Due to the forced grouping, with three people sharing one puppet, Li Fei had no choice but to stand with the two people she disliked the most. Ji Tongzhou was bent over, counting his Curse Seals as if they were bank notes, while Lei Xiuyuan stood with his hands behind his back, staring off at who-knows-what. None of the three spoke a word, and compared to the harmony of the other groups, the atmosphere here was as cold as winter.
Today, Hu Jiaping had chosen to put on his instructor’s demeanor, inspecting each group one by one. When he reached them, his brows furrowed. "Five hundred sheets before nightfall—do you not understand, or can you not use Curse Seals? Hmm... The so-called 'group of three' means that if even one person fails to complete the task, the responsibility falls on all."
Responsibility falls on all! The three of them looked at him simultaneously—meaning if one didn’t finish, all three would be stuck in the Disciple Room, forced to spend money on meals?! The trio exchanged wary, scrutinizing glances, yet still, no one spoke.
Hu Jiaping rubbed his temples in rare frustration. It seemed they wouldn’t even exchange a single word. Why was it that all the other disciples were fine, while this group alone caused endless trouble? Last time, this little girl couldn’t master Sword Flying. Then, just yesterday, these two boys had gotten into a fight—their faces were still bandaged! And today, they refused to cooperate in the Alchemical Furnace cultivation as a trio. What a headache.
"I’ll count to ten. If you still haven’t started by then, you’ll be buying meals in the Disciple Room from now on. One, two, three..."
He deliberately counted quickly. Sensing the urgency, Li Fei—ultimately guilt-ridden by her lack of funds—was the first to act. She tossed out a Curse Seal, and a warm, hazy glow of reddish-brown light instantly enveloped the stone puppet, as if shielding it. This was the most basic attribute of the Earth element: defense.
Hu Jiaping nodded, then smirked coldly at the two difficult boys beside her. "Even a girl is more focused and decisive in her cultivation than you two. Such great men, yet your hearts are smaller than a needle’s eye—I doubt you could even break through this layer of defense."
What nonsense! How could he possibly fail to break such a flimsy Earth Defense?! Ji Tongzhou, incensed, flung out a Talismanic Incantation. At the same time, Lei Xiuyuan on the other side also struck. A brilliant flare of fire and a dazzling golden light exploded simultaneously on the puppet’s body, tearing the Earth Defense apart in an instant. Half of the puppet’s body was scorched black, while the other half was pitted and nearly shattered by the Curse Seal.
Hu Jiaping chuckled. "That’s more like it. Keep going. If I catch you sulking instead of focusing on cultivation again, I’ll really toss you into the Restricted Area below to fend for yourselves."
Exhausted, he turned and walked away, unable to suppress a sigh.
This trio—he feared he’d have to worry about them far more as their instructor... The girl’s performance was erratic, while the two boys were among the top eighteen disciples. Yet they couldn’t get along... Assigning these three to share a courtyard was undoubtedly another one of A Mu’s pranks. A competitive spirit among them was good—it would accelerate their cultivation. But if that rivalry grew too intense, unforeseen consequences might arise...
When would the other instructors finally arrive at the Academy? Dealing with these brats alone was so tiresome!
For Li Fei, this kind of cultivation was practically effortless. Her body replenished her Spiritual Energy constantly, and five hundred Curse Seals were used up in the blink of an eye—she didn’t even break a sweat. Compared to the slight strain her two groupmates showed, she felt, for the first time, a sense of towering superiority.For three consecutive days, the children were tasked with producing five hundred talismans daily. What initially seemed strenuous quickly became manageable. After all, among these five hundred talismans, only four hundred truly consumed spiritual energy. The remaining one hundred Wood element talismans were meant to stimulate and replenish their spiritual energy. Failing to complete even this basic requirement would have been utterly shameful.
Just as everyone began to think the Alchemical Furnace training was nothing more than this, on the fourth day, Hu Jiaping cheerfully brought out a larger bamboo basket and announced, "Today, continue the Alchemical Furnace training in groups of three. Each person will take one hundred Wood element talismans, plus two hundred talismans each of the four attributes—metal, water, fire, and earth. All must be used up before nightfall."
The Wood element talismans remained at one hundred, but the others had doubled to two hundred each! A direct twofold increase!
This was, after all, the Young Phoenix Academy, and cultivation was never meant to be easy or enjoyable. The Alchemical Furnace training was far from interesting—it was tedious and monotonous. As the days passed, the number of talismans required doubled almost daily, while the Wood element talismans for replenishing spiritual energy remained fixed at one hundred. The unseen Alchemical Furnaces within the children's bodies were gradually being carved and refined. From struggling with four hundred talismans a day at the start, they could now barely manage nearly a thousand. Even though their Eight Extraordinary Meridians throbbed with excruciating pain every night, most chose to grit their teeth and persevere.
By the eighth day, the daily talisman requirement had skyrocketed to four thousand one hundred—one thousand each of metal, water, fire, and earth, and only one hundred Wood element talismans.
As time passed, the explosive sounds of talismans being activated around the Martial Training Field grew fainter and sparser. After consuming thousands of talismans in succession, most disciples had reached their limits. Though their ability to draw spiritual energy into their bodies had grown faster, it couldn't keep up with such reckless expenditure. Moreover, their inner breath had to circulate continuously, and their Eight Extraordinary Meridians, unable to endure such intense refinement, began to ache faintly.
Hu Jiaping silently observed the children laboring with their heads down. As their instructor, he knew well that four thousand talismans marked an absolute watershed. Today, the innate potential of the eighteen disciples would become glaringly obvious. This wasn't a task that could be accomplished through sheer effort—only true capability would speak here.
"Thud." A boy in the northwest corner collapsed from overexertion of spiritual energy, causing a brief stir. But soon, everything returned to silence—the children had no energy left to spare for others. Shortly after, a girl also fainted. Hu Jiaping carried the two unconscious children to a corner of the Martial Training Field. It wasn't even noon yet, but these two had little hope left.
Li Fei, too, was in an extremely difficult state. The initial four hundred talismans a day had been so simple that she thought this training would be a breeze for her. But gradually, she began to realize just how much she had underestimated it.
Four thousand talismans felt like an impossible task for her.
She didn't need to draw spiritual energy into her body—it absorbed it automatically for her. At first, her unique constitution gave her a clear advantage. But as the training progressed, she found herself increasingly struggling. Her body absorbed spiritual energy at a constant, unchanging rate, while her consumption grew ever greater and faster. The others, thanks to their days of training, could now draw in spiritual energy at remarkable speeds and quantities. But for her, there was no improvement—she remained stagnant.The spiritual energy within her body was nearly depleted. Li Fei gasped heavily, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion enveloping her. So this was what it felt like to run out of spiritual energy—a fatigue a hundred times worse than any physical exhaustion.
She glanced at the two boys beside her. Ji Tongzhou was also panting heavily, his pale face flushed red—likely nearing his limit as well. Though Lei Xiuyuan’s expression remained impassive, beads of sweat dotted his forehead. It seemed four thousand talismans were a daunting task for all of them.
After throwing his 2,381st curse seal, Ji Tongzhou suddenly felt a sharp, suffocating pain in his chest. Unable to bear it, he let out a low groan. Truthfully, he had already reached his absolute limit. The last few seals had been thrown only by gritting his teeth and scraping together the last dregs of his spiritual energy. Yet, Jiang Li Fei beside him seemed to keep pace effortlessly, and Lei Xiuyuan on the other side hadn’t made a single mistake. If he stopped now, wouldn’t that mean he was the weakest? That was unacceptable!
2,382! He desperately threw another curse seal, but this time it didn’t shoot forward—instead, it flopped weakly to the ground. His Eight Extraordinary Meridians had reached their limit; they could no longer absorb or circulate spiritual energy. Ji Tongzhou’s face paled as he stared blankly at the fallen seal, gasping for breath. Had he really lost to these two beggars?
Lei Xiuyuan continued throwing seals without pause, but his next one met the same fate as Ji Tongzhou’s—fluttering down without sticking to the dummy. His back was drenched in sweat as he looked down at his trembling hands and finally spoke: “I need to rest for a moment.”
Ji Tongzhou sneered. “Giving up so soon?”
Lei Xiuyuan didn’t reply, merely glancing at him and then at the fallen seal on the ground. His gaze said everything.
Ji Tongzhou immediately regretted his sharp words. Since childhood, he had never understood the concept of yielding—always the one to argue stubbornly. After arriving at the academy, he faced constant setbacks. At first, he had been indignant, but he wasn’t an irredeemable fool. Gradually, he had to accept that the world was vast, filled with countless talented individuals. The imperial authority he once wielded effortlessly in Yue Kingdom meant nothing in the Immortal Sects. He had to learn to be a proper disciple, not the privileged Prince Ying who could command the wind and rain.
With a cold humph, he stopped arguing with Lei Xiuyuan, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes to focus, forcing his exhausted meridians to slowly draw in wisps of spiritual energy.
Thank the heavens… Li Fei sighed in relief. If they hadn’t stopped, she might have collapsed like the two disciples who had already fainted. Never before had she drained her spiritual energy like this. For the first time, she realized how slowly her body absorbed it—completely unable to keep up with such intense training. Unlike the others, she didn’t know how to actively draw in spiritual energy. Yet another bottleneck in her cultivation.
Ji Tongzhou, who had been meditating nearby, suddenly spoke: “You two, don’t drag me down. If anyone fails to finish four thousand today, I won’t let them off!”
Lei Xiuyuan remained silent, eyes closed as if he hadn’t heard. Li Fei, however, lacked his composure and immediately scoffed: “Save that for yourself. Don’t make us eat in the Disciple Room with you. If you enjoy punishment and wasting money, do it alone.”Speaking of which, ever since eating in the Disciple Room became equivalent to punishment, this noble young prince's mindset had undergone a complete transformation. He now exclusively dined for free at the northern eatery, while Lan Ya and his lackeys stubbornly paid to eat in the Disciple Room, earning his utter contempt.
Ji Tongzhou angrily retorted, "Oh, I forgot—you two are nothing but penniless beggars! Can't afford this, can you?"
"We'd rather not waste money on useless things like those fools."
"What did you say?!" Ji Tongzhou leaped to his feet.
"If you have energy to argue, you might as well finish using up those curse seals." Hu Jiaping, who was patrolling the field, happened to pass by and, seeing them quarrel again, came over with a headache to remind them, "Can't you three get along?"
Ji Tongzhou snorted coldly. "Teacher, haven't you heard the saying 'Only women and petty men are hard to raise'?"
Hu Jiaping replied indifferently, "You're all petty men—little brats who haven't even grown all your hair yet. Less talk, more practice."
Ji Tongzhou nearly flew into a rage again, but since the one insulting him was an Academy teacher, he couldn't do much about it. He could only pretend not to hear and hurl a handful of talismanic incantations fiercely at the dummy.
On the tenth day, each child was given one thousand curse seals for four attributes, but only twenty Wood element talismans were distributed, causing an uproar among the children.
Hu Jiaping scanned the group before him and announced, "Today, a new teacher will arrive at the Academy, and this is also the final day of Alchemical Furnace cultivation. By noon, I expect all four thousand and twenty curse seals to be completely used up... This is a test. Those who pass will advance to the next stage of cultivation. Those who fail... might as well take a good look around the Academy now."
A test... no wonder.
This time, no one gasped or exclaimed. They were all the most talented children, meticulously selected from thousands, but that didn't mean they would remain the best after entering the Academy. Over these days of Alchemical Furnace cultivation, their individual aptitudes had already become apparent. Among the eighteen, two children had already been punished by being barred from eating at the northern eatery, forcing their groupmates to obediently endure hunger in the Disciple Room.
No one spoke. The six groups of disciples cautiously applied their curse seals to the dummies, and the Martial Training Field was filled only with the sounds of talismans transforming into the power of the Five Elements.
After these grueling days of cultivation, everyone's Alchemical Furnace had expanded severalfold, if not dozens of times. Though challenging, using four thousand curse seals along with twenty Wood element talismans wasn't impossible—especially for prodigies like Ji Tongzhou and Lei Xiuyuan. After exhausting four thousand curse seals, they still had most of their Wood element talismans left and sat aside replenishing their spiritual energy.
Over these ten days, their progress could only be described as miraculous. Meanwhile, Li Fei had fallen to the bottom. She still had hundreds of curse seals left, but her body was completely drained, unable to produce anything more.
"Hey, hurry up, will you!" Ji Tongzhou impatiently urged her. "If you can't finish, fine, but don't drag us down with you!"
Li Fei clenched her teeth. She was unwilling, but there was nothing she could do. Just as she was about to muster her strength to throw the next curse seal, sudden cries erupted from the back of the Martial Training Field, followed by a child sprinting over and kneeling to clutch Ji Tongzhou's leg.
"Your Highness! Your Highness, please save me! Put in a good word for me! After all these years of serving you!"All three of them were stunned. Li Fei stared for a long moment before recognizing the crying child on the ground as one of Ji Tongzhou's lackeys—the same boy who had fainted that day.
Ji Tongzhou frowned. "What are you doing? Get up and speak properly! This is disgraceful!"
The boy only wept, pleading desperately, "Please put in a good word for me! I beg you, Your Highness! If I get expelled from the Academy, the Emperor will never spare my family! My parents, sisters, and brothers will all suffer the consequences!"
Ji Tongzhou exclaimed in shock, "Expelled from the Academy?"
What was going on? Could someone really be expelled after entering the Academy?
Hu Jiaping walked over and pulled the sobbing boy to his feet, speaking quietly, "If you're outmatched, there's nothing to be done. That's just how cultivation is. Although the test isn't over yet, I can see you can't even mobilize the spiritual energy in your body anymore. Go pack your things in the Disciple Room, then come with me to see Zuoqiu Xiansheng."
Ji Tongzhou protested urgently, "W-wait! Sir, are you really sending him away?"
"Entering the Academy doesn't mean you can rest easy forever," Hu Jiaping glanced at him. "Every stage of cultivation has its tests. Those who fail will be expelled from the Academy. Come with me now—no more noise here."
He dragged the boy to a corner of the Martial Training Field, but even from that distance, faint sobs could still be heard.
Ji Tongzhou pressed his lips together and murmured, "So... he's just going to be cast out like that?"
No one answered the obvious question. Presumably, once that child returned home, all the glory and wealth the imperial family had bestowed upon his family would be revoked. No wonder he had begged so desperately—those without talent were destined to be coldly abandoned.
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