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The other students chose their classes after about ten minutes and went to wait in the rest area.
Qing Wentian approached Qing Xuanling upon seeing her and sat beside her. "Which classes did you choose? I picked Spell Control, Qi Control, Refining… Maybe we'll run into each other in some of them."
"I'm also taking Spell Control and Qi Control." Qing Xuanling told him her selected classes. "As for the rest—I suppose we'll only see each other in that mandatory class, Battle Formations or whatever it's called."
Qing Wentian nodded and continued chatting about various topics—interesting people and the disparity between family branch members and common clan members. He never seemed to run out of conversation topics.
Once again, Qing Xuanling remembered how exhausting it was to constantly be around Qing Wentian…
She sighed and was about to tell him to be quiet—but the university staff member who'd explained the available classes suddenly arrived.
"Students! The Battle Formations instructor has arrived! Please head to the university's basement. Go down that corridor, turn left and…"
The eloquent man gave directions to the basement level. Clearly, he wouldn't be guiding them.
The students quickly stood up and followed the eloquent man's instructions. Qing Xuanling stayed at the back of the group, avoiding the crowd—while Qing Wentian hurried ahead, chatting with newly made friends…
'So sociable…'
Qing Xuanling shook her head—but felt no envy. After all, she wasn't alone. Qing Hanlin and Qing Xunwei were just a few steps behind her, also avoiding the crowd.
'…Wait, isn't that worse?'
Qing Xuanling's expression grew complex as she advanced slowly.
They didn't take long to reach the basement level.
Which turned out to be merely a vast gray room illuminated by several artifacts on the ceiling. The room was gigantic—at least several hundred meters.
And in the center of the room stood a man over two meters tall, packed with massive muscles. His clothing was tight-fitting, and his dull yellow hair was abundant—flowing wildly down his back.
It resembled a lion's mane.
All the students swallowed hard. The man's aura was intense and savage. No one stepped forward for a moment, hesitating about what to do or say. This pause stretched for several seconds—until Qing Muyu and Qing Tanwei finally stepped forward.
"Pleasure to meet you, Instructor!" Qing Muyu raised his hand with a smile—apparently unbothered by the lion-man's aura. "May we approach?"
Qing Tanwei continued with a serene smile. "Or perhaps the instructor prefers we remain here?"
Everyone looked at them gratefully. Their positions as the elder siblings of this university were now fully consolidated.
Qing Xuanling glanced sideways at Qing Hanlin and Qing Xunwei—but neither showed any reaction. The former seemed sleepwalking, while the latter was playing with her hair—crafting a mustache…
She silently distanced herself from those two…
The man in the center of the room smiled upon seeing two students step forward.
"Good, good—at least two of you have some backbone! I was about to beat the crap out of all of you if nobody did anything!" The man laughed thunderously. "Everyone—come closer. I'll introduce myself first!"
Everyone shivered at the instructor's words—and without hesitation, approached. Who knew if the mountain of muscle would strike them for delaying…
The man nodded satisfactorily upon seeing everyone seated before him. "Alright—I'm not good with fancy or elegant words, so I'll keep it simple. I am Qing Rufeng—the seventh elder of the Qing Clan! Some of you may know me, others not—but that doesn't matter in my class!"
Qing Rufeng's gaze swept over certain students—like Qing Muyu and twins, along with several others who appeared to come from family branches.
"I say this just in case—since our Qing Clan doesn't usually produce this kind of trash—but family branch members and common clan members hold equal status here and throughout the entire clan! I don't want to see any spoiled brats treating others arrogantly—or I'll personally beat them senseless!"
Qing Rufeng's eyes gleamed with excitement as he smiled. "I see some youths from the seventh family branch here—so you should know my fondness for punishing arrogant flies! So unless you want to entertain me a bit—don't let me catch you acting like arrogant shit!"
Some youths trembled under his gaze—primarily family branch members.
Qing Xuanling recognized them. They were mostly a small group of arrogantly appearing individuals who hadn't integrated with the rest. She regarded Qing Rufeng with slight admiration. Though the elder seemed somewhat crude—he'd noticed a problem that hadn't even begun yet.
The proportion of family branch members in the group was two-thirds. The remaining third were common clan members. Most had occupied low numerical positions—provoking disdain from some family branch members.
Though they hadn't done anything yet, Qing Xuanling could recognize the pattern of youths eager to demonstrate their power and status. If not corrected immediately, it could cause problems later.
Fortunately, Elder Rufeng seemed quite good at correcting bad behavior. She couldn't help but smirk ironically at his hands—which were larger than her head…
Qing Rufeng saw everyone understood and nodded. "For now I see you've grasped it—so let's begin the real class. Brats—who here knows what a battle formation is?"
Contrary to Qing Xuanling's expectations, no one immediately raised their hand despite it being a fairly simple question. She tilted her head and somewhat perplexedly raised her hand. Though she disliked crowds—she was a model student.
Not for nothing did she frequently visit the clan library just to read common books from the first and second floors. She was an avid knowledge seeker—so in her mind, fear of making mistakes didn't exist.
Because in her opinion—making mistakes was merely part of acquiring more knowledge.
"Elder Rufeng—aren't battle formations a set of group techniques where cultivators position themselves in certain place and simultaneously activate the same technique, producing the effect of two plus two equaling three? Though of course—I suppose mortal battle formations also exist, where warriors are assigned positions and tasks to form a battle system producing results beyond the norm…"
Qing Xuanling rapidly recounted several differences between cultivator and mortal battle formations—giving clear, concise examples under many surprised gazes. Even Qing Rufeng couldn't help but regard her with slight surprise.
"Quite impressive. Normally youths like you make the mistake of underestimating mortal wisdom." Qing Rufeng looked at Qing Xuanling with satisfaction. "Blinded by their supposed superiority—they fail to realize cultivators ultimately come from mortals. Many of our fundamental principles can be found in mortal techniques."
The students constantly turned their heads between Qing Rufeng and Qing Xuanling—regarding both with astonishment. First—they were surprised by Qing Xuanling's extensive knowledge of mortal techniques.
And second—they were shocked by Qing Rufeng's words. They'd never expected a revered Foundation Establishment cultivator to speak so highly of tricks used by beings who were ants beneath his power…
The expressions on the wiser students' faces changed slightly—seriously considering investigating at least a little about mortal tricks.
Qing Rufeng saw this change with pleasure—and his satisfaction with Qing Xuanling increased. He smiled and clapped—making the air tremble. "Your classmate's explanation is quite complete—so no need for me to add further explanation. Let's move to this first class's main activity!"
"We'll practice mortal battle formations!"
Everyone's eyes widened—though they'd suspected something like this might happen given the class name and Qing Xuanling's explanation—they hadn't expected it in the first class!
"Don't be surprised—this is something we'll do constantly." Qing Rufeng laughed. "Be grateful we're starting with mortal battle formations—otherwise more than one of you would end up seriously injured!"
He retrieved three books from his spatial ring and tossed them to Qing Hanlin, the Eleventh Sister, and the Twenty-Second Brother.
"I know you've given yourselves nicknames based on arrival order—so let's put that little game to use. First Brother to Tenth Brother will form one group. Eleventh Brother to Twenty-First Brother will form the second group—and the remainder will be the third group. Read the formation in the book and practice it. You have one hour."
Qing Rufeng smiled with a hint of sadism. "By the way—you'll fight each other afterward. The winner will receive a reward from this elder."
He burst into laughter at the students' stunned expressions and sat cross-legged—watching the youths hastily form groups.
Qing Xuanling gathered with her group—which clustered around Qing Hanlin, who had a somewhat lost look upon suddenly seeing the crowd around him.
"…What's happening? Did I do something?"
Qing Xunwei rolled her eyes. "Can't you see the book on your lap? Elder Rufeng wants us to practice a mortal battle formation with this group—then compete against the other two. And he'll reward the winner—so take this seriously."
"Oh…" Qing Hanlin looked at the book on his lap and closed his eyes for a moment. Suddenly, he grabbed it and tossed it to Qing Muyu. "You take it—you seem more capable of leading…"
Everyone smiled wryly at this. They'd never seen someone so lazy before…
Qing Muyu shook his head. "Since First Brother doesn't want to—I'll lead for now. Little nine—do you have any advice for us? Since you seem to know the most about mortal formations."
"Err… Sure—though first we need to see what kind of battle formation this is." Qing Xuanling took a moment to respond. She still wasn't accustomed to being called that.
The others nodded in understanding and quickly began reading the book. Qing Muyu read it aloud—finishing in five minutes.
"It's a spear-and-shield formation…" Qing Xuanling brought a hand to her chin. "One of the most commonly used mortal battle formations—since it perfectly combines offense with secure defense. The only advice I can give is we should especially focus on coordination among those holding shields."
Sixth Sister Qing Huayan slapped her palm with a fist. "Oh right—even if we don't attack well, nothing bad will happen if our defense is good! Anyway—as long as we stay standing, one of our attacks will eventually land! You're so smart, Ninth Sister!"
Qing Tanwei nodded. "You're right—at this point, our best option is focusing on improving shield-bearers' coordination… Well—we're all set! Elder Rufeng—do you have weapons prepared for us to practice with?"
"Jaja—finally someone asks!" Qing Rufeng laughed while waving his hands. Five spears and five shields flew toward Qing Xuanling's group. The other groups received five shields and six spears. "You have fifty minutes to practice! I won't give extra time even if you beg!"
All groups hurriedly grabbed spears and shields.
Qing Xuanling grabbed a spear—noting the cloth wrapped around its tip. She sighed in relief. It would've been rather uncomfortable having to stab classmates on the first day…
"How do we decide who uses what? After all—the shield-bearers' job will be heavier." Qing Wentian asked curiously. "Of course—I'm willing to use a shield. Need four more volunteers."
Qing Tanwei smiled. "I'm willing to use a shield too. I should show some bearing as Fourth Sister. The twins should also carry shields—they should have good coordination between them. And by the way—Little Nine should use a spear since she has the lowest cultivation."
"I agree." Qing Muyu nodded. "I don't think elder Rufeng wants us to dominate the opposing team with our cultivation level, so the strength requirement for those using spears shouldn't be too high. And of course, as the third brother, I will also use a shield."
Thus, shield-bearers and spear-wielders were decided. Shield-bearers: Qing Wentian, Qing Tanwei, Qing Muyu, Qing Xixi, and Qing Haha. Spear-wielders: Qing Xuanling, Qing Hanlin, Qing Xunwei, Qing Rannuan, and Qing Huayan.
They immediately began practicing.
Qing Rufeng observed everything with a smile—even reclining on the floor without caring about an elder's dignity to better enjoy the spectacle.
'Tsk, tsk—we should have listened to little Yeng when he wanted to create the university years ago! Who would've thought teaching a group of brats would be so entertaining?'
An elder's duties typically kept Qing Rufeng completely occupied—but due to recent events in the city, it was decided to allocate certain elder time for teaching.
Initially, he'd been among those showing the least enthusiasm. After all—what was fun about teaching brats?
But now, he regretted not having done it sooner.
He especially enjoyed watching family branch brats interact with members from other branches and common clan members. Normally, each family branch remained isolated from the rest—especially young prodigies.
Thus, seeing several clan geniuses interacting with each other formed an interesting vision for Qing Rufeng and the other elders.