In the first month after his second year at the academy, Feng Xiaotian received an invitation from the junior academy.
Instructor Qin delivered the invitation herself. She said the junior academy had a batch of late-admission students taking the entrance test, and they wanted Feng Xiaotian to come back to watch and tell the new students a little about the intermediate academy.
Feng Xiaotian had not planned to go. But things at the academy had been unsettled again lately-the matter of Shi Yan had remained on people's lips these past two years, though it had never blown up. During an internal test a few days earlier, Shi Yan had outperformed several senior students again. His control over his Martial Soul was growing steadier, and he dared to fight and charge without fearing injury-he took head-on collisions others dared not meet and held firm in dangerous situations where others would retreat. Those who had already resented him could no longer sit still. They asked what right an outsider had to take up Godwind Academy's resources and said his way of fighting would cause trouble sooner or later, dragging the academy's reputation down with him.
His father, Feng Qingxuan, called Feng Xiaotian into the study. After a long silence, he finally spoke. "You brought Shi Yan back. I'll handle these remarks. As it happens, you received Instructor Qin's invitation today to watch the late-admission test at the junior academy. Go out and lie low for now, and come back later tonight. Visit Lingtian while you're there."
Feng Xiaotian nodded.
On the morning he set out, Feng Xiaotian changed into a clean school uniform. As he left the dormitory, he happened to run into Cheng Luo. Cheng Luo leaned against a pillar in the corridor, the loose threads at his cuff pulled even farther apart. Seeing Feng Xiaotian, he did not ask where he was going and merely nodded.
Feng Xiaotian nodded back, and the two passed each other.
The junior academy's late-admission test was being held in the woods behind the training grounds. When Feng Xiaotian arrived, Instructor Qin was calling names. Several junior academy instructors sat in the spectator stands and nodded to him when they saw him. Feng Xiaotian found a seat off to one side and swept his gaze over the field.
A row of children stood at the edge of the field, all new students from this round of late admissions. Some rubbed their hands nervously, some looked around in excitement, and one chubby boy kept wiping away sweat. Feng Xiaotian's gaze passed over them one by one, then suddenly stopped at the very end.
A boy stood there. He wore a gray cloth shirt washed pale, its fabric coarse and its sleeves a little too short, exposing wrists so thin they looked as though they would snap with a single bend. His hair was cropped close to his scalp, revealing the entire outline of his head. His face was small, with a pointed chin and slightly prominent cheekbones that made his cheeks look somewhat sunken. His skin was dark, the color of someone who had spent a long time under the sun. His eyebrows were thick and short, their tails drooping slightly. His eyes were small and single-lidded, his pupils pitch-black. When he looked at someone, his gaze was direct, neither flinching nor avoiding them, and carried no emotion.
The boy stood there neat from head to toe, without even a crooked shirt front. The children around him were all moving. Only he remained motionless, as though he had already been standing there for a long time.
"Ji Ning," Instructor Qin called the boy's name.
Ji Ning answered quietly, the sound almost a hum through his nose, then stepped forward.
The test measured speed and reactions. Students had to cross a stretch of woodland set with obstacles, roughly three hundred meters in all, while instructors interfered with low-intensity Soul Skills along the way. The rules were simple: whoever took the least time won.
The first few children performed unremarkably. Even the best took nearly two minutes.
When Ji Ning's turn came, Feng Xiaotian noticed that he made no preparations at all. He simply stood where he was, waiting for Instructor Qin's whistle.
The whistle blew.
Ji Ning's figure vanished the instant the whistle fell silent. Feng Xiaotian's fingers stilled on his knee-not vanished, but moved too fast. By the time his gaze caught up, Ji Ning had already swept past the first obstacle, a dead log lying across the path. Ji Ning did not jump. He slipped straight through the gap beneath it, barely wide enough for one person, without slowing in the slightest.
It was a hummingbird. Feng Xiaotian saw the phantom pair of wings vibrating at high speed behind Ji Ning. He was not flying, but skimming. His feet barely touched the ground, his whole body like an arrow flying low over the earth.
The second obstacle was interference from wind blades released by an instructor. Three wind blades slashed toward Ji Ning from different directions, blocking his front, rear, and left.
Ji Ning abruptly hovered in place. He had not slowed down-he had stopped completely, like a nail driven into the air. The three wind blades skimmed past his body, the nearest shearing off a few stray hairs over his forehead.
The moment the wind blades passed, Ji Ning shot forward again. From motionless to full speed, there was no transition at all.
Feng Xiaotian began paying serious attention, his back unconsciously straightening.
Just as the finish line came into sight, a wall of wind suddenly rose from the ground directly in Ji Ning's path.
Ji Ning did not slow down. Just before he struck the wind wall, his whole body abruptly shot upward, skimming almost flush with its top. The instant he cleared the wall, he dropped back to ground-skimming height, so fast it was as though that sudden ascent had never happened.
Ji Ning crossed the finish line. The numbers on the timer stopped-32 seconds!
The spectator stands fell silent for a moment, then applause broke out. Voices rose in discussion soon afterward.
"Who is he? He's so fast," someone asked quietly.
"Instructor Qin called his name earlier. Ji Ning," the person beside them replied.
Feng Xiaotian said nothing, his gaze still resting on Ji Ning.
Once all the tests were over, Instructor Qin gathered the late-admission students together and had Feng Xiaotian briefly introduce the intermediate academy. Feng Xiaotian explained the challenge match rules, emphasizing one point: "The arena doesn't just test your fists. It tests your brains, too. Anyone who can't work things out will suffer for it sooner or later."
When he finished, a new student raised a hand. "Senior, did you make the rankings?"
Feng Xiaotian glanced at the student. "I did."
Another new student pressed him. "Which week did you make it?"
"The first week."
The new students exchanged surprised looks. Feng Xiaotian said no more. Instructor Qin gave a few more instructions, then dismissed them.
Feng Xiaotian came down from the stands and scanned the field. Ji Ning walked alone to the steps beside the training grounds, sat down, and took a dry flatbread from inside his shirt. He lowered his head and began gnawing on it.
Feng Xiaotian walked over and sat beside him.
"You were very fast in that test."
Ji Ning took a bite of flatbread and chewed twice. Then he turned and glanced at Feng Xiaotian. "Oh?" The sound rose slightly, carrying a questioning tone, as though asking, "So?"
"That switch from standing still to full speed-was it a Soul Skill or a Martial Soul trait?"
"Both." Ji Ning kept eating without looking at him.
"How did you train it?"
"Lots of practice." The answer was brief, his tone flat, as though it was not worth saying more about.
Feng Xiaotian fell silent for two seconds. "Where did you study before?"
"Trained myself."
"Any Soul Masters in your family?"
"No."
"Then why did you want to come to the junior academy?"
Ji Ning finally turned to look at Feng Xiaotian. His eyes held neither impatience nor curiosity; he simply gave him a level glance. Then he turned back, stuffed the last bite of flatbread into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.
"Because food and lodging are included."
Feng Xiaotian froze for a moment.
"Did you need anything else?" Ji Ning drew the words out half a beat, a slight note of dismissal in his tone. His gaze had already shifted away.
Feng Xiaotian looked at him, then suddenly smiled. "No. Go ahead."
Ji Ning nodded, stood up, brushed the crumbs from his hands, and turned to leave. After a few steps, he stopped again and turned his head to say something.
"You said I was fast. Thanks."
It was so quiet that it was almost inaudible without listening closely. Then Ji Ning left without looking back.
Feng Xiaotian sat on the steps, watching that small, thin figure recede. From the beginning of the test to the end, Ji Ning had never changed his own pace for anything. While everyone discussed him, he ate flatbread. When Feng Xiaotian asked questions, he answered in a couple of words. When praised, he said thanks in much the same tone as he said "oh."
That sort of personality was bound to rub a lot of people the wrong way. But Feng Xiaotian felt that if someone like him truly set his mind on doing something, no one could hold him back.
A Hummingbird Martial Soul, an assault-assassin type specializing in agility attacks, extremely fast, capable of hovering and instantaneous movement. The team already had Lingtian in the agility attack system, but Ji Ning's speed had different characteristics-Lingtian had the ultimate penetrating power of a high-altitude dive, while Ji Ning had the ultimate agility of ground-skimming flight. If these two worked together, one high and one low, one far and one near, they would complement each other perfectly.
Feng Xiaotian stood and brushed the dust off his trousers. He wondered whom Lingtian had found at the junior academy. But Lingtian would probably like this Ji Ning.
Before returning to the intermediate academy, Feng Xiaotian walked around the junior academy. The training grounds, the mountain path for physical training, the clearing for nighttime assemblies-they were all places where he had spent time. He had occasionally returned to visit over the past two years, but every time he walked here, it felt different from before.
Reaching Lingtian's dormitory building, Feng Xiaotian went upstairs and knocked on his door. No one answered.
Zhong Yue's voice came from next door. "Lingtian went out. He said he was going to the training grounds for extra practice. He probably won't be back until later."
Feng Xiaotian nodded and turned to go downstairs. He was a little disappointed not to have seen his younger brother, but he still wanted to tell him about seeing Ji Ning today.
By the time Feng Xiaotian left the dormitory building, it was almost dark.
It was completely dark when he returned to the intermediate academy. Just inside the academy gates, he saw Cheng Luo leaning against a pillar in the corridor, tugging at the loose threads on his cuff. Seeing Feng Xiaotian, Cheng Luo did not ask where he had been and merely nodded.
Feng Xiaotian nodded back, and the two passed each other.
The talk at the academy about Shi Yan still had not died down. But Feng Xiaotian suddenly felt those voices were not so important anymore. He had found Cheng Luo at the intermediate academy, brought Shi Yan back from outside, and met Ji Ning at the junior academy today. One by one, the people a team needed were coming together.
Feng Xiaotian pushed open his dormitory door, sat at the desk, spread out a sheet of paper, and picked up a pen to write his younger brother a letter.
The letter was short, only a few lines:
Lingtian, your big brother saw someone at the junior academy's late-admission test today. A Hummingbird Martial Soul, very fast, very few words. I think you'll probably like him. Unfortunately, you weren't there when I came to find you. I've also found several outstanding members here at the intermediate academy. Waiting to hear from you.
Feng Xiaotian folded the letter, slipped it into an envelope, and wrote "To Feng Lingtian" on the front.
I'll ask someone to take it to the junior academy when I have time tomorrow.
Feng Xiaotian lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.
He wondered whom Lingtian had found on his end.