Chapter 1: The First Day of Clan School

Su Jin hung the small bag her mother made on her back, put the lunch box into the little basket, picked up the basket, and set off.

Today was the first day of the clan school's opening. Liu Shi, the instructor of the Wood Class, had already been waiting at the entrance of the classroom assigned to her, smiling as she awaited the new students.

The Su clan's school offers six classes per grade: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, plus a Martial Class.

Each class has no more than thirty students.

Liu Shi Pingping of the Wood Class is young and beautiful, a female cultivator of the Wood Dao, only in her early twenties. With an apple-shaped face and big eyes, she always smiles faintly at others—clearly a person of gentle disposition.

"Liu Shi, greetings." Su Jin saw Liu Shi standing at the classroom door the moment she entered the corridor; she hurried over and bowed respectfully.

You must respect your instructors at clan school—that was what her mother had told her.

"Good morning, Xiao Jin." Liu Shi smiled and took Su Jin's small hand; she adored sweet, adorable children, which was precisely why she had come to serve at the clan school.

Su Jin, six years old, wore a bright green school robe that made her look sharp and spirited.

Liu Shi gently touched the bun on the child's head. "Who did your hair today?"

"Aunt Yun," Su Jin answered.

"I heard your parents went on a sect mission and left you in the care of your elder cousin and his wife? Is that right?" Liu Shi asked with a smile, though she already knew Su Jin's family situation—every child in her classroom had a dossier prepared by the clan school, complete with special notes on key details.

"Mm-hmm, my parents went on a sect mission—they'll be gone three years—and they took my younger brothers and Second Brother with them. Only I had to stay behind for school, so I couldn't go with them. When my father left, he cried so hard."

He held my hand and wouldn't let go.

It was Grandpa who kicked him, finally shoving him onto the flying vessel.

Liu Shi couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

She had already heard the infamous reputation of Su Jin's father, Su Yan—unreliable to the core.

"It's tough on you, little Jin. Even though your parents are away, don't worry—you can always come to Liu Shi for help." Liu Shi smiled and gently brushed her fingertip across the child's soft cheek.

"Yes, Liu Shi."

"Then go inside. Oh—your seat has your name on it. Just find your name and sit there. Do you recognize your own name, Xiao Jin?" Liu Shi asked quickly.

"Liu Shi, I started learning characters at three." Su Jin looked at her with an expression of weary resignation.

Are you really underestimating me like this?

Who doesn't know their own name?

Su Jin waved goodbye to Liu Shi and trotted into the classroom, then found her seat—a nice spot near the window.

She hadn't sat long before several other little classmates entered.

But she didn't know any of them, so she simply watched silently.

The other children, upon entering, immediately found their own desks; since none knew each other, no one spoke up to anyone else.

But soon, someone she recognized came in.

It was her childhood friends, Su Yue and Su Lan.

They were all kids from the same neighborhood, raised together since infancy—yet she never expected they'd end up in the same class at clan school.

"Yueyue and Lanlan, you're in the Wood Class too?" Su Jin's face lit up with delight.

"Jinjin! I didn't expect we'd be in the same class," Yueyue said happily.

"You've got to take good care of me," Lanlan added with a bow and a smile.

"We'll take care of each other," Su Jin bowed back.

"Jinjin, my mom told me the year-end exam at clan school is brutal—if you fail, you get expelled. I don't want to be expelled—you've got to help me! You've always been better at characters than me. When I knew five hundred characters, you already knew over two thousand." Yueyue grabbed Su Jin's hand like it was her last lifeline.

"Yueyue, I'll try to help you. But honestly, I don't even know what we'll be studying at clan school—you might end up doing better than me." Su Jin thought to herself: I'm not sure I can even do it.

"That's impossible—I think I'm dumb. I definitely need your help," Yueyue immediately rebutted.

Su Jin: "..."

She thought to herself: Yueyue is talking just like Mama said—she's clinging to me!

"Jinjin, you can't help Yueyue and forget me! We're best friends—we've got to improve together, right?" Lanlan, hearing Su Jin agree to help Yueyue, spoke up right away, unwilling to be left behind.

Su Jin nodded slowly, dazed.

Lanlan's behavior is just like Mama said—she's scheming with me too!

To help her adapt quickly to clan school life, Su Jin's mother had secretly trained her for three full months in advance.

Soon after, the last little student entered with Liu Shi.

Liu Shi let the children find their own seats, then addressed the entire group of little figures dressed in bright green school robes: "From today, you are all junior pupils of the Su Clan School.

The Su Clan School practices elite education.

That means it trains only elites—mediocrity is eliminated outright.

So from your very first lesson, you must study seriously, strive hard, and work diligently.

From this year until your graduation, you will take the clan school's year-end examination every year. The exam has two parts: one is the written test, which assesses how much knowledge you've acquired over the year.

The written test is scored out of one hundred; sixty is passing. Those who fail are expelled.

In addition to the written test, you will also be evaluated on a classroom assignment.

The classroom assignment is crucial—even if your written score is below sixty, a strong assignment can let you stay.

Our Wood Class's assignment is cultivation.

Cultivate spirit seeds, harvest spirit plants.

Each junior pupil will receive from me one type of Rank-One Low-grade spirit seed—two hundred seeds per type.

You take them home, plant them, and by year's end, if you harvest twenty mature spirit plants and submit them to the school, you pass.

Junior pupils who have never cultivated spirit plants before may go to the clan school's library to find reference books.

Any junior pupil who fails to complete the cultivation task will also be expelled.

The Su Clan School trains powerful cultivators, not mediocre waste. Waste is not worth the clan's resources or instructors.

So if you don't want to work hard or improve, fine—just sneak off and idle away. After the year-end exam, you can go home and be expelled.

But in the school, disturbing other young students from their studies is absolutely forbidden.

Otherwise, you will be sent home immediately."

Liu Shi said sternly to all the children.

Although she loved every cute little brat in this class, she also knew that by the time six years had passed and her class was about to graduate, it would be a lot if half of the twenty-six students remained.