Chapter 5

Thank you to GreedyWolf for the generous donation of 1888 Qidian coins, SOV1 and raffaello for 588 Qidian coins, and Tianjin's Wings, Water Emperor, and Nanshi for 100 Qidian coins each.

North Qiaofeng, South Murong!

When Li Yan heard the name Qiaofeng, he should have been shocked, but after seeing a lolita version of Yang Guo, a female version of the Green Winged Bat King Wei Xiaoyi, and a tooth-changing lolita version of the clumsy girl Guo Jing, he was no longer surprised by the tall and muscular female version of Qiaofeng. He carefully examined the girl for a while, and found that her appearance was not much different from his ideal image of Qiaofeng. Qiaofeng should be tall and strong, just that he had become a beauty. It no longer scared him. However, the name Qiaofeng on a woman always made Li Yan feel a bit strange, so he gave her a nickname, calling her "Ponytail Girl."

Just as Ponytail Girl turned her head to look at Li Yan, their eyes met for a moment. Li Yan was about to smile to show friendliness, but unexpectedly, her head quickly turned away, and she no longer looked at Li Yan.

"Hey? Ignoring me!" Li Yan's sensitive and fragile heart was hurt: "What's going on? Just one look and you want to isolate me? Could you have seen through that I'm a top-notch guy with full marks just from one look? That's not possible, right?"

Feeling depressed, Li Yan was dragged into Plum Manor by the tooth-changing lolita. Inside were many small huts. The dormitory manager seemed to appear, but since he was injured and in a bad mood, he didn't pay much attention to the surroundings. He was dazedly assigned a dilapidated small room, numbered Room 32. Inside was a straw mat bed, an oil lamp, and nothing else.

After the tooth-changing lolita arranged him, her big eyes under her thick eyebrows blinked, and she said with a melancholy tone, "Classmate Li Yan, it's your first day, so rest and get familiar with the environment before class. I'll go back to the classroom... The teacher ordered me to master the 'Branch Striking White Ape' move of the Yue Nu Sword Technique today, or I won't be allowed to eat for ten days. I need to practice quickly. I'll play with you tomorrow."

Li Yan cherished this new friend and quickly said, "Then go practice, don't worry about me."

The tooth-changing lolita bid farewell and hurriedly went to the classroom to practice.

After she left, Li Yan touched the "Pine Wind Sword Manual" tucked in his chest, and quickly slipped out of the dormitory, heading to the small forest. He wanted to practice the "Pine Wind Sword Technique" while his memory was still fresh, this time without intentionally sticking out his butt, to see if he could really perform the sword technique smoothly.

In the small forest, he saw Ponytail Girl Qiaofeng again. The tall girl was still practicing her boxing, each punch powerful and vigorous, making the trees shake and leaves rustle. Of course, that wasn't the main point; the main point was her agile and beautiful demeanor, which Li Yan found very pleasing to the eye.

Could such a level be the last in the first-year second class? Li Yan found it hard to believe, but since she also lived in Plum Manor, she was undoubtedly a poor student. Li Yan didn't want to practice his sword in front of her, fearing that he would expose his abilities and be taken by the Eastern girl to practice the "Manual of the Sunflower." So he planned to go deeper into the forest where Qiaofeng couldn't see him.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to take a step, Ponytail Girl glanced at him and then walked deeper into the forest like she was avoiding the plague.

"Hey, am I that annoying?" Li Yan was hurt.

Qiaofeng didn't answer.

"Hey, I'm not a top-notch guy, please pay attention to me!" Li Yan pointed at himself and jumped.

Qiaofeng glanced back at him, then turned away and continued walking.

"Hey, I'm the last in the class, don't isolate me!" Li Yan jumped desperately.

"Don't gesture so much, I knew you were a poor student when I saw you move into Plum Manor," Ponytail Girl finally spoke. Her voice was deep and hoarse, with a sense of沧桑 (cāngsāng, meaning "沧桑" which can be translated as "weathered" or "worldly-wise") that didn't match her age: "It's not that I want to isolate you, but you should isolate me. I am... cough... in short, don't talk to me anymore, stay away from me."

With that, the girl walked deeper into the forest and disappeared.

Watching Qiaofeng's back disappear, Li Yan was extremely depressed: "Do you have to come up with such a profound reason to isolate me? Whatever, I'll turn my sorrow into motivation and practice my sword..."

He picked up a small branch from the ground, looked around to confirm that no one was nearby, and then resumed the starting posture of the Pine Wind Sword Technique, saying softly, "Falling Geese on the Level Sands..."

He shook his body, ran a few steps, and lightly leaped up. Although he hadn't practiced internal skills, a person with full marks in physical education could easily jump two or three feet high. In mid-air, he gracefully extended his hands like the wings of a goose, and the long sword in his hand drew a beautiful arc, stabbing downward, a perfect "Falling Geese on the Level Sands."

After landing, he didn't stop but moved with the sword, practicing all the figures he had seen in the "Pine Wind Sword Manual." The sword light flickered, and leaves flew. The sword technique was performed with perfect form, without any flaws. Of course, due to his lack of experience, he couldn't perfectly apply the variations described in the text, and without internal strength, his sword moves were just for show. But in terms of form, he had already mastered the basics of the Pine Wind Sword Technique.

Unbeknownst to Li Yan, on a branch of a tree with lush leaves in the distance, the principal of Blackwood Cliff, Miss Dongfang Bubai, and the class teacher of the first-year third class, the "Mighty God" Fan Song, were secretly watching him practice. Both were using supreme lightness skills to stand on the branches, swaying gently with the wind, blending into the tree as if they were leaves.

"This kid is indeed hiding something," Miss Dongfang smiled.

"Lord Sect Leader, are you sure he knew nothing when he entered school?" The class teacher was a bit skeptical.

"Yes, he had no martial arts foundation at all," Miss Dongfang smiled: "Don't you trust my judgment?"

"Uh... I dare not..."

"In any case, we'll see if his character meets our requirements," Miss Dongfang laughed lightly, her beautiful face showing a hint of satisfaction at finding a successor.

"But he seems to have other thoughts," the class teacher said seriously: "He deliberately stuck out his butt, and it was only after you said you would take him as a disciple and teach him the 'Manual of the Sunflower' that he seemed afraid of you."

"Yes, I find that strange too. I, Miss Dongfang, am loved by all, flowers bloom at my presence, and cars stop for me. Why would he be afraid of me?" Miss Dongfang frowned: "Forget it, let's continue to pretend we don't know. It's not urgent. This boy is entrusted to you. Observe him carefully. His talent is obvious, but we need to examine his character... The people we need in the Sun Moon Holy Sect must... well, you understand! My skills cannot be passed on to those who do not share our ideals..."

"I understand, Lord Sect Leader!"

Li Yan practiced the Pine Wind Sword Technique diligently, unaware that Miss Dongfang and the class teacher were watching him from nearby. His movements were graceful and fluid, and after practicing a few more times, his sword technique became even more refined. He began to understand many of the textual annotations, and his spirit grew with each practice.

He didn't realize that his progress was astonishingly fast. Most people with average talent found learning sword techniques very difficult. A small change could take them ten days or even a month to master, and a slightly more complex move could take a year or two. Disciples of famous schools often took several years to fully understand their school's sword techniques.

But Li Yan had extremely high talent and a strong learning ability. After practicing for a while in the small forest, he had already mastered the basics of the Pine Wind Sword Technique. With a few more practical opportunities, he could fully master it. Such talent naturally amazed Miss Dongfang and the class teacher.

Just as he was practicing happily, a sudden burst of curses came from deep in the forest, as if someone was arguing. Li Yan stopped his movements and turned to look in the direction of the sound. Hmm? Wasn't that the direction Ponytail Girl went? Curious, he followed the sound.

Passing through a grove of towering trees and a patch of low shrubs, Li Yan arrived at a clearing in the forest. There, three boys were standing in a circle, pointing and gesturing at something in the middle. Occasionally, one of them would kick, but they blocked Li Yan's view, so he couldn't see what was in the middle.

These three boys were not much older, around thirteen or fourteen years old. Li Yan was sure they were not from the first-year third class, as his memory was excellent, and he had already memorized the faces of his classmates. He couldn't identify which grade or class these boys were from.

With the idea of making more friends and being a positive and sociable teenager, Li Yan smiled and greeted them, "Hi, everyone, I'm a new student in the first-year third class. What game are you playing? Can I join?"

The three boys turned to look at Li Yan, their eyes slightly fierce, showing no friendliness. They seemed to be difficult to get along with, and Li Yan felt a chill. It would be challenging to make friends with such people.

One of the taller boys grunted, "You're a new student in the third class? We're from the first-year second class. We're beating a dog. You, from the third class, get lost. Don't interfere with us."

"Beating a dog? Is it like 'Beating the Goose' or 'Catch the Ghost'?" Li Yan felt their hostility but still tried to make an effort. Friendship is something you have to strive for, so he ignored their hostile demeanor and tried to be polite and gentle, hoping to win them over.

But when he glanced into the circle, he was shocked.

This "beating a dog" game was actually beating a person!

In the center of the circle formed by the three boys, a girl with a ponytail was crouching. It was Qiaofeng, whom he had just met. She was hugging her head, curled up on the ground, and the three boys from the second class were kicking and hitting her. They were hitting her hard, clearly not joking around but genuinely beating her. One of them punched Qiaofeng's back with a powerful blow, making her fall forward from a crouching position to a prone one.

Another boy stepped forward and kicked Qiaofeng's side, and she was clearly in pain, her body curling up like a shrimp, her hands covering her abdomen as she coughed.

Before she could recover, another boy kicked her calf, the kick so powerful that it might have broken her leg.

Li Yan couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Stop! What are you doing? How can you bully a female classmate like this?"

His shout immediately silenced the scene. The three boys who were beating Qiaofeng stopped and looked at Li Yan with strange eyes, clearly surprised that he dared to interfere.

The shortest of the three boys spoke, his tone threatening, "New student, you came from that direction, so you must be staying in Plum Manor. In this school, you need to learn the rules. People from Plum Manor should be low-key. If it's not your business, stay out of it, got it?"

Li Yan's face darkened, and he interrupted, "I do live in Plum Manor, but I just started today and haven't learned any martial arts yet. But does that mean people from Plum Manor can't speak up for what's right? I think, no matter what, boys shouldn't beat girls, especially when they can't fight back. That's just wrong."