Endless Trials.
"I forfeit."
Xu Yi shouted loudly, clutching the wound at her waist.
A white light descended, engulfing Xu Yi.
A moment later, Xu Yi's figure vanished from the grassland, leaving behind only the corpses of demonic beasts.
Appearing in the tower hall, Xu Yi did not rush to leave. Instead, she first took a pill to heal her external injuries before turning her gaze to the stone tablet and finding her name.
Xu Yi, one hundred and third place, ninety-five merit points.
Xu Yi frowned in dissatisfaction.
Even when suppressing her strength to the same level, she was still far behind the others.
This caused the slight arrogance Xu Yi felt from quickly earning merit points to quickly cool down.
However, Xu Yi was not too disappointed.
This was only her first attempt.
She still had several trump cards yet to be used. If she went all out, her ranking should have advanced by at least thirty places.
Xu Yi felt that it was better to keep a low profile and then exert her strength slowly.
Believing she had done a perfect job of keeping a low profile, Xu Yi walked out of the Endless Trials with a smile, only to be stunned by the scene before her.
More than a dozen disciples stood in front of the Endless Trials tower.
Their gazes were sharp, fixed on Xu Yi, their eyes filled with appraisal and curiosity.
Xu Yi's smile froze on her face.
What was going on?
She instinctively looked down at her clothes. Apart from being stained with blood, there was nothing improper.
Then what were they looking at?
"Junior Sister Xu, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Li Tianshun from Courtyard Forty-one, a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect."
"Greetings, Senior Brother Li."
"Junior Sister Xu, I am Jiu An from the Xuan Qing Sect. I have heard much about you."
"Greetings, Senior Brother Jiu, greetings."
"Junior Sister Xu..."
"Junior Sister Xu..."
Before Xu Yi could react, she was surrounded by the dozen people, fumbling to respond to their greetings.
At the same time, she cursed inwardly, wishing she had changed her clothes before coming out.
Her image was ruined.
Even after being rescued from the predicament by Liu Yin Xiao, the dazed Xu Yi still couldn't match the names and faces of those people.
As she wiped the blood from her face, she gratefully said, "Teacher Liu, thank you for saving me from the fire."
"Ancestor, this is what I should do."
Liu Yin Xiao replied respectfully, his demeanor rigid.
With no other outsiders present, Liu Yin Xiao was very restrained, consciously maintaining his disciple's etiquette.
"Teacher Liu, just call me by my name within Kunlun Academy."
One must abide by the rules of the place.
In Kunlun Academy, she and Liu Yin Xiao were merely in a teacher-student relationship, and there was no need to observe the etiquette of the Xuan Ji Sect.
Moreover, she was worried that Liu Yin Xiao might accidentally reveal something, causing unnecessary trouble.
Liu Yin Xiao did not object, merely nodding. He led Xu Yi to the private courtyard where he and Yu Chun Dao lived, and invited Xu Yi to be seated.
He then turned to retrieve a tea set and tea leaves from inside.
After preparing tea for Xu Yi, he sat down and exclaimed, "I have been in Kunlun Academy for a long time, yet I did not know that Master... you are skilled in the Hundred Schools of Thought. I am ashamed, ashamed."
Xu Yi, who had just picked up her teacup, almost dropped it because of his words.
"Teacher Liu, you flatter me. I merely have a slight understanding of other traditions, just a slight understanding."
Xu Yi's "slight understanding" this time was not a humble remark.
She had not entered Kunlun Academy and thought herself to be a talented individual. However, after entering Kunlun Academy, she realized that her talent was nothing special.
She had challenged many towers, but had not entered the top three in any of them. In most, she was ranked at the bottom.
Her mind was too scattered, preventing her from excelling in any particular area.
Therefore, she could not accept Liu Yin Xiao's praise.
Liu Yin Xiao's lips curved upwards, revealing a mysterious smile.
"You are too modest, Xu Yi. You are the person I have seen in my many years at Kunlun Academy who best embodies the academy's purpose."
Xu Yi's heart stirred. Liu Yin Xiao's words once again confirmed her guess.
Her fingers moved slightly, wanting to say something, but Liu Yin Xiao spoke again, cutting her off.
"Xu Yi, I have a piece of advice for you."
"Please speak," Xu Yi subconsciously adjusted her posture.
"You must break through to the Integration stage as soon as possible. Do not choose to suppress your cultivation for minor gains."
Liu Yin Xiao looked directly at Xu Yi as he said this, his eyes harboring hidden meaning.
"Suppressing cultivation? Are you implying that someone is deliberately not breaking through in order to remain in Kunlun Academy?"
Xu Yi was very surprised. Liu Yin Xiao was even more surprised.
"You don't know?"
After saying this, Liu Yin Xiao realized that these matters were originally meant to be informed to Xu Yi and the others by him and Yu Chun Dao.
However, due to the matter with Na Lan Yan and Wan Yan Xue, they could not extricate themselves and had to ask the disciples of Kunlun Academy to do it.
It seemed that the disciple who took on the task had not informed his competitors of every detail.
"Of course. Otherwise, with the standard of disciples recruited by Kunlun Academy, how could so many people still be lingering in the Soul Transformation stage?"
Liu Yin Xiao's eyebrows were gentle, but his tone carried a hint of sarcasm.
"Including your batch of disciples, Kunlun Academy has a total of one hundred and thirty-six people. Among them, there are about eighty disciples at the peak of the late Soul Transformation stage.
And among them, thirty are stuck at the peak of the late Soul Transformation stage and cannot advance further. The rest have deliberately suppressed their cultivation just to remain in Kunlun Academy."
Xu Yi looked incredulous.
The allure of Kunlun Academy was so great that these proud talents deliberately slowed their cultivation speed.
"Why would they do that?"
In Xu Yi's opinion, these actions were not worth the gain.
"You have been at Kunlun Academy for less than a month and have not yet experienced its benefits. After a year, you will know."
Liu Yin Xiao was bound by rules and could not reveal too much information.
However, his advice today was not included in that.
This was because teachers at Kunlun Academy had also said similar words to other disciples.
Disciples who heeded this advice had already left Kunlun Academy. Those who remained were naturally those who dismissed these words as nothing.
In their eyes, these people had already been eliminated, but they were blissfully unaware and still felt smug.
He could only hope that Xu Yi would not be blinded by immediate benefits like them.
When Xu Yi emerged from Liu Yin Xiao's residence, she was still contemplating his words.
She believed that Liu Yin Xiao's reminder was entirely sincere, and she also believed that other teachers had said similar things to the disciples of Kunlun Academy.
Yet, even so, a considerable number of disciples had not heeded the advice and remained.
How many more secrets did Kunlun Academy hold that she did not know?
Xu Yi walked back to Courtyard Forty-four with her mind preoccupied. Her thoughts were currently chaotic, and coupled with her unhealed injuries, it was not advisable to challenge the Ascending Heaven Tower.
Therefore, she planned to rest for a night and go tomorrow.
"Xu Yi! You've come out of the Endless Trials?"
Before she could even enter Courtyard Forty-four, Xu Yi was discovered by Xiong Zhuang Zhuang, who was stretching his muscles in the courtyard.
Xiong Zhuang Zhuang's shout drew Lu Zai Ye and Hong Jing, who were inside Courtyard Forty-four.
Xu Yi stood at the main entrance of Courtyard Forty-four and asked in surprise, "Xiong Zhuang Zhuang, how did you know too?"
Xiong Zhuang Zhuang grinned, "Xu Yi, you don't know, you're famous now in Kunlun Academy. It can be said that everyone knows you, and you are known by everyone."
Xu Yi: ...