Fan Yue lay on his bed, gathering his thoughts.
Eight months… Even Teacher Shu hadn't expected the training to take this long.
Old Man Shu had originally been confident that five months would be enough, but it soon became clear that Fan Yue's power ran far deeper than it had first appeared. He needed to develop control not only over his Battle Soul, but over his bloodline power and his mental force as well. Throughout all those months, Fan Yue hadn't cultivated once — he had only been mastering what he already possessed.
He felt a little sorry about missing the start of the second semester, but the result was worth the time spent. The Fan Yue of today bore little resemblance to his former self — taller, broad-shouldered, with firm, defined muscles. His features had grown sharper and more mature, and his gaze had become calm and assured.
I wonder how much the others have changed, he thought, rising from the bed.
There was still plenty of time before classes began, but he decided to head out early. After spending eight months confined to a single training room, he had missed the academy's scenery, the Life Energy, and the fresh air.
He took a deep breath, casting his gaze over the red flowers along the path.
"Beautiful… well, I suppose it's time to get to the main building."
He took a step and vanished. Within a few breaths, he was already standing before the main academic building.
In the corridor, he spotted a familiar figure — it was Lan Xuanyu. Fan Yue smiled and caught up with him.
"Hey, Lan Xuanyu."
The other boy turned sharply, furrowed his brow, and stared at him for several seconds. Then he tilted his head slightly.
"Fan Yue?"
"Got it in one!"
Lan Xuanyu looked him over from head to toe.
"You've changed. A lot. So the training went well. Did you manage to resolve your problem?"
"Yes. Everything is under control now. Tell me — how did the first semester exam go? And how has the second semester been treating you?" Fan Yue asked with curiosity.
Lan Xuanyu smiled.
"Of course."
He recounted the events without unnecessary detail, but outlined the key moments clearly. The exam had taken place on another planet, where their task had been to mine ore. Tang Yuge had joined their team, they had faced mortal danger, but had handled it brilliantly and earned the respect of the entire class.
The second semester, he said, had been quiet — studying, training, and more studying.
"Is that so. I'm glad for you all," Fan Yue said sincerely as he walked into the classroom.
"Good morning, Teacher Xiao Qi!" he greeted cheerfully.
Xiao Qi held his gaze on him for a moment.
"Good morning. It seems you haven't wasted your time. You've returned at the right moment — there's important news today."
For now, Fan Yue and Lan Xuanyu sat down beside each other and chatted casually. Before long, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu entered the classroom. Upon seeing Fan Yue, they recognized him immediately.
"Yue!" Lan Mengqin exclaimed, and rushed over at nearly a run, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Ha-ha-ha, I'm so happy to see you!"
She looked up and met his face. Her eyes involuntarily widened, lingering just a moment longer than they should have.
Handsome…
Lan Mengqin immediately blinked, as if snapping back to herself, and quickly stepped away.
"Ahem… Even though you've grown, you're still my little brother." Her ears had turned pink, but her snow-white hair concealed her embarrassment.
Fan Yue scratched his cheek.
"Ha-ha, of course. You've grown too, Mengqin."
Dong Qianqiu walked over to them.
"Good to see you again. Did you resolve that problem?"
Fan Yue gave a brief nod. While they were talking, the rest of the students filtered into the classroom — among them, naturally, Liu Feng, Qian Lei, and Yuanen Huihui.
"OHH! That's Yue!" Qian Lei announced loudly, drawing the class's attention to Fan Yue.
Several students glanced over with puzzled expressions, trying to place the newcomer… but couldn't. They would surely have remembered someone like this.
Qian Lei jogged over and bumped him with a fist.
"Damn! You've unexpectedly become a heartthrob — I'm so jealous. Meanwhile I'm still hiding my own magnificence… temporarily!"
"Keep hiding it, Fatty," said Yuanen Huihui, who gave Fan Yue a brief nod.
Fan Yue nodded back and extended his hand to Liu Feng, whose palm was covered in calluses from training.
"Liu Feng, looks like you've grown stronger."
Liu Feng gave a slight smirk.
"So have you. How about a spar?"
"Anytime!" Fan Yue said confidently.
The group continued talking for a while until Xiao Qi clapped his hands, signaling that the lesson had begun. Everyone quickly took their seats.
Xiao Qi let a brief pause settle, then spoke.
"I have excellent news for you."
The class fell immediately silent, ears perked.
"On one of the Federation's seven administrative planets — the Elven Planet — a powerful Spirit Beast is soon to undergo its final Heavenly Baptism. This is an extraordinarily rare opportunity for Spirit Masters. The Elven Planet has already sent invitations to the Federation's most important organizations. Shrek Academy has not been overlooked. The Outer Court has received several spots, but they are not free — you will have to fight for them."
A quiet but excited murmur rippled through the class.
"A Spirit Beast?" one student whispered barely audibly.
"A Heavenly Baptism… Could this really be the legendary trial bestowed by the Heavens themselves?" someone beside him whispered, and the words seemed to echo into every corner of the room.
"A hundred thousand years! A Spirit Beast a hundred thousand years old!" another student exclaimed, and the entire class fell still, grasping the scale of the event.
Fan Yue pondered. He wasn't sure whether simply observing would benefit him, but his desire to see a real Spirit Beast was too strong to ignore.
Xiao Qi shook his head.
"This is not a 100,000-year Spirit Beast. If it were, it would draw far greater attention than this. I cannot name the exact Spirit Beast that will undergo the Heavenly Trial, but it is exceptionally powerful. Witnessing this will be tremendously valuable for your cultivation and understanding."
Lan Xuanyu raised his hand and asked, "Teacher, how do we obtain a spot?"
"Naturally, through competition. Our Outer Court has received six spots — one for each year. Your class will compete three against three. The winners will hold a decisive match, or decide among themselves who joins the team.
"A class may also challenge an older year. In the event of victory, you claim their ticket. However, in the interest of fairness, older years may not challenge younger ones.
"In other words — first your class will hold internal qualifying matches. The qualifiers will be team-based, three per team. The strongest group earns the right to compete in the decisive match. Then the winners will compete among themselves for the spot. The same rule applies to all other years. After that, the Outer Court competition will be held. If you win, their quota becomes yours; if you lose, yours becomes theirs. And so on, up through the years. Understood?
"Oh — and one more thing. In the interest of fairness, when challenging older students, the number of fighters on their side is reduced to one, while yours increases by one accordingly. That is to say — if we send two people to challenge second-years, they may only field one. If we challenge third-years, they send one and we send three. And if we dare to challenge a sixth-year, you may send six against one."
This was excellent news for the entire class.
"Teacher Xiao, are the older students allowed to use their Battle Armors?" Qian Lei asked, raising his hand.
"Of course they may. There are few enough of them as it is. Besides, Battle Armor is part of their abilities. If you have Battle Armor, you are permitted to use it," said Xiao Qi.
"Now form your teams of three. Inform the class president after lessons."
"What's there to compete about?" Ding Zhouhan cut in — a student who greatly admired Lan Xuanyu. "If the class leader and Huihui just pick one more person, who could possibly beat them? I give up."
The class nodded in collective agreement. Fan Yue quietly thought to himself:
It seems Xuanyu has earned the class's unconditional trust and respect. He really is a fine leader — so it's no wonder.
Fan Yue glanced over at Lan Xuanyu, lost in thought. Then Lan Mengqin poked him in the back.
"So — do you want to take part?"
Fan Yue made no effort to hide his intentions and nodded.
"Honestly, yes. I've always wanted to see a real Spirit Beast. But it looks like no one in the class will bother to compete," he said with a note of disappointment.
Lan Mengqin simply nodded — she had a feeling Lan Xuanyu would come up with something.
With that, Xiao Qi began his lesson.
After class, Fan Yue and Liu Feng made their way to the array engraving room.
Meng Hao showed no reaction to his arrival, simply nodding. Over those eight months, Liu Feng had already begun studying fourth-rank arrays.
"If you need advice, feel free to come to me," said Liu Feng.
"Thanks," Fan Yue nodded, and immediately set to work creating a third-rank spirit item. His movements were flawlessly precise, as though he had done this thousands of times.
Liu Feng paused and watched him.
Incredible. I thought I had surpassed him, but it seems Fan Yue hasn't been idle either.
For the first time since Fan Yue had started attending, Meng Hao's eyes flickered for just a moment.
His control over spiritual and mental force is extraordinary. Nothing is wasted.
Twenty minutes later, Fan Yue completed the third-rank spirit item. When he attempted to activate it, the item vanished — and in its place on the table before Fan Yue appeared a mountain of components and a new book.
"You may move on to fourth-rank arrays," Meng Hao said briefly.
"Understood," Fan Yue nodded, and opened the book on fourth-rank arrays.
Liu Feng smiled, a surge of competitive spirit igniting within him, and he too began working with renewed intensity.
Work in the array engraving room was more alive than it had ever been that day. Only by evening did Fan Yue and Liu Feng finally finish.
Meng Hao had long since departed, leaving them alone in the room.
"We worked hard today!" said Fan Yue.
Liu Feng nodded, surveying the desks scattered with dozens of spirit items and fourth-rank spirit tools. Less than half of them had been made by Liu Feng — Fan Yue had produced everything else.
"So — how about that spar?" Fan Yue asked.
Liu Feng was about to agree when both of them received a notification from Lan Xuanyu.
[Lan Xuanyu]:Important matter to discuss — class meeting in one hour.
Liu Feng looked at Fan Yue, and they headed for the classroom.
One hour later.
All the students had gathered in the classroom, along with Teacher Xiao Qi. Lan Xuanyu stood beside the teacher's desk.
"Everyone's here," he began. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you together so urgently. This won't take long — I only need a few minutes. Teacher Xiao mentioned the Spirit Beast ceremony this morning, and we decided not to compete internally and instead challenge the older years. But when I got back, I quickly realized there was a dilemma.
"I think many of you have been thinking the same thing: who goes? The class president? Or should the stronger students be sent? Many might feel this doesn't concern them. But we are a team, and every one of you is part of it. You gave up competing among yourselves because you trust me — but if I give the spots to someone else, won't questions arise? 'Why not me?'"
These words immediately captured the students' attention. Since it hadn't been made clear earlier who would attend the ceremony, many truly hadn't thought about it.
Lan Xuanyu continued:
"After consulting with our teacher, I realized this could become our opportunity. Why does the academy hold these matches? To sharpen the competition among us. We are first-years — undoubtedly the weakest in the entire Outer Court. But what if we were able to defeat the older students? Shouldn't we be entitled to more resources from the academy?"
He paused, looking out across the whole class.
"I have a proposal. If we first-years defeat every older year in the upcoming matches, we will ask the academy to allocate additional spots for the entire class. If we lose even a single match, no one goes."
As he spoke these words, his voice was loud and commanding. The students felt him ignite their fighting spirit, while Xiao Qi merely stared with widened eyes.
Is this boy actually serious? Defeat the sixth-years? Is that even possible?
"If everyone agrees, we will petition the academy together. If not, we'll discuss the allocation again — and I'll say upfront, I don't need a spot for myself."
Fan Yue broke into a wide grin and called out loudly:
"That sounds ridiculous! But I'm in! Even if we lose, we'll show the academy that we're not ordinary students! Either we all go, or none of us do!"
His clear, carrying voice lifted the class's fighting spirit even higher, stirring everyone up further still.
"I'm in!" Qian Lei shouted, raising his hand.
One by one, every student raised their hand and cried out in unison:
"Either we all go, or none of us do!"
Xiao Qi didn't interrupt for a single moment, watching the class's unity with quiet admiration. Inwardly, he felt proud of them.
"Then it's decided. I'll write a joint letter immediately and ask everyone to sign it. Teacher Xiao — may I ask you to deliver it to the Dean?"
Xiao Qi, seeing the entire class looking at him with burning eyes, unexpectedly burst out laughing.
"Ha-ha-ha! Of course! Young people should be decisive. I'm glad with your decision. Give it everything you've got!"
"Yes!" the whole class shouted in unison.
The joint letter was written quickly and handed to Xiao Qi. The students immediately agreed among themselves — if the academy refused, none of them would go, regardless of how all the battles turned out. Either they went together, or they did not go at all. Unity mattered more than personal gain.
Xiao Qi went off to find Ying Luohun, while the class began discussing strategy and plans for the battles ahead.