The village’s revenge, Mom’s revenge… Qu Weichen lay in bed, tossing and turning.
The academy was a good place; it let her relax.
Even though it wasn’t a break from cultivation, it allowed her to forget the pain for a while.
But how could she really forget?
The next morning, Qu Weichen got up at five, went to the training field to run laps and practice stances.
After a simple meal, she set off for the academy.
[Someone’s watching you.
That person was behind you when you passed the alley, and he’s still following you now.] Number Nine reminded her.
[The one in the black vest and yellow shirt.]
Qu Weichen casually glanced back and saw the man Number Nine mentioned.
As soon as she looked, the man stopped, opened a newspaper, and leaned against the wall as if reading.
“Is he from the Prison Sanctuary?”
[Probably not, he started following you later.]
The Sanctuary Master said it was handled, so there shouldn’t be anyone else causing trouble.
And she didn’t really have any enemies… Wait, maybe she did.
She’d beaten up He Muman.
Even if the Sanctuary Master had used some kind of mind-dulling trick on them at the time, now that they’d recovered… they’d still hold a grudge.
Qu Weichen lowered her eyes.
Inside the academy, it’d be hard for them to make a move, but now they were probably tracking her usual route and timing to the Prison Sanctuary.
Next time she left campus, she might run into an ambush.
Was this He Muman’s doing? Or was General Pingyuan trying to teach her a lesson? After all, they couldn’t mess with the Sanctuary Master, but surely they could deal with a lowly student who wasn’t even a guard.
If they were careful and lured her outside the city to kill her, it probably wouldn’t cause much of a stir.
[You could go back and tell Constance about this now.
The Sanctuary Master would probably respond.] Number Nine suggested.
Qu Weichen casually threw a bad luck curse at the man following her and said in her mind, “And then what? The Sanctuary Master will assign someone to protect me 24/7? Am I supposed to stop going to class? There’s not even any evidence.
If the Prison Sanctuary makes a move, anyone planning something against me will just lay low for a while, and when things calm down, they’ll try again.”
“This is Uvino.” In the city, even if they wanted to do something, they wouldn’t dare go too far.
“I need to get better with the dagger, fast.” She hadn’t even unlocked “Dagger Mastery” yet—clearly not even one star, not activated.
No matter what, she needed to get that skill to show up, just to see what her potential with daggers was.
…
The theory class passed quietly, and Qu Weichen absorbed every bit of knowledge.
Even after lunch, she’d go to the library for half an hour before heading back to the dorm for a nap.
During the practical class, Qu Weichen had always trained with everyone else, and Teacher Xu hadn’t said anything.
This time, she brought two daggers to practice, and Teacher Xu came over.
“You’re choosing to train with daggers?”
“Yeah, they’re small, easier to infuse with qi.”
“Your qi can’t even circulate through your lower body yet, you haven’t even tempered yourself, and your movement technique can’t keep up.
Why are you training with daggers?” Teacher Xu frowned.
“You awakened as a Martial Artist at fourteen, nine stages of body tempering, now you’re at first rank.
That’s not slow compared to your peers.
No need to rush.”
“I’m already working on opening up my circulation.
Thank you for your concern, teacher.”
Teacher Xu curled his lip, not wanting to meddle too much.
He only said more because this student was always so diligent.
But now… he looked at Qu Weichen and couldn’t help but wonder if the Prison Sanctuary was putting pressure on her.
Like, if she didn’t reach third rank within a year, something would happen?
“The key to using daggers is flexibility.
Even if you want to infuse them with qi, you need to combine practice with movement techniques.” Teacher Xu spoke again, much more serious this time.
“Move.
Treat the daggers like your hands—how you throw a punch is how you strike with the daggers.
Why are you so sluggish?”
A lot of people looked over, including students from other classes, but Teacher Xu never cared about that.
Qu Weichen noticed that some people actually looked a bit envious?
“What are you all looking at? Get back to your basic training! None of you have even awakened as Martial Artists and you have time to gawk?” Teacher Xu saw some students in the class had stopped to watch him coach Qu Weichen and immediately scolded them.
The next second, all those gazes snapped back to their own training.
When Qu Weichen had ambushed He Muman’s group, she’d heard them call this guy “Old Demon Xu,” but she hadn’t thought much of it.
She just thought his speech on the first day was a bit too casual, but when he dismissed the class, he did it cleanly.
It wasn’t until today, when he focused on her training, that she understood why they called him “Old Demon.”
It was all because of how strict he was.
Teacher Xu seemed to have a compulsion about cultivation—if Qu Weichen’s movements were even a little off, he’d spot it right away.
He’d even correct how she used force with the daggers.
Of course, that was a good thing, but he wasn’t very patient, and his words were so blunt it sounded like he was tearing Qu Weichen apart.
At first, some students were stunned by the commotion, but as soon as Teacher Xu released his Martial Artist aura, they snapped out of it and didn’t dare slack off again.
You could say that for the whole afternoon, unless they were completely exhausted, not a single student in Class Seven dared to be the first to stop and rest.
Qu Weichen felt like she’d accidentally flipped some switch in this teacher, turning him from a laid-back, indifferent instructor into a strict taskmaster in an instant.
Even the students who were just doing basic training got scolded so hard they started doubting their life choices.
“Tired? How long have you even been holding that stance? She’s been training with qi the whole time and hasn’t asked for a break, but you guys who haven’t even awakened are tired from just standing?”
“What kind of stance is that? Stand up straight!”
“Aren’t you… the Martial Artist Association president’s nephew? And this is your foundation?”
“Giants are supposed to be naturally strong, and you can only make this tiny mark on the alloy? Did you skip lunch?”
“Leopardkin are famous for their speed, but you’re really something—never seen a leopardkin this slow.
Good thing you don’t have to hunt magic beasts anymore, or you’d starve to death.”
…
One line after another—almost no one escaped his tongue.
Even Tu Weierxi got scolded a couple times, but since she had a good attitude and never slacked off, and Qu Weichen kept pushing herself, Old Demon Xu actually had a decent impression of her.
When practical class finally ended, Class Seven had never been so eager to leave.
As soon as Old Demon Xu said “dismissed,” they shot out of there like a whirlwind.
Old Demon Xu watched them go and sneered: That leopardkin kid can’t run fast in class, but now he can fly, huh! He turned back to Qu Weichen.
“You, eat more meat in the cafeteria—magic beast meat is best.
Otherwise, your body won’t keep up with the training intensity you want.”
“Got it, thank you, teacher.” Qu Weichen bowed, still a bit pale.
Her qi hadn’t had a break all afternoon, and she really couldn’t handle such high-intensity, high-consumption training.
But somehow, this teacher always managed to push her right to her limit, then let her rest just enough, keeping her training at the edge of exhaustion.
It was hard to endure, but if she could stick it out and get a good night’s sleep to recover—her progress this afternoon was equal to two or three days before.
“Alright, go on.” The teacher finally dropped his stern look, smiled, and left the training field with his hands behind his back, looking very cool.
Tu Weierxi came over to support Qu Weichen.
She was tired too, but not as drained as Qu Weichen.
It wasn’t just physical and qi exhaustion—Qu Weichen’s mental strength was almost at its limit.
The only reason she made it through the first day was sheer willpower.
“Teacher Xu might be called Old Demon Xu by a lot of students, but he’s not this strict with everyone.” Tu Weierxi helped Qu Weichen rest for a bit before speaking.
“When Orifis tried to awaken as a Martial Artist, he was the one who taught her.”
“Isn’t Orifis a magic genius?” Qu Weichen wouldn’t forget that name.
She steadied her breathing, wiped her sweat, and straightened up to ask.
“Yeah, but awakening as a Martial Artist takes courage and willpower.
All you need is a five-thousand-yuan-lang awakening potion.
Most mages, once they reach a certain level, start working on their physical strength and then awaken as Martial Artists.
Of course, they might not be able to handle too much body tempering.” Tu Weierxi said.
Qu Weichen nodded.
That made sense.
When she awakened, she had nothing—no skills, no foundation—but she still awakened, didn’t she? Those with resources and talent might study magic, but who said they couldn’t awaken too? Strengthening the body helps with magic, even if they don’t walk the Martial Artist path.
Just like the Martial Artist class also teaches them some basic magic.
“So why hasn’t He Muman awakened as a Martial Artist?” Qu Weichen asked curiously.
“Isn’t she a third-year?”
“Maybe she’s afraid of pain?” Tu Weierxi shrugged.
“My friends don’t plan to use the awakening potion while at the academy either.
We live too long—no rush to use it before adulthood.
Maybe He Muman thinks the same.”
The Martial Artist awakening potion was a lifeline for Qu Weichen back then—her only way out.
But for the magic students at this academy, it was just one way to boost themselves.
Qu Weichen didn’t ask more and walked to the cafeteria with Tu Weierxi.
Magic beast meat, huh? She’d order extra.
Cultivation, training—she couldn’t relax for a second.
At night, when she was surrounded by Tu Weierxi, Orlona, Gexifei, and An Xiaonan on the field, all teaching her magic, her mind was already drifting to tomorrow’s practical class.
“BOOM—”
