The Inner Academy Elders Return, an Unexpected Battle

At this time, First Elder Su Qian had summoned away many of the Inner Academy's elders. Only places that absolutely needed someone on guard still had elders stationed there.

One such place was the Heaven Burning Artifact Refining Tower.

Jia Nan Academy's resource repository, meanwhile, was protected by a dedicated formation. Ordinary academy disciples could not get inside at all.

Usually, only the elder on duty was there.

Their only task was to make a record whenever resources were taken out or brought in.

But none of them had expected their first elder to bring back an Ancient Void Dragon capable of ignoring spatial formations.

Before long, the two arrived at the storehouse where the medicinal ingredients were kept.

The moment Zi Yan entered, she caught the rich scent of herbs. Without a word, she ran to the shelves where they were stored.

Looking ravenous, she grabbed a handful of herbs and stuffed them into her mouth. The sight left Sun Qi momentarily stunned.

Sun Qi made a circuit of the storehouse but found no particularly rare herbs. Most were used to aid cultivation or treat injuries.

Herbs of this grade were not very valuable to experts at the Dou Wang realm or above.

But Zi Yan didn't care. She hadn't eaten in a long time, and she had finally found a place to eat.

She couldn't be bothered with all those messy rules. She would fill her stomach first.

What Sun Qi hadn't expected, though, was that Zi Yan would eat herbs indiscriminately.

"Why are you stuffing everything into your mouth? That stuff is a medicinal herb for treating bleeding and injuries. It can't taste very good."

As he spoke, Sun Qi ran over to the herb cabinet opposite them, grabbed a few sprigs of Sweet Return Grass, and tossed them to Zi Yan.

"If you're going to eat something, eat this. It's sweet and can also stabilize your Qi Sea. It won't do much for someone at your realm, but at least it'll fill your stomach."

Catching the delicate fragrance wafting from the herb, Zi Yan curiously took a bite. Sure enough, it tasted better than the herb she had picked up earlier.

It was mildly sweet on the tongue, with a hint of fragrance, unlike what she had eaten before, which had been sour and astringent, with a slightly fishy taste.

"Nom~ I didn't expect you to know which herbs taste good!"

Sun Qi picked out some more herbs with better flavors and textures and piled them in front of Zi Yan.

"Of course. My master is an alchemist. There isn't a medicinal herb under heaven that I don't know."

Hearing that, Zi Yan was somewhat tempted.

She had lived in the dangerous wilderness and mountain forests since childhood, with no one to teach her and no parents, so her knowledge of which herbs were edible and which were not was limited.

In the past, she had been so hungry that she ate herbs indiscriminately and fell unconscious as a result.

If her physique hadn't been so strong, whether she could have survived until now would have been in question.

Now that a walking encyclopedia of medicinal herbs had appeared beside her, she naturally couldn't let him go.

As Zi Yan ate the herbs Sun Qi had picked for her, she tugged at him and said, "You're so knowledgeable. Will you help me find herbs to eat from now on?"

"I used to live in the wilderness and didn't know medicinal herbs at all. My stomach often hurt because I ate things at random."

Hearing about Zi Yan's experiences, Sun Qi felt some sympathy for her.

He had been lucky enough to meet his teacher as soon as he was born. Without his teacher's care, he feared he would be just like Zi Yan now.

"Sure! Whatever flavor of medicinal herb you want to eat from now on, just tell Old Sun."

"Once Old Sun finds his master, I can even ask him to refine medicinal pills for you to eat!"

At the mention of food, Zi Yan immediately became interested.

Seeing this, Sun Qi took out the medicinal pills Yao Chen had refined for him from his Storage Ring and shared them with Zi Yan.

After tasting the pills, Zi Yan instantly felt that the herbs in her hands no longer tasted good. She immediately pounced on Sun Qi, hoping to get more pills from him.

While the two were fooling around, the Inner Academy's elders finished their meeting and returned to their respective posts.

Elder Liu Ying and Elder Hao returned to the elders' compound together. As soon as they stepped into the courtyard, they sensed unfamiliar presences.

Elder Hao immediately grew alert. "Something's wrong! Outsiders have broken into the elders' compound!"

Hearing that, Elder Liu's heart jolted. "Damn, they can't be after my treasures, can they?!"

Liu Ying couldn't worry about anything else. He dashed inside.

At the same time, the two who had been fooling around also sensed unfamiliar presences entering.

Sun Qi immediately guessed that the Inner Academy's elders had returned and promptly pulled Zi Yan outside.

He was all too familiar with this sort of thing. Back then, to avoid being caught by the elders of Starfall Pavilion, he had even gone out of his way to learn a movement Dou Technique from Yao Chen.

But the moment they went out, they ran straight into Elder Liu, who was rushing inside.

With no time to think, Zi Yan instinctively threw a punch straight at Elder Liu's face.

Poor Elder Liu hadn't even gotten a clear look at the two before the terrifying wind from the punch was already pressing against his face.

At the same realm, magical beasts were already stronger than humans, let alone Zi Yan, who was a king among magical beasts.

Even a Dou Emperor wouldn't dare take that punch to the face.

Elder Hao had just caught up when he saw Elder Liu fly backward like a cannonball, then slam heavily into the spatial formation.

The commotion alarmed the entire elders' compound.

"Elder Liu!" Elder Hao had no time to catch him. He could only go forward and examine Liu Ying's injuries after he struck the formation.

Fortunately, Liu Ying was a Dou Wang and fairly sturdy, but Zi Yan had still smashed one of his teeth out.

Standing in the doorway and watching the scene, Sun Qi turned to Zi Yan and said, "This is bad. I think we've caused a huge disaster!"

Zi Yan looked somewhat embarrassed as she gazed at the two Inner Academy elders ahead. Su Qian had kindly brought her into Jia Nan Academy, but now she had not only stolen and eaten the academy's medicinal herbs,

She had also injured an Inner Academy elder. If Su Qian found out, he would surely be angry.

But Elder Hao didn't seem to recognize either Zi Yan or Sun Qi. Seeing that his fellow elder had been injured,

He immediately sent an intrusion alert to all the elders of the Inner Academy, then was the first to advance, intending to capture the two of them.

Although he was stronger than Elder Liu, he was still only at the Dou Wang realm.

Zi Yan still had her wild nature, and the instant Elder Hao attacked, it triggered her fighting instincts. As expected, the two quickly became locked in combat.

Sun Qi had no time to stop them, and Elder Liu, who had been punched away, had also recovered.

Seeing that Elder Hao had already engaged one of them, he immediately fixed his gaze on Sun Qi.

Liu Ying had always had a violent temper. Now that someone had sent him flying with a punch, he naturally had to settle the score first.

"Elder Hao, once I take this brat down, I'll come help you!"

Seeing Liu Ying charge at him menacingly, Sun Qi whipped out the Golden Cudgel.

The two quickly began fighting.

Sun Qi had extensive combat experience, and with his divine abilities and powerful physique to bolster him, he wasn't afraid of Liu Ying in the least.

He unleashed his Dou Ling strength and swung his cudgel at Liu Ying.

Seeing that his opponent was only a Dou Ling, Liu Ying laughed inwardly at his overconfidence.

But when he confidently tried to capture Sun Qi, he discovered that something seemed a little off about the cudgel!

"How... is it getting bigger?!"

"I...!"

Before he could finish, Sun Qi's cudgel had already come crashing down.