Black Tier Class One

The Griffon Beasts took off again. Worth mentioning was that Lin Ming spotted Shi Shanshan among these students. It seemed she had been accepted as well.

After more than a month of life in the air, their group finally neared Jia Nan Academy. Lin Ming saw a huge pitch-black tree, its claw-like branches forked with corpses that swayed in the wind. This must have been the Spirit Tree outside Jia Nan Academy.

Before long, looking down from the Griffon Beast, Lin Ming saw a massive city slowly emerge before his eyes. Even from above, he could not see its end. He could only sigh that it truly deserved to be called the oldest Academy. The Imperial City of the Jia Ma Empire was no more than a child before it.

After flying for roughly another half hour, the Griffon Beasts finally began descending before a plaza. The Instructors then told everyone to dismount.

Once everyone had climbed down, Chen Yuanlong said to the Instructors, "Our Enforcement Team's mission is complete, so we'll be taking our leave." All the Griffon Beasts then flew away.

Lin Ming looked at the vast plaza ahead and faintly saw several figures walking toward them.

Once the Griffon Beasts had taken off, the Instructors began organizing the students they had recruited. After arranging them into groups, the figures approaching them arrived before them as well.

"Old Man is Hu Gan, Vice Dean of Jia Nan Academy's Outer Academy. On behalf of Jia Nan Academy, I welcome all new students into the Jia Nan Academy family..."

After hearing that this man was Hu Gan, Vice Dean of Jia Nan Academy's Outer Academy, Lin Ming looked at him several times. This was a Dou Emperor Expert. So far, he had never seen one before. Yet judging by Hu Gan's white beard and hair, as well as his kindly appearance, no one would have associated him with a Dou Emperor.

However, what Lin Ming had not expected was that this place also had the same sort of freshman welcome ceremony from his Previous Life, going on about the Academy's history, achievements, and so on. Only after An Hour did Hu Gan finally finish. The Instructors then handed over their lists of recruited students, and the students were assigned to classes.

Class assignment had nothing to do with Lin Ming. Instructor Zhang Man had already requested him for her class, and he had agreed. As for the others, they were not so fortunate.

As Lin Ming understood it, which class one entered depended first on the wishes of the Instructor who had recruited them. If that Instructor was willing to take them as a student and they agreed, their class was already decided. If the recruiting Instructor did not want them, they would be reassigned to another Instructor's class. In any case, they only needed to end up under an Instructor.

Another An Hour passed. Once everyone had been assigned to classes, Instructor Zhang Man gathered the dozen or so students assigned to her this time.

Instructor Zhang Man looked at her thirty-odd students and said, "You students have come from different places. Some of you were recruited by me, so you already know me. Others were assigned to me by the Academy and presumably do not know me, but that does not matter. Let me introduce myself again. My name is Zhang Man, and I will be your Instructor for Black Tier Class One from now on. If you have any questions about cultivation or daily life, you may come to me. I will do my best to answer whatever I can, and for anything I cannot answer myself, I will find the appropriate person to help you. As for what you need to do, it is enter the Inner Academy. As for what the Inner Academy is, you will learn in time. Now follow me. I'll take you to your accommodations."

Lin Ming and the other thirty-odd students followed Instructor Zhang Man toward their accommodations. After walking for nearly half an hour, they arrived below a large building.

"This building is the residence of Black Tier Class One. The second floor contains the classrooms, while the third floor is vacant. From the fourth floor upward are your rooms. There are enough rooms, so you may live alone, in pairs, or with several people. Just make your own choices. The only rule is that you are not allowed to fight here. Tomorrow morning will be your first class since arriving here, so do not be late. All right, go find the rooms you want," Instructor Zhang Man said. Someone immediately headed toward the building.

"Oh, right. The small courtyard beside this building is my residence. You can come find me there if you need anything," Instructor Zhang Man added.

Lin Ming looked in the direction Instructor Zhang Man pointed and saw an exquisite detached courtyard. Still, that was only natural. The students' accommodations were already quite good, so it was normal for an Instructor to have her own private courtyard.

Lin Ming also began walking upstairs. Upon entering the first floor, he saw that each floor had five rooms. Students began living from the fourth floor onward, and there were twelve floors in total, making forty rooms. Their class only had a little over thirty students, so there would still be rooms left even if everyone lived alone. Lin Ming was in no hurry and took his time looking.

When Lin Ming reached the top floor and saw that one room remained vacant, he decided on it. He wrote the two characters Lin Ming on the door, marking the room as his.

After entering, he found that it had two bedrooms and a living room, along with a bathroom and kitchen, as well as a balcony outside. After looking around, Lin Ming found it quite good. The room had to be at least a hundred square meters, more than enough for his daily needs.

After taking out his daily necessities and arranging them in the master bedroom, Lin Ming lay down to sleep. For more than a month, he had spent the days traveling atop Griffon Beasts, and even when they landed at night, he had not rested well. Now that he was settled, it was time to get some sleep.

The next morning, Lin Ming arrived at the second-floor classroom. After greeting Instructor Zhang Man on the platform, he found a seat below and sat down.

Before long, once Instructor Zhang Man saw that everyone had arrived, she said to Lin Ming and the others, "Students, today is the first class of Black Tier Class One. Yesterday, I introduced myself, and you have all gotten to know me somewhat. Now it is your turn to introduce yourselves, so that I can get to know you as well. Starting from the left, introduce your name, age, and cultivation in order."

At that moment, the first girl on the left stood and said, "My name is Han Yue. I'm fifteen years old and a One Star Dou Zhe."

Hearing the girl say that her name was Han Yue, Lin Ming thought, Could it really be that Han Yue, the senior Xiao Yan met in the Inner Academy in the original story? Still, it was certainly possible.

The introductions continued. Before long, a rather refined-looking young man stood and introduced himself. "My name is Lin Xiuyai. I'm sixteen years old, with the cultivation of a Five Stars Dou Zhe."

When Lin Ming heard the man call himself Lin Xiuyai, he could now confirm that this was Lin Xiuyai, second place on the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking in the original story. It seemed they had entered as freshmen in the same year.

Soon, it was Lin Ming's turn. Like the others, he stood and said, "My name is Lin Ming. I'm fifteen years old and a Two Star Dou Master."

"A Two Star Dou Master? Classmate, did you mean to say Dou Zhe instead of Dou Master?" Lin Xiuyai spoke up. He himself had been a cultivation genius rarely seen in a century within his clan, yet he had only reached Five Stars Dou Zhe at sixteen. Lin Ming was a year younger than him but claimed to be a Two Star Dou Master. How could anyone believe that?

Aside from the few people who already knew Lin Ming's situation, the other students also began discussing it among themselves. Everyone here was a Dou Zhe. If someone had a few more stars than the rest, that was barely acceptable. But skipping an entire realm—how were others supposed to compete?

"Quiet! What kind of behavior is all this noise?" Instructor Zhang Man rebuked the people below.

After seeing that everyone had quieted down, Instructor Zhang Man said to Lin Ming, "Lin Ming, show them. Let them know that there is always someone stronger, so they stop acting as though anything they cannot accomplish must be impossible for others as well."

Since Instructor Zhang Man had spoken, Lin Ming no longer hid it. It would be good to establish prestige and spare himself trouble from others in the future. Dou Qi circulated, and a Gold-Green Dou Qi Gauze Robe suddenly appeared around his body.

Seeing that their mouths were wide enough to fit an egg, Lin Ming stopped circulating his Dou Qi, took back the Dou Qi Gauze Robe, and sat down.

"Next," Instructor Zhang Man said. Only then did they recover, and the student behind Lin Ming began introducing himself.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, everyone had finished introducing themselves. Only then did Instructor Zhang Man say, "I have remembered all of you now. All thirty-six students of Black Tier Class One have reached the Dou Zhe realm, and we even have a Dou Master among us. This greatly pleases me. This means we can skip the material on Dou Qi and directly begin explaining knowledge for Dou Zhes..."

Instructor Zhang Man finally finished explaining all that. Lin Ming thought class could end for the day, but unexpectedly, she added, "We need to choose a Class Leader. That way, if the Instructor happens to be busy, you can go to the Class Leader. Now, make your own choice."

The moment Instructor Zhang Man finished speaking, Lin Ming saw everyone turn their eyes toward him. Before he could react, Instructor Zhang Man said, "Lin Ming. Since everyone has chosen you, you will be the Class Leader of Black Tier Class One from now on. When I am absent, you will be responsible for handling the students' affairs. All right, that is all for today. Dismissed."

Watching his classmates gradually leave, Lin Ming was dumbfounded. Just like that, it was decided? He had not even agreed!

"Lin Ming, what is it?" Instructor Zhang Man asked when she saw that he had not left.

"Instructor, can the Class Leader position be given to someone else?" Lin Ming looked at Instructor Zhang Man. He decided to make an effort and let someone else take the role.

"This was everyone's decision, so it cannot be changed. Being Class Leader is not troublesome. There may not even be one or two matters in an entire year that require you to step forward, so it will not affect you. Besides, if you are not the Class Leader and something really happens, should you, a Dou Master, end up opposing someone, who could stop you? So just do the job properly." After saying that, Instructor Zhang Man left as well, leaving Lin Ming alone there.

"Ah, I hope so!" What else could he do at this point? He could only accept the position.