Five years at the academy, training in the Magical Beast Forest
In the year 9816 of the Yulan Calendar, Luo Feng was in his fifth year at the Philipzi Warrior Academy. That year, he was sixteen.
Dressed in a sky-blue warrior's outfit, Luo Feng walked along a path through the Philipzi Warrior Academy. He now stood over 1.8 meters tall, with a naturally composed air about him, graceful as the wind and subtle as water.
For five years, Luo Feng had followed the same routine every day, going between the back mountain, the library, and the classroom. Those five years had brought him to the peak of the Warrior of the Sixth Rank, just one step away from becoming a Seventh-level Warrior.
As for his magical talent, ever since learning that his affinities were wind, water, and lightning, Luo Feng had spent most of his time outside battle-qi training practicing attack techniques. Unfortunately, although he had now completely mastered those techniques, he still couldn't grasp the level of Wielding Something Heavy as Though It Were Light. As he put it, the sooner he reached that level, the sooner he could begin training in "force." After all, "force" was the threshold to entering the Profound Mysteries of the Laws, so Luo Feng naturally worked hard.
Luo Feng rarely trained in magic-or rather, he didn't train in it at all. Although his aptitude marked him as a monstrous genius, surpassing even Dixie, the magical prodigy who would appear later, in Luo Feng's eyes, magic was ultimately just a shortcut to comprehending nature. As he saw it, mages would be of no use at all later on. Even Desri, a leading figure in light magic and one of the continent's five ultimate experts, had his Divine Clone killed so easily after becoming a god. Luo Feng therefore had no intention of training in magic; it was simply a waste of time.
Luo Feng was now a Warrior of the Sixth Rank and a fifth-year student, yet he was only sixteen. That had stunned a great many people. He could easily lift a boulder weighing several thousand jin and smash stone with a punch.
Luo Feng's astonishing rate of progress left everyone amazed. Everyone at the academy recognized him as "the number one genius of the Philipzi Academy."
"Look, it's Luo Feng. He reached the sixth rank last year, and he became a Warrior of the Fifth Rank in his second year at the academy. Only two years! That's incredible. I reckon Luo Feng is already a Warrior of the Sixth Rank now. He'll definitely break the academy's record and become its youngest graduate."
Quite a few people on the path began whispering among themselves when they saw Luo Feng. As the Philipzi Academy's acknowledged genius, he drew onlookers and discussion wherever he went. But despite his formidable strength, Luo Feng still never took part in any of the year-group arena tournaments.
"A genius?" Luo Feng smiled self-mockingly.
Luo Feng had never considered himself a genius. His strength came from grueling, almost uninterrupted training every day, from five years of unwavering persistence at the academy. Back then, when he had been only eight, he had persevered beneath a waterfall. While ordinary people were enjoying life, how many of them would think to work hard?
When the Philipzi Warrior Academy recruited him, Luo Feng's aptitude had been rated superior. But warrior training was the simplest kind and didn't require much talent; what mattered was unwavering perseverance. Indeed, the history of the Yulan Continent even had Saint Domain experts in their twenties. Had they been born strong? They had relied on their own tireless efforts. Whether someone could become strong depended on whether they had the heart to do so.
Three years had brought Luo Feng to the peak of the Warrior of the Sixth Rank, but he felt no joy at that speed. If he had spent those years fighting, he would definitely have reached the Seventh-level Warrior by now. It was later that Linley truly became strong, when he crossed the Magical Beast Forest and traveled ten thousand li. By then, pursued by the Radiant Church and tempered by fighting in the Magical Beast Forest, he had acquired the conditions needed to become strong. Life at the academy was still too comfortable, greatly slowing his training. Later on, Linley's younger brother Wharton, a Dragonblood Warrior, reached the eighth rank in human form at twenty-one and the ninth rank after transforming. Luo Feng was still far behind. Since my innate advantages can't match theirs, I'll strive ten times as hard.
Paying no attention to the admiring looks and discussion around him, Luo Feng calmly walked out the back gate of the Philipzi Warrior Academy and entered the back mountain, where he began the same grueling training as always. Five years of such training, day after day-that was also why Luo Feng had succeeded.
Luo Feng moved swiftly and gracefully through the mountain forest, returning to a secluded spot where he trained. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and refined his battle qi. Feeling it roil within him, he couldn't help thinking, Perhaps it's time I went out to train. Life at the academy no longer suits me very well. If I stay here, my strength will only be held back. This increasingly slow progress isn't what I want.
Night fell, and the provincial capital of Basil remained as flourishing as ever, but the countryside outside its eastern quarter was desolate. Along a lonely road, a figure sped forward like a ghost.
In the blink of an eye, the figure had traveled a hundred meters.
Mountains surrounded the provincial capital of Basil. There were many ranges beyond its western outskirts, and a few unremarkable peaks outside the eastern quarter as well. Luo Feng soon arrived at an ordinary-looking mountain.
At the top of the mountain was a peak that looked as though it had been cut by a blade. A man sat cross-legged on its summit. Seeing him there gave one the strange feeling that he had existed in that spot for tens of millions of years.
Luo Feng came to the side of the peak and said softly, "Instructor Tizi, I'm leaving. I'm planning to go train in the Magical Beast Forest."
Clearly, the man sitting in meditation on the peak was Luo Feng's former instructor, Tizi. Beneath the night sky, which had neither stars nor moon tonight, the darkness made his rugged figure barely distinguishable.
After sensing that he was about to break through to the Warrior of the Ninth Rank, Tizi had come to this mountain and lived the life of an ascetic. Fortunately, he had gained quite a lot from it. In the same year Luo Feng broke through to the Warrior of the Sixth Rank, he too broke through to the Warrior of the Ninth Rank. Now he had gained new insights into ascetic training and planned to stay on the mountain for years to continue it.
"Luo Feng, I've long known the Philipzi Academy couldn't hold you back. In the end, you still have to go to the Magical Beast Forest." Tizi's rough voice echoed through the night.
Luo Feng looked at Tizi, who was like a rock on this barren mountain, without the slightest sharp aura, and felt moved. Back then, it was because of Luo Feng that Tizi had volunteered to be his instructor. Now he had spent a full three years sitting in meditation on this barren peak. For those three years, Tizi had neither eaten nor drunk, taking the heavens as his canopy and the earth as his bed.
Although Tizi had taught him for only a short year, he had left Luo Feng with an unforgettable impression. So after speaking with his younger brother, the first person Luo Feng thought of was Tizi. Now that he was leaving, he had come to say goodbye.
"I'm leaving tomorrow." Luo Feng's cool voice seemed to be an answer to Tizi. Then he was already gone, departing like the wind, and the barren peak fell silent once more.