Half Season Lecture

Tao Xue was left perplexed by the presence he had felt. He didn't dare to move, as he thought that the presence could be that of an enemy, as well. He got prepared, in case of a sudden ambush, as he armored himself up in the energy. Right now, any single wrong move could have a high chance of turning out to be the cause of his death. He froze still, right there, prepared to engage in combat, but just as he stood up, and turned his face around, to look at the scene behind him, the presence had completely vanished in thin air. He was cautious for the next few minutes, but soon found out that it must've been his mind playing tricks on himself.

He sat down again, only to be seen calmly practicing for the rest of the day.

Time kept flying by, until half of the current season had elapsed.

There had to be a special assembly, and a special lecture about the history of the Academy, and the nation. For most of the students, it was basically a boring class about boring stuff, which changed the atmosphere of the Academy to boring for a day. This event was relaxing for people like teacher Bao Tan, but it was one of the sore subjects for the homeroom teachers like Jian Dong. Other than that, the students would be utterly depressed. Not most of them would be interested in the history of the empire, and the history of the 4 Seasons Academy.

Due to the lecture, the students had to head back to their classes, not to the Testing and Practice Arena, where they Cultivated, and practiced. Tao Xue was still secluded from this, but Ling Shen and Ju Yuan were there. Other than that, Lei Pan, Kuo Wei, and Nuo Peng were also present. As their current statuses were concerned, Nuo Pen, Ling Shen, and Ju Yuan had already started absorbing the energy, and would soon be 1st level Cultivators. Kuo Wei and Lei Pan were a little behind the others, but they also were close to becoming level 1 Cultivators.

Ling Shen and Ju Yuan were a bit confused that Tao Xue had left town, but they didn't suspect anything unusual, as they thought something urgent must've come up for him. Due to this, they had once visited the Mind Cultivation area, where they met Nuo Peng. Lei Pan and Kuo Wei were very conceited, and didn't make friends with the other two, and their personalities were the same as before, with new improvements. Nuo Peng, however, had now started talking, and getting along with people, which was a change in her personality, which meant, for now, Tao Xue didn't have to worry about a mysterious ghost as his classmate. Tao Xue kept getting the information he wanted, from various sources, like the Principal himself. There had to be some special treatment given to him, but that didn't mean that he shouldn't get to know about his friends' and classmates' growth.

After they would have become 1st level Cultivators, they would be told about Cultivation in more depth, and that was when the real challenges came to them. For now, all that they were doing was the easy part of Cultivation.

In the classroom, Ling Shen sat, thinking about Tao Xue. He was still a little perplexed that Tao Xue had left without telling him, being such a good friend. He knew it must be something important, or else Tao Xue sure would have told him about it. He sat quietly, immersed in his thoughts. Meanwhile, Ju Yuan was also thinking, but, about something different. He was thinking about his family. Apparently, there was going to be a contest for the position of the 5th Successor, 6th Successor, and 7th Successor. He was aiming for the position of the 6th or 7th Successor, as 5th would be nearly impossible, as he was not even a 1st level Cultivator, yet. He was quite anxious, as he didn't think he would be able to get the post, because everyone of his generation was eyeing on the position of Successor, and it would be easy for Ju Yuan to get it, given his skill set, and his knowledge. He wasn't incredibly strong, nor was he incredibly smart, so he would obviously face some difficulty. While the two of them thought about different matters, suddenly, the gate of the classroom opened.

Teacher Jian Dong came in, and said, "As you all know, there is going to be a special lecture for you all, today. Today, I will be telling you about the history of the Academy, and about the nation, in general. Firstly, I'd like to specify some basic things. The planet is divided into 6 Kingdoms, each with an Emperor, and a royal family of its own. We are citizens of the Kang Empire. The Kang Empire is divided into various provinces. Each province is divided into various cities, and we are currently in Tian City. The hierarchy of the government goes like this. The first, and supreme head of the country, is known as the Emperor. Then comes the Empress. After them, the ones who follow up are the various Princes, and Princesses. Under them is the Commander. Then comes the Head of Court. Afterwards, come the various Court members. This is it for the Central Level. For the Provincial level, the ruler is the Duke. After wards, under him comes the Duke's direct subordinate, the Assistant Duke. Then comes the Captain of the army. For the City's level, the highest position is that of the Mayor. Under the Mayor, comes the Vice-Mayor. Our country is one with a very good reputation in the other countries, as he have a neutral position during disputes. Now comes our Academy. The 4 Seasons Academy started out like a petty, low-level academy, and it has now risen to such heights."

Teacher Jian Dong continued speaking about the Academy and the country, which was utter nonsense to all of the students. None of them were listening, and the teacher himself didn't care if they were, or not. It was the real problem for him, as he had to keep on rambling about all this, all the day, while the students had to just sit down, and listen. Ling Shen and Ju Yuan had to go through this for the whole day, as both of them envied Tao Xue, who was free from listening to this crap. They sighed, as their thoughts drifted, envying just how lucky their friend was! They couldn't help being jealous of Tao Xue.

As they thought about Tao Xue, he himself was sitting nicely, practicing his ability. He wanted to start Cultivating soon enough, as it was very boring here, sitting alone, and not talking and gossiping with his friends. He was envying Ling Shen and Ju Yuan, as he thought that they were having fun. He didn't know, though, that they were right now, in an extremely pitiable state, experiencing something worse than the feeling of being stuck inside hell for the whole of their lives.

He sighed deeply, before declaring, "Man, this is it! I'm going to get rid of this freaking barrier that stops my Cultivation!"