The Old Principal Was Shocked Again and Again

"Fine. I'll wait for you at the Dueling Arena."

Hua Ming gave Bai Yi a long look, then turned and left.

After Hua Ming's figure disappeared, Bai Yi struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from rising and headed for the Principal's Office.

The antique-style room was filled with flowers and exotic beasts carved into the dark, purple-tinged agarwood. A winding stream flowed with a gentle murmur, plunging down like a waterfall. Beneath the spray of mist, several crystal-clear fish swam back and forth through the green water.

Stone pillars stood at the four corners. Through the layers of rock, one could faintly make out gray-black metal partitions, beneath which machinery and glittering crystals gleamed.

Portable microcrystalline molecular Spirit-Gathering Formation constructs, the Ionized Cloud Array, the Four-Pillar Four Symbols Formation...

Bai Yi merely swept his gaze around, yet the things he spotted were worth no less than a million Spirit Value. And this was only an ordinary office.

There couldn't be more than twenty or thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators in all of Lanshan City, could there?

"Little fellow, do you expect me to invite you over?"

The Old Principal's voice came from deep within the stream. The mist dispersed, and a stone table gradually came into view. Beside it, the Old Principal held a black piece and battled an old friend through the Holographic Network.

"You placed a piece at the three-three point. I didn't see it, so it doesn't count. It doesn't count."

"I've got someone here, so we'll call this game a draw."

Seeing the black dragon on the board in danger, the Old Principal hurriedly cut off the network and forcibly ended the game.

"Cough..."

"You're Bai Yi from Class Two, right? You have something you'd like to ask me, I assume?"

The Old Principal straightened his posture and spoke in his usual calm, composed tone.

He had been sorely disappointed in Bai Yi. The reason he had promised to personally answer questions for the Elite Group students was to give this child from a common background a little more help.

After all, though Foundation Establishment cultivators were rare to those from prominent lineages, they could still find a teacher if they were willing to pay a little more.

But what he hadn't expected was that nearly a month would pass.

The students from the lineages and corporations in the Elite Group came to him for answers every day. Bai Yi, by contrast, seemed to have forgotten all about it.

He'd even made the principal use his authority to "invite" him over.

"Old Principal, I don't have any questions for now."

Bai Yi wore a respectful expression, but couldn't help sighing inwardly.

He had guessed this might happen as soon as he received the message.

To anyone else, guidance from a Foundation Establishment cultivator was worth a fortune. A single sentence might help them avoid many a detour in their cultivation.

But for him, who possessed the Dao-Deriving Mirror, the thing he worried about least when it came to teaching, imparting knowledge, and answering questions was probably getting answers.

As a supreme treasure of the Great Dao, the Enlightenment Glimmer born from the Dao-Deriving Mirror was, to a certain extent, the Great Dao itself acting as a teacher and explaining things to you.

Even Spirit Transformation ancestors could only dream of such a thing.

"Hmm?!"

The Old Principal let out a low sound. His peripheral vision fell on Bai Yi, and just as he was about to say something, he abruptly stopped.

His narrowed eyes flashed, and his vast Divine Sense enveloped Bai Yi like ripples.

"Qi Refining Fifth Layer?"

"You broke through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer in less than a month."

"Looks like you've already cultivated the Minor Five Elements Art to the Fourth Layer."

The Old Principal nodded with satisfaction. After the assessment, he had briefly looked over Bai Yi's information.

He had broken through to the Qi Refining, Fourth Layer in the second semester of his Second Year of High School, then reached the Qi Refining Fifth Layer within nearly a year. His progress was impressive, but still within expectations.

"Then I'll tell you about some of the questions people have regarding the Minor Five Elements Art's fifth layer, once it's perfected..."

The Old Principal took a sip of tea and was just about to speak when Bai Yi's voice rang in his ears.

"Principal, my Minor Five Elements Art has already reached the fifth layer, perfected."

"Cough, cough... What did you say?!"

The Old Principal's narrowed eyes flew wide open. The tea he had just taken into his mouth made him choke.

"My Minor Five Elements Art has already reached the fifth layer, perfected."

Watching the Old Principal choke on his tea, Bai Yi rubbed his nose and answered earnestly.

"The Five Elements merging as one, the cycle of the heavens turning?!"

Feeling the Divine Sense gather around him once more, Bai Yi made no attempt to hide it. He circulated the Minor Five Elements Art with all his strength.

The Five Elements Qi Vortex spun and merged into one, seeming to form a black hole behind him that devoured the surrounding spiritual energy of every attribute.

"Devouring the spiritual energy of all creation and refining it into oneself-this is indeed the effect of the Minor Five Elements Art at the fifth layer, perfected."

The Old Principal coughed a few times, masking his inner shock.

His gaze at Bai Yi was complicated at first, then filled with delight and excitement.

To perfect the Minor Five Elements Art to the fifth layer while still in his Third Year of High School-such talent and comprehension would make him a favored son of heaven even at the Advanced Dao Studies schools in a first-tier city.

The Minor Five Elements Art was the Immortal Alliance's method, passed down for ten thousand years. It was unquestionably a foundational method.

Even those single-Spiritual-Root prodigies throughout history cultivated the Minor Five Elements Art to the fifth layer, perfected, during the Qi Refining Stage, to shore up the cornerstone of their Great Dao.

Even at first-rate Academies, many instructors required their students to perfect the Minor Five Elements Art and condense a Five Elements Qi Vortex before switching to other cultivation methods.

But at second- and third-rate Academies, many Dao Students couldn't achieve perfection in the Five Elements even by the time they graduated ten years later.

That showed how difficult it was. Countless Dao Students were stopped at the final layer, unable to reach the realm where the Five Elements merged as one and the cycle of the heavens turned.

The Old Principal looked at Bai Yi again. Even with his composure, he couldn't help feeling excited.

He had thought Bai Yi was an uncut jade. Now it seemed that he was the very seed Lanshan City had been hoping for over the years-the one who would pass the Four Academies and Ten Palaces Preliminary Exam.

The Old Principal's thoughts churned like a stormy sea, but his expression soon steadied again as he looked at Bai Yi.

Since there was nothing left to explain about the Minor Five Elements Art, then he could talk about the White Rainbow Sword Art.

Though he wasn't a sword cultivator, he had studied it a little in his younger days. With the lofty perspective that came from his Foundation Establishment insights, he was fairly confident he could help Bai Yi grasp the White Rainbow Sword Art to Dao Resonance Minor Accomplishment.

By then, with two Sword Arts at the Dao Resonance level in hand, if Bai Yi's cultivation improved further, he'd have a sixty or seventy percent chance of passing the Four Academies and Ten Palaces Preliminary Exam.

"Not bad. After a month, your perfected Minor Five Elements Art should help you establish a firmer foundation at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer."

"I studied that White Rainbow Sword Art a little in my younger days."

"Tell me about any difficulties you have with the techniques and the circulation of the meridians. I should be able to answer some of your questions."

The Old Principal took another sip of tea, quite confident in himself.

The little fellow had only been studying the White Rainbow Sword Art for nearly a month. Surely he couldn't have improved at breakneck speed with that, too.

"Thank you, Principal."

"The sword manual says, 'The sword light is the edge; the rainbow draws from the heavens to give it form through resonance.'"

"I can already transform the sword light and draw out its Dao Resonance, but I still don't quite understand how to transform it into a rainbow."

Bai Yi thought for a moment, then looked up at the Old Principal. He saw the Old Principal's hand pause as he sipped his tea, his face reddening as he choked again.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

"What level have you cultivated your White Rainbow Sword Art to?"

"Dao Resonance Minor Accomplishment."

Hearing Bai Yi's certain reply, the Old Principal was so shocked that his thoughts seemed to stop for a moment.