Eidetic Memory

Jiang Donghua stood at the edge of the training ground, staring at the empty sparring platform with tightly furrowed brows.

"That old bastard usually loves drinking and bragging here, doesn't he? Why isn't there even a trace of him today?"

Jiang Donghua looked around. Several students from the Yellow-tier class were sweating profusely as they practiced their battle skills, but Yan Feng's distinctively burly figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, have any of you seen Instructor Yan?"

Jiang Donghua stopped a passing student and asked.

"Instructor Yan?"

The student scratched his head.

"I saw him drinking here this morning. After that, he seemed to leave in a hurry..."

"Where did he go?"

"No idea. I just saw him running while looking back over his shoulder, like he was hiding from something."

Jiang Donghua.

"?"

Hiding from something?

Could that old bastard really predict the future?!

He took a deep breath, suppressed the irritation in his heart, and turned toward the academy's rear mountain.

Besides wandering around the training ground, Yan Feng would occasionally head to the rear mountain to hunt low-level magical beasts for drinking money. Perhaps he could catch him there.

However, when he reached the rear mountain, all he saw were several outer academy disciples dragging a freshly hunted Redflame Boar back.

"Instructor Yan? Didn't see him."

One of the students shook his head.

"Though I did hear some movement in the woods just now. It sounded like someone ran past in a panic..."

Ran past?

What the hell was that old bastard up to?

He gritted his teeth and decided to block Yan Feng at his residence.

However, when he rushed to the instructors' dormitory area, he found Yan Feng's door tightly shut, the windows wide open, and the curtains flapping noisily in the wind.

Where was he?

Jiang Donghua frowned and pushed the door open.

Ignoring the sign hanging outside the door: Unauthorized persons prohibited!

The moment Jiang Donghua opened the door, the noise from the window grew even louder.

The room was completely empty. Half a jar of unfinished wine sat on the table, its contents still gently sloshing as though it had only just been set down.

The bed was a mess, its blanket half thrown aside, while a boot lay beneath it.

It looked like someone had just fled.

Jiang Donghua's eye twitched. He walked to the window and looked out. Amid the distant academy buildings, a dark figure vaguely flashed past with a whoosh, moving so fast that it vanished beyond his sight in the blink of an eye.

What exactly was that old bastard hiding from?!

He stood before the window, staring at the empty academy. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence.

"What the hell?!"

Only Yan Feng himself knew why.

He cultivated Fire-attribute Battle Qi by nature, and his temperament was already fiery. On top of that, he was in his thirties, still unmarried, and had never even touched a woman. To be precise, he was still an old...

And yesterday, he had borrowed a Mysterious-grade Mid-tier battle skill from the Scripture Depository: the Body-Burning Incantation.

Just one glance at that name was enough to make one's blood surge!

Yan Feng had initially thought it was merely an ordinary fire-element battle skill, with nothing more than an exaggerated name.

But when he opened to the first page and saw that line of small print, his entire body froze.

"This battle skill must be cultivated by one with a Pure Yang Body. If the yang energy within the body is overly abundant, it can easily stir heartfire, causing one's blood to boil and making self-control difficult."

"In mild cases, the face will flush red. In severe cases... ahem, it is recommended that a bucket of cold water be prepared during cultivation."

What kind of fucked-up cultivation method was this?!

He forced himself to keep reading, only for it to feel increasingly wrong.

The circulation route of this battle skill actually traveled through the meridians straight toward the dantian, then continued all the way downward...

"Smack!"

Yan Feng snapped the manual shut, a thin layer of sweat appearing on his forehead.

No!

This thing absolutely could not be cultivated!

But the problem was, he had already borrowed it!

According to the Academy Rules, borrowed battle skills had to be returned within three days, or Contribution Points would be deducted!

"Damn it, I should've read the introduction first!"

Yan Feng gritted his teeth and decided to hide for a while, planning to wait until this period passed before dealing with it.

But just now, he had already sensed Jiang Donghua's aura. The moment he wanted to open the door, he felt the Battle Qi in his body faintly stir, as though something had provoked it, leaving his entire body unbearably hot.

"Oh no! This shitty cultivation method can affect me passively too?!"

Yan Feng's expression changed drastically. Without another word, he climbed out the window and ran!

So he was not hiding from Jiang Donghua at all!

He was hiding from the wicked fire within his own body!

Meanwhile, Jiang Donghua stood in the empty dormitory room, unable to make sense of it no matter how hard he thought.

"Where the hell did that old bastard run off to?"

He scratched his head, then suddenly caught sight of the opened manual on the table.

Body-Burning Incantation

Jiang Donghua picked it up curiously. After reading just two lines, his expression instantly turned strange.

"Uh... this..."

He silently put the book down, took two steps back, then turned and left.

"Forget it. As for the medicine cauldron... I'll think of another way."

He could not have this instructor for now!

Jiang Donghua slammed the door shut with a bang, pressing his back tightly against it as he panted heavily.

He lowered his head and looked at his thin frame, then recalled Instructor Yan's broad-shouldered, muscular build. He immediately shuddered.

"If I'd just barged in earlier..."

An image uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

Yan Feng, steam rising from his entire body, his eyes bloodshot as he pounced...

"Gasp—"

Jiang Donghua sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly shook his head, throwing the terrifying thought from his mind.

He looked down at the medicine cauldron purchase list clenched in his hand. The paper had already been soaked through by the cold sweat in his palm.

"Looks like those one hundred thousand gold coins..."

He swallowed.

"I'll still have to think of another way."

At that moment, the Body-Burning Incantation was quietly burning, with one final line of tiny text on its pages.

"Note: Cultivate with caution..."

Jiang Donghua could only return to class for now and make further plans while checking the AFK System in his mind.

[Host: Jiang Donghua]

[Realm: Two-star Dou Master (426/2000)]

[Main Cultivation Method: Sky-Burning Incantation (Mysterious-grade Mid-tier)]

[Idle Gain]

Clone 1: 5 points/hour

Clone 2: 5 points/hour

[Current Total Gain: 10 points/hour]

He switched it over to the pill section.

[First-grade Pill: Bone-Mending Pill, Beginner (0/100)]

Clone 1: 0.1 points/hour

Clone 2: 0.1 points/hour

Jiang Donghua abruptly opened his eyes, nearly jumping out of his seat.

"Five hundred hours?! It'll take more than twenty days of AFK cultivation just to reach beginner level?"

Jiang Donghua stared at the system panel, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"I'm such an idiot! Instead of desperately grinding pill refining now, I should break through to the Dou Master realm first!"

Jiang Donghua leaned back in his chair with satisfaction, counting on his fingers.

"Once I reach the Dou Master realm, I'll be able to have another clone cultivate through AFK."

Since he was staying in class, he could not just sit around doing nothing. He might as well properly study all kinds of knowledge about the Battle Qi Continent.

Jiang Donghua stared at the Herbal Compendium in his hands, his brows slightly furrowed.

He had just turned a page, yet the appearance, name, medicinal properties, and even the blurry note in the corner for every single medicinal herb on the previous page had clearly surfaced in his mind.

"Eidetic memory?"

His heart skipped a beat. He quickly flipped through several more pages, then closed his eyes and recalled them. Sure enough, every page's contents seemed branded into his mind, without the slightest discrepancy.

"This AFK System... has a function like this too?"

He muttered to himself. He had never possessed such an absurd memory in his previous life.

Could it be a hidden bonus gifted by the system after transmigrating?