Wu Yong: I Don't Like Gossip

After experiencing the second era of "Great Oppression," this year's new students quickly blended into the old students' circles.

In a sense, the White-Clad Female Devil and that Great Demon Emperor had done a good thing.

They had oppressed everyone equally. Everyone abandoned their conflicts with one another and, behind the scenes, began grumbling about those two fiends in unspoken agreement. Gradually, a peculiar kind of "friendship" had formed.

"That White-Clad Female Devil is far too despicable. She actually poisoned us while we weren't paying attention."

"Oh, give it a rest. I heard that the White-Clad Female Devil was already a six-star Dou Ling during the Inner Academy Selection Tournament. She poisoned people purely to save time. It had nothing to do with whether she was despicable or not."

"Exactly. I'd say being poisoned and knocked out like this might actually be easier for you to accept. At least you can fool yourselves. If it had been the Great Demon Emperor from two years ago, you would have been utterly despairing. He fought all ninety-nine of us alone. He was seriously like a monster!"

"I also heard about the miserable experience your class had during the Fire Energy Hunting Competition. A Dou Ling could already control the energy of heaven and earth. Aside from being unable to fly, he was no different from a Dou Emperor expert. Good thing I enrolled a year later, hehehe..."

"Damn, looking at it that way, you really were lucky! If you'd been a year later, you'd have ended up just like us."

"Isn't that the truth~"

At night, the sounds of everyone chatting before bed drifted away on the wind, while the winds within the Inner Academy would actively gather around someone.

By chance, that person had thought of the Communication Crystal he had personally made and thus created a Dou Technique with no combat power at all, one capable of gathering the sounds that had dispersed into the wind.

Wind Whisper Technique, an ungraded Dou Technique.

In terms of combat power alone, it was not even comparable to a low-grade Yellow-Tier Dou Technique.

Yet its effect was something even a high-grade Heaven-Tier Dou Technique could not achieve.

"So these people have all been talking about me behind my back. How embarrassing~"

Wu Yong, who appeared to be stargazing, cocked his ear and listened, occasionally uttering a few nonsensical remarks.

Anyone unaware of the situation would certainly have thought he was insane.

"Come on, let me see what my current maximum range is!"

As soon as he spoke, Wu Yong sat upright. His long fingers fluttered like butterflies among flowers, forming several hand seals within a second and dazzling anyone who watched.

In the silent depths of midnight, Wu Yong focused completely and exerted the Wind Whisper Technique with all his strength.

Under his full perception, Wu Yong felt his body suddenly grow light, extending far, far away along the wind.

The wind blew between heaven and earth, everywhere at once, carrying away every sound.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~"

"Quack, quack, quack~"

"How are you already done after only five times?"

"He asked for it, and you gave it to him?"

"He insisted~"

"He asked and you gave it to him?"

"Move! I've had my eye on this household for a long time. Their strongest fighter is only a two-star Dou Shi in his sixties."

"Sir, you can't do that~"

"Old man, why couldn't you just pass the Flame Mantra on to me?! Why, why did it have to come to this? I didn't want to make a move against you. You forced me to! Yes, it's all your fault!!!"

"Sounds like I heard something incredible..."

Wu Yong shook his head. Too many sounds had flooded into his ears at once, giving him a headache.

Even so, he had still gathered quite a bit of information.

Especially that last voice. If he had guessed correctly, it should have belonged to the person who possessed the Heaven-Tier Dou Technique, Backstab.

"This time, I'll focus on one direction and see how far I can hear."

After recovering, Wu Yong glanced at the star-filled night sky and formed hand seals once more.

The sound of leaves falling, grass rustling in the wind, and streams flowing all entered Wu Yong's ears.

Perhaps because of the direction Wu Yong had chosen, he did not hear many human voices this time. Most of what he heard were the natural sounds of heaven and earth.

Before he knew it, Wu Yong felt as though he had entered a very unusual state. It was as if he could sense the breathing of this world...

The breathing of all things between heaven and earth entered Wu Yong's ears.

Faintly, he heard a string of exceedingly soft whispers, but he could not make them out.

He listened intently and concentrated all his attention on them, yet he still could not hear clearly.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Wu Yong withdrew from that special state.

Wu Yong ended the Wind Whisper Technique. Once his perception returned to himself, he discovered that the world before him seemed exceptionally real.

The water was so clear, the grass so green, the stars so bright...

Wu Yong suddenly froze. He touched his closed eyes, then looked around again with his eyes shut.

Countless images entered Wu Yong's mind. Even the sides he normally could not see with his eyes appeared clearly in his mind.

At that moment, Wu Yong was observing everything around him in an incredibly unique and comprehensive way.

"About a thousand meters in every direction? I still need to train!"

After estimating the range he could perceive in his current state, Wu Yong was not very satisfied.

It was only a thousand meters in every direction. The range of his wind-based perception had already exceeded a thousand li in every direction.

Compared to that, this new sensory ability was far too lacking.

However, the advantage of this ability was that it allowed Wu Yong to "see" in far greater detail.

Over the next several days, through experimentation, Wu Yong found a way to steadily improve this sensory ability.

That was right—wind.

By using the wind to sense the sounds of all things between heaven and earth, he could enhance Wu Yong's soul perception.

Through his experiments, Wu Yong also learned where this special sensory ability came from.

His soul.

His soul power had reached a certain level, allowing him to perceive things in this special state.

Wu Yong conservatively guessed that his current soul power was no weaker than that of some sixth-grade Alchemists.

He had never encountered any relevant inheritance and did not understand soul power very deeply, so he could only make a rough estimate.

Things like levels were not important. So what if he did not know? Levels only existed to clearly distinguish strength; it was not as though he could not grow stronger just because he did not know his level.

With such a useful trick for cultivating soul power, Wu Yong barely had time to secretly rejoice. Why would he have the mood to investigate what level he was or was not?

If he truly had spare time, wouldn't it be better to hold the soft, sweet Little Fairy and watch the moon and stars?

The Inner Academy's three demon kings were all wholeheartedly cultivating and not causing trouble, so the Inner Academy was naturally peaceful and harmonious.

As time passed day by day, the students who had experienced the second era of "Great Oppression" treasured even more the time they now had to cultivate with Fire Energy.

Half a year passed, and the White-Clad Female Devil broke through to Dou Wang.

With that, the top three of the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking officially entered the era of Dou Wangs.

What followed was that those people on the Strong Ranking who ranked close to the three demon kings all felt an increasing sense of urgency.

Those people had once held lofty positions within the Inner Academy, and even some elders had treated them with great courtesy. Now, three demon kings had suddenly appeared above them. How could their proud hearts possibly accept that?

Extreme pressure brought extreme motivation...