Zither Emperor Volume 4 Chapter 23.2

Chapter 23 – Eternal Substitute Puppet (II)
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Ferguson continued, “Secondly, I officially declare that Ye Yin Zhu is not only a Divine Music division student, but that he is also my principal disciple. Earlier, his magic’s apparent advancement from Red to Yellow Rank was because I had gifted him magic equipment to conceal his strength.”
This explanation immediately had everyone in an uproar. Several people thought it was no wonder Ye Yin Zhu could be so powerful. As it turns out, he was actually the President’s disciple. At the same time, the misgivings they held about Ye Yin Zhu’s strength that had skipped ranks were completely resolved. Who would be suspicious of Ferguson, the President of the Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts and the Chief Court Mage of the Milan Empire?
“Third. The Autumnal Beastmen Harvest War will begin soon. In order to strengthen its students, the institution will choose students to join the army and defend against the enemy. Of course, the institution will be selecting only the most outstanding student from each division to participate in this next combat trial.
“Well, the Freshman Competition has thus ended. Tomorrow, classes will officially begin. I believe that all of you will look at the strengths of these two students who have battled today and will desire to become as strong as them, maybe even surpassing them after investing a great deal of effort. I want to see our Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts be the most prominent institute for raising even more outstanding, talented individuals.”
After announcing these three items, he declared this Freshman Competition to be completely over and that all the students will begin classes tomorrow.
Undoubtedly, the Divine Music division became the highlight of the Freshman Competition, taking an innumerable amount of people aback. From the first match to the last, this dark horse became the ultimate champion in the end. And as the general of the Divine Music division, Ye Yin Zhu naturally became the new, highly wanted romantic interest. He had clearly used his strength in front of everyone and proven that being a Divine Music Mage was not a trash vocation.
✶
“Yin Zhu, that Violet Bamboo Divine Needle of yours is indeed sharp; it can unexpectedly pierce through my dagger.” Sura was half-reclined on his bed, fiddling with the Violet Bamboo Needle that had stopped his assassination of Ma Liang. His face was relaxed as he said this.
It was already approaching evening, and after escaping with great difficulty from the congratulations of others, the two talented individuals could finally relax.
Ye Yin Zhu smiled and replied, “The Violet Bamboo Needle is extremely sharp and tenacious. With a bit of condensed dou qi, its penetration power naturally increases. Your black dagger appears to be excellent, but it’s not very durable. I only wanted to knock it a bit off-course.”
Sura complained, “I’m poor, so how can I have a good dagger? Oh, that’s right, … Yin Zhu, when did you pay respects to the President as a teacher? How come I didn’t know?”
Ye Yin Zhu softly said, “Actually, I paid respect to the President as a teacher following my battle with Nesta that day. It’s just that… in order for the President to help me conceal the fact that I skipped a rank, he told me I had to become his disciple.” To Sura, he felt there was no need to hide anything. After today’s match earlier, Sura’s emotional outbreak had become eternally engraved into his mind; it would be impossible for him to forget it. Apart from Zi, Ye Yin Zhu already considered Sura to be his best friend.
Sura giggled, saying, “It seems that the President is indeed very fond of you. So, this next frontline war, are you participating?”
Ye Yin Zhu replied, “I should be. Teacher told me to prepare. Sura, is it no longer a peacetime? From what teacher said, we’re going to war with the beastmen?”
Sura rolled his eyes, saying, “Ye Yin Zhu, from now on I’m calling you Ye Bai Chi. There are many things you don’t know that is considered general knowledge. The beastmen races live in the Northern Wasteland, a bitter and cold place. They basically can’t grow crops there, so they can only exploit the natural resources for food to subsist on. Perhaps through trade, they can use the Northern Wasteland specialities to exchange for foodstuff from human countries. During the spring and summer, the vegetation flourishes, and the animals reproduce. It is unlikely for them to have an extremely challenging time acquiring food.
“During the winter, however, the beastmen immediately begin having difficulty with their food supplies. That is why, whenever autumn approaches, the beastmen start dispatching troops; they believe this method is better than negotiating for foodstuffs with the human countries they border with. This is called the Autumnal Harvest War, but the war isn’t very large. It’s mainly some local fights, that’s all. Thus, whenever autumn approaches, the Milan Empire, Ascoli Kingdom, and Florence Kingdom would put together troops to contend against the beastmen and subsidize the damage. We will also be partaking in the battle to defend the border.”
“We? Sura, don’t tell me you are also participating?” Ye Yin Zhu looked at him in surprise.
Sura smiled proudly and said, “Although the Assassin division didn’t participate in the Freshman Competition, some military experts are bound to be from our vocation. The army scouts and common light cavalry soldiers are outfitted the same. It appears assassins might be the most welcomed branch of the armed forces. A good assassin can give the army a lot of useful information; they can even assassinate the enemy general. As the leader of the first years within the Assassin division, shouldn’t you say why shouldn’t I be participating?”
“You are the leader of the first-years within the Assassin division?” Ye Yin Zhu asked. The smile at the corners of his mouth became even more obvious.
“What? Not convinced?! I might not necessarily be able to beat you in the arena, but if the terrain was complex, then you might not be my match.” While he spoke, the dagger, with a hole still through it, flashed green within his hand.
In his heart, Ye Yin Zhu was alarmed. Green Rank dou qi… not only that, it was Intermediate Level. In regards to dou qi strength, Sura was unexpectedly stronger than Nesta. This was something he absolutely hadn’t anticipated.
“Sura, I ruined your dagger; this gift is your compensation.” As he spoke, Ye Yin Zhu withdrew something from his chest, offering it to Sura.
Sura took the gift. It was an amethyst sculpture carved into the shape of a human. Bizarrely, the sculpture didn’t have a face. Its outer appearance was nothing special, but when Sura turned it over in his hand, he was amazed to discover that this amethyst human sculpture held a very strange, fluctuating elemental energy. He couldn’t determine specifically what he sensed.
“What is this?” Sura curiously asked.
Ye Yin Zhu explained, “Grandma Nina gave it to me this afternoon. She said she won it from the Summon division. It’s called an Eternal Substitute Puppet. You only need to drip a drop of blood on it for it to recognize you as its master. It seems to be something to protect the body.”
“What did you say? Eternal Substitute Puppet?” Sura violently sat up on the bed, a shocked look on his face as he stared at Ye Yin Zhu.
“Yes! It’s an Eternal Substitute Puppet. What’s wrong?” Ye Yin Zhu naturally asked.
Sura’s voice trembled. “Yin Zhu, do you not know what an Eternal Substitute Puppet is?”
Ye Yin Zhu shook his head. “I don’t know any specifics about it.”
Sura’s face became significantly solemn. “The Eternal Substitute Puppet is also known as the Immortal Body. It’s a low ranked divine item. It’s a divine item!”
“Oh.” Ye Yin Zhu stretched his body, not amazed by the two words, ‘divine item.’
“Hey, did you hear what I just said?” Sura was really dissatisfied with Ye Yin Zhu’s behavior.
Ye Yin Zhu smiled, saying, “A divine item is a divine item. It’s now yours.”