11: Unwarranted mockery

The night breeze was slightly cool.

Jiang Donghua sat alone on a rock outside the camp, looking at Yan Feng who was instructing other students by the distant bonfire, his heart filled with emotion.

For an ordinary Dou Practitioner cultivating, what is the hardest thing?

It is time!

Ordinary cultivators often need to concentrate fully when meditating, circulating their cultivation methods, absorbing energy from heaven and earth, and refining their Dou Qi.

Once they are distracted practicing a Dou Technique, their cultivation efficiency is greatly reduced, not to mention that most Yellow Rank High-Tier Dou Technique have strict limitations.

At the very least, caution is required during the Dou Practitioner stage.

The cultivation essentials for the Blazing Flame Palm clearly state that one can cultivate for a maximum of two hours per day, or risk damaging the meridians.

The precautions for Roaming Cloud Steps are even more frightening: after every seven cycles, one must rest for six hours, otherwise the three Yin meridians in the foot will inevitably be damaged.

These restrictions are iron rules for ordinary Dou Practitioner.

But what about Jiang Donghua?

The corner of his mouth curved slightly upward as his consciousness sank into the system interface.

[Current afk Status]

Clone 1: Cultivating Blazing Flame Palm (56/100) Beginner

+2 points per hour (Optimal State)

Clone 2: Cultivating Roaming Cloud Steps (56/100) Beginner

+2 points per hour (Optimal State)

This was the truly heaven-defying aspect!

Other students needed to weigh their cultivation time and cautiously allocate their energy, afraid of injuring their meridians.

Yet, he, Jiang Donghua, could perform two cultivations simultaneously, and each one continued to operate in the most perfect state!

Even more terrifying was that the afk system was eternally tireless!

An ordinary Dou Practitioner who cultivates for three or four hours needs to rest for at least two hours to recover his spirit.

But what about his clones?

Twenty-four hours, continuous operation!

Jiang Donghua couldn't help but chuckle softly.

At this rate, in just one more day, both Blazing Flame Palm and Roaming Cloud Steps would reach the beginner level.

And his Dou Qi cultivation would break through to the Three-Star Dou Practitioner level within half a month!

In the distance, Yan Feng was fiercely scolding a student.

"Idiot!"

"You can only practice 'Stone Shattering Fist' thirty times a day!"

"You practiced it sixty times this afternoon, do you not want your hands anymore?!"

The student tearfully held his swollen fists, nearly bursting into tears.

Jiang Donghua silently withdrew his gaze, thinking to himself.

"Apologies, everyone..."

"A life with cheats is just this unreasonable."

The camp bonfire blazed fiercely, casting flickering shadows.

Jiang Donghua leaned against a large bluestone, his gaze sweeping across the camp as it grew livelier.

Four or five hundred people gathered here, and the aura of the twenty-odd instructors was as conspicuous as torches in the dark night.

Yan Feng was sitting with several familiar instructors around the largest bonfire, the clinking of wine bowls incessant.

Jiang Donghua noticed that whenever the Instructor Zhao with the goatee spoke, the other instructors would unconsciously lean forward slightly.

And the Gray-Robed Elder in the corner, who was perpetually resting with his eyes closed, made it so that no one dared approach within three meters of him.

"A Seven-Star Great Dou Master can only rank mid-tier here..."

Jiang Donghua assessed silently.

He clearly remembered the might of Yan Feng shattering mountain rock with a single palm outside Black Iron City, but there were at least five or six auras in the camp right now that were even thicker than Yan Feng's.

Especially the Gray-Robed Elder and the beautiful woman with the jade flute hanging from her waist, who were probably both at the Nine Star Great Dou Shi level.

He discreetly circulated his breath-concealing technique, suppressing his cultivation to the One-Star Dou Zhe level.

Unless someone seriously scanned him, he would only be mistaken for an ordinary One-Star Dou Zhe.

Sure enough, when the gazes of the Great Dou Master swept over him, they only paused briefly before moving away.

"You're from Black Iron City?"

A freckled young girl approached, curiously examining him.

"I heard that no Dou Practitioner has emerged from your place for decades?"

Jiang Donghua smiled shyly.

"I was lucky; I just broke through recently."

A burst of laughter suddenly came from not far away.

Several richly dressed youths were pointing towards Jiang Donghua.

"Look quickly, that's the genius from Black Iron City!"

"A One-Star Dou Zhe, hahaha!"

"I heard their City Lord is only a Two-Star Great Dou Master?"

"It's just a poor, remote place.

What kind of decent talent could come out of a place like that?"

Yan Feng slammed his wine cup heavily onto the wooden table, splashing out a few drops of wine.

"Zhao Ming, control the people you brought!"

Yan Feng's bell-like eyes glared at a middle-aged man in a white robe nearby.

The white-robed instructor leisurely took a sip of wine.

"Brother Yan, why the anger?"

"The youngsters are just joking."

Several youths in luxurious clothes behind him chuckled softly, one of them deliberately raising his voice.

"I heard the Black Iron City Lord's Mansion doesn't even have a decent Dou Technique Pavilion?"

Liu Yuting's small face flushed red with anger.

"Who said that! We, the Liu family's library has one hundred and thirty-seven Yellow-rank Combat Skill!"

Her older brother, Liu Mingyu, tried to stop her but was too late, drawing another round of laughter from the surroundings.

"One hundred and thirty-seven types?"

A youth wearing jade at his waist raised an eyebrow exaggeratedly.

"Any random noble family in our Qinghe City has more than that number."

Jiang Donghua pressed down on Liu Yuting's trembling shoulder, his gaze calmly sweeping over the aristocratic youths.

In his perception, the weakest among these people had just stepped into the One-Star Dou Zhe realm, while the jade-wearing youth had reached the peak of Two-Star Dou Zhe.

Such strength was indeed considered genius in Black Iron City, but as for him...

Jiang Donghua spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"If we return to Jia Nan Academy tomorrow, and you senior brothers are willing to offer guidance, I would certainly like to witness your true abilities."

The jade-wearing youth's expression sank upon hearing this.

"What arrogance! A One-Star Dou Zhe who just broke through..."

"Enough."

The Gray-Robed Elder suddenly opened his eyes, his cloudy gaze lingering on Jiang Donghua for a moment.

"It is good for young people to be arrogant, but they must also possess corresponding strength."

Yan Feng laughed heartily and patted Jiang Donghua heavily on the back.

"Elder Mo is right!

But..."

He glanced meaningfully at the aristocratic youths.

"The results will naturally be seen on the training grounds tomorrow."

Instructor Yuxiao lightly stroked her jade flute, a hint of interest flashing in her beautiful eyes.

"Interesting.

Little fellow, I hope you can maintain this composure tomorrow."

Jiang Donghua smiled faintly and said no more.

He poked the bonfire; as sparks flew, a wisp of intertwined cyan and red Dou Qi could vaguely be seen circulating on his fingertips.

The aristocratic youths suddenly felt their breathing halt, as if enveloped by an invisible pressure, but it vanished instantly, making them think it was an illusion.

The Gray-Robed Elder's eyes narrowed slightly, while Instructor Yuxiao's red lips curved into an arc of amusement.

The night wind swept past.

Jiang Donghua looked at the cultivation progress on the system interface that was about to be completed, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

In the upcoming New Students competition trial at Jia Nan Academy, he would let these arrogant aristocratic youths know what true strength was.

After everyone returned to their carriages to rest, Elder Mo summoned the aristocratic youths to his side.

"That boy named Jiang Donghua earlier, if you encounter him tomorrow, you must be careful."

Elder Mo's hoarse voice was exceptionally clear in the night.

A youth dressed in brocade robes pouted dismissively.

"Uncle Mo, he's just a One-Star Dou Zhe..."

"Foolish!"

Elder Mo's cloudy eyes suddenly burst with sharp light.

"Out of four or five hundred people, only thirty or forty have reached the Dou Practitioner realm.

And you all..."

His gaze swept over everyone present.

"Excluding Lin Xiuyuan of the Lin family, who is at the peak of Two-Star Dou Zhe, the rest of you have just entered the Dou Practitioner realm."

Lin Xiuyuan, who was named, looked serious and cupped his fists, saying.

"Understood, Uncle Mo."