With the heavy gate shut closed, the room got dim and the cold arms stored in the Weapon Chamber glimmered in the dark.
Various kinds of lodes were altered under the nouris.h.i.+ng of the Natural Essence. After years of research, Huas.h.i.+a College had developed a new kind of material called alloy.
The alloy was cla.s.sified into common alloy, high-grade alloy and supreme alloy. Common alloy was able to harm the mutated beast, while supreme alloy was said to deal with the beast king.
Su Yan swept the various weapons: knives, swords, cudgels…
He then took a s.h.i.+ny sword and its blade glinted with cold metal light. He could feel how sharp it was. It could definitely cut clean through iron as though it were mud!
“The blade is as thin as a cicada’s wings, but it probably weighs more than 150 kilos. The alloy is really heavy.”
He weighed it in the hands for a while and then slightly shook his head. It was too light for him. The wildness region was extremely dangerous, so the adventures would normally team up, but he had to go there on his own due to the purpose of treasure hunt.
After some time, he found no satisfactory weapon on the first floor, so he turned his eyes to the second floor.
“Maybe I’ll have better luck there.”
High expectation filled his heart. There are fewer weapons on the second floor and some of them were from the ancient times.
Each weapon gave Su Yan a heaving feeling and had very detailed description. One of them was a huge bronze sword. Su Yan was surprised to see that it could threat a beast lord. It must be made of high-grade alloy.
He lifted the sword in his hands and the weight made it hard to keep doing it.
“You are strong, not bad.”
A cold voice suddenly came from behind his back, raising the hair all over his body. He shouted, “Who is it?”
Then he turned to see an old man with sharp eyes and wearing a Tang Chong.
Suffocating pressure fell upon him when he confronted the old man. He even smelled blood.
Su Yan narrowed his eyes. The old man, like a beast when he was standing there, must possess astonis.h.i.+ng fighting power, far above the level of Jia De.
The old man was a bit in shock when he saw clearly the student in front of him. “You!”
“Teacher, do you know me?” Su Yan was stunned.
“Of course.” The old man nodded. He examined Su Yan and continued, “The little boy the Dean brought back has grown up. You are not so bad now.”
“So you know the Dean?” Su Yan got excited. “Teacher, do you know where she is now? I want a meet with her.”
The old man frowned. “I don’t know where she is either, but she left a message when she left. If you want to see her, I will help you inform her.”
The answer was disappointing but also surprising. It seemed the Dean had attached great importance to Su Yan.
The next question was about the Dean’s background. The old man shook his head. “I can’t answer your question. Only a few people in the world know it and there are fewer in the College. Let’s talk about you now. You have backslid a lot these years, and are now barely on average among the Awokens. But still you are not strong enough to join the leading school.”
Su Yan replied awkwardly, “I will work harder and try to get admitted by Huas.h.i.+a College.”
The old man found it amused. Huas.h.i.+a College? How was it possible?
Huas.h.i.+a College set high threshold for its candidates. Even though Su Yan was strong indeed, he had no hope. The old man shook his head again. “You are ambitious. That’s good. But things are different now. In the past, hardworking might help you get into Peking or Tsinghua University. Now is completely different. The journey of martial arts is a matter of life and death, and martialists are not greenhouse flowers.”
Su Yan’s heart trembled in shock. He asked respectfully, “Teacher, can I ask a question? Are you one of those who fought their ways out of the Doom?”
“A wild guess you have!” The old man silenced and then sighed. “But you guessed right. I am almost 130 years old.”
Even so, he was merely a few years older than Su Yan’s true age.
“Elder, could you tell me the things happened during the Doom?”
Su Yan asked again. “Though more than 100 years has pa.s.sed, I really want to know what took place exactly then and how the world turned to the way it is now.”
The old man furrowed his brows. He had not want to waste his time on a young boy for he was a man of action, but he let out a sigh after remembering how he came to the College.
He remembered he had not graduated from school before the Doom and most of his cla.s.smates had not survived the first day. He had been lucky enough to get through the first day and had become the Awoken on the second day.
Killing and blood had spread all over the world, a h.e.l.l no one would ever forget.
“That was a very hard time for humans.” The old man sighed repeatedly. “Only a handful of people could survive the Doom and live to my age.”
His memory was not restricted by those written on the historical doc.u.ments and he had endless stories of that dark and b.l.o.o.d.y era.
“Elder, where did the Natural Essence come from?” Su Yan asked. “Did there anything else erupted, like from some place?”
He regretted the moment he finished the question. These words seemed to strike a nerve with the old man who gazed at him like a beast, making him shudder with fear.
“That’s enough today. Go to pick your weapon now. I don’t have time to chat with you.”
“d.a.m.n.” Su Yan’s face twisted. He had wanted to lead the conversation to the Everest. Now he had to focus on the weapons.
“Does the kid know something?”
The old man wondered. He was also curious about the reason why the Dean had brought the kid here and who Su Yan really was. But the Dean had disappeared for almost 3 years, and rumors said she was dead!
“Ding Ding!”
It was his communicator. A hint of horror flashed across his eyes. He had not received a single message in the last 3 years, but the message from the Dean made him uncertain.
It said, “Zu Yan is going to open the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin!”
Several words chilled him from the inside.
The Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin was a perilous place, occupied by a group of powerful beast kings. Zu Yan was no doubt powerful, but was he powerful enough to fight against a group of top beast kings by himself?
The things buried in the Mausoleum were unknown. What did Zu Yan want from it?
The old man was lost in thought. He sent Su Yan out without asking what kind of weapon was picked.
Su Yan chose an iron cudgel which was a good choice since he was not good at knives or swords. And this one he selected could be disa.s.sembled to several small pieces, easy to take. He put it in his backpack and left.
Outside the Weapon Chamber, the Frozen College was stirred up by the news that Gao Hua was going to duel with Su Yan.
“He was mad. How dare he compete with Gao Hua? Isn’t he afraid of losing his feet or arms?”
Many young girls even proclaimed to expel Su Yan from the College!
They wors.h.i.+ped their idol Tao Tianhua, who was handsome and gifted. Su Yan really should not offend him.
Jia De nearly laughed his head off when things went so dramatic. He had not expected this. Things would be much easier if Su Yan was maimed in the fight.
The College was in favor of compet.i.tion. Even the Dean would not protect a student who had displeased Tao Tianhua.
Still it surprised him that Su Yan had 10 horsepower, but such strength meant zero chance to join better inst.i.tutions.
“Are you sure that Su Yan is going to compete martial arts with Gao Hua?”
Hsiang Yang’s proud face was all smiles. He was so pleased that he informed Bai Mengying immediately after he got the news. Who knew she’d had such big reaction and rushed to the Weapon Chamber at once? As far as he could remember, she had never cared a male so much!
His face darkened. “Yes. Who knows what he is thinking. I heard he stole a treasure from Tao Tianhua too. How dare him!”
Bai Mengying knit her brows. “Su Yan would never do that.”
“You are right. He’s not strong enough to steal from Tao.” Hsiang Yang’s anger increased. Why did Bai care such a loser?
When they arrived at the Weapon Chamber, Bai’s face changed. Too many people came here to watch the fight, clearly it was planned.
Waiting had exhausted Gao Hua’s patience and made him furious. “Everyone, look what time it is now. Su Yan must be too scared to come out. Who would spend so much time selecting a weapon?”
“You know s.h.i.+t!”
The iron gate was open and Su Yan walked out. When he saw the crowd, he sneered in his hear. “Tao Tianhua, it looks the Original Essential Stone is really import to you, but it will be used up soon. What a pity!”
“Su Yan!”
Gao Hua’s eyes were wide open with rage. “Finally you come out. These are all our cla.s.smates here. Come fight with me if you are not a coward.”
“Don’t you want to duel? Go ahead.” Su Yan waved his hand, gesturing Gao Hua to come up.
Shock spread over the crowd. When did Su Yan grow so bold? Wasn’t he afraid to get crippled? How arrogant he was to challenge Gao Hua.
“Wait!”
At this moment, Jia De came. His arrival silenced the students.
He looked at them both. “Why do you want to do this? Soon you’ll have the Examine. Why can’t you keep a low profile?”
“And you!”
Jia De fixed his eyes on Su Yan and his voice was filled with abhorrence. “You are really a trouble-maker. I just kicked you out of my cla.s.s. Why can’t you rest your temper? I heard you took other person’s treasure. Hand it out now or you’ll suffer!”
Su Yan had been cleared out of the cla.s.s? Did that make him a student without recognition?
“I just got the news too. Su Yan was expelled from the cla.s.s because he skipped cla.s.ses all day.” Hsiang Yang explained to Bai Mengying hurriedly. “Mengying, your future is in Huas.h.i.+a College. No need to get in touch with such bad student who will have bad influence on your future.”
“How could all these things happen?”
Watching Su Yan being mocked by all the students, pain crept over Bai’s heart for no reason. A teacher’s dismissal was a great shame to a student!
“Hahaha, can you quibble your way out this time?” Gao Hua grimaced and dashed up the steps. “Let me defeat you first!”
Su Yan’s eyes turned cold. He looked down at Gao Hua and warned, “I told you not to mess with me. You give me no choice!”
Only absolute power could have his voice been heard!
So he abruptly lifted his foot and stomped on Gao Hua! Everyone thought he was mad.
Such response was not expected. Gao Hua increased his speed and screamed in anger, “How dare you? I’ll cripple you!”
He then threw his fist at Su Yan’s foot, but soon he was terrified by the pressure exerted from Su Yan’s foot which was as fast as lightening and as sharp as a sword drawn from its sheath!
His face went pale and his brain nearly shut down.
“Click!”
The sound of bones cracking rang in the ears of the students.
Su Yan did not stop. He continued until he broke Gao Hua’s arm and stepped one foot on the face where the nose was collapsed and the teeth were cracked.
“Aaaa!”
Gao Hua let out a painful scream and fell off from the steps like a dead dog.