73: excuse me

After the two sides created some distance, they began to fight.

Hu Jia herself possessed the wood attribute and was skilled at controlling vines. The flowers and plants on the ground were affected by her Dou Qi, as if they had come to life.

Several vines crawled along the ground, rushing towards Lin Xiu, and Hu Jia also seized the opportunity to charge at Lin Xiu.

Facing this scene, Lin Xiu silently apologized in his heart.

Sorry, Mystic-Rank Combat Skills are just too tempting!

"Ben Lei Palm!"

"Life-Stealing Strike!"

The Dou Qi within his body erupted like a volcano, instantly surging. Lin Xiu burst forth, almost instantaneously appearing in front of Hu Jia.

With a thunderous roar, Hu Jia felt a blur before her eyes, and her defense was shattered as an electric current surged into her body.

Her body froze, and her Dou Qi paused.

Immediately following, a burst of powerful Qi erupted, and Hu Jia was sent flying seven or eight meters, as if struck by a Demonic Beast, crashing to the ground.

Hu Jia looked utterly bewildered.

Her injuries weren't actually severe, but she hadn't expected to lose, and to lose so cleanly and decisively.

"My apologies."

Lin Xiu reached out to pull Hu Jia up. The latter instinctively reached out, and only when her hand was grasped and she felt the warmth of Lin Xiu's palm did she react, quickly pulling her hand away.

"The White Carp also has fishing techniques, they are all here. If you have any questions, you can come find me. My name is Lin Xiu! Yellow Rank Class Four."

Picking up the two Fighting Skills, Lin Xiu, carrying a White Carp, left the lake at light speed.

Hu Jia was still somewhat dazed until Lin Xiu disappeared.

Not only her, but even Hu Qian and Old Huo were a bit slow to react.

Hu Qian's face, which had been smiling, now froze, as if a pause button had been pressed.

"Hahahaha, Hu Qian, I didn't expect you to have a taste of defeat! Is it a deal? Double happiness? Hahahaha."

Recalling Hu Qian's triumphant expression from a second ago, Old Huo could no longer hold back.

"What are you laughing at?" Hu Qian stared at him expressionlessly.

Old Huo wiped the corners of his eyes; tears had actually streamed out. He hadn't been this happy in a long time. "Hu Qian, according to our agreement, I only had to compensate with a Fighting Skill if Hu Jia won. Now that she lost, our previous agreement doesn't count anymore."

"Hmm, you're right. You also lost that fishing technique."

Hu Qian spoke slowly, and seeing Old Huo's smile abruptly halt, the corners of his mouth slowly curved upwards again. "Want it? Trade it for a Fighting Skill!"

Waiting at Elder Huo's door with the fish for a while, Lin Xiu saw him return and quickly handed over the fish.

After Old Huo opened the door, Lin Xiu chose a Medicinal Pill and left.

On the way, he met Du Chaoping, who was rushing over, and they turned to go to Huo Lan's place.

Upon seeing Lin Xiu, Huo Lan noticed that his strength had reached Nine-Star Dou Zhe, and his first reaction was a sigh of relief. "Improving two minor Realms in two months, that's normal."

He looked at Lin Xiu, "Why are you not studying with the teachers in the academy and constantly running out? Don't you know how important it is to lay a good foundation in the early stages?"

"Mentor, I have my own Cultivation plan," Lin Xiu explained.

In truth, Huo Lan was only speaking out of habit. After all, Lin Xiu's progress speed was evident, so what could he really say?

However, since it was a test, mere words wouldn't suffice.

Huo Lan asked Lin Xiu to use his full strength to spar with him, to see what specific progress he had made.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiu dared not be vague. Such an opportunity to spar with a Great Fighter was rare, and it was a good chance for him to gain experience.

Thus, after engaging Huo Lan, Lin Xiu indeed went all out, even using the secret technique of berserk.

The two fought for nearly half an hour, scaring Du Chaoping, who was watching from the side, his eyes trembling.

"Is this Junior Lin Xiu's true ability? This is too fierce." Du Chaoping realized that the mentor had initially sparred with Junior Lin Xiu using the strength of a One-Star Dou Master, gradually increasing to Two-Star, Three-Star, and finally Five-Star, before barely suppressing Junior Lin Xiu.

He had originally thought that after breaking through to Two-Star Dou Master, he could truly become a senior when taking Junior Lin Xiu out for training in the future. Now it seemed he had thought too much.

"Alright, let's stop here for now. Your foundation is very solid." Huo Lan motioned for Lin Xiu to stop; he could tell Lin Xiu was close to his limit.

In fact, he was also nearing his limit.

You participated in a battle, Life-Stealing Strike experience +200.

Your ability Life-Stealing Strike has been promoted to...

You participated in a battle, Wind Shadow Traceless Finger experience +200.

Your ability Wind Shadow Traceless Finger has been promoted to...

Looking at the rapidly increasing experience and attribute points, Lin Xiu, though breathing heavily, was extremely excited. "Mentor, can we have such a test every day from now on? I improve very quickly."

"Du Chaoping, take him away." Huo Lan thought Lin Xiu was showing off his solid foundation, and 'once a day'? Did he want to use him as a training dummy?

In the courtyard, only Huo Lan remained, lying in a chair, his gaze deep. "It's only been a little over two months. At this rate of progress, he might truly contend for the top five next year!"

During this test, Huo Lan noticed that Lin Xiu had mastered many new Fighting Skills, and some of them still showed traces of the Whip Kick and Splitting Wind Palm he had taught before.

"Not only Fighting Skills, but his Realm advancement is also fast and very stable, not like he's taken Medicinal Pills for a sudden surge." Huo Lan shook his head slightly. Everyone has secrets, and he didn't want to delve deeper, but he decided to start Lin Xiu's cultivation plan early.

Originally, he had planned for Lin Xiu to Cultivate in the academy for a year first, and then begin in the second year. Now, he had to change that.

On the other side, after Lin Xiu was taken away by Du Chaoping, he had dinner with Han Pu and Qin Zhi.

At the dinner table, Du Chaoping shared his joy with him, expressing his gratitude to Lin Xiu several times.

"That's great, Senior Du Chaoping! If you participate in the Inner Courtyard Selection Competition, we can look out for each other." Lin Xiu showed a look of joy.

"Junior Lin Xiu." Hearing Lin Xiu's words, Qin Zhi was stunned for a moment. "Junior Lin Xiu, are you really planning to participate in next year's Inner Courtyard Selection Competition? You've only been enrolled for three months."

"Didn't I say it last time? Of course, I'm serious." Lin Xiu nodded earnestly.

"Cough cough..." Du Chaoping lightly coughed twice, facing Han Pu and Qin Zhi's gazes. "Trust Junior Lin Xiu, he has the strength."

A hint of shock flashed in their eyes as they stared blankly at Lin Xiu. They knew very well that Lin Xiu's participation was different from Du Chaoping's; if he participated, his goal would have to be the top five.

Thinking this, both of them couldn't help but take a sharp breath.

After dinner, Lin Xiu returned to the dormitory. When everyone saw him return, there was an inevitable flurry of concern and questions, and he briefly recounted what he had encountered outside.

Upon learning that Lin Xiu's strength was actually Nine-Star Dou Zhe, everyone in the dormitory looked at him with envy.

Xiao Ning, sitting on his bed, couldn't help but think of his cousin. He probably hadn't even reached Nine-Star Dou Zhe yet, had he?

For the next two days, Lin Xiu lived a normal campus life: attending classes, studying, and Cultivating.

Mainly, Mentor Huo Lan wouldn't let him go out, stating that there were arrangements coming up.

However.

Sometimes, accidents always happen in unexpected places.

Du Chaoping was injured!

Originally, Huo Lan had planned to take Du Chaoping and Lin Xiu out for training together, to temper them both, pass on his skills to them, and help them prepare for the Inner Courtyard Selection Competition.

When Lin Xiu went to visit Du Chaoping, he was covered in bandages, with only his eyes, nose, and mouth showing.

"Normal sparring, but the attacks were too vicious, weren't they?" Lin Xiu frowned.

Sitting on the other side of the hospital bed, Qin Zhi wiped her eyes. "What sparring? It was clearly retaliation. That Lin Ge used the pretext of sparring to target Senior Du Chaoping on behalf of Bai Shan."

"Little Qin!" Du Chaoping called out to her.

Qin Zhi's voice was tearful. "Senior Du Chaoping, you don't know, after you were injured, Lin Ge challenged Han Pu again, and he even said I was next."

At this moment, Lin Xiu realized that Han Pu was not in the room.

"Senior Sister, where is Senior Han Pu? Take me to him." Lin Xiu spoke in a deep voice.

I apologize for the lengthy plot. These two days I'll wrap things up, and the Outer Academy storyline will conclude soon. The protagonist has accumulated enough Fighting Skills, and from now on, the focus will be on an invincible style, starting from his promotion to the Inner Academy, where the protagonist will primarily follow an invincible challenge route.