Chapter 396: The Heartache of Beiming Longkun

Inside the Snowy Domain, five frost giant dragons, each a thousand feet long, brandished their sharp claws and roared as they lunged toward a certain direction.

Following the direction of the five dragons' attacks, a blue speck of light in the center darted and dodged, its agile figure colliding with the dragon claws from time to time, sending deep ripples through the surrounding space.

After a stalemate of half an hour, the five ice dragons' forward momentum suddenly stalled, then their direction shifted abruptly as they soared into the high sky, circling and intertwining; a glow of brilliant white light enveloped the five frost giant dragons, and the holy, crystalline cold aura made it impossible to keep one's eyes open.

As the light dissipated, a ten-thousand-foot giant dragon suddenly emerged, turning into a stream of light and roaring straight toward the figure below.

The blue figure stopped moving at this moment, looking indifferent, clearly long accustomed to such scenes.

Dismissing the spear condensed from Ice Spiritual Energy in their hand, they flipped their palm, and a pitch-black spear lay quietly in their palm; they casually spun the spear, calmly staring at the massive figure charging straight at them.

"Spear Settles, No Mountain!"

As the words fell, the entire person instantly turned into a stream of light to meet the attack, their body trembling violently, and they thrust the spear forward, striking the dragon's head with peerless force.

"Boom!"

The two streams of light, one large and one small, collided with a bang; after a brief stalemate, the ten-thousand-foot ice dragon's body began to turn into flying snow from the head down, dissipating into the space.

"Hoo—"

They quickly reached out to grab the palm-sized, pale blue crystal left behind after the ice dragon dissipated, a look of relief appearing on their pale face.

Clenching their fist and feeling the powerful strength within their body, Bing Yu could not help but sigh.

"It actually succeeded!?"

Breaking through two realms in half a year—if not for experiencing it personally, they would have thought the person saying it was crazy.

"Yo, not bad!"

"You didn't let me down."

Just then, Xiao Han's teasing voice suddenly came from the side; hearing this, Bing Yu turned around and bowed, saying, "Many thanks for Teacher's guidance."

Although recalling the experiences of the past half-year made Bing Yu grit their teeth—this was likely a memory they would never forget—they knew even better that without this, it would have been absolutely difficult to achieve such shocking progress.

Xiao Han waved their hand indifferently, "This is also because you were determined."

They had merely used their own ability to set up a Cultivation Secret Realm and, at most, taught a move equivalent to a Small Divine Technique; there was almost no guidance throughout the rest of the process, but Bing Yu's exploitation of their own body and pursuit of becoming stronger had indeed moved them, otherwise, Xiao Han would not have spent such a huge price to help the other party.

"There are three days left until the Spiritual Academy Tournament; you don't need to cultivate during this time, just adjust your state. Don't lose face for me at the Spiritual Academy Tournament."

"Otherwise..." Staring at Bing Yu, Xiao Han revealed a 'nuclear' friendly smile, their hands cracking,

"You understand, right?"

Bing Yu swallowed hard, nodding hurriedly, and secretly wiped the cold sweat from their palm.

"A child worth teaching!" Nodding with satisfaction, Xiao Han patted Bing Yu on the shoulder and then turned to leave,

"Everyone else has already come out; you're the only one left."

………

Xiao Han arrived at the ninth level of the Thunder Domain once again and saw that thin, bald old man.

Sitting down casually, they said with a hint of helplessness: "The favor you asked me to help with is almost done, and perhaps I won't be able to stay for much longer; I'm telling you in advance today."

Hearing this, Beiming Longkun's body trembled, their eyes flickered, and they slowly said, "You have finally made your preparations?"

Regarding the fact that Xiao Han was about to leave, Beiming Longkun naturally had some premonition; the latter's current strength had far exceeded the bearing capacity of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy and even the Beicang Continent, and continuing to stay would not benefit Xiao Han at all.

The current Xiao Han was in a period of rapid growth in strength and needed a larger stage to improve, so it was only a matter of time before they parted ways on good terms.

Hearing Beiming Longkun's words, Xiao Han nodded and said with a hint of melancholy:

"Sigh!"

"I'm just a life of toil in this lifetime."

Beiming Longkun was slightly puzzled by Xiao Han's words; the latter did not seem to have a high pursuit of strength, yet they were always moving forward, which was quite contradictory, but they wisely did not continue to ask.

As for Xiao Han, when they accepted that inheritance back then, they had already made their choice; this life would likely be spent in the war against the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

Perhaps after a few hundred years, some savior would appear to wipe out the crisis of the Outer Realm Evil Clan in one fell swoop, and only then would they have the qualifications to lie flat, but that was definitely not now.

The two-plus years of leisure were just an excuse to find a reason to relax, but the war with the Outer Realm Evil Clan could not be avoided, otherwise, they would likely lose their life in this world; a place like the Outer Realm Battlefield was a true land of life and death, allowing for no mistakes, and if one's luck was bad, encountering a Demon Emperor would not be surprising.

Furthermore, when friends and family from the Dou Qi Continent came up later, if there was no suitable force to keep an eye on news for them, and something went wrong, they would regret it too late.

Whether it was the battlefield between the two races or establishing a force, all of this required strength to support, which was also the reason why Xiao Han was so focused on becoming stronger.

"Do you want to watch the Spiritual Academy Tournament?"

"You should at least understand the results of your own training!" Beiming Longkun said with a chuckle.

"Training results?" Xiao Han sneered and said casually,

"One in Spiritual Energy Tribulation, one who failed Spiritual Energy Tribulation, six in Physical Tribulation, and two who failed Physical Tribulation."

Slowly listing the configuration of this batch of students, Xiao Han was full of confidence, "If they can't enter the finals with this level, they can just get lost."

Beiming Longkun listened to the achievements of this batch of students in astonishment, their squinted eyes opening much wider, and their breathing becoming somewhat heavy.

This configuration was a high-end version for participating in the Spiritual Academy Tournament, even exceeding the most brilliant batch in the history of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy by half a step—and that batch happened to be when the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy won the Spiritual Academy Tournament and rose to become one of the Five Great Academies in one fell swoop.

Beiming Longkun had originally thought that as long as Xiao Han gave a result that was 'not bad' to maintain their status, it would be enough, but now it seemed they could think about other things.

Furthermore, Beiming Longkun had another ambition in their heart: if they could learn Xiao Han's methods of guiding students, wouldn't the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy be able to handle the Spiritual Academy Tournament at will in the future?

Therefore...

"How did you do it?" Beiming Longkun asked expectantly.

"Throwing money at it." Xiao Han was full of nonchalance.

"Throwing money?" Beiming Longkun's lips moved, a bad premonition rising in their heart, and they asked cautiously:

"How much money did you throw?"

"It shouldn't be much!" Xiao Han roughly estimated in their heart, "It's just equivalent to the entire net worth of Taicang."

"Just that much."

Just that much? Heh!

Beiming Longkun felt bitter in their heart; as one of the few Supreme Realm powerhouses of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, and with Taicang being the Dean and a Middle-stage Supreme, how could his net worth be compared to that of an ordinary person?

They could do that too!

But...

What about the money?

To a certain extent, Xiao Han's method was indeed quite original, because only his personal wealth could support helping students improve in such a way without any pressure, and only he could convert such financial resources into strength in such a short period of time.

If it were the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, doing this a few more times would cause the entire academy to be directly dragged down by poor management.

Dismissing the idea of learning from Xiao Han, Beiming Longkun coughed drily and said, "Elder Xiao is truly wealthy!"

"It is nothing, just a trivial token of gratitude to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy before I leave."

"Remember to notify me when the finals arrive."

Beiming Longkun naturally agreed readily, left behind some instructions, and conveniently provided a parting gift before Xiao Han left the Thunder Domain.