Chapter 54: Secret Ident.i.ty Exposed
(TLN: Second extra chapter! It"s longer than the normal chapter but not long enough to split as two chapters.)
“Since there will be a battle soon, we must prepare. It is best not to let them go.” Long Shiyan paused and asked, “How many of them are here? How high is their combat power?”
The male fighter seemed distracted for a moment before replying, “Two of their ninth-level fighters suffered the same degree of injuries we did. The rest of them are eighth-level fighters and magicians totaling around a dozen. In addition to this, there are several independent ninth-level fighters in the school. They are all acting independently, but they still join in the chaos to steal the treasures. Last time, they wanted to take away the Tianxin Gra.s.s left by the princ.i.p.al, but they were repelled by four elders. I"m not sure where they are now.”
Long Shiyan sunk into thought for a few seconds. “If that is the case, then the Student Holy Spirit Group should go in and look for the magic cores. Meanwhile, the rest of us should stay here to defend against the enemy and buy them time.”
“How could we let you do that?!” Zi Linglong was the very first to object.
“Really, we can"t let you protect us anymore. We can fight too.” Brands appeared unwilling to agree with Long Shiyan"s decision as he tugged his red hair.
The ninth-level female fighter said, “It"s true that the Student Holy Spirit Group is now the backbone of the school. It is best that we all did something, so let them go in and collect the treasures and we will wait here and stop the enemy.”
Long Shiyan could not help but look at her. It seems that this person was more righteous than she expected. Long Shiyan asked for the Student Holy Spirit Group to go in and harvest the treasures out of her own selfishness. Only G.o.d knew what good things were pa.s.sed down for thousands of years in this school. If anyone obtained those treasures, their strength would soar.
Naturally, although she was selfish, she was also reasonable and thought about the best course of action.
Nowadays, the Student Holy Spirit Group could be said to be the masters of the school as the management of the treasures were, of course, in their hands. This was not just based on her feelings.
“Every time, we must leave people behind, but this G.o.d doesn"t want to leave anyone ever again,” Chris said quietly.
The students of the Student Holy Spirit Group did not want to go, but fortunately, the two vice-presidents understood Long Shiyan"s reasons and how this was a strong opportunity for them.
It was hard to convince them to leave. Before they could prepare to depart, they detected several people were quickly coming. They blocked the intruders" pathway, causing the intruders to halt their footsteps.
A middle-aged man, who was around thirty-years-old, had brown hair that extended to his waist. When he noticed them, he laughed. “Yehua, not to mention Baiyin, you both sure do have quite a bit of skill since you were able to break the headmaster"s enchantment.”
Next to him, a Chinese-looking man with a beard spoke, “Hehe, are you doing all of this to welcome our arrival?”
“You shouldn"t be happy too early, Feng.” The male fighter had cast a cold gaze upon the uncle with a beard.
The four ninth-level fighters in the opposing direction were not permitted to pa.s.s by. However, at this moment, a person that had a voice of a child"s yet made people feel inexplicable pressure suddenly spoke, “You are the school"s rebels!” The sound of a giant sword being dragged across the ground echoed in the empty underground area.
The two men noticed her and couldn"t help but frown. “Who are you?”
“I…am the one who will remove the cancer-like people of this school; I am an ordinary student, nothing more.” Long Shiyan slowly walked, getting closer and closer to them.
Her delicate little face was like a doll"s as it expressed an indifference that wasn"t in accordance with her age. A pair of large eyes contained a rare iciness. The girl, who was gradually approaching, caused them to feel an inexplicable pressure.
Long Shiyan was not afraid of them. Although she has consumed a lot of Douqi to dispel the enchantment, her body"s recovery speed was very fast. Furthermore, she had just eaten raw Saint Dragon Blood Mushrooms. Since she ate the mushrooms before they had been refined into a pellet, there could be some side effects. However, the mushrooms quickly restored her strength. Two of the ninth-level fighters were going to rush in without a plan, so she could at least defeat one of them.
But if they were not already hurt, then she might have a bit of a difficult time.
Unfortunately, they were hurt, so Long Shiyan had a hundred percent chance of getting rid of them.
“An ordinary student possessing the strength of a ninth-level fighter? I can"t believe it.” The long-haired uncle sneered.
“If you surrender, then I will spare your lives.”
“Surrender, why should we surrender?”
Cold eyes glared at them, and Long Shiyan whispered, “Do you really think you can beat me?!” Her figure flashed quickly as she suddenly jumped up. The qi around her condensed as she hacked at the long-haired uncle using "Glorious Heart."
The long-haired uncle raised his eyebrows. He didn"t need to see to sense how frightening that move was. He wanted to avoid the attack, however, he couldn"t move a single step, leaving him no choice but to lift his sword and block the blow.
“Bang!” The long-haired uncle was smashed into a stone pillar as he spat a few mouthfuls of blood.
Unbelievable, it was only one move.
“How come?!” The uncle with a beard looked at his friend with a shocked expression. It was obvious that the speed of this move was low, yet why couldn"t his companion escape?
The two ninth-level fighters beside Long Shiyan, including the eighth-level fighters and magicians who were present, were inwardly surprised. Her move was obviously very slow, but they also understood the powerful might the attack contained. Despite that, why couldn"t he dodge it? Could it be that he was incapable of moving?
How could that be possible?!
Everyone was shocked.
The long-haired uncle angrily vomited a few mouthfuls of blood. He shouted to his friend, “Feng, be careful. She has a strong ability.”
“Ability!” Without enough time to consider the future, a small figure jumped up again and attacked him with another "Glorious Heart." This time, he finally knew what his friend was talking about. Although her attack method was very simple, she coated her whole body with the qi from the atmosphere and reached perfection with her technique. No one could resist nor obtain the idea of escaping. Instead, they could only withstand her powerful move.
This kind of ability was executed by people who generally knew how to use the épée. If this move was used, it would be extremely difficult to break it, causing it to be impossible to fight with her.
Therefore, he was sure to lose.
Unless he was given time to think, he would not be able to stop this move.
However, her "Glorious Heart" attack stuck the man"s twin knives, causing him to take two steps back.
Nonetheless, she continued to attack, and as she swept at him, he retreated to the wall. He was filled with cold sweat; his hands were numb. If he received another blow, he would end up like his companion. Fortunately, she stopped attacking at this moment.
“Do you want to continue fighting?” Long Shiyan tilted her head up at him. Although she was looking upward, her eyes were still cold and ruthless, making her opponent tremble.
“W-who are you?” The bearded uncle gritted his teeth.
“An ordinary student.”
“Don"t lie to me, no ordinary student has as much power as you do!” The bearded uncle gripped his weapon harder. “I had no choice but to betray the school. The Holy Spirit Group is a mess. We had to find a way to make ourselves stronger.”
“Therefore, you decided to turn your attention to the storage room!”
“So what about it?! The tasks we have done in the Holy Spirit Group are all paid through wages. But the Holy Spirit Group has not paid us for a long time. What"s even worse was that the Holy Spirit Group had suddenly disappeared, leaving us with no income. So don"t we deserve to take what belongs to us? We also have our own families, and we need to support them.
Some people of the Holy Spirit Group left the school and went to the Magical Beast Forest to hunt for magic cores. However, how many of those people survived?"
“Even so, you shouldn"t go against the school. If you do this, you will let those who have evil ambitions succeed.”
“What you said wasn"t wrong, but since we are already here, it is impossible to turn back. Just come at me!”
“You don"t wish to surrender?” Long Shiyan was flabbergasted.
“If there is no way we can surrender, why bother?” The bearded uncle"s voice dropped as the eighth-level fighters and the magicians next to him immediately formed a formation. The long-haired uncle also came over to a.s.sume a defensive stance. Apparently, they were ready to fight to the end.
“Who said that there is no way out! Glorious Heart!” Long Shiyan jumped up and hacked at the enemies who formed a formation. Suddenly, the earth trembled, and Long Shiyan bounced back into her original position. However, this warning attack somewhat made them feel like surrendering.
“I will say it once more. If you surrender, you will not be executed, but your actions will be remembered by the school. Of course, you can still make up for it,” Long Shiyan said coldly, compelling them to surrender. Long Shiyan was also helpless. As the saying goes, a cornered dog would jump on the wall. When facing death"s door, their group of magicians had cast spells that were strong enough to destroy the underground area. While she would not be in any danger, the group of injured eighth-level experts behind her might not necessarily get out unscathed.
(TLN: "A cornered dog will jump on the wall" is an idiom that means "to be driven to desperate action.")
The school"s underground storage room was damaged, and the mistakes they made were grave.
“You"re only an ordinary student, what power do you have that could decide whether we can live or not? Will the school really listen to you?” The long-haired uncle gritted his teeth. Of course, he did not want to die, but he was not entirely convinced by Long Shiyan"s words.
Long Shiyan clenched her giant sword and glared at them with icy eyes. “Can an ordinary student have the power to defeat you? And why don"t you see with your own eyes whether or not they will listen to me?” Long Shiyan turned around and looked towards them with a gaze filled with expectations.
As they met her gaze, they were startled, but they did not refute her words.
“Who are you?” The bearded uncle felt that the strength of the formation began to falter. He glanced back at his teammates and found that many had begun to resign. They just did not voice out their surrender.
“Who am I?!” Long Shiyan muttered under her breath; her eyes flickered with hesitation a few times before she raised her head again. “You said that I have a small body, but I am stronger than how I look on the outside. Who could I be?”
Everyone in the area stared blankly.
“Long! Shi! Yan!” The bearded uncle lowered his voice.
“Do you know what she looks like?” asked Long Shiyan.
“Not at all.” The bearded uncle kept his calm and inquired, “Long Shiyan saved the school. This fact is understood by everyone in the school, but she was merely a seventh-level fighter back then, and besides, she has already died.”
Long Shiyan bitterly chuckled. “Currently, the genius trainees of the school have already become eighth-level fighters. I was once claimed by the school a rarely seen genius in the past hundred years, so how could I not become a ninth-level fighter after all this time?! The school said that Long Shiyan was either dead or missing, and many people in the school don"t believe it.”
“You are Long Shiyan!”
“The one and only.”
“If you are really Long Shiyan, then we can surrender.” Long Shiyan was the head of the Student Holy Spirit Group, which was also the leader of the school. Whatever she said could fully represent the school, so the idea of surrendering was feasible.
“I am Long Shiyan! But my current ident.i.ty is temporarily hidden because of certain matters. Please understand and keep it confidential.”
“Can you prove that you are Long Shiyan?”
“You jest! Do you still need me to prove myself?!”
Everyone choked as these confident words made them unable to refute her.
The Holy Spirit Group rebel members exchanged glances with each other before suddenly lowering their weapons and going down onto their knees. They said, “We vow to the G.o.d of Fate; we are willing to surrender and keep everything that happened today completely confidential.”
At this moment, the two ninth-level fighters on her side suddenly fell onto one knee. As her companions and teachers saw this, they did the same. The two ninth-level fighters spoke, “Head of the Student Holy Spirit Group, Long Shiyan, please restore your ident.i.ty. The whole Holy Spirit Group will lead our entire student body and teachers to restore the order of the school.”
Long Shiyan was distracted for a moment as she watched them in shock. She discovered tears in their eyes.
“What are you doing?"
She was completely shaken.
"There are no leaders in the school, instead, there is only chaos. Although the Student Holy Spirit Group can maintain most of the forces, there are still many teachers and members of the Holy Spirit Group who remain neutral. Furthermore, many rebels are working independently. The Student Holy Spirit Group is only weak because it lacks a leader. However, if you decide to restore your ident.i.ty, your authority, and your reputation, I believe that you can convince everyone to join you. Those of the Holy Spirit Group who left the school will return, and the school can return to normal," the male fighter said in a low voice.
He had no other choice but to do this because he was exhausted at this point. Being one of the guardians of the school, he could lose his life at any time. But they were still leaderless and could barely fend off for themselves. How could the number one school in the Continent be so unsafe?
However, he was obliged to protect the school because of his loyalty to it. He was trained by this school, and it contained many memories of his childhood.
With the appearance of Yan Shi, they sensed an anomaly. How could such a formidable person suddenly appear in the school? While many powerful people were hiding in the school, she was different.
She was very familiar with the various facilities in the school. She suddenly ran to help them once the enchantment broke, yet she did not ask for anything in return. Instead, she reprimanded them for doing something wrong.
In particular, the Student Holy Spirit Group had been reproached and taken care of the same way.
Formidable strength, ample control, extraordinary manners, and every move of hers made people unconsciously follow her. How could she possess the same charisma as an ordinary student?
Looking at her small body and disproportionate power, the first thing that came to mind was, of course, the head of the Student Holy Spirit Group who died a few months ago. The name, Long Shiyan, was generally a.s.sociated with a small body and disproportionate power. She was known as the school"s angel or a G.o.ddess that descended from the heavens. The impression that everyone had of her was profound.
Since the headmaster spiced up the story by adding details, no one knew the true story.
Both Yan Shi and Long Shiyan had similarities, so after she admitted her ident.i.ty, they had no doubts at all. Instead, they felt it was as expected.
“I still have some important things to do, so I will not regain my ident.i.ty, for the time being, please understand.” Looking at the crowd"s despondent eyes, Long Shiyan shifted her gaze away from them, as if ignoring them.
“Isn"t the safety of the school the most important thing?” The female fighter was not reconciled with Long Shiyan"s decision.
Long Shiyan said, “Maybe you don"t believe it, but the reason why I hide my ident.i.ty is related to the security of the whole continent. If my ident.i.ty is exposed, then I might suffer a catastrophe. My enemies are everywhere, so until I break through to the Saint realm, I will not reveal my ident.i.ty.”
A few of the people on her side exchanged glances with each other. By the tone of Long Shiyan"s voice, she did not seem to be lying. She might truly be facing a powerful enemy, so she had to hide her ident.i.ty. Long Shiyan was at the peak of the ninth-level, so her enemy must be at Saint-level or higher. If she was exposed, it would be very dangerous for her.
The school currently had no Saints and thus couldn"t protect her.
For some time, several people felt it was difficult to refute her.
Long Shiyan felt that she had no other options. She had to keep her reasons a secret and needed more time to think about it. She said, “You can secretly spread the news of my return, but only to any insiders who you deem are important and perhaps formidable people. However, you must keep it a secret to everyone else, including your cla.s.smates. Under the right time, you can make arrangements to meet me, and I will solve the issue.”
However, these were only her wistful thoughts, nothing more.
She didn"t know to what extent the world"s rules could change, but she believed that when she did something wrong, the system would warn her.
Currently, there weren"t any warnings, so there should be no problem.
And the most important point was that the reason why Long Shiyan dared to reveal her ident.i.ty was that the Saints were gone. They had all gone to the ruins to advance in their training.
So even if she was exposed to the rules of the world, the rules of the world couldn"t constrain her. The system also said that when the rules of the world decide to punish her, the people of this continent would become hostile to her. However, only the two old fellows of the school and a few other people currently on the Continent could threaten her.
She was a ninth-level fighter with a G.o.d"s divinity inheritance.
Besides Long Aotian at his real strength and his Shenlong, she was not afraid of confronting any other ninth-level fighters. Perhaps when it came to other races, the dragons and elves were threats, not to mention magical beasts. But right now, she was in the human"s domain, so she was safe.
Exposing her ident.i.ty may have been a good decision, but the risk was too great. It would be better to continue to hide her ident.i.ty from the rest of the world and slowly acc.u.mulate her strength.