The next six days at the Twilight Stable were not recorded in any official Academy history books, mostly because the history books preferred to describe Taming as a noble, elegant art form. What happened in Su Ye's courtyard was neither noble nor elegant. It was a descent into biological warfare.
The training schedule was brutal. It began at dawn with the "Wake Up Call," which consisted of Su Ye throwing a firecracker into the sleeping quarters, and ended at midnight with "Survival Meditation," which involved trying to meditate while the Obsidian Tortoise snored loudly enough to rattle teeth. But the real horror lay in the specific curriculum Su Ye had designed for each disciple. He wasn't teaching them how to overpower their opponents; he was teaching them how to make their opponents wish they had never been born.
Gao Ming was the first to break. Or rather, his Emerald Cloud Deer was.
The deer, a creature known for its gentle grace and skittish nature, was currently strapped to a wooden post while Su Ye held a basket of "Terror Berries"—a fruit known to induce mild panic attacks in herbivores.
"Eat up," Su Ye commanded, shoving a berry into the deer's mouth.
"Master!" Gao Ming protested, clutching his chest. "My Cloudchaser is a sensitive soul! You are giving him anxiety! Look at him, he's shaking!"
"Exactly," Su Ye said, feeding the deer another berry. "The Emerald Cloud Deer has a gland near its tail. When it reaches peak terror, it releases a pheromone mist designed to confuse predators so it can escape. It's a defense mechanism."
Su Ye looked at the shivering deer. "But if we feed it these berries and train it to flex its sphincter on command, that defense mechanism becomes an offense. It becomes a blinding, choking smog of pure anxiety."
Zzzzt.
"THE BOY IS A SADIST!" the Stag Ancestor bleated in Su Ye's mind. "My descendant is vibrating! He feels like he is being hunted by a pack of wolves! But... wait. The gland output is increasing. That is... impressive volume. Tell the boy to squeeze the deer's left flank. It will act as a pump!"
"Squeeze the left flank, Gao Ming," Su Ye relayed the divine wisdom. "Pump the smog."
Gao Ming, looking like he was violating every ethical code of his upbringing, squeezed the flank.
PSSSSSHHHH.
A thick, yellowish-green cloud exploded from the deer's rear, instantly enveloping the courtyard. It smelled of wet fur and existential dread. Uncle Chen, who was sweeping nearby, immediately dropped his broom and started weeping for no reason.
"Excellent," Su Ye coughed, waving the smoke away. "Now, while the opponent is crying and blinded, you kick them in the kneecap. Next!"
Lin Fan was up next. His training was less smelly but infinitely more painful to the ears.
He stood in the center of the yard, his Shadow Bat clinging to his bronze-gauntleted arm. Su Ye stood opposite him, holding a tuning fork and a pane of glass.
"The Shadow Bat uses echolocation," Su Ye explained, putting in earplugs. "Usually, it's ultrasonic—too high for humans to hear. But the Vampiric Bat Ancestor tells me that if the bat constricts its vocal cords and angles its jaw downward, it can drop the frequency into the audible range."
Su Ye struck the tuning fork. "We are looking for the Brown Note, Lin Fan. The resonant frequency of the human bowel."
Lin Fan looked horrified. "Master... surely we can just stun them?"
"Stunning takes too much Qi," Su Ye shouted over the ringing fork. "Making an Elite Disciple soil themselves in front of the entire Academy? That costs zero Qi and inflicts maximum psychological damage. Squeeze the bat!"
Lin Fan squeezed. The bat opened its mouth.
SCREEEEEEEEE!
It wasn't a roar. It was a sound like a rusty nail being dragged across a chalkboard, amplified by a megaphone. It vibrated in the fillings of everyone's teeth. The Basilisk, which was gnawing on a tire in the corner, paused and looked nauseous.
"Lower!" Su Ye commanded.
SCRAAAAAAAWK!
"Lower!"
VRRRRRRMMMMM.
A low, throbbing bass note hit the air. Suddenly, Gao Ming clutched his stomach. Uncle Chen turned green.
"Stop!" Su Ye raised a hand. "That's the one. Mark that frequency on your gauntlet. When the match starts, hit that note. If they can't clench, they can't cast spells."
Finally, there was Princess Luo Bing. Her training was the most difficult, not because of biology, but because of morality.
She stood with her Ice Phoenix, which was now sporting a patchy but healthy coat of red and blue feathers. Across from her stood a straw dummy labeled "MASTER MO."
"Hit the dummy," Su Ye ordered.
Luo Bing took a breath. "Ice Phoenix! Glacial Wing Slash!"
The Phoenix swooped down, its wings coated in frost, and slashed the dummy across the chest. It was a beautiful, noble strike.
"Fail," Su Ye said flatly. "You hit the chest armor. In a real fight, the Elite Disciples wear Spirit Armor. That attack would bounce off."
"It is a standard dueling strike!" Luo Bing argued.
"We aren't dueling, Princess. We are surviving," Su Ye walked over to the dummy. He took a piece of charcoal and drew two circles on the dummy's face (the eyes) and a circle on the dummy's crotch.
"These are the targets," Su Ye tapped the crotch circle. "The 'Soft Points.' No armor covers the eyes because they need to see. No armor covers the groin perfectly because they need to move. I want the Phoenix to use Frost Peck. A concentrated needle of ice."
Luo Bing turned scarlet. "Master! You want my Imperial Phoenix to... to peck a man in the... nether regions?"
"I want your Phoenix to disable the opponent instantly," Su Ye said. "Honor is a luxury for those who are winning. Right now, we are Class F. We are the losers. Losers don't get honor; they get results."
Zzzzt.
"TELL HER TO DO IT!" The Ice Phoenix Matriarch screeched in Su Ye's head. "I didn't survive the Era of Chaos by bowing! I survived by turning my enemies' reproductive organs into popsicles! STRIKE THE LOWER ORB!"
"The Matriarch insists," Su Ye lied smoothly. "She says it is an ancient technique called 'The Shattering of the Future Generations.'"
Luo Bing closed her eyes, swallowed her pride, and pointed at the dummy's groin.
"Ice Phoenix..." she whispered, her soul dying a little. "...Nutcracker Strike."
THWACK.
The straw dummy doubled over.
"Good," Su Ye nodded. "Now, let's combine it."
For the final three days, the Twilight Stable became a hellscape. Su Ye unleashed the Crimson Maw Basilisk—bribed with a barrel of rotten alchemy pills—to hunt the disciples.
They had to survive.
Gao Ming learned to deploy his depression-smoke the second the Basilisk lunged. Lin Fan learned to blast the brown note to disorient the beast making it pause to gag. And Luo Bing learned to have her Phoenix dive-bomb the Basilisk's eyes to buy them seconds to run.
They ran, they screamed, they cried, and they threw dirt. But by the end of the seventh day, they stopped acting like students performing a kata. They moved like a pack of desperate, cornered rats.
And in Su Ye's eyes, they were beautiful.
The morning of the Tournament of New Blood dawned bright and clear. The Great Arena of the Myriad Beast Hall was packed to the rafters. Banners waved in the wind, vendors sold roasted spirit-squid on sticks, and the VIP box was filled with the influential elite of the capital.
Master Mo sat in the front row of the instructor's box, wearing robes of gold and crimson silk. He looked radiant. Beside him sat Zhao Feng and the other members of Class A, looking like golden gods in their matching polished armor.
"Today is a good day," Mo said to his students. "The betting odds are fifty to one against the Twilight Stable. I have bet my entire quarterly bonus on a first-round knockout."
"Do not worry, Master," Zhao Feng sneered, patting the hilt of his sword. "I will not just defeat them. I will dismantle them. That stable boy will be crying before the first bell rings."
A hush fell over the crowd as the announcer's voice boomed, amplified by wind magic.
"Welcome, citizens! To the annual Rookie Tamer Clash! In the first match of the day, we have a Grudge Match! The Elite of Class A... versus the Rejects of Class F!"
The crowd cheered for Class A. Flowers were thrown. Zhao Feng waved like a celebrity.
"And now... entering from the Southern Gate... The Twilight Stable!"
The Southern Gate creaked open. There was no fanfare. No music.
Su Ye walked out first. He wasn't wearing armor. He wasn't wearing silk. He was wearing his clean, but simple, stable warden robes. He held a broom in one hand and was munching on an apple.
Behind him walked his three disciples.
The crowd gasped. Then, a ripple of confused laughter spread through the stands.
They looked ridiculous.
Gao Ming was wearing a nose plug and swimming goggles. Lin Fan was wearing heavy industrial earmuffs. And Princess Luo Bing, the flower of the empire, was wearing a grey hooded cloak pulled low over her face, looking less like a princess and more like an assassin who had lost her laundry.
"What are they wearing?" Master Mo laughed loud enough for the VIP box to hear. "Is this a swimming competition? Look at them! They are already dressed for the sewers!"
Su Ye ignored the laughter. He ignored the jeers. He walked to the center of the arena, took a bite of his apple, and looked up at the VIP box where Grand Elder Shen was watching with a stoic expression.
Su Ye bowed lazily.
"Class F is present," Su Ye announced, his voice surprisingly clear without magical amplification. "We are ready to... clean up."
The announcer coughed. "Very well! The rules are simple. Three on three. Team elimination. The match ends when all members of one team are incapacitated or surrender. BEGIN!"
A gong sounded.
Instantly, Zhao Feng and his two Class A teammates summoned their beasts.
"Rise, Steel-Claw Tiger!"
"Awaken, Armored Bear!"
"Strike, Scarlet Viper!"
Three massive, Tier-4 Spirit Beasts materialized in a flash of expensive light. They roared, shaking the ground. The aura of their combined power washed over the arena, causing the audience to cheer wildly. It was a display of pure, raw dominance.
"Charge!" Zhao Feng screamed, pointing his sword at Su Ye's team. "Crush the trash!"
The three Class A beasts lunged forward, a wall of fur, claws, and venom. It looked like an avalanche descending on three helpless children.
Master Mo leaned forward, grinning. This is it. The end.
Su Ye didn't move. He just took another bite of his apple and muttered one word.
"Now."
Gao Ming, the boy in the goggles, stepped forward. He didn't chant a spell. He didn't summon a weapon. He simply slapped the rear end of his Emerald Cloud Deer.
"Panic mode!" Gao Ming screamed.
The deer, conditioned by days of terror-berry torture, reacted instantly. It clenched its muscles and released the mother of all biological weapons.
PSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH.
A cloud of yellow-green mist exploded outward with the force of a fire hose. It wasn't just smoke; it was a concentrated aerosol of pure anxiety and skunk-like stench.
It hit the charging Class A beasts like a physical wall.
The Steel-Claw Tiger ran face-first into the cloud. It immediately stopped roaring and started sneezing violently. The Armored Bear clawed at its eyes, blinded. The Scarlet Viper recoiled, its sensitive tongue overwhelmed by the taste of fear-musk.
"What is this?!" Zhao Feng shouted, coughing as the cloud engulfed the Class A side. "Poison gas?! That's illegal!"
"It's natural musk!" Su Ye called out from the clear side of the arena. "Perfectly legal biological function!"
"Lin Fan!" Su Ye commanded. "Drop the beat!"
Lin Fan, protected by his earmuffs, stepped forward. His Shadow Bat opened its mouth.
VRRRRRRMMMMMMMMM.
The Brown Note hit the arena.
The sound was inaudible to the audience, but the vibration was undeniable. The cups in the VIP box rippled. The teeth of the spectators chattered.
But for the Class A beasts and students, who were in the direct cone of the blast, the effect was catastrophic.
The Steel-Claw Tiger's legs turned to jelly. It stumbled, looking suddenly very concerned about its digestive situation. Zhao Feng bent double, clutching his stomach, his face turning pale white. The spell he was casting fizzled out as his concentration shattered under the assault of the resonant frequency.
"I... I don't feel good," Zhao Feng's teammate whimpered, dropping his staff.
"Luo Bing!" Su Ye tossed his apple core aside. "Finish them."
The Princess threw off her grey cloak. She didn't look regal. She looked grim. Her Ice Phoenix launched from her shoulder, diving into the yellow smoke cloud.
It didn't go for a grand, sweeping attack. It flew low, weaving between the stumbling, sneezing, nauseous Class A beasts.
Peck. Peck. Peck.
Three sharp, icy strikes.
"YAAARGH!" Zhao Feng screamed, dropping his sword and clutching his groin.
"MY EYES!" The owner of the Bear howled as the Phoenix delivered a frost-peck to his eyelids.
"MY SHINS!" The Viper user went down as the Phoenix slammed a block of ice into his ankle.
In less than thirty seconds, the "Elite" team was a mess. Their beasts were sneezing and vomiting. The students were rolling on the ground in varying states of pain and humiliation.
The yellow smoke began to clear.
The audience was dead silent. The cheering had died in their throats.
Standing in the center of the carnage was Team Twilight. Gao Ming adjusted his goggles. Lin Fan patted his bat. Luo Bing recalled her Phoenix, looking slightly ashamed but undeniably victorious.
Su Ye walked over to where Zhao Feng was curled up in the fetal position.
"You called us trash," Su Ye said, his voice echoing in the silent arena. "But you forgot the first rule of the stable."
Su Ye leaned down.
"Trash gets everywhere. And it's really, really hard to clean up."
He looked up at the announcer box.
"Referee," Su Ye called out. "I believe the opposing team has... soiled themselves. Does that count as a surrender?"
The referee stared. Master Mo stared. Grand Elder Shen let out a short, sharp bark of laughter.
"Winner..." the referee's voice cracked. "Winner... The Twilight Stable!"
The silence broke. Not with cheers, but with a roar of shock and confusion. The impossible had happened. The worst team had defeated the best, and they hadn't even used a real attack. They had used farts, noise, and cheap shots.
As Su Ye led his team out of the arena, ignoring the stunned looks, he felt a vibration in his mind.
Zzzzt.
"HAH!" The Lion Emperor roared. "DID YOU SEE THAT TIGER'S FACE? IT LOOKED LIKE IT ATE A LEMON! GLORIOUS! ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS!"
"Inelegant," the Tortoise Ancestor grumbled. "But effective. Now go get me a snack. Watching that made me hungry."
Su Ye smiled. Phase one was complete. He had saved the stable. He had humiliated his enemies.
But as he looked at Master Mo, who was currently destroying his own chair in a fit of rage, Su Ye knew this was just the beginning. The dirty fighting had won the skirmish, but the war for the soul of the Academy had just begun.
And Su Ye had plenty more trash where that came from.