CHAPTER 236: CHAPTER 180 GENIUS GIRL, LUO HONGYI (4500 WORDS)_2

"Good question!" Luo Hongyi stood tall and proud, lifting her graceful, snow-white neck and extending three fingers. "The training I’ve set for you has three parts, focusing on mana quality, physical strength, and combat techniques! The final goal is also very simple!"

"Very simple!!!" Guan Shanyue echoed.

Luo Hongyi’s lips curled into a slight smile. "Specifically, they are: defeat me, defeat me, and defeat me!"

"Defeat Big Sister, defeat..." Guan Shanyue repeated, only to stop halfway through. He suddenly realized what she’d said, his face frozen in an expression of pure shock, as if he’d just seen a ghost.

You’ve got to be freaking kidding me... Are you serious?

「The Holy Academy World.」

「Sanqing Residence.」

Within an ancient courtyard, heavy breathing emanated from a room.

HUFF... HUFF...

The door was suddenly flung open, and an old man with graying hair walked out. Through the partially open doorway, one could vaguely see the disheveled bed and the exhausted face of a sleeping woman.

The elder’s clothes were in disarray, with only a thin robe draped over his shoulders, his chest exposed. He sat down directly on a stone bench in the courtyard, subconsciously rubbing his lower back.

CREAK!

The moment he sat down, the door to the room opposite his also opened. A middle-aged man emerged, similarly disheveled, with weariness written all over his face.

"Ninth Brother, you’re finished too?" the elder asked, looking at the middle-aged man.

"First Brother!" The middle-aged man stretched his stiff limbs and rubbed his dizzy head before sitting down next to the elder. "That’s right, just finished!"

The eldest brother laughed. "Look how wiped out you are. You’re even wobbling when you walk!"

Ninth Brother rolled his eyes. "You have some nerve making fun of me. We’re only three hundred years apart, but you look like you’re three thousand years older than I am..."

The eldest snorted. "Can you compare yourself to me? I’ve already fathered forty children!"

Ninth Brother was unimpressed. "And isn’t that mostly thanks to First Sister-in-law’s efforts?"

The eldest pursed his lips. "As if I didn’t put in any work. But... it has indeed been getting harder these past few years. Soon, I might have to start taking some essence-replenishing pills!"

Hearing this, Ninth Brother’s expression changed slightly. "Brother, you’ve had so many already. There’s no need to push yourself this hard. Why not take some time to recuperate?"

The eldest sighed. "Now is not the time for recuperation. While the Holy Academy’s passage is open these next few years, we have to produce as many new children as possible for those on the outside to take with them..."

Ninth Brother muttered, "It wouldn’t make a difference if there was one less from you! We’re not breeding machines. We don’t have to work ourselves to death..."

The eldest glanced at him. "But aren’t we? You know how dire the news from the outside was the last time the Holy Academy opened. We don’t even know if they can survive another eight hundred years out there! If their line truly dies out, then there’s no point in us being here!"

Ninth Brother fell silent.

After a moment, the eldest added, "The Ancients have also started their seclusion in the last couple of days."

Ninth Brother’s pupils shrank.

It had been years since the four Watchers of Sanqing had tried to procreate. For experts at the Saint Manifestation Stage, the probability of conceiving offspring dwindled the stronger they became. With each child born, the chance of having another was cut in half. It was no exaggeration to say that the four Ancients were now effectively infertile.

But even so, they were still trying.

"If even the Ancients are trying so hard, what right do we have to hold back?"

"Sigh, born to a life of toil!" Ninth Brother lamented, rubbing his sore back.

The eldest suddenly remembered something. "That girl, Hongyi, she should have met with the people from the outside by now, right?"

Ninth Brother nodded. "By my calculations, it should be about time. First Brother, it’s not my place to say, but... the Ancients could have sent anyone. Why did it have to be Hongyi? They know she has unresolved issues... If she stirs up some kind of trouble, how will we clean up the mess?"

The eldest replied, "The Ancients have their reasons for their actions! The girl might be hot-tempered, but she was personally trained by the Ancients. For hundreds of years, she is the only one to have been granted such an honor! Whether in terms of strength or strategy, she is more than capable. Who knows, maybe this time she’ll give us a pleasant surprise..."

The Sanqing clan in the Holy Academy was busy from top to bottom with the task of procreation. When they weren’t making babies, they were replenishing their energy to prepare for making babies. The Ancients were incredibly busy, so for them to take time out to personally instruct someone in their cultivation was a rare privilege.

Ninth Brother chuckled dryly. "Let’s hope so."

The eldest slowly stood up and patted Ninth Brother on the shoulder. "Alright, stop wasting time out here. Hurry back inside, don’t keep your wife waiting..."

A pained expression immediately appeared on Ninth Brother’s face. "She’d probably be happier if I took longer to come back. How many times have we been at it these past few days?"

The eldest sighed. "We’re still far from the quota the Ancients set. Just do your best."

No matter how much one might enjoy an activity, the moment it becomes linked to performance metrics, it loses all its flavor. This was a truth that every single person in the Holy Academy’s Sanqing understood profoundly.

「By the cliffside.」

Guan Shanyue stared at Luo Hongyi, his face a mask of disbelief. "Big Sister, are you serious? Is this really the ’test’ you so carefully prepared?"

Luo Hongyi glanced down at him. "Is there a problem? It simultaneously hones combat skills, enhances durability, and tempers mana strength. Three birds with one stone. Plus, it saves me the trouble of thinking up some convoluted nonsense..."

Guan Shanyue’s face was blank. "I suspect you just have an itch to beat someone up."

Luo Hongyi frowned. "Is it that obvious?"

"...Sigh. Big Sister, please stop. If something really goes wrong... the Ancients will literally skin us alive!" Guan Shanyue pleaded.