Storm

The next morning, Yan woke early and headed to the training grounds.

Mu Ming was already waiting there. Seeing Yan arrive, he smiled and beckoned. "Come have breakfast. After we eat, I'll take you to the Advanced Academy."

Mu Ming's breakfast was not particularly lavish: two simple steamers of pastries, along with a bowl of soul beast meat soup for each of them. It smelled quite fragrant.

After a simple breakfast, Yan changed into the Advanced Academy uniform Mu Ming had prepared and followed him there.

The Advanced Academy lay beyond the Junior Academy, deep in the mountains, where the scenery was beautiful and mist drifted through the peaks.

There were even many rare herbs growing along both sides of the mountain path.

After walking for quite some time, the two finally reached the teaching district of Spirit Hall Advanced Academy.

Though it was an Advanced Academy, the buildings in its teaching district did not seem as complete or magnificent as those of the Junior Academy. Instead, they carried an ancient, rustic air.

According to Mu Ming, Spirit Hall Advanced Academy had not originally been an academy, but a place where Spirit Hall's predecessors cultivated.

Later, after Spirit City was established, the reclusive powerhouses cultivating in the mountains went to serve in Spirit City's Elder Hall or Worship Hall.

However, since this place was suited for cultivation, Spirit Hall Academy was established here rather than letting it fall into disuse, teaching soul masters until the present day.

The Advanced Academy also retained the Junior Academy's Core Class system. Of course, the Core Classes of the Advanced Academy were far more brutal, and the competition was even fiercer.

Every Core Class spot was incomparably precious to soul masters who had entered the Advanced Academy.

Naturally, Yan was assigned to a Core Class upon arriving at the Advanced Academy.

After entering the teaching district, Mu Ming brought Yan to the door of his assigned class and had him go in first. Mu Ming himself went to the administrative area to handle Yan's enrollment procedures.

Most of the students inside the class were around twelve years old, but they appeared to be roughly the same height as Yan.

It was not that they were short. Rather, Yan's height had increased rapidly after two years of body training.

When he stood beside children his age at the Junior Academy, he had already stood head and shoulders above them.

After looking around the classroom, Yan found an empty seat in the back row and walked straight over.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

When Yan reached the seat, he first asked the people around him. Only after receiving a negative answer did he sit down.

Because of Yan's arrival, quite a few people in the Core Class began whispering among themselves.

The members of the Advanced Academy's Core Classes were not fixed. Every year, there were numerous academy competitions to determine the strongest students and admit them into the Core Classes.

Students could also enter a Core Class by completing various tasks issued by the Advanced Academy and earning enough task points.

But there was currently no competition, nor was it time for task point evaluations. Why had a new member joined?

Although Yan was quite famous at the Junior Academy, he had devoted himself to training and rarely appeared in public.

Most students at the Junior Academy had only heard his name and never seen him in person.

Though the Junior Academy also held competitions, they were generally limited to students of the same grade.

Quite a few upper-grade students might have heard of Yan, but very few had actually seen him.

As a result, no one in the first-year Advanced Academy Core Class recognized Yan, despite his great fame at the Junior Academy.

Just as Yan sat down, a burly boy with a close-cropped haircut and a faint scar over his brow walked up to his desk.

He glanced at Yan sideways, his tone unfriendly. "New here?"

Yan nodded and looked at him. The boy clearly had hostile intentions, but Yan did not know what he wanted.

"What class were you in before? I don't remember anyone like you among the top fifty in last month's arena tournament."

The short-haired boy spoke with undisguised suspicion.

The students in the Advanced Academy's Core Classes had all fought their way in. Quite a few of them had faced one another as opponents.

They were extremely familiar with each other. Yan's face was unfamiliar, no one had ever seen him before, and the timing of his arrival was especially questionable.

The close-cropped boy had come over to probe Yan's background and see what sort of person he was—whether he truly had strength or was simply admitted through connections.

The close-cropped boy's questioning made the classroom fall silent for a moment. Many gazes gathered on Yan, filled with curiosity and scrutiny.

Yan raised his eyes to look at him. He was somewhat displeased by the questioning tone, but his expression remained calm. "I just advanced from the Junior Academy. I wasn't an Advanced Academy student before."

"Junior Academy?"

The close-cropped boy raised an eyebrow, revealing a mocking expression as if that confirmed his suspicions. In his mind, Yan's status as someone admitted through connections was now beyond doubt.

"Core Class spots can just be handed out to 'geniuses' promoted from below now? You haven't even competed in the grade tournament, yet you're already sitting here?"

The close-cropped boy emphasized the word "genius," his ridicule obvious.

His words drew agreement from some of the surrounding students, and the way they looked at Yan was filled with hostility.

Who among those sitting here had not fought their way through brutal grade tournaments and task assessments?

What they hated most were people who squeezed in through connections and family backing.

Yan ignored the whispers and merely looked at the close-cropped boy. "So?"

"So?"

The close-cropped boy sneered. He was broad and sturdy, standing around five feet tall, clearly someone who followed the path of direct assault.

Looking down at Yan, he bared his teeth in a grin. "Kid, the Advanced Academy's Core Class isn't a place for playing house.

Not just anyone who gets in can keep a seat here. Don't wander into the wrong place and piss yourself.

Here's some advice: go back to wherever you came from."

The close-cropped boy's words drew several ill-intentioned chuckles from the classroom.

After hearing him out, Yan smiled as well. "What if I refuse?"

"Kid, if you leave obediently now, you can still preserve some dignity. But if you don't want dignity, I don't mind giving you some."

The close-cropped boy bent down, bringing his face closer to Yan's. His burly frame gave off considerable pressure.

"So you want to test my fists?"

Yan could understand the close-cropped boy's mindset, but he did not like his attitude.

"Interesting."

The close-cropped boy rolled his wrist, producing a series of cracking sounds. "I won't bully you. Right here, three moves. If you can take three of my moves without backing away, I'll acknowledge that you deserve to sit here.

If you can't take them, or if you chicken out, get out on your own. Go back to wherever you came from. How about it?"

More students gathered to watch the excitement, and many showed interested expressions.

They also wanted to see just how capable Yan, this so-called connection case, really was.

Yan slowly rose to his feet. He was slightly shorter than the close-cropped boy, but his shoulders and back were broader. Once he stood straight, an imposing, mountain-like aura radiated from him, instantly changing the expressions of several particularly perceptive students.