Return to the Academy

Three days later, outside Peace Town, Jia Nan Academy.

A young man was walking toward Peace Town. Judging by his appearance, it was none other than Xiao Ling.

When Peace Town came into view, Xiao Ling let out a long breath. The nerves he had kept taut these past few days finally relaxed somewhat.

The past few days had not been easy for Xiao Ling. On his journey back, he had often encountered people seeking to assassinate or rob him. He had not dared relax for even a moment, and the quality of his rest had been terrible.

Shaking his head, he thought that his strength was still too weak. If he were a Dou Emperor or Dou Wang, he could strut sideways through places like these.

Touching the several dozen Storage Rings in his pocket, Xiao Ling could not help but smile. To ensure his safety, he had not sorted through them yet. He muttered inwardly, "Although Da Dou Shi and Dou Shi probably don't have much wealth, with this many of them, there should be something good, right? It feels a bit like opening blind boxes."

No longer thinking about such random things, Xiao Ling circulated his Dou Qi and sprinted toward Peace Town's gates.

There were quite a few travelers on this Yellow Earth Road. These people had clearly come from the Black Corner Region, and their bodies carried the fierce, vicious aura Xiao Ling was familiar with. They had obviously been tempered through ruthless struggles in the Black Corner Region.

However, no matter how fierce these people were, within a hundred li of Jia Nan Academy, they could only keep their tempers in check.

Looking at these passersby, whose expressions had become rather strange from trying so hard to conceal the killing intent in their hearts, Xiao Ling sighed inwardly. "Jia Nan Academy's lingering prestige remains. No one around here dares act recklessly." Shaking his head, he stopped paying attention.

Following the Yellow Earth Road lined with lush trees, Xiao Ling enjoyed the rare tranquility of the Black Corner Region as he slowly approached the town.

After running for several minutes, Xiao Ling stopped at the town entrance. He looked up at the plaque above the gate. The name on it was ordinary and vulgar; if it were placed in the Black Corner Region, it would surely be torn down the next day.

"Peace Town." This was the first town one entered after leaving the Black Corner Region and approaching Jia Nan Academy!

Glancing at the crowds beside the Death Spirit Tree, who were staring in astonishment at the corpses of Dou Emperors and Dou Wangs, Xiao Ling stepped into Peace Town.

The moment he entered the town, Xiao Ling saw a middle-aged man leading more than a dozen young men and women dressed in light blue robes as they recorded the identities of travelers who had just entered Peace Town.

Xiao Ling also saw that after many travelers reported their information, they were given a pale red medicinal pill.

However, those travelers seemed extremely unwilling to swallow it.

The middle-aged man leading the group merely sneered. "Anyone entering Peace Town must report their identity, name, and so on. Otherwise, you will be driven out immediately."

"Besides that, you must swallow the pill, which was refined by the academy's Alchemy Department. It can sense killing intent. Rest assured, it is not poison. If you harbor murderous intent within the town, the pill will emit a red glow from inside your body. Our Enforcement Team will follow that glow to find you. And you should know how Jia Nan Academy deals with those who bring the Black Corner Region's ways here... When you intend to leave the town, you may collect the antidote at the antidote distribution point in the town center. However, once you receive the antidote, an Enforcement Team will monitor you all the way out of town."

"If you refuse to take the pill, you may leave now."

After explaining these rules, the middle-aged man at the head of the group ignored the resistant travelers.

After all, Peace Town was not a place where these people could run wild. Jia Nan Academy was not afraid of the people from the Black Corner Region coming to provoke them. The corpses on the Death Spirit Tree nearby were proof of the consequences.

Not far from the town gate stood a large tree, its crown hung with corpse after corpse. Some had already dried out, while others were still fresh. When the breeze passed through the treetops, it made the corpses sway and creak with a bone-chilling sound.

The Death Spirit Tree's reputation had nearly reached the point where its very name inspired terror. Many people who had spent years in the Black Corner Region would never forget that life-and-death battle between the Black Corner Region and Jia Nan Academy.

Not many people still investigated the exact cause of that bloody battle. The only thing everyone knew was that afterward, the corpses of two Dou Wangs and one Dou Emperor had been hung from this Death Spirit Tree in an almost cruel manner.

From then on, no powerful expert from the Black Corner Region dared come here to cause trouble. Even if disturbances occasionally broke out, the person responsible would become a fresh corpse hanging from the Death Spirit Tree within less than an hour.

Xiao Ling walked toward the crowd and found a senior sister he had seen in the Outer Academy. Walking up to her, he smiled and said, "Senior Sister Li Xi, long time no see. I've just returned from training in the Black Corner Region. Can you let me enter the academy directly?"

When this senior sister saw his handsome face, her pretty cheeks flushed. Naturally, she recognized Xiao Ling. He was quite famous in the Outer Academy and treated others very gently. She had even patted his head when he was eight years old. She had not expected that after two years, he had only grown more handsome. Shaking her head, she hurriedly said, "So it's Junior Brother Xiao Ling. Of course you can go straight in. Were you injured outside? Do you need our help?"

When the people around them heard Xiao Ling's name, they all turned their attention in this direction.

Seeing that it was the renowned genius of the Outer Academy, Xiao Ling, they began discussing him one after another.

"So that's Junior Brother Xiao Ling, Jia Nan Academy's number one genius? He's so handsome."

"Junior Brother Xiao Ling broke through to Da Dou Shi at ten years old. What a genius!"

"I'd be satisfied if I had even half his talent!"

Ignoring the surrounding discussion, Xiao Ling answered Li Xi, "I'm not injured. Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister. Goodbye." Waving his hand, Xiao Ling headed toward the academy.

Peace Town was still quite far from Jia Nan City.

By the time Xiao Ling rode a Flying Magical Beast to the academy, it was already late at night.

Seeing that it was dark, Xiao Ling decided to visit Xiao Xun'er tomorrow.

He would first sort through his gains today.

Walking over to a chair and sitting down, he took out the Storage Rings from his pocket. There were twenty-seven Storage Rings in total.

His Soul Perception entered them, and he took out the items inside one after another.

He tossed the miscellaneous clutter aside without paying it any attention.

First were the Gold Coins. There were more than two hundred thousand Gold Coins in total, which was not bad.

There were also medicinal ingredients for some low-tier pills, mostly used to restore Dou Qi or treat injuries. There were only two Qi Gathering Powders, which were useless to Xiao Ling.

There were also some Dou Skill cultivation methods of various attributes. They were all Black Tier or Yellow Tier, and none could compare to the Dou Skills Xiao Ling currently used.

After thinking it over, Xiao Ling muttered inwardly, "The next time Instructor Ruo Lin goes out to recruit students, I'll have him take these to the Xiao Family. Once one of the Eight Ancient Clans, and now they only have a wind-attributed Intermediate Black Tier cultivation method worth using. If the clan leader isn't wind-attributed, they can't cultivate anything at all."

Shaking his head and no longer dwelling on it, he was simply too tired and needed a good rest.

After taking a bath and drinking a cup of Cola, Xiao Ling finally drifted into sleep.