Silence.
A deathly silence.
You could hear a needle drop in Yellow Class Nine's classroom.
Every student stared at the boy calmly returning to his seat as though gazing upon a god. Their breathing unconsciously softened, afraid of disturbing the true dragon hidden among them.
"Innate Dao Body"!
Though most of them had never even heard the term before, that miraculous sight just now was enough to overturn everything they had known for more than ten years!
He could make Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy dance along without even needing a spiritual root! What kind of terrifying talent was that?!
When they looked again at Fang Yuan, the instructor standing on the platform with an ashen face and a body swaying on the verge of collapse, their eyes were already filled with contempt and pity.
He had mistaken a peerless Uncut Jade, seen perhaps once in ten thousand years, for a stubborn stone by the roadside, then humiliated him in public again and again... Instructor Fang Yuan's career was probably finished.
At that moment, Fang Yuan truly felt as if the sky had fallen.
His legs went weak, cold sweat soaked through the robe on his back, and his mind was utterly blank. Only the four words "Innate Dao Body" remained, echoing over and over like death-dealing demonic voices.
He was finished.
He knew better than anyone what a student with an Innate Dao Body meant to Cloud Creek Academy. It meant the academy's future prosperity, the birth of a new legend! It was an unparalleled treasure worthy of the headmaster personally emerging from seclusion to teach!
Yet on the very first day of school, he had offended this future legend beyond reconciliation!
At the thought of the thunderous wrath the academy's higher-ups might unleash once they learned of this, Fang Yuan felt the world spin around him and nearly fainted dead away.
"Instructor, are... are we continuing the lesson?" a bolder student asked cautiously.
Fang Yuan jolted all over, as though waking from a dream.
He looked at the reverent, contemptuous, and gloating gazes below the platform—especially Lin Xiao's placid profile, without the slightest ripple—and knew that he was no longer qualified to stand upon this platform.
"Class... dismissed..."
He used every ounce of strength in his body to squeeze out those two words through clenched teeth, then fled the classroom in a daze like a stray dog that had lost its home.
He had to beg forgiveness! Immediately! At once! Otherwise, what awaited him would be a punishment more terrifying than death!
Only after Fang Yuan's miserable departure did the oppressive atmosphere in the classroom finally break.
Boom!
The entire Yellow Class Nine instantly erupted!
"My god! Lin Xiao, you... you're actually the legendary Innate Dao Body!" "That's incredible! What happened just now was more exciting than any storybook novel I've ever read!" "Classmate Lin Xiao, I failed to recognize Mount Tai before me and offended you in many ways. Please, do not take it to heart!"
Those classmates who had previously mocked Lin Xiao or treated him with indifference now swarmed around him like a hive of bees, their faces piled with fawning, fervent smiles. Their attitudes had made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
"Move aside! Move aside!"
Shi Lei puffed out his broad chest and stood like an iron tower, blocking everyone outside. His face was filled with the pride of sharing in Lin Xiao's glory.
Su Yue also stood quietly beside Lin Xiao, her beautiful eyes smiling. She had known that Lin Xiao was no creature of a shallow pond, but she had never expected the "surprise" he brought to the entire academy to be so earth-shaking!
Lin Xiao turned a deaf ear to the praise around him. He merely said calmly to Shi Lei and Su Yue, "Let's go. It's time to head back."
With that, he left the classroom with his companions along the path the crowd automatically parted for him.
What he left Yellow Class Nine was the beginning of a legend destined to be told for a long time.
Just as Lin Xiao had expected, his peaceful days had come to an end.
The events of Yellow Class Nine's first lesson swept through the entire outer academy of Cloud Creek Academy in less than half a day like a Category Twelve superstorm!
"Have you heard? Yellow Class Nine has produced a monster! It's Lin Xiao, the one who broke the Gravity Tower record!" "Monster? He's far more than that! They say he's a one-in-ten-thousand Innate Dao Body who can cultivate without any spiritual root at all!" "Really? Isn't that a little too unbelievable?" "Absolutely true! Everyone in the class saw it! He merely assumed a horse stance, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy within a hundred meters rushed toward him like it had gone mad. It looked like an immortal descending to the mortal world!" "The best part is that before that, their instructor Fang Yuan was pointing at Lin Xiao's nose and calling him trash! Hahaha, that slap to the face was simply unprecedented and earth-shattering!"
For a time, teahouses, taverns, martial arts plazas, mission halls... every corner of the outer academy was discussing the same person and the same event.
Lin Xiao's name completely eclipsed every genius, including Xiao Lang, making him the undisputed most famous person in the entire outer academy!
As for the other main character in the incident, Instructor Fang Yuan became everyone's laughingstock over tea and after meals.
It was said that after fleeing the classroom, he had stumbled and crawled all the way to the outer academy's Academic Affairs Hall, where he knelt outside the hall and, with snot and tears streaming down his face, "carried thorns on his back to plead guilty" before the academy's higher-ups, tearfully recounting the incident with embellishments.
Naturally, this news also reached certain people's ears.
Fifth floor of the cultivation tower, Heavenly Class Number One Cultivation Room.
Bang!
A precious white jade teacup was viciously smashed onto the floor, shattering into pieces.
Xiao Lang's face was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water. He stared fixedly at an Intelligence Jade Slip in his hand, veins bulging on the back of his hand. An icy, bone-piercing killing intent spread wildly from him, causing the temperature in the entire cultivation room to drop several degrees at once.
"Innate Dao Body... spiritual energy dancing in harmony..."
He squeezed out the words one by one through his teeth, the jealousy and resentment in his eyes nearly solidifying into substance.
He, Xiao Lang, was the eldest legitimate son of Marquis Wuwei's Estate in the royal city, born with a high-grade Fire Spiritual Root and hailed since childhood as an unparalleled genius not seen in the royal city for a hundred years! He had always believed himself to be the protagonist of this era, destined to look down upon all living beings!
But now, some mud-legged nobody who had crawled out of some unknown backwater had snatched away, one after another, all the glory that should have belonged to him!
The Gravity Tower record had been broken! The limelight of being the outer academy's number one had been stolen! And now, even the talent he had been most proud of had become a joke before this so-called Innate Dao Body!
How could he endure this?!
"I don't believe it! There is absolutely no such damned thing as an Innate Dao Body in this world!" Madness flickered in Xiao Lang's eyes. "He must be hiding some heaven-shaking secret! Or perhaps he obtained some treasure that defies the heavens!"
He abruptly rose to his feet and shouted toward the door, "Someone!"
"Young Master!" Two black-clothed guards with deep, steady auras appeared at the doorway like ghosts.
"Go investigate! At any cost, dig into that little bastard Lin Xiao until you reach the bottom! I want to know how many grains of rice he has eaten and how many mouthfuls of water he has drunk since childhood! I want to see exactly what kind of demon or monster he is!"
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, within the outer academy vice headmaster's private quiet room.
Chu Tianxing was holding a chess piece, playing against himself.
An elder in gray stood respectfully to one side, reporting the news he had just received.
"...That is the full course of events. Fang Yuan is still kneeling outside the hall, awaiting your judgment."
After hearing this, Chu Tianxing did not place the chess piece in his hand for a long time. Yet an unprecedentedly brilliant light burst from his cloudy old eyes!
"Innate Dao Body... spiritual energy resonance... hehehehe..."
He suddenly began to laugh softly. His laughter grew louder and louder until he could no longer help himself, throwing back his head and laughing as he slapped his palms together, making even the chess pieces on the board jump from the vibrations.
"Heaven blesses Cloud Creek! Heaven blesses Cloud Creek!"
He abruptly stood and paced back and forth across the room, unable to conceal the excitement and joy on his face.
"How many years has it been... How many years has it been since Cloud Creek Academy produced such peerless Uncut Jade, enough to change the entire dynasty's balance of power?!"
"Headmaster!" The gray-robed elder was equally excited. "Then what should we do now..."
"Pass down my orders!" Chu Tianxing made his decision without hesitation, an unquestionable authority flashing through his eyes. "First, that fool Fang Yuan is to be stripped of his position as instructor and expelled from the academy effective immediately, never to be hired again! Cloud Creek Academy has no need for such a narrow-minded fool who cannot recognize talent!"
"Second, immediately raise Lin Xiao's student rank to the highest Heavenly Class! All his cultivation resources are to be distributed according to the standards for core disciples! No! Use the highest standards! Give him whatever he needs! Even if he wants the stars in the sky, we must find a way to pluck them down for him!"
"Third..." Chu Tianxing paused, and a kindly smile appeared on his face. "Prepare the carriage. This old man will personally meet our academy's... peerless genius!"
When Vice Headmaster Chu Tianxing's personal carriage—a luxurious beast-drawn carriage pulled by four majestic Cloud-Treading Beasts—rolled grandly into the Yellow Class dormitory district, the entire outer academy was once again utterly thrown into an uproar!
Countless students surged in from every direction, packing the already narrow road so tightly that not even water could pass through. They all wanted to see with their own eyes what kind of person this legendary new student was, worthy of having the vice headmaster personally visit him!
Meanwhile, inside Lin Xiao's dormitory, at the center of the incident.
Lin Xiao sat cross-legged, turning a deaf ear to the clamor outside that was loud enough to blow the roof off.
He was reviewing.
Reviewing everything he had done in class today.
He knew his performance had been somewhat high-profile. But it had also been an inevitable choice made after careful consideration.
He understood the principle that "the tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be destroyed by the wind." But he also understood that in this world where the strong were revered, blindly enduring would only invite increasingly vicious bullying.
He needed to display enough value to gain the academy's attention, obtain more resources, and protect himself and his companions!
And today had been the first step in baring his Fangs.
Knock, knock, knock.
A steady knocking sounded at the door.
"Lin Xiao, the vice... Vice Headmaster, he... he has come to see you personally!" Shi Lei's excited, slightly stammering voice came from outside.
Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes, his gaze utterly calm.
He rose to his feet, straightened his robe, and opened the door.
Outside stood an old man in a luxurious purple robe. His beard and hair were entirely white, yet he was vigorous and spirited, his eyes as deep as the sea.
It was none other than the outer academy's vice headmaster, Chu Tianxing.
"You are Lin Xiao?"
Chu Tianxing looked at the Lin Xiao before him, neither humble nor overbearing, with a composed temperament utterly unlike that of a youth. A trace of heartfelt admiration flashed through his cloudy old eyes.
"This student, Lin Xiao, greets Vice Headmaster." Lin Xiao bowed slightly in salute.
"No need for such formality, no need!" Chu Tianxing hurried forward and warmly helped him up, his face blooming with a chrysanthemum-like smile. "Good! What an outstanding young talent! This old man has already heard about what happened today. The academy failed to recognize talent and allowed a pearl like you to gather dust in Yellow Class. We have wronged you!"
He held Lin Xiao's hand, his attitude as warm as that of a kindly grandfather next door.
"This old man came today for two reasons. First, to apologize to you on behalf of the academy. Second, to personally tell you some good news." Chu Tianxing said with a smile, "Starting today, you are a student of Heavenly Class One! You will enjoy the finest cultivation resources in the entire outer academy and the guidance of its best instructors! This old man guarantees that within three years, you will become a renowned favored child of heaven throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty!"
His words struck the ground like iron, brimming with temptation.
The countless students watching outside had reddened eyes and quickened breaths upon hearing this.
One step to the heavens!
This was simply one step to the heavens! From the worst Yellow Class directly into the strongest Heavenly Class One! This was an honor countless people dreamed of yet could never attain even after struggling for a lifetime!
Everyone thought Lin Xiao would immediately fall to his knees in tearful gratitude and thank him for his favor.
Yet Lin Xiao's reaction once again exceeded everyone's expectations.
He merely calmly withdrew his hand from Chu Tianxing's grasp, then bowed deeply to Chu Tianxing once more.
"Thank you for your favor, Vice Headmaster."
His voice was clear and firm.
"But this student... refuses."
Before you continue