After the test, the children’s spirits were somewhat low. Besides the crying boy, a girl had also been taken away for failing the test. Although it wasn’t them who were sent away, they had spent about ten days together, and suddenly losing a companion naturally led to a sense of empathy.
During lunch, the usually lively northern canteen was unusually quiet. Bai Ligelin took small sips of soup and said in a low voice, “Only sixteen people left… How many do you think will remain after a year of cultivation?”
Even the usually steady Ye Ye shook his head and sighed, “Survival of the fittest, but… it seems too cruel.”
This was merely the first stage of cultivation, just over ten days, and two children’s dreams of becoming immortals were completely shattered. Think back to when they first came to the academy, how full of spirit and hope they were. In the blink of an eye, they left the same way they came. Just imagining that feeling was chilling.
“I thought that once we got in, we definitely wouldn’t be sent out again,” Bai Ligelin said, somewhat fearfully. She had barely passed this test, and perhaps in the next stage of cultivation, she would be like those two, failing the test and being sent away.
Seeing Li Fei constantly eating with her head down, not saying a word, Bai Ligelin couldn’t help but add, “Li Fei, being in a group with those two jerks must be tough, right?”
Li Fei shook her head. To say it was tough, it wasn’t really. In the ten or so days of cultivating together, they had barely spoken ten words to each other. They simply ignored each other, which was quite easy. The problem was their extraordinary aptitude, which put increasing invisible pressure on her.
Setting aside Ji Tongzhou, whose good aptitude she had known from the start, Lei Xiuyuan was truly shocked. Chang Yue had said his aptitude was considered the best in the academy currently, and it wasn’t an exaggeration. During these days of Furnace Cultivation, he progressed from initially struggling to effortlessly using up four thousand talismans without breaking a sweat. This kind of almost terrifying potential was both admirable and enviable. As for her, she had barely completed today’s test just before noon.
She had almost been sent away like those two.
Hu Jiaping had said that Zhuque Academy wouldn’t feed idlers. Falling behind in cultivation progress and being eliminated was normal; cultivation was just that cruel. The woman in the black veil also said that immortals never cared about noble or humble birth, only about strength. Passing the academy’s initial and secondary selections didn’t mean one could rest easy. Becoming an immortal was defying the heavens; strength, perseverance, and luck were all indispensable.
Li Fei put down her chopsticks and stood up, saying, “I’m full. I’ll go first.”
Bai Ligelin asked curiously, “Where are you going?”
“To continue cultivating.”
“Huh?” Bai Ligelin looked at her retreating figure in surprise. “Why suddenly so hardworking? We’ve been cultivating all morning, and you’re going to continue during the lunch break?”
Bai Changyue seemed thoughtful: “I’m afraid the two in her group are putting too much pressure on her. Both the Prince and Lei Xiuyuan can be considered natural prodigies.”
“Pah! Don’t mention that bastard Lei Xiuyuan’s name while we’re eating!” Bai Ligelin pouted in disgust. “Sister, why don’t we find a place to continue cultivating too?”
“Oh?” Bai Changyue rarely showed a hint of a smile. “You’ve finally learned to work hard?”
“I don’t want to fail another test and be sent away next time. Li Fei is working so hard, I don’t want to lose to her!” Bai Ligelin quickly finished her soup, stood up, and wiped her mouth. “Let’s go, let’s go! Ye Ye, you come too!”
Many people had similar thoughts. During the lunch break, many disciples were still persevering with their cultivation in the western training ground. After witnessing the academy’s elimination system firsthand, all previous notions of ease and beauty had completely vanished. This was not the fantasy realm of immortals, but a place even more cruel than the mortal world.
Li Fei sat in the training ground for a while, her body still slowly absorbing spiritual energy. She felt empty inside, and at this slow rate, she didn’t know when her body would be filled with spiritual energy. If she couldn’t keep up with future cultivation progress, she would surely be mercilessly sent away.
The noise in the training ground was constant, and Li Fei grew increasingly restless as she sat. She decided to get up and fly away on her sword, weaving through the countless floating islands. Ten days had passed, and Ri Yan should wake up today. She could tell him about her troubles, and he would surely give her advice. But could she rely on his guidance forever? Her body was her own, her special constitution was her own, and she wanted to find her way forward using her abilities.
She landed on a small floating island. The island wasn’t large and had no buildings, just a small ring of verdant cliffs surrounding a quiet spring. The ground was covered in waist-high green grass. This was a floating island she had discovered a few days ago, quiet and beautiful, suitable for meditation.
Ri Yan had only told her that her body could automatically absorb spiritual energy, but hadn’t taught her how to speed up this absorption. To pass the morning’s test, she had depleted all the spiritual energy in her body, and even now, it hadn’t been fully replenished. Li Fei decided to sit cross-legged, close her eyes, and focus her attention on the invisible furnace within her body.
After an unknown amount of time, suddenly that furnace seemed to become visible. She could even see the shimmering spiritual energy inside. In the huge furnace, spiritual energy filled less than half, and countless pores in her body were tirelessly replenishing it.
Li Fei tried to speed up the absorption of spiritual energy. To her surprise, as soon as she had the thought, the spiritual energy in the furnace suddenly began to rotate as if stirred by a hand, gradually forming a huge vortex. She felt an extremely strong suction force appear in her body. As the spiritual energy rotated faster and faster, the suction force grew stronger. Her extraordinary meridians seemed to suddenly expand, and even her pores seemed to dilate to the extreme. An endless stream of immense spiritual energy poured into the furnace in her body like a waterfall, merging with the rotating spiritual energy.
In just a few breaths, the furnace was filled with spiritual energy. The rotation slowly stopped, and the expanded extraordinary meridians and pores seemed to gradually deflate. Finally, everything returned to calm.
Li Fei suddenly opened her eyes. What was that just now? Her spiritual energy was full!
However, the sight that greeted her eyes startled her. When she first arrived on the island, the ground was covered in lush green grass. Now, all that green grass had turned into withered, dry grass! She stood up in shock and looked around. The island was still the same, the cliffs and spring unchanged, but the sight of withered grass everywhere was truly alarming—had she done this?!
Ri Yan’s hoarse voice suddenly sounded in her ear, also quite surprised: “Oh? Is this… spiritual absorption? You figured it out on your own?”
Li Fei, already shocked, was startled again by Ri Yan’s sudden appearance and almost jumped: “Why do you always appear so suddenly!”
The snow-white nine-tailed fox materialized before her eyes, head held high, looking at her proudly: “Don’t be so jumpy! You’ve grasped spiritual absorption. Oh… looking at your state… you’re starting to shed your shell, no wonder…”
Shedding her shell? Don’t make her sound like some kind of insect! Li Fei frowned at him.
“How did you suddenly learn spiritual absorption? Were you lacking spiritual energy?” As expected of Ri Yan, he immediately hit the nail on the head.
Li Fei helplessly explained the process of Furnace Cultivation. Ri Yan nodded and said, “No wonder—actually, given your age, your body’s speed of absorbing spiritual energy can only be this fast. When you’re older, it will improve a lot. But now that you’ve learned spiritual absorption, future cultivation shouldn’t be too difficult. However…”
He hesitated uncharacteristically, seeming to want to say something but holding back.
“However what?” Li Fei couldn’t stand his teasing. This fox was always so mysterious, never telling her anything!
Ri Yan said calmly, “However, try to use this spiritual absorption as little as possible, and try not to use it in front of others. Look at this grass; it became like this because of you. There’s no such thing as spiritual absorption in human cultivation methods. If you demonstrate this in front of others, I’m afraid it won’t be good for you.”
“But how can I cultivate without spiritual energy?”
“Fool! Since you can do spiritual absorption, can’t you do a spiritual release? Release your spiritual energy a hundred times or so, and your body will know you need spiritual energy and naturally speed up the absorption for you!”
What on earth was the spiritual release? Li Fei looked at him helplessly. He was always spouting terms she didn’t understand.
“Sit down and close your eyes to concentrate. Fool, oh fool, I, the great nine-tailed fox, actually have to take time to guide you, you little milk-drinker!” Ri Yan was very reluctant, perching fiercely on her arm. He grumbled for a while before calming down. “Sit down already!”
His temper was really bad! Li Fei sat down, not daring to voice her anger. She closed her eyes to concentrate as instructed, visualizing the furnace inside her body as before. Soon, that huge furnace appeared before her eyes again.
“Release all the spiritual energy in one go,” Ri Yan instructed concisely.
When she absorbed spiritual energy, the energy in the furnace rotated in one direction. Now, to release the energy, she made it rotate in the opposite direction. Li Fei focused intently, not daring to slack off even a bit. Her extraordinary meridians and pores expanded again, but this time they were pouring out the spiritual energy from her body like a waterfall. In just a moment, the furnace was empty of spiritual energy. Li Fei felt as if she had climbed over a dozen mountains, her whole body exhausted, sweating profusely, and out of breath.
“It’s… done…” She opened her eyes to see that the previously withered grass had turned green again, even starting to form red flower buds—was this because of her releasing spiritual energy?
“Don’t talk, continue with spiritual absorption, then release again—do this cultivation whenever you have free time, it’s much more useful than what those fools at the academy teach.”
Li Fei followed his instructions and concentrated again. The spiritual energy in the furnace began to rotate as she once more employed spiritual absorption.
Spiritual absorption, spiritual release, she didn’t know how many cycles she went through. Her expanded pores and extraordinary meridians no longer contracted back to their original state. Li Fei exhaled, stopped the rotation of spiritual energy inside her, and slowly stood up. Looking around, she saw the entire small island was now covered in blooming red flowers, as if on fire.
Her body was still absorbing spiritual energy for her. Although not as fast as spiritual absorption, it was much quicker than in the morning.
“Ri Yan, thank you,” Li Fei said sincerely. Without him, she didn’t know how many detours she would have taken, and might even have been in mortal danger.
The white little fox’s ears on her arm twitched, and his hoarse voice was very impatient: “I don’t like hearing that! Don’t say it next time! You saved my life, I’m just repaying the favor!”
“Why are you so awkward?” Li Fei finally couldn’t resist flicking his small, fluffy body, but he seemed to have no physical form, and her finger passed right through him.
“Hmph, you’re human, I’m a spirit. Spirits don’t bother with human etiquette and such. You saved me, so naturally I repay you with actions. If you want to thank me, do it with actions. All that flowery talk is useless!”
Li Fei smiled wryly: “You say you’re the legendary nine-tailed fox, so powerful. What can I do to help you?”
“Hiding me on your body is already the biggest help.” The white little fox’s pointed nose twitched. “Hmph, if you want to help me more, then jump down!”
“Jump down?” Li Fei was shocked. “The teacher said below is a forbidden area full of demons and monsters. Jumping down would be fatal!”
“Then why are you talking nonsense? Fool!”
This fox was awkward and bad-tempered… Li Fei patted the dust off her body and rose on her sword. The lunch break was almost over; she had to return to the training ground.
Suddenly, a gust of wind whistled by, accompanied by a flash of golden light. A young man landed on the island on his sword. Amidst the fiery red flowers, the two came face to face, both startled.
Lei Xiuyuan? Li Fei immediately became wary, silently watching him. Why had he come to this place at this time? Could he be here to find ways to frame her again?
Lei Xiuyuan looked around, and seeing the ground covered in red flowers, a trace of surprise appeared on his face. After a while, he suddenly spoke: “Oh? You can make green grass bloom?”
Li Fei said coldly, “They were already blooming when I arrived.”
“You’re quite good at lying.” Lei Xiuyuan smiled, clearly not believing her.
“Do you have any business here? If not, I’m leaving.” Li Fei didn’t want to engage with him further.
Lei Xiuyuan didn’t speak. He was even faster than her, immediately flying away on his sword until he was out of sight.
Ri Yan, perched on her shoulder, twitched his ears and spoke: “Who was that?”
“…A hypocritical and cunning bad person.”
Ri Yan was silent for a moment, then said: “He is… never mind… be wary of him.”