'Haah… I really hope that I don't have to pay for this.' Shenyan inwardly sighed as he stared at the mess of a puppet that looked like someone had purposely took it and smash it around like they were a lunatic or something. After looking at it one last time, Shenyan made his way to the weapon storage hall to put down his weapon before proceeding to make his way to the Student Affairs and Administration Hall to report the mess he had caused. In the end, he gave up on eluding the act and decided to take the blame and report his wrong doings. As for what happens next, he would deal with it when the time comes.
…
Soon, Shenyan arrived at the weapon storage hall with a dispirited look on his face. The elder dean who was guarding the weapon storage hall had noticed the sudden change in his expression. If it were before, the dean would not have given a single glance to a random student who had a dispirited look on their face, as cultivation itself is an arduous path full of dangers and opportunities alike; One had to work hard if they want to achieve something with their life.
Some students cannot even master a single technique because their comprehension is bad despite having a good talent, so they had to put in the extra work than others and vice versa. This student seems to be the untalented type when it comes to comprehension of techniques, and he seemed to be trying his best.
Judging from what he had heard from his exchange with the other student earlier, when they were talking about him in the weapon storage building, it seems this student was a talented weapon cultivator— at least his talent indicates he would be, but he had not made any progress in his cultivation but now, the elder could clearly sense spirit energy radiating from this student's body although faint.
This caught the elder's attention and adding on what had happened when that other student tried to fight him earlier, he was certain that this student somehow managed to start cultivating.
And so, when he saw Shenyan looking dispirited, he decided to ask, "Student, why are you down, what happened?"
"Eh?" Shenyan was lost deep in thought as he walked when suddenly he heard a voice, so he unintentionally made a surprised sound before turning up and looking at the owner of the voice and then he realized that it belonged to that elder guarding the weapon storage hall, he immediately replied, "I-It's nothing, I just broke a practice puppet when I was practicing my sword technique…"
Shenyan did not know how the other party would react since he destroyed the academy's property, and the elder was probably one of the deans of the academy. Just as he was wondering what kind of expression he would see from the elder, he was met with a look that had disbelief written all over it.
The dean was shocked to hear that a student managed to break a practice puppet that could handle a full out attack from a Peaked-level Spirit Apprentice's elemental attack. The only ones who use the practice puppet are below the peaked level of the Spirit Apprentice Realm, but this student who was not even an elemental cultivator manage to break the puppet.
Although, the practice puppet was geared towards elemental cultivators, so they mostly work best against elemental attacks, nonetheless, they can handle the attack of weapon cultivators even better the elemental attacks since the metal used is durable and flexible. Yet, this student said he managed to destroy one of them? This left the elder in great shocked and he immediately asked.
"Can you show me the puppet you destroyed?" The elder dean said to Shenyan.
"Eh… okay." Shenyan was surprised but he replied shortly after.
…
A few minutes later, at the training ground, Shenyan led the elder to the location where he was practicing his techniques earlier and showed the elder the destroyed puppet with a dazed look on his face. He had no idea why the elder wanted to see the destroyed puppet. 'It really was not my fault! I only used a little strength. I had no idea that the puppet would break from the attack. Please don't take my money… I would really starve to death!' Shenyan was inwardly screaming his frustration about this whole situation.
On the other hand, the elder had a look of incredulousness as he proceeded to look at the obliterated puppet in front of him. 'Who knew the puppet would be so weak, that it couldn't even handle the attack from a student below a Peaked level Spirit Apprentice Realm or maybe it was already wearied down from the other students' relentless practice with the puppet?'
"Haa… Don't worry it is not your fault. It is probably a puppet that had lost its endurance due to the constant practice with it." The elder dean said as he noticed the strange and worried look on Shenyan's face.
Shenyan was relieved when he heard that it was not fault. That means he would not have to starve to death. This left him satisfied but the dean continued to speak.
"Since your attack can damage the puppet to such an extent, that means your techniques are too strong to practice on these practice puppets." The elder dean thought for moment, and he continued, "Why don't you try hunting some Spirit Beasts? You can practice your techniques all you want on those beasts and at the same time, you can earn cultivation resources by exchanging the beast cores or selling the carcasses of the spirit beasts for money. What do you think?"
"Eh… Hunting Spirit Beasts?" Shenyan mumbled the words with a surprise look on his face.
"That's right, what do you think about accepting the tasks from the task hall. I heard about your situation. Don't you need cultivation resources to improve your strength before you get kicked out from the academy. After all, you have to at least reach the seventh-level Spirit Apprentice in one year, otherwise, you would be kicked out for your incompetence." The elder dean said to him. He had a good impression of this kid, since it seemed like despite what the others say about him, he did not quiver in front them and instead work hard to change his fate. This was apparent from what he had seen with this practice puppet.
After a while of thinking Shenyan suddenly spoke, "Thank you elder for worrying about me. As for your advice, I will seriously think about it for now, until I am confident in taking the tasks from the task hall." Shenyan said as he bowed to the elder in front of him in an earnest tone. He really did not expect that the other party was thinking about him to such an extent.
As for taking the tasks from the task hall, Shenyan had indeed thought about it as he still wanted to try those delicious spirit beast meat that he had last time when that girl, Leng Lanyue decided to treat him and Wang Lei. Although, he wanted to accept the elder's suggestion, he does not want to do so right away as it will show that he was arrogant and conceited just because he was able to destroy a mere practice puppet.
The elder was surprised by Shenyan's response, but he did not mind. Since he said he would think about it, that means he did not disregard his advice.
"Hm. That's good too. Anyway, you can hurry along now to your dorm to take a rest. I will deal with the matters here." The elder dean nodded approvingly before telling Shenyan to go back to his dorm.
"Understood, thank you elder." Shenyan said before scurrying away in a speed that left the elder dean surprised.
'Such speed! This brat is not simple at all.' The elder dean thought to himself in astonishment. Then he proceeded to look at the destroyed puppet with a solemn look on his face. No one knows what he was thinking at this moment.
…
Meanwhile, Shenyan reached his dorm as he breathed heavily despite not being tired at all. He ran away so fast just in the likelihood that the elder dean changes his mind about the matter with the practice puppet and demands his money.
"Haa… haa… haa… i-it seems that I managed to escape the blame this time. Phew…" After realizing that the elder dean was not following him, Shenyan let out a deep sigh of relief before proceeding to head to his room.
After reaching his room, Shenyan started thinking about what the elder dean said to him before, about hunting Spirit Beasts. He initially wanted to hunt Spirit Beast because, the money they offer for successfully completing the tasks were astronomical, at least to him and Wang Lei. But not only that, he can afford to buy those luxurious food made with Spirit Beast meat. After thinking for a moment, Shenyan decided to look at his technique icon.
…
⟪[Basic Sword Techniques]⟫
[Stabbing Sword Technique(Intermediate)
[Quick-Draw Sword Technique(Intermediate)
[Vertical Slash Technique(Intermediate)
[Horizontal Slash Technique(Intermediate)
[Double Slash Technique(intermediate)
[Triple Stab Technique(Intermediate)
[Crimson Crescent Slash Technique(Intermediate)
…