Both of them had changed into Inner Academy uniforms. The base color was white, with freely chosen accents—red for Yan Zhen and green for Huangfu Wenqing.
Standing side by side, they looked like the perfect golden couple, an ideal match in every way.
“What do you want with me?” Huangfu Wenqing asked.
“Isn’t the Grand Elder Mentor Yu Xuan’s great-aunt? Why would she take you as her disciple anyway? Did she do anything to you?”
“Sorry to make you worry, but I’m fine,” Yan Zhen replied. “The Grand Elder has already approved of my relationship with Mentor Yu Xuan. I just need to keep proving my abilities, and I know I can do it.”
“So that’s how it is.”
“Sorry…”
“I don’t want to hear that.” Huangfu Wenqing immediately covered Yan Zhen’s mouth, declaring stubbornly, “No matter what, I’ll beat you and keep you in our Cloud Heaven Palace.”
“Haha.”
Yan Zhen scratched his head with a foolish grin, unconcerned. Even though Huangfu Wenqing’s cultivation seemed higher than described in the script, beating him was basically impossible.
And even if she somehow managed it, he still had the system’s trump card to turn the tables. She was doomed to lose.
Huangfu Wenqing huffed.
“Don’t underestimate me. You’ll regret it when the time comes.”
“Where are you headed?” Yan Zhen asked, changing the subject.
Huangfu Wenqing smiled brightly. “What do you think? Now that we’re in the Inner Academy, we have to check out that cultivation tower floating in the sky.”
“Perfect timing. I was just about to go.”
They set off together toward the Firmament Nine-Story Tower.
The Inner Academy had no fixed classes. Students were free to cultivate as they pleased—visiting the Firmament Nine-Story Tower to refine their mystic power, heading to secret realms to hone their Mystic techniques, or competing on the Duel Platform to earn points, among other pursuits.
Of course, one could always slack off and nap all day, but everyone who made it to the Inner Academy was an elite. No one wasted their talent and hard work like that.
The Firmament Nine-Story Tower was embedded high above the Inner Academy’s central plaza through some special method, hovering nearly five hundred zhang off the ground. From its base, it soared into the clouds, its ninth floor invisible to the naked eye most days.
To enter, one had to climb a nearby mountain peak. From the summit extended a suspended flight of one hundred and eight cloud steps, leading straight to the entrance.
By the time Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing reached the mountaintop area, a crowd had already gathered, lining up along both sides of the path and waiting for the tower doors to open.
According to the script, the tower could only hold three thousand people at a time. Once full, the doors would close and wouldn’t reopen until the occupants inside exited, making way for the next batch.
Anyone hoping to cultivate inside had to get there early and queue up.
Not everyone followed the rules, though.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A series of whooshes cut through the air as over a dozen figures shot up to the mountaintop. They landed at the back of the line before brazenly shoving other students aside and cutting straight to the front, where they sat down cross-legged.
The crowd seethed but held their tongues, stepping back obediently. All the interlopers wore White Fang Badges on their chests—they were members of the first-rate society known as White Fang.
The Inner Academy’s structure was worlds apart from the Outer Academy. Students had formed societies on their own, competing and clashing against one another, much like the various sects under the Jialan Holy Land.
A society’s rank depended on its mystic generals: three or more earned it first-rate status, two made it second-rate, one meant third-rate, and none relegated it to the trash heap of unranked weaklings.
There was also one unrivaled top-tier society: Seven Star. Its ranks included seven mystic generals and numerous high-star Mystic Masters, led by Gu Tiange—the number one on the General Star List, at the Nine Star Mystic General stage.
White Fang’s leader was Bai Ao, ranked thirty-third on the General Star List with Four Star Mystic General cultivation. His society boasted two other mystic generals besides him, and its members were no pushovers. Few dared provoke them.
Huangfu Wenqing whispered, “Yan Zhen, are you planning to join a society?”
Yan Zhen shook his head. “I’m not much for groups. I’ll pass.”
“Fair enough. Then neither will I. The two of us together shouldn’t have anything to fear from those guys.”
“But didn’t you come to the Holy Land Academy to network with your peers and build connections? Joining a society might be better for that. I hear there’s one that only takes girls—you could check it out.”
“No thanks. An all-girls society sounds terrifying. The gossip alone would drive me insane every day.”
“Uh…”
Just then, a male student nearby chimed in. “You two are new students, right?”
Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing exchanged a glance and nodded.
“I could tell from how fresh your uniforms still look,” the young man said smugly. “Let me give you some advice: new students who don’t join a society won’t get anywhere in the Inner Academy. Take getting into the tower, for example. Without a senior from your society to lead the way and watch your back, you’ll be lining up all day just to have a shot. Oh, look—another group coming.”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several more people zipped up, landing and cutting in line right behind White Fang.
Now Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing were even further back.
“See? Join a strong society, and not only do you avoid getting cut, you get to cut others. Otherwise, you’re stuck at the end, like me.”
Yan Zhen smiled faintly, unperturbed. Huangfu Wenqing coolly averted her gaze.
The helpful senior shook his head at their reaction. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you—you’ll regret it soon enough. A Three Star Mystic Master and a Five Star Mystic Master like you two? If you get in before tomorrow, I’ll stand on my head and eat shit!”
After about half an hour, the crystal on the tower doors lit up. The massive doors slowly swung open, and over a hundred students surged out along the cloud steps. They looked invigorated and radiant for the most part, though a few had blackened faces and hair standing on end, as if they’d been struck by lightning.
Once they had all departed, the White Fang group at the front rose and advanced. They were followed by the second-place society, then the third.
The display above the doors read “111,” meaning one hundred eleven could enter this round.
Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing exchanged a look before slowly standing up.
Over a hundred gazes instantly locked onto them. Seeing a Three Star Mystic Master and a Five Star Mystic Master trying to cut, those eyes filled with hostility.
Weaklings cutting in line? Not even a beauty gets a pass—and especially not one so obviously close to that guy beside her!
But in the next moment, the animosity in their eyes turned to shock.
Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing leaped into the air. He tread upon Starlight while she was wreathed in azure winds. Together, they soared over the White Fang group’s heads, crossing more than a hundred zhang to land lightly on the final cloud step.
Mystic Masters who could fly?!
Everyone was stunned, especially the helpful senior whose eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He blurted, “What an impressive movement technique!”
Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing glanced back once before stepping through the doors into the tower.
