Transcending Evolution Chapter 6: The Plight of a Martial School
Edited by JFantasyBooks.
So I"m going to interchange Yuan and Source Energy. Source Energy when talking of the power itself, and Yuan when talking of the realms themselves.
Also, I’ll try and develop a glossary for the various evolution(s) and realms as we go on.
Today’s Chapter was Translated by Crimsonwolf8439. He’s a bit rusty, but he’ll soon get with the flow of things. Thanks for reading!
"This… So clear!" Gu Yue felt that everything was within his sight. And his obvious increase in his insight into each student’s actions lead him to realize an increase his Martial Arts realm. Otherwise, how could you explain the ease in which he could detail the student"s weak points?
"Now that my ability to see through techniques have increased, I wonder what kind of result I could achieve should I begin cultivating? Gu Yue had been somewhat itching to get to it; it was unfortunate that he had woken up too late and missed the morning fist training. He had not trained since the last night.
"What kind of broken martial arts building is this?!" Someone yelled out suddenly, breaking the atmosphere of the yard. "There"s not even a practice room for us to use. This place is just a waste of time. I"ll tell you this, if I lose my chance to advance my strength because of your terrible facilities, I will not let this matter go!"
Gu Yue was dragged from his thoughts when he heard the yelling. An aggressive-looking man had strode out, only cursing upon his lips. He was accompanied by a beautiful, slender girl that held an icy appearance, only her eyes had showed a trace of an apology.
"My apologies, Captain Di. It was indeed our fault this time. We did not check the original array in advance and as a result, the original concentration in the cultivation room was insufficient. In order to express our apologies, our school is willing to refund you all of this month"s membership fees as compensation."
This beautiful woman was the daughter of the Martial School"s owner, Qin Xue. Having just graduated from a university, she had already begun to manage the affairs of the school. It had been said that her cultivation had reached the peak of the Yuan Boundary; she was just a step away from completing her third evolution, and reaching the border of a Yuan Sea martial artist.
For a martial artist, the breakthrough into every big realm was a comprehensive evolution. For someone who had evolved three times, even when looking at a city like Moonlight City, which had millions of people, they would still rank within the top ranks of the powerful.
"Do you think I care about the insignificant monthly membership fees?" The violent man"s expression turned gloomy and cold.
"To someone with Captain Di"s net worth, of course a few tens of thousands do not matter to you. This is just a little token of sincerity from our school," Qin Xue replied, maintaining her calm. "However, please excuse my frank words, but I believe that although support from external sources are important, ultimately, cultivating relies on one"s own efforts. If Captain Di does not understand this, perhaps you were a little hasty in attempting your breakthrough?"
The man snorted, and seemed to feel it was beneath his dignity to argue as he said, "We have not worked together for a just one or two days; you should know what my temper is like. I"m not going to argue with you. I"m going to another cultivating centre. In the end, if I manage to breakthrough today, then the matter will slide. However, if I really did miss my opportunity, then we will all be unlucky together. I"m sure you won"t blame me for not considering our past relations at that time."
Having said his piece, the man stormed off.
Qin Xue watched as he stomped off, rubbing the s.p.a.ce between her eyebrows as her expression showed she was a bit distracted in her thoughts.
This was already the 10th customer who had stormed off in a fit of anger this week. Regardless of whether he broke through this time or not, it was obvious that he would not be able to continue being a member of Chu Han Martial School. Was this really the end of a long-standing relationship with another customer?
Having begun to manage the affairs of the school at over twenty years of age, from another"s perspective, Qin Xue was a diligent woman, but no one knew that the reason she had taken over some of the affairs was because she had actually been forced into doing so.
According to rumour, Chu Han"s Martial School"s owner, and Qin Xue"s father, was seeking to breakthrough and had thus entered secluded meditation, not bothering with the matters of the school. However, the truth was, since early last year, he had been plotted against and attacked, and was gravely injured with over half his meridians damaged beyond repair.
With the main pillar of the school destroyed and no one to hold the facade for long, Qin Xue had had no choice but to abruptly leave her advance studies (Editor: after university) and come manage the martial school instead that had been pa.s.sed on for one hundred years in her family.
She was just a young girl, yet had to hold up the entire martial school, and having to deal with boisterous and pushy people daily left her immeasurably drained. Some of these difficulties were obvious. Fortunately, she had managed to persist through ten waves of (idiots) challengers to her school, and had emerged as the victor, thereby ensuring the reputation and situation of the school was upheld.
With the prestige of the hundred year old name, reputation and contacts, not only did she manage to guide the school onto the right track, preventing its decline, the school had actually begun to prosper and develop further.
Unfortunately, her success did not last long; a big tree catches much wind (idiom). In the new era of cultivation, martial schools were as numerous as the hairs of a cow. As such, compet.i.tion was strong. Seeing the flourishing Chu Han Martial School, many compet.i.tors begun to spread bad rumours, hoping to pull it down.
The role of a martial school was not only to teach martial arts, but more importantly, to provide training facilities. These included Source Energy Gathering Arrays which could increase the amount of Source Energy in the area and therefore increase cultivating speed. These arrays were held in Gravity Chambers, which were wide to promote training efficiency. Not only that, it held records from great masters to summon virtual sparring partners. After all, real combat was the most important aspect in solidifying and stabilising one"s cultivation level.
Aside from these, there were also forests where one could practise combat techniques and also facilities for a.s.sisting a breakthrough. Many of these were essential aspects for a martial school. And often, a school was judged on the level of the facilities it could provide.
For martial schools, what really earned them money was not the fees from students, but rather these facilities. They were often leased to True Cultivatorsand even Evolutionists. A martial school could earn from one such warrior leasing a facility, the equivalent of what it could earn from a dozen or more students.
The construction of these facilities was a very troublesome matter. Not only were they huge, they also cost a huge amount of money to build and maintain.The more critical point is that regardless of whether it was building or maintenance, one had to hire an Array Master for the process.
Chu Han"s Martial School had also hired an Array Master who was responsible for all the defenses and repairing. Because Array Masters were so rare, the monthly bills they have to pay to them was an very large number.
However, three months ago, the Array Master had suddenly wanted to leave. Qin Xue and a few other members had tried to persuade him, but did not manage to change his decision. So, they could only allow him to go.
Although finding a new Array Master was troublesome, as long as one could pay the price, then it would not take long. Moreover, after the array had been made, the problems it would not affect them as much as it could maintain operation for at least three months without any problems.With this time as a buffer, there was enough time for the Martial School to find a new Array Master.
However, after the Array Master had left, problems arose everywhere. In less than a month, problems started appearing on the most important cultivating rooms, and now, almost all of them have stopped functioning entirely with some other arrays repeatedly malfunctioning.
At first, Qin Xue was really puzzled; only after a thorough examination did she realise the Array Master had actually purposely tampered with the Arrays before he left. When they tried to find him to hold him accountable afterward, all trace of him was gone.
The actions of the Array Master were naturally very detrimental to the school, but the martial building had a large fortune, so they could still afford it. Although it was true that Array Masters were few in number, Moonlight City had millions of people, and the type of arrays used by the martial school were common, it was still possible to find a couple dozen of Array Masters who understand maintenance. Some small-scale Martial Schools that simply could not afford to keep an array master on hand, would only go and hire one for repairs when a problem occurred..
Qin Xue had planned to do that in the meantime, however, when Qin Xue tried to find a.s.sistance, she found that all the Array Masters had been hired already or spoken to, and refused to help her repair the arrays. These series of actions were clearly the result of a plot against the Martial School.
With the failure of these arrays, the various practise rooms had to be shut down. The daily losses of the school were simply too much to count. More importantly, the school lost a lot of customers. Many customers came to the martial school to use the practise rooms, not to study the arts, and were the true financial backers of the their Martial Building as earnings from the students alone were meager and simply in comparison. So much so, that it could not keep the school functional.
In just one to two months, the school lost a huge number of customers; and in the long run, it appeared the school would have no choice but to close down.
Half a month ago, an old man accompanied by a youngster appeared all of a sudden in front of the school. The old man had a ruddy complexion and was hale and hearty; he was in fact one of the three great Array Masters of the city; Liu Yuan! Qin Xue had been overjoyed at first; if she could enlist the help of a great master, then all their problems would naturally be solved!
However, Old Man Liu"s first condition made her face suddenly lose color. He said he could help, but he wanted her to marry his grandson in exchange! His grandson was Liu Hai. He wanted her to marry into their household.
It had to be known that Qin Xue was almost single-handedly responsible for the martial school now; if she married into the Liu household, it would be like letting the Liu"s effortlessly gain the Chu Han Martial School.
It was clear that they desired both her and her wealth!
It wasn"t hard for Qin Xue to realise that the Array Master leaving the school, the Source Arrays breaking down, and all and all, the school being in a crisis, it all had to do with this Liu Yuan! After all, someone of his level only had to say a word and all the Array Masters of Moonlight City would not dare to provide aid.
Qin Xue"s character had always been strong; she would not give in so easily since she knew this. Moreover, she had long heard about the Young Master Liu. He was said to be a rampant and overbearing man. Despite being over 30 years of age, he was still only at the peak of the Yang Qi stage, and despite being a self-proclaimed genius, no one had ever seen any signs of this "genius". Of course she would not have a good impression of such a person.
Without hesitation, she refused Liu Yuan. While she searched for an Array Master in the city, she also called out to her university cla.s.smates outside of the city for help. However, Array Masters were very rare in the first place, how could she find one like that so simply? And even if they could find one, who would be willing to bear the risk and defy a great master and help the school?
She was extremely unwilling as she resignedly watched each valued customers slip away. Even if she was anxious enough to burn, she was still helpless. Scenes like today"s were becoming a common sight in this time frame.
"Miss, if Captain Di leaves now, then I fear the next step is that the school will have to shut down altogether. The moment he leaves, those under his command, the Demon Team, will have to leave as well. That"s a whole dozen men!" Aunt Mei was distraught as she spoke.
"With the failure of the Source Arrays, all the practise rooms are useless. Without the practise rooms, no true cultivator can be bothered coming here." A trace of sorrow flitted across Qin Xue"s pretty face; seeing the same scene of leaving customers everyday was both physically and mentally exhausting.
"Is there really no other way?" Aunt Mei worriedly asked.
"It is not that there are no methods; it"s just that we need time. That old thief Liu Yuan is the Vice President of the Array Masters a.s.sociation; as long as he says so, which registered Array Master would be willing to help us? Although there are also a many black market Array Masters that do not have the a.s.sociation"s qualification, many of them are of dubious backgrounds. I have found a few in a row these days, but not only were they useless, even more customers were offended." Qin Xue bitterly spat.
"The Liu Family has clearly been planning this for a long time. They had come many times asking for the school to be transferred to them, but the Schoolmaster has resolutely refused them every time. The Schoolmaster was plotted against; it is not impossible that these people have something to do with it."
"Given the strength of the Liu Family, we are only able to hold out for so long." Qin Xue"s hands tightly clenched, her veins bulging. The hate in her heart extremely clear. "Just wait till we get through this crisis, sooner or later, we will get the chance to make them pay!"