Boom, Boom… The ground beneath the arena was shaking again. It was Yu Sheng who was stepping forward slowly.
“What is he doing?” People were looking at Yu Sheng and wondering whether these two young men were going to defy the authority of the academy.
The final decision of the Fall Quarter Exam was being announced, and the decision had been made by two masters who were Hall Directors. It definitely could not be easily overridden. How insane was it that they were trying to make the masters change their minds?
“Yu Sheng, get back here.” Ye Futian could feel Yu Sheng’s anger, and somewhat believed he was going to do something horrible. He tried to yell and stop him, but this time it did not work.
The List of Excellence was still being announced, but Yu Sheng entered the middle of the arena and interrupted the announcement. Many of the masters looked mad because of the fuss Ye Futian had already made, which had brought shame to the academy. The masters did not hold him responsible only because they thought he was still young, and that it was a mistake. However, Yu Sheng was now right in the middle of the arena, about to make an even bigger one.
“Yu Sheng, back off,” Leng Qingfeng, the Cabinet Master of the Hall of Swordsmen commanded him. He had planned to list Yu Sheng as the champion of the debate, but Shi Zhong had insisted that Murong Qiu should get first place. He had given in because he had not wanted to make his working relationship with Shi Zhong awkward over such minor issues. But these two young men were just stubborn.
“I want to challenge Murong Qiu,” Yu Sheng said, staring at Leng Qingfeng.
“How dare you say that. The Fall Quarter Exam is over. There is no way you can change the results, especially in such a rude manner. You better respect the rules of this academy and back off now,” Shi Zhong yelled at Yu Sheng as he stood up.
Yu Sheng looked up to the masters of the academy. There was an aura of fury coming from his body that made the air dense. Ye Futian could feel something dangerous coming from the furious body of Yu Sheng and began yelling at him even louder, “Yu Sheng, seriously; come back here!”
His godfather had told him that no matter what happened, no one should ever witness the Yu Sheng’s true talent.
“No!” Yu Sheng shrieked horrifyingly. There was now a scary stream of energy around his body. The power formed a dark golden glow that armored Yu Sheng in a suit that almost looked demonic. Some of the masters began to take this seriously. Their gazes sharpened. They were staring right at Yu Sheng and could foresee the looming danger.
“No I’m mad. Come back!” Ye Futian also sounded truly angry. He was trying to stop the imminent danger by threatening him. Yu Sheng seemed to wake up hearing his voice. His blood-red pupils trembled, and the dark energy around his body was gone. He looked back at Ye Futian.
Yu Sheng’s father had told him that he should never allow anyone to stomp on Ye Futian’s pride. Whenever a violation happened, he was supposed to stand up for Ye Futian with everything he had.
“Hey, big boy, you know what? Just forget about it; time will show that we are right.” The voice of Ye Futian turned gentle and soft. It was Yu Sheng who had been trying to persuade him before; now, he was trying to talk some sense into Yu Sheng. Even though Yu Sheng was still stubborn, he walked away as he was told. This gesture relieved the tension on the faces of the masters.
However, the looks on people’s faces in reaction to these two had become even weirder. These guys had a complicated relationship. They looked towards the perfect girl, Hua Jieyu, and began to worry about this girl’s future.
The masters continued announcing the List of Excellence. Despite expectations, Ye Futian’s name did not get called. Surprisingly, some people began feeling upset about this.
Before the debate, lots of people had been expecting Ye Futian to make a fool of himself. It had not been personal until it had come to Hua Jieyu, the goddess of their dreams. But no matter what, Ye Futian’s talent was top-notch. He should be at least in the top three.
Of course, it did not mean that they now felt empathy for Ye Futian. The hatred for him flirting with their goddess was still real and intense. Besides, this guy was so shameless.
Ye Futian seemed calm about the fact that that he had not made it onto the List of Excellence. He now felt indifferent about the situation. However, he was doubting whether the masters were acting justly by ranking Yu Sheng as second on the List of Excellence.
As for most of the big chiefs of this city, they were still racking their brains about the darkness around Yu Sheng. They could not figure out what it was exactly. They had a feeling that in the future, the boy who had performed so flawlessly on this exam would be renowned all over the city. They believed it was worth it to come watch, just for him.
This concluded the Fall Quarter Exam. After Leng Qingfeng and Shi Zhong announced the end of the event, they went into the stands to greet General Qin and the Lord of the City, who had spent their time supporting the event.
The disturbance inside the hearts of the students did not end with the event, however. Murong Qiu had Ye Futian in his sights. He looked calm but his heart was cold. He was listed as the champion of the Fall Quarter Exam, but Ye Futian had questioned the decision in public so outrageously that Murong Qiu felt ashamed. Now people actually believed that he was not as good as Yu Sheng. Even worse, he felt angry about Hua Jieyu’s reaction. She had never even talked to him, but she had kept smiling at Ye Futian the entire time.
Something evil quickly flashed in his eyes, then he walked towards the stands. Feng Qingxue was also looking at Ye Futian. She seemed hesitant about something.
“What did he just do? He was defying the authority of the masters in public!” Murong Qing said.
Feng Qingxue seemed absent from the conversation. She was still looking at Ye Futian. In fact, Ye Futian sensed that he was being watched. He turned his head to look at Feng Qingxue. Feng Qingxue noticed that there was a moment of confusion in his eyes, then he smiled at her, and looked away.
There was no grudge in his smile; it was like any regular smile between friends— natural and peaceful. But it made Feng Qingxue feel even worse. In the past, when Ye Futian had smiled at her, there was a feeling of inappropriateness behind the smile; but not this time. She realized that she had finally gotten the distance she had requested. Friendship was something you lost, and lost forever.
After turning away, Feng Qingxue was on the verge of tears. She controlled herself and walked toward her dad.
People were leaving in groups. In fact, most of them were still paying attention to Hua Jieyu, and were surprised to notice that she left alone instead of with Ye Futian. This gave them some hope. They tried to convince themselves that nothing special was going on between them.
“Ye Futian!” A beauty suddenly showed up in front of Ye Futian and stared at him with anger. “How could you act so stubbornly? You had the chance to be listed in the top three on the List of Excellence and become an official student just like Yu Sheng. You know what? You just ruined that chance.”
Seeing the fuming beauty before him, Ye Futian smiled teasingly. “You still look so beautiful even when you’re angry, Ms. Qin, did you know that?”
“What, you…” Qin Yi was dumbfounded. How could he transform so fast from that brave person who had stood up for Yu Sheng to a shameless playboy? Was this really the same person?
“You were in the first plane of awakening for so long. How did you do that?” Qin Yi asked confusedly.
“Remember our bet? It motivated me so much that I jumped directly over from that low plane.” Ye Futian looked at Qin Yi and said, “You do remember your promise, don’t you?”
Qin Yi rolled her eyes. As for the promise… Qin Yi asked, “Did I make a promise?”
“Uh…” It was Ye Futian’s turn to be dumbfounded. Looking at this beauty right in front of him, Ye Futian said with humor, “You told me I can do whatever I want as long as I passed the exam.”
“Really? Did I? I don’t remember that.” Qin Yi was suspicious about this. Then she turned to a student who was in that class and asked, “Did I ever make a promise?”
The person was caught off guard, then looked serious and said, “Nope, definitely not.”
Then he glanced at Ye Futian with a chuckle. This shameless bastard was flirting with Ms. Qin now? No, that was not going to happen.
“You liar…” Ye Futian realized he was being set up. He then yelled, “Yu Sheng, come here!”
The student ran away as fast as he could. It had only been a joke. Why was Ye Futian so serious that he would he ask Yu Sheng to beat him up?
Ye Futian felt wronged. He looked at Qin Yi. “Ms. Qin, seriously, you can’t do this.”
Qin Yi sounded content and smiled, “Shameless, of course; that’s your style.”
She was surprised at how fun it was to act shamelessly once in a while.
Looks like Ms. Qin misunderstood my point. Ye Futian felt bitter. His reckless plan had gone awry.
“What are you guys talking about?” someone suddenly interrupted. Both of them turned around, and Ye Futian looked respectfully at the newcomer. “Greetings, General.”
“Dad?” Qin Yi said cutely. It was exactly how you would imagine a seventeen-year-old young beauty like her to act. Ye Futian was surprised that the serious Ms. Qin also had this side to her.
“Are you bullying him again?” Qin Shuai patted the head of his daughter and then nodded at Ye Futian. “You did well today.”
“Thank you for the compliment, General.” Of course Ye Futian knew who he was–everyone in the city knew.
“You are Yu Sheng, right?” Qin Shuai looked away from Ye Futian. Yu Sheng answered with a nod.
“You are a talented mage, of course, but deep inside you are a natural born warrior. Do not only focus on becoming a mage and ignore your talent as a warrior.” Qin Shuai sounded serious. He really appreciated this boy because he was one of the most talented warriors he had ever seen. Years from now, this boy would be just as powerful as he was.
Yu Sheng nodded again. He understood this naturally.
“You are more than welcome to join the Dark Qilin Knighthood. It will be open to you at any time.” Qin Shuai was making a serious proposal. Yu Sheng was surprised, as was Ye Futian. He was only fifteen, yet he had been invited by General Qin in person.
“Sure,” Yu Sheng answered.
“Let’s go home.” Qin Shuai left with Qin Yi. She looked back at Ye Futian and smirked.
“You’ve changed.” Ye Futian sighed, feeling upset. She had promised him that he could do anything he wanted!
Ye Futian walked to the stands. His father was there talking with someone else. “It is such a shame that he did not make it onto the List of Excellence.”
“I know, he is powerful enough,” the person answered. In fact, Ye Baichuan had said this about a hundred times already.
“Can’t be compared to how good I was at that age though,” Ye Baichuan said.
Ye Futian was ashamed. He confronted his father, saying, “Come on, Dad, that was totally unfair to me. Isn’t it time for you to comfort me instead of blame me?”
Ye Baichuan felt confused. “Does this failure even mean anything to you at all?”
Ye Futian was speechless. “Just go home. I won’t see you off.”
He turned back to the dorm and sighed the entire way about how unlucky he was to have a father like that.