In the Peach Orchard of the Celestial Academy, leaves were floating in the air like beautiful women dancing in the wind.
The melody of the zither was floating on the wind just like the leaves of the peach trees. The melody could bring peace to anyone’s heart.
In the middle of that elegant pavilion, a graceful hand was floating over the strings of the zither, the melody was enchanting.
Lin Feng, just like a diligent student, was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed respectfully listening to the melody.
At that moment, Lin Feng’s eyes were closed and he was breathing peacefully, his body was surrounded by a cloud of Qi. If people had been there, they would find it very mysterious but there was nobody in sight. For Lin Feng, it seemed like there was nothing but the earth, he was in fusion with the earth.
Yan Yu Ping Sheng was a Xuan Qi layer cultivator.
If Lin Feng hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never thought that Yan Yu Ping Sheng, the teacher who was also the examiner for the military students’ entrance exam, had such terrifying strength and power.
While his fingers were floating over the strings of the zither, he could disintegrate soldiers and make them disappear into nothingness like dust.
Lin Feng felt endless respect for Yan Yu Ping Sheng, he was extremely powerful. Lin Feng held him in awe and veneration.
After a long time, the sound of the zither stopped. Yan Yu Ping Sheng raised his head and looked at Lin Feng, who, as before seemed calm and serene, as if he was sound asleep.
At that moment, Lin Feng opened his eyes. He had a smile on his face and looked even more handsome. He looked charming and intelligent.
“Lin Feng, originally, you were not in harmony with your heart’s true intentions and that caused a hindrance in your cultivation, that was the reason why I had proposed to play the zither for you and teach you how to play, so that you could wash your heart clean from all the pollution, but now your power of comprehension is stronger than mine and you can already penetrate into the earth fusion dimension. Now, you can continue alone, you need to think, to learn more and understand more about heaven and earth, to the extent that you don’t even need to listen to the zither any longer.” said Yan Yu Ping Sheng, who was speaking slowly.
The Earth Fusion dimension was extremely difficult to reach. Since Lin Feng had managed to break through to that complex cultivation layer, after that, breaking through to the different layers would be a piece of cake, at least until he reached the Tian Qi layer.
It wouldn’t be like Yan Yu Ping Sheng for whom it was very difficult to reach higher levels after having broken through to the Xuan Qi layer.
He had seen many geniuses, but he had never met someone like Lin Feng. Since Lin Feng could comprehend the earth fusion so well, people who had stronger talent than him were almost nonexistent.
“Teacher, I want to learn how to play the zither.” said Lin Feng while slightly smiling. Lin Feng was very sensitive to the arts, especially to the zither. Not only did it help with meditating, but it could also be used to kill.
“Alright, if you want to learn, I will teach you. Besides, with the power of the earth fusion, it will be easy for you to learn. After a while, you’ll play much better than me.” said Yan Yu Ping Sheng. He had faith in Lin Feng. Lin Feng was a once in a lifetime genius. Lin Feng wasn’t arrogant at all, he was very humble, he had a strong willpower and determination, besides, he was extremely talented, he was a real treasure.
Looking at such an outstanding young man was a pleasure for other people, they felt happy when seeing such a talented genius. Yan Yu Ping Sheng was particularly happy about the fact that Lin Feng wanted to learn how to play the zither, so Yan Yu Ping Sheng hoped to see Lin Feng surpass him in the future.
Yan Yu Ping Sheng took out some books and waved his hand which made them immediately float through the air towards Lin Feng.
Lin Feng received the books and listened to Yan Yu Ping Sheng: “Lin Feng, learning how to play the zither requires the ability to listen. Now, you have proven that you are able to listen, you will now need to get to know the zither, you need to learn how to understand it, these books are very easy but amongst them, there are songs, and there are deadly zither skills as well. You can learn as much as you want and if there is anything that you don’t understand, you can always ask me.”
“Alright.” said Lin Feng while slightly nodding. He packed the books and immediately after said to Yan Yu Ping Sheng: “Teacher, I’m leaving.”
“Alright, you can go.” said Yan Yu Ping Sheng while smiling. Lin Feng had said that he was leaving without being scared of offending Yan Yu Ping Sheng. He wasn’t the kind of person who cared about such small things. Yan Yu Ping Sheng wasn’t offended by something like that, on the contrary, he liked Lin Feng this way; honest and carefree.
The news that Lin Feng had already come back to the Celestial Academy had quickly spread. Everybody also knew about the great things that he had accomplished during the war.
Everybody also knew about the fact that, during the war, on the battlefield there was a song sung by Lin Feng which inspired passion within the troops. Besides, Lin Feng had created this himself, which definitely contributed to his artistic reputation.
These days at the Celestial Academy, many people were talking about Lin Feng’s achievements but there were also many people who were talking about Lin Feng’s cultivation level.
The Celestial Academy had four cultivation towers, three of them were separated according to the three different student paths.
There was another one, that one was a great catalyst for cultivation.
In that fourth cultivation tower, the pure Qi was also the thickest. It was the best tower for practicing cultivation. Besides, anybody could practice in that cultivation tower. Of course, the rule was always the same, one had to be strong enough to obtain a room.
At that moment, at the tower, there were some people looking up at the majestic cultivation tower, their eyes were filled with impatience.
Not all of them had the power to enter it, they were just admiring it.
Yun Xi was a new student at the Celestial Academy, she had broken through to the second Ling Qi layer which was not bad at all considering that she was only seventeen but at the Celestial Academy, that was nothing extraordinary.
“If only one day I could go into that cultivation tower and practice on the top floor, it would be great.” said Yun Xi while looking up at the tall tower. That tower was different from the three others. The pure Qi was flowing against the current. At the top of the tower, pure Qi was denser than at the bottom.
Besides, in that tower, rooms didn’t require additional purity stones depending on the floor, and by standing at the bottom, it was possible to see which rooms on which floor were available. Only one glance sufficed. Once someone was in a room, the door closed itself and the pure Qi started to circulate. Everybody could see from outside whether there was a free room or not.
Each floor only had a single room.
That cultivation tower was very special though, it was in the middle of all the other towers and was only used by extremely powerful cultivators. Many people, like Yun Xi, were only there to admire it. They all hoped that they would be able to practice cultivation in that tower someday.
“Yun Xi, stop dreaming.” joked a girl wearing blue clothes next to her. “You should become the girlfriend of one of them and then he would take you inside.”
“Yun Xi, last time, didn’t Du Gu Shang show that he was interested in you? You could go with him.” said the other girl immediately. She sounded like she was joking in a jealous tone.
Du Gu Shang was one of the ten ranked disciples of the Celestial Academy, he was ranked fourth.
In her thoughts appeared a noble young man, Yun Xi shook her head and said: “There is someone I like more than Du Gu Shang, it’s Lin Feng.”
“Lin Feng.” the girl in blue clothes was stupefied. She looked at the top of the tower and said: “I heard that Lin Feng battled against Hei Mo last time and that he was extremely strong. Now he is known for his meritorious service during the war, he burnt an entire enemy army of hundreds of thousands alive. It’s hard to imagine. He seems to be such a handsome and delicate young man, yet he is so daring and courageous. Besides, he seems he is about the same age as us.”
“Yes, he is now a Marquis and owns a city. I heard that he came back to the Celestial Academy.”
Yun Xi had a soft smile on her face She remembered that day, when Lin Feng battled against Hei Mo. She would never forget him. He was so young yet so frivolous and courageous.
“Moron.” said the girl next to her. She sounded a bit cold: “Lin Feng is a marquis, so what? And even though he battled against Hei Mo, so what? That’s a battle between cultivators of the fifth or sixth Ling Qi layer, however, Du Gu Shang is the fourth ranked disciple of the Celestial Academy and has already broken through to the eighth Ling Qi layer. He is the most majestic man alive, the fourth cultivation room is his, how could Lin Feng rival him? Besides, Du Gu Shang is also a noble cultivator, he is from the Du Gu Clan, which is extremely influential.
“Yun Xi, if you could even have a one night stand with Du Gu Shang, that would already be good. Don’t expect anything more.”
“Why don’t you go and have a one-night-stand with him.” said Yun Xi while frowning and feeling annoyed.
“You know nothing, if Du Gu Shang was interested in me, I wouldn’t feel offended.” said the girl while smiling coldly.
“Really?” said a voice, coming from behind, in the tone of a joke. These girls were surprised. They immediately turned around and saw an arrogant looking young man.
Du Gu Shang.
At that moment, Du Gu Shang was looking at Yun Xi. He said, in the tone of a joke: “Lin Feng is nothing. How could he rival me? You dare be interested in him instead of me, you must be blind.”