Chapter 9: Introductory Course
Shi Xueman looked at the body in the mirror. Her originally silky body that she was proud of for being flawless had five faint fingerprints on the left side of her chest, which were eyesores. Several days had already pa.s.sed but the fingerprints still had not faded away, it was clear just how much strength was put in those fingers.
A hint of anger emerged within her eyes. She didn’t want to relive the moments of that day, but when she saw the imprint everyday when she was bathing, it was hard to keep her anger in check.
Today was the start of a new term. Fortunately, the prints on her neck had already disappeared.
She put on her clothes, her face anew with her usual self-confidence.
When she walked out of the room, breakfast had already been arranged long ago in the main hall. When her grandfather saw her, he revealed a kind smile: “Quickly, come eat.”
“Grandpa.” She said sweetly, before sitting beside her grandfather. Ever since her mother had pa.s.sed away when she was a child, with her father always being busy, her grandfather was the one who had raised her. Everyday in the morning, she would always eat breakfast with the old man.
Servants came up to deliver warm steaming soup. Since she was usually training, everyone of her three meals that replenished elemental energy and nourished the body were specially prepared.
She drank the soup in small mouthfuls. The soup was meticulously made with precious materials. Not only would it greatly benefit her cultivation, it was really tasty. However, she was a bit absentminded today.
The old man had raised her from childhood, so he could not understand her better than how he did now as he asked warmly: “What? Still thinking about that day’s loss?”
His own granddaughter’s innate talent was unrivaled within the family. From childhood, she had always been intelligent. Not only was she not frivolous, she was even more diligent than an ordinary person. Since she was a child, she had revealed her talents and strength, even so much that she had surpa.s.sed her father. She was regarded as a leading character of the clan’s next generation and was the entire clan’s pride, so every elder within the clan doted on her very much.
The old man was deeply proud of his own granddaughter and felt that his granddaughter was perfectly flawless. The only thing that made him a little bit worried was her pride. It was no different from her father’s, she had never suffered through any setbacks.
However, the old man’s life was rich in experience and he knew that there were hidden talents in this world. If there was a mountain, there will also be a taller mountain. No matter how outstanding his granddaughter was, there would be bound to be another who was even stronger than she.
This time’s setback was exactly like this.
When he saw the fingerprints on his granddaughter’s neck that day, he had been startled, then frightened. If the other party used a little more strength, his granddaughter would’ve died on the spot. But very quickly after the lingering fear he had, he sensed that his granddaughter’s mood was strange.
Looks like this time’s setback was even more greater than what he had imagined.
In his old eyes, this little setback was nothing much, but he knew that Xueman, who sailed through life, needed a period of time to digest it. However, to a certain extent, he was still considerably grateful to the other party. To him, Shi Xueman receiving this kind of little setback at her current age could be regarded as a valuable treasure.
If the old man knew about what had truly happened, he would definitely have ripped Ai Hui into eight pieces.
“No.” Shi Xueman lowered her head to eat.
Once the old man saw her appearance, he couldn’t help but smile: “Where do you think you are?”
The old man was quite experienced. He knew that to young people, avoiding an issue was not the right choice.
The spoon in Shi Xueman’s hands paused. She was stumped by her grandfather’s question. Even though three days had pa.s.sed, she had spent them in self-shame, and racked her brains, thinking about how she was going to find that wretched b.a.s.t.a.r.d, then dismember him into ten thousand pieces.
She wasn’t a stupid person, it was only that her eyes were filled with rage. Now that she had received a reminder from her grandfather, she immediately paid attention to the question that she had neglected.
“The other party was very familiar with blind battles.”
Shi Xueman’s expression became solemnly grave as she revealed an expression of remembering the scene. Each and every detail of the battle flowed through her brain like water. It was the first time in three days that she did not get caught in her anger when recalling the memories of that battle.
The old man silently laughed, and guided patiently: “And?”
“With plenty amounts of fighting experience, his reactions were sharp, and never wavered in any of his actions. He knew how to take utilize all of his advantages.” Once she returned to the cool-headed Shi Xueman, she immediately revealed her great insight. She continued to think aloud: “Now that I think about it, he probably sensed my position from the very start. As for me, I didn’t. Not only that, I never even perceived any of his movements. He is unusually skilled in blind battles and is proficient in fighting in the dark. If I think about it carefully, him choosing to immobilize the person nearest to him is the best way to fight in the dark. Thus, I could only be on the defensive. I didn’t have s.p.a.ce, and with no s.p.a.ce, I couldn’t use many of my skills and techniques. While his strength, on the other hand, was fully about to be displayed.”
The old man carefully listened. He knew that at this time, it was enough for him to listen attentively to her.
“He deliberately made me struggle to quickly drain my strength, that is extremely devious. I’d a.s.sume that the other party’s elemental strength is not too strong. For the entire time, he had never used his elemental powers so I am not certain what realm he is in.
Having heard what she had said, the old man said: “Not using elemental strength, yet he defeated you. That other party is quite strong.”
“Really strong. Not only that, he ought to be like me and was wearing a suppression bracelet.” Shi Xueman did not avoid the comment. She thought for a bit: “When he had immobilized me, I used 【Fish Arching Back】. But I still couldn’t throw him off.”
This was the first time the old man revealed a shocked expression: “Didn’t use elemental energy but was able to withstand your 【Fish Arching Back】? Was he old?”
【Fish Arching Back】 was a breaking free technique that was rather ingenious. It imitated the movements of a startled fish that arched its back to break free, and its explosive power was strong. The other party didn’t use elemental energy, yet he was capable of suppressing 【Fish Arching Back】. The old man was relatively shocked.
“Mn.” Shi Xueman seriously nodded: “His bloodl.u.s.t was too strong. Originally, I planned to use 【Fish Arching Back】 to throw him off, then pull off my supression bracelet, but I couldn’t break free. He shouldn’t be that old, otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it for fifty thousand yuan.”
Now that she was thinking back on it, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of admiration. Because she was a girl, if she were to be immobilized, she would be at a disadvantage. Since she was very young, her family had taught her 【Fish Arching Back】. She used quite a lot of energy to perfect this move, so much that it was literally burned into her marrow.
Even she could not completely control 【Fish Arching Back】’s explosive power.
“If he did not use elemental energy, was able to suppress 【Fish Arching Back】, yet was not that old, then he must be a student. The old man’s expression was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with admiration: “Looks like there is an extraordinary talent within this year’s batch of new students. I wonder which family’s child he is, why haven’t we heard anything in the rumors?”
“Grandpa, you have to help me investigate this properly!” Shi Xueman shook her grandfather’s arm as she pleaded: “I can’t just suffer this loss, I need to have an open battle with him.”
The old man laughed heartily: “Okay, okay, okay. If Xueman asks Grandpa, even if Grandpa wants to reject it, it’ll be hard.”
Xueman’s intention of wanting to wipe off her previous shame was abundantly clear. Young people had lots of vigor. Even if they hit a wall, it would be alright. He himself was also very interested in this young man that suddenly came out of nowhere, who was even stronger than his own granddaughter.
Shi Xueman was overjoyed. With her grandfather taking action, that wretch b.a.s.t.a.r.d would never be able to escape!
Just you wait! I’ll never let you off!
A trace of a dangerous aura flashed past Shi Xueman’s eyes.
The old man observed his granddaughter’s expressions. For an old man who had experienced all of life’s ups and downs, how could he possibly not know what his own granddaughter was thinking? He muttered: “He didn’t use elemental energy, yet he had suppressed you. I’m afraid that his overall strength surpa.s.ses you as well. You have to be careful.”
Shi Xueman lifted her head, her eyes were like two round, blazing infernos: “Xueman will definitely do her best!”
The old man was a bit shocked. He had never seen his granddaughter have such a vigorous fighting spirit.
Looks like this time’s defeat had frustrated Xueman quite a lot, the old man thought with a laugh.
Ai Hui didn’t know that his fifty thousand yuan had attracted such troubles, he was currently in the Introductory Course.
Sunshine pa.s.sed through the cla.s.sroom window, falling onto the desk and floor. Even the dust lazily drifted within the sunshine.
The cla.s.sroom was completely empty, and only six people was sitting inside. There were very few who had to take the Introductory Course, no matter Old Earth or Five Way Heaven, most had already gone through the initial studies when they were young.
Master Dong, who was on the platform smiled with radiance, his hands danced about as his spittle splattered when he talked about the project Five Way Heaven had planned for many years, how much manpower and resources had been used, and how every faction that cultivated had united. At present, Five Way Heaven was completely stable, and was now beginning to infiltrate the Savage Territories for the very first time. He said something about how Five Way Heaven’s defensive period had ended, and had entered a great counterattack era, and so on.
Different from the others who were sleepy, Ai Hui listened with great interest. He used to only be in contact with sword manuals, and most of his knowledge in Five Way Heaven’s history had been from the gossip he heard from elementalists in the Savage Territories.
Talking about history was Master Dong’s favorite hobby. He used most of the Introductory Course’s time to talk about such history, and actually didn’t use much time to talk about the basis of cultivation.
What did these insignificant historical facts have to do with them? The other students privately named this cla.s.s the saliva cla.s.s, hating that they wasted their time with this, yet the teacher of this cla.s.s that taught them about the basis of cultivation was still Master Dong. Not only that, Master Dong was famous for his bad temper. If they skipped his cla.s.s and wanted to ask him about cultivation, Master Dong wouldn’t even look them in the eye.
Who told them to not even know the basics?
Students that came from Five Way Heaven naturally do not need to be mentioned, those who learned at home directly entered the advanced courses. Normal students were of the same suit and took the intermediate courses. Even students from Old Earth had cultivated since they were young. Even though their circ.u.mstances and environments were different, and they were not as knowledgeable as students from Five Way Heaven, but they had no problem in the subject of theory.
Survival was always the greatest force that would cause change. After a thousand years of development, the five elemental energies had already been deeply engraved in the people’s hearts.
Those who had to be taught from the basics like Ai Hui were pitifully few.
When under a roof, one had no other choice but to give in.
The unceasing chattering of Master Dong had finally touched upon the subject of cultivation, and the spirits of the other students rose by many times.
Master Dong’s pa.s.sion seemed to only be about teaching history, he was a bit unenthusiastic about explaining elemental cultivation. He only used half an hour to talk about it, and then announced that cla.s.s was dismissed. Ai Hui was still pondering over the contents from earlier, and when he had regained his conscious, Master Dong had already left long ago.
Compared with the other students painful faces of grief, Ai Hui was currently br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happy enlightenment.
He had lived in the Savage Territories for three years so he was well accustomed to working hard. He would never back off in the face of danger, and excelled extremely well in the midst of hard work. Those great elementalists all trusted him rather well. When coming across his enthusiasm, they would even teach him a few moves.
But in the Savage Territories, danger lurked in every corner, and one could b.u.mp into danger at any time. There was no one who was patient enough to teach a coolie how to cultivate in such an environment.
After these three years, he had learned quite a lot. They were all pragmatic methods, and were oddly fragmented.
His knowledge in theory was badly scattered, but the acc.u.mulation of his experience in real combat had far surpa.s.sed the other students. But he was an expert in deep thinking, otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent time on the sword embryo seed. Even though what he had learned in the Savage Territories were simple and scattered, he had spent a lot of time trying to figure them out. Even though he was restricted by his weak foundation and his learning was limited, he still acc.u.mulated many questions that he was confused about.
Master Dong didn’t take long in his lecture and barely covered the specific way to cultivate. He mostly explained elemental energy related theories.
Which just happened to be the part Ai Hui was missing.