"YOU WHAT?!"
The moment Shen Jian returned with Doctor Yi Sheng, he flew into a rage when he learned what Cang Zhong had done.
"I…I was only helping our university get rid of trash!"
"You really did a great deal for our academy now, haven't you?" Cang Zhong's poor attempts to justify his failed murder only drove Shen Jian to greater heights of fury.
"We can talk about this later." Yi Sheng was moving toward Cang Zhong, his medical bag half-open as he prepared to treat the elder's injuries.
"No need for that," Shen Jian said coldly. "Go check on Xia Xing Ling instead. I'll handle Cang Zhong."
Yi Sheng hesitated for a moment, and then nodded compliantly. He hurried toward Xia Xing Ling, who was insisting that she was all right. When the doctor was a good distance away, Shen Jian returned his attention toward Cang Zhong.
"You love to execute students for breaking the rules, don't you?" he asked frostily. "Then how about I deliver the punishment you so love to you…for also breaking the rules?"
Cang Zhong's face turned extremely pale. He backed away, moving at a speed that belied his injured condition.
"No…no! Director Shen, please! Please forgive me!"
"Would you have shown mercy to Shu Cong if he had asked for it?"
"T…that's…!"
Shen Jian shook his head. Drawing a golden sword from its scabbard, he swung it and unleashed a colossal golden dragon from the glowing blade. Composed of fiery yang qi, the silently roaring dragon surged forward and consumed Cang Zhong, dismantling the elder's body into atoms. The old man let out one final scream before he was completely disintegrated.
"I'm very sorry." Shen Jian turned back toward Xia Xing Yue. "I should never have left you alone with Cang Zhong."
"Not at all." Xia Xing Yue shook her head. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to do anything even though I was by his side. Even though I was supposed to protect him…!"
"If the opponent was this bastard Cang Zhong, then even you would have a problem fighting against him." Shen Jian sighed. He then turned to Yun Che. "What about you? You want to tell us what all that was about?"
"I…I didn't know Elder…I mean Cang Zhong had been demoted and stripped of his position as elder. I was told that…Shu Cong was harassing my junior sister…"
"He did no such thing! He helped me! He saved my sister twice!"
"Y…yes. I know that now. But…earlier, I didn't…"
Shen Jian regarded him suspiciously, but didn't say anything. There was little point. There was no way to prove if Yun Che was lying. Even if he did intend to kill the other party, what motive did he have? Jealousy? Yun Che had no relation to Cang Zhong and no friendship with Cang Mu, at least not that Shen Jian knew of. It made more sense if the chief disciple of the Frozen Cloud Sword Palace was telling the truth.
"Fine," he said finally. "We'll leave it at that then. But you are not to harm Shu Cong ever again. Don't look for him, don't find trouble with him. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir. I won't as long as he stays away from junior sister."
"That is not for you to decide. My sister and I owe Shu Cong. We still need to repay the debt."
"No, but…"
"I don't care about your personal relationships, but you are not to find trouble with Shu Cong, no matter who he socializes with. Unless he intends to directly harm you and you need to act in self-defense, you are not to provoke him or mess with him. And don't you dare come up with a creative interpretation of my instructions – when I say directly harm, I mean directly harm, like him actively trying to kill you. Not some imaginary harm or because you get jealous of him when he got close to your junior sister or whatever nonsense. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Director Shen."
"And if you pull off that sort of stunt…or creatively interpret my orders to come up with an excuse to target him, then I won't hesitate to punish you like I did Cang Zhong."
Yun Che hesitated as he glanced in the direction of Cang Zhong's pulverized corpse. He gulped audibly and nodded.
"Crystal clear, sir."
"Good." Shen Jian glanced toward the bottom of Mount Wan Jian and sighed. "Maybe it's actually a good thing that Shu Cong followed Qi Xing. It would be a horrible waste if a talented student like him gets killed here…by some organized accident or whatever."
Those last words were filled with scorn as he raked his glare over Cang Zhong's corpse and Yun Che. Not just them, but also the two cronies of Cang Zhong as well as the new student who got punched when he attempted murder earlier. For some reason they were still hanging around. Most likely it was because they had no idea where to go after Cang Zhong left them to their own devices.
Speaking of which…
"Uh, sir…after all that drama, we just remembered that we have yet to take the second and third tests." One of the candidates raised a hand.
"Hmm?" Shen Jian looked at them, then shook his head. "All forty-three of you pass, no need for the second and third tests."
"Huh? Is that okay? We were told that only twenty students will be admitted this year…"
"By who?" the question was out of Shen Jian's mouth before he glanced at Cang Zhong. Burying his face into his palm, he sighed. "Of fucking course."
Clearing his throat, he waved their concerns away.
"No need for that. All forty-plus of you are in. Student Xia, lead them into the main hall. I'll get Elder Chang to explain the rules and everything to them…"
*
Seven Stars University was a lot better than I expected.
Honestly, I was expecting a shabby, rundown academy that was on the verge of falling apart. Dilapidated buildings, holes in the roof, paint peeling off, weed rampantly growing all over the garden, dust flooding the interior, and all that.
As it turned out, Seven Stars University was actually still in decent shape. Cleaning staff was around to maintain the hygiene and tidiness, gardeners who yanked out the weeds and pruned the trees, and technicians to ensure the facilities were running smoothly. It actually seemed more like a regular university than the usual cliché formerly glorious schools that had fallen into ruin and were empty save for the director and a handful of students.
"This is Seven Stars University," Qi Xing introduced the place to me in a cheerful manner. I nodded before looking around in awe.
"Looks amazing."
"Heh, really?" Qi Xing chuckled. "We may not be as renowned as the other five academies on Xing Hao Island, but we still rank among the top six cultivation universities in the world."
"Yeah." I nodded in agreement. The facilities looked clean, new and modern. Admittedly, I had low expectations to begin with, but I didn't think the place would look this good. Seven Stars University certainly wasn't as grand as Ten Thousand Swords Academy, which was built into a mountain, or as elegant as Imperial Valley University, but it had its own quaint charm.
It looked like a true institution for research. A little on the utilitarian side, but that just meant it had all the proper facilities in place. At least I didn't have to worry about building my academy up from scratch just like Chen Chang Sheng or suffer like Ye Xuan.
"I'm heading back to the office." Qi Xing waved a hand at me. "Your friends should be in the dorm or in the main hall. Unlike the other universities, we don't exactly have formal exams, and since the semester hasn't officially started yet, they should be just hanging around. However, they have been here for a few days now, so you can get them to show you around."
"Thanks." I bowed my head. Before he could leave, I quickly raised a hand. "Uh, sir, just one last thing. About the Heaven and Earth Sect…"
"I don't know much about them myself, but I know the books about them are stored in the library. Look for them yourself."
"Understood. Thank you very much."
At first, I thought Qi Xing was going to leave, but he stopped and turned to look at me sternly. Placing a hand on his hip, he raised a finger with his other hand.
"I don't know from where you've heard about them, but almost nobody knows about them today. They've been erased from all official records, and what little information on them that exists is located only in our library. Even so, be careful. It's not a good idea to go around asking people about the Heaven and Earth Sect in public like you did earlier today."
"Sorry."
"No harm done. Most people don't know about them, anyway. But those who do…" Qi Xing trailed off and wagged his finger. "They are the most dangerous ones."
For some reason, I recalled Han Sha, the person that Yun Che had mentioned. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling that he was one of the dangerous people.
"Oh, and that new rising star who founded the North Jeweled Sect…what was his name again? Right, Chen Bei Xuan. He knows about the Heaven and Earth Sect too."
I scowled. Chen Bei Xuan, whose real name was Chen Fan, was the bastard who almost wiped out the Divine Dragon Sect. Obviously I would resent him.
"But don't ask him about it, of course." Qi Xing shook his head. "He bears a grudge against anybody from the Heaven and Earth Sect…and if he finds out that you're someone who has links with it, he will kill you."
And this was the protagonist of an urban cultivation novel. What the fuck…worse, I had seen many readers praising his "ruthlessness" and loving his murderous, psychopathic behavior.
"Yeah, understood." I swallowed and nodded. Until I had obtained enough strength to protect myself, I was going to stay as far away from these monsters as I could.
Qi Xing waved casually before leaving. I watched him go, and then hurried toward the main hall. To my complete lack of surprise, both Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing were training there. They jolted upward when they caught sight of me.
"Shu Cong? What are you doing here?" Mu Zi Xing's jaw dropped. Si Nan, on the other hand, was quicker on the uptake.
"Did you enroll in Seven Stars University as well?"
"That's right." I grinned and waved in what I hoped was a friendly manner. "We are all fellow students in the same university now."
Si Nan shook his head in disbelief. "Wow. I never imagined that you would…then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If we made it here, of course you would too. I just thought you might maybe aim for a higher-ranked university."
"There were several…problems. So I ended up here instead."
"Oh! I saw!" Mu Zi Xing held up her smartphone cheerfully. "It was all over social media. They said that a corrupted elder in Ten Thousand Swords University drove you out because he had a personal vendetta against you! Something about you hitting his grandson!"
"Ah, ha ha…yeah, something like that did happen."
"Were you looking at your phone and indulging in social media instead of training?" Si Nan glared at Mu Zi Xing, who turned pale. She forced out laughter.
"Uh, well…I was taking a break." She then brightened up. "Speaking of which, now that Shu Cong is a fellow student here, we should show him around!"
"Thanks. I'll be relying on you then." I bowed my head slightly. "I hope it won't be too much trouble."
"Not at all." Si Nan sighed. "When we first got here, it was pretty confusing for us too. We had best guide you around so that you won't get lost in future."
"Oh, and if we have the chance, we'll introduce you to the other students too!" Mu Zi Xing beamed excitedly. I blinked.
"There are other students here too?"
"Obviously?" Si Nan gave me a strange stare. "This is a proper university. Why wouldn't there be other students?
"Oh, no. It's just that…I haven't seen anyone so far." I looked around, as if to emphasize my point. The hall was empty, save for Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing.
"Understandable." Si Nan nodded and sighed. "It's unfortunate, but currently there's less than two hundred students in Seven Stars University."