16 Black Bird Academy (II)

Bai Ling was exhilarated. After coming to the dorms, she met a few girls around her age. They were not friendly, but they weren't hostile either., All of them looked like strong girls who were shaped by their circumstances.

The girls and Bai Ling had a mutual, unspoken rule. They don't talk to her, and she does the same.

After setting her belongings down, Bai Ling was directed to the training courtyard.

It turns out; she was one of thirty recruits in the academy. Some of the girls came because they did not want to sell their bodies while others got thrown in here as punishment.

The girls were grouped up,k discussing the reasons why they came to the academy.

"Gao Ling, why did you come here? I thought you were going to work in the pavilion." A petite girl asked another about her reasons. Gao Ling raised her head and responded.

"I didn't want to sell my body. Besides, I am getting married soon, so I decided to come here." Envious gazes fell on Gao Ling at her announcement. Gao Ling basked in their compliments and congratulations. She surveyed the younger girls around her and beamed at them.

"Don't worry; you'll find yourself a betrothed soon." Awe and hope swelled in their hearts at her words.

As she gloated at the praises, Gao Ling noticed Bai Ling come into the courtyard. She instantly felt threatened by Bai Ling.

Bai Ling walked past the excitement and went to the front row. She couldn't; wait to see why Shi jing would lose her cool over this training.

The girls around Bai Ling couldn't but look at her. Irritated by their stares, Bai Ling spoke.

"Do you want me to pose for you?" The girls took a minute before they realized what she meant. This made them feel apprehensive towards Bai Ling, but they couldn't say anything, they were staring at her.

Gao Ling saw the elegant way Bai Ling composed herself and felt self-conscious. She felt like a joke compared to Bai Ling. She loved to put on airs, but she always felt like a fraud. Looking at Bai Ling, she knew why she felt fake.

In front of true elegance, her performance wasn't worth mentioning. Gao Ling always acted superior in front of her peers but she couldn't in front of Bai Ling.

Little did she know, shy e thought too much of Bai Ling. Bai Ling was impatiently waiting for class to begin.

Out of nowhere, a man appeared before the girls. He looked scholarly in robes of blue and white. He looked a bit on the older side and carried himself with poise.

The girls calmed down immediately and got into their lines without prompting.

"Morning girls, we have a new student in the Academy today. Come forward and introduce yourself." The man, kept looking ahead, not making eye contact with Bai Ling.

Bai Ling steps forward then turned to face the girls. "The name's Bai Ling." With that, Bai Ling went back in line.

One thought dominated their mind, 'such strong pressure!'.

"Okay, now that the introduction is out of the way, we can begin class." The man glanced at Bai Ling, a sinister look in his eyes. "For the new student, you may address me as Instructor Ding Ji."

Madam Fu said to make her life as miserable as possible. Looking at her, Ding Ji knew why the Madam gave him his orders. Nevertheless, he didn't care. He only had to follow orders.

"We are already six months into the first year. Some of us will be behind the rest, but I hope for their sake, they catch up." Everyone, including Bai Ling, knew she was the target of the comment.

Those around her felt like she would be burning with embarrassment, but her stone-cold face shut down the mockery before it began.

"Okay, today, we will be focusing on refining your chi. Now that everyone has managed to harness their chi, it's time to refine." Instructor Ding Ji paced back a forth in a self-righteous manner.

He did not try to explain to Bai Ling how to harness her chi. He went on with the lesson as if nothing was wrong.

Bai Ling knew what he was doing, and she had the urged to curse. These people aren't even trying to hide. Shameless!

"Refining your chi is important. When you do, your elemental core forms. This core is either from the Fire, Wind, Water, Metal or Wood element." Instructor Ding Ji stopped pacing to face the eager students.

Many of them did not know they were even capable of harnessing chi. They thought they would live out their whole life as a weak, common human. Now, because of Madam Fu, they had the chance to change their fate.

This was how Madam Fu got these naive girls to sacrifice themselves for her. She let the young girls have a taste of power and then use that thirst to conform them to do her bidding. One had to applaud her method of gaining followers.

"Now, to refine your chi, you have to cultivate. Before, you meditated to harness your chi. Cultivation is a more focused version of this. Everyone can meditate and harness chi, but most humans don't refine it. At most, they live for a few more years because of this." Instructor Ding Ji fell into teaching the girls, forgetting all about pestering Bai Ling.

Although he had to make things hard for Bai Ling, his genuine love for teaching came through.

"It's time to refine your chi's. To cultivate, the foundation pose is important. You have to sit down and cross your legs. I will show you the first formation to begin refining your chi. " Ding Ji had no problem showing Bai Ling the formation since she had no chi.

Bai Ling understood that he didn't intend to teach her her anything. She had no other choice but to watch as everyone around her started to cultivate while Instructor Ding Ji gave them pointers.

All of the girls had a light red field of chi around them.

Bai Ling decided to absorb as much as she could from them. She was a fast learner; it didn't matter if he taught her or not.

This cultivation period went on for a while until one of the girls screamed out. "I feel something!"

The red glow around her and a few other girls became stronger. Then, a loud sound rang out, and the chi around them increased drastically before it compressed. Before the girls, a symbol formed. Some of the symbols were wood, wind or water.

Instructor Ding Ji was the only one who remained calm. Even Bai Ling was taken back. She knew about chi and cultivation, but this was her first time seeing the beginning stages before her eyes.

This made her transmigrating into this new world feel more real. She became someone expectant and excited about what this meant for her.

Could she rise to the occasion too?