliation for Fang Yuan!

"Nonsense!"

In his embarrassment and anger, Fang Yuan slammed the table and shouted sternly, "What kind of random historical gossip have you been reading! Primal Qi? What a joke! I'll tell you, the biggest taboo in cultivation is people like you who aim too high and have wild fantasies! You haven't even figured out the most basic Spiritual Qi, and you're already talking about some illusory Primal Qi! You truly don't know what you're talking about!"

Unable to refute Lin Xiao theoretically, he resorted to personal attacks.

"You! Yes, you! Don't think you can show off by reading a few trash books! Anyone can talk big on paper! If you're so capable, come and demonstrate how you draw in Spiritual Qi!"

He pointed at Lin Xiao, his face filled with a venomous sneer.

He wanted to embarrass Lin Xiao publicly! How could a waste who didn't even have a Spiritual Root possibly draw in Spiritual Qi? He wanted everyone to see that this boastful kid couldn't even begin to cultivate!

"Alright."

To everyone's surprise, Lin Xiao calmly nodded and agreed.

He slowly walked to the open space in the center of the classroom and, under everyone's gaze, assumed the most basic and standard horse stance.

Then, he slowly closed his eyes.

Fang Yuan's mocking smile grew even wider.

However, the next second, the smile on his face completely froze.

The air around Lin Xiao seemed to distort slightly, almost imperceptibly. Immediately after, colorful points of light, like fireflies, began to emerge from the void, becoming more and more numerous and brighter!

"Sp... Spiritual Qi points! My heavens! So dense!" "How is this possible?! He doesn't have a Spiritual Root, does he?!"

The classroom instantly erupted in an earth-shattering uproar!

Those points of light were the free-floating Spiritual Qi in the world! Only those with extremely high affinity could induce such obvious Spiritual Qi phenomena during breathing exercises!

And this was just the beginning!

The attracted Spiritual Qi points did not enter Lin Xiao's body like they would with others. Instead, as if guided by some mysterious force, they began to revolve around Lin Xiao's body in a profound and rhythmic trajectory!

They seemed to have come alive, dancing joyfully around Lin Xiao!

At this moment, Lin Xiao appeared solemn and majestic, like an immortal who had merged with the Dao!

He wasn't absorbing the Spiritual Qi; he was "expounding."

With his body, he expounded to everyone what "unity of heaven and man" meant!

Fang Yuan stared blankly at the miraculous scene before him, his entire being struck by lightning, his mind a complete blank.

He knew he was wrong.

Terribly wrong!

How could this be a waste without a Spiritual Root? This was clearly the legendary, one-in-a-million "Innate Dao Body"! A supreme physique that could directly communicate with the myriad Daos of heaven and earth without needing a Spiritual Root!

He had actually belittled such a peerless Uncut Jade as trash in public?!

Thinking of this, endless regret and fear instantly engulfed him.

Lin Xiao slowly finished his technique, and the Spiritual Qi points surrounding him gradually faded back into the void.

He opened his eyes and calmly looked at Fang Yuan, whose face had already turned ashen, and slowly said:

"Instructor, I believe the essence of cultivation is not about taking, but about resonance."

After speaking, he didn't look at Fang Yuan again and calmly walked back to his seat amidst the awestruck gazes of his classmates, who looked at him as if he were a god.