The morning mist in Silver-Leaf City was thick and cold, clinging to the dilapidated eaves of the Celestial Path Academy. While the rest of the academy hummed with the sounds of hundreds of students practicing shouts and the rhythmic thumping of fists against wood, Classroom 104 remained an island of eerie silence.
Inside, Lin Fan stood with his hands behind his back, watching his "Disgraced Trio."
Mu Tie, the boy with the Frozen Dragon Bloodline, looked at his own hands in disbelief. The 800-Jin strength he had displayed yesterday felt like a dream, yet the lack of pain in his chest told him it was very real.
Ling'er, the scarred girl, sat cross-legged on a tattered mat. Her eyes were fixed on Lin Fan with an intensity that could melt iron. She had been cast aside by her clan, mocked for her "failed" bloodline, but the way Lin Fan had looked at her yesterday—not with pity, but with expectation—had ignited a spark in her soul.
Fatty Lu was currently trying to find a comfortable way to sit without his stomach touching the floor. He was still chewing on a piece of dried meat, looking skeptical. "Teacher, I appreciate the punch Mu Tie threw, but I've eaten ten 'Qi-Replenishing Pills' in the last month and haven't gained a single pound of muscle. Are you sure I'm not just... well, a black hole for resources?"
Lin Fan turned to them, his expression calm and scholarly. "In this world, most teachers are like blind men trying to describe an elephant. They feel the trunk and call it a snake; they feel the leg and call it a tree. They saw your 'defects' and called you trash. But they didn't see the truth."
He walked over to Fatty Lu.
"Lu Bao, you aren't wasting Qi. Your Bottomless Void Physique is a legendary constitution that appeared only three times in the last ten thousand years. Your body is like a massive, empty ocean. A few drops of water—those pills you took—won't even dampen the sand. You don't need pills; you need a flood."
Lin Fan then turned to Ling'er. "And you, Ling'er. Your clan thought you failed the 'Blaze Bloodline' because you didn't produce flames. They are idiots. A Phoenix doesn't just burn; it survives the fire. Your bloodline is the Nine-Sun Phoenix, but it was suppressed by someone using a 'Cold-Soul Needle' when you were a child. That scar on your face? It's not a wound—it's the seal that's keeping your power locked."
Ling'er's breath hitched. "A seal? Someone... someone in my clan did this to me?"
"Power breeds jealousy," Lin Fan said simply. "But today, we begin the process of breaking those seals."
The Divine Library's Evolution
As Lin Fan spoke, a notification rang out in the depths of his mind.
[Ding! Mission Accomplished: Recruit 3 Students with Hidden Bloodlines.]
[Reward: System Level Up! Level 1 → Level 2.]
[New Feature Unlocked: Bulk Scanning.]
Previous Speed: 1 Book at a time (Manual touch/sight).
Current Speed: 1 Bookshelf in 2–3 minutes.
Efficiency: Can scan a Rank-1 Library (one city) in 7–8 hours.
Lin Fan's heart leaped. Level 2 already? With bulk scanning, he wouldn't have to spend days touching every single book. He could simply walk through a library, and the Divine Library would swallow all the knowledge like a whale.
[System Note: To reach Level 3, the Host must help at least one student reach the 5th Stage of Body Tempering and Master 3 Secondary Professions.]
"Stage 5? That's quite a jump," Lin Fan mused. Most students took years to reach Stage 5. But he wasn't "most teachers."
The First Training Session
"Follow me to the back hills," Lin Fan commanded.
The back hills of the academy were rugged and filled with jagged rocks and dense thickets. It was a place usually reserved for higher-rank students to hunt low-level spirit beasts.
"Mu Tie, you will stand under the Frost-Fall Waterfall," Lin Fan pointed to a freezing cascade of water coming off the northern mountain. "Most people would die of hypothermia there. For you, it is the only place where your Frozen Dragon Bloodline can breathe. Do not resist the cold. Imagine the water is not hitting you, but entering you."
Mu Tie nodded solemnly and walked toward the freezing spray.
"Ling'er, you will sit in the Sun-Gaze Clearing," Lin Fan directed her to a flat rock that baked under the morning sun. "I have synthesized a special breathing technique for you—the 'Nine-Sun Awakening Script.' Every time the sun hits your scar, visualize the heat melting a needle made of ice."
Lastly, he looked at Fatty Lu. "Lu Bao, your training is the simplest, yet the hardest. You see those boulders? They weigh roughly 500 Jin each. You are going to carry them from the bottom of the hill to the top. When you are exhausted, you will eat. Not buns, but these."
Lin Fan handed him a small bag of Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
"Eat... stones?" Fatty Lu's eyes nearly popped out. "Teacher, I have a good appetite, but I'm pretty sure I'll break my teeth!"
"A Bottomless Void can digest anything that contains Qi," Lin Fan said firmly. "Chew them. Your stomach is the only furnace in this city capable of refining the raw energy inside a Spirit Stone."
As his students began their grueling tasks, Lin Fan sat down on a nearby rock. He didn't just watch them; he began to scan the very environment.
[Scanning: Mountain Flora... 42 types of medicinal herbs detected.]
[Scanning: Rock Formations... Weak points identified.]
He realized that to sustain his students' growth, he needed money. A lot of it. Spirit Stones were the currency of the world, and they weren't cheap.
1 Spirit Essence = 10,000 Top-Grade Stones.
1 Top-Grade = 1,000 High-Grade.
1 High-Grade = 100 Mid-Grade.
1 Mid-Grade = 10 Low-Grade.
To a teacher in a border city, even ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones were a fortune.
"If I want to be a great teacher, I need to master a profession," Lin Fan thought. "Alchemy is the most profitable. I need to scan every medical book in the academy's pharmacy."
The Interruption
Two hours into the training, the peace of the back hills was shattered.
"Well, well, if it isn't the madman and his circus!"
A group of five students, led by a tall, arrogant youth in silk robes, approached the clearing. This was Gongzi Yan, the nephew of the Academy Director and a top student of Teacher Zhao. He was already at the 4th Stage of Body Tempering, a true genius in the eyes of the city.
Gongzi Yan looked at Fatty Lu, who was currently sweating profusely while dragging a boulder. "Hey, fatty! I thought this area was for warriors, not for livestock. Why are you polluting our training grounds?"
Fatty Lu stopped, gasping for air. "We... we have as much right to be here as you."
Gongzi Yan laughed, his followers joining in. "Rights? In this world, strength is the only right. My uncle is planning to turn this back hill into a private garden for the high-rank students. Trash like you should be in the kitchens, washing dishes."
He then noticed Ling'er sitting on the rock. "And look at this one. The scarred freak. Hey, scarred girl! Why don't you cover that face? You're scaring the birds!"
Ling'er's eyes snapped open. A faint, red glow flickered behind her pupils. The "Nine-Sun Awakening Script" was already working, and her temper—always fiery—was beginning to boil.
"Leave," she said, her voice low and dangerous.
"Oh? The freak has a bite?" Gongzi Yan stepped forward, his Qi flaring. "How about I teach you some manners? Since your teacher is a failure who can't even protect his own license, I'll do the academy a favor and kick you out myself!"
He raised his hand, gathering Qi into his palm. It was the 'Tiger-Roar Palm', a technique Lin Fan had already scanned and found 34 flaws in.
"Stop," a voice rang out.
Lin Fan stood up from his rock. He walked slowly toward Gongzi Yan.
"Teacher Lin!" Gongzi Yan sneered. "Are you going to try and stop me? You're only at Stage 3. I'm at Stage 4. According to the academy rules, if a student challenges another student, a teacher cannot intervene unless it's a life-threatening situation. And believe me, I'll just bruise them... a lot."
Lin Fan smiled. It was a cold, scholarly smile. "You are right. I won't intervene. But as a teacher, I have the right to 'correct' a student's form. Gongzi Yan, your 'Tiger-Roar Palm' is pathetic. Your elbow is too high, your thumb is tucked incorrectly, and your Qi is leaking from your shoulder like a broken pipe."
Gongzi Yan's face turned purple. "You dare insult my technique? My uncle paid a 2-Star Master Teacher from the capital to teach me this!"
"Then the 2-Star teacher robbed your uncle," Lin Fan said. "Mu Tie, come here."
Mu Tie stepped out from under the waterfall. His skin was pale blue, and steam was rising from his body as his bloodline fought the cold.
"Teacher?"
"Mu Tie, Gongzi Yan thinks he is a genius. Show him what a real strike looks like. Use the 'Celestial Path Body Tempering' movement I showed you. Focus the cold into your knuckle."
"But Teacher... he is at Stage 4! I only just reached Stage 2!" Mu Tie whispered.
"In the eyes of the Divine Library, a Stage 4 with a thousand flaws is weaker than a Stage 2 with none," Lin Fan said loudly. "Punch him."
Gongzi Yan let out a roar of laughter. "A Stage 2 against me? Fine! I'll break his arm and then yours, Lin Fan!"
Gongzi Yan lunged forward, his 'Tiger-Roar Palm' creating a whistling sound in the air. To a normal person, it looked powerful. But to Lin Fan and, through his guidance, Mu Tie, it looked like a slow-motion disaster.
"Now!" Lin Fan commanded.
Mu Tie stepped inside the arc of Gongzi Yan's palm. It was a move so precise it seemed impossible. He slipped past the "Genius's" guard as if he knew exactly where the Qi was weakest.
Mu Tie's fist, glowing with a faint, icy blue light, slammed into Gongzi Yan's chest—exactly where his Qi was "leaking."
CRACK!
The sound of ribs snapping echoed through the hills.
Gongzi Yan's eyes bulged. The whistle of his palm stopped instantly. He flew backward, sliding ten meters across the dirt before hitting a tree.
"Impossible..." one of Gongzi Yan's followers whispered.
"My... my Qi... it's gone..." Gongzi Yan wheezed, clutching his chest. The icy energy from Mu Tie's fist had frozen his meridians, paralyzing his cultivation temporarily.
Lin Fan walked up to the fallen "Genius."
"Go back to your uncle," Lin Fan said, looking down at him. "Tell him that the Celestial Path Academy is under new management. And tell Teacher Zhao that if he wants to challenge my students, he should at least teach his own students how to stand properly first."
The followers scrambled to pick up Gongzi Yan and fled toward the academy buildings.
The Shadow of the Master Teacher Pavilion
As the sun began to climb higher, Lin Fan felt a strange sensation. The Divine Halos in his soul vibrated.
[Warning: A 3-Star Master Teacher's presence detected within 5 kilometers.]
Lin Fan frowned. A 3-Star Master Teacher? In a border city like this? That was unheard of. 3-Star teachers were usually advisors to Kings or heads of Great Dynasties.
"Something is happening," Lin Fan murmured.
He turned to his students. Mu Tie was shaking with excitement, Ling'er looked more determined than ever, and Fatty Lu had actually managed to chew through his first Low-Grade Spirit Stone, his eyes glowing with a strange purple light.
"Good. You have all taken your first step," Lin Fan said. "But the world is much larger than this academy. There are Sects that can level mountains, Clans with bloodlines that can control the weather, and Imperial Families that rule over millions."
He looked toward the horizon.
"Tonight, I will go to the city's Great Library. I will scan every book they have. Tomorrow, we begin your true transformation. Mu Tie, you will learn to control the frost. Ling'er, we will begin breaking your seal. Lu Bao... prepare to eat more stones."
The City Library: A Night of Scanning
Late that night, Lin Fan stood before the Silver-Leaf City Library. It was a Rank-2 building, much larger than the academy's.
Using his identity as an Academy Teacher, he was allowed entry.
[System: Bulk Scanning Initiated.]
Lin Fan walked slowly through the aisles. He didn't even have to look at the books. As he passed a shelf, sunehre scriptures (golden words) flew out of the books and into his mind, populating the Divine Library.
[Scan Complete: 500 Books on Herbology.]
[Scan Complete: 300 Books on Basic Formations.]
[Scan Complete: 1,000 Books on History and Geography.]
As he reached the deepest part of the library, the "Restricted Section," he saw a dusty, black scroll locked behind a jade casing.
[Ding! Unique Bloodline Manual Detected: 'The Song of the Ancient Phoenix'.]
[Flaws: 56. Synthesis required.]
Lin Fan's eyes lit up. This was exactly what Ling'er needed.
But as he reached out to touch the glass, a cold voice spoke from the shadows.
"That scroll has been locked for three hundred years, young man. Many have tried to read it. All of them went blind. What makes you think a mere teacher from a failing academy has the right to touch it?"
Lin Fan turned. Standing in the corner was an old man in grey robes. He had no Divine Halos visible, but the way the Qi in the room bowed toward him told Lin Fan everything he needed to know.
This was the 3-Star Master Teacher.
Lin Fan bowed slightly, his expression unchanged. "The 'Song of the Ancient Phoenix' isn't meant to be read with the eyes, Elder. It is meant to be read with the blood. And I happen to have a student whose blood is screaming for it."
The old man's eyes sharpened. "A student with Phoenix blood in this backwater city? Preposterous."
"Is it?" Lin Fan countered. "Or is it just that the 'Great Masters' of the capital have grown too comfortable in their jade palaces to notice the gold hidden in the dirt?"
The old man went silent for a long moment. Then, he chuckled. "Bold. Very bold. Tell you what, Lin Fan. If you can tell me three flaws in my own 'Grey-Cloud Cultivation' just by looking at me, I will let you take that scroll."
Lin Fan smiled. His eyes turned gold.
"Only three, Elder? I can see forty-two. But let's start with the most painful one—the blockage in your third vertebrae that prevents you from reaching the 9th Stage of the Saint Realm..."
The old man's face transformed from calm to utter shock.