“Imperial Lord!”
Suddenly, someone exclaimed in shock, “It’s the Imperial Lord! I heard the Imperial Lord speak once before from a distance! It was this voice! That’s Imperial Lord Beitai in the car!”
The main avenue went deathly still in an instant. No one dared to breathe loudly, dared to move. Their gazes just followed the receding taillights, full of excitement, curiosity, and admiration.
Jiang Wu wasn’t surprised to run into Lu Sheng again. He had been encountering this Ghost Emperor quite frequently lately, more than anyone else. He was just thinking this when a sudden pain shot through his arm. He turned his head to see Lei Tiantian clutching his arm tightly with both hands.
Lei Tiantian’s eyes were shining as he stared in the direction Lu Sheng had left. After a moment, he finally let go and turned to Jiang Wu, his expression thrilled. “That was the Imperial Lord Beitai! The Ghost Emperor himself! I actually heard his voice! How awesome am I!”
Jiang Wu was speechless for a beat. “…Aren’t you also from the Divine Clan?”
He could tell Lu Sheng was very powerful, but Lei Tiantian was also of the Divine Clan. Such an intense reaction was a bit unexpected.
“There are differences among the Divine Clan too!” Lei Tiantian explained earnestly. “My family is considered very remote. I can count all the Divine Clan members I’ve met on two hands. Imperial Lord Beitai is the most powerful living Divine Clan member. Every single Divine Clan member knows of him! Legend says that 400 years ago, on the day he took office, he single-handedly challenged the top ten living masters of the Demon Clan. He came out completely unscathed! He beat the Demon Clan into submission.” His eyes filled with longing again. “If I could ever be even a hundredth… no, a ten-thousandth as powerful as him, I’d be satisfied!”
Jiang Wu’s eyelashes flickered. Lu Sheng was 400 years old this year, and he had taken over as Ghost Emperor 400 years ago. So, he had defeated the Demon Clan’s top ten masters when he was just a newborn, still in infant form?
Either Lu Sheng was older than 400, or the legend was false.
Just then, Lei Tiantian turned to him, still excited. “Could the Ghost Emperor be here to attend the academy placement ceremony? Will I get to see what he looks like? What could he be like? Three heads, six arms? A white beard? He must have a very long, very thick, flowing white beard. Muscles! Muscles! He definitely has eight-pack abs…”
Jiang Wu paused. In the end, he didn’t shatter Lei Tiantian’s fantasy and walked alongside him toward the sports field. Meanwhile, in the conference room of Building 1, Zone A, the argument was reaching a boiling point.
Even though there were only three people in the room.
Li Dao slammed the table and shot to his feet, pointing at the person across from him. “I disagree! Jiang Wu is a student I recruited. You, Bai Zhaoxing, have no right to expel him!”
“I am the Vice Principal. Expelling a student doesn’t require your approval!” Bai Zhaoxing also slammed the table and stood up, the nerves in his face twitching violently. “He’s just a worthless, ordinary Human. He has no qualifications whatsoever to enter the Cloud-Step Lunar Realm!”
Li Dao roared, “Bullshit!”
The Principal at the head seat finally spoke. “Director Li, please be civilized on campus.”
” ‘Bullshit’ isn’t civilized?” Li Dao kept his glare fixed on Bai Zhaoxing, clicking his tongue in amazement. “Then Vice Principal Bai’s mouth is farting, stinking to high heaven. That’s utterly shameless.”
Bai Zhaoxing’s lips trembled with rage. “I won’t stoop to your level. Either way, Jiang Wu must be expelled! He severely damages the school’s reputation!”
“This ‘quality’ you speak of—is it wealthy conglomerate families or scholarly lineages?” Li Dao wasn’t buying it at all. “Those rich good-for-nothings you’ve recruited—they are the worthless ones who drag down the reputation.”
Bai Zhaoxing ignored Li Dao now. He pulled his chair back and walked to the head seat, addressing the Principal. “I absolutely refuse to accept Jiang Wu. If he is not expelled, I will resign and take all my students with me.”
As soon as these words were spoken, even the Principal’s face changed color. All teachers at the Cloud-Step Lunar Realm were Bai Zhaoxing’s students. This was a blatant threat.
Li Dao’s expression also turned grim. He slammed the table heavily. “Who are you threatening, Bai Zhaoxing?! In the face of the coming calamity, your race-first, bloodline-first, money-first theories are worse than useless!”
“Enough, both of you!” The Principal hurriedly stood up to play peacemaker. “Our one and only goal right now is to resist the heavenly calamity in a year’s time. Let’s do this: each of you retreats one—”
“I won’t retreat!” Bai Zhaoxing cut the Principal off. “This is non-negotiable. Either expel Jiang Wu, or lose me and my students. Decide. Now.”
His stance was firm, leaving no room for compromise. The Principal had no choice but to look at Li Dao and helplessly shake his head.
Li Dao understood the Principal’s meaning. Jiang Wu was being abandoned. The Principal wouldn’t sacrifice all the school’s teachers for one Jiang Wu.
One year from now, they couldn’t afford to lose. The entire world couldn’t afford to lose.
And he, in this moment, was also abandoning Jiang Wu.
Li Dao didn’t look at the Principal, nor at Bai Zhaoxing. He turned around in silence and walked away.
Behind him came Bai Zhaoxing’s laughter. “Thank you for your decision, Principal. I’ll make the arrangements immediately.”
Li Dao was so angry his teeth itched. He yanked the double doors open forcefully. A tall, imposing shadow fell from above, engulfing him. Li Dao’s eyes widened in shock, and he stood frozen in place. “Lu… Lu…”
The Principal and Bai Zhaoxing were drawn over by Li Dao’s stammering. Seeing the man outside the conference room door, both the Principal and Bai Zhaoxing rushed forward with beaming, fawning smiles.
“What brings you here?”
Lu Sheng looked at Bai Zhaoxing. “The student you were discussing. He stays.”
Bai Zhaoxing’s expression shifted minutely. His smile became strained. “You’ve never visited the school before, so you may not be aware. A rule was established by the first Principal at the school’s founding: all students of the Cloud-Step Lunar Realm must not be without family or background. Jiang Wu is an orphan.”
“Me.”
Bai Zhaoxing, Li Dao, and the Principal were all completely dumbfounded. The Principal was the first to recover. “What about you?”
Lu Sheng’s voice was flat. “For as long as he is at this school, I am his background.”
~
Elsewhere, Jiang Wu and Lei Tiantian rounded a corner and arrived at the sports field.
The field was about the size of ten standard football pitches, packed solid with a sea of people.
Classes hadn’t been divided yet, so the crowd was scattered, everyone sticking with acquaintances and chatting animatedly.
Lei Tiantian curiously scanned the surroundings. Suddenly, he tugged Jiang Wu’s arm. “I see He Lan!”
Jiang Wu followed his gaze. He Lan was standing alone outside the crowd, his spine held very straight. Sensing someone looking at him, he turned his head with extreme sensitivity.
Three pairs of eyes met in mid-air. Seeing it was Jiang Wu and Lei Tiantian, He Lan froze in surprise for a second, then quickly turned back, stiff as a board.
This time, his back was even straighter.
“He Lan looks pretty capable too,” Lei Tiantian analyzed. “He could probably get into Li Academy, or Zhen Academy.”
Jiang Wu smiled. “You think everyone is impressive.”
“Right?” Lei Tiantian grinned, flashing a row of even white teeth as he lightly scratched the back of his head. “But I think you’re the most impressive!”
Jiang Wu’s lashes fluttered slightly. “I’m just an ordinary human.”
“It’s just a feeling.” Lei Tiantian’s grin widened. “I just feel like you’re especially impressive.”
Jiang Wu smiled along but didn’t say anything further. At that moment, an announcement blared over the broadcast. “The Principal has business today and won’t be giving a speech. Everyone, line up in an orderly fashion. Once you receive your Academy Schedule, you can return to your dorms. Formal classes begin tomorrow.”
Lei Tiantian immediately pulled Jiang Wu to go line up. Jiang Wu could clearly hear the overlapping sounds of nervous heartbeats and chatter rising and falling around him.
“Qian Academy! Please bless me with Qian Academy!”
“Old Ancestor, grant me your blessing. Just give me Li Academy and I’ll be content!”
“Not Kan Academy, not Kan Academy. Any academy is fine, just please, bless me!”
…
Lei Tiantian’s heartbeat was just as frantic. When it was his turn, he accepted his Academy Schedule, pressed it to his chest, and muttered something under his breath. Then he pulled it away and immediately flipped to the middle Li Academy section to start looking for his name.
Jiang Wu also received his Academy Schedule. Though called a schedule, it was actually a booklet of about ten or so pages. The very first page was the Qian Academy roster. Jiang Wu was about to flip past when his gaze stopped abruptly on the last three characters of the very last row: Xie Qingyuan.
The name wasn’t unique, but it wasn’t exactly common either. Coupled with the fact that Xie Qingyuan had dropped out a few days ago, Jiang Wu was now eighty percent sure this Xie Qingyuan was the Xie Qingyuan he knew.
For someone of Xie Qingyuan’s ability to be ranked last…
Jiang Wu directly flipped to the last page.
The final page was Kan Academy. Among the brief list of just three lines of names, Jiang Wu recognized four:
Lei Tiantian, Long Lin, He Lan, Jiang Wu.
“Why did you…” Lei Tiantian had also flipped to the last page. He looked back at Jiang Wu, stunned. “Why are you going to Kan Academy too?!”
Jiang Wu was amused by Lei Tiantian’s reaction. He closed the Academy Schedule. “I was always very ordinary.”
“But…” Lei Tiantian’s words cut off abruptly. He hung his head as if frostbitten. “Forget it. Let’s go.”
“Why am I in Kan Academy?” A familiar voice sounded at that moment.
Jiang Wu looked over.
About a dozen meters away, He Lan clutched his Academy Schedule, his face pale as he questioned the teacher handing them out.
The crowd had mostly dispersed. Only a few scattered students still stood chatting on the field.
The teacher was counting the remaining booklets and didn’t even look at He Lan. “If you have questions, go to the Academic Affairs Office.”
He Lan didn’t move. He gripped the Academy Schedule tightly, his slender fingers squeezed so hard they turned purple. His voice dropped lower. “Is it because I’m a Low-Level Demon?”
The teacher didn’t catch it clearly. “What?”
He Lan jolted as if waking from a dream. He shook his head, then slowly turned and walked away.
Jiang Wu’s eyelids stirred. He turned to Lei Tiantian and said, “You head back first. I still have to go somewhere.”
Lei Tiantian immediately asked, “Where to? I’ll come along.”
“The Library.”
“…” Lei Tiantian coughed once. “Come back early. I’m off!” And he bolted away at lightning speed.
Jiang Wu went to the library. He typed “history” into the computer search page, and instantly, over a thousand pages of entries popped up.
Unlike real-world history, this was the history of the Divine Clan and Demon Clan, all located in Library 43.
Jiang Wu went to Library 43. He picked out a few books, found a secluded corner, and sat on the floor. He first opened The Origin of the Demon Clan and began reading intently.
He read and read. The next time he looked up, the lights were brilliant, and outside the window, it was already night.
Jiang Wu returned the several books he had finished reading to their original places. After leaving the library, he went to the cafeteria and ate a bowl of noodles.
The noodles were just as expensive—fifty bucks a bowl with only a tiny scattering of minced meat.
Jiang Wu drank every last drop of the soup.
Setting down his chopsticks, he sent a message to Lei Tiantian. “I’m at the cafeteria. Want me to bring anything back?”
Lei Tiantian’s status was “typing…” for a long time, then a long list suddenly popped out:
Spicy duck neck, salted edamame, iced cola…
Jiang Wu asked again: “Is He Lan there? Does he want anything?”
Lei Tiantian’s “typing…” broke off again. Jiang Wu waited patiently and went to buy Lei Tiantian’s midnight snacks first. By the time he had finished buying the last item, Lei Tiantian replied, “He says no.”
Jiang Wu carried the items and left the cafeteria.
On the second floor of the cafeteria, Bai Zhaoxing closed the window. Without turning around, his eyes fixed on Jiang Wu’s retreating figure, he said, “Remember this. Jiang Wu cannot pass this month’s Monthly Exam.”
Behind him, a man in rimless glasses immediately responded, “Don’t worry, teacher. I will ensure he does not reach the passing mark.”
Bai Zhaoxing nodded. Still uneasy, he added another warning. “Don’t let anyone find out.”
The man in rimless glasses couldn’t help asking, “Teacher, this expanded enrollment also includes quite a few human students. Why do you specifically want to force out this student named Jiang Wu?”
Bai Zhaoxing was silent for a very long time, so long the man thought he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he said, “No reason. Just handle this matter well. Do it right, and I will naturally promote you.”
The man was instantly overjoyed. He bowed formally. “Leave everything to me. I guarantee that next month, you will no longer see Jiang Wu at this school!”
…
Jiang Wu returned to the dorm. The lights in Building 8 were still sparsely lit, a total of eight lamps glowing.
The number of Kan Academy students this year was exactly thirty-two.
Just as Jiang Wu was about to enter his dorm, a figure suddenly darted out from the dark shadows of the corner wall, blocking his path.
“Halt!”
