The late afternoon sun continued its descent, casting a warm, golden-orange glow over the area.
Zhang Yue pushed herself up from the grass, dusting off her clothes.
"Well, Xiao Ning, I must cut our time short today," Zhang Yue said, stretching her arms elegantly above her head. "I just received a spiritual transmission. The Core Elders are convening an immediate, emergency discussion in the grand hall as we speak. They seem quite panicked."
She tilted her head, her amethyst eyes glinting with a teasing, knowing light. "Apparently, a sudden, violent 'storm' swept through the auxiliary arena today and completely shattered a few established boundaries. I wonder who could have possibly caused such a massive headache for the academy administration?"
Yoriichi met her gaze, his expression remaining perfectly stoic. He completely understood the hint regarding his brief, explosive clash. He offered a slight, acknowledging nod.
Zhang Yue chuckled, stepping away from the oak tree. "Try not to break any more students before I visit again."
With a sudden, explosive burst of physical power, she leaped high into the evening sky. "Farewell, Xiao Ning!" she called out, waving her hand.
However, as Yoriichi watched her depart, what happened next was entirely outside of standard martial logic. Instead of manifesting the condensed Dou Qi wings typical of a Dou Wang or Dou Huang to take flight, Zhang Yue simply stepped onto the empty space. Faint, almost invisible ripples appeared in the air beneath her boots. With a casual, breathtaking grace, she began walking across the open sky at a terrifying, blurring speed, heading in the direction of the central administrative towers.
Yoriichi's eyes perked up, a rare flicker of genuine surprise crossing his features.
'Walking upon the void without condensing Dou Qi wings... that is the absolute hallmark of the Dou Zong realm,' Yoriichi noted internally, watching her violet silhouette vanish into the distance. 'Yet she masks her aura perfectly to appear only as a Dou Huang. She is truly a mysterious woman.'
Pushing the revelation of the Combat Head's true strength to the back of his mind, Yoriichi turned and walked into his traditional wooden house.
He moved to his meditation room and pulled out the large, intricately detailed topological map he had recently received in the unmarked, iron chest—a silent gift from the academy's upper echelons. He unrolled the thick parchment over the wooden table, securing the corners with smooth river stones.
He needed to plan his next move.
'The spar confirmed my hypothesis,' Yoriichi thought, his eyes tracing the ink lines denoting the academy's boundaries. 'The inner safe zones are entirely insufficient. The ambient worldly energy is dense, but the lack of true, life-or-death pressure is stunting my elemental synthesis. I need the crucible.'
His finger traced past the heavily patrolled borders of Jia Nan City, moving outward into the sprawling, darkened areas of the map labeled as the 'Buffer Zone'—and beyond that, the lawless, blood-soaked expanse of the Black-Corner Region.
He found a specific topological scar on the map. It was a massive, deep geological fault line bordered by towering ancient forests, labeled the Abyssal Trench of Ten Thousand Trees. It was known to be infested with high-tier Rank 2 and lethal Rank 3 magical beasts, alongside ruthless mercenary bands scavenging for rare herbs.
'It is the perfect environment for absolute tempering,' Yoriichi concluded.
However, before he embarked on his solitary journey into the deep wilderness, he had one final responsibility to fulfill. He needed to ensure his sister was capable of surviving without his constant supervision.
When Xiao Yu returned from her evening classes, Yoriichi presented his plan. They would take a joint excursion into the outer edges of the Abyssal Trench. It would be her final, brutal exam under his tutelage.
A week slipped by, the days blurring into a continuous, exhausting cycle of survival and combat.
Far beyond the comforting, heavily guarded walls of the Jia Nan Academy, the environment was unforgiving. The Abyssal Trench of Ten Thousand Trees was not a place for students; it was a hunting ground. The towering, ancient trees blocked out most of the sunlight, casting the trench into a permanent, eerie twilight. A faint, greenish miasma clung to the damp forest floor, smelling of rot and ancient moss.
Yoriichi walked with soundless, measured steps, his dark robes blending perfectly into the shadows. His right hand rested lightly on the hilt of his weapon.
A few paces behind him walked Xiao Yu.
She looked vastly different from the pristine, slightly arrogant girl who had arrived at the academy two months ago. Her azure robe was torn in several places, stained with dirt, dried sap, and the dark blood of various magical beasts. Her hair was tied tightly back, and a few shallow scratches marked her pale cheeks.
But her eyes were brilliant. They burned with a fierce, tempered focus.
Over the past few days, they had fought constantly. The trench was teeming with predators. They had encountered packs of Rank 1 Blood-Eyed Hyenas, heavily armored Rank 2 Iron-Hide Rhinos, and venomous Viper-Cats that dropped silently from the canopy.
Yoriichi had barely drawn his blade. He forced Xiao Yu to take the vanguard.
"Fix your breathing," Yoriichi's calm voice cut through the heavy silence of the trench. "Your exhalations are too shallow. You are letting the ambient miasma restrict your lung capacity."
Xiao Yu instantly complied. She forced her diaphragm down, drawing a massive, pressurized breath of the damp air, channeling her Dou Qi to filter out the faint toxins.
Hssshhh...
"Better," Yoriichi nodded, not looking back. "We have been moving for six hours since our last skirmish with the Thorn-Tiger. Your Dou Qi reserves are currently at thirty percent. In this environment, anything below fifty percent is a death sentence. We will find a place to rest."
"Understood," Xiao Yu replied, her voice slightly hoarse but unwavering.
She gripped her coiled azure whip tightly. Just an hour ago, she had single-handedly decapitated a Rank 2 Venomous Thorn-Tiger using the Second Form: Water Wheel. The sheer kinetic force of her attack had shattered the beast's skull, but the frantic, high-speed combat had drained her significantly. She was learning the harsh reality of real-world combat: it wasn't about flashy moves; it was about stamina, precision, and absolute ruthlessness.
Yoriichi's Transparent World vision swept the dense forest ahead. He saw through the massive tree trunks and thick foliage, seeking a break in the terrain.
"This way," he instructed, veering slightly to the left, navigating through a dense thicket of razor-ferns.
After another ten minutes of cautious hiking, the oppressive, rotting smell of the forest began to fade, replaced by the crisp, refreshing scent of highly oxygenated air and fresh water. The sound of a rushing current echoed through the trees.
They pushed through a final wall of thick vines and stepped into a hidden oasis.
It was a stunning, secluded cove carved into the side of the trench. A majestic waterfall, glowing slightly with a natural, silver luminescence, cascaded down a sheer rock face from a hundred feet above. The water crashed into a deep, crystal-clear pool below. The sheer kinetic force of the waterfall created a constant, cool mist that actively repelled the forest's miasma, making it a rare, perfect safe zone.
"The Silver Veil Falls," Yoriichi murmured, cross-referencing the location with his mental map. "The perimeter is clear. There are no beasts within a two-mile radius. We will rest here."
Xiao Yu let out a long, heavy sigh of relief, her tensed shoulders finally dropping. She unhooked her whip and practically collapsed onto a smooth, sun-warmed boulder near the edge of the pool.
"I thought my legs were going to snap," she groaned, rubbing her calves.
Yoriichi walked to the edge of the water. He knelt down, cupping the freezing, crystal-clear liquid in his hands, and splashed it over his face, washing away the dust and sweat of the trek.