Chapter 9

In any case, serving in the education field means bearing heavy responsibilities while walking a long road of struggles; from now on, he had better not lecture about these kinds of broad, general principles that may sound nonsensical. Even when Ling Xia was imparting those words, his brain kept bringing up an image of Missus Ni Ping's [1] 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 kinds 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, he has a sense of companionship.

The location of ShaoYang Sect's registration event wasn't hard to find since 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's no way they'd be allowed to go inside to search for someone.

Ling Xia could only register first, receiving three talismans labelled with a handwritten registration number, which 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 lent him his own thigh as a pillow. When he woke up at dawn, he was greeted with an eye-roll. Ling Xia responded to this juvenile, ungratefully rude brat with a tolerant and forgiving smile, all while heavily massaging 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 stabilised his spirit and mind, then pulled Yu ZhiJue along, 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 is one where the strong rule over the weak, and also, the stronger you are, the longer you can live. For instance, 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. Ordinary people who haven't cultivated can at most live to their seventies or eighties, and usually, one's aptitude 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—to see if your body contained elemental force or how capable you were physically—similar to a health check-up. But despite having this sense of security, Ling Xia still couldn't resist fussing over Yu ZhiJue and saying a few words, and although 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 isn't limited to just the five elements, so as long as there was a single area you excelled in, you'd be able to pass this test.

Because Ling Xia possessed Herculean Strength, he quickly passed through the first round. In addition to that, when he touched the testing tool that amplifies one's energy a hundredfold, the elemental force residing in his body 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 tycoon!

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 positive feedback for an elemental energy doesn't necessarily guarantee you'll 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 pass, and after Ling Xia reported his name and registration number, he immediately went to the resting area to meet up with Yu ZhiJue. Later on, someone will come to inform them of the details for the next round of exams.

When Ling Xia spotted Yu ZhiJue from far away, his scalp promptly started prickling. 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 lashing out…

Ling Xia hurried on over, squeezing his way through the crowd and positioning 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 happened?"

That youngster sized up Ling Xia's appearance and attire in disdain, surmising that Ling Xia was from a poor family with no backing. He 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-1 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-2 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-2 energy coin is equivalent to ten level-1 energy coins; that guy sure was generous with his money.

Although he wasn't sure what exactly happened, 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 a phoenix, how could it be different?

Having this kind of asinine attitude, 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 shirt is only worth a few level-1 energy coins; 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 aptitude—rarely found even in a hundred years—and achieved top evaluations in pretty much all the tests. That youngster was called Xu Yan, and he came to ShaoYang Sect on recommendation from a smaller school. His participation in this qualifying exam was only for show; in fact, it had already been decided behind the scenes that he would become a disciple of 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 the boy in front of him who was much younger than he was but had talents far above his own, his 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, thinking back to the scene of an exhausted Ling Xia labouring tirelessly in order to earn money to buy Song XiaoHu and himself 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 pass that ensured his future.

He watched Ling Xia pull Yu ZhiJue away, but right now, even he didn't have the guts to go 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! Humph, 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, 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 resentful 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, steamed 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-fashioned 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?"

…Shit! That didn't sound like something you're supposed to teach good little children!

Yu ZhiJue lowered his arm, looking thoughtful. "I see, so that's why. Even if you usually smiled a lot, not all of those smiles were real. If you let other people know your frame of mind, 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 noble and gloriously honourable position of educating the villain!

Fuck 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; 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 to help you gain additional backup options…"

Yu ZhiJue pensively lowered his eyes, and a short while later, he 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 head was currently making a beeline 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 who 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 attracts girls faster than honey do bees!

[1]: Missus Ni Ping is a mainland Chinese film actress and TV host