NOVPUBHearing the woman’s words, Li Changhe heaved a long sigh.
"When has Heavenly Dao Academy ever fallen so low," he lamented.
"A tiger is still a tiger even when it lands on the flat ground, and a dragon is still a dragon even when it swims in shallow waters," someone calmly remarked from the side.
"Regardless, we are not ones to be coerced," added another.
"Enough," the woman at the head seemed a bit tired.
Leaning back in her chair, she waved her hand and said, "Just do as I have instructed for now."
Watching the slowly departing figures, the woman’s eyes were profound, pondering something unknown.
...
The dawn was radiant, and the purple qi came from the east for thousands of miles.
Xu Zimei stretched lazily and walked out of the room.
In the Loulan Courtyard, Mo Tianming had risen early, sitting cross-legged under an ancient ginkgo tree.
He was inhaling and exhaling the purple qi, a rich one drifting from the horizon.
Between each breath, it seemed as though he held the profound mystery that could shift the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth.
"Brother Xu is awake," Mo Tianming called out with a smile upon seeing Xu Zimei coming out.
Xu Zimei nodded.
As the two were chatting, Li Changhe walked in with two students from Heavenly Dao Academy.
One of the students was Li Menghe.
The other, a man, introduced himself as Lue Tian.
"Vice President Li," Mo Tianming greeted.
"Ah, the arrangements for your affiliations have already been settled," Li Changhe said with a nod and a smile.
"Mo, you will follow Venerable Ming, and Xu Zimei will be under Venerable Nu."
After saying this, Li Changhe seemed afraid that Xu Zimei and Mo Tianming might be worried.
He explained, "Both Venerable Ming and Venerable Nu are famously regarded teachers at the Academy. Following them will be best for your advancements."
"Thank you, Vice President Li," Mo Tianming nodded.
"Lue Tian, take Mo to Venerable Ming," Li Changhe instructed.
"Menghe, take Xu Zimei to Venerable Nu."
Before parting, Mo Tianming grinned and waved at Xu Zimei saying, "Brother Xu, hope we get more chances to spar."
Following Li Menghe, the two made their way towards the eastern part of the Heavenly Dao Academy.
Given the vast expanse of Heavenly Dao Academy, the institution allowed void stepping, flying, or even riding various mounts.
Mid-air, Li Menghe looked at Xu Zimei and said, "Just a heads-up, Venerable Nu has a bit of a strange temperament. Try not to irritate him too much."
"A bit strange?" Xu Zimei asked, puzzled.
"I don’t know what the academy was thinking," Li Menghe continued.
"Venerable Nu has more than once made it clear he would not take on any more students. It’s beyond me why the academy would assign you to him."
"Is that so?" Xu Zimei chuckled lightly.
"All the older students know," Li Menghe nodded. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
"Venerable Nu is the least responsible among the teachers and his demeanor is somewhat decadent. But I’ve heard that a long time ago, he was the most prestigious and even the most likely candidate for the next dean. I don’t know why he changed so much."
Xu Zimei laughed and asked, "Do you know if there are any fun places in our Heavenly Dao Academy?"
"Fun?" Li Menghe seemed a bit confused by the term.
"I mean some training areas with fire attributes," Xu Zimei said.
He didn’t outright mention Nine-Bend Godly Flames.
"There are plenty of those," Li Menghe responded.
"There’s Fireflame Mountain to the north and the Southern Fire Basin to the south, and the place we’re heading to now," said Venerable Nu.
"Vermilion Bird Island," Xu Zimei remarked.
"It’s related to the Four Divine Beasts, isn’t it?"
"Yes, originally a Vermilion Bird Divine Beast fell here, causing the entire island to burn with the Southern Luminous Flame," explained Li Menghe.
"The flames persist, never extinguishing, still burning to this day."
"Do we have any powerful flames at our academy?" Xu Zimei continued to inquire.
"Powerful flames? Plenty," responded Li Menghe, somewhat clueless.
"We have the Southern Luminous Flame, as well as the Nirvana Flame, Pure Void Purple Flame... in short, our Heavenly Dao Academy is much stronger than you imagine."
Hearing Li Menghe’s words, Xu Zimei sighed slightly.
He felt he couldn’t learn anything from this person; he was completely naive.
None of the topics discussed were of interest to him.
It took about ten minutes for the two to fly and reach the so-called Vermilion Bird Island.
From afar, the entire island seemed to float mid-air, surrounded by dreamlike, blue flames.
The entire firmament was illuminated red by the flames.
The roaring flames flourished around the island, yet the flora on the island seemed to relish these flames.
And when Xu Zimei and his companion approached, they surprisingly felt no heat.
It was as if the flames were icy cold.
"We’ve arrived," said Li Menghe.
"Follow my lead when we meet Venerable Nu; he’s not easy to deal with, but you’ll get used to it."
Xu Zimei smiled and nodded.
He placed his hand into the Southern Luminous Flame and surprisingly felt no scorch.
The two walked onto the island, and they saw lush flowers and plants all around.
Wisteria sinensis wound along the gravel path ahead.
Soaring Eagle Trees and greenwood trees grew densely on both sides, and unusually, apart from the flora, there were no creatures here.
It was as if life carried a hint of an ending.
As they walked on the gravel path, waves of Southern Luminous Flame surged around them like ocean waves.
A "bang, bang, bang" sound reached their ears,
as if someone was forging iron.
Xu Zimei curiously looked up and saw a shop in front of the path.
It seemed to be a blacksmith’s shop.
An old, tattered banner fluttered in the breeze, wedged in a crack of the doorframe.
At the shop’s entrance, a muscular youth was wielding a hammer, forging iron with a "bang, bang, bang."
The young man was focused, not even noticing Xu Zimei and his companion approaching.
One hand wielded the hammer while the other held an unfinished sword embryo, forcefully striking it.
"Let’s not disturb him for the moment, let’s wait," Li Menghe, who seemed familiar with the place, whispered to Xu Zimei.
They waited nearly ten minutes.
The youth occasionally furrowed his brows or broke into a slight grin.
Finally, satisfied with the forged sword embryo, he placed it in the furnace next to him.
As he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel, he finally noticed Xu Zimei and his companion who had already arrived.
"Ah, you two," the muscular youth looked at them somewhat surprised.
"Menghe sister, when did you get here?"
"We’ve been here for a few minutes," Li Menghe smiled.
"I know your habits, so we didn’t disturb you."
"Sorry to keep you waiting," the muscular youth quickly apologized with a smile.
He asked, "Menghe sister, what brings you here?"
"We’re looking for Venerable Nu," replied Li Menghe.
