Another Breakthrough

"You said Qin Yu humiliated you in Wutan City? And insulted the Bai Household too?"

At Canaan Outer Academy, in Bai Cheng's dormitory, Bai Chen was embellishing Qin Yu's "misdeeds" in Wutan City as he described them to Bai Cheng.

"Brother Cheng, you have no idea how arrogant that brat was in Wutan City!"

Bai Chen wore an indignant expression, gesturing as he reenacted the scene.

"He knew I was from the Bai Household, yet he still did that. He clearly has no respect for our Bai Household!"

"Brother Cheng, do you think we can let this slide? If word gets back to the Lineage, people will think the Bai Household is easy to bully!"

The more Bai Chen spoke, the more agitated he became. Bai Cheng merely leaned back in his chair, listening with an expressionless face.

"Are you finished?"

Bai Cheng raised his eyelids slightly and gave Bai Chen an indifferent glance.

That single look made Bai Chen's heart skip. He unconsciously shrank his neck, then nodded.

"If you want me to stand up for you, at least make up a convincing excuse. Do you take me for an idiot?"

"No, no, Brother Cheng, I didn't mean that..."

Bai Cheng rose to his feet and looked down at Bai Chen. Bai Chen's face went pale, his lips trembling as he found himself unable to speak.

"Trash."

Bai Cheng spat out the two words coldly.

"You can't even handle a freshman, and you still have the nerve to come looking for me?"

As he spoke, he walked to the door and yanked it open.

"Get out."

Bai Chen opened his mouth, still wanting to say something. But when he met Bai Cheng's gloomy gaze, he swallowed the words back down and slunk out.

The door slammed shut heavily behind him. Bai Chen stood in the corridor, his face alternating between green and white, his fists clenched until they crackled.

He had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait. Not only had he failed to provoke Bai Cheng, he had been humiliated by him again.

Inside the dormitory, Bai Cheng sat back down in his chair, his brows faintly furrowed.

He had seen through Bai Chen's petty schemes, but the information Bai Chen had brought still forced him to take notice.

During two months of travel, Qin Yu had gone from a one-star Dou Practitioner to a four-star Dou Practitioner. Such speed of improvement...

Thoughts churned through Bai Cheng's mind. He had indeed had his eye on those two cultivation techniques and Dou skills for a long time.

Originally, he had planned to wait until Qin Yu stepped onto the points tournament arena. There would be plenty of chances to deal with him and take those things back.

But the problem was that Qin Yu seemingly had no intention of getting on the arena at all.

Every day, he disappeared into the mountains to train in silence, and no one could even catch sight of him.

If this continued, then after another year or so of cultivation, wouldn't that brat's strength shoot up rapidly?

By then, even if they met on the arena, it was hard to say who would deal with whom.

"Tsk."

Bai Cheng clicked his tongue, feeling somewhat irritated.

Give up those two cultivation techniques and Dou skills? He was unwilling to do that.

But if he did not give up, what else could he do?

"Forget it. I'll wait and see."

Bai Cheng took a deep breath. He figured Qin Yu was only a freshman who had just enrolled. No matter how quickly he improved, he could not possibly threaten him anytime soon.

The gap between a five-star Battle Master and a four-star Dou Practitioner was not small.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

That morning, Qin Yu cultivated on that mountain as usual.

The power of the mountain surged into his body like a tide, rushing through his meridians to his dantian and driving his Dou Qi vortex into a frantic spin.

Only when the Dou Qi fluctuations around his body settled did Qin Yu open his eyes and slowly exhale a breath of turbid air.

Five-star Dou Practitioner.

He clenched his fist, sensing the strength within him had grown several degrees more robust, and the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

At this rate, he would be able to challenge the Battle Master realm within a few months.

He rose to his feet, dusted himself off, and activated Mountain Qilin Leap. After a few swift bounds, he descended the mountain directly.

There was class today. He could not be late.

When Qin Yu entered the classroom, the previously noisy room abruptly fell silent for a moment.

Everyone's eyes turned toward him in unison, their gazes filled with disbelief.

"Am I seeing things? Qin Yu... he's a five-star Dou Practitioner?"

"Wasn't he still a four-star last week? It's only been a few days!"

"What did this guy grow up eating? His cultivation speed is absurd..."

Whispers rose and fell throughout the room. Qin Yu remained calm and walked straight to a seat in the last row.

Xue Ni widened her eyes and nudged Xiao Yu beside her with an elbow, lowering her voice.

"Yu'er, your Qin Yu broke through again."

"What do you mean, my..."

Xiao Yu muttered softly, her cheeks flushing faintly. Yet her gaze still could not help drifting toward Qin Yu.

Perhaps influenced by Qin Yu, she had also been cultivating diligently lately. She was about to break through to the ninth stage of Dou Qi.

But at this rate, by the time she broke through to become a Dou Practitioner, Qin Yu would probably already be a Battle Master, wouldn't he?

Xiao Yu bit her lip, feeling inexplicably disappointed.

When Instructor Ruo Lin entered the classroom, she too noticed the changes in Qin Yu. She gave him a long look before beginning the day's lesson.

After class, Xiao Yu took the initiative to find Qin Yu. The two walked out of the classroom side by side, slowly making their way along the academy's tree-lined path.

Qin Yu's gaze kept drifting toward Xiao Yu's legs of its own accord.

He could not help it. Those legs were simply too eye-catching.

Beneath her blue-and-white short skirt, her slender legs glowed faintly under the sunlight. Every step she took carried an indescribable rhythm.

Xiao Yu noticed his gaze. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and she unconsciously slowed her pace so Qin Yu could look a little longer.

After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped and turned around to face Qin Yu directly.

"Brother Yu."

"Hm?"

Qin Yu withdrew his gaze and met her eyes.

Xiao Yu's face was flushed, and her eyes held a trace of mischief.

"Do my legs look good?"

Qin Yu froze, not expecting her to ask so directly.

"...They do. I like looking at them."

But since things had already reached this point, how could he deny it?

"Then what about me? Do you like looking at me?"

Xiao Yu stepped half a pace closer. The distance between them was close enough for them to feel each other's breaths.

Qin Yu's eyes instantly widened. Xiao Yu, who had spoken those words, had also turned bright red, even the tips of her ears tinted pink.

She lowered her gaze, her lashes trembling slightly as her heartbeat suddenly sped up.

She was suddenly starting to regret listening to that female hooligan Xue Ni.

What if Qin Yu rejected her?

What if he thought she was some frivolous girl?

Xiao Yu's mind was a mess, her heart beating so fast that it seemed ready to leap out of her throat.

The air seemed to freeze.

The two stood facing each other like that, neither saying a word.

After a long while, Qin Yu took a deep breath and finally found his voice.

"Xiao Yu, you..."

The moment he spoke, Xiao Yu sprang backward two steps like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"I-I was just joking!"

"Don't take it seriously!"

After blurting it out, she turned and ran, plunging into the crowd at the end of the tree-lined path without daring to look back.

Qin Yu stood where he was, watching her figure vanish from sight, stunned for quite a while.

This girl...

She learned that from Xue Ni, didn't she?