The heavy scent of medicinal herbs and sterilized linen hung thickly in the air of the Outer Academy's Healing Pavilion.
Yoriichi gently lowered Kuo onto one of the pristine white beds in the emergency ward. Within seconds, two white-robed medical elders rushed over, their hands glowing with soothing, pale-green wood attribute Dou Qi. They immediately began diagnosing the heavy youth's pulverized ribs and scorched chest.
"His sternum is fractured in three places, but... it's a miracle," one of the elders muttered, his eyes widening as his spiritual perception swept over Kuo's lower abdomen. "The lightning strike hit him point-blank, yet the residual voltage in his Dantian is completely zero. Someone forcefully grounded the lethal electricity out of his meridians before it could completely paralyze his organs."
The elder looked up, intending to ask the red-haired youth who had brought him in how this was physically possible.
But the spot beside the bed was empty. Yoriichi had already turned and silently slipped out of the ward, desiring no praise or lengthy interrogations.
Stepping out of the Healing Pavilion, Yoriichi found himself bathed in the warm, golden light of the midday sun. As he walked down the manicured stone paths of the central academic sector, he noticed a distinct, palpable shift in the atmosphere.
The students who had previously whispered about him as the "cowardly scholar" who always surrendered to challenges now stared at him with absolute, wide-eyed awe. As he walked, groups of upperclassmen unconsciously stepped aside, parting like the Red Sea to give him a wide berth. Catching a full-power, lethal strike from a 9-Star genius like Bai Shan with a bare, un-armored hand had completely shattered their understanding of cultivation logic.
Yoriichi ignored the stares entirely. His mind was tranquil, undisturbed by the sudden shift in public opinion. He navigated the winding corridors of the instructor's compound, eventually arriving before a familiar, elegant oak door.
He raised a hand and knocked twice, the rhythmic sound echoing down the quiet hall.
"Enter," a melodic, composed voice called from within.
Yoriichi pushed the door open and stepped into the office. The room was cool and refreshing, possessing a passive, soothing humidity that felt like standing near a gentle stream. Behind a large mahogany desk sat Tutor Ruo Lin, meticulously reviewing a stack of student ledgers.
"Ah, Xiao Ning," Ruo Lin smiled warmly, setting her quill down. She leaned back in her chair, her sharp, perceptive eyes sweeping over his tall, unblemished form. "I heard the frantic reports from the central arena just moments ago. You certainly know how to cause a massive uproar without throwing a single punch. How are your hands?"
"I am perfectly well, Tutor Ruo Lin," Yoriichi replied, offering a polite, minimal bow. "The electricity was easily redirected. It left no lasting damage."
"I see," Ruo Lin murmured, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of profound curiosity and deep respect.
As she looked at him, Yoriichi's Transparent World vision passively analyzed her aura. He noticed a significant, dense condensation in her water-attribute Dou Qi. The pressure she radiated was vastly heavier than when they had first met in Wu Tan City.
'She has reached the absolute peak of the Da Dou Shi realm,' Yoriichi noted internally. 'Her Dou Crystal is perfectly rounded. She is standing on the very precipice of the Dou Ling realm.' It seemed the academy leadership was heavily investing in her growth, likely as a direct reward for discovering the monsters of the Xiao Clan.
"Come, sit," Ruo Lin gestured to the wooden chair opposite her desk. "It is time for your monthly assessment. Though, given your recent antics, I suspect traditional metrics are somewhat useless on you."
Yoriichi took a seat, his posture flawlessly straight.
"Extend your wrist," she instructed, maintaining formal protocol.
Yoriichi complied, resting his right arm on the desk. Ruo Lin placed two delicate fingers against his pulse point, sending a tiny, probing thread of her refined water Dou Qi into his meridians.
The moment her energy entered his arm, Ruo Lin's breath hitched.
She expected to feel the standard, flowing river of a Dou Shi. Instead, her probing energy slammed into an absolute, immovable wall of density. The milky-white liquid Dou Qi residing within Yoriichi's meridians was so hyper-compressed, so terrifyingly heavy, that it felt like trying to push a needle into a solid block of diamond.
"Two-Star Dou Shi," Ruo Lin confirmed aloud, struggling to keep her voice steady as she hastily retracted her fingers. "Yet the volumetric density... it defies logic. You are following the foundational protocols perfectly, but your internal compression is monstrous. Have you been encountering any friction during your elemental routing?"
"My foundation is stable," Yoriichi answered smoothly, offering a highly technical, yet vague, cultivation theory. "I have found that by treating the meridians not as hollow pipes, but as expanding, elastic vessels, the Dou Qi can naturally layer upon itself, vastly increasing its kinetic weight without risking a biological rupture."
Ruo Lin stared at him, her mind racing to comprehend the sheer, grandmaster-level philosophy he dropped so casually. She simply nodded slowly, deciding it was best not to pry too deeply into the anomaly the Deputy Headmaster had explicitly told her to leave alone.
"Excellent," she cleared her throat, shifting the topic. "And what of your sister? Xiao Yu is officially registered under my elite class roster now, yet I have not seen her attend a single lecture in weeks."
"Yu is currently in a state of profound, closed-door meditation," Yoriichi replied mildly. "She is stabilizing her newly awakened internal state. She will require more time."
Ruo Lin sighed softly, tapping her manicured nails against the desk. "I understand. But she must be careful. Rapid ascension without worldly tempering can make a foundation brittle. Advise her to pace herself when she wakes."
"I will relay your wisdom," Yoriichi nodded.
Ruo Lin leaned forward, her expression shifting from a gentle tutor to a serious, calculating academy official.
"Speaking of worldly tempering, Xiao Ning... I have a very specific question for you," Ruo Lin began, interlacing her fingers on the desk. "Will you participate in the upcoming Inner Academy Qualifying Tournament? If you give the word, I will personally place your name on the primary roster today."
Yoriichi's crimson eyes narrowed slightly in thought.
"The Inner Academy," Yoriichi echoed.
He remembered the day the academy elders had come to Wu Tan City. He remembered the terrifying, abyssal aura of Elder Su Qian hovering in the sky—a true, undeniable master who had shattered the heavens with a mere gesture.
'The Outer Academy is a nursery. The Inner Academy is the true crucible,' Yoriichi reasoned internally. 'The standards of power, the ambient worldly energy, and the martial knowledge hidden within the inner sect are vastly superior to this place. To further adapt my Sun Breathing and break through the physical limitations of this world, I must reach the center.'
"When does the tournament commence, Tutor?" Yoriichi asked, his interest genuinely piqued.
"The preliminary elimination rounds will begin in exactly two months," Ruo Lin explained patiently. "It is a brutal, massive free-for-all across multiple arenas to weed out the weak. Those who survive will advance to the final qualifying rounds a week later. It is a one-on-one bracket system."