Shin Akagawa
Looking over the room Shin gave one last farewell to the room assigned to him in the institute, while it was only for a little time he felt a little nostalgic saying goodbye to this room.
Looking at the bedside he glanced at the letter he found when he arrived.
'The principal huh… Let's see what type of person he is.'
Turning around he closed the door for one last time as he started walking toward his new destination, the cold wind of the morning brushing against his skin as he yawned a little.
Having to go toward the main building he inevitably passed by the other students' dorms, he saw a couple of lights lit from various windows while others were still dark.
Today was the Yearly Examination day so it was normal to see a couple of students still trying to improve just a little bit more to get a better result, shaking his head, his thought went on the group he came to know in this school.
He didn't have time to go see Nie Li yesterday when he arrived so he was still unaware what level Nie Li and the group reached in the few weeks they didn't see each other and part of him was a little more than curious and excited to see the faces of the teacher at their improvement.
Finally reaching the principal door he knocked once immediately receiving an answer.
"Come in."
An old and rough voice came from the other side of the door, opening the door he was met with a large mostly empty room that led to another set of doors, from said set of doors he could see a small garden.
"Come Here."
The same voice came from inside the small garden inviting him inside, he was a little suspicious but after debating a little he decided to go in.
There he found a tall old man with white hair and a long white beard watering the plants, the first thing he noticed was the lack of his right arm as he used his left one to water the plants, the second thing he noticed was the cultivation of the old man.
'He's a Legend Rank… No, he was a Legend Rank.'
The silent pressure emitting from the old man's body was the same pressure he felt by his father and mother and as someone who lived most of his life seeing them everyday he came to become quite familiar with that same aura.
"Could water the plant on that side."
The man said pointing with his only hand as he placed the watering can right in front of Shin, Shin looked at the watering can for a couple of seconds before silently lifting it up and starting watering the plants.
"..."
Minutes passed as Shin continued to water the plants while the old man simply observed him from behind without making a sound, and just as he finished the old man spoke again.
"You know, you can tell a lot about the character of a person simply by looking at how he does things. Simply from looking at how you water these plants I can tell a little of how you've lived your life."
Shin placed the now empty watering can down as he turned to look at the old man with furrowed brows.
"You went around making sure that not even a single of these plants was left without water, rationing the water you poured from the start to make sure that none got too much or too little."
The old man said with a smile as he touched a yellow flower that stood proud in the garden.
"My name is Lai Yang, you may not be interested in an old men like me but since I've taken the place as principal I've seen geniuses come and go as they threaded the path of cultivation, some of them fell while some of them rose to become phoenix among men but I've never seen someone as peculiar as you."
Turning around he started to walk back inside as Shin silently followed.
"Peculiar may not be the right word but you're certainly something. When you arrived with your clan more than one person was worried about how you would have acted but after bringing so many good changes in our city they quickly started to accept you and your clan as people of Glory City."
Sitting down he pointed at a place right in front of himself as Shin sat down there, serving some tea he placed a cup in front of Shin before taking a sip himself.
"I'm already an old man in my last years, I won't be able to look after these plants let alone see the changes Glory City will go through… I've seen your not so small group already bringing changes in cultivations as we know it. I've already seen it on the younger generation of your clan but now I've also seen it on the younger generation of the other clans."
Placing the cup down he looked right at Shin eyes with a small smile on his face.
"If I'm correct in my assessment of you please take care of this city like you did to the plants, I know it's unfair for me to ask but if you take care of this city the people in here will be quick to follow your lead… This is one of the keys to enter the Heavenly Sacred Border, a secret realm of the Institute as long as someone is able to pass the test inside their cultivation is fated to quickly rise so if you're interested in entering don't hesitate."
Shin was stunned and confused as he looked at the jade slip placed on the table. From start to finish he didn't even open his mouth as Lai Yang was the only one to speak.
"Can I ask why?"
At his question Lai Yang's smile widened a little as he answered.
"Because I liked your character, from the very start you listened to this old man's request without whining or complaining and before you say anything you're not the first to go through such a test, but alas most young geniuses are proud people who would immediately refuse such requests."
Laughing lightly he stood up as he stroked his long beard with his only hand.
"Well I think enough time has passed, you should return to your classmates and prepare to take the yearly examination. I myself am quite curious about this year's students."
Turning he went through another door giving a small lazy wave from behind at Shin.
Looking at the jade he picked it up before standing up, he didn't learn much about cultivations in his time studying in the institute but he got to meet a lot of new people so he was a little grateful about this place.
'When I return I should make some arrangements to increase the knowledge of this place…'
The only reason Glory City's people cultivation was still lacking was because of their cultivation methods so if they shared some of the more public methods from his clan hopefully glory city strength will increase.
Arriving at the plaza he could already see tons of people there waiting for the exams to start, not only were there students ready to take the exam but he could see even some upperclassmen joining in to the fun.
Looking around his eyes scanned the place searching for some familiar faces until he finally found a familiar duo of orange hairs and one purple head. He was about to call out to them but stopped as he saw Ning'er, Nie Li and Ye Ziyun arguing with an older guy with long red hair.
Silently watching he walked closer to the scene as he eavesdropped on the group.
"...Wasn't it already enough for you to be seen walking around with that outsider but now you also have to go around with a commoner!"
He just needed to hear that to have an idea of who it actually was, and his hypothesis was confirmed after seeing the group of guards walking closely behind the man himself as they all held the familiars prideful smirks that the guys from the Sacred Family normally held.
"What are you talking about Shen Fei? In the first place I've never accepted our engagement so I don't have to answer any of your questions!"
As Ning'er doubled down and held her ground Shen Fei only got angrier but even then he knew it wasn't the smartest idea to attack her, so he simply focused his irritation on the easiest target around. Stepping forward he launched a palm attack toward Nie Li as Shin moved.
"Isn't it unbecoming of a 'Senior' to attack a 'Junior' like this?"
Stopping the palm attack with his own hand, Shin held his wrist as he stood firmly right in front of Nie Li, but while he easily stopped the attack he also noticed how Nie Li was already in position to dodge the blatant attack.
"You are!"
"What? If you don't know my name just ask! Did your parents forget to teach you some simple manners?"
As Shen Fei glared even more hatefully at Shin, the man in question simply looked down at him with a smirk. Finally having had enough he tried to take back his wrist only to find an enormous force holding him down, gritting his teeth he circulated the minimum of his own soul force and much to his surprise it still took him a couple of tries to finally free himself as Shin didn't even try.
'People say he's about two star silver but his cultivation right now is about peak silver rank…'
Shin thought as he looked at his hand meanwhile Shen Fei was thinking something similar.
'There's no way he is a simple five star bronze rank, he definitely reached Silver rank!'
As the young master of one of the four biggest families in Glory City he had numerous ways to investigate someone and thanks to Shin public stunts during the expedition outside he had some information on how strong he was but after seeing right now he wanted to bash the guys who sold him wrong information in the heads.
"Shen Fei, it's actually great that you are here. I wanted to talk to you anyway."
As Shen Fei was occupied with his own thoughts, Shin continued on his attack as he stepped forward.
"There are some arrangements to be made with your clan but here's not the right time to talk about it so how about I pay you a visit when you have time."
Mustering his best fake smile he told his proposition to Shen Fei as he looked confused before his eyes fell for a moment on the woman behind Shin, immediately he realized what he was trying to do as he got even more angry, throwing any caution out of the window he gritted his teeth before saying.
"That's right this is the perfect time so how about you come see me during the Younger Generation Tournament event that my family will host in a couple of days? After today I've become a little curious about this little brother martial arts so why not join in the fun and have a spar with me there, at the end we can even resolve whatever problem with the outcome of the match?"
At his words Shin smiled dropped ever so slightly as the aura around him dropped in temperature.
"While I wouldn't mind doing so I'm no brute to bet something so important on a random match, I'll definitely resolve it for good, but since I'll be there anyway I have no problem having a sparring match with you, at that time you can also bet something else if you want."
Shen Fei faltered a little for a couple of seconds before his smile returned, turning around, he left giving out his last words.
"Well then, I'll be waiting for you there at the time I hope you won't come to regret it."
Watching Shen Fei leave Shin fist, which unconsciously tightened finally loosened up.
"Shin, be careful they say he already has at least a two star silver rank…"
Hearing the worried thought of Ning'er he smiled as he turned to her.
"Then they must be blind because that guy is close to reaching the gold rank… But don't worry, most of his cultivation is based on elixirs and pills, his actual strength may as well be weaker than some of my silver rank guards."
That was the main problem he found on the cultivation of the people of Glory City, as they relied too much on elixirs and pills to advance, they forgot to actually stabilize their own cultivation leading to so many impurities that it was simply a miracle how they had so many Black Gold ranks around.
'This makes me wonder how talented Ye Mo and Ye Zong, for them to reach this level with this sub-par knowledge on cultivation training… Who knows what height they would have reached if they had more suited cultivations and special techniques.'
"Well it still shouldn't be a problem for you right?"
Nie Li teased with a smile of his, he already saw how powerful Shin could be as a barely bronze rank against people in the silver rank and with his previous life experience how could he miss the fact that the person in front of him was already in the silver rank if not already a second star.
"Mh that may be so but I don't think it would have been much of a problem to you too no?"
Nie Li's smile increased as the two girls looked at each other in confusion at the two boys' actions.
The four of them were soon joined by the rest of the group as they started to talk with each other until the examinations started.
Nie Li took the occasion to simply provoke one last time, Shen Xiu still faking his true strength.
'Mh? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'
Looking at the mischievous smirk on Nie Li's face he could feel that he definitely was up to no good.
"So who's going first!?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the loud voice of a teacher as his eyes fell on the machine that was going to test their strength.
"I'll go first!"
Much to his surprise the first one to step forward was Shen Yue as he confidently strolled toward the machine lifting up a little one of his sleeves. Charging up a fist he punched the machine as a small lance on it moved toward a certain number.
"One Hundred and Twenty!"
As each student had three tries normally the first one would be the weakest, but even this weakest by Glory City standards would put him toward the top, almost a genius level.
While Shen Yue was bathing in the envy and awe of the public around Shin lost most of his interest, he certainly was interested in what the school would do to test their powers but he also should've known to not expect too much since most people here aren't even bronze rank.
At the end Shen Yue finished with a strength of one hundred and thirty-five and soul force of one hundred and fifteen, he already had a place in the demon spiritual class for next semester, giving the group a provocative gaze he returned to his place in the middle of his family's guards.
"Let me go let me go!"
"No No stay put I'll go first!"
Turning his head he saw Lu Piao, Wei Nan and Zhang Ming fight to go forward willingly to accept the Shen Yue Challenge. Seeing their banter he shook his head laughing lightly at their actions.
From then on the Lu Piao and the other three went to show off their newly acquired strength as Lu Piao showed a strength of three star bronze rank while the other two showed two star bronze rank, the one most surprising was Du Zhe who actually showed a strength of a five star bronze rank while also showing a soul force bigger than 600 soul points as he made the soul crystal used to testing explode.
'The others aren't bad but Du Zhe's talents really make him stand out…'
As the examiners took some time to clean up the place after the explosion Nie Li and Shin waited some more to do their own while the two girls were sent on another place to do their own and from hearing how loud the students were being on that side he could guess they also finished with their testing.
"Well how about you?"
Shin asked, looking at the red head next to him, Nie Li glanced at him for a second before smiling.
"I was thinking about waiting for a little more but you're right, I should get this over with already."
Walking forward he went to test as more than students watched him with expectation, after all they knew he was one of the figureheads of the group together with Shin so they were all curious about his own cultivation level.
"Huh? One… One Hundred Points!"
The examiner faltered for a moment before finally announcing the result making silence descend the place, Shin barely held on laughing as he saw the faces of the people around. As someone who stood near him all this time he already got some idea of how strong he must be and a simple one star silver rank surely wasn't his true strength.
"One Hundred Points!"
While the rest was still stunned Nie Li continued and did his second try resulting once again in one hundred points and continued to do the same for the third try.
"Yo! Pretty lucky I got one star bronze rank!"
Nie Li continued his act as Shin was now watching him with some awe at how easily he acted. After moving he went to test his soul force not bothering going for a big piece only taking a random small piece from the ground.
"Soul Force… One Hundred Points!"
This time even Shin was surprised, one thing was to control one's own strength but to have such control even on their own soul force, even Shin wasn't sure he had such good control yet.
And as expected the two other tries ended up being a one hundred points not a single one more or less.
Turning toward the teacher booth Nie Li gave a smirk toward Shen Xiu as the woman glared hatefully back.
'Later I'll have to ask him if he has a special technique to increase the control on soul force…'
As Nie Li returned toward the group Lu Piao didn't waste a second on putting one of his arms around his neck.
"You really are something huh Nie Li!"
Finally the rest of the group gathered as even Ning'er and Ye Ziyun got back from their own testing.
"How did it go?"
"Mh, I made the soul crystal.. Just a little bit more and I could've entered the Silver rank."
"Being the fastest isn't always the best, one should take the time they need or they will end up like Shen Fei Cultivation, High in appearance but low in reality."
Ning'er smiled a little at his words even though he could tell she was still a little frustrated at not having reached the silver rank by that small amount, before the test Shin checked her own soul force and she was already at 989 soul points just a couple shy off truly entering a silver rank.
Turning back to Nie Li he saw him approach him.
"You've really pissed off Shen Xiu this time."
"She started it, beside, aren't you going to take care of her?"
Sighing Shin shook his head even while continuing to smile.
"Is this how it is going to be? You making enemies around and me having to cover for you?"
Nie Li scratched the back of his head even while he knew Shin was mostly joking, trying to change the topic he coughed on his hand before continuing.
"Ehm, anyway aren't you going to test yourself?"
"Sure, I'm getting a little hungry anyway, let's go eat together after this."
Not waiting for his answer he started walking toward the test area as the teacher noticed him.
"I'm going next!"
As he saw another student finish his own exam and no one particularly wanting to go forward he simply stepped up declaring with a loud voice.
Getting in front of the machine he gave a small flicker on it as the machine lance went directly toward the right.
"... Five Hundred points."
The examiner announced half heartedly the result as he remained shocked, as the machine itself went only up to the bronze rank he didn't even try again as he didn't really want to break it. Going toward the soul examination place he gave a look at the soul crystal already in pieces from previous testing before turning toward the instructor in charge.
"Will this suffice as proof for the exam?"
A crimson tail and fox ears appeared on his body as his eyes took a more feral appearance, the air around him changed as the instructor froze up, the other students also stopped speaking. For one to integrate themself with a demon spirit they would need to be at least a Silver rank which meant that as Shin showed his demon spirit integration he was also showing his status as a Silver rank demon spiritualist.
"Y-y-ye-Yes, That's enough!"
The instructor said with a little difficulty as he recovered from the shock, Shin returned to his human appearance as he turned to walk back. He was already a Second Star Silver rank so showing this much was ok as he would show much more during the tournament, but one of the main reasons to show this much was as bait.
He used himself as a bait not only for the Dark Guild who was surely lurking around watching his every move but also for the students who wished to improve themselves but couldn't for lack of backings, his clan would soon announce them taking in disciples from other noble families this show was just to plant a seed that would later grow and attract even more people to join him.
'I feel a little bad for the principal but in the end it's all to increase humanity's force and Glory City defenses.'
Reaching his group he was immediately met with questions from all of them.
"How about we go eat, we can talk more calmly there?"
Fortunately for him, Nie Li's proposition saved him from answering all of them right now, so the group left the examination plaza before moving outside of the institute toward a rather famous restaurant.
A little short chapter to try and end this arc so that I can enter the more interesting part of the story.
As always, thanks for reading. I hope you liked it and if you found any errors please tell me so I can correct them.
