51 San Guo's Conclusion

The next day had arrived and whilst the others were in the bathroom freshening themselves up, Shang Yang was reading a book when a note was shoved underneath the door of the room. Looking over the book she decided to put down her book and go over to the note to see what it said.

"Dear my lovely students, please meet me at my office when you are all fed and watered. I'd like to discuss something with all of you present. You don't have to go to the Arena grounds today because it is only the second year's group stages. Your own semi-final matches will start during the weekend together with the second year's semi-finals so that more people can watch and that the mood of the event is much more exuberant."

Shang Yang read the letter out loud to herself and Ye Xiu heard her speaking as he was drying his hair with his towel. "What's this about going to somebody's office? Who is the person who sent it to us?"

"The most likely suspect that sent the note to us was probably Sir. I don't see Jin Yuan sending such a letter to all of us because nobody else besides Shi Die still studies under him. We can also rule out Liu Fan simply because he wouldn't send such a polite letter. He'd be more likely to come to our room and knock on the door loudly or wait for us to come to him instead."

"If it's Sir who sent it then we'll just have to hurry our way over." Xiao Tu popped up behind Ye Xiu startling him slightly.

Shang Yang shook her head. "There's no need for us to hurry. He told us to eat something first before we go to him. It's probably not urgent if he didn't come to find us himself."

Ye Xiu was thinking as they were walking out of their room. "I might be able to take the chance to ask Sir about what happened with Shi Die when we meet him."

Shi Die looked at Ye Xiu as he said that. "Do you really have to ask Sir about what happened yesterday? I'm slightly uncomfortable with others knowing about the transformation that I had."

Ye Xiu patted his head. "If you were worried about something like that then you shouldn't be. I'm pretty sure everyone in the academy that was watching your fight saw your claws and fangs emerge. Your marks were definitely invisible to others unless they had an observation technique that can visually see Qi."

Shi Die sighed. "I guess so. If everyone's already seen the transformation guess I can't hide it. Has anybody questioned either of you about it?"

"None that I'm aware of." Ye Xiu replied.

"I guess it'll be good to identify what that transformation was. If it can happen once, then it can happen again. I don't want to lose control of my body because that's just terrifying." They went to the mess hall to get food so they could eat.

"What do you think Sir has to tell us?" Shang Yang asked.

"I have no clue, we'll find out when we get to his office. All will be revealed when we see him." Ye Xiu idly commented as they were walking to San Guo's office. They could hear someone shouting loudly when they got close to San Guo's office.

"What do you mean that we'll be hosting the Inter-school competition in two years?!? How was this not revealed earlier! We have so much preparation to do especially the different types of training we have to figure out for the fighters that will participate! This is why I hate joining these competitions! The only reason why I have the academy still joining is so that I bring in benefits for the students! There was no reason for you to withhold that information unless you are an accomplice with the lower-ranked academies

"No! Don't give me that bullshit. The majority of the organisation team was part of the lower-ranked academies! You can't lie to me if I'm looking at the names directly you dumbass. How did they manage to bribe you anyway? I offer you enough money each month to keep you happy for several years and we've known each other for years!"

"What?!? Fine, I won't be contacting you again. Just tell me the specific date when the academies will be arriving. Thank you. Goodbye." A sigh could be heard from inside the office as the group approached. They knocked on the door tentatively scared that San Guo would erupt in anger if they stepped on his toes. "Come in."

The children could see San Guo rubbing his temples and was sighing. "Oh, you're here, that's good."

Ye Xiu was the one to ask the question that they were basically broadcasting. "Sir, what was that about a competition?"

San Guo looked up from his papers. "Oh, the competition... it's nothing much. It's just a competition that happens twice every decade. It's the competition that decides the ranking of the Academies in the Outer Region. An Academy is chosen every time to host the competition and usually, it's the Top 10 Academies who get that honour. Surprisingly, the organisers of the event this time were mainly from the lower-ranked Academies. How that happened, I don't know but it's frustrating that they want us to host it."

Xiao Tu was confused. "If they wanted to get someone to host it then why not the eleventh ranked Academy?"

San Guo smiled at Xiao Tu's indiscreet try at trying to lighten the atmosphere. "The eleventh-ranked Academy has a similar strength to those ranked in the lower half of the Top 10. Between our Academy and that Academy, there's a huge difference in the strength of the staff, the number of students enrolled and the average talent of those students. I personally may be strong enough to stand against multiple teachers and principals of those Academies but they can still overwhelm me with numbers."

"Since these Academies are so strong, they lure in all the genii of the generation towards their Academies and we are left with the weaker ones. It is why even after thirty years of me being the Principal of the Academy, that we have still not been able to pass the eleventh ranked Academy. Enough of that anyway, let us talk about what I wanted you here for."

"I called you here so that I could talk to you about what happened yesterday during Shi Die's match. I have a hunch that the four of you have already discussed what you've noticed about Shi Die's transformation but I'd like to enlighten the rest of you a bit more." San Guo cleared his throat before taking out a massive book from his dimensional storage.

"Here is a book passed down in my family that records the many bloodlines that we've seen or encountered. I've looked through the book multiple times but have been unable to find any mention of what Shi Die's bloodline is. I've deduced that Shi Die's transformation is due to a bloodline due to the animalistic traits that he displayed after the transformation. There are similar bloodlines that have an innate bloodline ability that allows them to take on the traits of the animal that they inherited the blood from."

"All bloodlines have an innate ability that they can use. The bloodline ability that can be used is dependent on the Qi Beast that your bloodline descends from. If your bloodline is merged with multiple different types of bloodlines, it's possible to create an entirely new bloodline with a new ability. Innate bloodline abilities can only be used by those that have a very high bloodline purity. I myself do not have such a high bloodline purity to be able to use an innate bloodline ability but I think that for Ye Xiu it is possible."

"I have no clue what kind of dragon he's descended from but it should be possible for the innate bloodline ability to emerge during a life or death crisis. What Shi Die displayed was an innate bloodline ability for sure, I can confirm that much. What I can't confirm is what bloodline it is because it isn't recorded in my family's bloodline compendium. As far as I can extrapolate from similar bloodlines is that the bloodline is of a canine." San Guo explained the bloodlines thoroughly.

San Guo stroked his chin. "It's interesting to see Shi Die to have a bloodline that was already awakened. The only way that I can say why his bloodline was awakened is that his bloodline purity is extremely high to the point that it was already awakened from the moment he was born or that he was awakened by somebody and didn't tell anybody."

Shi Die shook his head vehemently. "The latter is definitely impossible. I haven't let anybody get close to me for whatever the awakening requires for the past few years. The only time that somebody has gotten that close to me is when I'm within the Academy with you guys... or when my teacher first taught me some things."

Ye Xiu interrupted Shi Die. "Did your teacher ever put his palms on your back or anything or make your body burn on the inside and the outside at the same time?"

"No, that's definitely not possible. He never caused me harm besides when we sparred." Shi Die shook his head negatively with a frown on his face as he thought back to the times he was with his teacher.

"Then the only other possible explanation is the former. I don't have a potion for checking bloodlines and nobody in the country will even know of bloodlines so it's fine. All we need to know is that you have a bloodline and we'll need you to be able to use your innate bloodline ability to the best of its ability. Innate bloodline abilities are powerful for a very good reason, and mastering it will allow you to be above your peers that's for sure." San Guo stroked his chin in thought.

"This new discovery can allow you to keep up with Ye Xiu in combat power. I'll come up with a training plan so that innate bloodline ability of yours is used to its maximum potential. I don't want a powerful ability like that to be squandered. I'll have you spar with Ye Xiu to get used to your that ability of yours. What we need to figure out first though is what circumstances would make you most likely be forced to use that ability again?"

"Tell me the circumstances of when the transformation started to occur. If I can emulate that situation again, I can force you into it so you can train in your usage of the ability. Don't leave any details out of the explanation." San Guo gestured for Shi Die to speak.

Shi Die sat on a chair that was in the office. "I know I was thinking about not wanting to lose the match. I felt like my pride would take a hit if I lost it and my feelings were more to the point that I developed the habit to never lose because it would count as my death back in the previous conditions."

"I'll stimulate that during our practice sessions. I'll make you feel hopeless to the point that even if you die trying, you'll die fighting at your very best. That should be enough to stimulate your transformation to come out. Anyway, take this book on bloodlines and keep it safe. It will do you good to be able to identify different types of bloodlines and their abilities if you see them."

San Guo kicked them out of his office and told them to relax for the rest of the day. "Go and have fun, don't do anything strenuous. Train lightly and keep your skills in shape otherwise, I'll murder you in training next time."