Qi Xing kept his word and intensified training, but even though I joined Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing in the revised curriculum, Qin Lie was nowhere to be seen.
As the number one student in Seven Stars Academy, he had his own ways of training, which often included taking missions for additional combat experience. Therefore the instructors largely left him alone. As long as he could maintain his current strength, they wouldn't bother him.
As the new number two, I was also given a bit more leeway, but I preferred to train alongside my friends.
As an aside, the Blue and Red Factions merged…and came under my Black Faction. Qin Lie didn't want to bother being the leader of a gang – he claimed it was childish and he hated play-pretending so he refused my requests to form his own faction – and disappeared to do whatever it was he did to train himself.
So I was left to handle a newly form Black Faction that had absorbed the previous two largest factions in Seven Stars Academy. I didn't really like the responsibility, but I didn't have much of a choice. I wanted to protect them as much as possible.
Even though I didn't know how their joining the Black Faction would make them safer, but at the very least if potential assailants learned they were under my umbrella, they might back off. I didn't know how much difference it would make, but I guessed every little thing counted.
That said, I didn't really do much other than use my name. Most of the running of the faction was left to Zhang Ping and Liu Yu Feng, the two of them taking charge of the remnants of their factions. So I was left to train on my own for the most part.
"Boss, you and Qin Lie are the hope of our Seven Stars Academy now," Zhang Ping had explained to me. "So you have to focus on your training and become as strong as possible!"
"That's right! Leave the Black Faction to us!" Liu Yu Feng had agreed.
Consequently, I was the boss of the Black Faction in name only, more like a figurehead. Though I admittedly possessed enough strength to take charge and command everybody if I chose to, but that wasn't my style. What was I supposed to command them to do, anyway?
Oh, right. I left one order. Everyone was to train as best as they could and become as strong as possible. Hopefully we would be able to come up with replacements for Hong Wu and Lan Yu before the tournament.
For now, I did my best to practice Yin Yang Swordsmanship. It took some getting used to, but I forced myself to master Yin Yang Amalgamation Strike. Of course, I wasn't able to replicate the power I displayed against Pang Bai Shan. As I suspected, that time I had borrowed my opponent's qi to artificially boost the power of my own strike.
I had basically smashed a mountain with part of the mountain.
It was during one of those days of training that Su Yan appeared with a request.
"Shu Cong, do you have a moment?"
"Instructor Su Yan? What is it?"
"I have a mission for you, if you don't mind accepting it." Su Yan fiddled with his smartphone and a few seconds later, my smartphone beeped, notifying me of a new email. "I've sent the details to your phone, but essentially it's kind of like a security mission."
"Security mission?" I repeated incredulously, staring at the screen of my smartphone. Su Yan nodded.
"That's right. As you know, the inter academy tournament is in a few months' time. Before then, there are a lot of arrangements to be done. Sponsors, companies providing amenities and other services. The Na Lan clan and Xia clan are visiting the island to offer their own services. They will be arriving in central this weekend."
Damn it. Of all the time to schedule their visit, they had to choose the weekend. I hated working on the weekends. It was the best time to slack off.
"So I was wondering if you wouldn't mind working as a guard in the Xing Hao International Hotel. I believe it would be a great experience for you."
"Experience?" I raised an eyebrow. I couldn't visualize anything beyond standing around and watching out for potential trouble that would never come. After all, I couldn't imagine anyone stupid or suicidal enough to attack the Na Lan clan or Xia clan.
Su Yan seemed to think otherwise, however.
"Yeah, that's right." He lowered his voice. "There are intelligence reports that a few insurgents would make their moves against the Na Lan clan, especially. There are quite a few cultivators and groups here on Xing Hao Island who have grudges against the big clans, either because they are jealous of their power, wealth and influence, or because they were old enemies."
"Old enemies?"
"Yeah." Su Yan chuckled, as if amused by what he perceived was my naivety. "You didn't think these clans got to their current positions without trampling upon others, did you? Some smaller families got ruthlessly crushed, their businesses bought out or bankrupted, people forcibly dislocated or exiled so that these big clans can move in. Also, there have been clan wars over the last millennia, and many of the old clans still remember their defeats. A few remnants of once prestigious families who had been destroyed or conquered by the Na Lan clan or Xia clan, for example. Their descendants were taught to hate them, and they would do almost anything to bring them down."
Politics. They made my head hurt. Good thing I wasn't born in a rich, powerful family or I would have to watch out for a knife in my back. The legend of the sword of Damocles came to mind, hanging over my head like some sort of threat.
Fuck…if I ever became the leader of the resistance in future, wouldn't I have to deal with this nonsense? Ugh. I hated to think about it.
"Don't worry." Su Yan mistook my grimace as reluctance to accept the mission. "Though I say that, the mission itself shouldn't be very dangerous. Obviously you wouldn't be the only one taking the mission. There will be many experts as well, so if powerful assassins do show up, you can leave them to your stronger seniors."
That said, I would still have the opportunity to accumulate combat experience if I was set up against the small fries and cronies. So it made sense that Su Yan suggested that I try this out despite his assurances.
"There's also the possibility that nothing will happen, but I suspect that the old enemies would at the very least send small gangs and troublemakers to harass the big clans. That's where you come in."
Su Yan beamed. I nodded. I had a lot of experience fighting against gangsters, and Su Yan probably knew that from reading my files. My duel against Gui Xiong of the Ghost Bear clan did not go unreported.
"All right. I'll take on the mission."
I would have to register for the mission online, but I preferred to use my computer for such complex procedures instead of my smartphone. Bigger screens were better, and I was more comfortable with typing on a keyboard than a touchscreen.
"Excellent. I'll be counting on you then."
"I'll ask the others if they want to join the mission too," I said, thinking hard. "After all, if this is a security mission, then the more eyes we have on the ground, the better. We'll be able to watch out for more threats."
"Sure, please do. That's the other reason why I approached you. If you, the leader of the Black Faction, accepts this task and makes the request, your members will be more likely to say yes."
Whoa…Su Yan had really thought this out. I couldn't shake off the feeling that he had just manipulated me.
This wouldn't be the first time someone made use of me, and it wasn't as if Su Yan had any malicious intentions, so I wasn't angry. Rubbing my cheek, I nodded and sent a text message asking my friends to join.
Unsurprisingly, almost the whole Black Faction agreed. Si Nan and Mu Zi Xing were a given, and I was grateful to have their help no matter which mission I took. Zhang Ping and Liu Yu Feng were a lot more enthusiastic, and they rallied their former groups to follow me. I still wasn't used to dealing with them as a single coherent entity. Even within the Black Faction, there was a tendency for the members to split themselves according to their old loyalties.
Fortunately, Zhang Ping and Liu Yu Feng were close to begin with – they were more like a couple than rivals, if I read them right – so there were no problems integrating the two factions within my own.
"We'll go with you, boss!"
"Yeah, I'm sure everyone will be happy to help out!"
And so almost the entire Black Faction gathered at Xing Hao International Hotel that was located in Central. The mission giver issued us uniforms, which we put on, and then we gathered in the square along with the other students who accepted the mission.
"Whoa…there's so many people."
Just like the other time with the thousand year old ginseng, students from the other universities had applied for this mission. I saw several people from Ten Thousand Swords University, but I didn't recognize any of them. No Xia Xing Yue or Jian Hu.
A pity, but I intended to do my job all the same.
Dark Shadow Academy was conspicuously absent, despite all the other five universities at least having a good portion of representatives. That was understandable, given that they were assassins who were used to sneaking around in the dark, not guards. They were our polar opposites.
That was a good thing, though. Given the animosity between my university and Dark Shadow Academy, I was sure that my Black Faction members would inevitably get into a fight when they saw the people they believed was responsible for the murder of their previous bosses as well as hurting so many of us.
Best to avoid conflict or we would be kicked out of the job before we could even start.
"The students from Seven Stars Academy, you guys will be assigned here."
The security firm that had issued the request was directing us to our positions and explaining their roles. Even though they normally provided security through the various experts they had under their employ, given how big the event was today, they were stretched thin and needed more manpower. With so many powerful clans showing up today for what seemed like a gala, they didn't have enough staff to guard the whole hotel.
That was where we students came in. Not only were we cheaper, we also gained combat experience, so the arrangement benefited both sides. That was why the universities were willing to send us out and the companies were happy to hire us.
"What do you think will happen?" Zhang Ping asked.
"No idea," Liu Yu Feng replied.
While my Black Faction members chatted among themselves, I caught sight of an interesting incident. A security guard was kneeling by the side of the reception hall and bawling his eyes out.
"Boohoo! I can't believe boss forgot about my birthday! I thought that he was my friend!"
While he was crying, a masked man watched from afar. He smirked and then slipped past the sobbing guard and rushing up the stairs.
"Hey!" I shouted and chased after the guy using my footwork techniques, but I was too slow. I just barely managed to see him duck into the top level, and I followed, only to see him dash into an office.
At the moment, a middle-aged man in an absurdly expensive suit chose to return to his office. He paused at the door, his jaw dropping. Pointing frantically at the burglar, who was ransacking his drawers, he let out a yell.
"You! How did you get past my security?!"
The burglar turned and smirked at the person, who was evidently the owner of the hotel. He shrugged, amused, before giving his reply.
"You let your guard down."