Victory

On the Arena grounds, the spectators in Group B's viewing stands finally came to their senses and erupted in cheers, celebrating Xiao Yun's victory.

As word spread, some Inner Academy veterans who had participated in the Fire Energy Hunting Competition recognized Xiao Yun and introduced him to the others:

"He's the peerless monster I told you about before—the Xiao Yun who led four rookies and robbed all of us veterans during the Fire Energy Hunting Competition!

You all said our generation of veterans was weak. Well, look at this. He's been in the Inner Academy for less than a month, and he's already beaten Xu Han, a Two-Star Dou Ling, into the ground!"

"So it was him. No wonder he seemed familiar. Didn't someone sell pills that could remove Fire Poison near the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower a few days ago? I heard that pill was also refined by this monster, and his teacher is even the head of the Alchemy Department!"

"What? Are you saying Xiao Yun not only has extraordinary talent and is an Alchemist, but also has a powerful background? Heavens, why is the gap between people so huge?"

The crowd on the stands buzzed with discussion. As intelligence agents continued digging up information on Xiao Yun, the spectators became increasingly unable to believe it, crying out in astonishment.

He had entered Jia Nan Academy at seven years old and become the disciple of Fire Elder, a Fifth-Tier Alchemist, that same year. At eight, he broke through to Dou Shi. After training alone with the Law Enforcement Team for a year and a half, he reached the level of a Six-Star Da Dou Shi, becoming the number one student of the Outer Academy. At the same time, he took the Alchemist assessment and became a Third-Tier Alchemist!

After returning from the Law Enforcement Team, he directly participated in the Inner Academy Selection Tournament and took first place. During the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, he robbed the veterans in return, breaking the Inner Academy's long-standing tradition. Not long after entering the Inner Academy, he created a pill capable of removing Fire Poison.

Listening to the intelligence agents, the Inner Academy students could hardly believe it. Were they really living in the same world as Xiao Yun? What kind of ridiculously blessed protagonist life was this?

When they were Xiao Yun's age, they had not even become Dou Zhe yet, while Xiao Yun could already defeat a Dou Ling expert across realms by himself.

Xiao Yun's name resounded throughout the Arena. Before long, the entire Inner Academy would likely know his name.

On the platform, Xiao Yun did not care about anything happening outside. Every muscle in his body trembled. If he had not still been able to lean on his spear, he would have been unable to remain standing long ago.

This was perhaps the most difficult battle Xiao Yun had ever fought. Both his mind and Dou Qi had been completely drained. His eyelids drooped, and all he wanted now was to get a good night's sleep.

Seeing Xiao Yun's miserable state, the referee hurriedly supported him and said softly, "There's a dedicated medical room in the Arena. You've overexerted yourself. I'll take you there shortly."

"Thank you." Xiao Yun softly uttered those two words, then could no longer hold on. His body went limp, all his weight pressing onto the referee as he fell into a deep sleep.

The referee took out a communication jade pendant and spoke into it. "The Group B platform at the Black Tortoise Arena requires repairs. Both contestants are severely exhausted. I'll send them to the medical room shortly. Suspend use of this platform for now."

After saying that, he did not wait for a response. Reaching out, he grabbed one person in each hand and carried Xiao Yun and the other contestant toward the medical room.

In the spotless white medical room, Xiao Yun lay on a bed for an unknown amount of time before finally opening his eyes groggily. "That was such a comfortable sleep. It's been so long since I slept like that."

Ever since he began cultivating, he had rarely slept. At night, he usually cultivated Dou Qi instead of sleeping.

Xiao Yun remembered that the last time he had slept until he woke naturally like this had been before he started cultivating.

Pulling aside the blanket, Xiao Yun sat up and surveyed his surroundings. The room was small. Other than the bed, there was no furniture at all. The walls were pure white, and in one corner, his Red Blood Spear rested against the wall.

"I remember the referee saying he would send me to the medical room. So this is basically a hospital ward?"

Shaking his head, Xiao Yun's memories gradually came back. After thinking for a moment, he finally recalled what had happened after the battle.

"As expected, fighting is still necessary. No wonder they say experts are forged through battle. You can't become one just by burying your head in cultivation..."

During battle, the Dou Qi throughout one's body circulated faster. The more intense the battle, the faster it completed each cycle, constantly pushing the body to its limits. That was why so many people managed to break through in the middle of battle.

When facing danger, both body and mind remained intensely focused. Dou Qi circulated much faster than during ordinary cultivation, continuously absorbing energy from heaven and earth. Only when the reserves within the Qi Vortex were filled at a certain moment could one break through.

Getting out of bed, Xiao Yun pushed open the door and entered the corridor. He looked around and spotted a table at the end of the hallway. A middle-aged man in white robes sat there with his head lowered, recording something.

"That should be where I get discharged, right?" Xiao Yun thought. Though this was his first time in the medical room, he had been to hospitals several times in his previous life and was fairly familiar with the discharge process at places like this.

He slowly approached the middle-aged man and stopped before the table. Xiao Yun asked, "Instructor, do I leave the medical room from here?"

"Yes. What's your number? The one on the card you used to enter the Arena. I'll record it and process the paperwork for you." The man glanced at Xiao Yun, then immediately lowered his head again and began searching through the desk.

"Number seventy-eight, Group B, Black Tortoise Arena."

"Seventy-eight, seventy-eight... Found it." The middle-aged man raised his head and pulled out a document from a stack of files. "Mm, mental exhaustion, excessive Dou Qi consumption, one Qi Recovery Pill, one Spirit-Calming Pill, stayed for one day... All right, that comes to five days of Fire Energy. Swipe your card."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man flipped his hand, producing something similar to a POS machine from Xiao Yun's previous life and gesturing for Xiao Yun to pay.

"This... what a rip-off."

After leaving the medical room, Xiao Yun sighed. Just two low-grade first-tier pills and one night's stay had cost him five days of Fire Energy!

Seeing that the Arena outside remained as lively and bustling as ever, Xiao Yun paid it no mind. The Dou Qi tempered by the Heart Flame and battle had become sufficiently solid. When he returned this time, he planned to begin preparing for a breakthrough to Dou Ling.

A short while later, Xiao Yun returned to his loft. As soon as he entered, he saw Fang Wen sitting in the main hall, holding several sheets of paper and reading them.

"Boss, you're back. This is the total value of the pills Xiao Sect has sold these past few days. Do you want to look it over?"

Raising an eyebrow, Xiao Yun took the sheet from Fang Wen and casually scanned it twice. Seeing no issues, he asked, "Did you recruit any Alchemists? I may enter seclusion soon, so I won't be able to supply pills for the time being."

"We did, Boss. We recruited them according to the conditions you gave, but they might still be somewhat unconvinced."

"Unconvinced? Then give them some additional rewards. Based on their pill success rate, the person with the highest success rate will receive twenty days of Fire Energy every week and be allocated more medicinal ingredients. The person with the lowest rate will keep the same share, but the medicinal ingredients allocated to him will gradually be reduced."

Xiao Yun stroked his chin and spoke in a low voice.

Hearing Xiao Yun's words, Fang Wen's eyes lit up. This way, they could rein in those proud and arrogant Alchemists a little. Smiling, he said, "All right, Boss. I'll tell them."

"Mm. I'll have more and more matters to deal with in the future, so I'll leave Xiao Sect to you. Small matters like this should be handled entirely by you from now on."

After going over Xiao Sect's affairs with Fang Wen once more, Xiao Yun took three hundred days of Fire Energy from him. He was preparing to make a trip to the Medicinal Materials Repository.

He wanted to see whether he could exchange it for some medicinal ingredients he needed, then refine some pills to speed up his cultivation.