Genius Alchemist?

The Power Ranking was a list only the fifty most outstanding students in the Inner Academy—or rather, the fifty best fighters—could make.

And after making the list, they could receive a substantial amount of Fire Energy every month for daily cultivation.

The Power Ranking alone showed that on the Dou Qi Continent, the principle that the strong were respected applied everywhere.

"Elder, could you tell me which experts on the Power Ranking are above Eight-Star Dou Spirit?"

Wu Yan's gaze shifted slightly as he asked curiously.

He wanted to see whether Zi Yan, that "rich woman," was currently in the academy.

He had no hope with Gu Xun'er, but Zi Yan, the rich woman, would do just fine.

"There's nothing I can't say about that. It's no secret in the Inner Academy. The strongest Eight-Star Dou Spirit on the Power Ranking is Kuma, who ranks eleventh."

Elder Chen shook his head and began discussing the cultivation levels of this year's Power Ranking experts.

By the top twenty, there were already very few Eight-Star Dou Spirits left.

By the top ten, every one of them was a Nine-Star Dou Spirit.

Those at the very top could basically be called Half-Step Dou King experts.

"Half-Step Dou King? In other words, there aren't any true Dou King experts among the current Inner Academy students, correct?"

Wu Yan narrowed his eyes and shot back with a pointed question.

Elder Chen froze for a moment, then revealed a grin that clearly showed he was eager to watch the drama unfold.

"Correct. This old man can guarantee it with my hand on my chest: there isn't a single Dou King among the current Inner Academy students."

"Thank you, Elder."

Wu Yan felt reassured. As a stat monster, he feared no one within the same realm.

If Dou Kings had not been able to form Battle Qi Wings and become lofty flying units, he would not have needed to fear them either.

And this was not low-altitude flight, the kind where people on the ground could still reach them. They could soar freely thousands of meters in the air and even unleash Dou Skills downward.

As the saying went, high ground beats low ground—beats idiots senseless...

Cough, cough~

Against a true flying unit like that, even if you were far stronger, the fight would still be extremely unpleasant.

Even if the opponent's actual strength was mediocre, this world had gravity!

Besides, there was a particularly suitable piece of equipment: a Storage Ring.

Put an enormous rock into a Storage Ring, fly into the air, then just drop it.

Throwing rocks was nothing. The truly terrifying thing was that someone without any bottom line could throw poop...

If you ran into someone like that, would you fight them or not?

That was what made flying units so disgusting. No matter how strong you were, you could only take the hits and counterattack passively.

Fortunately, there were no true Dou Kings among the Inner Academy students.

The next morning, Wu Yan walked out of the standalone villa that belonged to him alone. The others did not dare approach him, and he did not want anyone disturbing his cultivation, so the villa was his alone.

As for the other four, naturally, they had to squeeze in with everyone else. Did they dare ask Wu Yan to give up a room?

The Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower was easy to find. He only had to follow the direction most students were heading.

Even though he had been prepared, Wu Yan still froze for a moment when he saw with his own eyes the black tower, most of which was buried underground.

Following the crowd inside and ignoring the murmurs around him, Wu Yan stopped where he was and examined his body internally for quite a while. When he found no invisible flame within himself, he could not help feeling puzzled.

Why had the Falling Heart Flame's projection not entered his body?

Could it be because he had been on guard?

With that thought in mind, Wu Yan continued onward and casually found a single-person cultivation room on the first floor.

The cultivation room door closed. Wu Yan inserted his crystal card into the slot, watched the number decrease by "one," and began examining himself internally.

Seeing the invisible flame within his body, Wu Yan relaxed slightly.

It was good that the Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower worked on him. If it did not, that would truly be troublesome.

After all, Wu Yan had come here for two reasons: high-level cultivation methods and Dou Skills, and this Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower.

This Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower was also quite helpful for a Dou King's cultivation.

After casting aside his worries, Wu Yan pulled out the crystal card and left the cultivation room.

It was only one day's worth of Fire Energy. He would consider it a gift to the academy.

Now, he had something more important to do.

He continued downward until he reached the deepest point students could access: the sixth floor.

The sixth floor was more spacious than the previous five, with only fifty single-person cultivation rooms.

A prominent number was displayed on the door of every cultivation room.

Soon, Wu Yan stopped outside Cultivation Room One.

Compared to the other cultivation rooms, the door to Cultivation Room One looked far heavier.

Beside the cultivation room door was a specially made little bell. As long as it was rung, the person inside would hear it and would not suffer cultivation deviation from being disturbed.

Wu Yan did not consider himself a saint or gentleman, but he was not so unreasonable as to ignore every rule.

Ding, ding, ding~~~

About half a minute later, the door to Cultivation Room One opened.

A young man emanating a scorching aura and a rich medicinal fragrance stepped out, obvious arrogance written between his brows.

"A stranger, huh? Kid, you're a new student?"

"You're number one on the Power Ranking, right? I challenge you."

Wu Yan glanced at the young man before him and guessed that he was probably an alchemist. Otherwise, he would not be so arrogant.

But it did not matter. He would not be able to keep that arrogance for long.

"Challenge me? Hahaha... How interesting!"

Looking at the boy before him, the young man seemed to feel insulted. For a moment, he was so angry that he laughed instead.

"Fine, I accept your challenge."

With that, the two left the Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower.

Once outside, Wu Yan stopped.

"Kid, why have you stopped? It's too late to apologize now~"

"I just got here. I don't know the way to the arena."

"You... Follow me!"

The young man's anger rose even further. Along the way, he kept Wu Yan firmly in the corner of his eye, afraid the kid might run off.

Damn it, you dare challenge me, the number one on the Power Ranking, when you don't even know the way? Just how much do you look down on me?!

At the same time, Elder Chen, who had specifically come to the arena to take over a shift, saw the two entering the arena, and a smile immediately spread across his face.

Forcefully suppressing the grin of someone delighted to watch trouble unfold, Elder Chen quickly approached the two.

"Cao Ping, Wu Yan, are you two here to spar?"

Cao Ping raised an eyelid. This kid seemed to be no simple character.

But he was just a new student. At most, he was a low-level Dou Spirit.

Meanwhile, he, Cao Ping, was not only a peak Nine-Star Dou Spirit and a Half-Step Dou King expert, but also a fifth-tier alchemist!

Although within the Cao Clan, a fifth-tier alchemist in his twenties could only be considered barely qualified, here in the Northwestern Continent, if Cao Ping called himself a "genius alchemist," no one would object.