Book 2: Chapter 26: This World’s So-Called Fairness
“I heard that you are going to fight someone soon?”
In the rainbow-like stepped fields, within the forest behind the bamboo building, the single-eyed black-robed lecturer who continuously ran while firing arrows gave Lin Xi who was similarly running while shooting a look, coldly asking.
The most powerful assassin still had to be on guard against the assassination attempts of others. Meanwhile, true windstalkers, forget about while running, they could immediately fire an incomparably steady arrow even when their bodies were tumbling through the air.
That was why starting from two days ago, Lin Xi and Bian Linghan were already trained to shoot arrows while they were running, when the body was turning, getting up.
Regardless of what position his body was twisted in, the single-eyed black-robed lecturer would always be able to hit the center of the bullseye with terrifying precision. Meanwhile, Lin Xi and Bian Linghan who followed him might not necessarily even be able to hit the target five times out of ten .
“How did teacher even come to know about this matter?” Lin Xi who just missed a shot was immediately stunned when he heard the single-eyed black-robed lecturer’s words.
Tong Wei stopped, but then fired another arrow with a raise of his hand. An explosive pa sound rang out, the black arrow actually directly went through the target, smashing into a mountain boulder behind it. The arrow itself exploded, the attack incredibly ruthless.
Lin Xi and Bian Linghan looked at each other in dismay, keeping quiet out of fear.
What happened to this originally already strict Teacher Tong during these past few days? His temper seemed to have become even more fierce.
“I’ve already told you that you all have no secrets to hide from the academy a long time ago, especially this type of thing where you are trying to show off in front of everyone! In the future, don’t utter such useless words before me!” Sure enough, after a pause, a ruthless berating erupted between the trees.
After shouting, it was as if the one who was being criticized was himself. As if his anger was hard to quell, the overcast faced Tong Wei fired another arrow, shooting through another distant target.
“Class dismissed!”
“What?” They were wondering how this Teacher Tong was going to continue to scold Lin Xi, but as soon as they heard Tong Wei shout these two words, even Bian Linghan was stunned.
“You should hurry over right now, or else after waiting for a bit, the other party might think that you are too scared to face him!” Tong Wei suddenly turned around, looking coldly at Lin Xi. “For better or for worse, you can be considered my personal disciple. When the disciple loses face, don’t tell me the master’s face will seem brilliant?”
Lin Xi stuck out his tongue, and then said in a slightly embarrassed manner. “Many thanks for teacher’s reminder. Only, since I can be considered your respected self’s personal disciple, if I lose, then teacher will definitely look bad too. Then, in this battle, I wonder if teacher has any good tips for me?”
Tong Wei looked at Lin Xi, and then with a sunken voice, said, “No one can raise your martial skill in such a short time. However, the true so-called face-to-face courageous victor, even for those whose cultivation levels are lower, on the battlefield, the side who lives, eighty to ninety percent of them have a loftiness that overwhelms the other side, the side who makes the other party’s mind go cold.”
“If you don’t know how to act, don’t know how you can make yourself look a bit more imposing, then once you enter, it’s best if you don’t say anything.” Tong Wei’s eyes landed on Lin Xi’s face, and then he said coldly, “The reason why many people think windstalkers are terrifying, is because windstalkers never say anything to their opponents.”
…
“Lin Xi, I had thought that you didn’t dare show up. Oh, right, I forgot, mister heaven’s choice here offended a teacher on his very first lesson, punished to work in Medicine Valley for a month.”
In a vacant are outside the training valley, there were at least seventy or eighty students from different departments. It seemed like Lin Xi and Qiu Lu’s battle drew the attention of quite a few people.
After greeting Tang Ke, Li Kaiyun and the others who were already waiting here, Lin Xi didn’t pay Qiu Lu’s harsh words any attention. With a smile, he said, “What, were you hoping that I wouldn’t come?”
“Of course not.” Qiu Lu sneered. “I was just itching to give you a beating, have you wake up a bit.”
“Honestly…” After pausing for a bit, Qiu Lu looked at Lin Xi and said with disdain, “What is hardest for me to like about you isn’t that you are a countryside bumpkin, but rather that you clearly don’t have any skills, yet you always have that great look of believing yourself infallible.”
Lin Xi shook his head, feeling that it was beneath him to argue with this brat. He faced the training valley. “Let’s go.”
“Go!”
When Qiu Lu saw that Lin Xi didn’t reply, he thought that it was because he had jabbed at Lin Xi’s sore spot, so he immediately raised his head in a complacent manner, arrogantly entering.
Liu Ziyu and the other six or seven golden spoons raised the corners of their lips, a ruminate smile appearing on their faces, following along.
“What, you told me to not let my friends in, yet you are bringing so many people?”
Lin Xi who was walking at the front suddenly stopped, giving Liu Ziyu and the others a look, calmly saying, “Qiu Lu, don’t you think you should have them wait outside too?”
Qiu Lu stared blankly for a moment.
Lin Xi moved, while Tang Ke and the others all followed his request, standing in place. Compared to them, Lin Xi who walked at the very front seemed exceptionally lonely.
“We are only entering and taking a look, we won’t do anything to influence your contest.” Liu Ziyu’s steps halted, his pretty brows furrowing slightly, feeling rather unhappy inside. However, his tone was still extremely calm.
“Then I don’t really mind either.” Lin Xi’s tone was still extremely calm. He gave Tang Ke and the others who were standing in place a look, and then said, “I can also guarantee that they won’t do anything to affect our confrontation either… but since Qiu Lu demanded it so, and I agreed, then you guys have to stay outside. This is the fairness that I believe in.”
“Lin Xi!” Qiu Lu didn’t expect Lin Xi to actually involve so many people at this time, immediately saying with a shrill voice, “Brother Ziyu and the others’ statuses, could it be that they can be compared to border barbarians and bumpkins?”
Liu Ziyu waved his hand, stopping Qiu Lu from saying anything even worse. He gave Lin Xi an indifferent look, and then said, “You want fairness, but in this world, where is there absolute fairness… even if we are all academy students, once we leave, there will still be a vast difference. You can think about this, in Yunqin Empire, who is the one who can grant you all fairness? We said that we are only entering to take a look, what we can do is ensure that your confrontation this time is fair.”
When Liu Ziyu said this, this place became quiet. Many bumpkins and border barbarians became silent, unable to vent out the resentment they felt inside.
It was because they all knew that what Liu Ziyu said was true. In Yunqin Empire, the ones who granted fairness, wasn’t it those individuals seated high up above in the imperial court? Behind these golden spoon youngsters was lineage and strength, things that these bumpkins and border barbarians couldn’t compare to at all.
“However, this is the academy… as for what happens after, who could say for certain?” Even so, Lin Xi was still completely unfazed, calmly saying this.
Liu Ziyu’s face finally produced a hint of mockery. “Lin Xi, saying so much is rather useless. Don’t tell me that you’re actually scared?”
Right at this time, a calm and curious female voice sounded. “You all seem so confident, are you sure that Qiu Lu is Lin Xi’s match? After saying all of this… if Qiu Lu ends up not being Lin Xi’s match, what will you all do then?”
These words weren’t sharp and unkind at all, but it made everyone on Qiu Lu’s side couldn’t help but become a bit sluggish.
When he followed the direction the voice came from, Lin Xi saw a gray-clothed young lady standing next to the public announcement signboard.
This natural pureness that wasn’t affected by any clamoring or agitation, in Lin Xi’s eyes, formed a beautiful scene.
He didn’t expect her to actually have arrived here as well, moreover even speaking out for his sake.
Qiu Lu stared blankly for a moment. Him, Liu Ziyu and the others never expected another heaven’s choice, Medicine Department’s Gao Yanan, would actually speak out for Lin Xi. Immediately afterwards, Qiu Lu’s tender face even more so hid a bit of redness from embarrassment and anger. “Would I not be his match? Not a match for this type of trash?”
“That’s hard to say, you know? Each year, the number of cultivators who die under the hands of ordinary soldiers isn’t small at all. What if… what if you lose to Lin Xi then?” Gao Yanan asked probingly with a calm voice, making this place immediately become quiet again.
Almost no one here knew about Gao Yanan’s background, but during these few days, most people already learned that Gao Yanan and Wen Xuanyu entered heaven’s choice with extremely high cultivation aptitude. Her cultivation speed in all of Medicine Department, was far greater than everyone else’s, which was why the weight of her words was naturally greater than normal people’s.
“In that case, you two can just do what you want and head in.” Liu Ziyu’s face softened up, turning around and smiling towards Gao Yanan. “Yanan, could it be that you have an interest in Lin Xi?”
“Both of you are from Medicine Department, so why is the difference so great?”
“You!” However, Lin Xi’s quiet remark almost made him lose control, veins popping on his handsome face.
“The academy is happy to see battles that can increase your strength. That is why in the future, if you all wish to fight, just directly tell the lecturers inside, we can ensure a fair battle between you all.” Right at this time, an aged voice shouted.
Lin Xi immediately felt a bit shocked, turning around and bowing with great respect, “Teacher Luo.”
This academy protector dressed in old-fashioned black robes had unknowingly when appeared at the valley entrance. He gave Lin Xi a look, his nod seemingly in return to the greeting. “All of you can go inside, I will allow Lin Xi and Qiu Lu ten minutes to respectively search for weapons in the valley. Then, they will fight a fair battle in a place everyone can watch from.”
When he saw Luo Houyuan’s old-fashioned lecturer robes, and also this elder’s age, Liu Ziyu originally carried a hint of disdain in his eyes. However, when he heard Luo Houyuan’s words, learning that he actually had the authority to do this in the training valley, a chill immediately ran through Liu Ziyu’s heart.
“You all should know that the fairness in this world, is not granted by some so-called influential officials… if you all don’t even have the courage to demand fairness from the hands of those so-called bigwigs, then how will you have the bravery to stand on the city gate tower, face a great army of three hundred thousand?” However, Luo Houyuan didn’t give him a single look, only calmly sweeping his eyes over the quiet bumpkins and border barbarians. “If you don’t even have the spine to demand fairness, then you all can only crawl like dogs, this is the most basic reasoning.”
These bumpkins and border barbarians’ faces became bright red, clenching their fists. Some of them felt ashamed, not willing to raise their heads.