Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Seizing the Courtyard
"Teacher Yun," Chen Xing asked, confused, "can the residences here really be swapped around?"
"New students can swap among themselves. As long as you submit an application, it’s usually approved. But this is limited to the freshman dorms. Once you reach the advanced classes, the dorms are arranged with three students to a unit, two to a unit, or even private, standalone courtyards. Of course, only the academy’s top-ranked students can live in those."
"It’s not just about housing. In every other aspect, the stronger you are, the better the treatment you’ll receive—far beyond that of ordinary students."
"A private courtyard," Chen Xing murmured in amazement.
Even Ye Xuan was slightly taken aback by the Profound Spirit Academy’s sheer wealth. To foster competition, the academy had created a vast disparity in the students’ treatment. He had to admit, though, that this was the only way to cultivate the strongest.
Ye Xuan didn’t particularly care about his accommodations, so he casually picked a room. Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi then chose the rooms on either side of his, occupying the three in the middle. Seeing this, Chen Xing could only choose another room with a wry smile.
Seeing this, Yun Aoxue watched Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi with a knowing smile until their pretty faces flushed red.
After that, Yun Aoxue chatted for a little while longer, then left.
Ye Xuan and the others started settling into their respective rooms. Before long, new students began trickling into the dormitory area to choose their own rooms.
"Hey, Senior Brother Cheng, someone’s already moved into this courtyard. There are only four spots left."
"What? Only four spots? There are five of us. What should we do? Does one of us have to go to another courtyard?"
"Go to another courtyard? No way! That would split the five of us up. Besides, we weren’t that early. I bet the other decent courtyards are in the same situation."
"Damn it, what rotten luck. Finding a dorm is this much of a pain in the ass."
While Ye Xuan and his friends were cleaning their rooms, they suddenly heard voices from the courtyard—several people talking, cursing, and sounding utterly classless.
Ye Xuan couldn’t help but frown.
"Senior Brother Cheng, what do you think we should do?" one of the voices continued.
"What else can we do? Drag out the four who already moved in and take a look. Our Senior Brother Cheng is a noble from the Royal City! Is he supposed to share a courtyard with any old riffraff? If they don’t measure up, we’ll kick them out."
"Exactly. Senior Brother Cheng has a noble status. He’s the son of the Minister of Rites! Commoners have no right to live under the same roof as him."
"Right, call them out and see what kind of people these four are. Let’s hope they’re not some country bumpkins. If word got out, we’d lose face too."
"Perfect! We’ll just kick one out. Then it’s one room for each of us five. Hahaha, I’m a goddamn genius."
The voices were harsh and aggressive. Though the speakers couldn’t be seen, their words were crude, vile, and grated on the ears.
Just from the sound of their voices and the content of their speech, it was easy to imagine they were an arrogant and overbearing bunch.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
No sooner had they finished speaking than heavy pounding came from the doors of Ye Xuan’s and the others’ rooms.
Ye Xuan frowned, but he remained completely unperturbed.
He opened the door to find a rat-faced youth standing outside.
Someone was pounding on Leng Yingying’s and Feng Rouyi’s doors as well. In the courtyard, a young man in rich clothes stood with an air of pure arrogance—the very picture of a nobleman’s son, with his nose in the air and a look of utter disdain for his surroundings.
The rat-faced youth sized up Ye Xuan, a trace of disdain showing in his eyes. Just as he was about to speak, a sharp gasp was heard from the side.
"Haha, Senior Brother Cheng, look! Beauties! Absolute beauties!"
A low shout from the side immediately drew the rat-faced youth’s attention. Upon seeing Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi open their doors, the other boys’ eyes lit up instantly, like flies spotting a feast. They were practically drooling.
"Haha, Senior Brother Cheng, we’ve really hit the jackpot this time. To think two such beauties live here."
"Tsk, tsk. What curves, so graceful. They’re absolute perfection."
"Where might you two ladies be from? My name is Wu Lang. We’ll be classmates from now on. I hope we can get to know each other well."
All five youths were staring, their eyes gleaming. Except for the one in the center of the courtyard—the one they called Senior Brother Cheng—who managed to maintain some composure, the others were practically drooling. But even Senior Brother Cheng couldn’t hide the flicker of stunned admiration and lust deep in his eyes.
"Who are you people? Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to disturb others in their private residences at the academy?" Ye Xuan said coolly.
"Who’s this little punk to lecture me about rules?" the rat-faced youth sneered, sizing Ye Xuan up. "You don’t look like you’re from the Royal City. Where’d you crawl out from?"
He postured, looking down at Ye Xuan from the corner of his eye.
Ye Xuan glanced over coolly. The other youths had gathered back in the courtyard, smirking at him and Chen Xing. Every one of them was looking down their nose at them.
"Ye Xuan, what’s going on?" Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi walked over, confused. Their Profound Sense wasn’t as strong as Ye Xuan’s, and the dorm rooms had good soundproofing, so they hadn’t heard the group’s foul-mouthed conversation in the courtyard.
When the youths saw the two beauties approach Ye Xuan and start a conversation, their expressions immediately darkened.
"Hey, kid, are you deaf? I asked you a question!" Seeing Ye Xuan’s nonchalant expression and complete disregard for his question—not to mention being approached by the beauties—the rat-faced youth’s temper flared.
"And who the hell are you? Don’t you know the academy rules about making a scene outside someone’s dorm? What a moron," Chen Xing snapped, stepping forward menacingly. He wasn’t one to back down from a fight and fixed the rat-faced youth with a harsh stare.
"Well now, aren’t you a cocky one? Talking to me about rules? I’ll teach you what the rules are." Enraged, the rat-faced youth raised his hand and swung a vicious slap at the approaching Chen Xing, his palm cutting through the air with a whistle.
’What an arrogant bastard.’ Seeing the other guy attack without warning, Chen Xing’s anger surged. Profound Qi flared within him as he shot his hand out to grab his opponent’s wrist.
The attacker clearly hadn’t expected Chen Xing to dare fight back. Caught by surprise, his wrist was seized in a grip like an iron vise, immobilizing him.
"’You’re courting death!’ The rat-faced youth’s face turned crimson with humiliation, having lost face in front of the two beauties. With a furious roar, he aimed a sudden kick at Chen Xing’s chest."
But if he was vicious, Chen Xing was even more so. Before his opponent’s foot was even halfway there, Chen Xing had already gathered his strength and unleashed his own kick. His leg shot out faster, striking first despite the opponent’s earlier move. THUD! He sent the rat-faced youth flying, knocking him onto his back in the middle of the courtyard, right in front of his friends.
Chen Xing dusted off his hands and said with a sneer, "Tch. You come in here shouting and acting all tough, and I thought you were a big shot. Turns out you’re just a pushover. What a disgrace."
"You..." The rat-faced youth gritted his teeth, but his chest felt terribly constricted. His face was beet red, and he let out a choked gasp before he could finally breathe again.
Ye Xuan smiled faintly. The Cultivation Technique he’d taught Chen Xing might not be world-shaking, but in a place like the Liuyun Kingdom, it was top-class. As a new First Layer Samurai at the Profound Spirit Academy, Chen Xing’s strength was in no way inferior to any of his peers.
"You’ve got some nerve, kid! Do you have any idea who we are?"
"You’re nothing but an ant, yet you dare to strike Zhou Xi so viciously! This is complete lawlessness!"
"How dare you attack someone in private!"
The remaining youths roared in anger, their arrogance palpable. They spread out in a fan, surrounding Ye Xuan’s group. Profound Qi flared from their bodies as they looked ready to start a full-blown brawl at a moment’s notice.
Chen Xing scoffed. "You barge into our dorm, insult us, and throw the first punch, and you have the nerve to blame me for fighting back? That’s ridiculous."
"See, Senior Brother Cheng? This brat is completely out of control!"
"You’re nothing but an ant. Zhou Xi hitting you was him doing you a favor, giving you face, and you actually dared to fight back?"
"Looks like these guys won’t know their place until we teach them a proper lesson."
This only enraged them further. They continued to shout, their expressions and tone no different from common street thugs.
Their words were so absurd that even Ye Xuan felt the urge to laugh. ’What a bunch of arrogant fools.’ In their minds, barging into someone’s dorm and starting a fight was an honor they bestowed upon others. Their victims were supposed to just take it without resisting. To fight back was to court death.
It was utterly preposterous.
Ye Xuan was actually curious to see how far they would take this. His gaze shifted to the center of the courtyard, landing on the richly dressed, arrogant youth.
He was clearly the leader of the group, their boss.
Sure enough, as Ye Xuan’s gaze fell upon him, the others stopped their shouting and turned to look at him as well.
When the youth met Ye Xuan’s unabashed stare, his brow twitched. He was clearly displeased by such a direct gaze, taking it as a grave personal offense.
His gaze hardened, and he was about to erupt in anger when he glanced at Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi. His expression softened for a moment. Then, turning back to Ye Xuan with his nose in the air, he gave a dismissive wave, like shooing away a fly. "You two," he said coolly, "pack your things and go to another courtyard. The five of us are taking this one."
His tone and posture were that of a master giving an order to a servant—impatient and utterly arrogant.
At that, Ye Xuan finally laughed. It was a very, very cold laugh.
As the saying goes: a phoenix doesn’t roost with chickens, and a dragon doesn’t dwell with snakes.
By his very nature, Ye Xuan considered ordinary Martial Artists beneath his notice. If the academy hadn’t mandated that so many people share one dormitory, he never would have allowed them to stay here in the first place.
