Chapter 43 – Such a Punishment

The words on the stone mirror said that Ye Qingyu was erased from the rankings of the first year. Although he had defeated most people on the list of ten, this result was not recognized by the academy. After, the announcement also said that he was punished by being confined within the [Grievance Hall] of White Deer Academy for three months…

It was this type of punishment?

Everyone was shocked, not because the punishment was too heavy but because it was… too light!

The meaning of the rankings to Ye Qingyu had never been significant. After such a battle, everyone naturally knew how strong this person really was. Even if he was not in the rankings, who could really guarantee that they would be able to defeat Ye Qingyu?

Not recognizing the results of the challenging matches?

This was basically equal to scratching the outside of a boot. From the start, Ye Qingyu had never cared about the rankings. The reason he entered the challenging matches was only because Quan Yalin and the others had made him annoyed and provoked him.

And as for being isolated?

It seemed like this was done to protect Ye Qingyu.

The [Grievance Hall] was one of the most severely guarded areas of White Deer Academy. It was not only guarded strictly for those inside, but for the people outside, it was tremendously difficult for them to interact with someone who was confined in the [Grievance Hall].

Throwing Ye Qingyu into the [Grievance Hall] represented that those who wanted to investigate and enact vengeance upon him were not able to do so. For the groups like the city leader’s office and the Liu family, they could not even touch a hair on Ye Qingyu’s body, at least for the next three months.

“This… the academy really decided on such a punishment?”

“This is on the surface a chastisement but is in reality protection!”

“Could it be that there are higher ups with real power in the academy that want to protect Ye Qingyu?

“That shouldn’t be right. Ye Qingyu is only an ordinary student from a common background, how could he turn peril into safety?”

“Could it be that the academy has great expectations for his talent?”

“So what? Can it still withstand and protect this kid under the pressure of so many noble groups in Deer City?”

The students of White Deer Academy were all talents recruited from all areas. They were not idiots. After seeing the announcement on the stone mirror, they could all read between the lines slightly but could not determine the real reasons for this ‘punishment’.

The news spread, not only within White Deer Academy, but throughout the entire Deer City. Nearly all organizations were affected by this announcement.

Within the government office.

Deep within the walls came the screams of Liu Yuancheng, sounding like a heavily wounded beast. It was said that there was a long time servant of the Liu family who, after saying something slightly wrong, angered Liu Yuancheng. He was beaten to death alive.

Within the mansion of the city leader.

The youth Qin Wushuang who was just treated by the family’s medic, getting rid of the hidden injuries, stood within the pavilion looking out into the mist and rain. He did not say anything, staying silent throughout. He delayed his return to White Deer Academy by one day…

Within one of the rooms of the fourth year dormitory.

Jiang Xiaohan stood in front of the window, her expressions many and varied. Sometimes it was green and sometimes it was red. Finally, she fiercely struck her palm out. With the turbulence of yuan qi, the stone table in her room was crushed into fragments…

“I was not wrong; I did not choose wrong…” Her face was slightly sinister. She growled in a low voice, “Ye Qingyu, I do not regret abandoning you in the slightest. I will never regret doing so! You are forever a trash, a trash, don’t think that you can soar to the skies…”

The special martial treasure room of White Deer Academy.

Bai Yuqing slowly lowered the jade scroll in her hands, turning to look at Zhou Yu behind her. “From this we can conclude… that someone wants to protect Ye Qingyu?”

Zhou Yu nodded his head.

“Who could it be?” Bai Yuqing said thoughtfully.

“From the rumours, it seems to be great teacher Hon Kong,” Zhou Yu said in an unhurried voice. “But one cannot blindly believe in the rumours. The position of great teacher Hon Kong may not be enough to achieve this. I fear even head teacher Wang Yan cannot achieve this.

Bai Yuqing thought for a while, then nodded her head. She said, “I don’t care who wants to protect him, this has nothing to do with us. This person’s personality is too unpredictable and arrogant. If he does not change, the academy may protect him once, but it cannot protect him his entire life.”

Zhou Yu only carefully considered this statement without saying anything.

But he seemed to vaguely feel… that the opinion of senior sister Bai about this teenager had risen slightly.

…… ……

“Is this the [Grievance Hall]?”

Ye Qingyu carried his spears. Accompanied by the surveillance of two black-robed disciplinary teachers, he slowly walked into the rumoured [Grievance Hall].

He curiously regarded his surrounding environment.

All the architecture was entirely in black. It emitted an aura of strictness and seriousness, causing a faint pressure to be felt. Around in hidden locations, there were indistinct yuan qi formations tightly protecting the entire [Grievance Hall].

Within the air, there was enough yuan qi energy that it was sufficient to suffocate a normal person.

Even for an expert in the Bitter Sea stage, if they wanted to forcefully enter this [Grievance Hall], it would definitely not be an easy matter.

Ye Qingyu looked at this building appreciatively.

The two disciplinary teachers did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Every other student who saw the black-robed disciplinary teachers would change their expressions immediately with fear and respect. Once they entered the [Grievance Hall], they basically all had distress on their faces all quivering as if they were heading to an execution ground. For this teenager, it was the other way around. His facial expression evidently showed that he did not place too much of an attention on the two teachers. Not only was he not afraid, he had the behaviour of a guest acting as the host…

He really was a pain and a thorn.

The two disciplinary teachers made their judgement about Ye Qingyu. They continued to accompany Ye Qingyu, bringing him through six rune formation mechanisms in total. Finally, they placed him within a solitary courtyard.

“This is the place where you’ll be confined. Only after three months can you come out. You are not allowed to exit the entrance of this courtyard and not allowed to go anywhere else. Formations are everywhere here, so if you enter a formation, your life is at risk!” one of the disciplinary teachers said flatly.

Ye Qingyu nodded his head like a little chick pecking at rice, the very picture of an obedient child.

The other disciplinary teacher turned his head away, and through great efforts, finally managed to suppress his laughter. This little kid was too fearsome, he could act exactly like a harmless little white flower. If not for the fact that he knew the reason why he was confined here, he might really have felt sympathy for him.

Informing Ye Qingyu of the things he would have to pay attention to, the two disciplinary teachers turned and left.

Ka-Cha!

The large, black door was locked from the outside.

A bright and radiant rune formation activated on the door, firmly locking the door in an instant. Ye Qingyu was confined within the small courtyard.

His lifestyle of being confined had finally begun.

Ye Qingyu examined his surroundings.

The little courtyard was six acres in size, as if it was a miniature practice grounds. It was extremely suited for training.

The surrounding black walls were at least thirty feet high, blocking the sight of the surroundings. Both the walls and the floor had imprisonment formations on it, even for someone of the Xiantian stage, it was extremely hard for them to jump and look at the view outside.

On the south side was a small house to be used for resting.

On the west side of the courtyard, there was a small black bucket. After thinking for a bit, Ye Qingyu finally decided that it was the object used to solve his bodily needs.

Everything was really simple!

He went to the small house and stored away the things that he had brought with him. Afterwards, he went to the courtyard and began training.

Since he had come here and was temporarily separated from the outside world, then he would temporarily not think about the conflicts outside. It was perfect for him to calm his heart and raise his strength.

In this world, the foundation of everything was power.

Xiu!Xiu!Xiu!

The long black spear was like a black dragon. It danced within Ye Qingyu’s hands, the swishes of the spear sounding like a dragon’s roar. Ever since the process of [Forming Yuan] was successful, and Ye Qingyu had begun to grasp the power of yuan qi, the strikes of his spear became freer and followed his will exactly as he imagined.

After practicing the basic spear stances, Ye Qingyu only felt bright and refreshed.

But he had encountered a problem.

As his strength increased, Ye Qingyu could feel that practicing these basic spear stances could no longer increase his battle power. Especially after reaching the Xiantian stage, the reason for the strength of martial artists was yuan qi battle techniques. In the previous battle between him and Qin Wushuang, the strength of the [Ten Thousand Kill] had left a deep impression on him.

“If I could possess a yuan qi battle technique, then it would be perfect!”

Ye Qingyu had some small expectations for the time when he could use a yuan qi technique.

The [Ten Thousand Kill] that Qin Wushuang demonstrated was truly a killer move of a yuan qi battle technique. This was the essence of the yuan qi martial way and was not something the [Serpentine stance], [Bear stance] and the other [Eight Divine Stances] could compare to.

It was a pity that these techniques belonged to the truly secret and hidden techniques of this world.

These types of things definitely did not exist in the public libraries.

The only reason that Qin Wushuang possessed such a technique was because he was the young master of the city leader’s office. He obtained the sword technique directly from the city leader, it was not obtained from White Deer Academy.

For an ordinary student, to obtain the most basic yuan qi technique, they must save large amounts of academic points before they could swap for it. Many students saved up through hard effort for one or two years before they could obtain a technique that suited them. Otherwise, after they had risen to the second year, the teachers would teach a public battle technique to them. It was only that the power of this battle technique was hard to say.

Ye Qingyu came from a poor background so naturally he did not have any family resources.

The only path that was left to him was to think of ways to quickly obtain academic points and exchange it for a secret technique.

He silently calculated in his heart. Since during the battle with Qin Wushuang he had completely exposed his strength, then there was no need to hide anymore. The things that he had obtained in the previous wilderness training, he would exchange it for academic points after he left his solitary confinement. After saving this up, and adding to this five or six more wilderness trainings, then he estimated he could obtain at least a low class yuan qi technique.

This seemed like the only possible path he could take.

The greatest aim of Ye Qingyu in this period of confinement was to consolidate his yuan qi. And within these three months, he would strive to finally excavate one Spirit spring within his dantian, truly entering the state of one Spirit spring.

After warming up with the spear stances, he sat in the middle of the courtyard. He began breathing in and out, beginning the inner vision and cultivating yuan qi of Heaven and Earth.

With a will of his heart, the yuan qi within the courtyard began swirling like a whirlpool. It caused ripples and waves that were discernible by the human eye, slowly and orderly converging towards Ye Qingyu’s body.

Ye Qingyu’s tongue was touching the top of his mouth, eyes observing his nose, his nose observing his heart, his mind a complete blank. His inner vision had begun.

The vision in front of him changed entirely.

He could again see an endless and vast desert without any signs of life.