Deep in the Back Mountains of Jia Nan Academy
An old man and a young man stood side by side on a cliff's edge. The elder's face was calm and composed, while the youth's handsome features carried a faint air of solemn authority.
"This is the sealed entrance to Thunderfall Valley?" Xiao Bai surveyed the surroundings. Unlike the lush greenery in the distance, this area, spanning several kilometers, was barren. Even the cliff walls lacked a single trace of green.
The landscape was strewn with jagged rocks and exposed stone, marked by faint scars—traces Xiao Bai recognized as the aftermath of lightning strikes. Worn by countless years, these marks had faded, and no thunderbolts were visible.
Yet he could sense a subtle thunder-attribute energy permeating the ground, rendering it lifeless.
"Indeed, this is the outermost edge of Thunderfall Valley," Su Qian confirmed, his gaze sweeping the area. "Those marks were caused by stray lightning escaping the valley before it was sealed."
"Impressive," Xiao Bai said, nodding, a glint of excitement in his eyes. "Even the stray bolts left such devastation."
"Are you certain you want to enter?" Su Qian turned to him, his expression grave. "Some areas in there require even me to tread carefully. One misstep, and injury is likely. Think it over."
The Grand Elder didn't want Xiao Bai to go. But the young man had declared that if he couldn't enter, he'd leave Jia Nan Academy.
That nearly gave the elders heart attacks. A sixth-grade alchemist, one of their own, threatening to walk away? Unacceptable! They'd almost swarmed him, tempted to lock him in a dark room to refine pills.
"You're young, with extraordinary talent. Reaching Dou Huang is only a matter of time. Why rush?" Su Qian's aged eyes held confusion about Xiao Bai's urgency.
"If you agree to take an elder position at Jia Nan Academy, all our resources will be at your disposal. Wait a few years, break through to Dou Huang, then enter to cultivate. Wouldn't that be better?"
He saw great potential in Xiao Bai—a sixth-grade alchemist at such a young age, with rare cultivation talent. He hoped Xiao Bai would stay.
"It's because I'm young that I need to seize every moment," Xiao Bai said with a playful grin. "If I grow old and regret not striving in my youth, wouldn't that be a shame?"
Though his tone was light, his eyes burned with resolve, and he shook his head.
Wait a few years? Xiao Yan's cultivation speed defies reason. If I play it safe, I won't even catch his dust! Besides, Jia Nan Academy wasn't a place to hunker down. He had a piece of the Tuoshe Ancient Jade, but who knew if the Void Swallowing Flame might suddenly recall the Ancient Emperor's Mansion's location?
If Hun Tian Di descended on the academy with a world-leveling strike, it'd be game over. Who could afford to wait?
"Fine," Su Qian sighed, waving a hand, seeing Xiao Bai's mind was made up. "Since you're set on going, I won't argue further."
His palm flipped, revealing a shimmering jade slip. "Take this. If you can't hold out, crush it, and I'll sense it and pull you out."
"Of course, if you endure and finish cultivating, place it on the barrier to open the spatial gate."
"Thank you, Grand Elder." Xiao Bai bowed, accepting the slip.
Seeing him stow it, Su Qian nodded, then extended his hands, forming intricate seals. A strange ripple spread, and the space before them wavered, forming a two-meter-tall transparent portal adorned with faint, complex patterns.
A deafening roar of thunder erupted, and through the forming portal, flashes of lightning illuminated Xiao Bai's eyes.
His four thunder seeds stirred, as if waking from slumber, pulsing with a hungry desire to devour, growing restless.
A faint rumble of thunder echoed from his body.
As Xiao Bai suppressed the seeds' agitation, his sleeve rustled. The little golden dragon, eyes still closed, perked its ears, its nose twitching as if sniffing something.
Su Qian, stabilizing the portal, glanced at Xiao Bai with surprise. He didn't know why these disturbances arose, but the fleeting fluctuations felt extraordinary.
Resonating before the portal's fully formed? No wonder he was so eager to come here. He's hiding secrets.
Now that I think about it, his goal in coming to Jia Nan Academy seems clear—Thunderfall Valley, not the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower.
Could he be connected to the Dean?
Su Qian mused while maintaining the seals. Did he suspect Xiao Bai? Of course.
An eighteen-year-old sixth-grade alchemist and cultivation prodigy appearing at Jia Nan Academy with a spotless background? Too perfect. To think the academy, standing firm in the treacherous Black-Corner Region for centuries, wouldn't be wary was naive.
But Xiao Bai had passed every legitimate process. His actions in the Outer Court, including his treatment of Ruo Lin, were observed, showing no malice toward the academy.
Probing conversations and insights from Elders Qian and Bai suggested he had no ulterior motives regarding the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower.
Thus, Su Qian's fondness for talent led him to invite Xiao Bai to stay as an elder.
Yet Xiao Bai seemed obsessed with advancing his cultivation, urgently so. Upon hearing of Thunderfall Valley, he insisted on coming, postponing all else until after his seclusion.
Hence, this moment.
A tremor shook the portal, thunder booming as a sharp bolt shot out.
Bang!
An energy whip clashed with the bolt, dispersing it with a loud crash.
"It's ready. Go," Su Qian said calmly, retracting his hand and turning to Xiao Bai.
"Thank you, Grand Elder." Xiao Bai stood before the portal, taking a deep breath, invigorated by the dense thunder-attribute energy emanating from it.
"Be careful. If things go wrong, crush the jade slip," Su Qian urged earnestly.
"Got it." Xiao Bai smiled at him, then turned to the lightning-flickering portal.
His smile faded, his expression steadying. He stepped through.
Watching Xiao Bai vanish, Su Qian waited a moment longer, ensuring no issues arose. With a wave, the portal dissolved into ripples, fading away.
"May you achieve your goal and gain something," Su Qian murmured, his figure vanishing, leaving only his aged voice lingering in the restored silence.
___
Thunderfall Valley
Oppressive. Overwhelmingly so.
The sky's heavy, dark clouds seemed close enough to touch.
Xiao Bai stood before a vast valley, looking up. Lightning snaked through the clouds, silver serpents dancing wildly.
Thunder pillars struck the valley intermittently, their deafening roars echoing as powerful currents roamed, leaving trails of electric arcs.
The valley's stone walls stretched upward, their tops obscured by the thick clouds, as if the heavens might collapse into the chasm.
"Such dense thunder energy!" A golden dragon head poked from Xiao Bai's sleeve, its childish voice exclaiming in awe.
With a flash of gold, it swallowed an incoming bolt.
"Haha, my lord, this dragon loves this place!" Grinning ear to ear after devouring the bowl-thick size bolt, the little golden dragon flicked its tail, hovering before Xiao Bai.
Before Xiao Bai could respond, his thunder seeds, like kids craving snacks, stirred restlessly.
Releasing his suppression, four glowing orbs of different colors shot out, circling him briefly before soaring into the clouds.
"Little Yi!" The dragon's face lit up, ignoring Xiao Bai and chasing after them.
In moments, the colorful figures vanished into the cloud layer.
… Xiao Bai stood speechless.
Ungrateful little brats, forgetting their master the moment they find food!
Here, he couldn't charge in recklessly like them. As thunder beings, they thrived in this environment, immune to harm.
But he, with a mortal body and no thunder seeds to shield him, had to be cautious, especially at six-star Dou Ling.
Surveying the valley, he gauged the intensity of the falling bolts. "As the Grand Elder said, even the weakest here rivals a peak Dou Wang's strike."
Xiao Bai carefully avoided the densest lightning zones, settling at a corner outside the valley where the cliff wall dipped inward. Sitting cross-legged, he noted the wall, eroded by constant lightning, had assimilated thunder attributes, making it resistant to collapsing under stray bolts.
He only needed to watch for occasional sparks from the valley's larger pillars. Even a wisp carried enough power to trouble him now.
With his soul realm, he could sense them in advance, minimizing risk.
Entering the valley itself? Out of the question at his current strength. A soul probe earlier revealed that even a Dou Huang risked perishing inside. One or two bolts might be manageable, but not relentless barrages in an environment scarce of other energies, where a Dou Huang's Dou Qi would deplete.
"I'll cultivate here until I reach Dou Wang. With this dense thunder energy, it won't take long to meet the fifth thunder seed," Xiao Bai said, closing his eyes and activating his cultivation technique.
He'd long anticipated gathering all five elemental thunder seeds. In any cultivation system, uniting the five elements represented the pinnacle of truth and law.
___
Inner Court, Eastern Pavilion
"Yue'er, come with me!" A spirited woman in a goose-yellow dress, her brows slanting upward with a heroic air, burst through a room's door.
"Mulan, can't you knock first?" A cool, exasperated voice replied from within.
"Hehe, don't sweat the small stuff!" Mulan waved dismissively, her eyes darting.
"When will you tame that reckless streak?" The room's occupant stepped out, chiding gently.
She wore a silver robe, tall and slender, with a delicate, beautiful face and fair skin. Her most striking feature was her waist-length, rare silver hair.
Paired with her silver dress, she exuded an icy elegance, her aura untouchable, like a figure to be admired from afar.
"Alright, I'll be more careful next time!" Mulan grinned, linking arms with the silver-haired woman. "Come on, let's go!"
"Where?" the silver-haired woman asked, curious.
"Purple Sky's recruiting!"
"Purple Sky? The faction started by that sixth-grade alchemist freshman?"
"Yep!" Mulan nodded, tugging her along. "Hurry, or we'll be late!"
But the silver-haired woman didn't budge, giving her a puzzled look.
"Didn't you want to start 'Moon Spirit' with me? Switching sides already?" she asked, exasperated.
"Sigh, Moon Spirit's probably a pipe dream now," Mulan said, slumping onto a chair by the table, deflated.
"Why?"
"It's that Xiao Bai guy. Word around the Inner Court is he's a ladies' man, and tons of female students are flocking to him!"
… The silver-haired woman was speechless. After a moment, she glared at Mulan. "And you're rushing to join the crowd?"
"No choice! A sixth-grade alchemist is just too tempting!" Mulan sighed.
… The silver-haired woman wanted to throttle her. What kind of best friend drags me into this?
___
Freshman Area, New Pavilion
Bang!
Xun'er sat at the head of a table, slamming her hand down, her eyes blazing.
"Who spread this rumor?"
"No way to trace it. It started in the Outer Court," Mu Chuan said, shaking his head with a wry smile.
"Someone's jealous of Purple Sky's rise but doesn't dare confront us openly, so they're resorting to dirty tricks," Lin Yan said after a moment's thought.
"Um, Xun'er, what about the female students crowding outside?" Xu Su asked cautiously.
"Stick to the requirements," Xun'er said, waving a hand. "We're taking ten Dou Lings, male or female, based purely on merit."
"Got it." The group nodded, dispersing as the meeting ended.
"Xun'er, it's not a big deal. Xiao Bai wouldn't care—why get upset?" Xiao Yi Xian said, chuckling softly.
"Sigh, Xian'er, you've got a tough road ahead," Xun'er said, her tone heavy with meaning.