Zither Emperor Volume 4 Chapter 23.1

Chapter 23 – Eternal Substitute Puppet (I)
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The central training field flared up. Once the most important area of the Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts over the past several hundred years, it was now completely destroyed.
The field’s defensive shield was now entirely shattered. Using where Ye Yin Zhu stood as the heart, countless crushed stone and dirt flew into the air as the entire ground subsequently caved. Luckily, Ferguson and all of the division teachers had made their move earlier to pour their magic into the encompassing defensive cover so the central training field’s defenses wouldn’t collapse. Despite this, the earth still violently shook, causing cracks to spread from the central training field and towards its surroundings.
Ma Liang’s body resembled a broken doll as he was flung through the air, crashing heavily against the defensive cover. The impact caused him to groan, his consciousness blacking out. As he lost consciousness, the center of the five streams of silver light exploded out before returning back to the simple and unadorned ring on his hand.
Fortunately, he was relatively far from the center of the explosion. In addition, he had been the one to summon the Silver Dragon. The force of the explosion was the smallest in this location, otherwise such an intense explosive force would have been deadly.
Teachers and students lifelessly watched as dirt and stone flew up from the central training field. They listened to the mass of concentrated noises as dirt and stone fell back to the ground. Who could have anticipated that this kind of situation would crop up in the Freshman Competition? Even a fifth-year graduate wouldn’t be able to cause such a powerful and destructive force. This was only the final battle of the Freshman Competition!
“Quick, save them.” Ferguson, after all, was the President, so he reacted first. At this moment, no other teacher was more anxious than he was. He had just recently received an exceptionally good disciple with potential difficult to find once in a century. How could he be dead already?
The defensive cover opened, and dust assaulted their senses. Several students coughed. Teachers, one after another, jumped down from the rostrum and rushed onto the central training field.
At this moment, a slender silhouette was already rushing towards the training field; its goal was Ma Liang spot once he’d crashed into the ground.
“I’ll kill you.” A grief-stricken, sharp snarl rang out. With astonishing speed, the form threw itself at the unconscious Ma Liang, its hand flickering with black lightning. Even the teachers were taken aback at this quick speed and could only look on helplessly as what appeared to be a death god black scythe’s blade sliced towards Ma Liang’s heart.
“Sura, don’t.” While no one had enough time to block that black lightning, a violet light was thrown out, even as the dust continued to billow about.
Ding—— The black blade paused, Sura’s slender figure abruptly halting. A long violet needle was unexpectedly imbedded into the black blade Sura held, the long needle just striking the black blade’s edge. It was an extremely bizarre sight.
Sura didn’t throw himself at Ma Liang again, instead turning around to stare stupefied at the gradually disappearing dust cloud. He muttered, “Yin Zhu, Yin Zhu, you didn’t die?”
A slender silhouette slowly left the cloud of dust, his long black hair gray due to the dust. The dirt on his face lowered the elegance of his face. Only that white robe was still clean.
“Yin Zhu——” At this time, Sura forgot everything. Even his voice became less like a man in sharpness. An assassin’s speed allowed one to travel from boundary to boundary in an instant. He crashed into Ye Yin Zhu and hugging him with the ferocity of a baby swallow. His slender arms wrapped around Ye Yin Zhu tightly, as if he was afraid that Yin Zhu would disappear. Tears forced their way out of his eyes, his body trembling fiercely. From extreme sorrow to exultation, it made his breathing extremely erratic.
“Hush, hush. Are you trying to strangle me? I’m filthy,” Ye Yin Zhu joked, smiling.
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t care. You nearly frightened me to death!” Sura honestly exclaimed, already forgetting their current location.
“Well, don’t cry.” Ye Yin Zhu somewhat bewilderedly comforted Sura.
“You ruined my dagger. It’s very expensive, so you must compensate me.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll compensate you,” Ye Yin Zhu promised as he recalled that Sura held onto both their funds.
The teachers hurriedly followed Ferguson towards the central training field. Where Ye Yin Zhu had previously stood was now a gigantic hole over 20 meters in diameter. The central training field was destroyed. It would take at least a month to fix it. At this moment, however, Ferguson’s mood couldn’t be better as Ye Yin Zhu was all right. What could make him happier than this?
Vieri held the unconscious Ma Liang in bewilderment. He really didn’t understand how all of this happened. A Silver Dragon, that was an actual Silver Dragon summon!
“Hn… cough.” Nina, who stood beside Vieri, coughed.
“Dean Vieri, don’t forget our bet.” The iciness on Nina’s face had disappeared a long time ago as it brimmed with a victorious smile.
Vieri apparently just recalled that event and abruptly stood up from the ground. “Life Guardian, that was a Life Guardian, right? You deliberately tricked me.”
Nina revealed an amazed expression. “Deliberately tricked you? Me? I didn’t force you to agree to our wager. The President and all the other teachers can attest to this. Don’t tell me that you’re saying your student is allowed to use the Six Components of the Silver Dragon, a tool comparable to a divine weapon, while our Divine Music division’s student can’t use the Life Guardian? This reasoning is illogical.”
“You…” Vieri looked at Nina, dumbstruck. He was immediately at a loss for words.
To the side, Ferguson coughed. Failing to refrain from commenting, he smiled and voiced, “Well, Dean Vieri, if you agree to bet, you must accept losses.”
“But… but President, my Eternal Substitute Puppet…”
✶
The Divine Music Division Viewing Platform.
All of the beautiful ladies of the Divine Music division couldn’t help but be relieved upon seeing Ye Yin Zhu unexpectedly emerge from the dust.
“Hai Yang, you just pinched me,” Xiang Luan whispered into Hai Yang’s ear, smiling.
Hai Yang’s chest rose and fell heavily. She glanced at Xiang Luan and said, “And you tore the hem of my skirt. Were you afraid that if Ye Yin Zhu died, you wouldn’t be able to fulfill your promise?”
Xiang Luan’s charming face reddened. “Hai Yang, when did you become so eloquent?”
Hai Yang smiled slightly and retorted, “What about you? I have never seen you so worried about a boy/”
Xiang Luan sighed and commented, “Apparently, this boy, Ye Yin Zhu, doesn’t like women. Otherwise, how can he let all of the beauties of our Divine Music division go without choosing one. You see, he is always with that other boy.”
“Of course. The brotherly love between them runs deep—it shows their true feelings.” After saying these words, Hai Yang’s attractive face also reddened subconsciously.
✶
Dark Magic Division Viewing Platform.
Yue Ming lightly patted her chest. “Fortunately, he is all right. If not, who will accompany me to return Ming Xue? He truly is tremendously powerful!”
✶
Wind Division Viewing Platform.
Rolande looked at Ye Yin Zhu, who stood in the center of the field. She stood up with unreasonable indignation. “This damned boy unexpectedly didn’t die. His vitality is even more tenacious than those stupid dragons.”
✶
Heavy Cavalry Viewing Platform.
Nesta laughed out loud. “It seems my rival is the strongest.”
✶
Ferguson stood in the center of the field, smiling at the entire audience. Not necessitating any amplification device, his voice projected to all the platforms.
“Next, I will declare a few items of importance. First, the Freshman Competition has concluded. The champion is the Divine Music division. Runner-up is the Summon division. Third place is the Heavy Cavalry division.
“The competitors of these three divisions will receive specialized training from the institution. At the same time, the institution will waiver these 15 students’ tuition fees for all five years of their education, in addition to their dorm fees. The generals of these three divisions will each obtain a weapon or magic item. The Heavy Cavalry division will get one article, the Summon division will get two articles, and the Divine Music division will get three articles. They will choose their reward from the institution’s treasury.”
This was the standard reward for the Freshman Competition over the past years, so no one felt suspicious.