I Became the Alchemy Master by Picking Up Trash-Chapter 71 - 70: Getting Beaten Up

The members of the Elder Council could never have imagined that on a sunny day, trouble would come knocking on their door.

Wen Dao had a knack for arguing even when he was in the wrong, let alone when backed by facts and evidence. Plus, with Yang Zhou, known as the "Mad Dog," delivering a few punches and kicks to take down the biased Guard Captain, the duo turned the Elder Council upside down.

In the end, it took the intervention of the Great Elder Ji Jingtang to calm things down, as they respectfully presented their evidence.

After reading it, Ji Jingtang was furious, and he ordered an immediate investigation. The subsequent findings were shocking; Li Xing’s Primordial Spirit error uncovered a corruption scandal within the Elder Council.

The significant annual funds allocated for the maintenance of the Element Testing Instruments were mostly embezzled by officials collaborating with local governments!

The situation in the Upper and Middle Cities was relatively better, being close to the throne, no one dared to be too brazen. But in the remote Lower Cities, embezzling repair funds was a lucrative practice, with a fifty-fifty split becoming almost routine.

The task of managing the Element Testing Instruments in the Lower Cities was a highly coveted position, one impossible to secure without connections and pathways. Out of 184 cities’ Element Testing Instruments, at least two-thirds hadn’t been serviced for over twenty years, making failures inevitable!

Angered beyond words by these findings, Ji Jingtang immediately reprimanded Jiang Hongfei, the Great Elder responsible for managing the Element Testing Instruments, with eighty strokes and suspended him from duty, also severely punishing several related stewards.

Instead of blaming Wen Dao and Yang Zhou for causing a ruckus at the Elder Council, the Great Elder actually rewarded them for daring to expose the corruption.

The scope of the Element Testing Instrument incident was too vast to handle quickly, and compensation for the victims was postponed, but those were matters for later.

After the minor disturbance on the school’s opening day, Li Xing’s military academy life officially began.

The teachers in the martial master program were increasingly strict, and if not for the foundation laid by Yang Zhou, Li Xing would likely struggle to keep up.

Some of the specialized course teachers had been present at the Element Testing day, and after witnessing that historic moment, they regarded Li Xing as something of value; however, in the classroom, their demeanor was anything but fanatical, not only giving her no special treatment but actually being especially harsh.

Today was the combat class, which used to be Li Xing’s favorite course but had now become the one she dreaded the most.

After a ten-kilometer weighted run warm-up, Luo Jun gathered the students together.

"Today’s lesson focuses on precise control of your Primordial Spirit during combat!"

"We all know how crucial it is to have a reserve of Primordial Spirit. The more precise the control, the less it depletes, allowing longer sustained battles. Yet in real fights, or life-and-death situations, it’s common to neglect or even forget precise control, quickly exhausting your Primordial Spirit, leading to fatal consequences. My goal is to train you to control your Primordial Spirit with muscle memory, minimizing depletion while maximizing combat effectiveness!"

"Next, I’ll have a student assist me in a demonstration."

Luo Jun’s slender Phoenix eyes glanced over the students’ sweaty faces, pausing slightly as he passed over Li Xing.

"Li Xing, step forward!"

"Yes!"

Li Xing sighed inwardly; Luo Jun was set on challenging her, dragging her out for a public thrashing every class.

"Come on, attack with all your might. If your attack touches me, even my clothing, you win!"

Without any wasted words, Li Xing wielded the Heavenly Wolf Saber, sending a crescent-shaped Flame Blade at Luo Jun. Luo Jun sneered, crossing his twin sabers to effortlessly slice the Flame Blade into segments, dispersing it.

Luo Jun’s weapon was a pair of S-shaped blades, ones Li Xing had never seen before. The two sabers crossed and overlapped, their blades rotating slightly to create an arc that resembled ripples spreading from a center point. One glance could make you dizzy, and looking at them for too long might hypnotize you. Li Xing had fought against Luo Jun numerous times but had never won, mostly due to these Evil Blades.

Seeing Luo Jun begin the hypnotic rotation again, Li Xing quickly averted her gaze, using her peripheral vision to judge his position. But Luo Jun was no ordinary opponent; he attacked just as Li Xing looked away, flattening his blade and smacking her backside, sending her flying.

Li Xing landed face-down after tracing a perfect parabola mid-air, and the classmates burst into laughter.

"Hiss——!"

The damage was minimal, but the humiliation was immense. Li Xing resisted the urge to rub her backside and stood up, gritting her teeth.

"Hmph, with Double Heaven Armor, that’s all you’ve got?"

Li Xing: That was intentional, she absolutely did it on purpose!

Li Xing advanced, wielding her saber with one hand to slash at Luo Jun’s left shoulder, using her right palm to hit his right flank, and driving a knee into his abdomen. Facing simultaneous attacks on three points, Luo Jun’s expression became serious; his dual blades combined into a windmill-like fan shape to protect his upper body while he retracted a leg to kick Li Xing’s left knee fiercely.

After "whap" "whap" from each exchanging a strike and a block, they quickly separated and charged at each other again, exchanging seven to eight blows within just a few breaths.

The classmates watched intently, knowing that while Li Xing was often thrashed by Teacher Luo, none of them could last even three rounds against her. Laugh as they might, they understood that Li Xing was far stronger than any of them.

Yet again kicked by Luo Jun, Li Xing grew furious.

"Three Thousand Lotus—!"

A phoenix-like fiery wing emerged from Li Xing’s palm, sweeping towards Luo Jun with Red Lotus Karmic Fire. Luo Jun’s pupils contracted sharply, his twin blades forming a hemispherical metal shield in an instant, shielding himself.

The expected envelopment in fiery heat did not occur; Luo Jun retracted the Golden Shield, seeing Li Xing gleefully making faces at her.

Luo Jun was angered: "Li Xing, what are you doing!? I asked you to precisely control your Primordial Spirit, not to explode with it! Are you openly defying a teacher, looking to fail?"

"Teacher Luo, my Primordial Spirit reserves are ample, and explosive tactics suit me best."

"Ha." Luo Jun laughed in fury. "Who gave you the confidence to assume that?"

"Since the beginning of the contest, I’ve been precisely controlling as you required, but could only be suppressed by you. Just now, with a slight burst, you defended with Primordial Spirit. This proves my approach is correct. A teacher should tailor instruction to the student. If you fail me because of this, I will appeal to the school."

Seeing Luo Jun not retort, Li Xing continued teetering on the edge: "Teacher Luo, so you have the Golden Elemental Spirit? After all this time fighting you, this is the first I’ve seen you use your Elemental Power, hehe."

The Golden Shield Luo Jun used to evade the Red Lotus Karmic Fire emitted a thick wave of Primordial Spirit, definitely not a shape transformation of the twin blades.

"Hmph."

Luo Jun ground her teeth but couldn’t think of a reason for reproach. When that flame emerged earlier, she was genuinely shocked by the brutal, scorching aura. Indeed, the fire Primordial Spirit of Double Heaven Armor was terrifying.

Could this girl’s Primordial Spirit reserves truly be several times that of an ordinary person?

Well, so what? Her arena, her rules. She’d just have to crush her.

"Since you’re so confident, then show me just how abundant Double Heaven Armor’s Primordial Spirit is! Come on, give it your all!"

Observers among the classmates sensed the intensifying tension between the two combatants and quickly retreated to a safe distance.