After repeated sparring sessions, the thick, solid walls of Ye Xuan's Profound Veins finally began to loosen, but he was still just a hair's breadth away from a complete breakthrough.
'Looks like this isn't enough stimulation.'
Ye Xuan stared at Feng Rouyi, deliberately pursing his lips and muttering under his breath, "The top student of the intermediate class... is this all the strength she has?"
Though he spoke quietly, his words fell right into Feng Rouyi's ears.
"What did you say?"
Feng Rouyi's beautiful eyes shot him a glare. 'I'm the top student in the intermediate class. Since when does a beginner-class student get to look down on me?'
Yet, she couldn't fly into a rage. It was true that Ye Xuan had held on for this long under her assault.
'If I don't teach him a lesson, does he really think I can't take him down?'
Feng Rouyi's gaze turned cold, and her pupils suddenly blazed a fiery red. A faint, scorching heat radiated from her body. Her palms shot forward like meteors streaking through the sky. She was now ready to teach Ye Xuan a lesson he would never forget.
'Huh, it's the power of a Martial Soul.'
How could Ye Xuan not see that Feng Rouyi was genuinely angry now? Her Profound Qi carried a trace of heat. 'Looks like her Martial Soul is some kind of Fire Element type.'
Normally, a Martial Soul awakens when a Martial Artist is around ten years old. But to truly manifest its power outside the body, one must first break through to become a Tier One Warrior. However, a Martial Artist at the Six Vein Realm could already draw upon a small portion of their Martial Soul's power.
By channeling the power of her Martial Soul, the might of Feng Rouyi's palm strike at least doubled.
Instructor Luo Zhan, who had been watching them intently, shot to his feet again. Feng Rouyi had actually channeled the power of her Martial Soul! He just hoped she wouldn't accidentally kill Ye Xuan with that strike.
BAM!
A torrent of fiery Profound Qi surged into Ye Xuan's body.
'Perfect timing.'
Far from being alarmed, Ye Xuan was overjoyed. He immediately guided this surge of Profound Qi to assault the barrier of his third Profound Vein, while simultaneously circulating his own Profound Qi at top speed.
POP!
The rock-solid barrier of his third Profound Vein finally crumbled under the impact. A torrent of Profound Qi flowed like water into Ye Xuan's now-open third Profound Vein.
'Haha, I've broken through to the Three Veins realm!'
Ye Xuan grinned from ear to ear. 'If I had cultivated on my own, it would have taken at least two or three more days to break through. This just saved me a ton of time.'
Feng Rouyi felt a sudden fluctuation of Profound Qi from within Ye Xuan's body and was left completely stunned, frozen in place.
'He... he actually used my attack to break through!'
The shock Ye Xuan gave her at this moment was like an earthquake or a tsunami—utterly overwhelming and impossible to conceal.
Equally shocked was Instructor Luo Zhan, who had been watching intently. His eyes bulged, and his jaw dropped wide enough to fit an egg.
The subtle fluctuation of Profound Qi might have fooled others, but it couldn't escape the senses of a late-stage Tier Two Martial Artist like him.
'Holy shit, a breakthrough during a sparring match? Is this kid even human? Wasn't Ye Xuan supposed to be a good-for-nothing who'd only opened one vein? That aura just now was definitely that of a Three Veins Martial Artist.'
Ye Xuan had given him more shocks today than all the other students combined had in an entire year.
Sensing Feng Rouyi's astonished gaze, Ye Xuan rubbed his nose.
Since she had done him such a big favor, he felt it would be rude not to reciprocate. 'If word got out that I, a former Tier Eight Martial Emperor, bullied a little girl, how embarrassing would that be?'
'Oh well. Seeing as she's only a step away from the Seven Vein Realm, I might as well be a good guy and help her out.'
With a faint smile, Ye Xuan didn't pause after his breakthrough. His fists turned to palms as he suddenly lunged forward.
The technique was the very same "Eagle Pouncing on Rabbit" that Feng Rouyi had just used. However, compared to her version, his not only lacked momentum but also seemed to have no follow-through, as if performed by a complete novice.
But to Feng Rouyi's eyes, her red pupils suddenly went wide. This "Eagle Pouncing on Rabbit" looked weak, yet it carried an unpredictable quality, giving her the illusion that it was impossible to block.
'Perfect Level "Eagle Pouncing on Rabbit"!'
A storm raged in Feng Rouyi's heart. Her "Eagle Pouncing on Rabbit," while ferocious, was only at the mastery level. All this time, she had been unable to reach the Perfect Level. Now, seeing Ye Xuan execute it, inspiration struck.
'No wonder my "Eagle Pouncing on Rabbit" could never reach perfection! When an eagle hunts, in addition to its straightforward ferocity, it needs an element of flexibility. After all, even a cornered rabbit can kick a hawk to death. A Martial Artist's attack can't be all about ferocious power; you must leave some strength in reserve.'
'Is he trying to repay me for helping him break through? Who does he think he is?'
Feng Rouyi bit her red lip. There was no time for her to think. Unavoidable, she could only swing her arms out to block Ye Xuan's attack head-on.
BAM!
Their palms met. Two streams of Profound Qi collided in mid-air, churning violently.
With a slight tremor of his hands, Ye Xuan easily shattered Feng Rouyi's Six Veins Profound Qi. At the same time, the Profound Qi from his Three Veins, like a fine needle, shot from his palm into hers, piercing into her Profound Veins.
Feng Rouyi's body trembled. She felt her Profound Qi being completely neutralized before it could even invade Ye Xuan's body. Simultaneously, a condensed stream of Profound Qi rebounded into her, causing her own Profound Qi to accelerate wildly. To her utter shock, driven by this external force, all the Profound Qi within her six open Profound Veins surged uncontrollably toward the barrier of her seventh Profound Vein.
She had assaulted the barrier of this seventh Profound Vein countless times before, all to no avail. But incredibly, Ye Xuan's stream of Profound Qi seemed to possess some kind of Magic Power. It enveloped all of her Six Veins of True Qi and slammed viciously against the solid barrier, actually creating a tiny crack.
Feng Rouyi was overcome with a mixture of shock and delight. She frantically urged all the Profound Qi in her body forward. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! The fissure gradually widened. Her face flushed red as the seventh Profound Vein, which she had been unable to breach before, finally crumbled.
'I broke through!'
She stared at Ye Xuan, her red eyes wide. It was the first time Feng Rouyi had ever truly looked at a boy so intently: his handsome face, his straight and tall figure, the corners of his lips curled in a faint, roguish smile, and those confident eyes. The image of this dashing young man was deeply seared into her soul.
'A breakthrough in the middle of a fight, a Perfect Level technique, a mysterious and powerful method of manipulating Profound Qi... this student, who the entire academy called a waste, who could possibly know how truly powerful he is?'
If it weren't for this sparring match, Feng Rouyi was certain her path would never have crossed with his. Now, however, she felt incredibly fortunate—fortunate for Instructor Luo Zhan's arrangement.
Without Ye Xuan, she would have eventually broken through to the Seven Vein Realm, but she had no idea when that would have been. 'Ten days? Half a month? A month?' She didn't know.
In a corner of the training room, Instructor Luo Zhan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. His expression was slack-jawed, completely unable to convey the shock he felt inside.
'Profound Qi Stimulation... could it be Profound Qi Stimulation? What kind of monster is this Ye Xuan? No, it can't be real. What I just saw wasn't real. It must have been a coincidence. Yes, definitely a coincidence.'
Luo Zhan didn't even know how to describe his feelings right now. First Ye Xuan broke through, and now Feng Rouyi had also broken through to the Seven Veins. And there was even a faint trace of Ye Xuan's Profound Qi involved in her breakthrough. It made Luo Zhan completely distrust his own senses.
As a late-stage Tier Two Martial Artist, Luo Zhan had once heard his commanding general say that a true top-tier expert could use their own Profound Qi to trigger a breakthrough in a lower-level Martial Artist. This process was called "Profound Qi Stimulation." But as far as Luo Zhan knew, only powerhouses at the level of a Tier Six Martial Venerable could accomplish such a feat. You might not even be able to find a single person like that in the entire Liuyun Kingdom.
'Perhaps it really was just a coincidence. Leaving aside whether he even has such an ability, with his cultivation at the Three Veins realm, it's simply impossible for him to trigger a breakthrough for Feng Rouyi, who was at the Six Vein Realm.'
Even having seen it with his own eyes, Luo Zhan was unwilling to believe it. He could only chalk it up to coincidence.
But even so, Luo Zhan was uncontrollably excited. A breakthrough during a sparring match, a Perfect Level technique, a physique comparable to a Tier One Warrior... all of it pointed to one thing: Ye Xuan was a genius the likes of which he had never even heard of.
'That little rascal... everyone said Ye Xuan was a waste. You really can't believe rumors. But I've been his instructor for two years now; how did I never notice he was a genius?' Recalling Ye Xuan's past, Luo Zhan was thoroughly bewildered.
In the past, Ye Xuan had always acted dazed during every training session, as if he were half-asleep. Luo Zhan had heard his story, so he hadn't pushed him too hard. Thinking about it now, Ye Xuan's former sleepiness was clearly a sign of utter dejection. 'Kids these days are so proud. Being called a waste day in and day out, how could he not become rebellious? Especially a genius like him. That must be why he had no motivation to practice.'
It seemed Ye Xuan must have received some kind of motivation and had picked up his training again.
At this thought, Luo Zhan nearly started cursing out loud. 'Those useless students and teachers at the academy, they're corrupting the next generation! They almost snuffed out a perfectly good genius! Otherwise, wouldn't our Xingxuan Academy have one more prodigy capable of entering the Profound Spirit Academy?'
'Wait... the requirement to enter the kingdom's Profound Spirit Academy is to be a Tier One Warrior under the age of sixteen. This kid is only fourteen and already at the Three Veins realm. If he really works at it, becoming a Tier One Warrior in two years isn't impossible, is it?'
Thinking of all this, Luo Zhan could hardly contain his excitement. The Profound Spirit Academy was the only advanced academy in the Liuyun Kingdom. Located in the Royal City, it recruited only the most elite geniuses in the nation. To enter it meant securing a boundless future. Unfortunately, the requirements were incredibly steep. Only one or two hundred people in the entire kingdom managed to get in each year, and Xingxuan Academy itself only sent one or two students annually. To have one more would be an incredible achievement.
Squinting at Ye Xuan's back, Luo Zhan found himself thinking that this student was more and more likable. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pure exhilaration.
A piece of gold that had been buried in the mud was finally beginning to shine, and what's more, this piece of gold was his own student. The very thought was thrilling. For a teacher, there was nothing more rewarding than seeing a student's progress.