"Lina!"
Quinn Shepherd's heart leapt with joy. He plucked the little white fox off his head, intending to take a good look at her, but Lina wriggled out of his hands and climbed right back onto his head, wrapping her fluffy tail over his face.
"Lina, stop fooling around. I knew it was you from the start."
Quinn picked her off again, and this time the little white fox settled down, wrapping her tail around his arm and making a cozy nest against his chest. She curled up contentedly, occasionally blinking her bright black eyes at Quinn's face.
The little fox blinked, her gaze full of coquettish charm.
"Young master," she said.
Quinn hummed in reply. Lina called him 'young master' again, and Quinn hummed back once more. The little white fox finally relaxed, squinting her eyes in mock sleep, while several fluffy tails quietly reached up to tease Quinn's chin.
Beside them, Annie was delighted to see her. She scooped Lina out of Quinn's arms, but Lina quickly escaped her embrace and burrowed back into Quinn's arms.
Annie tried to cuddle her again, but Lina was about to wriggle free—until Annie stuffed a spirit pill into her mouth. Lina paused, then settled obediently in Annie's arms.
Libationer Barrett said, "Lina now runs the Monster Institute at River Lee Academy. If you go outside and find the smokiest, rowdiest corner of campus, that's her territory. But Lina's connections are vast—she's invited Fox Immortal, Rat Immortal, Lord Tiger, Grand Venerable, Netherworld Heavenly King Tanner Shue, and even Aiden Starr to teach classes. The Monster Institute is actually livelier than any other branch. Lina's got a real gang-boss streak and loves everyone to call her 'Big Sister.'"
That's just how Lina is—Jadehide Ox and Fat Dragon are both her sworn little brothers.
Quinn couldn't help but laugh. He turned to look at the little fox in Annie's arms and started counting Lina's tails, but they swayed and danced so much he got dizzy and lost track after a while.
To be honest, Netherworld Heavenly King Tanner Shue is her sworn elder brother. Fat Dragon bonded with the Heavenly King over their shared love of wine, so his relationship with Lina is actually closer than with Fat Dragon himself.
Quinn was surprised. "Lina actually managed to invite Grand Venerable to teach? That really caught me off guard."
Libationer Barrett slapped his thigh and said, "No wonder Netherworld Heavenly King keeps coming here—he's after my wine! I thought he appreciated me. Lina even invited Aiden Starr to teach at River Lee Academy, but he left after only a few classes. I figure these notorious guys wouldn't be accepted at other academies, but my River Lee Academy is open-minded enough to let these so-called 'evil path' types teach."
Quinn said nothing, but thought to himself, "Libationer Barrett's River Lee Academy really is the wildest and most chaotic of all the academies."
Even before he arrived at River Lee Academy, Quinn had seen from afar that the sky above the campus was full of clashing omens: martial intent like tigers descending mountains, white elephants treading seas, hungry hawks hunting, terrifying demonic miasma,妖 clouds from monster experts, sword qi from sword cultivators, and auspicious spell clouds from spell-masters.
Libationer Barrett just said the Monster Institute was smoky and chaotic, but really, the whole River Lee Academy is a mess.
But that's exactly why River Lee Academy can host clashes between all kinds of divine arts and Dao-methods, and spark collisions of every kind of thought.
After arriving, Quinn found that River Lee Academy was the wildest of all the academies—he'd already seen dozens of brawls just on his way in!
The Imperial Supervisors and Libationers at River Lee Academy didn't mind at all—in fact, they cheered the fights on and took pride whenever their own disciples won.
Libationer Barrett's eyes gleamed. "Junior brother, you've come here to study, but just attending lectures isn't the best way to learn."
Quinn made a sound of acknowledgment and humbly asked, "Senior brother, then what's the best way?"
Libationer Barrett laughed. "Fighting, of course! Every institute at River Lee Academy has its own strengths. Everpeace's reforms and innovations—those aren't led by the Imperial Academy, which is too orthodox and cautious, always afraid of being punished by the emperor. But here, we're far from the capital and Emperor Evan can't control us. We can develop any Dao-method or martial art we like."
He stood up and shook out his cloak, revealing a broad, muscular chest. "And the only way to know if a Dao-method or divine art is any good is to test it in a real fight. If you've come here to study, you should battle your way through every institute in River Lee Academy—fight them all!"
Quinn looked nervous. "Fight my way through? Isn't that a bit much?"
Libationer Barrett shot him a disdainful glance. "Afraid, junior brother?"
Quinn nodded repeatedly and sighed, "Annie loves to feed me, and now I've run out of spirit medicine. I replenished my supply once on the road, but it's almost gone again. If I end up injuring the Libationers and Imperial Supervisors at River Lee Academy, how will I heal them?"
Libationer Barrett clenched his fists, bones cracking, and laughed. "Junior brother, you've really grown over the years—your bravado is much bigger, and even your breathing is bolder!"
Quinn spoke weakly, "I'm definitely not as good as you, senior brother. You've already crossed the Divine Bridge and become a true god, while I've only just opened the Celestial River Treasury—who knows how long until I reach the Heaven Palace? Butcher must have taught you new saber techniques, and the Warfist Celestial Teacher probably gave you plenty of good stuff. I bet you've also picked up a lot from the Chiming Remnant Clan. I wouldn't dare claim I'm even a little stronger than you."
Libationer Barrett waved his hands in protest. "I'm not as hardworking as you. You're an Overlord Body and much more diligent—there's no way I could beat you! At best, I could half-kill you."
Quinn stretched and a dragon's roar echoed from within him. He grinned, "Butcher is right here—how could he bear to watch his prize disciple get beaten so badly by me?"
"Heavenblade would never let me thrash you. If that old man saw me beat you so badly you couldn't get out of bed, he'd pull out his blade and come after me!"
The two bantered as they walked outside. Quinn activated his Overlord Body Three-Pill Art, stretching his muscles, while Libationer Barrett drew his Overlord Saber, holding it upright as he breathed out wind, fire, cloud, and lightning to temper his divine blade.
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to keep reading the exciting story!)
Annie blinked as she watched them leave the room.
Fox Lina quickly jumped out of Annie's arms, landing as a girl of about eight or nine years old. She opened her mouth wide, and Annie popped a spirit pill right in.
"Is the young master going to fight? Can he win?"
Annie kept feeding her. "That guy is really strong—his Primordial Spirit is incredibly refined."
Fox Lina crunched the spirit pill noisily. "Young master is tough too, but Libationer Barrett might have a hard time beating him... Could you make these pills hollow? If you put a little wine in each one, they'd taste even better."
Grand Venerable approached them, mouth open, and Annie fed her a pill.
Grand Venerable rumbled, "Wine in the spirit pill? Is it tasty?"
Fox Lina glanced at him, beaming. "You're Blue Yutian, Young Master Blue? I heard about you last time I was in the capital; you're the young master's younger brother. Why is your surname Blue? Spirit pills with wine taste great, though I've never eaten them that way. I usually put spirit pills on a plate and eat them with wine. Senior Brother Sanduo tried it and said it was good. But I think if you put wine inside the pill, it would taste even better."
Grand Venerable looked eager to try.
The three left the main hall. Outside, Quinn was already fighting Libationer Barrett; the two battled from the ground to the sky. Libationer Barrett was the founder of the battle technique school and contributed to Everpeace's reforms.
In recent years, with Everpeace's surge in divine arts, Libationer Barrett's skills in battle techniques have become even more astonishing.
Though the southern borderlands are remote, this is where techniques converge, making it the most lawless place. Yet, divine arts and Dao-methods progress rapidly here. With teachers like Warfist Celestial Teacher Zhuocha, Heavenblade Butcher, Chiming Divine Son, and Aiden Starr giving lectures, Libationer Barrett's abilities have grown even more remarkable, both in martial technique and divine arts.
He apprenticed under Heavenblade Butcher and learned the Nine Heavenblade Techniques. However, Butcher was wounded while striking at the heavens and feigned death, hiding in the Great Ruins.
He didn't master all nine Heavenblade Techniques, so he created the Seven Overlord Saber Forms, using battle technique fusion to make up for his deficiencies in blade arts.
When Butcher returned, he said Barrett's blade arts were unrefined and not up to standard.
But now, Libationer Barrett has taken his own path even further, enough to make Heavenblade Butcher look at him with new respect.
His blade arts contain divine powers and are extremely powerful. His Overlord Saber is full of dominance; whether in close or ranged combat with Quinn, he handles it all easily. His strength is astonishing—every time Quinn blocks an attack, he's sent flying a hundred yards before he can steady himself.
Libationer Barrett pressed his attack, his blade arts ever-changing—sometimes mixed with divine fire, sometimes with heavenly thunder. Sometimes a slash would stir up a vast ocean, other times the blade would trigger a magnetic explosion.
Quinn kept falling back, fighting with great difficulty.
Meanwhile, in River Lee Academy, Niu Sanduo and Jadehide Ox stopped beating up Fat Dragon and Water Qilin, looked up, and praised, "Great blade arts! Amazing divine powers! Libationer Barrett is truly formidable—battle technique fusion is incredible. If used in martial arts, it could make them even stronger!"
Jadehide Ox planted his hooves on his hips, looking proud. "My master beat your master, my godfather made you howl—Fat Dragon, let's see how you compete with me now!"
Old Farmer and Butcher walked over, looking up. Old Farmer said, "Your disciple is skilled, but he's about to lose."
Yu Zhaoqing, dressed in shimmering clothes, came over and looked up. "Why do you say that, Warfist Celestial Teacher? Libationer Barrett's battle technique fusion is the pride of Everpeace. In terms of power, few gods can match him. I've seen him fight Tiger Venerable, and even Tiger Venerable couldn't defeat him."
Butcher explained, "His battle technique fusion is an impressive achievement, but to make his blade arts reach true mastery, to fuse martial arts, Dao, and divine powers together, is extremely difficult. Though he's the founder, he's not as talented as Princess Six of the Ling Clan. If Quinn uses his path-level divine power, Barrett will lose."
Old Farmer said, "He's too ambitious. Achieving mastery in even one path is rare; mastering all three is incredibly hard. Few have achieved path-level martial arts—Quinn is one of them."
As they spoke, the sound of footsteps came—several people climbed the mountain. A handsome youth stood atop a box with six legs, climbing as if on flat ground.
Behind the strange box was a deer-legged youth, walking beside a young man in purple.
"Aiden Starr." Butcher snorted, and the divine blade behind him gave a crisp sound as it was drawn.
The box rushed over and stopped abruptly before the group.
The youth on the box had been watching the battle in the sky. Hearing the blade sound, he looked down and said calmly, "Heavenblade, you're no match for me."
Butcher laughed, "Who was it that I chased all over the place years ago? I heard you went to the South Sea to ask Chiming Divine Son to use creation divine powers to rebuild your body. Are you still stealing bodies now? Has your new body just grown? I won't take advantage of you. If you want revenge, come find me anytime!"
Aiden Starr shook his head, "I'm not interested in you. I'm here to see Chief Quinn... such a charming body..."
His eyes grew feverish as he gazed at Quinn, who was fighting Libationer Barrett in the sky.
Chiming Divine Son walked over, smiling, "Don't misunderstand, Heavenblade. Aiden Starr heard Chief Quinn was here and has a question for him. His accomplishments in creation arts rival mine. He came to the South Sea to consult me; I helped him solve some problems, but he still has issues with rebuilding his body. I told him Chief Quinn is the true master of creation, so he came here."
Aiden Starr said calmly, "In the way of creation, Chief Quinn is number one in the world. Chiming Divine Son and I are tied for second."