Once an aged voice reached their ears, they realized a disaster was coming, which caused their body to tremble. When they turned their heads, they saw an old man with a walking stick sternly glaring at them.
“Teacher Shu!! We just exchanged viewpoints about the training and are about to restart!!”
Ying Lizhua immediately tried to explain and get out of trouble. However, Teacher Shu replied to that comment with a small chuckle. “Heh, quite too late.”
POKE!! POKE!! POKE!! POKE!!
Each of them got one poke to their foreheads before it swelled to a little meat bun. Few drops of tear came out as they covered their heads with their hands. Looking at their current pitiful appearances, the rest of the class laughed out loud.
With a hand gesture from Teacher Shu, all students swiftly moved and stood in rows in an orderly manner. After that, he made an announcement.
“Okay, everyone!! This is the last day you will be learning from this old man at the pre-school. As you all know, there will be an entrance exam for every school in town a month from now.”
Teacher Shu took a stack of paper from his bag beside his waist, he then threw the papers upwards. With the wind he controlled with his energy, each piece of paper floated in front of each and every student.
As the students caught and started looking at the papers, Teacher Shu resumed his explanation.
“Bring this application form to the city hall to apply to the school you wish to enter. After that, the school officer will guide you to the exam area and carry out the rest of the process.”
A cold light was beaming out of his eyes when Teacher Shu was about to give one last lesson for his students.
“Remember!! Train hard at home during this one month!! And choose the school you are likely to pass!! Otherwise, you may have to see me for another year, understood?”
“Yes, Teacher Shu!!”
All students answered in unison and in the most respectable manner they could give. Some were even crying a little bit as they reminisced the scene where they learned a lot of things from their teacher.
“Class dismissed!!” Teacher Shu then slowly walked back to his quarter.
The students separated to do their own business. Some were still lingering talking among their friends about the application form they got from Teacher Shu. The same goes for Feng Luotian’s group, excluding Ying Lizhua, of course.
“Luotian, let’s apply for my father’s school. I will help you with the application.”
Mei Yue’er was the first to give her opinion.
Feng Luotian immediately shook his head.
“Yue’er, you don’t have to do this for me. Your father’s school is the best one in this city, and everybody wishes to enter. The exam is very difficult too. If anyone knows I can get in while being a cripple, the school’s reputation will be down the drain.”
“But everyone knows you are ‘God’s son’!! People will understand and want you to have a good life for what your father has done for us. They will surely support you, rather than condemn you or my father’s school about something this minor.”
Even after hearing Feng Luotian’s point, Mei Yue’er still insisted on giving an even more convincing reason.
About thirty years ago, this city [Divine Bird City] was made famous by Feng Luotian’s father.
After his father roamed the world and had reached a certain cultivation level where everyone on the continent would have to submit to his will, he made an announcement to the world that …
“Whoever laid a hand on Divine Bird City, they would face my wrath upon touching it.”
With that decree, the city had become the safest place in the continent with the ultimate protection. There had been only peace in Divine Bird City since then.
Even after Feng Luotian was born, and his father left the continent to pursue an even higher realm of cultivation, the respect and fear were still there and protected the city.
Toward Feng Luotian’s father, everyone in the city only had admiration, gratitude, and love for him. They had titled him as a God and erected his statues everywhere in the city. The warrior statue Feng Luotian was staring at earlier was one of them.
That was why Mei Yue’er dared to say that even if Feng Luotian was a cripple and used his father as a reason to cheat his way into the most prestigious school in the city, no one would blame him for doing that … at least not openly.
“Yes, I agree with Sister Mei here. Though, I think it will be best if you could at least awaken your bloodline before the exam.” Sun Wuji also voiced his thoughts, but Feng Luotian still shook his head even harder this time and rejected their kind offer.
“No … you two, it’s something I have already decided. If I don’t become ‘One Fang Fighter’ before the exam, I won’t apply to any school. And I will choose a normal life, a commoner, instead of being a Theríon Cultivator.”
As previously said, cultivators could control the energy within their bodies and use them in battle. That energy was called ‘Theríon’. Theríon was an energy dwelling within the bloodline of each and every person in the world.
As commoners possessed bloodline, they also had Theríon, but they could not bring forth the power from it, in other words, they could not ‘awaken’ their bloodline, while cultivators could awaken their bloodline and used their bloodlines’ special and unique abilities to fight and protect.
Theríon represented the power of one’s bloodline. The larger and more refined Theríon one had, the stronger they would become. One Fang was the very first stage one became after awakening their bloodline, giving the cultivator the title as ‘Fighter’. Together became ‘One Fang Fighter’ used to call the cultivator of such cultivation.
Normally, the latest one could be to awakening their bloodline was when they were twelve. That meant if one was unable to become One Fang Fighter after becoming twelve years old, they would be regarded as a commoner.
Actually, it was not that bad of a thing … being a commoner.
Commoners still had their own roles in the world, and cultivators appreciated their doings. It was rare to see a cultivator insulting a commoner as a cripple.
However, with his father being God, with all expectations everyone had for him because he was God’s son … although Feng Luotian could be generally regarded as a commoner like any others, people could not help but disappoint in their minds.
People in Divine Bird City had hoped from the very first day he was born, for him to become their second God and continue to protect the city because their first God was already gone.
And at the end of the day, some narrow-minded citizens gave him the title of ‘God Crippled Son’.
Seeing his friend made up his mind like this, Sun Wuji lamented out loud. “Brother Feng … Sigh …”
There was no word coming out from Mei Yue’er. She only looked at Feng Luotian’s determination with watery eyes.
“Actually, you guys should focus on your training for the entrance exam. I heard the one who gets to the top three of score ranking will directly become a disciple of an elder right away. It is a good opportunity for you, Brother Sun.”
Feng Luotian cut the conversation at that and enthusiastically said to the two.
“And Yue’er … although you already have a father as a school headmaster, it doesn’t hurt to try hard and top the score. With that, your father would be proud of you.”
Feng Luotian turned to Mei Yue’er and continued with his enthusiasm.
Sun Wuji spiritedly flared up with eagerness and invited his friend.
“If that’s the case, then our goals would be the same then!! We just need to get stronger, right, Brother Feng!! Let’s go to the Warland Thicket to train!!”
“Um!! Come with us, Luotian!! Maybe you will find a fortunate encounter there.”
Mei Yue’er wiped away her tears and urged Feng Luotian to come together.
“Okay. Let’s go then.”
Getting the invitations from his friends, there was no reason for him to reject them. So, he smiled and agreed to it right away.
Warland Thicket
BOOM!!
A two-meter-thick tree was blown apart after being crashed by Sun Wuji’s stone body. Currently, the upper half of his body was transformed into the stone giving him a boost to offensive and defensive capabilities.
In this outermost part of Warland Thicket, the trees were much denser than any normal thicket. Trees grew faster than one could thrash them all.
“Hahaha!! At this rate, I will become Six Fangs Fighter before the exam. I will beat down that Ying Lizhua to the ground the next time I see him.” Complacent with himself, Sun Wuji shouted with laughter.
“Stop being delusional, Wuji!! That bastard was already at the peak of Six Fangs, only half-step to Seven Fangs. He will be even stronger by the time of the exam. How are you going to beat him, huh?”
Mei Yue’er suddenly appeared behind Sun Wuji and asked after finished her movement technique training.
“…”
With a dazed pause, Sun Wuji rolled his eyes at Mei Yue’er. “Sister Mei, ah!! Why do you have to ruin the moment?”
“Even if I am not strong enough, but you will definitely be. Aren’t you already Six Fangs like him? Even though you are a bit weaker than him right now, I think, with your talent, you will become Seven Fangs Fighter, or even Eight Fangs before the exam” continued Sun Wuji.
Even though Sun Wuji felt a bit irritated with Mei Yue’er’s indifferent comment, he spread his arms and answered in a carefree manner.
“I will try.”
Mei Yue’er replied as she looked at Feng Luotian sitting cross-legged with closed eyes on top of a towering rock a few hundreds of meters away. She gently activated her Theríon, and streaks of green light connected between her and the place behind Feng Luotian.
Peng!!
In a blink of an eye, Mei Yue’er disappeared from her original position and reappeared behind Feng Luotian.
“How is it, Luotian? Any luck?”
“No.” Feng Luotian slightly shook his head.
“Sigh … I feel bad for everyone who supported me with these Monster Cores,” said Feng Luotian as he gestured at the pile of gems in front of him. They varied in colors and sizes. Also, the amount of energy exuding from them was different.
“That’s including your father. He has given me a lot of Monster Cores, even the very expensive – Ten Fangs Monster Core!! And I still cannot do as everyone has expected. I don’t even have the face to meet your father right now. I’m too much of a disappointment, wasting too many cultivation resources that should have brought about other many geniuses. Sigh … you know, sometimes I wonder, where are all the energies I have been absorbing gone to?”
Mei Yue’er stayed silent, lost in thoughts.
Sun Wuji jumped up to where the two were and joined the conversation. “Yes … I was there when Brother Feng was refining the Ten Fangs Monster Core. And there was no change to his aura at all. Maybe next time, we should try a Talon Monster Core.”
“!!” Feng Luotian was fully taken aback by his friend’s suggestion.
“Are you out of your mind, Brother Sun? Ten Fangs Monster Core’s value is more than enough for a commoner to live for a lifetime!! Now, you are asking for a Talon Monster Core, a level above that?”
“I’m just saying …” Sun Wuji shrugged his shoulders not knowing what to say next.
One could get a monster core just by hunting a monster living in the wild. After killing the monster, the core could be extracted from the strongest parts of its body, such as heart, hull, fang, claw, and etc.
Similar to humans, monsters also had power levels. And the monster’s level represented their monster core’s level. For example, a Ten Fangs Monster Core would, of course, be obtained from a Ten Fangs Monster, which had strength on par with a Ten Fangs Fighter.
Ten Fangs Fighter was the peak of the Fang Realm. The next step would be to break through to the Talon Realm and become a One Talon Warrior.
Ten Fangs Fighters were already respected and would at least become a teacher or instructor in schools, like Teacher Shu.
One could imagine how hard would it be to get a Ten Fangs Monster Core, let alone a Talon Monster Core which came from a Talon Monster holding the strength on par with Talon Warriors.
“Luotian, when I get strong enough, I will hunt a Talon Monster and get a Talon Monster Core for you.”
Mei Yue’er comforted her friend by volunteering to do the task. She was certain that with her talent, she would reach such cultivation in no time.
Feng Luotian felt warm in his heart and nodded with a smile of gratitude.
But in truth, even though he deeply appreciated Mei Yue’er’s intention, he did not have much hope for it, because he felt that no matter how much energy he got from cultivation resources, nothing would change.
Every doctor in the city already diagnosed him and said that they could not do anything to elevate his conditions, or even have a way to do it. So, the root of the problem of him being a cripple should not be resolved by just absorbing energy.
“You know what, Brother Feng? If I meet a Talon Monster today, I will take it down and give its core to you. Hahaha!!” Sun Wuji saw a chance and began to shamelessly boast and laugh out loud.
Mei Yue’er would not allow such words to go untouched, so she berated him.
“Wuji, what you said is impossible!! First, how is a Five Fang Fighter going to take down a Talon Monster? You will be dead in a minute facing such a creature.”
Mei Yue’er continued.
“And second, you won’t find a single Talon Monster here … in this outermost part of the Warland Thicket, even if you turned every stone and …!!”
Rumble!!
Before Mei Yue’er finished her preaching, an overwhelming suppressive force crushed the three of them. They could hardly move their bodies. Not only from the suppressive force, but it was also from their most instinctive feeling of fear.
They slowly turned their heads towards the origin of the force. And what they saw caused their eyes wide open.
An enormous gray wolf appeared right before their very eyes a few hundreds of meters away.
“Wight Wolf!? … and this aura … a One Talon Monster!?”
With a shaking voice, Mei Yue’er managed to utter its identity and power.
