Chapter 44

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Chapter 44: The Spirit Energy Teacher

Led by A Jiu, Lou Yun finally arrived at the classroom. He made a special effort to memorize the route and discovered it wasn’t actually very far or circuitous. This implied that A Jiu either had a poor sense of direction or a weak memory. Later, after spending more time with A Jiu, Lou Yun realized she was actually a bit simple-minded…

The classroom was a large room devoid of any furniture or decorations. Everyone inside, including the teacher, was seated on the floor in the lotus position, the optimal posture for cultivation.

As Lou Yun reached the classroom entrance, he saw someone speaking inside. The speaker possessed refined and scholarly features, looking like a middle-aged scholar well-versed in literature. His three elegant wisps of black beard flowed smoothly, meticulously groomed and clean. Clearly, he was the teacher.

On the way there, Lou Yun had questioned A Jiu. This middle-aged scholar was named Han Tianxiao. It was he who, considering Lou Yun might not know the way to the classroom, had sent A Jiu to fetch him.

Lou Yun bowed towards Han Tianxiao and said, "Teacher Han, I am here for class."

Most people in the classroom had personally witnessed the contest between Lou Yun and Qian Ruming just moments before. The very few who hadn’t seen it had already heard about Lou Yun’s prowess through the excited chatter of others. Now, naturally, all eyes were fixed on Lou Yun.

Lou Yun also took the opportunity to glance around. He spotted Lou Qian, and surprisingly, Xia Zhilan was also present among his peers in the New Talent Division Class Two.

Han Tianxiao smiled slightly. "Come in. First, please introduce yourself."

Lou Yun had genuinely never experienced a situation like this. He was momentarily at a loss for words, scratching his head awkwardly. Down below, Lou Qian couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted, "Teacher, I’ll do it for him!"

Lou Qian’s words immediately elicited amused laughter from those nearby. Clearly, Lou Qian was quite well-known here. Han Tianxiao nodded with a smile. "I know he’s your cousin. Then why don’t you introduce him."

Lou Qian promptly stood up, looking at Lou Yun. "Right, his name is Lou Yun, my foster cousin. He’s sixteen. Though his magical weapon is only beginner two-star, you all saw his real strength – no need for me to say more!"

After saying this, Lou Qian started to sit down, but suddenly, Sun Danxue sitting beside her, with her twin braids, piped up, "A-Qian! Didn’t you say this precious cousin of yours has quite a story? I’ve asked before, but you wouldn’t tell me. Now the man himself is here, aren’t you going to share it?"

Lou Qian shot Sun Danxue an exasperated glare. "Can’t you just keep quiet?!" She then looked at Lou Yun, seeking his permission. Lou Yun would have preferred to keep his past private, but seeing the curious stares directed his way, even from Teacher Han, he could only nod helplessly.

With Lou Yun’s permission secured, Lou Qian became enthusiastic. She ran right up beside Han Tianxiao and began recounting Lou Yun’s experiences before the age of sixteen, gesturing animatedly as she spoke.

When Lou Qian finished, everyone sat with their mouths agape, expressions like their jaws were about to hit the floor. Obviously, the story of Lou Yun was something so beyond their comprehension they could scarcely have imagined it existed.

"His weapon spirit power reached the tenth tier at six years old?"

"He didn’t form his magical weapon for nine whole years?"

"Then, after just four months of cultivation, he independently killed four one-star demon beasts?"

"And then, another half-year later, although he formed a beginner one-star magical weapon, he broke the arms of a primary three-star magical weapons master?"

"Now, having his magical weapon for barely six months, he managed to withstand twenty moves under Ghost-Sees-Misery and was directly assigned to the Special level category?"

A barrage of questions seemed to encapsulate the entire span of Lou Yun’s first sixteen and a half years. Yet every single item was something they found hard to believe, let alone accept.

If it weren’t for knowing Lou Qian’s character and having personally witnessed Lou Yun’s strength, everyone might have doubted the truthfulness of her account!

Lou Yun stood by with a strained smile, rubbing his nose. Well, he thought, at least you don’t know that a few months before coming here, I killed an intermediate one-star demon beast!

Xia Zhilan gazed at Lou Yun with profound curiosity and admiration; the look of affection in her eyes clearly deepened.

It wasn’t just Xia Zhilan. After hearing Lou Qian’s account, the goodwill towards Lou Yun skyrocketed among the vast majority of female students in the class. Some even decided they would start pursuing him right away. After all, such a youth, seemingly an embodiment of miracles, was practically the epitome of a maiden’s dream lover!

Although the male students were somewhat disgruntled that Lou Yun attracted so much female admiration, they were also excited to have Lou Yun as their classmate.

At this moment, Han Tianxiao clapped his hands. "Alright, alright! Everyone’s heard Lou Yun’s story now. Considering it’s his first day today and he’s unfamiliar with our academy, you’ll all cultivate independently for now. I’m going to give him some extra guidance. Any objections?"

Han Tianxiao was clearly well-liked by his students. His words elicited hearty laughter and a unanimous shout: "No objections!"

Han Tianxiao nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand. "Good! Commence independent cultivation." He then gestured for Lou Yun to follow him outside.

From the moment Lou Yun entered the classroom, Han Tianxiao’s own demeanor and the students’ attitude towards him showed the teacher was highly respected and well-integrated among his students. Being able to encounter such a teacher naturally delighted Lou Yun as well, and he followed Han Tianxiao out.

Outside the classroom was a small garden. After Han Tianxiao had Lou Yun sit down on a bench, he came straight to the point, introducing Lou Yun to the courses and learning he was about to face.

In essence, what one learned at the Ancient Weapon Academy boiled down to three things: spiritual energy, weapon techniques, and practical combat!

Han Tianxiao was specifically the teacher responsible for instructing spiritual energy. Due to the wide variety of weapon techniques, the number of teachers in that area was relatively large, and they weren’t fixed. Occasionally, experts from outside the academy were invited to lecture. As for the practical combat teacher, Lou Yun had already met her—it was Bai Yue.

Hearing that Bai Yue was actually the combat instructor surprised Lou Yun a little. He hadn’t expected that woman, full of mature charm, was also a master fighter—no wonder earlier when he asked her, she had given him a mysterious smile!

In addition to these three major categories, the academy also offered other special learning subjects, such as forging weapons and alchemy, etc. However, these weren’t for every student; they were provided for the convenience of students interested in delving into these specialized fields. If anyone wanted to study them, they could apply to the relevant teachers, and they would generally be approved.

The class schedule wasn’t fixed either, but broadly speaking, mornings were for absorbing spiritual energy for cultivation, afternoons for teacher lectures, and evenings were mostly free time.

The reason it was “mostly” free was that the academy often took advantage of the evenings to arrange special activities—sometimes mandatory for all, other times only for specifically assigned students—these arrangements weren’t fixed either.

Only one day off was granted per month. Annually, vacations were given based on how far a student lived from the academy. Typically, after deducting travel time, students were left with only about seven days to spend steadily at home.

Every half year, a rank assessment was held to reorganize the students’ ranking divisions. Students who ranked up received rewards commensurate with their improvement. Those who remained stagnant naturally faced corresponding punishments. Moreover, if someone failed to make progress in two consecutive assessments, then, regardless of who they were, they had no choice but to pack their bags and leave—absolutely no exceptions could be made.

After hearing so much from Han Tianxiao, the other rules and regulations of the academy mattered little to Lou Yun, but this last point couldn’t help but make him feel a bit apprehensive.

Because the Devour Weapons cultivation method Lou Yun practiced was too unique—it required him to devour a common weapon of a higher rank to level up. Since Lou Yun was at the Ancient Weapon Academy and couldn’t leave casually, weapon forging became an extremely difficult task. Before reaching the intermediate stage, it wasn’t too bad; the ring Xu Yangteng gave him still had some materials inside. But once he reached the intermediate stage, finding materials wouldn’t be easy!

Thinking about it—if a whole year genuinely passed with no change in his rank, and he were ultimately expelled from the academy—it would be utterly humiliating!

However, now that he was already here, his only option for the time being was to take things one step at a time. Thankfully, there was the opportunity to go on external missions; he’d see if he could collect more materials during those times!

Besides, his fundamental purpose in coming here was to repair the leading weapon for his father. As soon as he found the spiritual medicine or managed to recruit the services of an earth-level magical weapons master, he could pack up and leave anytime.

Han Tianxiao stood up and clapped his hands. "Alright, that’s enough for now. If you don’t understand anything in the future, feel free to ask me anytime. Actually, even though it sounds like a lot and quite complicated, once you start learning, you’ll realize that as long as you’re willing to put in the effort, you can truly learn many things here that you couldn’t outside. Especially someone like you—a Special level student at such a young age—the academy will definitely place a strong emphasis on cultivating you!"

Lou Yun also stood up. "Thank you, Teacher Han. I’ve made note of everything!"

"Mm!" Han Tianxiao reached out and patted Lou Yun’s shoulder, his voice full of encouragement. "Lou Yun, when I heard that the Spirit Weapon Sect was even willing to vouch for you, I knew you must be quite extraordinary. Today, seeing you in practical combat and hearing your story only further confirms my speculation. Keep it up! Your future potential is absolutely limitless!"

Lou Yun thanked Han Tianxiao for his praise. Just as they were about to turn back towards the classroom, Han Tianxiao suddenly smacked his own head. "Right! Lou Yun, let me see your magical weapon!"

Lou Yun nodded and gripped his Dream Emperor Sword magical weapon in his hand.

Han Tianxiao examined it intently for a while before commenting, "Not bad! Although it’s only beginner two-star right now, it possesses both the highly offensive metal and fire attributes. If cultivated with proper weapon techniques, its power will undoubtedly be astonishing. By the way, what cultivation method and weapon techniques do you practice?"

"Uh!" Lou Yun certainly couldn’t reveal the true nature of his cultivation. He could only prevaricate, "The cultivation method and weapon techniques were both passed down within my clan."

Han Tianxiao persisted, "What grades are they?"

"The cultivation method is high-tier star-grade. For weapon techniques, I know two: a high-tier star-grade one and a low-tier moon-grade one."

Han Tianxiao nodded. He naturally knew that the cultivation methods and weapon techniques held by small families usually weren’t very high-grade, so he wasn’t surprised. "When you fought against old Qian just now, you used the high-tier star-grade weapon technique, right?"

"Mn. I have another set that is low-tier moon-grade, but I don’t have sufficient spiritual energy to activate it yet."

Han Tianxiao laughed heartily. "For a low-tier moon-grade weapon technique, the spiritual energy from a beginner two-star magical weapon is absolutely sufficient. It seems you’re still somewhat lacking in your manipulation of spiritual energy! Come find me tonight!"

Actually, ever since he had condensed his magical weapon, Lou Yun hadn’t attempted to practice the low-tier moon-grade weapon manual stored within the Stone Sword—the Fierce Sword manual—so he wasn’t sure if he could currently use it or not. But since Han Tianxiao said so, and it was well-intentioned, plus the fact that Lou Yun truly hadn’t had anyone specifically teach him spiritual energy control before, he naturally agreed and nodded.

"Alright, let’s head back for now. After dinner tonight, come to my living quarters to find me. I’ll be waiting for you!"