From Five Animal Exercises to being hailed as a saint and ancestor

Inside the main hall of Qinglu Villa, the fragrance of sandalwood wafted through the air, yet it could not dispel the invisible heaviness.

Vice Deans Shangguan Hong and Xiao Yunhai sat in the main seats, and Qin Feng was also gestured to stay by Shangguan Hong.

"Elder Qin, you have personally experienced everything in Hundred Flavors City and know the details best. There's no need to arrange trivial matters outside. Let's sit down and talk."

Qin Feng nodded slightly and sat down in the chair closest to him.

The hall door was gently closed by the steward, shutting out the noise from outside.

Without much small talk, Shangguan Hong solemnly began to recount his harrowing experience in Baiwei City.

From the mysterious disappearance of his disciple to the scheme to lure the enemy out, and then to the life-or-death struggle with Chi Xiao and his mysterious disciples.

Even the final, decisive, earth-shattering axe blow... He spoke calmly, yet presented each crucial detail.

In particular, he explained in detail the identity of Chi Xiao, the former black-clad deacon of the Heavenly Dao Sect, his crazy human body modification, and the shadowy presence of the Underworld.

This caused even the usually composed Xiao Yunhai to have his eyes ripple with emotion.

Qin Feng occasionally added a few words, mentioning Zhao Xiaoman's unpredictable illusions and soul attacks, as well as the troublesome and terrifying nature of Chi Xiao's inhuman body. Although his tone was calm, the listeners could feel the danger in his words.

Xiao Yunhai's fingertips tapped unconsciously on the armrest, the rhythm slightly disordered.

"The Black-Clad Deacon of the Heavenly Dao Sect... the Crimson Flame Army Commander... the Underworld's intervention..."

Xiao Yunhai slowly uttered these words, each one carrying immense weight.

"This matter involves a wide range of people and is no longer a matter of ordinary power struggles."

"Brother Shangguan, it's truly remarkable that you managed to escape with most of your disciples. Especially that... mysterious expert who made the move."

He gave Shangguan Hong a deep look, clearly curious about the origin of the phrase "one axe decides the fate of the world".

Seeing that Shangguan Hong had no intention of discussing the matter further, they tacitly refrained from pressing the matter further.

"This matter must be immediately communicated to the dean via encrypted message for a decision," Xiao Yunhai finally said in a deep voice.

"During their stay in the royal city, all disciples must be strictly disciplined, not allowed to go out unless necessary, and must be careful with their words and actions, and not cause any more trouble."

Inside the hall, the three high-ranking members of the academy began to discuss in hushed tones the follow-up response strategies and the details of intelligence transmission.

Outside the hall, Elder Yao was methodically arranging accommodations for his many disciples.

The villa covers a vast area, with winding corridors, deep courtyards, and artificial hills and flowing water.

The environment is quiet and elegant, more than enough to accommodate everyone from the academy on this trip.

The reception arranged by the Great Xia Dynasty this time was clearly of an extremely high standard.

This is not because the overall strength of the disciples of Qinglu Academy ranks among the top in the Eastern Region.

In fact, compared to those ancient families or top sects that have been passed down for thousands of years and have tens of thousands of disciples,

The core members of Qinglu Academy are not particularly outstanding.

Its superior status stems mainly from two points.

First, there is the elusive Dean—Ouyang Shuo! He is not only one of the most powerful Dao Realm experts standing at the pinnacle of the Eastern Region,

He is also a top-tier alchemy master who can be considered the best in the entire continent!

A master of alchemy who is capable of refining high-grade pills and is even rumored to have reached the realm of "Dao pills".

Its network of personal connections and potential influence are something that no force can ignore.

Secondly, the relatively neutral nature of the academy in "transmitting knowledge and teaching skills" and its non-participation in large-scale power struggles makes all parties willing to maintain a friendly relationship and respect with it.

Following the pre-arranged plan, Elder Yao arranged the outer and inner disciples in different areas, naturally creating an invisible boundary.

In the area where the inner court disciples were located, several disciples with particularly powerful auras gathered under a pavilion.

His gaze, filled with scrutiny and a hint of amusement, fell upon the outer disciples who were settling in.

One of them, Zhao Zhongming, was handsome, but had a lingering sinister air about him.

His cultivation had reached the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm, and he was renowned in the inner academy, consistently ranking among the top three.

A faint smile played on his lips as his gaze swept across the outer disciples, finally settling on Yao Mengkang, whose aura had already reached the Spirit Sea Realm.

Zhao Zhongming winked at a tall, thin disciple with a somewhat mean-looking face beside him and transmitted his voice.

"Li Xiang, go and assess the capabilities of this group of 'geniuses' from the outer academy."

"Especially that kid who just broke through, let's see what he has to rely on to dare to break through so hastily before the assessment."

The disciple named Li Xiang had a cultivation level of the fourth level of the Spirit Sea realm, which placed him in the middle to lower ranks of the inner academy. He usually followed Zhao Zhongming's lead.

Upon receiving the instruction, his face immediately lit up with a fawning expression mixed with eagerness. He straightened his robes and strode towards the gathering place of the outer disciples with an air of arrogance.

The outer disciples had just been assigned their lodgings and were gathering in twos and threes.

They whispered among themselves about their awe of the royal city and their trepidation about the upcoming assessment.

Without concealing his aura in the slightest, Li Xiang walked straight up to them, his chin slightly raised.

His voice, though not loud, clearly reached everyone's ears in a tone that was a mixture of flippancy and scrutiny.

"Hey, did your foreign language department suffer a disaster or get into trouble this time?"

"They were all covered in dust and dirt, several deacons were bruised, and Elder Qin was even worse... tsk tsk, he could barely walk."

"Could it be that one of you got into some trouble out there, causing the higher-ups to have to clean up your mess?"

This extremely rude question instantly darkened the faces of all the outer disciples, and a suppressed anger filled the air.

Shi Hao frowned, suppressing his anger, and stepped forward to try to explain.

"Senior brother, we were ambushed in Baiwei City..."

"Alright!" Li Xiang waved his hand impatiently to interrupt, his gaze sweeping contemptuously over Shi Hao and Xu Zijian, who was also looking displeased.

"Opening Meridian Realm? His aura is exaggerated, his foundation is shallow!"

"With such meager skills, what can you possibly explain? Don't waste your breath here."

He turned his attention directly to Yao Mengkang, who remained silent at the front, and sneered.

"You're Yao Mengkang? I heard you've been quite the hangout at the Foreign Languages ​​Department?"

"What, you think you can hold your head high in front of the inner court senior brothers just because you've managed to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm by chance? You really don't know your own limitations!"

"Tell me what happened?"

Yao Mengkang raised his eyes and calmly looked at Li Xiang.

The spiritual sea is at the fourth level, and the spiritual power is relatively solid, but there is a slight blockage in its circulation. The cultivation technique is probably not of a high grade, or perhaps the practitioner was too eager to achieve quick results and left behind hidden injuries.

His Qi and blood are average, and his physical body is also average.

This level of skill... Yao Mengkang felt that he could steadily suppress it even when he was still in the Qi Opening Realm.

"The inner court sent this kind of scum to participate in the assessment?" He couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

Not only him, but the other ten disciples of the outer academy were also coldly observing this uninvited guest.

"That bastard's mouth stinks! If Qingqing hadn't stopped him, I would have smashed him into the ground with a hammer!"

"However... this guy's aura doesn't seem as resilient as that skeleton in the secret realm," Zhou Tiancan thought to himself.

At this moment, Huo Ling'er leaned close to Wang Le's ear, lowered her voice, and spoke very quickly.

"Brother Le, I remember now! My cousin who lives in the inner courtyard mentioned these two people before."

"The guy standing at the back who didn't say anything is Zhao Zhongming, a ruthless character ranked third in the inner courtyard."

"It's said that he broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm at the peak of the tenth level of the Meridian Opening stage ten years ago, and was even a classmate of Elder Qin Feng!"

"He reached the peak of the Spirit Sea realm a long time ago; he's incredibly strong!"

"This bouncing Li Xiang is Zhao Zhongming's number one henchman."

"He broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm from the ninth level of the Meridian Opening stage five years ago. I heard that when the Spirit Sea was first formed, it was only nine zhang long. Later, I don't know how he got on Zhao Zhongming's good side, and he had some incredible luck that allowed him to participate in the assessment."

Standing slightly behind, Xuan Yuanpo, who had been observing coldly, was now experiencing a completely different kind of calm and analysis.

His eyes were as sharp as an unsheathed sword as he carefully sensed the spiritual pressure flowing around Li Xiang.

He's at the fourth level of the Spirit Sea realm, nearing the threshold of the fifth. Judging by his aura, his total spiritual power is definitely less than a thousand zhang, probably within a few hundred zhang.

With a distinctly sharp, metallic aura, his primary cultivation technique should be of the metal element. His strength is decent, but he is by no means a genius.

True geniuses are destined to walk alone, needing neither to depend on others nor deigning to be depended on.

The sword in my hand is my only reliance.

If you can't break through the predicament with the sword in your hand, what's the use of relying on others?

At the same time, another lingering shadow loomed over him: I had already reached the peak of the twelfth level of the Meridian Opening Realm before Baiwei City, and sensed that legendary barrier.

Even now, despite his seclusion and rigorous training, including life-and-death experiences, he still cannot sense any opportunity for the condensation of the Chaos Chakra.

It's as if that forbidden realm is just a vague legend... Is my talent ultimately limited to this?

An indescribable sense of defeat quietly permeated the depths of his icy heart.

Xuan Yuanpo's knuckles turned slightly white from the force, a strong sense of urgency and unwillingness intertwined in his chest.

He looked at Yao Mengkang, who remained calm and composed, his gaze complex and unreadable.

He was certain that Yao Mengkang's spiritual sea was extraordinary, but he couldn't discern its depth.

The provocation from this inner court disciple was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake; beneath the ripples lay a deeper undercurrent.

Li Xiang saw that Yao Mengkang was looking at him with a calm, almost indifferent gaze, without any of the expected panic or anger.

Feeling like a clown, my anger flared even more, and I was about to provoke them with even more vicious words.

"Li Xiang".

A cool, clear voice sounded from behind, carrying an unquestionable tone.

The one who spoke was Zhao Zhongming.

He had walked over at some point, his gaze lingering on Yao Mengkang's face for a moment with a hint of inquiry and amusement, but he didn't say anything more before turning and walking towards the inner courtyard area.

Seeing this, Li Xiang, though unwilling, could only glare at Yao Mengkang fiercely before reluctantly following behind.

A minor disturbance came to an abrupt end, but the invisible barrier between the inner and outer courtyards, as well as the underlying conflicts, became clearly visible.

Yao Mengkang, the outer disciple who broke through to the Spirit Sea realm in the eyes of outsiders, has been pushed to the forefront of controversy.