Shu Yulin shook her head. "It seems like the little girl isn't strong enough. However, Hai Xuanhao still needs to improve his fighting skills. He just got lucky because he was so heavy. Didn't expect that."
Hai Xuanhao got up from the ground, leaving Wu Lixue still lying there, motionless. He looked innocently at the teacher in a daze and explained, "Teacher, she was the one who started it.
When Shu Yulin realized that Wu Lixue wasn't moving, she immediately rushed forward and took her in her arms. The girl had fainted, a couple of grass blades stuck to her face, obviously pressed down with quite some force.
"Send her to the infirmary quickly."
An hour later, Hai Xuanhao was ordered to take his weight again. He was 1.3 meters and weighed 23 kilograms – a perfectly normal height and weight for a six-year-old.
The next time Hai Xuanhao saw Wu Lixue again, three days have already passed. Her face was still a little pale and she didn't seem all too well.
She no longer ran in the front during their physical exercises, opting to jog slowly at the back instead.
The other students kept looking at both of them from time to time, giggling and whispering.
Wu Lixue's animosity over hai Xuanhao just increased tenfold. Hai Xuanhao almost crushed her that day, fracturing her sternum in the process. Of course, she got better after going through the treatment for Spirit Master, but she still couldn't do any vigorous training for some time. She asked her father how could it have happened to her, and the only answer that she got was 'Spirit Skills'. She was now determined to get her own Spirit Skill and finally beat Xuanhao.
Hai Xuanhao, on the other hand, was mostly indifferent to it. Mostly because he truly believed that he was innocent. Of course, with his innocent looks, even the teachers believed that what happened that day was just a fluke.
"Just you wait until I'm rank 10. Once I have my Spirit Ring, I will challenge you again," Wu Lixue said viciously as she Walked Angrly past him.
Life in the elementary academy was routine and dull.
Hai Xuanhao studied hard and paid attention every single day, topping his culture class, basic knowledge of Spirit Beasts, and about every other class that he has. It made sense since his father was the head of the Ancient Spirit Beasts Research Center. He came from a family of scholars.
In a blink of an eye, half a year went by.
It was almost time for the final exam.
"Son, are you confident about the exam?" Xi Daiyu asked Xuanhao with a smile.
"Mommy, I am ready. Daddy, you're still keeping your promise, right? You have to bring me to Heaven Luo Planet to play in a big flying ship if I do well." Xuanhao turned to his father, his eyes adorably wide with excitement.
Hai Long laughed and said, "Of course. You must be in the top three for all your subjects, though, okay?"
"En! I should be able to do it," Hai Xuanhao promised. "Daddy, I'll just go to the toilet and we can go."
"Alright."
Xi Daiyu watched Hai Xuanhao's retreating form with a worried smile on her face. "It seems like our son is really quite outstanding, huh? But.."
She was worried about his cultivation. Ever since his Spirit Awakening, Hai Long and Xi Daiyu have been worried that Little Xuanhao would be different than the rest of the students in respect to his Spirit Master abilities. However, after these past six months, they've begun to observe something different. Sure, Xuanhao was doing great in his academics and even combat practice, but his Spirit Power hasn't advanced at all, staying at rank 11.
At his age, and given his innate full spirit body, he should've already been able to advance by at least two to three ranks in half a year. Even normal children were expected to increase by a rank every six months. The speed of his advancement should've only slowed down at rank 20.
Logically speaking, someone who has an innate full spirit body should be able to cultivate much quicker than an average Spirit Master. However, it had already been half a year and though Hai Xuanhao had some accumulation, he didn't move up a rank.
They didn't know what this slow progress meant.
"Don't worry too much. Besides, isn't this a good thing? He's doing more than well in school and he's not drawing too much attention to himself. He's always been stable and steady just like me. He's just starting so let's just take it slow, okay?
"En."
...
When Hai Long and hai Xuanhao arrived at the academy, they ran into Wu Bingwen dropping his daughter off at school.
When Wu Lixue saw Hai Xuanhao, her eyes were filled with excitement.
"Good morning, uncle," Hai Xuanhao greeted Wu Bingwen politely.
"Good morning to you too." Wu bingwen had always been stoic, but as he looked at Xuanhao, there was a noticeable gentleness with the harsh lines on his face.
"Daddy!" Wu Lixue called, tugging on Wu Bingwen's shirt.
"En, go for your exam," Wu Bingwen told her, giving her a short pat on the shoulder.
Wu Lixue felt aggrieved. Her father was treating Hai Xuanhao better than he was treating her!
She turned to Hai Xuanhao with narrow eyes, marched to his side, and pulled at his sleeves. "Come on, let's go in together."
"Oh, alright." Xuanhao turned to wave at his father before following her.
"Hai Xuanhao, do you want to know something?" Wu Lixue asked him with a smile as they walked together.
Xuanhao wasn't sure why but somehow, even though she was smiling at him for the first time, he wasn't at all comforted.
"What is it?" he asked.
Wu Lixue answered, "Today, we'll have the culture class exam in the morning and the actual combat exam in the afternoon. Class one and two will be taking the combat exam together."
Suddenly, hai Xuanhao understood what she was trying to say. "Your class is offensive-type and my class is control-type, isn't it unfair?"
"It's not unfair. Most of the students have yet to reach rank 10 and don't have Spirit Skills. It's just gonna be simple combat."
Hai Xuanhao shook his head. "It's still unfair. I have a Spirit Skill and the teachers probably wouldn't allow me to spar with the other students."
Wu Lixue stopped in her tracks and turned to him. "Then there is something else you should definitely know, too. I am now a rank 10 and have also gotten my first Spirit Skill. And since the teachers let the girls pick their opponent to teach you boys to be a gentleman… see you later, Xuanhao."
She let go of Hai Xuanhao's hand and looked at him with delight as she skipped away.
Hai Xuanhao blinked, suddenly feeling chills down his spine.
The exams in the morning went smoothly. Hai Xuanhao was a very serious learner and with his family's scholarly influence, he found the culture exam quite alright and made an all-out effort to answer all the questions. Of course, it was mostly because he was promised a trip to Heaven Luo Planet and he'd been looking forward to it for the entire school term.
They had an hour of rest after lunchtime before they were expected to report for the combat exam.
The combat exam in elementary Spirit Masters academy was very easy for first graders. The students merely had to spar and exchange pointers with one another and the teachers would grade them based on the fight. Those children who had broken through rank 10 would be segregated from the rest of the students and the girls would be the ones to pick their opponents.
As the class monitor of class one, Wu Lixue was the first to step forward. She turned to the form teacher of class two, Shu Yulin, and said, "Teacher Shu, I pick Hai Xuanhao."