The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

"What? Teacher Qin is going to fight a deathmatch with that kid Wang Yan!"

"Wang Yan isn’t an Academy student, but with his family’s training, his Cultivation is nothing to scoff at. Does Teacher Qin even have a chance?"

"Isn’t Teacher Qin a High-Level Teacher? You’re telling me he can’t handle a mere junior from the Wang Family? You’ve got to be joking!"

"Heh, you must not have heard. Teacher Qin is just a kid at the Profound Origin Realm. How could he possibly deal with a brute like Wang Yan?"

"What!? Teacher Qin is a kid at the Profound Origin Realm?!"

"Wow, this student is really out of the loop."

"That Wang Yan guy is really something else. It’s one thing for him to be arrogant because he’s strong, but to think he’d actually provoke one of the Academy’s teachers... he deserves whatever’s coming to him."

"But even though Teacher Qin is a High-Level Teacher, he’s too weak. He’s not even stronger than me. How can he possibly fight a deathmatch with Wang Yan?"

"Haha, this Teacher Qin is the youngest teacher in the Academy’s history. This is going to be a good show. If he gets beaten or killed by Wang Yan, I imagine it’ll be a blow to the Academy’s reputation."

"Hehe, personally, I’m still rooting for Teacher Qin."

"I heard Teacher Qin lost his temper over a girl. I never would have guessed he was such a romantic. What a surprise."

"Risking it all in a fury for a beautiful woman... how romantic!"

"Yeah, yeah, that girl is so lucky."

...

The entire Mingxin Academy was in an uproar over the deathmatch between Qin Ya and Wang Yan. Countless people were discussing it. Some were disdainful, some were full of admiration, and some female students, after hearing the full story, even began to hold Qin Ya up as the standard for their future partners.

In short, Qin Ya’s fame had exploded once again.

Now, whenever Qin Ya walked the paths of the Academy, he would attract peculiar looks from the students. Some were admiring, others contemptuous. He had even secretly received a few love letters.

’These students should be focusing on their Cultivation. What are they doing all day?’ Qin Ya pursed his lips. He decided to just stay inside and cultivate in Ningxiang Pavilion, awaiting the deathmatch in ten days.

「Three days later...」

By the lake at Ningxiang Pavilion, beneath a tree.

Qin Ya held the Hundred Battles Spear, an exquisite Spear Technique flowing from his hands. His wild thrusts were like a torrential downpour, his flourishes like shooting stars.

Within a wide radius around him, a chaotic zone had formed. It was as if anything that touched this Domain would be torn apart and pulverized. The ground was already covered in layer after layer of shredded leaves and splintered wood.

His Spear Technique had already reached its peak in his previous life. Now, having cultivated a killing move like the Solitary Yang Spear Technique, Qin Ya was confident he could stand against any Martial Artist in the Spiritual Element Realm as long as he had a spear in hand.

Including that young master of the Wang Family, Wang Yan!

However, just resisting was not enough. What he wanted was to crush his opponent with absolute power. Therefore, he was currently studying the second form of the Celestial-Level Upper Class Martial Skill, the Solitary Yang Spear Technique: Moon Chasing!

A Celestial-Level Martial Skill no longer required mere technical skill, but a deeper level of spiritual comprehension—an understanding of nature itself. For example, to initially execute the Solitary Yang Spear Technique’s first form, Wind-Splitting, one had to comprehend the Wind’s Great Trend. To achieve Great Success, one had to grasp its profundity.

If he could achieve Great Success with the Wind-Splitting form, then even if Wang Yan were a Ninth-Grade Spiritual Element Realm Martial Artist, he would be utterly annihilated before him.

Profundity was a deeper level of understanding than a Great Trend, something that could not be grasped overnight. Even with Qin Ya’s exceptional talent, he was still stuck at the level of the Wind’s Great Trend, a considerable distance away from its profundity.

Since he couldn’t currently bring Wind-Splitting to Great Success, Qin Ya had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and begin studying the second form of the Solitary Yang Spear Technique.

Like the first form, Wind-Splitting, successfully cultivating the second form, Moon Chasing, also required comprehending a Great Trend first.

And the Great Trend for Moon Chasing was the Frost Great Trend!

The Frost Great Trend was considerably harder to grasp than the Wind’s Great Trend. Thus, Qin Ya planned to find a place where frost was most tangibly manifest to study it: the Academy’s secret land, Ice Moon Valley.

After finishing his Spear Technique practice, Qin Ya told the two women of his plans, then immediately headed for a valley to the northwest of the Academy.

Mingxin Academy covered an area of a hundred-li radius and contained numerous mountain peaks and valleys. Some of these locations had been transformed by countless generations at the Academy into secret lands with unique phenomena, used specifically for training students.

Ice Moon Valley was one such place.

As far as the eye could see, the ground was covered in silver frost. Blossoming Snow Lotuses stood proudly alone in the wind and snow, their character austere and unyielding.

Ice Moon Valley was home to various Fierce Beasts raised by the Academy, used to temper the students. It also served as their hunting grounds.

’Tsk, tsk, what a grand undertaking.’ With the experience of two lifetimes, Qin Ya could tell that a Grand Array had been cast beneath the earth veins of Ice Moon Valley. It was this very array that gathered the frost essence of heaven and earth, covering the entire valley and creating this year-round Ice and Snow World.

Maintaining this Grand Array required a vast amount of energy that needed to be replenished periodically, and the most common form of energy used was the Primordial Stone.

A Primordial Stone was a special mineral containing the purest and gentlest Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. It had many uses: Martial Artists could absorb the Primordial Qi within to increase their Cultivation speed, it could be used to set up arrays, but its most common use was as a currency for trade between major powers.

Primordial Stones were far more valuable than so-called Gold Coins.

By Qin Ya’s estimation, running this Grand Array required at least a hundred pounds of Primordial Stones, and that amount would only last for three months. In other words, it consumed a hundred pounds of Primordial Stones every three months.

"Heh, a hundred pounds of Primordial Stones is an expense of at least several hundred thousand Gold Coins. This Mingxin Academy is truly wealthy. No wonder it’s so deeply favored by the Empire for investing so heavily in the next generation, even earning the title ’Foundation of the Nation,’" Qin Ya murmured to himself with a slight smile.

Stepping into the Ice Moon Valley, the surrounding air temperature dropped drastically, creating a world distinctly separate from the one outside. After walking a few hundred meters, he saw the valley entrance, where two figures in white stood.

They were the Guardians dispatched by the Academy to watch over Ice Moon Valley.

Walking over, Qin Ya didn’t waste any words and directly presented his High-Level Teacher Jade Order. Both Guardians were startled. They looked Qin Ya up and down a few times before one of them slowly said, "We have long heard of Teacher Qin’s great name. Seeing you today, you truly are young."

"You flatter me," Qin Ya replied with a calm smile.

"Please, go ahead," the Guardian said with a smile. There was naturally no issue with a High-Level Teacher from the Academy wanting to enter the secret land of Ice Moon Valley.

"Thanks."

About half an hour passed. Qin Ya found a spot on higher ground where no Fierce Beasts were present and prepared to begin comprehending the Frost Great Trend. During his search, he had been attacked by Snow Wolves twice, but he had dealt with them effortlessly.

Qin Ya sat cross-legged, gazing at the vast, frost-swept landscape. He cast out all distracting thoughts, his mind gradually entering a state of serene emptiness.