Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

"I don't know what they're thinking. Are they afraid, or unable to find the right path? They've been using lies to cover up their incompetence, using laziness to shirk the responsibilities they should be shouldering. From its founding until now, Tianwu Academy has produced so many great figures, so many admirable predecessors. But what has become of Tianwu Academy? What has happened to it?" Tian Qin seemed to be talking to herself, her face filled with doubt, confusion, anger, and deep sorrow.

"He's like a giant tree riddled with worms, about to wither and die, but everyone only sees his outward glamour and prosperity, and keeps stuffing his descendants and his beloved disciples into this academy. Are they really blind, or is the academy so well disguised that even those old foxes can't see that this academy, which has flourished for many years, is on a downward slope, a downward slope that no one can accept, and it's declining so fast, so fast that it's unbelievable, you know?"

"I really don't know what to do. I have no ability to resist him, and I have no power to strengthen myself. Everyone I know is dead, all dead! Yes, and many more have disappeared, but even if they have disappeared, this continent is only so big, where could they have gone? There are so many people on this continent, does that mean no one knows them? How could that be? In their heyday, everyone knew them. Not only did cultivators regard them as their role models, but even ordinary people regarded them as the most trustworthy people."

"My childhood sweetheart, my silly senior brother Qin Hao, everyone has seen him make a fool of himself, everyone has ridiculed him. But who doesn't know the inside story, who doesn't know how powerful Qin Hao is. It's because his cultivation technique is top-notch, and his skills are among the best on this continent, that he dares to be so presumptuous, that he dares to be so casual, that he dares to go around laughing and teasing those cultivators who are stronger than him."

"He once said he would always be by my side, for a very, very long time. But he still left. He abandoned me and left. Of course, I know he had his reasons! But the sense of loss I felt from the bottom of my heart was truly hard to avoid. Isn't the purpose of life to have someone to cheer you up when you're sad, someone to share your joy when you're happy, someone to say 'Leave it to me' when you're facing one problem after another, when you're struggling to move forward?" At this point, Tian Qin, who had stopped crying, couldn't hold back her tears again. The indescribable bitterness made Weiwei, who was standing beside her, feel very sorry for her. It was as if, through her senior sister, she saw the man she longed for day and night in the depths of her senior sister's memory.

"Senior sister... don't cry anymore, don't say anything more, don't say anything more. I don't want you to be too sad." Weiwei, who had intended to comfort Tian Qin, couldn't help but shed tears herself. She missed Li Xiuchen. When they were together, she hadn't felt anything particularly strong; they were always laughing and joking together, having a great time. But after a year apart, that indescribable longing would always creep in quietly in the dead of night. Weiwei knew, Weiwei knew deeply the kind of agonizing pain that made one toss and turn at night.

"Senior sister, you said it yourself. Back then, Senior Brother Qin Hao took those senior brothers with him. Even if they encountered the most dangerous situations, with their strength, they would definitely be fine. Don't worry, senior sister, I will definitely stay by your side until Senior Brother Qin Hao comes back. I will, I definitely will."

In this Douluo Continent we inhabit, there is an academy with a long history. It's no exaggeration to say that this academy is the most formidable and respectable place on the continent! It boasts top-tier combat power, ranks among the best experts, and is home to the most outstanding geniuses! Because the teachers here are all exceptionally skilled!

Let's take an example. In the outside world, being the lord of a city is just the starting point for a teacher here, and that's merely the first hurdle! Strength is always essential! Only those who have truly become a regional overlord are qualified to teach martial arts here!

Here, too, are the world's most elite national talents!

On this continent, there are three cultivation kingdoms!

The winds are from three countries: the East, the West, and the North!

The three kingdoms together occupied two-thirds of the continent, while the remaining third was one of the most dangerous places in the world!

This place is a boundless forest, teeming with countless monsters! It calls itself the Land of Heavenly Punishment, but the outside world prefers to call it the Monster Forest!

The words "divine punishment" also speak of the arrogance of these demonic beasts!

The land of divine punishment!

However, they do indeed have the capability!

In mainland China, there is a list of top-rated celebrities!

There are a total of one hundred experts here. These one hundred experts can almost be said to be the highest level of combat power in this world!

But a hundred years ago, the top of the Red Flower List, who was not convinced by the Monster Forest, once relied on his strength and ventured into the Heavenly Punishment alone!

As a result, in less than a day, he was annihilated by the Lord of Heavenly Punishment. He didn't even have the chance to be reincarnated!

In no time, the reputation of Heavenly Punishment soared!

The dean of the college we mentioned at the beginning, upon hearing about this, insisted on giving an explanation to the top scorer!

And the top spot on this red flower list belongs to the dean's disciple!

As the saying goes, "A teacher for a day is a father for life!"

For the dean, losing his most outstanding disciple was like losing his own son!

However, even when the dean was punished by heaven, he didn't gain much advantage.

I heard that the Dean injured two Lords of Heavenly Punishment, which eventually attracted the leader of Heavenly Punishment to take action. After only ten rounds, the Dean was defeated and forced to retreat!

After this incident, the dean issued an order: no one is allowed to enter the Heavenly Punishment without authorization, and those entering the trial area can only enter the outermost perimeter! Anyone who disobeys this order will bear the consequences!

This also brought another piece of news to the mainland: the Heavenly Punishment is not just a single Lord of Heavenly Punishment, but rather there are multiple Lords of Heavenly Punishment!

As for how many there are, only the people in the Monster Forest know.

Now that I've said this, I realize that I haven't mentioned the name of the academy yet!

This academy is the legendary: Tianwu Academy!

The teachers here include not only those local tyrants, but also a group of teachers with very powerful backgrounds!

They were nobles from three different countries!

These nobles were truly exceptional individuals, the cream of the crop!

Tianwu Academy also provided convenience to these three countries!

That is, every enrollment season, the Empire has ten places available without examination! And these ten places are mostly given to three young prodigies from the Empire!

At this time, the art of ruling by the emperor was also being used very skillfully!

Whenever the number of royal children is less than a certain number, the one or two vacant spots are filled by selecting from across the country!

At that time, a competition called the Imperial Trial will take place!

In addition to the free spots, Tianwu Academy also has its own selection criteria!

Every autumn, Tianwu Academy holds a Tianwu Grand Prix on its own campus!

The Tianwu Election is not only an opportunity for children from poor families to change their fate, but also a chance for children from wealthy families to gain prestige!

This resulted in Tianwu Academy having two student organizations!

One of them was the Heaven and Earth Society, composed of students from impoverished families!

The other one is the Taiping Group, which is composed of the sons of wealthy people!

And whenever the college admits students, it is also the time for these two organizations to recruit new members!

Wherever there are people, there is a world of intrigue and conflict. This is especially true of Tianwu Academy, a place teeming with all sorts of characters!

The Heaven and Earth Society has no absolute fairness, and the Taiping Group does not have absolute power! That's how it is.

The presidents of these two organizations—or, in layman's terms, the student leaders—are all elites among the students!

If they stay at the school, they will become faculty members.

If they leave politics, the doors of all three empires will be open to them, and they will be offered important official positions!

At Tianwu Academy, there is a place known as the "Devil's Bane"—the Moral Education Hall, personally overseen by Vice Dean Nalan Xingde!

The Moral Education Hall is essentially the law enforcement hall in the outside world!

Any student or teacher who makes a mistake at the academy will be sent here to undergo moral education and reform!

If it succeeds, you can leave that same day! If it fails, it won't be as simple as just physical pain!

There once was a notorious thief from the mainland who, in order to demonstrate his superb thieving skills, actually stole from the Heavenly Martial Academy!

Whether it was just bad luck or fate playing a joke on him, he somehow managed to steal from the Moral Education Hall as soon as he entered the door!

The ending was happy; the notorious thief actually accepted Nalan Xingde's reformation and became a teacher at the Moral Education Hall!

But this process is not so pleasant!

I heard that strange noises came from inside this house for a full forty-nine days!

They either cry, laugh hysterically, scream like a pig being slaughtered, or scream in a state of bewilderment between laughter and tears!

In short, this place suddenly became like the gates of hell!

All sorts of monsters and demons have come out!

Torture, this is torture!

If this happened today, all of these people would be in jail! They'd all have a good chat with the police!

But that wasn't like now! There weren't any police officers there! In fact, to put it bluntly, they were the police officers of Tianwu Academy back then!

They won't punish themselves!

Chapter 1221 Hope

"Senior sister, you said it yourself, back then, Senior Brother Qin Hao took those senior brothers with him. Even if they encountered the most dangerous situations, with their strength, they would definitely be fine. Senior sister, don't worry, I will definitely stay by your side until Senior Brother Qin Hao comes back. I will, I definitely will." Weiwei looked at Tian Qin's face full of pain and couldn't help but hold Tian Qin's hand tightly. Tian Qin turned around and saw Weiwei's determined look. Tears couldn't help but slide down her cheeks, but at the same time, she smiled, a sweet and content smile.

"Alright, let's continue looking for your good brother Li Xiuchen." Tian Qin took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and smiled at Weiwei.

"No, senior sister, we're not going." After Weiwei and Tian Qin stood up, they looked at Tian Qin in front of them and expressed their thoughts at that moment.

"Huh? But we came here, to this dark forest, precisely to find Li Xiuchen." Tian Qin was taken aback by Weiwei's words, somewhat incredulous. "If it's because of me, you can rest assured," Tian Qin was afraid that she had changed Weiwei's mind, and if that were the case, Tian Qin felt uneasy.

"No, senior sister, don't overthink it. It's really not because of you that I'm not going to see him," Weiwei explained with a smile, holding Tian Qin's hands.

"It suddenly occurred to me that if I go to find him now, even if I do, I won't be able to do anything if he happens to be in trouble. It would be better for me to go back to the academy and focus on my cultivation. Once my cultivation has greatly increased and I've reached a certain level, I can go to find him. That way, even if I see him in any trouble or danger, I can help him instead of becoming a burden to him. I think my senior sister would think the same way."

“That’s true all the time, but…” Although Tian Qin agreed with Weiwei’s idea, she was still conflicted. She didn’t want Weiwei to lose this opportunity to visit Li Xiuchen.

"No buts, Senior Sister. You see, the reason we work so hard is because we don't want the people we care about to worry, and we don't want them to be distracted." Weiwei said these words to Tian Qin, but she couldn't help but want to burst into tears. She thought of her grandfather, and everything that had happened in that small mountain forest. She understood that the reason her grandfather dared not leave was because he was worried that no one would take care of her afterward. He was afraid that when she encountered difficulties, no one would stand up to protect her. He was afraid that when she was alone, no one would be able to share everything she might encounter in the future.

“Yes, you’re right. The reason we work so hard is so that the people we care about won’t worry about us, and we don’t want them to be distracted.” Tian Qin smiled and nodded at Weiwei, agreeing with what he said. “Okay, then let’s go back to the academy, steal a few top-notch manuals, and cultivate diligently. For ourselves, and for the people we care about, let’s work our best.” Tian Qin waved her fist and smiled as she spoke to Weiwei.

Seeing her senior sister like this, Weiwei couldn't help but laugh out loud. The bitterness in her heart lessened a lot. She nodded vigorously and changed direction with her senior sister, running towards the academy.

As she ran towards the academy, Tian Qin couldn't help but glance back at Weiwei beside her. She had a vague feeling that Weiwei, her junior sister, seemed to have grown up in an instant. Gone was the fragility she had been when she first left Li Xiuchen; gone was the sensitivity that could easily disturb her peace of mind. Now, she was strong and brave, and had clear goals. Weiwei now exuded a captivating and irresistible charm, an invisible aura. Tian Qin looked at Weiwei and smiled softly. She knew her junior sister had grown up.

"I also saw a bird..." Li Xiuchen gradually recounted his experience of seeing the bird.

"So you mean that bird didn't do anything, it just stood there watching you, right?" Saint Buddha asked Li Xiuchen again for confirmation. Li Xiuchen raised his head, thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Yes, that's right, he just looked at me like that, without doing anything, but for a moment there was a murderous glint in his eyes, very quickly. So I don't know if it was just my imagination or if it was real." Li Xiuchen was a little helpless, and could only tell the Holy Buddha what he could remember.

"I see. In that case, the appearance of the hermit was inevitable." After listening to Li Xiuchen's words, the Holy Buddha seemed a bit rambling. After muttering to himself for a while, the Holy Buddha suddenly said to Li Xiuchen,

"Quickly! Tianwu City! Go back immediately! Something big is about to happen! We've already missed a lot!"

Hearing the Buddha's tone suddenly become so urgent, Li Xiuchen dared not delay and immediately pushed aside the rocks blocking the cave entrance, rushing towards Tianwu City.

"Holy Buddha, what exactly happened in Tianwu City?" While rushing forward, Li Xiuchen couldn't help but ask the Holy Buddha, genuinely curious about the strange bird he had seen in his dream.

"These things can't be explained in a sentence or two. As you travel, I'll briefly mention them to you to give you a clear understanding," the Holy Buddha said after pausing for a moment upon hearing Li Xiuchen's question.

"Long ago, something happened on this continent. Few people know about it, but it actually had a great impact on the people of this continent. However, because their cultivation levels were too low, or because they were ordinary people, or for various other reasons, very few people actually knew about it. Moreover, those who knew about it were gradually dying, so many things were about to face the risk of disappearing from the martial world."