Chapter 34: The Arrogant Exchange Student

  Although the Empire has no explicit regulations on this matter, it has always been supportive. Students who can make a name for themselves in other academies will not only receive attention and preferential treatment from their own academy upon their return but also gain recognition from the Imperial military authorities. As a result, students who are fortunate enough to be sent to other academies for further study as exchange students are even more enthusiastic about this challenge, making the unofficial competition between academies increasingly fierce.

  "You're happy for nothing. If you were alone against them, you'd be the one getting beaten." Zhuge Mingyue said irritably.

  "Hmm, can't beat me and hide from me?" Wan Xi Chen muttered in a rather unmanly tone. As an exchange student, his strength was definitely very strong, not to mention that he had seen Baili and Que Lian's skills a little bit, so he hung up the surrender flag with great self-awareness. After all, he was just a novice summoner now. And his magical pet was defensive-type too.

  "Have you hidden well? I think that woman will definitely cause trouble for you." Zhuge Mingyue pondered for a moment, saying, "Anyway, be careful recently and don't act alone. Also, prepare some medicine on your person."

  "Is it really that serious?" Wan Xi Chen blinked his eyes, somewhat disbelieving.

  "You don't believe what Hàozi said, do you? Women are like yellow wasps - they'll sting you to death when the time comes." Zhūgě Míngyuè shot a displeased glance at Wàn Qǐ Chén.

  Wan Qi Chen shrank his head and stopped talking.

  "Mingyue is right, in any case, it's better to be careful." Xue Zihao also didn't think that woman would give up easily.

  "Let's go, class is about to start." Zhuge Mingyue glanced at the time and quickened her pace towards the classroom.

  After school...

  "Huh, why are there so few people today?" The three of them walked towards the outside of the academy together, with Zhuge Mingyue saying in a puzzled tone. It was currently dismissal time, and usually at this hour, the road would be crowded with people coming and going, but today, the crisscrossing roads within the academy were almost empty, making the vast academy seem desolate and eerily quiet, which was quite strange.

  "Is that so? I'm late after class, but it doesn't make sense that we're all late, does it?" Wan Xi Chen also found something strange and thought about it, but couldn't figure out the reason.

  Just then, two female students rushed past beside me in a hurry.

  "Hurry up or you'll miss the good part." A girl said while running and urging non-stop.

  "What's the hurry? This time it's Liang Mu Fei who accepted the challenge, how can it be finished so quickly?" Another girl panted and complained.

  "You also know that it's Liang Mufei, he is one of the top ten masters in our college, my idol! Who knows, maybe with just one move, he can knock down those two exchange students!" The girl speaking had sparkling eyes and a infatuated expression.

  "Cut it out, dream on! I heard those two exchange students are really strong. I heard the previous ones all lost and didn't even last a few rounds. Who knows how many rounds your dream girl will last?" another girl struck back.

  "They're just two country bumpkins with brute strength, how far can they go? They're not even worthy opponents for us, Mu Fei. I bet on it." The infatuated girl said discontentedly.

  "Are you still pursuing him? Hehe, I remember it seemed like others didn't even know who he was."

  ……

  Two girls chattered and gossiped as they ran towards the direction of Jingwu Stadium.

  "We'll go take a look too." Zhuge Mingyue followed along. It was clear that the two girls were talking about exchange students, and they must be referring to Baoli, who looked like a giant, and Jiao Luo, who was exceptionally tall. Zhuge Mingyue knew that these two had decent abilities, but she hadn't expected them to be this strong, so she couldn't help but feel a bit curious, and at the same time, she also wanted to see just how strong the top ten experts in the academy were.

  The spacious martial arena was now packed to the brim with students who had flocked from all directions. This was the venue where White Feather Academy held its public martial competitions, and also a place where students would engage in private matches. Although these private matches between students carried some level of danger, they were ultimately beneficial for improving one's strength, which in turn affected the overall power and reputation of the academy. As such, the academy had always turned a blind eye to these activities, neither openly supporting nor opposing them, while also dispatching teachers to maintain order and prevent any accidents from occurring. At this moment, almost all the students had gathered here.

  When Zhuge Mingyue and a few others arrived at the arena, they saw on the platform over 1 meter high, Baili's giant-like figure was particularly eye-catching. In his left and right hands, he held two wide and large swords, each about 1.5 meters long, with intersecting chopping momentum like a rainbow. Although he didn't use any exquisite sword skills, relying on his astonishing strength, the two oversized long swords in his hands danced with vigor, bringing immense pressure just from the aura alone.

  His opponent was a young swordsman who was a head shorter than him, and seeing such a scene made him tongue-tied: this is a double-handed giant sword, ordinary swordsmen can use one well, he was opening his arms lightly like playing with it, what did this guy eat to grow up?

  The young swordsman symbolically raised his long sword and blocked a few times before being blown down without any suspense.

  It took only seven rounds to determine the winner, and what those two girls said earlier wasn't an exaggeration at all.

  "Very strong. However..." Zhuge Mingyue furrowed her brow, "He won with brute force."

  "Drinking an enhanced dose of medicine can deal with him." Xue Zihao added.

  However, the time maintained by the medicine is not very long. If the time of the medicine passes, we will lose our strength and it will be a troublesome matter." Wan Qi Chen furrowed his brow in thought.

  "Liāo Mù Fēi!" Bǎi Lǐ's sword danced in the air, striking a few times with a loud roar.

  "Hmm!" A young swordsman let out a cold hum, leaping onto the stage. His body was set off by his dark blue attire, looking lean and majestic, with sword-shaped eyebrows and bright eyes that shone with vigor, his expression proud yet not lacking in grandeur.

  Liang Mufei! Liang Mufei! Liang Mufei!

  As soon as the young swordsman stepped onto the stage, a wave of cheers erupted from below. The female students, who had just fallen in love, were excited and flushed, repeatedly shouting out Liang Mu Fei's name. The male students next to them unanimously turned their faces away, at most making some symbolic movements with their mouths, quietly cheering him on. The male students were conflicted in their hearts, hoping that Liang Mu Fei would win, yet not wanting him to win.

  "Don't be too pleased, it's still unclear who will die in whose hands." Liang Mu Fei faced the admirers below, maintaining a calm smile, and said in a low voice. From his previous move, this giant named Bai Li was only incredibly powerful, but his sword skills and aura were just ordinary, he could bully an average junior swordsman, but facing someone like him, a high-level swordsman, he didn't have even half a chance of winning, so he completely didn't put Bai Li in his eyes.

  "Hmph..." Ba Li's rock-like face twitched slightly, and he sneered, "You can only wag your tongue now."

  "It's been a hundred miles, why not let me have it? You've had fun for the past few days, now it's my turn." The tall and slender Xiao Ling still had an aloof and proud expression as she slowly walked onto the stage.

  As soon as Sparrow's words came out, the audience below suddenly burst into a murmur. For several days, no one from White Feather Academy could last ten rounds in their hands, but Sparrow said it was just for fun. These two people were a bit too arrogant. Liang Mu Fei's face also changed slightly, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes: Just playing? Then I'll let you play to your heart's content.

  "Alright, here you go." Baili drew out a massive sword and tossed it far away to Zhuo.

  The giant sword flew into the air, and then swooped down with its tip pointing downwards. The heavy sword body carried a downward momentum, how much power would it have? The students below looked at the giant sword falling like a meteor from the sky, and this thought echoed in their minds. Just as the sword tip was about to be inserted into the ground, Xiao Luo stretched out her hand, and with a light grasp of her slender fingers, she easily held onto the hilt of the sword. The sword body shook, and the sword tip flashed several sparks.

  The cheers from the crowd suddenly stopped. For several days, it had been that giant named Baili who took action, so that Xiao Lian basically didn't have a chance to take action and was almost ignored. But just based on this one move, anyone with common sense could see that although Xiao Lian looked slender, the power stored in her body was absolutely not much weaker than that of the giant Baili, and might even be stronger. Moreover, from the few casual starlight thrusts she had made earlier, her swordsmanship wasn't weak either. Such strength, such swordsmanship - what did it mean? It seemed that Liang Mu Fei wouldn't find it easy to win this time after all.

  On the stage, Liang Mufei had already drawn his long sword and was known as one of the top ten masters of Baiyu Academy. His eyesight was much stronger than that of the audience below, and at a glance, he saw: Baili was only strong in power, but from the perspective of swordsmanship and energy intensity, he might not even be considered a qualified swordsman. However, the tall girl in front of him, named Que Liao, was absolutely a genuine swordsman, and her strength was definitely not inferior to his.

  With sword in hand, Liang Mu Fei took the initiative to launch an attack. The sword body, filled with powerful energy, alternated between thrusts and stabs, a white glow flashing intermittently, tearing through the air, producing a hissing sound, forming a series of intersecting star-shaped marks outside her body, like a swirling whirlwind densely packed around her. Liang Mu Fei's feet moved in an eerie rhythm, as if a small tornado was sweeping towards Jue Luo.

  Is this the strength of a top swordsman? Looking at Liang Mufei, who was surrounded by a dazzling array of starlight, the students in the arena cheered again. But their cheers only lasted for half a moment before they suddenly stopped, and the martial arts arena fell silent once more.

  One sword, this time, the unlaunched swallow only used one sword. The giant sword slashed down from above, accurately slashing Liang Mu Fei's long sword in that dazzling cross-shaped starlight, and the huge power was like a mighty wave crashing against the shore, sending Liang Mu Fei flying out fiercely. In the face of absolute power, his high-level swordsman skills had almost no chance to be displayed.

  "I've lost!" Liang Mu Fei's face turned pale, covering his chest and trying to remain calm. His chest kept sending waves of sharp pain, earlier, that one sword from Xiao Luo had already shattered one of his ribs.

  A collective gasp echoed from the crowd below, although it was already apparent that Xiao's strength was not to be underestimated, no one had expected him to be this strong, and he actually defeated Liang Mufei, one of the top ten masters in the academy, with just a single sword strike.

  In fact, Liang Mu Fei's mood at this time was almost suffocating to death. He was very clear that Qu Lao and himself were both high-level swordsmen, even if there was a gap in their strength, he shouldn't have lost so thoroughly. However, Qu Lao's incredibly powerful strength and his simple yet elegant one sword move perfectly countered Liang Mu Fei's clever sword technique that relied on cunning to win. This one sword move allowed Qu Lao to fully utilize his power advantage, while Liang Mu Fei cooperated by exposing his own weakness of having insufficient strength despite his skillful techniques, it was no wonder he didn't stand a chance.

  The students of Byakuya Academy were in low spirits, but some refused to give up and jumped back up, continuing the challenge.

  "Moonlight, what do you think?" asked Wan Xi Chen in a low voice.

  "Liang Mufei actually wouldn't have lost." Zhuge Mingyue said in a low voice, "However, those two exchange students' powers are too strong. Different from ordinary people."

  "What kind of people are they?" Xue Zihao muttered to himself.

  Three people were discussing among themselves when a sigh echoed around them. The challenger from White Feather Academy lost again!

  "Come on, bring it on! Is this the best White Feather Academy has to offer?" Xiao Luo stood on the stage, taunting loudly, his massive sword swinging casually in his hand, his face full of disdain.

  "Let's go." Zhuge Mingyue felt it was meaningless and called Wan Qichen and Xue Zihao to prepare to leave.

  But just then, the parrot discovered them!

  Digression

  Although it's just one chapter, it's still quite substantial.