"Teacher, is this a dream?" Xiao Yan was so shocked he could barely speak. He asked inwardly to Yao Lao.
"It's real." Yao Lao's voice carried an indescribable excitement. "That's why I said your Xiao family is about to give birth to a dragon. Judging by the talent he has displayed, he will reach the Dou Venerate realm before the age of thirty."
"Brother Xiao Ting is too amazing." Xiao Yan smiled proudly. "From now on I can finally relax completely."
"Can you lie down now?" Yao Lao chuckled, then said seriously, "You really have no ambition. You're still young, yet you're already thinking about lying down. Last time, when Xiao Ting went to Xun Er's house to propose, didn't you tell me to help him make a good impression?"
"Teacher, it's not that I don't want to support him—it's that I know my own limits." Xiao Yan's lips twitched. "Considering the talent Brother Xiao Ting has shown so far, unless Xun Er's backers are fools, they won't be able to stop the two of them from being together."
Considering the power of the ancient clans, Yao Lao's smile faded. "It's hard to say."
"Huh?" Xiao Yan sucked in a breath inwardly. "Xiao Ting is already this strong, yet you still say it's hard to say?"
"Hmm." After a moment of thought, Yao Lao continued, "If Xun Er's status were ordinary or her bloodline level not particularly high, then Xiao Ting being with her would be fine. But if Xun Er holds an extraordinary position within her clan or possesses an extremely high bloodline level, then even if Xiao Ting reaches Dou King at fifteen, it won't help."
"They won't acknowledge you until you reach the peak of the Dou Venerate realm."
Hearing this, Xiao Yan was immediately shocked and asked in disbelief, "Teacher, if Brother Xiao Ting reaches Dou King at fifteen, does that mean he has a chance of breaking through to the peak of Dou Venerate and becoming a Saint?"
"No!" Yao Lao answered with absolute certainty. "To reach the peak of Dou Venerate's nine revolutions and become a Saint, talent, opportunity, resources, and cultivation techniques—everything is indispensable!"
"You cultivate the Flame Mantra and have proven you can absorb various flames to evolve. Therefore you have the advantage over him."
Upon hearing these words, Xiao Yan's eyes grew serious. "Then it seems I can't just laze around anymore. There might still be a chance in the future."
…
Xiao Ting had not noticed the conversation between Xiao Yan and Yao Lao. Hearing the discussions around him, he asked the recording instructor, "Excuse me, Instructor, why hasn't it been recorded yet? Is there a problem?"
"This…" The instructor gave Hu Gan a questioning look.
Xiao Ting's result was so abnormal that even the instructor himself suspected the magic stone tablet used for testing might be faulty.
Hu Gan was equally shocked by Xiao Ting's cultivation level. He had originally guessed that Xiao Ting might have reached six-star Dou Spirit, or even seven or eight stars—perhaps even high-level Dou Spirit. That was already quite exaggerated. Yet the youth had actually reached the level of a two-star Dou King, a level sufficient to serve as an elder of Jia Nan Academy.
Unlike the others, however, Hu Gan did not doubt the result. The magic stone tablet had never made a mistake before, and judging from Xiao Ting's and Xun Er's previous performances, this cultivation level was perfectly reasonable.
"Xiao Ting's results are fine. The recording is up to you." Hu Gan raised his hand and took out a communication jade slip. Smiling, he added, "With these results he can enter the Inner Court directly. I intend to give him special treatment. I'll contact the Great Elder immediately and arrange for someone to welcome him."
Although Xiao Ting was already a Dou King expert, he still wished to study at Jia Nan Academy—most likely because he had his sights set on the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. The tower periodically produced Fallen Heart Flame. Cultivating beneath it with a Fallen Heart Flame would benefit even Dou King-level experts. For fire-attribute practitioners the benefits would be even more pronounced.
"I'm sorry to trouble you, Vice Dean." Xiao Ting smiled and nodded.
He had no intention of wasting time in the Outer Court. With his strength, he could leave the Inner Court anytime to find Xun Er and the other girls.
"By the way, Vice Dean, I have a question." After Hu Gan finished sending the message, Xiao Ting suddenly spoke.
"What is it?" Hu Gan asked curiously.
"Does the academy give rewards to those who kill people from the Demon Flame Valley?" Xiao Ting asked directly.
Demon Flame Valley?!
The moment those three words were spoken, the expressions and gazes of many instructors and elders present changed. This was Jia Nan Academy's mortal enemy. Every year, members of the enforcement team, students on training missions, and even elders and instructors lost their lives at the hands of Demon Flame Valley's people.
"Yes, killing people from the Demon Flame Valley earns rewards—and the rewards are extraordinarily generous." Huo Qing Er recalled her brother's tragic death at the hands of Demon Flame Valley's elders and spoke with cold, murderous eyes. "You're a Dou King-level expert. If you kill a Dou King-level elder from the Demon Flame Valley, you can enter the Scripture Pavilion and choose any item once, or go to the Great Elder of the Inner Court to exchange for other rewards."
"Rewards do exist, but very few people actually obtain them."
"Huo Qing Er, there's no need to say so much." Worried that the young Xiao Ting might rashly attempt such a thing after hearing Huo Qing Er's words, Ruo Ling quickly added, "The Demon Flame Valley and our Jia Nan Academy have always been hostile and frequently clash. If Xiao Ting wants to earn merit points, he can kill a few Dou Spirit-level stewards from the Demon Flame Valley in the future and exchange them for many good things."
At this point Ruo Ling asked with some confusion, "Xiao Ting, how did you know about this?"
Xiao Ting clearly hadn't known about the no-fly zone within a hundred miles of Peace Town, so how had he known that killing people from the Demon Flame Valley would earn merit at Jia Nan Academy?
"I think it was the elder from the Demon Flame Valley who told me," Xiao Ting said with a smile, lightly waving his hand in front of him. "On the way to Jia Nan Academy, I was attacked by some ignorant Dou Master who tried to rob me. One of them was already half-step Dou Spirit, but I finished them all with a single strike."
Han Yue: "…"
I feel offended.
"After I killed those people, an old man holding a skull staff appeared and said, 'The ones you killed were my targets. Those people were my prey.'"
"I took their storage rings but had no interest in the corpses, so I agreed to hand the bodies over to the old man if he would point me toward Peace Town."
"He asked me what I was doing in Peace Town, so I told him I was a first-year student at Jia Nan Academy here to register."
"Hearing that, he laughed and said it was fortunate. He had just been promoted to elder of the Demon Flame Valley and now a genius from Jia Nan Academy had come to be killed by him."
"He attacked me, so I killed him in retaliation. A mere one-star Dou King, that's all."
Everyone: "…"
Do you want to hear what you're saying?
Everyone grumbled inwardly while staring at the ground.
Xiao Ting released the corpse of an old man whose clothes were tattered and one arm was missing, covered in burn marks all over his body.
Whoosh!
Once again, gasps of shock rose from the crowd.
On his way to report to Jia Nan Academy in Peace Town, Xiao Ting had also taken care of a Dou King elder from the Demon Flame Valley.
Someone entering with outstanding results was already unprecedented. Xiao Ting had once again shocked everyone present.
…