First Day

The next day, Qin Yu walked toward the classroom, feeling as though none of it was quite real.

Students traveled in groups of twos and threes all around him, dressed in identical academy uniforms, while the classrooms stirred memories buried deep within him.

After so many years, he had never expected to experience campus life again.

Only, this campus was completely different from the one he remembered.

After entering the classroom through the back door, Qin Yu found that only a few students were present. Apparently, he had arrived a little early.

After finding a seat closest to the back door, Qin Yu instinctively leaned against the chair back and waited for the first class to begin.

Before long, the students gradually arrived. The others who had enrolled from Wutan City naturally gathered around Qin Yu.

As Instructor Ruo Lin entered the classroom, Qin Yu officially began another round of campus life after who knew how many years.

At first, Qin Yu could still pay attention, because Instructor Ruo Lin was introducing the academy's basic situation, the layout of its buildings, and various everyday matters that required attention.

Once the second class began and the actual lessons started, Qin Yu only needed to listen to a few words to grasp eighty or ninety percent of what the instructor taught.

So this is what it feels like to be a top student?

But once he understood the material, the conditioned reflex that even transmigration had failed to erase kicked in.

Back then, whether he understood the lesson or not, he would get sleepy. Only when he half understood and half did not would he be alert.

"Vice Principal? Why are you here?"

Just as Qin Yu's head grew heavy and he was about to slam face-first onto the desk, a sentence from the teacher at the front instantly woke him.

"I'm looking for student Qin Yu."

Hearing that, Qin Yu froze for a moment before hurriedly leaving the classroom and returning the token Hu Gan had given him two days ago.

"You little brat. If I hadn't come, how much longer would it have taken you to remember?"

Qin Yu awkwardly rubbed his hands together and could only give Hu Gan a somewhat forced smile.

"I heard from the people at the Scripture Repository that you chose Mountain Qilin Suppresses the Mountains?"

Hu Gan did not pursue the matter and instead asked about the cultivation method Qin Yu had chosen.

"Yes. That method has similarities to the one I improved, so it will be easier for me to integrate them and innovate."

"Good. Then I'll wait for your performance."

Hu Gan patted Qin Yu on the shoulder before leaving the teaching building.

When Qin Yu returned to the classroom, he naturally became the focus of every student's gaze.

After class, fortunately, Qin Yu was close to the back door and slipped away quickly. Otherwise, he would probably have been surrounded and stared at like an animal in a zoo!

There were no classes in the afternoon, so Qin Yu naturally would not waste such precious cultivation time.

After quickly wolfing down a few bites in the cafeteria, he headed straight for the mountain on the academy's outskirts.

It was afternoon. Qin Yu walked barefoot along the mountain path, feeling the heat and pulse beneath his feet with every step.

When he reached the mountainside, Qin Yu stopped.

Several shouts came from ahead, along with muffled sounds of Dou Qi colliding.

He looked up and saw several students practicing Dou Techniques in a clearing not far away.

Some repeatedly punched tree trunks, some sparred with each other by exchanging moves, and some sat cross-legged on rocks with their eyes closed as they regulated their breathing.

Such scenes were extremely common at Canaan Academy. During the day, the mountains around the academy were filled with students cultivating.

Qin Yu paid them no mind and continued up the mountain path.

But as he passed a bend, he caught sight of several familiar figures from the corner of his eye.

Bai Chen.

The senior student he had taught a lesson to during recruitment was standing beneath a large tree, talking with a companion.

Qin Yu did not slow down. His expression remained calm as he continued onward, but Bai Chen had clearly seen him as well.

Two months ago, in Wutan City, that guy had only been a one-star Dou Practitioner. Though Bai Chen had lost unwillingly, at least the gap between them had not been too great.

But now, the other party was already a four-star Dou Practitioner.

How long had it even been?

Bai Chen gritted his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists over and over.

"I'm saying, why don't we..."

"If you want a beating, go by yourself."

Bai Chen scolded him in a low voice. He was not an idiot.

He had been unable to beat Qin Yu when Qin Yu was a one-star Dou Practitioner. Now Qin Yu was already four-star—was he supposed to go looking to get beaten?

But if he simply let it go, he truly could not swallow this indignation.

In front of so many new students, he had been grabbed by the leg and thrown out like garbage. If word got back to the Lineage, would he not become a laughingstock?

Bai Chen's eyes flickered as a figure suddenly appeared in his mind.

Bai Cheng.

His older cousin.

Though Bai Cheng had always looked down on him, this concerned the Lineage's dignity. As long as he embellished the story a little, Bai Cheng would definitely take action!

"Hmph. Let's go."

Bai Chen snorted coldly and turned toward the foot of the mountain.

"Hey, aren't we cultivating anymore?"

"Cultivate my ass. We have important business."

Meanwhile, Qin Yu had already arrived at the cliff face where he had cultivated a few days earlier.

He neither knew nor cared about Bai Chen's thoughts.

Right now, there was only one thing on his mind—cultivation.

Qin Yu sat on a flat rock, planted his feet in the soil beneath him, and slowly began circulating the Mysterious Earth Qilin Formula.

The improved Mysterious Earth Qilin Formula had fused with the essence of Mountain Qilin Suppresses the Mountains. While drawing upon the power of the earth, it could also sense the rhythm of the mountains.

The two complemented each other, increasing his cultivation efficiency by another margin.

Qin Yu could clearly feel the Dou Qi vortex within his dantian steadily expanding at a stable pace.

At this rate, he would advance to five-star in just a few days.

By the time Qin Yu opened his eyes again, the sky had already darkened.

The lingering glow of the setting sun spilled across the mountains, dyeing everything a warm golden hue.

He rose to his feet, stretched his somewhat stiff limbs, and fixed his gaze on the cliff face before him.

Yesterday, he had jumped down from there.

At the time, his grasp of Mountain Qilin Leap had not been sufficiently refined. Though nothing had gone wrong, the process had still been somewhat awkward.

But now...

Qin Yu took a deep breath. The Dou Qi within him suddenly surged as he violently kicked off the ground, launching himself like an arrow released from its bow.

His body soared through the air as he stepped several times in succession along the cliff face. With every step, a small shower of shattered stone burst beneath his feet.

Borrowing force, shifting his body, borrowing force again, shifting again...

His movements flowed as smoothly as clouds and water, completed in one seamless motion.

Within a few breaths, Qin Yu had climbed to the top of the cliff, dozens of zhang above.

He stood atop a massive boulder at the cliff's summit and looked down at the forest below. The evening wind whipped his robes, making them flap loudly.

"Not bad."

The corners of Qin Yu's lips lifted slightly. He was fairly satisfied with his progress in practicing Mountain Qilin Leap.

But it was not enough.

He had created this movement-type Dou Technique himself, and there was still plenty of room for improvement.

For example, could he borrow force a second time in midair?

Or could he combine Mountain Qilin Leap with an offensive Dou Technique to kill with a single strike?

All of that would require time to ponder.

Qin Yu stood at the cliff's summit for a while before leaping down once more.