Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Look What You’ve Done
At these words, Ma Zheng was stirred.
The Sacred Land!
It was a power of the true Immortal Families, one that stood above entire kingdoms. It was the ultimate goal of every student in every academy, and even of their teachers and deans. Legend said it was a paradise on earth, a place of countless opportunities—the land every Martial Artist dreamed of.
The Celestial Profound Sacred Land was the power hidden behind Celestial City Academy. It was precisely because of the Celestial Profound Sacred Land’s secret support back then that their Celestial City Academy had managed to seize Celestial City Mountain from the Sword Institute.
He was leaving the Martial Kingdom for the sole purpose of entering the Celestial Profound Sacred Land to cultivate. In a short while, the Sacred Land’s gates would open for the first time in sixty years. Any exceptionally talented Martial Artist at the Earth Profound Realm or higher would have a chance to enter, and he couldn’t pass up such a rare opportunity.
The Martial Kingdom’s Emperor continued:
"If that’s the case, why not follow our Martial Kingdom’s tradition? This has also been the long-standing agreement between your Celestial City Academy and the Sword Institute. How about letting the disciples of the two institutes resolve their grievances with a life-and-death duel?"
’Ma Zheng was tempted. Besides, Celestial City Academy was at its zenith, while the Sword Institute could barely stay afloat and might collapse at any moment. A life-or-death struggle with them now was simply not worth it!’
"Fine! We’ll do as Your Majesty says! But the life-and-death duel must be moved up to one month from now."
After a moment of silence, Ma Zheng agreed.
Bai Yi turned to look at Shen Daoxing.
Shen Daoxing nodded.
Then, Bai Yi said to the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor, "We have no problem with that either!"
"Good!" The Martial Kingdom’s Emperor nodded. "Then from this day forward, the feud between Celestial City Academy and the Sword Institute shall be settled by a life-and-death duel between their disciples one month from now. Furthermore, no one from either institute may attack or harm any disciple of the other. Violators will be making an enemy of the entire Martial Kingdom and my Royal Family. My Martial Kingdom will muster its full strength to execute them."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Hearing this, Shen Daoxing and the others respectfully bowed to the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor.
’This time, the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor was clearly on the Sword Institute’s side. He used the entire Martial Kingdom and the Royal Family to apply pressure, all to prevent Celestial City Academy from pulling any more tricks.’
’It seemed even the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor couldn’t stand what Celestial City Academy had been doing.’
Ma Zheng gave the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor a strange look. ’He hadn’t expected Gu Yan to be so biased towards the Sword Institute today. In the past, even when the Emperor wanted to support the Sword Institute, he would only help in secret, never daring to offend Celestial City Academy.’
’Or rather, he never dared to offend the Celestial Profound Sacred Land behind Celestial City Academy.’
Ma Zheng frowned, waved his hand, and led the people from Celestial City Academy away from the training grounds.
"Thank you, Ninth Princess! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Shen Daoxing once again bowed respectfully to Gu Yawei and the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor. ’If not for their help today, we would have been forced into a fight to the death with Celestial City Academy. The consequences would have been unimaginable...’
The Martial Kingdom’s Emperor nodded and said slowly, "Shen Daoxing, just remember this: no matter what you achieve in the future, never forget that you are a citizen of the Martial Kingdom."
With that, the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor walked down the mountain.
At the side, the Eldest Prince and the Seventh Prince gave Shen Daoxing a peculiar look. ’From their Imperial Father’s words, they could hear the exceedingly high expectations he had for Shen Daoxing.’
The Ninth Princess happily followed beside the Martial Kingdom’s Emperor. She glanced furtively at her Imperial Father, thinking, ’So my stern, unsmiling father isn’t so cold-hearted after all.’
With this thought, the Ninth Princess turned, waved to Shen Daoxing, and whispered, "Shen, see you later!"
"Let’s head back, too!"
Bai Yi turned to Shen Daoxing, sizing him up carefully. "So you’re the Sword Institute’s only disciple?"
"Mm! Not bad!"
Bai Yi nodded repeatedly as he looked at him. He lifted his straw-sandaled foot to scratch his thigh, then rubbed his stubbled face. "Not bad! Not bad at all! Quite handsome. You’ve got my style from back in the day!"
"..."
Shen Daoxing.
Shen Daoxing was silent for a moment before thinking it over and saying, "Given Celestial City Academy’s past behavior, I don’t think they’ll just wait obediently for the life-and-death duel in a month."
"That’s a given! Others might not know those old fogeys at Celestial City Academy, but we at the Sword Institute know them best."
Bai Yi smiled faintly. "But don’t worry. As long as I’m here, no one can touch you."
And with that, Bai Yi led the group down the mountain.
Shen Daoxing had Six Ears, Mo Ya, and Da Shi hide in the imperial city to secretly investigate the movements of Celestial City Academy’s personnel.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw a figure by the roadside, weeping bitterly. It turned out to be He Ku, still burning yellow paper money in front of Shen Daoxing’s grave.
"Daoxing! You died so tragically! Rest in peace! I’ll never forget your kindness to me for the rest of my life. I’ll come pay my respects every year."
And now, next to Shen Daoxing’s original grave, there were two more mounds: one for Ling Shuanghua, and one for Lin Haitao.
"!?"
Ling Shuanghua.
"..."
Shen Daoxing.
Just then, He Ku heard the commotion from the mountain. He turned, saw the approaching people, and jumped in fright, plopping onto the ground with a THUD.
After a long, long time, He Ku saw Shen Daoxing smiling at him and slowly came to his senses. "You’re Daoxing... and Elder Ling? You’re not dead!"
Shen Daoxing nodded.
He Ku’s eyes widened, and overcome with joy, he threw himself at Shen Daoxing. "This is wonderful! So you really aren’t dead! What I saw before wasn’t a hallucination."
Seeing that the snot from He Ku’s face was about to get on him, Shen Daoxing pushed him away.
He Ku rubbed his head and gave a simple-minded laugh.
"And this is?"
Beside them, Bai Yi was a bit curious about who this bizarre little fellow was.
Shen Daoxing was just about to make an introduction.
Suddenly, He Ku dropped to his knees before Bai Yi with a THUD. "Elder, please accept me as your disciple! Let me join the Sword Institute."
’It’s obvious! He came down the mountain with Daoxing and even rescued Dean Lin. He must be a hidden master from the Sword Institute.’
’This time, I have to seize the opportunity. I can’t be timid and submissive just because I’m afraid of Celestial City Academy’s persecution.’
’Because this powerless version of myself... I hate it.’
...
「Inside a great hall at Celestial City Academy.」
Ma Zheng stared at the bodies of the Celestial City Academy disciples and teachers, all lined up neatly in the center of the hall. The corpses of Luo Fei and several other teachers were charred black lumps, no longer resembling human forms, their features utterly unrecognizable. Ma Zheng’s expression was grim, his thoughts unreadable.
Chen Guanggu, at his side, was about to speak when Ma Zheng turned and shot him a cold look. "This is your handiwork!"
Chen Guanggu’s expression froze, and he swallowed the words he was about to say.
The elders of Celestial City Academy standing by looked at Chen Guanggu with ill intent.
’Everyone knew that Shen Daoxing should have joined their Celestial City Academy. But this Chen Guanggu, for the sake of a single Cultivation Technique, had forced Shen Daoxing away and handed him right to the Sword Institute.’
’Even if you wanted the Cultivation Technique he possessed, couldn’t you have recruited him first?’
’But now, Shen Daoxing had become Celestial City Academy’s greatest rival!’
’If that Shen Daoxing were in their Celestial City Academy, how could the Sword Institute be so arrogant? They would have been wiped out long ago.’
’But in the end, Shen Daoxing joined the Sword Institute.’
’What a pity!’
’Even Dean Ren Changfeng felt a pang of regret. He regretted not coming out to investigate when he first sensed Dean Lin’s movements. If he had, their Heaven and Earth Academy wouldn’t have lost such a monstrous genius, and the Sword Institute wouldn’t have gotten so lucky!’
’He hadn’t felt it was a pity before, but now, after witnessing Shen Daoxing’s strength and talent, it would be a lie to say he had no regrets.’
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