Chapter 81: The Confidence from Qi Yi

Su Jin brought insect-repelling powder, but Su Wuji and Su Cheng initially refused to take any, and ended up screaming as black locusts bit them.

They jumped around like monkeys, slapping at the insects biting their skin.

Su Jin laughed heartily.

She thought: Let you not choose insect-repelling powder—don’t think small bugs don’t hurt when they bite.

Because there were too many insects and their bites were painful, some students soon withdrew from the street.

They were casualties.

Liu Shi glared at them, then ordered them to sit aside and rest.

Su Wuji and Su Cheng, unable to endure the bites, went to Su Jin for insect-repelling powder.

The amount of powder enough for one person naturally ran out fast when shared among three.

Fortunately, their efficiency in killing insects was high, and Liu Shi noticed and recorded their results.

Otherwise, they would have withdrawn early and likely missed out on first place in today’s overall ranking.

The last group to leave the street had all three members agree to each take insect-repelling powder.

They held out until the end.

Liu Shi greatly praised all three of them.

Especially their group leader, Qi Yi—because of Qi Yi’s foresight, every member had chosen insect-repelling powder, which is why they held out until the end.

Although they held out until the end, they did not achieve first place in today’s overall ranking.

First place went to Su Wuji’s group, and second place was taken by Su Linyuan’s group.

So Qi Yi’s group ranked third overall today.

That was still pretty good.

Twenty-five students formed only eight groups; the last group had four students.

Some insects remained on the street, but Liu Shi eliminated them all before their class left.

The next day they went to the neighboring street—another half-day of killing insects, and this time everyone learned their lesson and took insect-repelling powder.

This time Qi Yi’s group didn’t get third place—they only got fifth.

Their class exterminated insects on the streets for five days; on the sixth day, they received orders from the clan school to stop.

Because the insects in Xicheng, Beicheng, and Nancheng had been completely cleared; only a few remnants remained, easily handled by freelance cultivators.

In other words, the locust plague was over.

Before anyone had even processed it, the locust plague was already over—truly, strength in numbers.

The once rampant black locusts, under the full force of Xiancheng’s extermination efforts, lasted only five days.

Although only five days, it truly trained everyone.

Besides, fighting insects daily consumed vast amounts of magic power through magical artifacts.

So as soon as the insect extermination ended,

Su Yunhu, Su Linyuan, and Yang Guan all broke through to Qi Refining Stage Two on the same day!

Although Su Yunhu still held fourth place, Su Linyuan and Yang Guan broke through to Qi Refining Stage Two within less than an hour after him.

This was too depressing.

Su Yunhu suddenly felt the urgency that he was just barely missing sixth place.

In the days that followed, he trained harder and more diligently than ever.

Even stranger things happened: Su Yue suddenly surged forward, breaking through to Qi Refining Stage Two on the tenth day after Su Yunhu and the others!

When she first condensed her first thread of magic power, she ranked nineteenth in class—nearly among the bottom-tier underachievers.

But after breaking through Qi Refining Stage One, her rank rose to fifteenth. Though unremarkable, her progress was visibly rapid.

This breakthrough to Qi Refining Stage Two pushed her into seventh place in class.

Her pace was astonishingly fast.

Liu Shi initially found it suspicious and went to speak with Su Yue’s parents.

Don’t tell me you’ve been giving her forbidden pills or black medicine.

But after Su Yue’s parents arrived, Liu Shi accepted her results.

This proved Su Yue had no irregularities.

Su Yue happily moved from the First Classroom to the Third Classroom under Liu Shi’s guidance.

This shocked the students of the First and Second Classrooms terribly.

Even Su Yue, who had been utterly unremarkable at first, had overtaken them.

How could they accept that?

Even Qi Yi felt deeply frustrated.

There were only ten spots in the top ten; with Su Yue included, seven were already taken.

The time left for her was running out.

Qi Yi felt the pressure on her shoulders deeply.

Even at home, she trained relentlessly.

Su Zhang and his wife Zhang Yan watched with deep concern.

“Little Yi, if it’s truly unbearable, let’s switch to another clan school. Or we could go to the Dao Academy,” Zhang Yan said to her eldest daughter.

“Switching clan schools? I can’t attend any other except the Su Clan School. Going to the Dao Academy? My two older brothers are already there—they’re just as crushed under the pressure as I am. I heard my eldest brother recently got his face injured. Sigh—I’ll just keep pushing. At least in this class, I won’t end up at the bottom.”

Su Zhang and his wife frowned together.

“Shall I go to Su Jin and ask her to help you?”

Qi Yi immediately shook her head: “Father, what excuse would you give Su Jin to help me? Because you’re my biological father? But since you divorced her mother, you’ve never once cared for her.

You’ve left no good impression in her heart.

Father, how can you even have the face to ask her to help me?”

Su Zhang’s expression changed instantly.

“Father, I’ve met Su Jin several times—I know her nature. If you show up, you won’t get anything but trouble.

So please, don’t go.

I don’t want to become a waste in her eyes!!”

Zhang Yan’s expression grew complex: “Is Su Jin really that talented?”

“Yes. Her mother came from the Mu Wu Tribe. She’s a descendant of the Wu bloodline, and naturally excels in spiritual cultivation techniques. Add to that her excellent Qi Refining talent—she’s currently ranked top three in class, far ahead of all other students,” Qi Yi said.

“So powerful?” Zhang Yan gasped.

Qi Yi nodded seriously.

“Of course, I don’t think I’m inferior to her. After all, cultivation is a lifelong journey—even if I fall behind early, I’m confident I’ll catch up later. But it’s true that Su Jin will likely reach Foundation Establishment before me and will be stronger and more powerful in the early stages.”

Qi Yi concluded with utmost seriousness.

She was a reincarnated soul, and from past lives, she remembered several great opportunities—she could intercept them ahead of time.

So she wasn’t worried she’d be permanently left behind by Su Jin; she even believed she would surpass Su Jin in the future.

The nearest great opportunity was the Hong Tong Secret Realm.

She knew exactly what treasures lay inside and where they were located.

With the resources of that secret realm, she would surely overtake her rivals—she might not directly surpass Su Jin, but she would at least make Su Jin feel the pressure of someone chasing from behind.