Chapter 175: Origin of the Otherworld

Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Origin of the Otherworld

"Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy recruited twelve geniuses with Awakened Special Abilities this year."

"That must be them. They’re all in the Tenth Institute, managed separately and under heavy protection," Jiangtao said.

"But their Talent is truly amazing. If the graduation standard for us Ordinary students is the Fourth Realm..."

"Then their graduation standard is the Sixth Realm!" Guo Heng nodded.

The people around them gasped. Graduating only after becoming a Sixth Realm Martial Artist—that was just too absurd.

Lin Qi felt like he was back in the previous year. There were quite a few people stronger than him.

Duan Chuchu, Ao Feng, Huo Wanyang.

And now, twelve more geniuses with Awakened Special Abilities had appeared.

He watched their retreating figures. Their auras couldn’t be concealed at all; they had all clearly broken through to the Third Realm. Their Talent was unbelievably high.

...

「Half an hour later.」

At the Azure Sky Sixth Institute’s academic building, also known as Cangjing Building.

Its overall design was streamlined, resembling a giant blue whale.

It was slightly smaller than the Red Cloud Building.

Inside the oval-shaped conference hall, rows upon rows of smart chairs were arranged.

The surrounding walls were covered with light screens, playing a history of the Azure Sky Sixth Institute.

Lin Qi and the others sat in the very center of the front row, while Dean Liu and a few others sat on the raised platform.

Looking at the dense crowd, Liu Jing slowly began to speak:

"Ahem."

"We’re all Martial Artists here, so I’ll skip the pleasantries."

"First, I’d like to welcome all of you to the Azure Sky Sixth Institute. Whether you truly wanted to come here or not, you’re all part of our institute now."

"I assume you’ve all experienced the cultivation environment in the dorms."

"This is just the start of the semester. Everyone is at the same starting line."

"After the freshman tournament in one month, the Source Energy Concentration in the dorms will be redistributed based on your overall rankings."

"What you’re experiencing now is merely the Source Energy Concentration for the ninth-place ranking."

"The higher your rank, the higher the Source Energy Concentration in your dorm."

"There are also other Cultivation Resources. I guarantee that once you’ve had a taste, you’ll want more."

"So, go and pour your everything into your Cultivation!"

As soon as he said this, a sense of longing arose in the crowd.

Especially after experiencing that rocket-like progress, everyone wanted something better.

Lin Qi nodded. With a higher Source Energy Concentration, his Qi and Blood Value would increase even faster.

"Next, let’s have our Dean, Lin Qi, give a speech."

"CLAP CLAP!!" After speaking, Dean Liu began to applaud.

Lin Qi was taken aback. He hadn’t expected to have to speak.

Faced with the crowd’s applause, he had no choice but to stand up. Little Chan flew to his lips, acting as a microphone.

His expression was calm as countless pairs of eyes stared at him, an invisible pressure bearing down.

He had to release his own aura, his eyes seeming to flash with a Golden Light.

This made many people afraid to meet his gaze.

Lin Qi looked down at the crowd and began to speak slowly:

"Since you’ve enrolled in the Azure Sky Sixth Institute, you are now a part of it."

"When you’re out there, facing the other institutes, we need to be united. We don’t cause trouble, but we aren’t afraid of it either."

"As your Dean, if someone from another institute bullies you, you can come to me. I’ll take care of it."

"Finally, I can promise you this: you will absolutely not regret enrolling in the Sixth Institute."

"Because our Sixth Institute will rank first among the Nine Great Academies."

"YEAH!!"

Jiangtao shouted loudly and clapped with all his might!

"CLAP CLAP!!"

Instantly, thunderous applause filled the conference hall. On the platform, Dean Liu and the other teachers also broke into smiles.

...

When the meeting ended, everyone else left, leaving only Lin Qi, Lu Wei, and Dean Liu.

The robe-clad Dean Liu smiled. "It seems everyone is quite satisfied with you, our Dean!"

Lin Qi, still in his seat, shook his head. "I only said what I know I can do."

Dean Liu nodded. "The freshman tournament is in one month. Our goal is just to make it into the top three."

"Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Huo Wanyang and Ao Feng are very strong, and Duan Chuchu and Li Lei are not to be underestimated."

"Their Qi and Blood Values are all around 35, very close to breaking through to the Third Realm."

"I understand!"

Lin Qi nodded on the surface, but inwardly, he had other ideas.

...

「Ten minutes later.」

Lin Qi was sitting in a sleek, all-black electric car.

Little Chan had activated the car’s self-driving mode.

He replayed all the morning’s events in his mind.

He’d been at Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy for less than two days and was already told the freshman tournament would start in a month.

’Since it’s a tournament, there must be prizes. Money is very important to me.’

’The more, the better!’

Lin Qi wanted to save up to buy the Water of Rebirth, so he desperately needed money.

Therefore, if he wanted to get a higher rank, he couldn’t avoid Duan Chuchu, Ao Feng, and Huo Wanyang.

He could sense that their Qi and Blood Values had all surpassed 35.

Their Martial Arts Skills were definitely not weak either. To defeat them, he would have to become even stronger.

"BUZZ BUZZ!"

"Master, you have a message!" Little Chan said from the side.

Lin Qi opened his phone and saw a message from Lu Wei.

Lu Wei had added him to a new group chat. This time, there were only 105 people.

[Group Chat: Azure Sky Sixth Institute, Class One]

[Lu Wei: The Azure Sky Sixth Institute has been divided into ten classes of one hundred students each. Here are the class members and the schedule.]

Lu Wei then sent two images, the first showing the class members.

Lin Qi saw many familiar faces from Celestial Sea City, all assigned to Class One.

Next was the class schedule. He gave it a quick look. Compared to a high school schedule, there were at most two classes a day, which was only three or four hours.

And most of them were Martial Arts General Education Courses.

...

「2:30 PM. The weather was hot.」

In a spacious lecture hall in the Sixth Institute’s Cangjing Building, two hundred people were seated.

Lin Qi, Jiangtao, and Guo Heng sat in the middle section.

Before them, a scholarly-looking middle-aged man in his fifties with glasses used a projection device to display a large green screen.

"Hello, everyone. From now on, I will be your teacher for the Martial Arts General Education Course. My surname is Tong, and my given name is Hui. You can call me Teacher Tong."

Lin Qi observed the teacher. He couldn’t sense a particularly strong aura from him.

But he still felt that there was more to this man than met the eye.

"The so-called Martial Arts General Education Course is all-encompassing. We teach anything related to Martial Arts, including history, geography, politics, Martial Arts Cultivation, and so on."

"Today, we will be talking about the Otherworld!"

The large projection screen refreshed, and the large word "Otherworld" appeared, accompanied by a large amount of data.

Everyone’s expression brightened, and they all looked interested.

Teacher Tong slowly walked up the steps of the lecture hall as he spoke. His enunciation was clear and crisp, his speech precise.

"The Otherworld is the origin of Source Energy, and it is the world of the Calamity Beasts."

"You won’t find detailed introductions to the Otherworld in the news or online."

"The Otherworld is also known as the Disaster Beast Realm, meaning the world of the Calamity Beasts."

"The Otherworld is boundless. After more than twenty years of exploration, we humans have still not found its borders. There are only endless mountains, oceans..."

"The currently explored area is about ten times the size of Blue Star."

Everyone was shocked to hear this. Ten times the size of Blue Star? That was enormous, wasn’t it?

"That’s a huge area! How many Calamity Beasts must there be?" Jiangtao said in shock.

Lin Qi also raised an eyebrow. Just as Jiangtao said, if the currently known area was already ten times the size of Blue Star, then what about the number of Calamity Beasts?

Tong Hui continued:

"The number of Calamity Beasts is endless. A conservative estimate puts their population at dozens, or even a hundred times, that of us humans!"

At these words, the crowd erupted into an uproar again.

"Dozens of times? How are we supposed to fight that? If they all came to our Blue Star, wouldn’t humanity be doomed?" someone suddenly said in despair.

An invisible wave of emotion spread through the room.

"Everyone, quiet down!" Lin Qi suddenly shouted, his resonant voice reaching every corner of the room.

Like a tiger’s roar, it instantly silenced the entire class.

Teacher Tong continued:

"When we humans first learned of this, we were indeed filled with despair."

"But in the end, we persevered."

"It has been 47 years since the Calamity Beast invasion began. Not only have we humans not been wiped out, but we have grown stronger and stronger, with more and more experts among us."

"We possess a tenacious fighting spirit and formidable Martial Arts strength."

"As well as a continuous stream of geniuses!"

"That is, all of you geniuses here today!"

"As long as you all continue to grow, sooner or later, we will hunt the Calamity Beasts until they become a protected species!" Teacher Tong said emphatically.

"YEAH!!"

Hearing this, everyone felt their blood boil with excitement.

A powerful desire to become stronger surged within them.

Teacher Tong smiled. The first lesson of the semester was all about igniting the students’ fighting spirit—what’s commonly known as getting them pumped up.

It seemed to be a great success.

"Now, for the actual lesson!" Teacher Tong continued.

’Then what was that just now, an appetizer?’ the students thought.

The projection in the air switched again, this time to two words: "Spiritual Power!"

When Lin Qi saw this, his spirits lifted. They were finally getting to the topic he wanted to hear about.

Many others also began to look serious.

"A person is comprised of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. In our current Martial Arts Era, this has a new interpretation: Essence is our physical body and Qi Blood, representing our Life Strength."

"Qi is the circulation of the Power we have mastered and the flow of Source Energy."

"And Shen is our Spirit."

"For a Martial Artist, the truest path is for these three—Essence, Qi, and Spirit—to complement each other."

"I don’t need to tell you about Qi Blood and Martial Arts; you all know about those already."

"Today, we will focus on introducing Spiritual Power. It is extremely important for our future in Martial Arts."

As Teacher Tong spoke, the projection switched, showing a human figure with a ball of light floating around its head.

"Spiritual Power is something we are born with. As we grow, our Spiritual Power also increases."

"Spiritual Power is an invisible force that exists within our Consciousness Space."

"It’s like a person’s inner strength—invisible and intangible, yet possessing immense energy."

As he finished speaking, Teacher Tong’s eyes emitted a glow, and an invisible wave instantly swept through the entire classroom.

Everyone felt something sweep over them, and the expressions on many faces changed.

"What I just released was a crude application of Spiritual Power," Teacher Tong said.

Lin Qi had Little Chan record every word the teacher said while he himself listened intently.

...