The atmosphere in the Celestial Path Academy plaza was no longer just tense; it was suffocating. The arrival of the Imperial Junior Corps had turned a local academic dispute into a matter of state prestige. General Han stood like a statue of iron, his 2-Star Master Teacher robes fluttering slightly in the wind, his eyes cold and judging.
Behind him, the five young soldiers of the Junior Corps stood in a perfect phalanx. They were all at the 5th Stage of Body Tempering—the Bone-Refining Stage. At this level, a cultivator's bones become as dense as steel, allowing them to shrug off blows that would shatter a normal man's limbs.
"Teacher Lin," General Han spoke, his voice carrying the weight of a mountain. "The Empire's standards are written in blood and discipline. You claim these... rejects... can stand against the Emperor's chosen? If this is a joke, it is a very expensive one."
Lin Fan stepped forward, his expression as calm as a deep lake. "General, discipline is merely the cage. True power is the beast inside. My students may not look like soldiers, but they are something far more dangerous. They are individuals who have found their own path."
Teacher Zhao snickered from the sidelines. "Big words for a man whose students were eating dirt a week ago. General, let us begin. I wish to see the look on Lin Fan's face when his 'Phoenix' and 'Dragon' are ground into the dust."
"Very well," General Han raised a hand. "The rules are simple. A three-on-three team battle. The last side standing wins. No lethal strikes, but injuries are the cost of growth. Begin!"
The Wall of the Void
The three Imperial soldiers stepped forward, their spears lowered in unison. They moved like a single organism, their Qi synchronized to create a localized pressure that made the air hum.
"Formation: Iron Torrent!" the lead soldier barked.
They lunged forward, three spears striking simultaneously toward Mu Tie. The speed was incredible—a blur of cold steel aimed at his chest, throat, and abdomen.
"Mu Tie, move back! Lu Bao, take point!" Lin Fan commanded.
Fatty Lu (Lu Bao), who had been lazily scratching his belly, suddenly moved with a speed that defied his bulk. He didn't use a weapon. He didn't even use a shield. He simply stepped in front of Mu Tie and spread his arms wide, his chest pushed out like a proud rooster.
"Is he suicidal?" someone in the crowd screamed.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The three spear tips struck Lu Bao's chest and stomach simultaneously. But instead of the sound of flesh being pierced, there was the ringing sound of metal hitting a hollow bell.
The Imperial soldiers froze. Their spears hadn't just stopped; they felt like they had been sucked into a mountain of lead. No matter how hard they pushed, the spears wouldn't budge.
"My turn," Lu Bao grinned, showing his teeth.
[Divine Library: Activating 'Bottomless Void' Counter-Shock.]
Lu Bao took a deep breath, and his stomach expanded even further. Then, he suddenly exhaled. A massive wave of stored kinetic energy—the very force the soldiers had used to strike him—was reflected back through the spears.
BOOM!
The three soldiers were sent flying backward, their hands bleeding from the sheer vibration of their own weapons. They tumbled across the plaza, their perfect formation shattered in a single exchange.
"What... what kind of body is that?" General Han's eyes widened. "He absorbed a Stage 5 strike with his bare skin?"
Lin Fan smiled secretly. That's the power of eating Spirit Stones, he thought. Lu Bao's body was no longer just flesh; it was a refined vessel of Qi.
The Frost and the Flame
"Mu Tie! Ling'er! Finish it!" Lin Fan shouted.
The remaining two Imperial soldiers, seeing their comrades fallen, dropped their spears and drew heavy broadswords. They were specialized in a dual-attack called the 'Twin-Sun Slash.'
"You think a fat shield can save you? Die!"
As they swung their glowing orange blades, the temperature in the plaza began to drop. Mu Tie stepped forward, his eyes glowing with an icy blue light. He didn't strike the soldiers; he struck the air in front of him.
[Celestial Path: Frozen Dragon's Breath.]
A wave of absolute zero temperature erupted from Mu Tie's palms. The "Twin-Sun Slash" flickered and died as the heat was sucked out of the swords. The steel turned brittle, covered in white frost, and shattered into pieces as it hit the ground.
Before the soldiers could react, a blur of crimson light streaked past Mu Tie.
It was Ling'er.
She moved like a flickering flame, her hands glowing with a deep red aura. She didn't use a palm strike or a punch. She used her fingers like a Phoenix's talons, striking the pressure points Lin Fan had taught her.
Tsh-tsh-tsh-tsh!
In the span of two seconds, she struck twelve points on both soldiers.
They stood frozen for a moment, then let out a synchronized scream as crimson steam erupted from their armor. Their meridians were overloaded with Nine-Sun heat, paralyzing their muscles.
They fell to their knees, gasping for air, their armor glowing cherry-red.
"Enough!" General Han roared, stepping onto the stage. His 2-Star pressure exploded, forcing the students back. "You... you used forbidden arts! No Stage 4 student can paralyze an Imperial soldier!"
"There are no forbidden arts, General," Lin Fan said, walking onto the stage to stand in front of his students. "There is only superior knowledge. My students followed the flow of your soldiers' Qi and simply... added a bit of resistance."
The Tactical Demonstration: Deadly Poison Qi
General Han was trembling with rage. "You have humiliated the Junior Corps. I do not care what 'Archive' you have, Lin Fan. You will pay for this insolence!"
The General drew his own sword—a Rank-3 Spirit Weapon that pulsed with a terrifying silver light. As a 2-Star Master Teacher and a Stage 8 Cultivator, his power was a hundred times greater than all the students combined.
"General, stop!" Master Su's voice rang out as he emerged from the crowd. "You are an official of the Empire! You cannot attack a teacher without a formal duel!"
"This is a formal evaluation!" Han spat. "Lin Fan, if you can survive one strike from me, I will leave. If not, your academy dies today!"
The crowd drew back in terror. A Stage 8 strike could level a city block.
Lin Fan looked at his students. "Step back. This one is for me."
Lin Fan stood alone, his green robes fluttering. He closed his eyes and whispered to the system.
[Divine Library: Converge all stored Qi. Mode: Deadly Poison Conversion.]
The air around Lin Fan began to turn a sickly, dark purple. It wasn't just Qi; it was a concentrated essence of "Flaws." Lin Fan had synthesized this from the thousands of "Trash" books he had scanned. If a "Perfect" book gave life, a "Flawed" essence was pure poison to a cultivator's system.
General Han lunged. "Heavenly Silver Slash!"
A massive arc of silver light, ten meters wide, sliced through the air toward Lin Fan. It was beautiful and deadly.
Lin Fan didn't dodge. He raised a single finger and pointed it at the center of the silver arc.
"Point of Contradiction," Lin Fan whispered.
[Divine Library: Analyzing Strike... Flaw detected at 3.4 seconds in the vibration frequency.]
Lin Fan's purple Qi shot out like a needle, hitting the silver arc at its weakest point.
SILENCE.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, the massive silver slash suddenly began to crack like glass. The "Deadly Poison" Qi didn't destroy the slash; it infected it, turning the General's own energy against itself.
The silver light turned purple and then exploded outward, sending a shockwave that shattered every window in the plaza.
General Han was thrown back, his sword flying from his hand. He landed on his back, gasping, his face turning a faint shade of purple.
"You... you used... poison?" Han wheezed.
"No, General," Lin Fan said, walking toward him and tapping a point on his chest to neutralize the effect. "I used your own lack of control. Your 'Silver Slash' has a 3% impurity in its Qi rotation. I simply... highlighted it."
The General stared at Lin Fan in pure, unadulterated terror. He had never seen such a thing. A Stage 3 teacher had neutralized a Stage 8 General with a single finger.
Master Su walked up to Lin Fan, shaking his head in amazement. "Lin Fan... you really are a monster. I think the Evaluation is over."
The Academy's Transformation
General Han and the Junior Corps left Silver-Leaf City that same afternoon, their heads bowed in shame. Teacher Zhao tried to sneak away, but Lin Fan stopped him.
"Teacher Zhao," Lin Fan said. "I believe you owe my students an apology. And I believe you promised to give up your classroom if I recruited three students. Since I have three... and they just beat the Empire's best... I'll take your classroom. And your library card."
Zhao fled without a word, his reputation in the city destroyed.
That evening, the Celestial Path Academy was no longer silent. News of the battle had spread, and hundreds of parents were now lining up at the gates, begging Lin Fan to take their children as students.
"Teacher! Take my son! He's a genius!"
"No, take my daughter! She has a hidden bloodline, I swear!"
Lin Fan stood at the gates, looking at the crowd. He turned to Elder Mo, the old librarian who was now looking at Lin Fan with awe.
"Elder Mo," Lin Fan said. "Close the gates. We are not taking 'geniuses'. We are taking those who have been rejected. From today, the Celestial Path Academy will be the home of the 'Unteachables'."
The Road to the 1-Star Master Teacher Exam
Inside his new, spacious classroom, Lin Fan sat with his trio. He had placed 1,000 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones on the table.
"Mu Tie, Ling'er, Lu Bao. You have done well. But this was just a border city skirmish. In one month, the Great Kingdom Master Teacher Exam will be held in the Provincial Capital. I intend to go."
"We're going with you, Teacher!" Ling'er said firmly.
"Of course you are," Lin Fan smiled. "But to pass the 1-Star exam, I need to master two more professions. I've already mastered Alchemy. Next, I will master Beast Taming and Array Formations."
He looked at Lu Bao. "And for that, we need a transport. A Rank-1 carriage won't do for us. We need a Heavenly Flying Boat."
"But Teacher, those cost millions of Spirit Stones!" Lu Bao said, his mouth full of a new, High-Grade stone Lin Fan had given him.
"Then we will make millions," Lin Fan said. "Lu Bao, tomorrow you and I are going to the Spirit Beast Mountains. I need a mount, and you need a sparring partner that doesn't break as easily as those soldiers."
The Beast Tamer's Challenge
The next day, Lin Fan and Lu Bao stood at the edge of the Spirit Beast Mountains, a Rank-3 danger zone where beasts of the Earth-Rank roamed.
[Divine Library: Scanning Environment... High-density Qi detected. 5,000+ Spirit Beasts identified.]
"Teacher, why did we bring a giant net and a bucket of 'Honey-Glazed Spirit Meat'?" Lu Bao asked.
"Because," Lin Fan said, looking at a massive shadow circling in the sky above them. "We aren't here to hunt a beast. We are here to 'educate' one."
The shadow descended. It was a Silver-Winged Eagle, a Rank-3 beast capable of shredded steel with its talons. It let out a piercing shriek, looking at the two humans as if they were a morning snack.
[Scanning Beast: Silver-Winged Eagle.]
[Flaws: 12. Left wing has a healed fracture that limits turning speed. Digestive system is currently inflamed due to eating a 'Thunder-Grass'...]
Lin Fan didn't draw a weapon. He stepped forward and looked the eagle in the eye.
"You have a stomach ache, don't you?" Lin Fan asked.
The eagle paused, its predatory gaze replaced by confusion.
"Stop trying to eat us and eat this instead," Lin Fan tossed a pill he had refined that morning—a 'Beast-Soothing Digestive Pill' (Flawless Grade).
The eagle caught the pill in mid-air. As soon as it swallowed, its eyes went wide. The inflammation vanished, and its Qi suddenly began to flow three times faster.
The massive bird landed softly in front of Lin Fan and lowered its head, letting out a soft, purring sound.
"Good bird," Lin Fan patted its beak.
[Ding! Profession Mastered: 1-Star Beast Tamer (Perfect Grade).]
[System Note: Second Divine Halo detected. Progress to 1-Star Master Teacher: 66%.]
"Teacher..." Lu Bao stared at the eagle. "You just tamed a Rank-3 beast with a snack? Can I have one of those pills?"
"No, Lu Bao. You have a mountain to climb. Literally." Lin Fan pointed to the highest peak in the range. "Carry the eagle up there. He'll be your weight training for today."
As Lu Bao groaned and began his climb, Lin Fan looked toward the Provincial Capital.