Chapter 43: Hostility and Competition

The next day, as Su Jin entered the classroom, Su Yunhu called her over.

“Su Jin, did you hear? That new student, Qi Yi, broke through to Qi Refining Level One in just one day—just like you.” Su Yunhu spoke in a hushed, mysterious tone. “Master Liu even praised her talent and speed of cultivation.”

“Then you’re done for. Before, no one challenged you—you were fourth in class. Now with Qi Yi here, you’ll probably drop to fifth.” Su Jin said dramatically.

Su Jin watched Su Yunhu’s sudden change of expression and thought: Little guy, if Qi Yi truly has such talent, you’re the one under the greatest threat.

“Su Jin, aren’t you being cruel? She’s already nervous—why are you adding more pressure?” Su Yunhu clutched his chest.

“Keep pushing. If you don’t break through to Qi Refining Level Two soon, Qi Yi will catch up to you.” Su Jin said.

Su Yunhu’s eyes grew moist.

He thought: I’m nowhere near her level in talent—being caught by her is inevitable.

But… he didn’t want to be overtaken so quickly.

Even children have pride.

Besides, being fourth in this class was pretty impressive.

Since the final exams hadn’t arrived yet, class rankings were still determined by the order of breakthroughs to Qi Refining Level One.

The top-ranked student was naturally Su Wuji.

He was the first to break through to Qi Refining Level One, and the first to break through to Qi Refining Level Two.

Su Jin came second, because she had broken through to Qi Refining Level Two two days ago.

Su Cheng broke through to Qi Refining Level Two yesterday, so he was third.

Su Yunhu was the default fourth.

But he hadn’t broken through to Qi Refining Level Two yet.

If Qi Yi broke through before him, the fourth spot would go to her.

No, he really needed to push harder.

He couldn’t let this newcomer overtake him so easily.

Qi Yi was actually the eleventh student in class to break through to Qi Refining Level One.

So her rank was automatically set at eleventh. If he let an eleventh-place student overtake him so fast, his father would beat his buttocks black and blue when he got home.

Master Liu arrived, in high spirits, because the new student Qi Yi seemed to have decent talent.

On her first day, she successfully condensed her first wisp of magic power and broke through to Qi Refining Level One.

Of course, this “decent talent” wasn’t confirmed yet—further observation was needed.

“Qi Yi, you can sit in the last row by the window.” Master Liu said.

“Master Liu, I’m short—can I swap seats with the student in front of me?” Qi Yi stood up immediately after moving to her new seat.

“No. All seats are assigned by rank. When your rank surpasses theirs, you’ll swap naturally.” Master Liu smiled.

Qi Yi: “...”

She hadn’t expected the Su Clan’s school to be this ruthless.

Everything was decided by rank alone.

What surprised Qi Yi even more was that her words drew hostility from other students who had already broken through to Qi Refining Level One.

Everyone silently avoided speaking to her, playing with her.

As soon as they entered the Second Classroom, they all began cultivating—no idle chatter, no wasted words.

All of them silently began to compete!!

Deep inside, they held a silent resolve: they absolutely would not let Qi Yi pass them so easily.

Even if she had great talent, didn’t every family have spirit fruits and spirit meals?

The top ten in class automatically become outer disciples upon entering the sect.

Who would willingly give up that spot and start over as a menial servant?

Qi Yi didn’t realize her simple question had stirred fear and fierce competition among the top ten students.

She had been delighted just moments ago—Master Liu had given her a Spirit Gathering Array Plate and placed her in the Second Classroom.

Then she discovered… Su Jin wasn’t here.

“Master Liu, where’s Su Jin?” Qi Yi couldn’t help asking.

“Su Jin broke through to Qi Refining Level Two—she’s in the Third Classroom. When you break through to Qi Refining Level Two, you can join her there.” Master Liu encouraged.

Qi Yi: “...”

I worked so hard, ate several spirit jujubes just to break through Level One—is this all for nothing?

Su Jin isn’t even here?

But it doesn’t matter—I have my past-life cultivation experience, and the spirit jujube tree will help me. I’ll catch up to Su Jin soon enough.

Yet after just one afternoon of cultivation in the Second Classroom, Qi Yi was nearly driven mad.

The spiritual energy here was extremely scarce.

Everyone cultivated for a while, then rested for a while.

Even with the Spirit Gathering Array, her cultivation speed barely improved.

And Qi Yi realized: while she had spirit jujubes, the other students had their own spirit meals, spirit dew, and spirit fruits.

Whenever they couldn’t cultivate due to lack of spiritual energy, they all ate snacks.

Her advantage from the spirit jujubes vanished completely.

The Spirit Gathering Array was available to everyone; without her jujube edge, her only remaining asset was her past-life cultivation experience.

Qi Yi resolved: she would not give up—she must catch up to Su Jin as soon as possible.

In the Third Classroom, Su Wuji, Su Cheng, and Su Jin sat together, exchanging insights on dual and triple cultivation. They shared for nearly an hour before ending the small gathering.

All three felt the exchange was worthwhile and silently resumed cultivation.

To avoid wasting cultivation time at school, Su Jin had resolved to take the spells home for deeper study.

Time drew near the end of the month.

The first-year students entered a massive wave of breakthroughs.

Almost every day, someone broke through to Qi Refining Level One.

On the very last day before month’s end, the final student in the Wood Class broke through to Qi Refining Level One.

Master Liu was extremely satisfied with her students this time.

In past classes she’d taught, none had achieved full breakthroughs to Qi Refining Level One within the first month.

In fact, not just her Wood Class—most students in every other class had also broken through to Qi Refining Level One.

Even the few remaining students who hadn’t yet broken through would likely do so within three to five days.

It was said the Headmaster was highly pleased with this year’s students and rewarded the admissions instructors generously.

This cohort had only 160-some students, yet 128 broke through to Qi Refining Level One within a month—the highest overall breakthrough rate in thirty years.

The Headmaster instructed the admissions instructors to keep up the effort—next year’s intake must match this year’s standard!

Since the entire class had broken through to Qi Refining Level One, Master Liu reorganized them.

The First and Second Classrooms each received eleven students, exactly half of the twenty-two.

Su Wuji and the other two remained in the Third Classroom.

To aid cultivation, Master Liu increased the spiritual energy concentration in the First and Second Classrooms.