The First Day of Class

By the time they returned to Qixia Peak, it was already nine in the morning.

Behind the Ruiyu Pavilion square stood a three-story building.

Martial Aunt Yang led them into a room that resembled a traditional schoolroom. "From this moment on, you have entered the initial stage of your studies."

"I will outline the schedule. The initial stage lasts eight days. For the first seven days, from nine in the morning until noon, I will teach you the ancient script. From two until six in the afternoon, Martial Uncle Lu will take you for body refining. On the eighth day, there will be an assessment instead of classes."

"The results of every assessment will be recorded in the register. Only disciples who pass all assessments will be permitted to leave the sect."

"I hope everyone passes on their first try so that no one has to stay behind for remedial exams."

She then turned to Wen Xuan and Jiang Yao. "For the next three days, come find me here at seven in the evening. I will teach you the rest of the common script."

Gu Ningyun took note of the schedule. After achieving qi induction, her learning speed had indeed increased significantly. No wonder Martial Uncle Lu had insisted they reach that stage while still on the immortal boat.

With a wave of Martial Aunt Yang's sleeve, a jade slip appeared on each of their desks: 《Ancient Script Compendium》.

...

After finishing her first lesson on the ancient script, Gu Ningyun discovered that these characters were the same as the ones in the book 《■■■■■》 inside her space.

She felt a surge of anticipation; once she mastered the ancient script, she would finally be able to read the entire book.

"What are you daydreaming about, Ningyun? Let's go eat."

Feeling a pat on her shoulder, Gu Ningyun put away the jade slip and left with Wen Xuan and the others. "Let's go. I'm hungry too."

Jiang Yao remarked, "I have a feeling body refining is going to be exhausting. We should eat as much as we can."

Wen Xuan nodded. "Mhm. But remember, only take what you can finish. I don't want to be punished for wasting food."

On the way to the dining hall, they saw some disciples playing with wooden swords.

One disciple carrying a sword passed by them. Catching their gaze, a flicker of arrogance crossed his face.

Gu Ningyun and her friends exchanged looks and shrugged, saying nothing.

It seemed the learning schedules for the different groups were not the same, but Gu Ningyun preferred their own arrangement.

Sharpening the axe would not delay the woodcutting. After their body refining, they would surely find it easier to master sword techniques or anything else, and they would likely perform better.

Furthermore, by learning the ancient script compendium, they could visit Book Peak to consult any records without worrying about encountering texts they couldn't understand.

Besides, there had to be a reason why Martial Aunt Yang and Martial Uncle Lu had taken the top two spots in the competition. Gu Ningyun naturally trusted their judgment.

After returning to the Cloud Residence from the dining hall, Gu Ningyun took a short nap.

An hour before the afternoon class was set to begin, she went to the study and pulled out the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 to read.

She had no choice; this massive volume was simply too difficult to digest...

The more she read it, the more she realized how thin her knowledge was and how valuable the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 truly was.

She suspected that if she didn't memorize the spiritual plants section, she would probably overlook eighty out of every hundred spiritual plants she encountered in a secret realm simply because she didn't recognize them.

The sect seniors who required them to memorize the entire book before leaving the sect were truly visionary.

There was an object on the desk that looked like a wind chime. Gu Ningyun had examined it earlier and discovered it was actually an alarm clock.

Immersed in the almanac, she only put the jade slip away when she heard the chime and headed toward the Ruiyu Pavilion square.

Once everyone had gathered, Martial Uncle Lu said, "The first day's training is relatively simple. Just run fifty laps around the square."

The square was about the size of a football field back on Blue Star. One lap was four hundred meters, so fifty laps meant twenty thousand meters.

Although they had already induced qi, the physical difference between them and mortal children wasn't actually that vast yet.

For these children—the youngest being six and the oldest seven—running twenty thousand meters with their short legs within four hours was a significant challenge.

Gu Ningyun remembered how, before she transmigrated, she would be gasping for air after just an eight-hundred-meter run during her university fitness tests...

However, since she had been given this chance to cultivate, she cherished the opportunity deeply.

No matter how grueling the body refining was, she was mentally prepared. She would persevere through any hardship and strive to break past her physical limits.

Martial Uncle Lu taught them the correct running posture and breathing rhythm. Once he saw they had grasped it, he led them slowly through the first lap.

Gu Ningyun found the pace suitable and maintained it throughout.

However, as the laps added up, she realized that children in the cultivation world, having been nourished by spirit energy since birth, possessed far stronger constitutions than ordinary children.

The five of them completed ten laps without anyone falling behind.

But by the time Gu Ningyun reached twenty laps, her other two companions—excluding Jun Luo and Mu Chenze—had already fallen behind by quite a distance.

Though Jun Luo and Mu Chenze were still beside her, she could hear their heavy, labored breathing.

Gu Ningyun, on the other hand, didn't feel much fatigue. She could even maintain steady, even breaths with ease.

Based on her observations over the past few days, Jun Luo and Mu Chenze likely came from cultivation families and had grown up eating spirit food. There was no reason for their physical condition to be inferior to hers.

The biggest difference between her and them was that she had drunk the spirit spring water from her space.

Thinking of the changes in her body after drinking the water, her eyes flickered.

The effects of the spirit spring water seemed even more powerful than she had imagined.

She wondered what the effect would be if she drank some after today's body refining.

Even though twenty laps felt easy, Gu Ningyun did not speed up, maintaining her steady rhythm.

After all, this was her first time running so many laps. She didn't know where her physical limit was, and there was still a long way to go.

After thirty laps, Gu Ningyun began to pant.

Mu Chenze and Jun Luo had fallen a significant distance behind her. She didn't look back to see exactly where they were.

As for Wen Xuan and Jiang Yao, the two were still in a running posture, but their speed was barely faster than walking...

Gu Ningyun had lost track of how many times she had lapped them.

With twenty laps remaining, she assessed her condition and slightly increased her pace.

By the fortieth lap, Jun Luo and Mu Chenze were also essentially walking. As for her other two friends...

Gu Ningyun blinked, reminded of a game from her previous life—Plants vs. Zombies. The way those two were dragging their heavy steps forward made them look quite like the zombies.

Even so, not a single person stopped to rest.

Looking at the members of her group, a sense of admiration rose in Gu Ningyun's heart.

Her thoughts drifted only for a moment before she refocused. After ten laps of accelerated running, she was also gasping for breath, her legs feeling like lead.

She forced her arms to swing and her legs to lift, maintaining the correct posture. Driven by a sheer core of willpower, she refused to slow down.

One lap, then another.

Even though only a few laps remained, Gu Ningyun felt they were more grueling than all the previous ones combined.