Pleased with Himself

Chu Xisheng finished washing up in no time and went out with Chu Yunyun.

Dawn was just breaking, and the streets inside the martial academy were still pitch-black.

Yet numerous disciples were emerging from the disciples' quarters, hurrying toward the Grand Training Ground.

As Chu Xisheng and Chu Yunyun joined the stream of people, the Inner Disciples around them all turned to look at him.

Their expressions varied: some were admiring, some adoring, some cold, and some brimming with fighting spirit.

Chu Xisheng seemed unconcerned by their gazes.

His expression was calm, his steps unhurried, his bearing unfathomable.

Inside, however, Chu Xisheng was filled with helplessness.

There was no helping it. If he did not want those 32 Martial Dao Points to drop, he had to maintain his expert persona.

So now he could not afford to lose, either. One defeat, and those twenty taels of demon silver would have been spent for nothing.

By the time the two reached the Grand Training Ground, it was already a sea of heads, with over four thousand people from the entire martial academy gathering there one after another.

The academy's many instructors were shouting orders, arranging the disciples into formations and maintaining order.

Every one of them wore a solemn expression, their backs ramrod straight and their spirits visibly high.

The academy master and several head instructors sat on the raised platform to the north.

But today, the person seated in the center of the platform was not the academy master, Lei Yuan, but a round-faced man of medium build.

He had fair, clear skin, a small nose, and small eyes, and he watched those below with a beaming smile.

Chu Xisheng glanced at him and could not help feeling surprised.

The Hu brothers happened to be standing nearby, so he asked quietly, "Hu the Eldest, who's that man on the platform? What's going on at the academy today? Why such a grand display?"

"That's an inspector sent by the Formless Divine Sect. His name is Jian Zangfeng."

Hu Kan was well informed indeed. His expression was grave. "They say he's a True Disciple of the Formless Divine Sects, here on orders from several elders of the Divine Sects to inspect the academy's learning atmosphere and the quality of its instructors. He might test our martial skills later, too."

Chu Xisheng's eyebrows immediately rose slightly.

A True Disciple of the Formless Divine Sect was not the same thing as a True Disciple of Zhengyang Martial Academy. They started at Fourth Rank, at the very least.

His hanging heart settled. Testing martial skills was not something that would fall to a One-Leaf Inner Disciple like him.

Besides, as a One-Leaf Inner Disciple, he was quite qualified.

Then Chu Xisheng noticed that Hu Kan and Hu Lai were looking at him strangely.

He could not help asking suspiciously, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Hu Kan immediately gave a dry cough, his gaze wavering. "Head Instructor Ye came to ask us about those rumors concerning you last night."

Hu Lai stroked his thin, splayed mustache with some shame. "We had no choice but to give you up. She might come ask you what really happened later."

Hearing this, Chu Xisheng immediately felt a terrible headache coming on.

Beside him, Chu Yunyun gave a mocking smile. Chu Xisheng had brought all of this on himself.

While they were talking, Lei Yuan bowed to Jian Zangfeng on the northern platform, his expression stern.

"Senior Brother Jian, all of Zhengyang Martial Academy's True Disciples, Inner Disciples, and Outer Disciples have arrived. Of the academy's three hundred and seventy-six instructors, three hundred and fifty-three are present."

Within the sect, seniority depended solely on the order of entry, so although he was five years older than Jian Zangfeng, he addressed him as senior brother.

"Then let the morning practice begin."

Jian Zangfeng glanced around, still smiling. "The elders of our sect all have the highest expectations for your ability to train disciples, Junior Brother Lei. I'd also like to see what standard these academy disciples have reached after three years under your leadership."

Lei Yuan returned his smile with perfect composure. "As for the quality of our Zhengyang Martial Academy, please wipe your eyes clean and see for yourself, Senior Brother."

Jian Zangfeng could not help raising his eyebrows.

Wipe his eyes clean and see for himself? He was telling him to take a good, clear look?

Junior Brother Lei's words concealed a sharp edge. Clearly, he still harbored some resentment.

But that was only natural. If he were Lei Yuan, he would have been unhappy too.

Lei Yuan lightly flicked his sleeve, signaling an instructor behind him, and another peal of bells rang from the bell pavilion to the right of the platform.

The disciples followed their instructors in sitting cross-legged, breathing toward the morning sun, which had just shown half a corner above the horizon.

Thousands of people on the training ground simultaneously drew in the power of Great Sun Origin Yang to nourish their true essence. It was a magnificent sight.

Looking down from the platform, one could even see a faint red rainbow radiance rising above the disciples.

Jian Zangfeng watched intently in silence, a trace of surprise appearing in his eyes.

He himself had come from Zhengyang Martial Academy and had even served as a head instructor there, so he understood its standards.

The bearing of these academy disciples was indeed much stronger than it had been a few years ago.

An hour later, Jian Zangfeng offered a soft word of praise. "Condensing qi into a rainbow. Good! To think that over three hundred disciples from these recent intakes have reached the third level of the Origin-Nourishing Art."

A sharp gleam immediately flashed through Lei Yuan's eyes, revealing a hint of self-satisfaction.

Next came the practice of the Formless Divine Sect's external ten arts.

Under the instructors' guidance, the four thousand-odd people below wielded sabers, swords, spears, or halberds.

Their momentum was equally vast and imposing, their shouts shaking the clouds.

Jian Zangfeng nodded slightly. Judging solely by the disciples' martial skills, their standard was a little weaker than their Origin Power cultivation.

But Lei Yuan's lineage placed the greatest importance on Origin Power cultivation, so that was understandable.

"Their various martial skills are excellent, of an upper-middle standard. Clearly, Zhengyang Martial Academy has an excellent learning atmosphere, and all its instructors put their hearts into their work."

Jian Zangfeng turned to the others on the platform with a smile. "This also shows that Junior Brother Lei and the head instructors are diligent and capable, with excellent teaching ethics. Rest assured, everyone. I will report everything here truthfully to the elders."

At Jian Zangfeng's words, the head instructors of the Four Courts, including Ye Zhiqiu, all looked pleased.

Even a hint of a smile appeared on Lei Yuan's face.

"Next, we will test the Inner Disciples' abilities in actual combat. Someone bring the roster of all the academy's Inner Disciples!"

Lei Yuan cupped his fist toward Jian Zangfeng. "Senior Brother Jian, please select names for the spot checks."

His attitude was different from before now, much more courteous.

Jian Zangfeng could not help chuckling. "There's no need to select names. I brought a Law Treasure from the sect specifically for testing disciples. Junior Brother Zi Jing, please lend a hand."

As he spoke, he took a jade disk, blue-green all over and shaped like a shallow bowl, from his sleeve and tossed it upward.

The blue-green jade disk immediately spun into the air, hovering a hundred zhang above the training ground.

Seven-colored spiritual light poured from its center, shining down toward the ground.

The lights crisscrossed and converged, actually creating eight blue-green platforms out of thin air in the training ground.

"The Four Symbols Duel Disk?" Daoist Zijing, the Sorcerer Academy's head instructor, looked at the jade disk in the sky, a trace of surprise in his eyes. "You actually brought this here, Senior Brother Jian?"

As he spoke, he formed a Spirit Art with his right hand, channeling spiritual power into it.

Jian Zangfeng was not a Spellcaster, nor had his cultivation reached the Third Rank, so this Law Treasure could only be sustained by Daoist Zijing's spiritual power.

"Precisely. Elder Xiangru's Four Symbols Duel Disk. It can distinguish the cultivation levels of the disciples present and randomly pull thirty-two of them onto the platforms to test their martial skills."

Jian Zangfeng picked up the tea beside him and took a leisurely sip. "Since there are four symbols, they naturally must be divided into four directions, which correspond exactly to your eastern, western, southern, and northern courts. I will also record the Four Courts' victories, defeats, and results this time and report them to the elders."

Ye Zhiqiu, Shao Lingshan, and the other two immediately grew alert, realizing that Jian Zangfeng was not merely inspecting Lei Yuan today, but them as well.

"Rest assured, the Four Symbols Duel Disk is fair and impartial. Although it selects randomly, in the end, the disciples selected from your Four Courts will have comparable average levels in the Origin-Nourishing Art."

After this explanation, Jian Zangfeng smiled again. "Junior Brother Zi Jing, please activate it!"

At that instant, the Four Symbols Duel Disk suddenly shot out thirty-two beams of blue-green radiance, sweeping them across the disciples.

Wherever those beams stopped, the disciples enveloped in their light were transported out of thin air onto the blue-green platforms.

Standing in the crowd, Chu Xisheng grumbled inwardly.

From the look of things, they were not even going to let people eat breakfast.

Just seven days ago, the academy had finally settled on his reward for killing the Spellcaster in the Library Tower.

Besides allowing him six days inside the Library Tower, with free access to all books on the sixth floor and below, the academy had given him five Origin-Nourishing Pills and a wooden token.

With this token, Chu Xisheng could cultivate in the Essence-Gathering Formation for ten days and eat for free in the dining hall for three months.

This was even stingier than the Embroidery Guard! At least the Embroidery Guard had given him actual silver, whereas the academy had not given him any money at all.

Because of this, Chu Xisheng had also begun looking forward to the dining hall's beef noodles, lamb soup, and meat-stuffed flatbreads. He no longer cooked for himself and arrived at the dining hall punctually for every meal.

Chu Yunyun was now eating and drinking on his coattails too.

Since Chu Xisheng could take as much food as he liked for free, there was naturally no reason for Chu Yunyun to waste money.

But today, he was clearly going to lose out on a meal.

Chu Xisheng did not know that, just as he sighed, Inspector Jian Zangfeng was watching him from the platform.

There was some hesitation in the inspector's eyes.

This should be the Chu Xisheng from the rumors, but his cultivation is a little weak. His Origin Power is only at the second level.

But Jian Zangfeng immediately recalled those rumors about Chu Xisheng.

There had to be a reason Chu Xisheng was universally acknowledged as Zhengyang Martial Academy's Number One Inner Disciple.

The world held countless people of extraordinary gifts, and geniuses who possessed high-rank combat power despite having only second-level Origin Power were beyond number.

Chu Xisheng was merely one of them.

And so, the hand hidden in his sleeve twitched, secretly manipulating a beam of blue-green spiritual light from the Four Symbols Duel Disk and moving it toward Chu Xisheng.

Beside him, Daoist Zijing, who was channeling spiritual power into the Four Symbols Duel Disk, immediately sensed it and looked at Jian Zangfeng in surprise.

This True Disciple senior brother keeps talking about "fairness," but isn't this clearly cheating?

According to the rumors, wasn't he secretly in love with Ye Zhiqiu, Head Instructor Ye? Could his love have turned to hatred after Head Instructor Ye rejected him? Is that why he's sending a One-Leaf disciple from the East Court with only second-level foundational cultivation into the ring?

Jian Zangfeng, meanwhile, smiled in satisfaction and looked at Ye Zhiqiu with a somewhat ingratiating expression.

He had already sent the East Court's strongest disciple up. Surely the academy's East Court would take first place this time.

When Ye Zhiqiu sought promotion to the inner sect and exchanged for secret medicines from the Formless Divine Sect in the future, this contest today could count in her favor.

But the next instant, Jian Zangfeng froze slightly. He saw Ye Zhiqiu glaring at him, her eyes wide.

At that moment, Ye Zhiqiu truly did feel the urge to tear Senior Brother Jian apart alive.

Why did the other three courts all get Two-Leaf and Three-Leaf disciples, while her East Court had to send up a One-Leaf disciple?