Firmament Sword

And so, the first day at True Martial Academy came to an end. For Xu Luo, it had been quite a rewarding one.

The sly old dean’s words, in particular, had opened a new window for him. The intelligent but honest young man was finally beginning to walk the path of the cunning and devious.

Xu Luo’s Divine Sense could currently cover a radius of about sixty meters, so the few people nearby who thought they were well hidden had no idea they had already been discovered.

However, he didn’t sense any malicious intent from them; it was more like curiosity.

Not everyone was as extreme as Li Tie, so extreme that he couldn’t help but question the dean’s integrity.

The people who could truly become top geniuses at True Martial Academy were rarely lacking in intelligence.

Although they also disliked Xu Luo and were puzzled by the dean’s decision, they would never show it as openly as Li Tie.

He was as transparent as a bowl of clear water.

Students might be naive, but a certain degree of shrewdness was something one developed from a young age.

After observing for a while, the people hiding around Xu Luo’s small building dispersed. For them, there was no rush to probe his abilities.

Once Xu Luo sensed their departure, he locked the doors and windows, and went down into the small building’s secret underground chamber. After closing the chamber door, Xu Luo used the knowledge of Mechanical Engineering he’d learned from Sui Yan over the years to inspect his surroundings. He finally confirmed that the place was secure.

The single-person dorms were enviable not just for their luxury and comfort, nor for the private space they offered. Most importantly, each small building had a completely independent secret chamber underneath it!

Inside this secret chamber, one could practice any Cultivation Technique they wished without fear of being disturbed.

This was also something the dean had personally told Xu Luo. The sly old man had told him to cultivate here boldly and without reservation, free from any external disturbances.

The secret chamber was spartan, with walls made of massive stones and a single meditation cushion in the center of the floor.

The cushion wasn’t new; someone had clearly cultivated here before.

Xu Luo paid it no mind, sat down cross-legged, and took the Seven-Colored Light from his Storage Ring!

A seven-colored radiance instantly filled his vision.

Xu Luo placed the Seven-Colored Light between his palms, calmed his mind, and began to circulate the Shadow Shaking Heart Method.

This time, however, his Shaking Light Star Soul didn’t absorb the energy with its usual impatient frenzy. Instead, it began to draw out the energy from the Seven-Colored Light cautiously, bit by bit.

At first, Xu Luo found this strange. But as the first wisp of energy traveled from his palms through his meridians and into his body, his mind trembled in shock. He quickly focused and began to circulate the Shadow Shaking Heart Method with all his concentration.

It turned out that even the tiniest speck of energy from the Seven-Colored Light transformed into a massive torrent upon entering his body. It was like a raging river, crashing against Xu Luo’s meridians, which were not particularly tough!

HISS!

The intense pain from the powerful energy stretching his meridians almost jolted Xu Luo, who was already in a meditative state, back to consciousness!

He gritted his teeth and endured, not daring to let his focus waver for even a moment!

Even with the help of his Shaking Light Star Soul, Xu Luo remained completely serious!

”Cultivation is your own affair!” These were words his grandfather had said to a young and mischievous Xu Su, who had been unwilling to train seriously at the time.

The excruciating pain caused Xu Luo’s brow to furrow deeply, but he showed no intention of stopping.

As long as he could become stronger, he was willing to endure any amount of pain!

Although his Shaking Light Star Soul was cautiously controlling the energy from the Seven-Colored Light, that energy was simply too powerful.

Xu Luo even had the feeling that in the next instant, all the meridians in his body would be stretched to their breaking point!

As the energy from the Seven-Colored Light continued to surge in, the level of pain grew stronger and stronger.

Eventually, Xu Luo’s handsome, youthful face became completely distorted, twisted into a knot from the extreme agony!

’Hold on!’

’I can definitely do this!’

In the end, Xu Luo clung desperately to the last shred of consciousness in his mind, with only one thought left—he would hold on, even if it meant death!

And so, in the secret chamber, the young man sat alone.

The seven-colored light flickered.

An unknown amount of time passed. The seven-colored light gradually began to dim.

Meanwhile, a rumor about Xu Luo began to spread throughout True Martial Academy.

”Haha, have you guys heard? The second young master of the National Guardian General’s Mansion... what? You haven’t heard of him? Well, you know the ’Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl,’ right? Yeah, yeah, that’s the guy. Ever since he came to True Martial Academy and went into his dorm, he hasn’t dared to come out!”

”Why not? He’s obviously scared of the academy’s rules! The academy doesn’t forbid fighting. A piece of trash like him is living in the best dorm, but he’s so weak he couldn’t even truss a chicken. Who knows how many people are lining up to beat him up!”

”How did I hear? From Senior Brother Li Tie! According to him, that Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl guy has no manners and is arrogant and aloof... hahaha, isn’t that something? Even trash can have an arrogant temperament!”

”Couldn’t he just be in his dorm doing secluded cultivation? I heard that at the Seventh Princess’s coming-of-age ceremony, he presented her with a flower of Seven-Colored Light. You all know what Seven-Colored Light is, right? It’s something even the Royal Family can’t get their hands on!”

”That’s right! On the night of the Seventh Princess’s coming-of-age ceremony, he was attacked, but he came out completely unharmed. That alone should tell you something!”

”Don’t be ridiculous! How could he have possibly obtained a Seven-Colored Flower? Even if he did, it was just heaven-defying dumb luck! And when he was attacked, how do you know he didn’t have someone protecting him? As the son of the Grand General of National Guardian, is it possible he didn’t have a couple of powerful experts with him?”

For a time, all sorts of theories spread throughout True Martial Academy.

Even the genius students who usually focused solely on cultivation and never bothered with gossip found themselves surrounded by questions.

”Senior Sister Lu, that Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl lives in your single-dorm area. Have you seen him?”

”Senior Brother Xiahou, what do you think about a piece of trash like the Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl getting to live in a single-person dorm?”

”Senior Brother Tantai, are you going to teach the Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl a lesson?”

Coincidentally, these prodigies who were being asked were the very same ones who had been secretly observing Xu Luo that day!

Their dorms were right around Xu Luo’s, not far at all. So, when they heard that the ”renowned” Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl of the Imperial Capital had been assigned to a single-person dorm, they couldn’t resist their curiosity and had gone for a secret look.

But they hadn’t been able to figure anything out. And since moving in, the guy had never come out again!

A full seven days had now passed!

It was possible to cook inside the single-person dorms, but who would believe that someone like Xu Luo, born to wealth and privilege, would cook for himself?

Besides, no one had even seen any smoke from a cooking fire.

In truth, it was common for genius students in the single-dorm area to go into seclusion for ten days or even half a month, so not coming out for seven days was nothing strange.

The problem was, this person was Xu Luo!

No one believed... that this piece of trash would lock himself away to cultivate for seven days.

”Forget seven days, he wouldn’t get anywhere even if he trained for seven years! I just hope he doesn’t stubbornly starve himself to death in there. Now that would be a real joke!”

The one who said this was none other than Li Tie, the same person who had accompanied Xu Luo through the various procedures, failed to provoke him, and ended up being hit with a sarcastic retort instead.

After Li Tie had returned, the more he thought about it, the more humiliated he felt. He, a dignified Tier Seven Swordsman, had been put in his place by a weak piece of trash!

Even though no one had seen it, Li Tie still felt utterly ashamed.

He decided he had to get even.

But for days on end, Li Tie loitered around the single-dorm area and couldn’t even catch a glimpse of Xu Luo!

He finally saw a senior student he knew coming out, and upon asking, he learned that Xu Luo hadn’t come out once since he went in!

”What else is there to say? Don’t you people have anything better to do? Wouldn’t it be better to discuss matters of state? Why are you always talking about the Civil Servant’s Rice Bowl? He’s just a piece of trash, not even worth wasting our breath on!”

Li Tie scolded a few junior students who were chattering about Xu Luo with a stern face. Seeing the look of reverence in their eyes, he finally felt a little better.

At True Martial Academy, while he, Li Tie, wasn’t in the ranks of the top-tier geniuses, he was only a single step away!

At seventeen years old, with the strength of a Tier Seven Swordsman, he only fell short of the top tier here at True Martial Academy. If he were at any other academy, he, Li Tie, would definitely be the most dazzling star!

These clueless junior students just now had actually seemed to be vaguely defending Xu Luo, which was something Li Tie absolutely could not accept.

”Have you even met that piece of trash? How dare you spout such nonsense here!” Feeling he still hadn’t fully vented his anger, Li Tie added another cold remark to the junior students.

Just then, a calm voice came from behind Li Tie. ”You’ve only met him once yourself and don’t know him at all. Aren’t you also spouting nonsense here?”

”Who’s there? Get the hell out here!” Li Tie flew into a rage. ’Have I been having bad luck lately? Now anyone dares to talk back to me?’

As he spoke, Li Tie spun around. Seeing the person before him, he was momentarily stunned. Then, a cold sneer appeared on his face. ”Finally willing to crawl out of your cozy nest? Aren’t you a piece of trash? Was I spouting nonsense?”

”Ah, so he’s Xu Luo! He’s so handsome!” one of the girls who had just been defending Xu Luo said with a delighted expression upon seeing him.

”Mm, he’s certainly not bad. I’m willing to believe his title of Seven-Colored Marquis wasn’t a fluke. Looking at the Empire’s traditions over the years, the Emperor wouldn’t do something like that for no reason,” said a tall, energetic young man, his eyes gleaming with wisdom.

Xu Luo looked at Li Tie, frowning slightly. ”You are my senior. Out of respect, I call you Senior Brother. But isn’t what you’re doing a bit inappropriate?”

”Tsk... Trying to reason with me? Do you think this is one of your noble circles? Hahaha, remember, this is True Martial Academy! Here, we use our fists—”

BANG!

Before Li Tie could finish, Xu Luo suddenly vanished from sight. The next moment, Li Tie felt a colossal, torrent-like force slam into the bridge of his nose, sending him flying.

A tearing pain instantly followed.

His entire face went numb, and his mind went completely blank from the blow!

THWACK!

Li Tie landed hard on his butt several meters away.

Xu Luo looked at him coolly. ”You mean, like this?”