Chapter 31: A Breakthrough–Peak of the 10th Layer
Bai En’s terrifying gaze lingered on Luo Jian for some time before snorting loudly. His gaze then shifted over to the still fighting Tie Ta and Cheng Mingxiang before he said in a low voice, “Are you still not stopping?” His voice boomed like thunder, as the two people were struck by the loud echo, causing them to temporarily go deaf.
Tie Ta and Cheng Mingxiang immediately paused; the moment they saw the vice headmaster. Tie Ta suddenly smiled with no small amount of excitement. Cheng Mingxiang’s face, on the other hand, changed into one full of fear.
Tie Ta walked up to Jian Chen and slowly looked him over carefully. In a low voice, he whispered, “Changyang Xiang Tian, are you hurt?”
Jian Chen only shook his head before giving him a meaningful stare to stay silent.
Tie Ta only laughed in response; although he had the heart and body of a tiger, he could understand the meaning behind Jian Chen’s actions. Without saying anything more, he stood behind Jian Chen and remained silent as per his wishes. However, Tie Ta still continued to look carefully at Cheng Mingxiang and winked at him as if to provoke him. Clearly the fight he had just now wasn’t enough for him to fully enjoy it.
The vice headmaster, Bai En, shot a strong glance towards Luo Jian and Cheng Mingxiang, “Luo Jian, you’ve already broken the rules of the academy; you know your crime.”
Luo Jian lifted his head in aggravation, “Vice headmaster, giving pointers amongst students is very common. Changyang Xiang Tian and I were only doing that and not anything else. As for me breaking the academy rules, your student inquires of you, which rule did I break?”.
“Hmph, you still dare to quibble like this!” Bai En growled, “Luo Jian, what is the 66th rule for Kargath Academy?”
Luo Jian titled his head in thought before answering, “The 66th rule is that fighting in the library and the destruction of the library is prohibited.”
Bai En continued to stare at him, “If it weren’t for me blocking your Sword Qi, then I’m afraid that the library gates would have been broken by you. Luo Jian, do you recognize your crime now?”
Luo Jian’s face suddenly dropped after hearing that; what the vice headmaster said was correct. If the Sword Qi he had shot out was dodged by Jian Chen and continued onwards, then the library gates would had been broken beyond repair and might have also hurt the audience that was watching.
Whether or not Jian Chen would had been able to dodge the Sword Qi, Luo Jian didn’t dare to say. If he did voice out this scenario, then he was afraid of another charge being dropped on him. Because the school had clear cut rules, it said that students were free to give each other pointers, but if they were to intentionally hurt someone, then they would be severely punished. Besides, he had deliberately used his Sword Qi to injure someone who wasn’t even a Saint yet, so the situation was even more complex. Although he had expected this type of end result, he had thought that he would be able to get away with more. But since the vice headmaster was here, the situation had developed into a way he hadn’t expected. Right now, in Luo Jian’s heart, he could only hope that the vice headmaster wouldn’t give them too harsh of a punishment.
“Luo Jian has recognized his crimes.” He said in direction of the vice headmaster, he didn’t dare be arrogant.
Bai En snorted once more to himself before saying, “Luo Jian, you have already violated one of the rules of the academy, I therefore sentence you to the Contemplation Hall to reflect on your crimes for a month, do you have any objections?”
The Contemplation Hall was where students who had violated the rules of the academy would go to. Although it had the word “Hall” in its name, it was nothing more than a small stone house. It was smaller than a dorm room and could hold only one person within it. Once the door was closed, the person inside would be placed inside a pitch dark room. No matter how strong the outside light was, it would not be able to penetrate through the stone house. Aside from seeing nothing, no sound would be able to get across either, even if the strongest hail storm was happening, the person inside would not notice a thing.
“Luo Jian has understood with all of his heart, and has no objection.” He said with a bow of his head. His tone was respectful, and no one would have thought that while he looked repentant, the poison in his heart was growing with his grievances against Jian Chen.
The vice headmaster nodded his head, a jollier expression was returning to his face, “You may leave then and look for the Contemplation Hall yourself to reflect.” Afterwards, Bai En turned his eyes towards the anxious Cheng Mingxiang. “Cheng Mingxiang, even with your strength, to think that you were bullying a freshmen, our Kargath Academy has lost face because of you.”
Cheng Mingxiang expressionlessly said, “Vice headmaster’s teachings are correct. Ming Xiang understands his wrongs, and will not repeat them ever again.”
“Cheng Mingxiang, I hope that you bear in mind, this is Kargath Academy, not your Hua Yun Sect. If you want to continue living within Kargath Academy, then you must learn to comply with the rules. Otherwise, even if you are the young lord of the Hua Yun Sect, you will be punished accordingly. I hope that there won’t be a repeat of this event. You may leave.” When it came to Cheng Mingxiang, the vice headmaster was somewhat afraid of the consequences and didn’t dare to punish him anymore.
Cheng Mingxiang did not utter another word, as he and his followers quietly left the place.
Seeing the worst come to past, Luo Yun, Chen Feng, and Karl did not continue to stick around, and left dejectedly.
Once the crowds had dispersed, the vice headmaster’s gaze rested on Jian Chen, and he smiled, “You must be Changyang Xiang Tian.”
Jian Chen nodded, and in a tone that was neither overbearing nor servile, he replied, “Yes, I am him.”
The vice headmaster properly sized Changyang Xiang Tian up, and his previously solemn expression disappeared. He smiled and said, “Having not yet achieved Saint level and yet still managed to force Luo Jian to summon his Saint Weapon; Changyang Xiang Tian, you’re quite good.”
“Vice headmaster, you’re exaggerating too much. It was only due to a moment of fortune,” Jian Chen plainly replied, his expression completely devoid of any arrogance.
As his eyes gazed at Jian Chen’s collected expression, vice headmaster, Bai En, nodded his head in praise, “Changyang Xiang Tien, you need to properly cultivate, and aim to become Saint level as soon as possible.”
“Many thanks to the vice headmaster’s concern. I will definitely continue to cultivate diligently,” Jian Chen smiled.
Afterwards, Bei En’s gaze returned to Tie Ta, “Tie Ta, although now that you’re the headmaster’s apprentice, your identity has changed, you must still remember that only by improving your own power by yourself will you really earn people’s respect. Only that way can you support yourself in Tian Yuan continent. Do you you understand?”
Tie Ta cleverly nodded, and replied in a muffled voice, “Tie Ta understands.”
“Yes!” The vice headmaster nodded, and continued, “Although you are at the peak of talents, and your future is boundless, you cannot, under any circumstance, become confident. You must always face everything in a calm and collected manner. You also cannot learn anything from those aristocratic families, since you are now the headmaster’s apprentice. Your future training will be more arduous, and you will have to spend more time on cultivation. You definitely cannot waste the headmaster’s painstaking efforts.”
At these words, Tie Ta patted his chest and promised Bai En, “Vice headmaster, don’t worry. I, Tie Ta, will definitely cultivate diligently. I will absolutely not make master lose face.”
The vice headmaster smiled and nodded, leaving the room. Once he had left, Jian Chen and Tie Ta chatted for a bit longer, and after exchanging goodbyes, Jian Chen returned to the library to read his books.
When Jian Chen returned to the library, the students originally watching from within the library all disappeared without a trace. Not long after, the two moving news had travelled around the entire Kargath Academy at an unbelievable rate.
“The freshmen martial arts competition’s second place, Tie Ta, actually became Kargath Academy’s headmaster’s apprentice. Moreover, he had an intense fight with the cultivation genius, Cheng Mingxiang.”
“The freshmen martial arts competition’s Freshman Ruler, Changyang Xiang Tian, used only his bare hands, and managed to force a middle Saint level, Luo Jian, to use his Saint Weapon in a battle. Finally, Luo Jian disturbed vice headmaster Bai En, and ended up being confined in the Contemplation Hall for a whole month as punishment.”
These two pieces of news had already been spread to every corner of Kargath Academy in the short span of two hours time, shocking both teachers and students alike. At the same time, Tie Ta had become the most well-known celebrity in Kargath Academy. He was originally just a commoner, but now that his identity had gone through world-shaking changes, nobles that had originally looked down on him because of his background now looked at him with new expressions. From that day on, Tie Ta had also become the child that people with varying amounts of influence tried to rope into their families.
Although Jian Chen’s name had also spread around the academy, it had already completely been overtaken by the extreme radiance from Tie Ta’s news. However, Jian Chen paid no mind to it.
Despite this, there were still many female students that looked at Jian Chen with sparkling gazes of infatuation. Jian Chen’s appearance was extremely handsome, and was definitely not any lower than any other male in Kargath Academy. Combined with his unique grandeur and his powerful abilities, he was definitely a lady killer. Thus, in Kargath Academy, Jian Chen had become the white prince in many of of the girls’ hearts.
Ever since the battle at the library, Jian Chen’s days had been anything but calm. Every time he entered the school grounds, he would be swarmed by countless male students trying to come up with various excuses to fight him. Even when he went to the library to read, he would still be harassed by quite a few people, making it so that he couldn’t even read peacefully. Up until now, Jian Chen had also acted and disciplined a few people because they had been condescending children from rich backgrounds. However, perhaps because Jian Chen was too forgiving in his discipline, his attempts had close to no deterring effects, and were pretty much completely overlooked. Finally, the helpless Jian Chen was forced to bring the books back to his dorm to read under the vice headmaster’s permission. Aside from reading, Jian Chen spent almost all his spare time cultivating.
The time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three months had already passed. It was morning, and the sun had just risen. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Jian Chen gradually opened his eyes, and in that instant, a light flashed within his eyes.
Jian Chen lowered his head and slowly spread out his palms. He saw that his hands were empty, as the Class 3 Monster Core he had been holding had already completely disappeared.
Sensing the strong Saint Force flowing through his body in a manner similar to great rivers, Jian Chen finally smiled —he had broken through to the 10th Saint Force layer.
After three months of cultivation, he had already broken through to the 10th layer. He was only one step away from reaching the Saint level, and could break through at any moment. The Class 3 Monster Core from the freshmen martial arts competition had already been completely used up by him. Although it was said that Class 3 Monster Core contained large amounts of energy, the amount that Jian Chen needed for his cultivation was far greater than that of an average person’s. After all, the abilities that he achieved through his cultivation were extremely terrifying. Thus, a Class 3 Monster Core that could allow an average person at the 8th layer reach a middle Saint level, could only help Jian Chen reach the peak of the 10th layer.