Chapter 9:
In any case, an occupation in education means bearing heavy responsibilities while walking a long road of struggles, so from now on, he had better not lecture about these kinds of broad, general principles that can sound nonsensical. Even when Ling Xia was imparting those words, his brain kept bringing up an image of Missus Ni Ping‘s mechanical look of being bored stiff…
He still had a lot of confidence in his ability to rehabilitate the villain though. While Yu ZhiJue might say these kind of words, the boy didn’t abandon him back at the lake and was also concerned about Song XiaoHu’s safety. This proves that he definitely wasn’t as heartless and indifferent as he claims to be, and at the very least, has a sense of companions.h.i.+p.
The location of ShaoYang Sect’s registration event wasn’t hard to find because all one had to do was head to where it was most crowded. Ling Xia asked around a bit and learned that all the specially invited guests were staying in ShaoYang Sect’s inner VIP rooms. Right now, there was no way they’d be allowed to go inside to search for someone.
Ling Xia could only register first, receiving three talismans labeled with a handwritten registration number that fortunately didn’t come with a fee.
On a different note, the fact that people were bustling around everywhere proved to be quite an inconvenience. Without a cent to their name and failing to find even a single pile of straw, ultimately, the two of them had to huddle in a corner and make do with sleeping through the night in discomfort.
In the middle of the night, Ling Xia noticed how tiny and pitiful Yu ZhiJue’s sleeping body looked curled up against the wall, so he gently moved the boy to his lap and contributed his thigh as a pillow. When he woke up at dawn, he was greeted with a pair of eyes being rolled at him, and responded to this juvenile and ungratefully rude brat with a tolerant, forgiving smile, all while heavily ma.s.saging his completely numbed thigh.
The morning of their second day began with grabbing their registration talismans and going straight to the examination site on empty stomachs. Ling Xia mentally stabilized his spirit and mind, then pulled Yu ZhiJue along in following the large crowd as it spilled into the venue, constantly glancing in every direction in hopes of spotting Song XiaoHu’s figure.
There were over a thousand people who registered and Yu ZhiJue was considered one of the youngest. The majority were between fifteen and twenty years old, and a few over thirty had come as well.
The setting of this world was one where the strong ruled over the weak, and also, the stronger you were, the longer you could live. For example, by the time Yu ZhiJue’s parents died, his old man was around two hundred while his mother was a little over sixty; if that wasn’t robbing the cradle, then he didn’t know what was. Normal people who haven’t cultivated can at most live to their seventies or eighties, and usually, whether or not a person was suitable for cultivation was determined before they turned thirty. This time, ShaoYang Sect’s age restriction was thirty-five and below.
There wasn’t any sort of opening ceremony, and everyone was simply divided into groups and led away by the many supervising disciples. The two of them were split into different ones, but Ling Xia wasn’t worried since he knew the first round was just a test of one’s fundamental essence and potential, such as if your body contained power elementals or how capable you were physically, similar to a health checkup. But despite having this sense of security, Ling Xia still couldn’t resist fussing
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over Yu ZhiJue and saying a few words, and albeit the other wore an expression of impatience, his efforts were not rebuffed.
Every group had fifty people, and ShaoYang Sect disciples led each of them to a different small testing station. This world’s cultivation process wasn’t limited to just the five elementals, so as long as there was a single area you excelled in, you’d be able to pa.s.s this test.
Because Ling Xia possessed Herculean Strength, he quickly pa.s.sed through the first round. In addition to that, when he touched the testing tool that amplified one’s energy a hundredfold, the power elementals residing in his body had reacted, and a small seed appeared within the cup like magic before slowly sprouting two tender leaves.
He was ecstatic, never having thought that this body would also contain wood elemental energy.
Although wood elemental energy wasn’t as formidable in attack power as lightning, fire, or water elementals, nevertheless, it was representative of life and a rarely seen attribute. High-level wood elemental divergent-skill cultivators could not only shorten the growth period of spiritual plants, but could also raise its survival and recovery rates. In other words, every high-level wood elemental cultivator could rely on selling spiritual plants to become a bona fide, filthy rich tyc.o.o.n!
In this world, although taking medicinal drugs wasn’t as effective as in other cultivation novels, it still had many benefits that could help with one’s advancement.
Of course, receiving a positive feedback for an elemental energy doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’d have the strength to leave your mark in this realm, but in his selective optimism, Ling Xia overlooked this point.
In every batch of fifty that were tested, about ten would pa.s.s, and after Ling Xia reported his name and registration number, he immediately went to the rest area to meet up with Yu ZhiJue. Later on, someone will come inform them of the details for the next round of exams.
When Ling Xia spotted Yu ZhiJue from far away, his scalp promptly started p.r.i.c.kling. Yu ZhiJue was currently in a mutual glaring contest with a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy who wore extravagant clothing and carried a long sword on his back, surrounded by a crowd of curious, busybody onlookers.
A large section of Yu ZhiJue’s lapel was ripped off, and the person himself seemed on the verge of las.h.i.+ng out… …
Ling Xia hurried on over, squeezing his way through the crowd and positioned himself in front of Yu ZhiJue. He politely cupped his hands in salute and asked, “Fellow compeer, this is my family’s younger brother. Has something happen?”
That youngster sized up Ling Xia’s appearance and attire in disdain, surmised that he was from a poor family with no backing, and instantly sneered, “Why don’t you ask that cute little brother of yours? Clothes like that, it’s worth what, at most a few level-one energy coins? If this much isn’t enough, then I don’t mind giving you a few more.”
As soon as he finished talking, he threw a handful of level-two energy coins at Ling Xia’s feet without a care. Ling Xia looked down, and sure enough, seven or eight genuine coins were littered on the ground.
A level-two energy coin was equivalent to ten level-one energy coins; that guy sure was generous with his money.
Although he wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but from the looks of it, it shouldn’t have been Yu ZhiJue’s fault. Even for Ling Xia, the other’s insulting tone and actions irritated and angered him to no end, so when it came to Yu ZhiJue, whose arrogance and pride could rival that of phoenixes, how could it be different?
Having this kind of asinine att.i.tude, that guy was definitely even more of a mob than the already very mob character “ErDan”… …
Thinking of it like this, Ling Xia’s anger rapidly dissipated, and he smiled in response, “That won’t be necessary. My younger brother’s s.h.i.+rt is only worth a few level-one energy coins, and your money would be better off safely stored in your own pockets. Besides, we’ll be part of the same sect from now on, so by no means would we dare accept these coins.”
Finished speaking, Ling Xia tugged on Yu ZhiJue, planning to squeeze back out and leave this crowded place.
During the first round of exams, Yu ZhiJue was directly ahead of that youngster in line. He had a very high, rarely found even in a hundred years apt.i.tude, and achieved top evaluations in pretty much all the tests. That youngster was called Xu Yan, and came to ShaoYang Sect on a recommendation from a smaller school. His partic.i.p.ation in this qualifying exam was only for show; in fact, it had already been decided behind the scenes that he would become a disciple to one of ShaoYang Sect’s famous sword cultivators.
Xu Yan had always been conceited and was used to looking down on people from high above, so seeing how the boy in front him was much younger but had talents far above his own, feelings of jealousy inevitably exploded. Thus, during one of the tests, he damaged Yu ZhiJue’s clothes on purpose.
Even though Yu ZhiJue didn’t realize it was done intentionally, but thinking back to the scene of an exhausted Ling Xia laboring tirelessly in order to earn money to buy himself and Song XiaoHu clothes, he inadvertently became furious.
Anxious above all else that the other wouldn’t react, Xu Yan deliberately followed up with even more provocative actions in hopes of luring Yu ZhiJue into fighting back. As long as Yu ZhiJue threw the first punch, the ShaoYang Sect supervisors in charge of maintaining peace and order would definitely expel him from the examination grounds. As for himself, he already had a back-door pa.s.s that ensured his future.
He watched Ling Xia pull Yu ZhiJue away, but right now, even he didn’t have the guts to go too overboard; after all, so many pairs of eyes were observing their every move. Recalling Yu ZhiJue’s fierce and viciously ruthless expression earlier, his heart shuddered lightly in fear. He’d already offended the other party, so if they both remained at ShaoYang Sect, then in the future… …
Finding somewhere quiet and peaceful came with great difficulty, but once they did, Ling Xia immediately started to examine Yu ZhiJue’s body and asked with worry, “Aside from your clothes, are you hurt elsewhere?”
Unaccustomed to the attention, Yu ZhiJue took a few steps back in avoidance, clenched his fists, and coldly retorted, “As if! Hmph, if it wasn’t for you showing up… …”
Ling Xia was also vexed into distress, spontaneously rapping the other’s head as he scolded, “Stupid! If I hadn’t shown up, were you planning on fighting with him? He’s almost a whole head taller than you, and with one look at the sword on his back, you can tell that he’s a sword cultivator, all right? You want to have your qualifications stripped and be expelled from the examination grounds?”
He let out a helpless sigh, rubbed his temples, then sighed again, “Resorting to physical violence, especially brute force, is the stupidest method out of them all! Don’t tell me you didn’t know that?”
Standing there as if he didn’t know what to do, Yu ZhiJue touched the part of his forehead that was struck and stared at Ling Xia with a touch of disbelief. “You, you actually dared… …”
Seeing this resentfully indignant and somewhat chagrined look on Yu ZhiJue, Ling Xia really found it quite funny.
The great sir villain was honestly so childishly cute right now!
This tiny, steam bun-faced brat was currently just a dumb little thing who only knew how to use brute force, that’s all. Compared to the ruthless, viciously greedy, demonic, and madly violent tyrant in the novel, their differences were like night and day… …
Yu ZhiJue grew up in YuNü Sect, a place with strict and old-fas.h.i.+oned rules, and where that mother-only-in-name of his and other disciples treated him worse than dirt. If they weren’t hitting him, then they were yelling at him, and even after he escaped, he had wandered around alone for the most part. In other words, Yu ZhiJue really hadn’t encountered that many opportunities to experience and learn how to normally interact with people.
Becoming aware of this fact, Ling Xia felt a tinge of regret and drew back his hand, letting out a single cough. “What I’m trying to say is, you still have a lot to learn. Even if a person is extremely detestable, if you display your emotions so freely on your face, wouldn’t that be the same as giving them a chance to guard against you?”
…s.h.i.+t! That didn’t sound like something you’re suppose to teach good little children!
Yu ZhiJue lowered his arm, looking thoughtful. “I see, so that’s why. Even if you usually smile a lot, not all of those smiles were real. If you let other people know your mood, conversely, it becomes disadvantageous to yourself. The best course of action would be to hide your intentions, seek out the most suitable opportunity, and then think of a way to achieve your goal, right?”
Faced with this great sir villain who took two lines of advice and inferred four others in between, Ling Xia momentarily didn’t know how to respond.
As expected, someone like him who only knew theories from books wasn’t qualified enough to shoulder the majestically n.o.ble and gloriously honorable position of educating the villain!
f.u.c.k this! ┬┬﹏┬┬
After some time, he stiffly nodded his head and replied, “Not entirely correct…but in essence, if people don’t offend you, you shouldn’t offend them. If someone tries to take advantage of you, you should neither be blindly soft-hearted nor indiscriminately heartless. You must keep in mind that there are times when a direct approach may not be as strong or effective as an indirect one, and returning force head-on with force is the most foolish course of action. Moreover, even if you come to stand above others, you must remember that everyone makes mistakes and allow forgiveness when viable. This would also serve in helping yourself gain additional back-up options… …”
Yu ZhiJue pensively lowered his eyes, and a short while later, raised his head to faintly smile at Ling Xia, and said, “I understand.”
Seeing this rare smile from Yu ZhiJue, Ling Xia finally relaxed and exhaled a sigh of relief at long last. He patted Yu ZhiJue’s shoulder and grinned back, “Then that’s good.”
“Elder brother Ling, Ah‘Jue!”
Hearing this familiar voice, Ling Xia turned around like a shot. Sure enough, Song XiaoHu’s conspicuous hedgehog-like hair was currently making his way towards them through the crowd in excitement, the two dimples on his cheeks flickering with every smile. What surprised him though was the presence of a charming and cute eleven or twelve-year-old girl that followed behind Song XiaoHu, someone entirely different from that devious and unruly Miss-High-and-Mighty Cui Yu from before.
Dayum, as expected of the protagonist who attracted girls faster than honey attracted bees!