Chapter 46: Entering the Jia Class

“Let’s go try too.”

Before the Chopwind Fist stone tablet, Li Yun suddenly stood up and said to his sister beside him.

Li Zhining’s gaze flickered; she stopped her slightly turning fingers and nodded.

She had already grasped a hint of its true meaning, felt she had entered the threshold, but she did not rise immediately to test herself—she was waiting.

Waiting for her brother to grasp it too.

Since she had come to understand things, she had noticed her brother growing increasingly impatient in his cultivation.

After spending so much time together daily, she could faintly sense his thoughts deep inside.

Among the three siblings in the family, she and her elder sister had higher talent than her brother; her elder sister, of course, had been admitted to a renowned master since childhood, but she and her brother remained in the courtyard, inevitably drawing comparisons and praise from those around them.

And as the eldest brother, Li Yun had the lowest cultivation talent among the three siblings, causing him to train obsessively through the night every time her progress surpassed his.

“Let’s go.”

Li Yun stood up, brushing off his pants, and his gaze swept across the tablet—there, a familiar figure stood nearby: Li Yuanzhao.

But the latter was fully absorbed in contemplation and did not notice him, just as he had no idea when the other had arrived.

Unconsciously, he glanced beside Li Yuanzhao—but he saw no sign of Li Hao, and frowned.

Yet he paid it no further mind; he snorted inwardly and led his sister toward the center of the square.

“If you fail the test, go back and practice again,” Li Yun told his sister.

Li Zhining nodded slightly.

Before the middle-aged man, five people were currently demonstrating; outside, a crowd had gathered, trying to glean inspiration and insight from others’ movements.

Suddenly, the siblings spotted a familiar figure standing among them: Li Hao.

“Him?”

Li Zhining frowned in confusion.

“He must have come to sneak and observe.”

Li Yun raised an eyebrow, a cold smirk flashing in his eyes; though he didn’t know when Li Hao had arrived, he was certain the other had climbed the mountain later than them—he himself had no confidence in mastering it, let alone the other.

Outside the square, Li Hao waited quietly; his extraordinary perception sensed someone approaching from behind, but he did not turn or acknowledge them.

Repeated attempts at friendly greetings had only earned distance and avoidance; at that moment, he knew the brother and sister who used to joyfully run to the courtyard to listen to stories were gone.

Soon, the demonstrations inside ended.

Of the five, only three passed; the other two lacked the necessary refinement and failed to enter the threshold—their stances were inaccurate.

“Let’s go.”

Li Yun led his sister forward, facing the middle-aged man who stood a head taller, his expression still haughty: “We have contemplated the Chopwind Fist.”

The man, recognizing their status from their attire, nodded slightly and smiled: “Please demonstrate.”

The siblings immediately assumed their stance and performed; soon, the entire fist set was completed.

As Li Yun turned, his waist did not move, and his strength never reached his fist, weakening the power of the display.

The middle-aged man inwardly marveled and asked: “How long have you been contemplating?”

“Half a day,” Li Yun replied calmly, though his eyes held a trace of pride—he faintly sensed he had made a small mistake, and the result might not be good.

But after all, he had only contemplated for half a day.

The original requirement for entry into the Jia class was three days of contemplation; surely his progress was already quite impressive.

“Impressive!”

As Li Yun had expected, the middle-aged man let out a faintly astonished sigh, and the boy’s lips involuntarily curled upward slightly…

“Young lady, you have passed the threshold.”

The man reached into his waistband, pulled out a waist token, and handed it to Li Zhining beside him.

Li Yun froze.

“Your fist technique still lacks refinement; practice more—you’ll master it soon,” the man told Li Yun.

Li Yun’s face flushed slightly with embarrassment; he turned to his sister: “When did you finally understand it?”

Li Zhining tucked the token away and hurriedly replied: “Just now.”

She wasn’t lying—she had indeed only just grasped it, perhaps half an hour ago.

“To enter a top-tier technique in half a day—you two are rare talents; even in the Jia Academy, such prodigies are uncommon,” the man smiled.

“So others have managed it too?” Li Yun’s expression changed.

“A few yesterday,” the man smiled; the quality of this year’s recruits was excellent, slightly stronger than previous years.

Li Yun felt his cheeks burn; his fists clenched unconsciously.

At that moment, the middle-aged man noticed a figure approaching and looked up—it was someone from the Divine General’s Mansion; he smiled immediately: “You’ve come to demonstrate too?”

“Mm.”

Li Hao nodded.

Hearing this, the siblings glanced at Li Hao; Li Yun’s mood lifted slightly—after all, there was now someone to share his failure.

“Please,” the man gestured.

Li Hao was equally direct—he raised his hand and swung two punches; the fist force sliced like blades, with a faint metallic ringing sound.

The middle-aged man’s expression changed instantly; he stared at Li Hao in shock.

Li Hao had already retracted his fists and asked: “Is that enough?”

The man snapped out of his daze and couldn’t help exclaiming: “You came yesterday?”

“Today.”

“...”

The man froze slightly, a different possibility rising in his mind—his heart tightened with alarm; he dared not dwell on it, and immediately pulled out a waist token and handed it to Li Hao: “This is your Jia Academy token.” The token was white, with a black character: Jia.

Li Hao took it, glanced at it, tucked it away casually, murmured thanks, and turned to leave, leaving behind two pairs of slightly stunned gazes.

“He… he passed too?”

Only after Li Hao had walked far away did Li Yun finally speak up.

The middle-aged man withdrew his gaze, glanced at him, and nodded: "His Wind-Cutting Fist is at least at the Dexterity level, perhaps even... perfected."

Li Hao’s demonstration was too brief for him to judge the exact level.

But without doubt, he had definitely entered the threshold.

“Skillful? How is that possible!” Li Yun stared wide-eyed.

He knew the other had only left the mansion with them today, arrived later than him—how could he possibly have grasped the skillful level in such a short time?! His own sister had only just entered the threshold! Thinking of this, he couldn’t help turning back, staring in disbelief at that retreating figure.

Li Zhining stared blankly at the distant back, and suddenly memories surfaced of adults in the courtyard praising Li Hao: “That child is so smart.”

“Yes, precocious beyond measure—I’ve never seen a child so quick to understand anything explained.”

“Pity he can only cultivate the body; if not, such a brilliant mind would surely become a top-tier genius.”

Yes… the adults had only ever said his cultivation ceiling was low—no one had ever said he wasn’t intelligent.

The girl gently bit her lip and tightened her grip on the waist token.

…

…

“I’m back.”

Li Hao sprinted quickly back to the two elders.

Seeing the Jia-class token in his hand, both understood; Shen Yun smiled lightly: “Congratulations.”

“Senior, you’re too kind,” Li Hao smiled slightly, then added: “Shall we… play another game?”

This kid… the two elders exchanged glances, silently baffled—how did this boy’s obsession with chess surpass even theirs?

“Fine, one more game,” Zhao Zongyuan had already reviewed the previous game, recognized his mistakes, and now felt ready to challenge again.

Li Hao’s heart leapt; he sat down immediately: “Senior, your move.”

The two resumed their battle on the board.

To prevent the elder from quitting, Li Hao did not press too hard—only slowly maneuvered, then won by a slight advantage.

Thus, a curious scene emerged in the square: other disciples were all before the stone tablets, deeply contemplating and practicing fist techniques.

In the corner, a boy played chess with the two elders, exchanging moves back and forth, occasionally interrupted by Zhao Zongyuan’s frustrated shouts and Shen Yun’s light laughter, drawing many glances from other newly admitted disciples.

When they saw this odd scene, many eyes flickered with strange expressions.

“You little brat—were you playing chess in your mother’s womb?!”

Losing badly, Zhao Zongyuan was furious enough to throw his pieces.

Li Hao just smiled.

Shen Yun asked curiously: “Your chess skill clearly took serious effort—how do you usually cultivate?”

This is how I cultivate… Li Hao thought, but on the surface, he only chuckled foolishly.

As they played, the two elders chatted with Li Hao about affairs within the academy.

“Boy, did you hear? Yesterday, a prince enrolled—also entered Jia class. They say he mastered the technique in just one hour.”

“The girl from the Nangong family came too—her talent is terrifying; reportedly, she’s not even the strongest in her generation.”

“Boy, these are your future rivals in the Jia Academy—keep them in mind.”

Facing the elders’ concern, Li Hao felt his head spin; he told them: “Can’t we just focus on the chess?”

“...”

Both elders stared at him.

They had taken a liking to this boy and specifically informed him—yet he didn’t even want to listen?

Play go, play go—so you came to the Tan Palace Academy just to play go, is that it!

Zhao Zongyuan, furious, once again focused intently—but after a long while, his face turned ashen as he lost by a narrow margin…

As the sun dipped below the western hills, Li Hao was deeply absorbed in the game when he suddenly heard a voice beside him: “Big Brother Hao?”

Li Hao turned to see Li Yuanzhao, the boy, watching him with cautious eyes.

“Hmm?”

“I got my waist token,” Li Yuanzhao said. They had arrived late, and he had spent half a day in contemplation.

“Oh,” Li Hao nodded, unimpressed. The boy’s talent was on par with Li Zhining; for all his clumsy appearance, his small eyes gleamed with shrewdness—he was clever indeed.

“Um… they’re waiting for us at the foot of the mountain to return to the mansion together, Big Brother Hao, look…”

“Let them go ahead. We’ll return later,” Li Hao said.

Across from them, the two elders’ faces darkened. Was this kid hooked on winning?

“No more. No more,” Zhao Zongyuan waved his hand. “It’s getting late. You should head back.”

“It’s fine. I can see.”

“You little rascal…” The two were left both exasperated and amused. Shen Yun murmured, “That’s enough for today. If you want to play go, we’ll settle it after classes start.”

Li Hao wanted to continue, but seeing the two elders had clearly lost all interest, he relented. “Alright. Thank you both for the hospitality today.”

With that, he placed a stone, sealing the victory of the game.

Seeing the experience gained, Li Hao finally smiled, rose, bowed respectfully to the two elders, then slowly turned away with Li Yuanzhao, descending the mountain.

“There’s a kid like this in the Divine General’s Mansion? How strange,” the two elders watched the two boys’ retreating figures—one ahead, one behind—and exchanged strange glances, then shook their heads and laughed.

(End of Chapter)