Hu Jingxian watched Flower Yichong's figure and smiled with satisfaction on her face.
"When I went to call him earlier, he was practicing in his room. Initially, Yichong was a bit lazy and needed someone to supervise his cultivation. But after waking up from his injury, he has become more self-disciplined."
Seeing her son being responsible and diligent in his training, Hu Jingxian, as a mother, felt naturally delighted.
"Yes! Today, he practiced for three hours straight. I've never seen him so focused. It's like his injury opened up his mind! Hehe."
Flower Zhao looked up and nodded repeatedly, expressing agreement.
Flower Gengjin affectionately looked at his daughter and silently nodded in approval.
"That's good then. Let's worry less about him, your mother and I. Given Yichong's current situation, he doesn't need to think about entering Phoenix Academy. Joining the martial guards of the family might be a possibility!"
It seemed that Flower Yichong underestimated the difficulty of joining the family's martial guards.
Without a certain level of strength, it wouldn't be possible!
After all, the family's martial guards not only had the responsibility of protecting the family but sometimes also had to venture into the mountains for hunting demons or searching for treasures in family affairs.
When disputes occurred between families, the martial guards were the first to charge forward.
In short, the martial guards stood at the forefront for the benefit of the family, ensuring its safety and well-being.
All of this relied on strength!
Clearly, Flower Gengjin saw that Flower Yichong's current strength was far from sufficient.
Hu Jingxian seemed to have discussed Flower Yichong's future situation with Flower Gengjin before and sighed lightly without saying a word.
Flower Zhao was still engrossed in gnawing on the bones of the demonic beast, with oil stains on her hands and around her mouth.
...
In the early morning, Flower Yichong and Flower Zhao stood by the side of Yanyun Road, gazing at the entrance of Yishui Academy.
Yanyun Road was a street that stretched for about ten miles, with a width of more than thirty feet. On both sides, there were rows of evergreen trees, reaching several yards in height, with their large branches extending out and covering half of the street.
It was March, early spring, and the signs of spring were visible on the trees, with old leaves and new buds coexisting.
Yishui Academy was located on Yanyun Road, with two tall red-painted iron gates tightly closed, silently proclaiming its tranquility and dignity.
A three-zhang high green brick wall extended along Yanyun Road in both the north and south directions, eventually disappearing into the street under the shade of the trees.
To the right of the entrance, there stood a conspicuous green-colored giant stone, about one zhang tall and two zhang long, bearing four vigorous and powerful cursive characters: Yishui Academy.
Although the characters on this continent were not Chinese characters, their horizontal strokes, vertical strokes, bends, and hooks exuded a vibrant charm similar to Chinese characters.
There were few pedestrians on the street in the early morning.
In order to attend the morning class, Flower Yichong and Flower Zhao left their home before dawn. They traveled nearly ten miles on a transportation device called a "beast-drawn carriage" in Yishui Town to reach the academy.
The so-called "beast-drawn carriage" was a two-wheeled carriage pulled by a demonic beast.
The carriage was about four to five square meters in size, equipped with seats, and could accommodate about ten people at a time. It offered both speed and stability.
This was a means of long-distance transportation commonly seen within Yishui Town and could be rented at the vehicle and horse rental center.
As Flower Yichong looked at the four prominent characters of Yishui Academy, a shallow understanding gradually formed in his mind: Yishui Academy focused on teaching only basic courses.
The basic courses were divided into four categories: pharmaceuticals, refining tools, drawing talismans, and martial arts.
The academy would further divide students into three levels—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—based on their cultivation level, with each level corresponding to specific courses.
Beginner students only needed to learn three courses: pharmaceuticals, refining tools, and martial arts.
Among them, martial arts was the favorite of the students. Although it was basic martial arts, it became the foundation for their survival on this continent.
Therefore, the assessment of martial arts would accompany the students throughout their time in the academy.
To advance from a beginner student to an intermediate student, passing the assessment was necessary.
The assessment consisted of two parts: mastery of the knowledge of the basic courses and reaching the fourth level of the Martial Novice Realm.
In addition to continuing their studies in pharmaceuticals, refining tools, and martial arts, intermediate students also had to learn about drawing talismans. They needed to be able to refine one or two low-grade elixirs in pharmaceuticals and forge ordinary weapons in refining tools.
The requirements for advanced students were even higher. Besides reaching the seventh level of the Martial Novice Realm, they also needed to be able to refine simple low-grade medium elixirs, forge low-grade medium weapons, and draw low-grade talismans.
All students were exempt from tuition fees during their enrollment.
However, the academy did not allow students to leisurely study and live on campus. All students had to possess a form of "credit," which could only be obtained by completing tasks assigned by the academy.
In a nutshell, there is no free lunch in this world; you have to put in the effort.
Of course, to encourage students to study diligently, those who excel academically will also earn a lot of credits. And all expenses incurred by students during their enrollment are paid using these "credits."
Tasks vary in difficulty, and "credits" can be more or less depending on the task, all based on the abilities of the students.
While Flower Yichong was still pondering, Flower Zhao stepped forward. From a palm-sized cloth bag, he took out a jade plaque of green color and gently placed it in front of the gate. With a soft "beep" sound, a green light flashed, and the iron gate slowly opened on its own.
Flower Zhao put the plaque back into his bag and turned to Flower Yichong, saying, "Brother, let's go!"
Flower Yichong nodded silently and took out a similar jade plaque from his own "cloth bag."
The jade plaque was called an Inscription Plaque, representing the identity of each student!
It recorded all the activities of each student since they entered the academy, including their clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. One could say that all the actions of the students within the academy were linked to this Inscription Plaque.
This was what amazed Flower Yichong, similar to the swipe card system used for commuting on Earth.
The swipe card system seemed more complex, while this Inscription Plaque was much simpler. The Inscription Plaque and the array on the gate were mutually engraved and corresponded to each other for identification.
Flower Yichong carefully examined the Inscription Plaque. Apart from some fine patterns on the back, there was nothing unusual to be seen.
The array was an advanced course that was not taught in the town-level academy; it could only be encountered in higher-level institutions.
During their time at the academy, students had two precious possessions: the Inscription Plaque and the "cloth bag" they carried with them.
The seemingly inconspicuous "cloth bag" had another name, the "Bag of Wonders."
At first glance, the "Bag of Wonders" appeared to be palm-sized, but its interior contained a vast space of about one to two square meters.
Various commonly used items could be easily placed inside without worrying about space constraints. What was even more remarkable was that the objects placed inside would ignore their weight and would not decay. It was truly a portable refrigerator.
Flower Yichong marveled at this and knew that the "Bag of Wonders" also had an array engraved on it; otherwise, it wouldn't be so magical. However, with his current knowledge, he couldn't discover its hidden secrets.
On Earth, this would undoubtedly be considered "black technology"!
Without delay, Flower Yichong followed closely behind Flower Zhao and also placed his Inscription Plaque in front of the gate for identification.
With a soft "beep" sound, a row of characters appeared on the Inscription Plaque: "Intermediate student Hua Shirong left the academy for eight days and returned today."
The two entered the Yishui Academy, and behind them, the iron gate closed silently.
Throughout the process, not a single person appeared.
Through the fused memories, Hua Shirong had already learned about the layout of the academy. However, upon actually entering the interior, curiosity couldn't help but arise.
Upon seeing it with his own eyes, an uncontrollable admiration surged in his heart.
The academy was merely a place for children aged seven to sixteen to study and live, akin to an elementary and middle school combination on Earth, which wouldn't attract much attention from society.
However, what Hua Shirong saw, whether in terms of scale or area, was not smaller than any university campus on Earth. It even surpassed them.
The greening within the academy was exceptionally well done. Along the paths paved with green bricks and stones, rows of lush green trees stood, occasionally adorned with colorful flowers—red, yellow, purple, and pink blossoms amidst the green shade, complementing each other and exuding a fresh natural ambiance.
The academy's morning began with morning exercises.
The place for morning exercises was commonly referred to as the drill ground.
The so-called "drill ground" was the martial arts training ground for Yishui Academy's students, where all martial arts classes were held.
The drill ground was situated adjacent to the north wall of the academy, covering an expansive area of two li in length and one li in width, capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people gathering simultaneously.
Morning exercises were equivalent to early reading on Earth. You could do anything as long as you were diligently engaged. Here, most of the activities involved martial arts practice or physical conditioning.
When Hua Shirong and Hua Zhao arrived, many young boys and girls had already gathered in the drill ground.
On the Nine Continents Continent, due to the harsh living environment, the education from a young age instilled in people a deep respect for the strong and a hatred for demons.
In order to become powerful, students practiced martial arts diligently and didn't require supervision.
Inside the drill ground, some trained alone, while others sparred with each other. There were also highly skilled students who faced off against two or three opponents, unleashing skillful attacks and defenses that often elicited bursts of applause.
Just as Hua Shirong and Hua Zhao entered the drill ground, they heard someone calling out, "Shirong, Xiaozhao, over here!"
Hua Shirong looked up and saw that the one calling out was a slightly chubby teenager with a round face, narrow eyes, and a sturdy build. Despite being only fourteen years old, he stood at a height of 1.8 meters.
Seeing this person, a name instantly flashed in Hua Shirong's mind: Hua Shicong, the youngest son of Uncle Hua Gengjian.
This was someone as unlucky as himself.
According to Hua Zhao, in their last conflict, Hua Shicong had his left arm broken and had been resting for several days. However, judging by his appearance, it seemed like nothing had happened.
Hua Shicong stood among a group of people, and Hua Shirong recognized everyone from the county. They were all members of the Hua family, and leading them was Hua Shixuan, the young master of the Hua family.
"I heard your arm was broken. Doesn't seem like anything's wrong with you," Hua Shirong walked up directly, openly displaying his confusion.
"You're dead and yet still lively. What does it matter if I break an arm?" Hua Shicong grinned widely, seemingly unconcerned.
"Shirong, you've finally returned! You suffered because of this incident. I apologize on behalf of my third brother!" A handsome youth with a jade-like face approached Hua Shirong.