Chapter 49: Flying Snow

“Morning.”

Jiang Jian replied.

Liu Tiezhu walked up close, glanced at Jiang Jian, and raised an eyebrow: “Jiang Jian, your spiritual essence cultivation seems stronger than yesterday.”

Jiang Jian smiled and said, “Is it that obvious?”

“To me, it’s very obvious.”

Liu Tiezhu nodded, “Last night, you must’ve gone to the training room.”

Jiang Jian did not deny it.

Shi Xuan asked from beside, “Liu Tiezhu, what’s your talent?”

Liu Tiezhu gave a mysterious smile: “My talent is strong.”

Hearing this,

Shi Xuan’s lip twitched: “This weekend we’re doing a learning mission—want to join?”

The entrance exam had 1,800 new students.

Liu Tiezhu ranked first.

His strength was unquestionable.

Liu Tiezhu asked, “You two?”

Shi Xuan said, “Me and Jiang Jian.”

“Of course.”

Liu Tiezhu looked up, glancing at Shi Xuan’s back where the Yueyue Blade hung, “We still need two more for a five-person squad.”

Though he agreed readily,

Liu Tiezhu’s gaze carried a subtle scrutiny.

Shi Xuan’s entrance score wasn’t impressive.

But

that Level-3 Divine Gift weapon was real combat power.

Shi Xuan noticed his gaze but said nothing.

He knew Liu Tiezhu agreed not because of the Yueyue Blade.

But because of Jiang Jian.

Exactly 9 a.m.

Jiang Jian adjusted his bag and said, “Time for class.”

At the top of the stairs, the heavy door slowly opened.

Students filed up the stairs into the large lecture hall.

The classroom was huge.

White stone pillars rose tall; the floor and walls were paved with clear, polished stone.

The ceiling bore ancient murals of water and clouds.

The entire tiered lecture hall was built with craftsmanship from centuries ago.

Jiang Jian found a seat at random and sat down.

The First Academy’s fifty students gradually took their places.

The vast classroom remained sparsely filled.

“Class is now in session.”

A female teacher in a scholar’s robe entered, her voice soft yet firm.

“The course I teach is ‘Mastering Acupoints.’”

She stood on the podium and tapped her identity device repeatedly: “Take out your textbooks and match them with the diagrams.”

A large screen instantly displayed an acupoint structure chart.

“When it comes to cultivation,”

“you must mention three crucial acupoints.”

“First and foremost: the Shénquē acupoint.”

“After the Divine Gift ceremony, the Shénquē acupoint is activated.”

“Enabling everyone to cultivate.”

“Today we will learn,”

“the basic flow of spiritual energy through the Shénquē acupoint,”

“and the pathways of its branching meridians.”

The female teacher lectured with great seriousness.

Jiang Jian listened while flipping through ‘Mastering Acupoints,’ taking notes.

Theory class passed quickly.

Soon, dismissal time arrived.

As the teacher left the classroom,

Jiang Jian’s textbook was filled with notes.

This systematic course was highly useful to Jiang Jian.

Before this,

Jiang Jian had cultivated spiritual energy solely by following the methods in ‘Pure Spirit True Method.’

After attending the theory class,

understanding the basic flow of Shénquē spiritual energy,

he could cross-verify it with ‘Pure Spirit True Method,’

making his Shénquē cultivation smoother.

Jiang Jian closed his textbook.

As he packed his bag, he activated ‘Pure Spirit True Method,’

making slight adjustments to his energy circulation based on his own understanding.

A few seconds later,

Jiang Jian sensed

that after the adjustment,

his control over spiritual energy had indeed improved slightly.

“What are you trying to do?”

A cold voice rang out.

Hearing it, Jiang Jian looked up.

At the lecture hall entrance, over a dozen students had gathered, pointing and whispering.

A girl with a ponytail stood on the stairs, expressionless.

Below the stairs, Shi Xuan’s face flushed red, pointing at her wrist: “That bracelet is mine!”

Shi Luohua replied coldly: “I only know it was given to me by the family head—it now belongs to me.”

Shi Xuan gritted his teeth: “It was my mother’s dowry—he had no right to give it away!”

Shi Luohua’s face grew colder: “Move aside.”

“I won’t move!”

Shi Xuan’s neck turned crimson; he stood firm, drawing the Yueyue Blade from his back: “You took my other things—I let it go—but this bracelet is my mother’s treasure. Why should you have it?!”

Outside the lecture hall, many First Academy students stood nearby, watching and murmuring.

“I heard Shi Luohua is Shi Xuan’s cousin!”

“Hah, what cousin? Look at her cold, distant attitude—she probably doesn’t recognize her own kin.”

“With a Level-4 talent, she looks down on everyone, ugh.”

“She even stole Shi Xuan’s mother’s dowry!”

“And now she acts like it’s none of her business—why not just return it?!”

“Still acting like it’s none of her business—why not just return it!”

Many students wore expressions of indignation, glaring at Shi Luohua like daggers.

Since enrollment,

Shi Luohua had been reclusive, avoiding all contact.

Shi Xuan, by contrast, was generous and had made many friends.

So these First Academy students, though watching the spectacle, clearly sided with Shi Xuan.

Shi Luohua scanned the crowd; her gaze grew colder.

The bracelet on her wrist was a treasure bestowed by the Shi family head.

She didn’t know it was Shi Xuan’s mother’s dowry.

She did not know it was her mother-in-law’s dowry.

to hand it over to Shi Xuan now?

Now to demand she hand over the bracelet and give it to Shi Xuan was utterly impossible.

“If you want the bracelet, go ask the family head for it!”

Shi Luohua flipped his palm and unslung a long sword from the side of his backpack. “If you keep acting like a bully here, don’t blame me for being uncivilized!”

“Shi Luohua, you truly have no sense of shame!”

Shi Xuan, enraged, let out a bitter laugh. “You’re a branch member of the Shi family—thanks to your Level Four talent, you took my resources, and I accepted it!”

“But to seize my mother’s dowry? That I will never allow!”

Hearing this,

Shi Luohua’s gaze turned icy.

The cold blade hummed softly as its light slashed upward!

Clang!

The piercing clash of metal rang out!

Shi Xuan barely managed to raise his Moon-Seeking Blade before him.

The next instant, he was blasted clean out of the lecture hall by the sheer force.

Desks, chairs, and benches shattered and flew apart under the swordlight.

Many nearby students paled and activated their protective measures, retreating swiftly.

Rip!

A wooden leg from a desk spun through the air and tore straight through Jiang Jian’s “Acupoint Overview” textbook.

Pages ripped apart, fluttering like snowflakes.

Jiang Jian’s hand still rested on the left side of the book, in the corner covered with notes.

The right half of the textbook had vanished.

Jiang Jian stared at the ruined half-book, standing motionless in silence.

A few seconds later.

Jiang Jian tucked the remaining half of the “Acupoint Overview” into his backpack.

At the entrance to the large lecture hall,

Jiang Jian stopped and quietly watched Shi Luohua.

Shi Luohua sensed him, turned his head slightly while still holding his sword. “None of your business.”

Jiang Jian spoke softly. “You’re right.”

“Shi Xuan’s affairs are none of mine.”

“I only came to watch the show.”

Here, he paused.

Jiang Jian unslung his black cloth bundle, took Han Guang in hand, his voice still calm.

“But you ruined my textbook.”

“Now it is.”

Hearing this,

Shi Luohua narrowed his eyes.

He turned fully around.

For the first time, he truly studied the strikingly beautiful boy before him.

(End of Chapter)