All five of her students were super elites in the Nine Stars Ranking’s top ten!
Yan Zhen—the one who’d taken three months’ leave—held the Eight-Star Mystic Practitioner title yet clung stubbornly to first place, unshakable!
The dueling Mi Xue’er and Yan Ruyu shared second.
Xiao Xinyan ranked fifth on the Nine Stars list. Even Yan Meng’er had surged from Four-Star Mystic Practitioner to Nine-Star in three months—like she’d been popping pills non-stop—and her combat prowess was fierce. She’d crushed the former ninth on the Duel Platform and taken her spot.
Notably, Xiao Xinyan had mellowed lately. No more sharp tongue, plus her top-tier strength—it had quietly won over a horde of boys’ hearts. She was now Mystic Academy’s fifth campus beauty.
The five girls at the house were all campus celebrities now: stunning looks paired with outstanding talent, the epitome of “heavenly prodigies” in the students’ eyes.
Of course, one outshone them all: Yan Zhen!
Roommate to five campus beauties, clansman to Yan Ruyu and Yan Meng’er—rumor had it they were fated to be his concubines.
From enrollment, he’d leaped realms to crush foes. Most prospective graduates had eaten his fists, including Xiao Mie of the Xiao family.
Unprecedented: A non-Nine-Star Mystic Practitioner claiming first on the Nine Stars Ranking.
Then he took leave right after topping the list—three-plus months gone—and still, no one touched his spot.
And the most terrifying feat: He’d personally slain Lan Ke Young Master, crippled the Silver Moon City Lord!!!
That last one was especially absurd. Anyone who hadn’t witnessed it refused to believe. The Silver Moon City Lord was a Mystic General!
A mere Mystic Practitioner crippling a Mystic General? A tall tale if there ever was one!
Yan Zhen’s legends grew more exaggerated by the day, on the verge of becoming urban myth.
“Mentor Yu Xuan teaches so well! To nurture so many outstanding students!”
“Exactly! Not just one Yan Zhen—the others have surged ahead too, claiming the Nine Stars Ranking’s front ranks. Truly enviable!”
Facing her colleagues’ praise, Mentor Yu Xuan smiled softly and deflected politely. “It’s all their own hard work. I just offered a little guidance.”
“Graduation ceremony comes right after the year-end test. Your Yan Zhen must’ve broken through to Mystic Master Realm by now, right? When’s he coming back? If he misses the Holy Land Academy Shuttle Airship, it’ll be a whole year wait.”
“Should be soon.”
Mentioning it soured Mentor Yu Xuan’s mood a touch.
Three months without a peep from that brat. Her Messaging Talisman was just gathering dust!
When he got back, she’d give him a piece of her mind. Hmph~
“…”
On the platform, Yan Ruyu and Mi Xue’er’s battle grew fiercer. Swords rang out, figures blurred past each other, mystic power churning and scarring the Duel Platform.
This was no mere Mystic Practitioner scrap. Thin films of mystic power coated their bodies and blades—the hallmark of Mystic Master Realm.
Clearly, both would formally advance to Mystic Master Realm before long!
“How are they this strong?!”
On the spectator stands, former Nine Stars Ranking first and second—now Mystic Master Realm Xiao Mie and Yu Yue—watched the two women gravely.
Yan Ruyu and Mi Xue’er had always been mid-tier standouts. But in the three months since Yan Zhen left, their cultivation had exploded, and their practical skills were phenomenal.
Just like now: Both were gathering power for a solid mystic technique.
“Ruyu, I had a dream the other day.”
“What?”
“In the dream, you’d been secretly crushing on Little Brother Yan Zhen but too scared to confess. So I volunteered to help… and ended up falling for him myself.”
“Xue’er…”
“I was so scared. I didn’t dare tell a soul. I desperately buried my feelings and did everything in my power to create opportunities for you. But—”
Mi Xue’er’s tone suddenly shifted.
“—but you’re just too useless! No matter how many chances I set up for you, you never mustered the courage to take even a single step toward him. In the end, you could only watch helplessly as Little Brother Yan Zhen married another woman and sadly bowed out.”
“What exactly are you trying to say, Xue’er?” Yan Ruyu was mortified. “This isn’t the time for this sort of thing, is it?”
“So after I woke up, I decided to handle it myself. No more helping you, you idiot!”
“You’re the idiot. You don’t understand my feelings at all.”
“Enough talk. Take this! I don’t believe you can block this Master Mystic Technique!”
“It’s just a Master Mystic Technique. You say it like no one else can pull one off.”
Dazzling light gathered on the swords in both women’s hands. They were unleashing the exact same Mystic technique, though the forms differed slightly due to the nature of their mystic power.
“Sword Three: Momentum Breaker?”
Mentor Yu Xuan’s expression shifted. What they were using was a special Sword Mystic Technique taught only at Holy Land Academy—the Nine Swords Technique.
It consisted of nine forms in total, and this was the third, renowned for its extreme piercing power: Breaking Momentum.
How did they both know this Sword Mystic Technique? And this method of channeling mystic power to stir the airflow and amplify its might—it seemed like the version Yan Zhen had refined in his previous life!
Beside her, Yan Meng’er frowned as well. She didn’t know the Nine Swords Technique herself, but she often saw her cousin use it.
Over the past three months, Yan Meng’er had confessed to her cousin that she was a reincarnator. Her cousin had said she possessed fragments of memories from her previous life, so it made sense that she knew the Nine Swords Technique. But how did Sister Xue’er…
—Could she be a reincarnator too?
Yan Meng’er jolted at her own speculation.
Xiao Xinyan, who had been quietly watching the fight, suddenly spoke up.
“Isn’t their fighting style a bit dangerous?”
On the duel platform, the two women’s momentum built stronger and stronger. The surrounding airflow was drawn in, forming twin whirlwinds that tugged against each other atop the stage.
It was clear they had gotten serious.
Once they collided, one side was bound to get hurt. Worst case, they’d both end up injured!
She had thought they were just messing around, but somehow they’d started fighting for real?
Mentor Yu Xuan hurriedly shouted,
“You two, don’t get carried away!”
But it was too late.
The women locked onto each other’s presence. Then they kicked off with their feet, launching forward like arrows loosed from a bow. At the same time, they thrust out the swords in their hands, along with the mystic power gathered on the blades.
“Breaking Momentum!”
Mentor Yu Xuan was just about to leap onto the stage to stop them when a familiar figure streaked overhead. Trailing a cascade of starlight, it landed squarely in the middle of the duel platform. A pair of hands reached out, precisely seizing both women’s wrists just before their swords could clash.
The second layer of Tai Chi Shock, Mystic Power Dissipation, activated. It severed their flow of mystic power. With a slight exertion of force, their hands went limp, and they involuntarily let go of their swords.
Yet by then, neither woman had any fight left in her. They stared blankly at the young man before them, their beautiful eyes filled with his image alone.
The black-clad youth—Yan Zhen—said displeasedly,
“Why are you fighting? And so fiercely at that! What if one of you gets hurt?”
