Chapter 60: Shady Characters Everywhere

Using Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, I swam through the ocean of qi. I went along with the most optimal currents, making use of them to carry me forward rather than relying on brute force to force my way through.

Consequently, while I was among the last to reach up the stairs, I made it relatively unscathed. It wasn't totally smooth-sailing, though. Despite doing my best to latch on the easiest currents to propel myself upward, the ocean of qi still exerted tremendous pressure even at its weakest portions. I had to muster the qi in my body and resist it with whatever strength I could bring to bear.

Even though it felt like several tons of air crushing upon my body, I forced my way up, step by step, until I reached the very top. Once I got there, I fell to my knees and panted heavily, doing my best to catch my breath. I wasn't the only one. At the corner of my eyes, I could see several dozen other students lying sprawled on the ground or kneeling while they struggled to catch their breaths. I wiped the perspiration from my face and drew in a ragged breath.

"I finally made it up here…"

That was not a pressure I wanted to repeat in future.

"Not bad." Cang Zhong was sweeping his eyes across the people who had managed to make it up this far, his wrinkled face crinkled in a smile. "Forty-four people made it through the first test, which is slightly more than the batch last year."

Then he paused and turned toward me in a condescending manner.

"You are out."

"Huh?" I gaped at him incredulously, not sure what I had just heard. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you. Don't give me that look. Yes, I'm talking to you."

Cang Zhong pointed at me, his gaze filled with scorn. I met his gaze evenly and rose to my feet, clenching my fists in anger.

"What do you mean I'm out? Didn't I pass the test?"

"This year, Ten Thousand Swords University will only accept students at the Heaven realm. Minimum requirement is lowest level of Heaven realm. You're only at the peak of Earth realm, right?"

"Director Cang," I said calmly. "There was no realm requirement when I signed up. Also, earlier, when somebody asked you if there was any other requirements, you said there were none except passing the examination. I've already passed the first test. You can't just go back on your word now."

"As long as I say so, then even if you passed the first test, it doesn't matter. And I just added the rule just now, as a new requirement."

I glanced at the other candidates. It was clear that I wasn't the only Earth realm practitioner here, but I didn't voice that out. I wouldn't do them any favors if I pointed them out and got all of them expelled with me. That wouldn't be fair to them. I wasn't going to involve them in my mess.

"Also, according to the academy rules, anyone who disobeys an elder will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and kicked out of the mountain immediately!"

"That only applies to Ten Thousand Swords Academy students, and I'm not even a student yet."

Shaking my head, I buried my face in my palm and sighed. Racking my brain, I wondered why this elder was deliberately screwing with me. I had done nothing to offend him, yet he visibly bore a grudge against me.

Wait, he said his name was Cang Zhong, right? Then was he…?

"Do you perhaps know Cang Mu?" I asked carefully.

"Cang Mu is my grandson," Cang Zhong replied. Then he scowled at me. "Why are you asking about him, brat?"

"No, I was just surprised that an elder of Ten Thousand Swords University would actually abuse his authority to settle a personal grudge."

"You…!"

"What an idiot." Before Cang Zhong could finish yelling at me, another student – one of those who had managed to reach the top of the stairs – stepped forward. He cupped his hands and bowed respectfully to Cang Zhong. "Elder Cang, if those are the academy rules, then why are you wasting time arguing with this kid? Elder, we'll trouble you to punish him and continue with the rest of the tests!"

I glanced at the student and noted the despicable smirk on his face. He was obviously a bootlicker who wanted to take advantage of this situation to suck up to Cang Zhong, to kiss the elder's ass and get a leg up in the competition.

"This student is right." Cang Zhong grinned as he rubbed his chin. "I'm just following the rules, Shu Cong. Stop arguing!"

"Fine." I couldn't believe this bullshit. First Imperial Valley University, and now Ten Thousand Swords University. Was there no one decent in any of these martial arts academies? This was getting ridiculous.

"Elder Cang, how dare you!?"

Xia Xing Yue managed to get to the top of the stairs, looking extremely furious. She stomped forward, her icy qi flaring around her in cold fury.

"Shu Cong is my friend. If you continue to abuse your authority to force him out of the academy instead of giving him a fair test, then I will report this to the higher-ups! I'll definitely let Director Shen Jian know about this!"

"That's…Xia Xing Yue?!"

"Why is Xia Xing Yue speaking for this brat?!"

"What is their relationship? She says that they are friends, but…would Xia Xing Yue go so far to speak up against an elder for a simple friend?"

Several of the other candidates were watching the drama unfold, their gazes disbelieving. One of them reacted furiously and charged at me.

"You bastard! You must have done something to Xia Xing Yue! What demonic technique did you use to bewitch her? You must have confused her mind with a demonic technique and tricked her into helping you! I'll deliver justice by killing a demonic cultivator like you!"

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the logic of an orthodox cultivator. I wasn't sure how I should respond to such nonsense. The guy was clearly turning black into white and lying on the spot.

But it was the truth that he wanted to kill me. Murderous intent surged through his body and he thrust his sword forward. I slid to the side, allowing his blade to brush past me, where my chest had been. Clenching my fist, I hammered his midriff with Soul Crushing Strike and sent him flying several meters back, blood spewing from his mouth.

"What a ruthless demonic cultivator! He dared to attack someone inside Ten Thousand Swords University!" One of the other students gasped.

"What the fuck?!" I exploded. "Didn't you see that this bastard attacked me first?! I was merely defending myself!"

"Ha ha ha!" Cang Zhong burst out laughing. "Shu Cong, you attacked someone. As the outer director of Ten Thousand Swords Academy, I have the authority to sentence you to death! All of you, heed my order! Kill Shu Cong!"

What in the bloody fuck?! I was so astounded by this illegal nonsense that I threw up both my hands in rage and disbelief.

"DID YOU NOT SEE THAT THE OTHER PARTY TRIED TO KILL ME FIRST!?" I bellowed furiously. "What the fuck do you expect me to do?! Stand there without fighting back and let him kill me?!"

"Of course!" Cang Zhong replied gleefully. "No matter what, you just die here today!"

At his orders, two students dressed in the uniform of Ten Thousand Swords University lunged forward, thrusting their swords at me. Once again, they clarly intended to kill me outright. Without trial. This was getting ridiculous. At this rate, I didn't need to wait for the demonic cultivators from the future to kill me. These so-called orthodox cultivators in the present would do the job just fine.

"Brother!" Xia Xing Ling shouted, panicking.

"Don't worry, Shu Cong will be fine," Xia Xing Yue assured her, pulling her back. She shook her head as she pulled her smartphone out and made several calls. "These idiots…how blind can they be? To refuse to accept someone as promising as Shu Cong? Just because of…a personal feud?"

Shaking my head, I evaded the sword strikes from my assailants. Using my footwork techniques, I slid to their blind spots before delivering a couple of Soul Crushing Strikes at their weak points. Even though my opponents had superior cultivation to me, they still couldn't withstand such decisive attacks to their most vulnerable areas – spots that I could perceive with Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths.

This wasn't even a contest.

Cang Zhong watched in disbelief as his two cronies were sent hurtling past him by my Soul Crushing Strikes. He gritted his teeth.

"This kid is a genius. To think he was able to send two Heaven realm cultivators flying even though he's only at the Earth realm…"

Then he grinned malevolently, his aura turning even more murderous.

"But since you're so talented…then all the more reason I can't allow you to live!"

What the fuck? WHAT FUCKING LOGIC WAS THIS!?

Wasn't the point of these universities to recruit talented and promising students?! How did their policy change to killing talented students?! And logically, if you met someone talented, wouldn't the first impulse to befriend him and get on his good side, NOT TO MURDER HIM!?

Good lord, the logic of these idiots was just baffling. They couldn't be real people, could they? They resembled villainous caricatures who existed solely for the sake of making the protagonist's life difficult, and to justify him beating them all up later. This was just ridiculous.

But I wasn't able to point that out in public and post about it in social media. Cang Zhong lunged forward and punched me. He was so fast that even though I could sense his attack coming with Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, my reflexes weren't fast enough to react in time. I was barely able to draw my dragon sword and parry the blow before being hurled several paces back. Blood dripped from my mouth and I coughed.

"This Cang Zhong…he's definitely at the peak of Heaven realm at worst, maybe the beginning levels of Yellowed Lands realm. If my sword hadn't absorbed most of the impact, his punch would have shattered my body into pieces."

Panting, I watched Cang Zhong as he raised a smoking hand. Fumes of qi drifted from his fist, coalescing into a monstrous visage. The old man chuckled.

"Not bad. You could actually withstand a single punch from me. But ultimately that's your limit, isn't it?"

I coughed and sheathed my sword. Wiping the blood from my mouth, I glowered at him, defiant to the last.

"Since you don't want to test me fairly, then I will choose the other option."

"Huh? What other option?" Cang Zhong was on the verge of attacking me again. From my Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, I could sense that the next attack would be several times more powerful than the previous one. The fucker was not taking any chances this time. He was determined to kill me before any of the help that Xia Xing Yue was calling could arrive.

I just needed a way to buy myself more time.

Glancing around, I saw that the courtyard had just a thing.

"Earlier, you said it, didn't you? If we didn't want to take the exam, there's another way to get admitted." I pointed at the temple that was several dozen meters away from our position. "If I remember correctly, you said that anyone who survives the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation Pavilion will be directly admitted into the university. Not only that, he will also receive the personal tutelage from the inner director."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Cang Zhong roared with laughter. "What a fool! Do you really think you can survive the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation Pavilion?"

I ignored him, already charging inside the temple.

"Hah! What a fool! Even I would be wiped out in an instant if I tried to enter the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation Pavilion, never mind a weak trash who's only at the Earth realm."

"We'll see about that."

I flashed him the middle finger before I plunged inside the Nine Heavenly Swords Formation Pavilion. Any regret I might have felt as I stumbled into the darkness turned futile when the doors slammed shut behind me with an air of finality.