"Glad to see you could make it to class," Mr. Nagira said when he noticed Jin Huang walk into the lecture hall and sit down next to Qin Shuyue.
"Did the Dean speak with you?"
Jin Huang grabbed the token from his spatial ring and raised it into the air for Mr. Nagira to see. "Sure did."
With a nod, Mr. Nagira went back to the stack of papers on the podium. Sighing, Jin Huang sat down next to Qin Shuyue, barely noticing the look on her face before she punched him in the arm.
"Ow- What the hell, man!" She said, wincing in pain as she massaged her fist.
Jin Huang laughed wryly, "Sorry." However, inside, he had no idea why he was apologizing. She was the one that hit him!
"So you disappear on me when we were supposed to be grabbing food, and don't show up to any of our classes for the rest of the week. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were avoiding me."
That was when it dawned on him. He had totally abandoned Qin Shuyue when he went off in search of the scent's source.
"Damn, I'm sorry. Things just kinda got a little crazy." He said, trying to look and sound as sincere as possible.
"Whatever. Give me your jade slip." Qin Shuyue stretched out her hand and crooked her fingers.
Taking out his jade slip, he was about to hand it to her when she grabbed it with no expression and starting fiddling around with it while also retrieving her own.
When she gave it back to him, both hers and his were glowing.
"There, now I can message you directly and vice versa. Next time, instead of just disappearing, say something." She shook her head with a small smile.
"Heh, thanks, Qin Shuyue."
Shen Wuyou walked into the class a while after, noticing Jin Huang almost instantly.
"Jin Huang!" He called as he swiftly scurried down the stairs to sit next to his old partner in crime. "I haven't seen you in so long, then I hear you won some pizza-eating contest? What gives, man?"
Laughing, Jin Huang caught up with Shen Wuyou a bit before Qin Shuyue asked, "When did you two get to be so friendly?"
Faltering for a moment, Jin Huang and Shen Wuyou looked at each other before they both nodded, seemingly on the same page.
"I'm his cousin," Shen Wuyou said.
"We both went to the sacred realm together," Jin Huang said at the same time.
Qin Shuyue raised a brow.
If Shen Wuyou was physically stronger, his slap might have caused Jin Huang's neck to snap. "You can't just go blurting that stuff out."
"I know, I know," Jin Huang said as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's just that I think she's trustworthy."
Shaking his head, Shen Wuyou leaned onto the table. "Whatever. Just don't let any of the staff find out. I did some digging and found out that the sacred realm was sealed to everyone, which is why the headmaster's key that Hei Shisan had didn't work."
"Hei Shisan? You mean 'Number 13,' Hei Shisan? The academy's biggest troublemaker and most remarkable student?" Qin Shuyue asked, eyes widening progressively.
"Yeah," Shen Wuyou confirmed, "he went with us."
Once again, Jin Huang was punched by Qin Shuyue, who complained that his body was too tough.
"Sorry, sorry," he hurried to offer yet another apology.
Qin Shuyue made him promise to take her on any of his other adventures as Shen Wuyou laughed. Eventually, Mr. Nagira started class after all of the students had arrived and were seated.
"Today's class is pretty simple. I am going to forward a simple energy gathering method to the arrays in your desks. Use your jade slips to access and store the information, then we will all practice it together. Those of you already adept at energy cultivation may have an easier time of it, but do not look down on this method. Give it your best shot."
The students, for the most part, proceeded calmly and were level-headed about it. A few of them got a bit cocky, and one of them in particular made a big show of it.
"This couldn't be easier," Wu Shen snorted as he flipped his hair. "Are you all still trying? Imagine being bested by someone younger than you. Ha! Couldn't be me."
His words led to a lot of other students pouring in excessive effort, which, in turn, led to a number of students incorrectly circulating the energy. This led to small backlashes, which caused a handful of them to cough up blood.
Dao Yuan was the second to utilize the method according to the information that Mr. Nagira sent, then Li Qingyun, Bai Qing, Qin Shuyue, Shen Wuyou and others.
Bit by bit, all of the students were finding their own ways to utilize the energy gathering method. Mr. Nagira looked around at the students and nodded, feeling quite satisfied that none of them seemed to be having a hard time.
Of course, this was because Jin Huang was showing no signs of effort. He wasn't showing any signs of anything at all.
No matter how closely he followed the instructions, or how exactly he circulated the energy inside of him that he was able to somewhat manipulate, nothing would happen. The effect it was supposed to be having on his body just... wasn't there.
Raising his hand, he immediately got Mr. Nagira's attention.
"Yes? It's Jin Huang, right?"
"Mr. Nagira, sir, I think I'm doing something wrong." Jin Huang said, looking distressed.
Muffled sounds of ridicule arose from various corners of the class, but Jin Huang only heard the sound of Mr. Nagira glided toward him. "What are you doing wrong? Show me."
Once again, Jin Huang followed the instructions now stored in the jade slip, using the energy gathering method like he was supposed to in order to simulate energy cultivation.
Instead, as Mr. Nagira realized when he cast his sight onto Jin Huang, the energy gathering method was just moving a bunch of his internal energy around and having no actual effect. The desired result simply refused to come to pass.
"That's... very odd." Mr. Nagira put both hands on Jin Huang's desk as he leaned over and contemplated for a short while.
"Alright, instead of the energy gathering method, try to focus the energy inward, toward your dantian. Let's see if you can force condensation." Mr. Nagira suggested, a bit of hope in his eyes as well as a trace of understanding.
He assumed that, because Jin Huang was different, he merely needed to take a different route with his cultivation.
With some guidance, Jin Huang was able to do as he was told. Even so, that did not work. He was still just moving energy around without accomplishing anything. It was just like he was moving furniture around for no reason other than to see how it would look somewhere else.
The students were paying close attention to the situation, wondering what was wrong with Jin Huang.
"Alright, then try to further temper your Mortal Foundation."
Jin Huang gulped, then tried to temper his already perfect Mortal Foundation. What happened was that, all of the energy he attempted to use to temper it, was violently rejected and sent outward in a pulse that passed over everyone in the class.
Li Qingyu looked up after he felt that energy, his eyes slightly wider. Dao Yuan was intrigued by the purity of that energy, and tilted her head slightly as she looked at Jin Huang.
Wu Shen snorted coldly and carried on with his practice, perfecting his usage of the energy gathering method.
Qin Shuyue and Shen Wuyou were looking at Jin Huang somewhat worriedly, hoping that Mr. Nagira could help him.
Sighing, Mr. Nagira stood up straight and folded his arms behind him. "For now, it's impossible for you to cultivate normally. We'll have to do some more work with you, Jin Huang. For now, just focus on getting a feel for the energy within you. The more familiar you are with it, the easier it will be for you to cultivate when I do find a suitable method for you."
Jin Huang nodded, seemingly blind to the many eyes on him- especially those looking on him with ridicule.
"Country bumpkin can't even cultivate. It's a miracle he even managed to get a Mortal Foundation," a student murmured.
"Hmph. He didn't belong here with us in the first place."
"Don't listen to them," Qin Shuyue said, giving him a slight nudge.
"Huh? Listen to who?" Jin Huang asked, eyes still closed but leaning in her direction to let her know he was listening. He was following Mr. Nagira's advice and focusing on getting a better feel for his internal energy now that he actually had some.
Qin Shuyue smiled and shook her head, "Never mind." Closing her eyes, she went back to her own practice.
Mr. Nagira took a stone talisman out of his spatial ring and sent a message through it as he glanced at Jin Huang. The talisman lit up as he silently transferred his message, then lit up again when a response came to him.
Hearing that response, he almost gasped audibly before he looked at Jin Huang again.