"No problem. You there, go call over all the Dou Wang elders, along with all the students who stayed at the academy as elders after graduating.
Tell the younger ones to come see what true geniuses look like, so they don't keep thinking they're so amazing.
As for the older ones, they can take this chance to stretch their muscles. We don't want them rusting solid by the time a powerful enemy comes knocking."
Seeing that he could no longer refuse, Su Qian simply waved his hand and summoned all the Dou Wang elders and former students.
Soon, the group arrived at the academy's dedicated arena. On the way there, several Dou Emperor elders had already been asked to reinforce its defensive barrier a little, so no bystanders would get hurt during the fights.
"You two youngsters, go up there and have some fun. Don't embarrass us. And I never said your opponents had to be at the same level as you. If you can handle it, even a Nine-Star Dou Wang is fair game."
Fei Tian finally smiled like a man whose scheme had succeeded. After getting tricked so many times, surely I'm allowed to trick you two once!
"Oh," both replied.
Yet neither of them even raised their heads at Fei Tian's trap. They had anticipated this long ago. As geniuses, challenging opponents above their level was what made things interesting.
"You go have some fun first. Don't be too nervous. Like I said, you can already beat 99.9% of people. Stop fixating on that last 0.1%." Qin Yun intended to let Feng Qing'er lead the charge.
After all, she had spent the past year sparring exclusively with him, only for the gap between them to grow wider and wider. It had nearly crushed her confidence.
This was the perfect chance to let her play an easy match and regain her confidence.
Being too proud and prickly was bad, but a little of it was perfectly fine.
"All right." Feng Qing'er nodded, then flew into the arena a moment later. It had been a long time since she had fought anyone else.
This was a good opportunity to gauge exactly where her strength stood.
"I'll do it!" After Feng Qing'er took the stage, a young Three-Star Dou Wang of about twenty-nine leaped straight into the arena, intending to face her.
He had been a student several graduating classes ago. Rather than returning home to pursue his future like the others, he had chosen to remain at the academy as an elder.
Having reached Three-Star Dou Wang at twenty-nine, he was considered quite a talented young man in the Black-Corner Region.
Moreover, his foundation was more solid than most. He had stepped up this time to see just how powerful these so-called geniuses from the Central Plains really were.
The two in the arena squared off against each other, while Qin Yun sat off to one side, looking for all the world like a spectator watching a show. He even yawned.
At that moment, Qin Yun was busy with something far more important: checking in.
However, the reward for this check-in seemed somewhat beyond his expectations.
Ding! Successfully checked in at Jia Nan Academy. Reward: Feng Hou Qimen.
It's actually Feng Hou Qimen. Qin Yun had never expected to obtain this rule-based ability, one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills.
Warlocks were arguably the most mysterious figures in The Outcast. Heaven and earth, the four directions, the nine palaces, and the eight trigrams-every position had a different effect.
Once the Qimen formation opened, you became its master. Yet Warlocks were far rarer than other Outcasts.
The basic requirements for even becoming a Warlock were enough to stump a vast number of Outcasts.
Even after reading the original work of The Outcast, Qin Yun still had not fully understood what basic abilities Warlocks possessed.
In short, they seemed almost omnipotent, wielding metal, wood, water, fire, and earth in succession. An ordinary person would grow dizzy just looking through their list of skills.
Feng Hou Qimen, however, was an anomaly among Warlock arts. Ordinary Warlock methods required harmony between heaven, earth, and man.
In other words, certain arrangements had to follow the laws of heaven and earth, without the slightest misalignment.
But Feng Hou Qimen simply flipped the table. To hell with the laws of heaven and earth-he could place things wherever he wanted. Within that region, he was king.
As the saying went, "I encompass the transformations of heaven and earth; I am king." It could even control that most mysterious thing, time, altering the rate at which objects moved through it.
Fortunately, the system imparted everything directly. Otherwise, Qin Yun would never have mastered it even with a hundred years.
After all, so far, only Wang Ye and Zhou Sheng had managed to learn Feng Hou Qimen. As for anyone else, never mind learning it-
Even a single glance at its cultivation diagram would trap them completely within their Inner Scene.
"So that's how it works. I have to say, I really admire Zhuge Qing now. He actually mastered every art within Wuhou Qimen."
Even with the system's help, Qin Yun's head throbbed. It felt as though an enormous amount of information had been stuffed into his brain.
But now there was an awkward problem. Feng Hou Qimen encompassed all things, making its contents both vast and complex.
On top of that, the proficiency granted by the system was only at the beginner level.
So his current situation was-
Brain: Got it, got it. I understand.
Hands: Shut up. You don't.
In the end, Qin Yun had to shoulder it all himself. He could indeed use Feng Hou Qimen, but he probably could not cast it instantly like a true Warlock.
Instead, there was roughly a one-second recovery delay. Still, once he advanced to the second stage, all these minor issues could be resolved.
Back in the arena, Feng Qing'er still followed the approach she had developed while sparring with Qin Yun: going all out from the very beginning.
At the first instant, she once again activated her unique bloodline power, and her aura surged violently.
Powerful Dou Qi rapidly spread outward, forming a fierce gale. Before they had even exchanged blows, the opposing Dou Wang expert involuntarily took a step back.
Although he had lost the contest of presence, he refused to concede.
He was, after all, one of the top geniuses to come out of Jia Nan Academy.
Even among the students of past graduating classes, he could rank in the top ten.
Even if he could not beat her, surely he would not be defeated in a single move. The gap between cultivators at the same realm could not possibly be that great.
But Feng Qing'er paid no attention to any of that. A moment later, she unleashed her full power, pushing Three Thousand Lightning Movement to its absolute limit.
Her graceful figure flashed past. Before the opposing Dou Wang could react, she was already right in his face, attacking.
Powerful lightning energy gathered in Feng Qing'er's right hand. This was the Wind and Lightning Pavilion's High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique, Wind and Lightning Palm.
A single palm strike to his abdomen sent the Jia Nan Academy graduate flying straight out of the ring.
He slammed hard into the Dou Qi barrier, then hung suspended in midair for three or four seconds before slowly dropping to the ground.
When the people nearby went over to check on him, they found that he had already lost consciousness.
Fortunately, his injuries were not too serious. After a few days of treatment and rest, he would be able to get out of bed and recover some mobility.
"This guy... was so... weak?" Feng Qing'er looked at her right hand, then at the graduate being carried to the infirmary on a stretcher, unable to quite make sense of it.
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