Chapter Thirty-One: Hall of Cambrian

"The Deng family has been raising funds everywhere; nine times out of ten, it must be to acquire a large quantity of prime crystals," Wen Rong said. "During that period, Deng Duo-jie’s behavior was a bit odd. She used to keep a low profile, but after the Deng family gathered a fortune, she changed—arrogant, lively, always making her presence known wherever she went."

"Now that you mention it, I remember too," Shen Miao nodded. "She strutted around with her nose in the air, pointing fingers at everyone. She even tried to order me about, but I couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. At the time, I wondered what gave her such confidence. So that’s why…”

"The Dengs poured all their resources into her," Wen Rong continued. "And she successfully refined her life technique. If she had failed, it would have been a huge blow to the family, and she wouldn’t be acting so high and mighty now."

Ye Xin glanced at Wen Rong, astonished by the girl's keen insight.

Xie En fell silent for a long moment before his gaze settled on Wen Rong. Slowly, he said, "Very good, Wen Rong. You remind me of something my benefactor once told me: Strength isn’t everything; diligence and effort can make up for a lack. But some things depend entirely on talent. No wonder the deans value you so highly."

"Teacher, we have no chance of winning the flag from the First Battalion," Wen Rong said with a wry smile. "With Princess Tie Huizhen on their side, they have two warlords!"

"Don’t worry. Victory is ours," Xie En replied, grinning.

"You’re not allowed to fight, Teacher!" Shen Miao protested. "If they’ve already refined their life techniques, their primal energy is far stronger than ours, their meridians more resilient. And our Fifth Battalion is outnumbered. How could we possibly win?"

"Just trust me," Xie En waved dismissively. "Alright, go home and inform your families that we’re heading to Shuangjia Mountain. I need to report to the dean as well."

Flag-capturing was a real combat exercise, not just a game, and could easily result in casualties. Most students from the First and Fifth Battalions were from prominent families, so the academy would certainly pay close attention. Normally, a faculty member would be assigned to supervise and prevent any unpleasant incidents.

"Teacher Xie, I’m not trying to demoralize us or embolden them, but I really don’t think our Fifth Battalion can take on the First," Shao Xue called out.

"Relax, relax! Are you all fools? Don’t you want the thousand merit points being handed to you for free?" Xie En said. "Besides, I’ve never liked that old hag. Now’s my chance to teach her a lesson."

Seeing that Xie En had made up his mind, the students exchanged uneasy glances. Whether to accept challenges from other battalions was, after all, up to their teacher—and a defeat would mean punishment for Xie En by the academy.

"Teacher Xie, are you really so confident?" Wen Rong couldn’t help but ask.

"Heh… You’ll understand once you’ve won a resounding victory," Xie En said, then turned his gaze to Ye Xin. "This new student is Young Master Ye from the Ye family, isn’t he? I believe Ye Ling has only one brother. Stay behind so I can test your natural aptitude."

The students stood reluctantly and filed out of the hall. As she passed, Ye Ling whispered to Ye Xin, "Brother, just tell Teacher Xie the truth. He’s a good man—he won’t throw you out. If it weren’t for his help, I wouldn’t have made it into the academy."

"I know," Ye Xin nodded.

Soon, the students had all left the Hall of Cambrian. Ye Xin remained seated on his cushion, unmoving. Xie En approached, grinning from ear to ear, but seeing Ye Xin’s cold gaze, he sensed trouble and put on a fawning expression, bowing as he spoke, "Boss, it’s been so long! I’ve missed you terribly…"

"The Fifth Battalion can’t possibly beat the First. I told you not to accept the challenge—what were you thinking?" Ye Xin said coldly.

"Boss, you’re the one who told me to accept it!" Xie En protested.

"Didn’t you see me shaking my head?" Ye Xin retorted.

"I thought you were telling me not to be afraid!" Xie En replied.

"Nonsense!" Ye Xin was exasperated. "The Seventh Princess’s life technique is formidable, and even without Deng Duo-jie, how could these kids possibly win?"

"But we have you," Xie En said. "In my eyes, Boss, you always turn the impossible into the miraculous. Dealing with them should be child’s play for you."

"You did this on purpose," Ye Xin said flatly. "Solve your own problems. I won’t interfere."

"Come on, Boss!" Xie En pleaded. "The Hall of Cambrian isn’t just important to the students—it matters to me, too. I’m confident I can break through my bottleneck before the end of the year. I’ll be the third to advance to senior innate warrior, won’t I?"

"I told you, you’re on your own." Ye Xin stood up. "Of all these brothers, only you, Ziche Hui, and Fu Shang are troublemakers. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve wanted to wring your necks. Damn it… don’t bother me again!"

"Boss, I’ve been yours for years. You have to take responsibility for me—don’t just cast me aside!" Xie En wailed.

"Watch your mouth! If you can’t speak properly, then shut your dog’s mouth!" Ye Xin snapped.

"You think it’s been easy for me these past two years?" Xie En pressed on. "Ye Ling’s natural talent is only average. The only reason she advanced so quickly to innate warrior was because of my help! I even gave her prime stones!"

"Oh?" Ye Xin was taken aback.

"Heaven knows the pain! She thought she’d found them by luck and was so happy she danced for joy. I watched from the shadows, and it broke my heart… Using prime stones on a postnatal warrior is sheer waste, but I wanted her to break through quickly, so I had no choice," Xie En said with a pained expression.

Ye Xin frowned and fell silent. Though Xie En and his troublemaking friends were unruly, they never lied to him; no one in the Battalion of Heavenly Punishment dared deceive him.

"Besides, the Hall of Cambrian is a huge benefit for Ye Ling," Xie En continued. "She works so hard—nearly to the point of recklessness. With another year, she should be able to attempt refining her life technique. Without the Hall, it would take her at least three years to even have a chance at becoming a warlord. And that’s just a chance."

"Well, Xie En, you’ve grown clever—using just the right leverage to threaten me," Ye Xin said coolly.

"How could I dare?!" Xie En exclaimed. "I really have no other choice. Wen Rong made a costly mistake last month, and our Fifth Battalion’s merit points are now in the negative. If we don’t win these thousand points, we’ll have to give up the Hall at year’s end. Ye Ling’s been an innate warrior for less than a year. Right now, she needs to build her foundation and strengthen her meridians. Giving her more prime stones would only be counterproductive—short-term gain at the expense of long-term growth."

"How many prime stones did you give her?" Ye Xin asked.

"Two," Xie En replied.

"Go find Xiao Bai and get two more from him," Ye Xin said.

"I’m already at a bottleneck; prime stones don’t mean much to me," Xie En replied. "The Hall of Cambrian is what matters! Boss, if you activate your primal energy with all your strength, you’ll see—the Hall’s formation is far superior to that of the Sirius Legion."

Ye Xin narrowed his eyes, extended his hands, and began to channel his primal energy. Suddenly, the entire Hall of Cambrian filled with a resonant hum. Countless snowflake-shaped motes of light fell from the ceiling, seeped from the walls, and rose from beneath the floor, all drifting toward Ye Xin.

With each inhalation, thousands of snowflakes melted into his body; with each exhalation, he blew them back into the air, where they danced and swirled. His chest began to glow with golden light, and a fearsome wolf’s head slowly materialized, growing ever clearer until it seemed almost real. After a few moments, the wolf’s head shattered with a thunderous crack, exploding into countless arrows of light that shot in all directions.

"So there is something special about this place…" Ye Xin murmured. He stopped the flow of energy, and the snowflakes quickly vanished. Within seconds, the Hall of Cambrian returned to normal.

"There are only three true places of cultivation in Dragon Soaring Academy: the Hall of Ascendant Dragons, the Hall of Cambrian, and the Hall of Ingenious Arts," Xie En explained. "We can’t enter the Hall of Ascendant Dragons—it’s reserved for the deans. The Hall of Ingenious Arts can also condense primal energy, but it’s not nearly as effective as the Hall of Cambrian." He paused, then added, "Boss, have your injuries healed?"

"Not yet," Ye Xin replied. "But I can just barely manage to run the Sirius Technique."

"I knew you were unbreakable, Boss," Xie En said with a grin.

"Are there any students among yours worth noting?" Ye Xin asked. In truth, he wanted to know about Wen Rong’s progress, but didn’t wish to make it obvious.

"You mean in terms of talent and natural aptitude?" Xie En asked.

"Yes," Ye Xin nodded.

"Wen Rong has the best natural aptitude. She can withstand the impact of condensed primal energy in the Hall of Cambrian every seven days and last more than an hour at a time," Xie En replied. "Shen Miao is next; she needs about ten days to recover each time. Ye Ling is average—about fifteen days between sessions, and she can last half an hour. The weakest are three students who can’t even trigger the tidal flow of energy; the Hall does them little good."

"Wen Rong’s natural aptitude is that strong? She should already be able to go into seclusion and attempt her life technique," Ye Xin mused.

"Perhaps her family’s expectations are too high," Xie En said. "Life techniques vary in strength. For example, the Widow’s is extremely powerful, the Seventh Princess’s isn’t far behind, but Deng Duo-jie’s is only passable. If she only manages to refine one, she’ll be good for scouting but useless in a fight."

The higher the grade of the prime crystal, the stronger the life technique refined from it. If one could acquire the crystal of a beast, or even a holy beast, the resulting life technique could boost one’s strength by dozens or even hundreds of times.

Because they expect so much, Wen Rong’s family cannot bear to let her take risks. They haven’t yet gathered enough high-grade prime crystals.