Song Yi and Chen Hong left after spurting out their alcohol two more times, leaving almost all of Huang Ying's bed soaked. As the two packed up their things and left the room, the mature teacher, Dingju, walked into the room wearing a small smirk while looking at Huang Ying's state. She had new bedsheets draped over her arm, allowing Huang Ying to guess at why she was here.
"If you already knew that this was going to happen, the least you could have done was warn me. Do I look like I've got an endless supply of robes on me?"
Dingju simply chuckled at Huang Ying's bitter remarks, opening the small pouch hanging at her waist and pulling out a coarse towel that she threw at Huang Ying. He caught the towel and stood up from the bed, carefully wiping himself dry while Dingju dried and made up the bed. She then pulled out four clean white robes from the pouch and tossed them to Huang Ying, who caught them while having a short exchange with Dingju.
"Seems like you've prepared pretty well. But white, huh? Can't really say that's my color."
"Shut up and accept them, don't make me smack you over the head."
"Hehe, thanks a bunch, Teacher Dingju."
Huang Ying quickly took off his black robe, which was already riddled with holes after his performance during the entrance tests, and changed into one of the white ones. The robe fit him perfectly so it seemed like Dingju had gotten them made specifically for him, a fact he made sure to quietly remember. Dingju looked Huang Ying up and down with a scrutinizing gaze after he finished changing into his robes, giving a slight nod of her head.
"No idea what you're talking about, white suits you. We've finished your procedure for enrollment, you can head to your dorm the moment your wounds have finished healing. That bear of a man is gonna come here later to deal with the last few formalities and to give you a little run down on what's gonna happen so don't cultivate too deeply."
Huang Ying could only think of one person that this Dingju would refer to in such a manner, Gang Yongye, the headteacher of the first-year students. Huang Ying obediently nodded his head and sat down on the bed again, some of the pill he swallowed earlier still remained so he had to take control over the loose energy to direct it. Dingju nodded her head and left the room, Huang Ying was the only patient there so she didn't have anyone else to check up on. Huang Ying closed his eyes after she left the room, turning his focus to his wounds while asking Li Jun for a favour.
"Grampa Jun, please notify me when Headteacher Yongye arrives."
After receiving confirmation from Li Jun, Huang Ying focused on directing the remaining energy from the pill to his wounds. He thought about using it to cultivate so that he could reach the 4th Mortal Step, but he figured that spending much more of his time locked up here wouldn't be too good.
The energy coated his shattered bones and lacerated flesh, pushing the bones together and aiding the flesh in its regeneration process, more and more of Huang Ying's wounds healing as time passed. But he was forced to stop after four hours, the door to the room getting violently thrown open, followed by a shout.
"Figures that you'd be more freakish than I first thought, kiddo! But I won't say anything about it, the more freaks we gather the better, let's just make this place a fucking hotbed for freaks, we'll see how the other academies dare raise their heads then!"
The black-bearded Gang Yongye strode over to Huang Ying's bed with large steps, crossing the distance in less than two seconds and stopping in front of Huang Ying. He looked Huang Ying up and down, softly fondling his bear before nodding his head.
"En, you're wounds are healing faster than guessed, she must have given you a pretty good pill. Right, I'll not beat around the bush, you probably also know a bit about what I've come here for. I'm here to make you swear an oath to the gods that you won't betray the Fierce Flame academy by doing something to willingly lower our strength. Once you've sworn the oath, I'll tell you a bit about what's to come and what to keep in mind."
Gang Yongye spoke quickly and loudly in an exceedingly relaxed manner, it almost gave off the image that he was leaning back in a chair. Huang Ying had no idea what this oath thing was, but Li Jun swiftly explained it to him so that he didn't have to ask Gang Yongye.
"Swearing an oath to the gods is a type of insurance here, you pick any one of the gods, usually the one who matches your element, and swear to them. This notifies them of the oath so that they'll kill you if you were to break it. But, gehehe, that doesn't matter to you, none of the gods will notice you even if you do swear on them. If they were able to notice your existence then they would have struck you down the moment you got the devouring element. So don't you worry, just swear as many oaths as you want, you can use them to trick people when they least expect it."
From Li Jun's words, it seemed like the gods were rather fearful of the devouring element, a fact Huang Ying could understand after giving it some thought. Now that he was a bit clearer on the matter, he locked eyes with Gang Yongye and swore the required oath.
"On the gods of earth and wind, I swear that I will not betray the academy by willingly lowering its strength."
Gang Yongye nodded his head in satisfaction after hearing Huang Ying swear the oath, all academies had similar oaths, making them too restrictive would repel students from joining them. Gang Yongye rubbed one of the 12 golden orbs on his belt, a chair appearing in front of him and allowing him to sit down.
"Good, always nice to see people swear the oath without trepidation or hesitation, makes it easier to trust them. Right, so first let me tell you about what's to come. You are to arrive at the first year martial field every morning as the sun rises, your next-door neighbor will show you where the martial field is. I'll also have your next-door neighbor show you to your dorm so don't worry about that. In three and a half weeks, so at the end of the month, we'll send all you first years to the Cloudreacher Forest to the west, you'll stay there for about two weeks for a training excersice. You will face actual Demonic beasts and maybe some bandits there, DO NOT get lax or you will die."
Gang Yongye's expression was solemn as he put special emphasis on the end of his sentence. He had already seen far too many students get cocky and lose their lives for nothing, he did not want to get more reports of dead students. Huang Ying seriously nodded his head in response, Gang Yongye continuing to talk after making sure that Huang Ying understood how serious it was.
"You'll get a week of rest after returning and then we'll start the ranking competition, it'll allow us to get an accurate look at the strength of all the first years and properly adjust the rankings. Once the competition is over, and every three months forward, you'll receive a reward based on your ranking. After that is free time for cultivation, but you have to come to morning classes unless you've accepted a mission. This, however, ends seven months after you've returned. The larger academies will engage in a competition in secret realm, a separate space opened within the space of a different area, and thanks to our connection with one of the competing academies we can send in 16 students, four from each year. The secret realm is known as the Forge of Heroes, because those who enter are tempered in blood and slaughter, those able to earn a high ranking in the competition emerging as heroes of the generation."
Huang Ying intently listened to every word Gang Yongye spoke, marveling at the idea behind secret realms. Just how did one open a separate space within another space, did it require the elusive element of space? Gang Yongye nodded his head in satisfaction after seeing the glimmer in Huang Ying's eyes, he was almost certain that Huang Ying would be one of the four first-year students to be appointed for the competition. Seeing that Huang Ying seemed to finish taking in the information, Gang Yongye started talking about the things he had to keep in mind.
"Right, that's all for the upcoming fun situations, let me tell you a bit about what to keep in mind. There are two main points, don't antagonize the students that have been here longer than you, and beware of the Silver Cloud faction. The first point is simple, they've been here longer than you and cultivated longer, antagonizing them will cause you to be in a world of hurt. The second point is a bit trickier and is about the two types of students in the academy. As much as we want to, it's impossible for us to keep the academy running without funds, so every year we have to take in students from the various rich families and organizations in the area. This has created two factions, the Silver Cloud which is comprised of the students that got in here due to their connections, and the Burning Cloud faction, which is comprised of students like you, who gained entrance by passing the tests. The two factions don't really get along, battles are a rather common occurrence, so just take care to not offend someone stronger or faster than you, at least then you can run away so that you can kick their asses in the future."
Everyone needed funds to advance, this was especially true for academies, which had to hand out a lot of resources to their students. The rich families and organizations would, of course, take advantage of this to nab a few advantages for themselves and their descendants. Gang Yongye gave Huang Ying one last appreciative glance before standing up and leaving, bringing his chair with him and allowing Huang Ying to return to tending to his wounds.
Huang Ying did just that, closing his eyes and focusing on his wounds. He didn't care much about the Silver Cloud and the Burning Cloud faction, he just wanted to travel and experience the world, he didn't want to be caught up in their silly battles. Song Yi and Chen Hong visited him once a day as time passed, bringing a bit of alcohol each time to increase their endurance to the foul flavor. But sadly enough, it would end the same each time, with Huang Ying being the only one able to keep it down.
And then, on the fifth day after the entrance tests, Huang Ying finished healing all his wounds. He broke through to the 3rd Mortal Step thanks to the pill so he grew a bit stronger, resulting in his healing speed being even faster than Dingju had first anticipated. She checked his entire body once to make sure there were no problems, releasing him from the clutches of the medicinal wing and sending him to the entrance, where she told him that his next-door neighbors were waiting for him. Finally leaving the building, Huang Ying felt like taking in a deep breath of fresh air, but seeing his neighbors he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"Of course it'd be you, the academy wouldn't be kind enough to give me anyone else."
