No, I have not changed my name to Sung Si Han. What does he have to do with anything? Oh, the chapter title? Screw it…
Anyway, after leaving the dungeon affairs to Long Wang, I left the Deep Sea Palace and swam upward. Once again, I made sure to slow my pace so that I wouldn't suffer from the bends. It took me longer than expected, but I managed to reach the surface eventually.
"Huff!"
For the first time in a long while, excluding my momentary stay in my dungeon, I was breathing actual air as opposed to in water. I didn't appreciate it as much in the dungeon because the interior of the cavern was so damp that it felt like I was inhaling moisture instead of air, but now that I was above the sea, it felt fresher.
"Phew!"
Letting out an exhalation, I floated along the surface, not bothering with the dog paddling that I did because I simply sucked at breaststroke. As I drifted along with the gentle waves, I thought back to my recent discovery. Before I had left the Deep Sea Palace, the system had one last piece of information for me.
-The user will be able to visit your dungeon whenever you want. Just activate the system and it will open up a portal to the Deep Sea Palace immediately. Note that the user will only be able to teleport straight to anywhere within the interior of the dungeon and not outside it. –
So no abusing the system to teleport to anywhere in the world. Including Atlantis, which meant that if I wanted to visit the underwater kingdom, I would have to travel there the hard way. That made sense.
"Okay, so where am I?"
Looking around, I saw nothing but sea for kilometers around. This wasn't a good place to surface, I supposed. With a sigh, I summoned Xiao Ke and climbed onto his back.
"Xiao Ke, use Surf!" I commanded jokingly. My Shell Loch simply murmured an affirmation before he surfed the waves and in a random direction. I didn't correct him because I had no idea where I was. Spirit beasts were more in tune with nature, so birds on a migratory path instinctively knew where to go. I had heard that spirit beasts could sense the magnetic poles of the planet or something, but I probably had to ask my mom for more details.
For now, though, I was going to ride on Xiao Ke until I ran into human civilization.
Fortunately, it didn't take long before I saw a ship. I had Xiao Ke cruise toward it while waving my hands and yelling. The crew was surprised to see a young cultivator riding a spirit beast at sea, but they were kind enough to take me onboard. I explained my circumstances briefly, though I left out Atlantis, only telling them that I was lost at sea after fighting a spirit beast that attacked my mom's offshore marine laboratory, and I finally found my way back to another human after being lost in sea for weeks.
They bought that, and…as they said, the rest was history.
Before it was night, I found myself back on land. The crew was kind enough to contact mainland, which dispatched a helicopter to pick me up and send me back home. My family was there to meet me on the helipad when the transport landed.
"Jun Wen!"
"You are all right!"
"I told you that I'm fine," I said irritably, though I really shouldn't be annoyed when my parents were worried about me. I raised my smartphone. "I called you regularly, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but still…" Mom looked a bit stricken as she hugged me. "You had us all so worried!"
"Sorry. But I'm back now."
"You've improved." Dad studied me before nodding in approval. "You really spent your time training on that island you found, huh?"
"Yeah." I didn't feel comfortable lying, but I had promised Myria that I would keep the existence of Atlantis a secret. "Oh, right…the artifact. I have it safely hidden somewhere no one will find, but if you need me to return it…"
"No, I think it's better this way." Mom shook her head and smiled. "Having the ancient artifact in our possession will only bring about disaster. The marine facility was in ruins, and they're still repairing it even now. Honestly, I still want to conduct more research on it, but the government and several powerful organizations have been pressuring us to surrender it. I don't know what they intend to do with the ancient artifact, but I don't think it's anything good, especially since the Hai family is rumored to want to exploit its power to power up the cultivation techniques of their youngsters. If you've gotten rid of it, then I think it's for the best."
"Um, I don't think it's bad if they want to strengthen their techniques?"
"No, that in itself is not a selfish goal, but…" Mom sighed in exasperation. "The Hai family wishes to monopolize the artifact and keep it for themselves. And though it's unconfirmed, there's gossip that the government intends to create a new breed of cultivator super soldiers using the artifact. They claim it's necessary to combat the spirit beasts, but I think there's a more sinister agenda behind that."
"There are no shortcuts in cultivation and becoming strong." Dad was grim. "Conducting all sorts of experiments and altering one's body in such a manner will only backfire in the long run."
I wasn't sure about that, but I was more open minded and less cynical than my parents. Maybe I was being naïve. Dad appeared to be recalling some other similar event, which was why he didn't like the idea. Mom recognized the hubris of such experiments too, which had undoubtedly led to scientific disasters in the past. I could probably see that in plenty of science fiction horror movies, so I didn't argue.
"Let's go home," mom said, noting my exhaustion. "You should rest."
"Yeah, but before that, let's have dinner and celebrate Jun Wen's return!" Dad declared, delighted that I was finally back.
The Divine Path Academy gave me a couple of days' rest before I returned to class. And when I did, Tong Xue and Hao Ren jumped me.
"Song Jun Wen! Where have you been all this while?!"
Tong Xue draped his arm around my neck and whined. Hao Ren took his seat in front of me, but turned around to stare curiously.
"I know the first time was because you went to get your meridians repaired or something, but then you disappeared for about two weeks this time! Where did you go?!"
"Oh, I heard that you went to rescue your mom and her research team at her offshore lab?" Hao Ren piped up.
"Ah, that's right! That's what I heard too!" Tong Xue nodded.
"Yeah, it's true," I confirmed with a shrug. "I went to my mom's offshore marine facility to help her when her research team was under attack by the undersea tribe."
"But didn't the rescue succeed? We heard that the researchers were all rescued within a day. It still doesn't make sense that you would be gone for almost two weeks." Tong Xue remained skeptical. Hao Ren cleared his throat.
"They said…you were eaten by a sea spirit beast and…died." He frowned. "But then your parents claimed that you are still alive, but was stranded in an island."
"What? If you were on an island, wouldn't they have sent someone to pick you up?"
"Oh, that…" I hesitated and shrugged. "The island I found myself on was rich in natural qi, so I decided to spend some time there training. It took me longer than I thought, and by the time I made a breakthrough, time flew by."
"That's not good, Song Jun Wen. You really shouldn't take so many weeks off like that."
To our surprise, another person spoke up. We looked up at the feminine voice and saw Qin Ying approaching us, her arms folded. A beautiful girl with long, black hair, she was the class representative of our ordinary class. Her beauty and elegance were on par with Long Fan Xue, but it was unfortunate that her combat skills were completely outclassed, and so she was stuck in the regular class.
But even among the regular classes, Qin Ying was considered an elite. Just a step below the elite class, but ranked top among the ordinary cultivators. It was a pity she wasn't quite there yet, or she would be promoted to the ranks of the elite students.
"Your attendance ever since you joined the regular class has been abysmal. If you keep this up and continue cutting classes like this, you will be held back and have to repeat a year."
"Sorry, class rep." I pushed my glasses up and sighed.
"Don't apologize. Start attending classes properly!"
Qin Ying placed her hands on her hips and glared at me. I raised my hands in surrender.
"Yeah, I will. As long as no other disasters befall me, I should theoretically be able to attend classes for the rest of the semester."
"Speaking of the semester, how are you doing for the tournament?" Tong Xue asked, concerned. "Is it true that if you don't put up an impressive display during the end of semester tournament next month, they will expel you?"
"Yeah, at least that was what Teacher Wang Fei and the higherups decided after negotiations from Teacher Jiao Shi and the Li family."
"That's unfair! You were a hero, and they want to kick you out even though you sustained those injuries from saving your classmates!"
"It's all in the past, there's no point stressing over it." I waved my hand dismissively, though inwardly I couldn't wait to show all of them. All those morons who taunted and insulted and looked down on me, I was going to crush them all during the tournament and gloat over them. Of course, I couldn't afford to underestimate them. I had to actually win before I could rub it in their faces, and I knew the elite students wouldn't be a walkover.
"So how are you faring? What do you think of your chances? Will you be able to stave off expulsion?" Tong Xue was genuinely worried. Hao Ren sighed and smacked him across the back of his head.
"Are you an idiot? Can't you sense that Song Jun Wen has gotten stronger?"
"Impressive." Qin Ying was studying me, amazed. "Yellow Rank, but not just starter. Advanced? No, peak Yellow Rank. That alone will put you near the top of the elite classes, never mind the regular class. There's no way they'll expel you if they know your current cultivation realm!"
"Uh…" I wasn't trying to show off, but somehow Hao Ren and Qin Ying could already tell. Hao Ren wasn't able to estimate my level, but it was scary how Qin Ying was on point. As expected of the top student of the regular classes.
"What the hell?! What sort of miraculous encounter did you get on that island?!" Tong Xue demanded, almost strangling me, but I swatted his hands aside in annoyance.
"I was just lucky." Shrugging, I glanced out of the windows and at the opposite building, where the elite students were accommodated. Unable to conceal a smirk, I clenched my fists. "I'm not just going to do well in the tournament, I intend to win it…and make them all regret looking down on me."
"Well, as much as I want to root for you, that will be difficult," Qin Ying said with a grimace. When we three guys stared at her, she waved her hands frantically. "Of course I want the regular classes to score a victory against the elite class for once! But even if you've attained peak Yellow Rank, it'll still be difficult for you to go all the way and win the tournament."
"Why?" Tong Xue asked with a scowl. Qin Ying lowered her head resignedly.
"Because Long Fan Xue has already made a breakthrough and attained Mystic rank. Right now, she's the favorite to win the whole tournament."