CHAPTER 109: LIANG YUEXIN’S CURIOSITY

Chapter 109: Liang Yuexin’s Curiosity

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Just like there had been minimum requirements for the first year, there were also some for the second.

For example, among the various small requirements, the main one for the second year was to reach at least the second stage by the end of the year. If someone was close to breaking through, then they would be given a period of time to advance comfortably, without rushing and damaging their cultivation.

A bit like what they had done with Zhu Rong at the end of the first year.

The same applied for the third year.

Usually, the requirement there was to reach the peak of the second stage, and almost everyone managed to hit that goal, and the reason was simple.

Those who were too slow in cultivation, or didn’t have the talent to keep up with the rest, usually ended up failing before ever reaching that point.

So it was quite rare for students advancing to the third year to not meet the cultivation requirements.

Because of this, all third year students were at the third stage, with the more talented ones having already gone beyond, even reaching the peak of it.

Liang Yuexin had faced some problems after reaching the third stage, mainly due to her affinity with two troublesome elements, especially lightning, which was not only difficult to cultivate in the first place, but also hard to subdue.

This caused her to take far too long just to reach the peak of the third stage, and for a long time it became a source of frustration.

It was also one of the main reasons why her value in the eyes of her family had dropped, and inevitably, she had been held in low regard, considered nothing more than a precious commodity because she carried the family name, perfect for political marriages such as the one arranged with their long standing rivals, the Zhu family.

That was also one of the reasons she had never looked kindly on Zhu Rong to begin with.

And the lack of talent, together with the bad personality that Zhu Rong’s past self had displayed, only made that resentment grow until it eventually turned into pure hatred.

Zhu Rong knew all this.

Yet during that incident, after being disowned by his family, he had been surprised that she was the only one to lend him a hand when he was on the verge of death.

Because of that, he had not hesitated to give her a Heaven Rank technique, something that, in the eyes of anyone, whether at the Mortal Realm or the Spirit Realm, would have been considered a priceless treasure.

That technique helped her recover her original cultivation speed and even go beyond, reaching the peak of the fourth stage in record time.

She might not have been exceptional in the past, but if she revealed her talent now, no one would dare look down on her anymore.

At the moment, together with the other academy instructors, she was seated on the stands, looking toward the enormous field divided into small arenas, where all the students and referees were taking their positions.

Her expression was neutral as her eyes kept moving, as if searching for someone or something.

Soon, her gaze stopped.

It was on arena number eight, where right now a boy and a girl were standing, with an instructor at the center acting as referee.

The boy in question was none other than Zhu Rong, who at that moment wore a carefree and even slightly bored expression as he waited for the referee’s signal.

Seeing him standing there like that, her eyes narrowed slightly. In her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was at least taking the competition seriously.

But just as she was thinking that, her face tensed a little, her expression turning confused.

’This... why can’t I sense any fluctuation from him?’

She wanted to examine his cultivation and see how far he had reached.

The last time she had checked, he had already stepped into the first stage and, to her surprise, had made good progress, reaching almost the peak of the first stage.

Considering his progress in the first year, she had been surprised that he had managed to break through successfully and even advance further in such a short time.

She wasn’t sure why, but remembering that he had given her that Heaven rank technique, she thought it very likely he had another good technique for himself as well.

She didn’t believe there was a second Heaven rank technique lying around, nor that he was cultivating her same technique.

After all, that one had been made specifically for dual element cultivators focusing on fire and lightning.

So, even if he had good affinities with two or more elements, he shouldn’t have been able to cultivate it successfully.

Most likely, he had another one suitable for him.

She wasn’t sure why he had given such a terrible performance in the first year, nor where he had obtained that Heaven rank technique.

But one thing she could say for sure, he had changed.

In fact, he hadn’t just changed, he was like an entirely different person.

Attitude, talent, composure... no matter what she observed, apart from his face, everything else about him was completely different from the Zhu Rong she remembered.

This had always sparked her curiosity.

She often wondered what could have caused such a great change. But she also knew that their relationship had never been that deep, so she couldn’t just go and ask him directly.

All she could do was watch from afar, grateful that whatever had changed him, it had been for the better.

She didn’t hold any special feelings for him, but neither did she feel the hatred of the past. Now, all of that had been replaced by a faint curiosity that had quietly taken root in her.

And yet, as she examined him now, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sense any Spiritual energy fluctuations at all.

Normally, that would only be possible when examining a normal person with no cultivation.

In fact, even ordinary people emitted a small amount of spiritual energy, since it was everywhere, like the air, and inevitably infused in varying amounts into food and water.

So there was always at least a trace. But right now, she couldn’t feel anything at all.

"How is this possible?" She frowned, wondering if it was due to some kind of special suppressing technique.

In the end, she could only shake her head and keep watching.

There was no point in overthinking it. She would just have to wait and see how the battle unfolded.

She didn’t believe that during combat he wouldn’t reveal his cultivation. After all, his opponent was at the early second stage, even if Zhu Rong himself had already reached the second stage, he couldn’t afford to take things too lightly against such an opponent.

Or at least, that was what she thought.

But what happened next left not only her, but everyone watching, with a stunned look.

As the referee gave the signal, all ten arenas erupted into battles.

Almost everyone, the moment they saw the signal, launched their attacks, some sending spiritual energy based strikes, others charging directly into physical combat.

The rules allowed the use of weapons, though only those provided by the academy.

At this early stage, it wasn’t possible to use personal weapons or artifacts, in order to maintain fairness.

After all, the last thing anyone wanted to see was someone with a powerful weapon but weak cultivation defeating opponents too easily.

Such a person might be useless in real combat, but in a competition like this, the advantage given by weapons and artifacts would have been too overwhelming.

That was why, aside from the academy issued ones, no personal weapons were allowed at this stage of the tournament.

But that certainly didn’t make the fights any less intense.

Most of the students here were cultivators at the peak of the first stage or early second stage, so they had already gained some mastery over their Qi.

Some went for direct attacks, others infused Qi into their weapons to increase damage, and struck.

No one was holding back. No one dared to.

After all, it only took a little to be eliminated, and with the limited number of losses one could afford, wasting even one so early wasn’t an option.

That was what everyone thought. Everyone, except for one person.

The referee of arena number eight was prepared to watch the intense fight between the two students, ready to intervene in case of danger. But as soon as the signal was given, the battle he expected never happened.

Instead, his eyes darkened as he looked at the scene in front of him,

A girl lay unconscious in the center of the arena, a palm shaped bruise marking her right cheek.

Then his gaze shifted to the culprit, a young man not even twenty, standing calmly on the opposite side of the arena, meeting his stare with an expression that seemed to say,

Is there something wrong?

Why are you just standing there?