A somewhat dull silence descended over the area after Huang Ying spoke his arrogant words, the people from the Burning Cloud and the Silver Cloud factions wearing bitter expressions. Chen Hong had suppressed his laughter but was still forced to cover his mouth to silence his involuntary chuckle.
Song Yi had also suppressed her laughter but wore a wide grin and looked at Huang Ying with eyes so blazing that he could already feel that she was 100% going to involve him in something troublesome. Huang Ying swept his gaze over the people gathered in front of his cabin, one of his eyebrows rising as he gave a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Can you fuck off already? Come back when you've actually found your determination, otherwise, you'll be no fun at all."
The two people that had been forced to their knees by Huang Ying grit their teeth but neither of them dared to say anything. They had already lost all right to say anything when they chose to drop to their knees to avoid the pain of getting hurt. The two quickly stood up and brought the people from their factions away, the space in front of Huang Ying's cabin quickly clearing up.
But to Huang Ying's surprise, there was someone else other than Chen Hong and Song Yi who also stayed behind. The one that stayed behind was a tall and rather muscular woman who seemed to be between 18 and 20, her dark brown hair cut short and tied into a neat bun at the back of her head. She had somewhat dark skin and light green eyes, her expression remaining resolute as she looked at Huang Ying, cupping her hands.
"Senior Brother Ying, this one is Langye, pleased to make your acquaintance. I am not from either of the factions, I simply hope that you will allow me to follow you and learn from you. I saw your performance during the entrance tests and was greatly moved, please let me learn from you so that I can temper my determination and spirit."
Langye's gaze was as hard as steel as she looked at Huang Ying, every muscle in her body completely tensed. Huang Ying met Langye's gaze, his eyes lazily roaming across her face for a short moment before he stepped forward. He did the same to her as he did to the two previous people, he placed one hand on her shoulder and started to apply strength to it. Langye was a bit stronger than the two previous people, having reached the 6th Mortal Step, but the difference between these early cultivation stages wasn't too big.
It didn't take long for Langye's shoulders to start sinking slightly, her teeth gritting as large beads of sweat started to run down from her forehead. She didn't use any of her Qi to resist Huang Ying's force, she felt that doing so would be the same as dropping to her knees, a sign that she simply wasn't determined enough.
Her legs and body slowly started to bed, soft creaking sounds coming from her shoulder and knees as the force within Huang Ying's hand slowly started to increase. Before long, Huang Ying also placed his second hand on her shoulders, increasing the pressure she had to endure even more.
But even so, she stood strong and grit her teeth to resist. As the pressure got worse and worse, she mustered all her might to tilt her body slightly backward. When she finished tilting backward, Huang Ying let go of her and shrugged his shoulders, the pressure on her body instantly vanishing.
"It's better to fall than it is to bend, huh. You've already showcased your determination, there's no point in following me around in hopes of tempering it."
Langye couldn't help but let out a deep breath, her somewhat shocked gaze drifting up and down Huang Ying's body. She already guessed that Huang Ying was very strong, but she hadn't expected that slim body to contain such a fierce physical strength. Huang Ying turned around and started walking back to his cabin, Song Yi and Chen Hong had already entered through the open door and were making themselves comfortable, the scent of alcohol wafting out from the entrance. Langye quickly called out to Huang Ying before he could enter the cabin, taking a few quick steps after him.
"You may say that, but please allow me to follow you! On that day, you refused to even fall in the face of superior pressure, I want my determination to reach that level!"
Huang Ying stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly, curiously glancing at Langye and her resolute expression. It wasn't hard to tell that she had some secret goal she wanted to accomplish by tempering her determination, but Huang Ying didn't bother asking about it. Thinking back and looking at the people around him, he couldn't help but feel like he was gathering quite a few such people around him already. But that in itself didn't seem like such a bad thing to him so he simply shrugged his shoulders and entered the house.
"Alright, just do whatever you want, let me see how far your determination will carry you."
Langye's face lit up when she heard the somewhat casual response, her body dipping into a grateful bow before she turned around and returned to her own cabin. Huang Ying had come to believe something after he acquired his powers and could start cultivating and walking his own path, and that was that those that could stand by their determination and ideals were worthy of respect.
It didn't matter if their determination was towards something good or bad, it was all just a matter of perspective after all. So since this Langye's determination was strong enough to prefer falling over kneeling, she too was worthy of respect in his eyes.
Huang Ying swept his gaze around the inside of the cabin after closing the door behind him, checking out this place that would be his home in the future. It was a very simple two-room cabin, one of the rooms being a living room containing a couch, a bookshelf, a single rectangular table, as well as four wooden chairs that had a soft peach-colored pillow attached to them.
The door to the second room was currently open, allowing Huang Ying to see that it contained a single bed covered in blue sheets as well as a dresser for clothing and a small nightstand next to the bed. He poked his head into the room and saw that the walls, ceiling, and floor were covered in very faint lines that intertwined and seemed to form some type of picture. He didn't even have to say anything, Li Jun was already explaining it to him the moment Huang Ying poked his head into the room.
"Those lines gather together to form an array, a picture drawn using materials from Demonic beasts, various natural treasures such as herbs or other natural items imbued with Qi. Inserting some Qi into the array will activate its effect, this one seems to be designed to automatically draw in the surrounding Qi once you activate it. The effect is pretty weak, but it should work pretty well in cooperation with your devouring element."
Huang Ying gave a faint nod of his head, closing the door to the bedroom after he finished observing it. The headteacher of the first years had already told him that there were several restaurants spread throughout the academy, one where the students could eat for free and four in which they had to pay for the food. There was also a shared bath for each year and multiple communal restrooms spread throughout the area, which was why the cabins didn't have a bathroom or a kitchen attached to them.
His gaze landed on Chen Hong and Song Yi, who had had both sat down on one of the chairs around the table and were facing each other. Both were holding a grapefruit-sized gourd filled with strong-smelling alcohol, glaring at each other in an attempt to get the other one to drink first. Song Yi didn't turn her head, simply digging her free hand into her robe and pulling out another gourd that she threw to Huang Ying, pointing at the seat next to her.
"Sit, drink. First one to empty their gourd gets to make one request of the losers. As you're an alcoholic, you need to empty three gourds for it to count as a win."
Huang Ying caught the gourd and let out a light sigh. These two idiots were just as competitive as him, something that made it so that they refused to stop drinking until they were able to handle it as easily as him. Huang Ying walked over to the seat he was pointed towards and sat down, smirking lightly as Song Yi brought out two more gourds for him.
"Alright, I'll drink with ya, but don't come crying to me when you both end up losing."
Both of them scoffed in response to his cocky words, but time sadly proved Huang Ying to be right. By the time they had finished two-thirds of their gourds, Huang Ying had already fully emptied his three gourds. But he felt no joy in his victory, mainly due to the fact that a little over half of the alcohol that the two of them drank ended up on the table and him, neither of them had yet to become comfortable enough with alcohol to actually keep it all down.
He chased the two out shortly after the drinking competition, using a cloth that hung on the wall next to the bookshelf to dry the table before the alcohol dried up. He then sat down on the bed in the other room and crossed his legs, closing his eyes and focusing on his cultivation, steadily increasing the size of the island in his dantian. He had already reached the 3rd Mortal Step and was making great strides towards the 4th Mortal Step, Li Jun guessed that he should be able to reach it after four to five days.
Huang Ying halted his cultivation after a few hours, standing up and stretching his body for a bit before leaving his cabin. The sun had already set, a silver moon hanging high in the sky and illuminating the world with a soft and faint light. Huang Ying drew in a deep breath, the night air somewhat chilly and refreshing.
He still wasn't completely used to continuous cultivation so he liked to take breaks like these, they helped freshen up his mind and focus his thoughts. His gaze absentmindedly swept around the surroundings, a light from the cabin to his right drawing his attention and gaze. The cabin was the one belonging to Song Yi but there was currently a bright light coming from the garden attached to it, the cabin itself obscuring Huang Ying's vision.
He gave his surroundings another quick glance before shrugging his shoulders and making his way towards the cabin, he didn't have anything better to do so there was no harm in taking a quick peek. He walked towards the cabin, which was only about 150 meters away from his, with calm quick steps that were almost completely silent due to the damp grass.
The cabins weren't lined up in a straight line, they were lined up in a step-like pattern, Song Yi's a few meters further up compared to Huang Ying's. As a result, he had to walk along the wall of the cabin to actually reach the garden behind it. But even though the cabin was still obscuring the garden as he walked along the wall, his perception allowed him to see that Song Yi was sitting on a chair in the garden, several bright lanterns forming a circle around the chair where she sat and absent-mindedly gazed into the sky. He quickly reached the edge of the house and the beginning of the garden, poking his head around the corner and giving a casual greeting.
"Yo, what are y...!"
Huang Ying quickly lowered his head before he even got to finish his sentence, an arrow whizzing past the area where his head had just been. Song Yi had instantly drawn her bow and shot out an arrow the moment Huang Ying peeked around the corner, her eyes shooting open like a panicked rabbit. She grasped the bow so tightly that the veins on her hands were writhing like worms, her eyes darting around the area. Her grip on the bow loosened when she saw that it was just Huang Ying, a few curses escaping her lips.
"Fucking hell, haven't you heard about giving girls their privacy? Pulling shit like this'll get you killed, you know? You trying to get yourself skewered to a tree by scaring me like that? Ha~h, bloody hell, you nearly gave me a damn heart attack you fucking bastard."
Huang Ying couldn't help but stare dumbfoundedly at Song Yi after hearing her curses. Wasn't he the one who almost just ended up with a hole in his head, why was he the one getting cursed at? But while he was staring dumbfoundedly at her, a burst of low laughter from Li Jun echoed out within his head.
"Gehehe, seems like the little girly is pretty darn scared of the dark, seems like something happened to her in the past that might have traumatized her pretty badly, otherwise she wouldn't be surrounding herself with light in such a manner, nor would she be so antsy. Trust me, I've seen plenty of people like her in the past."
Huang Ying made a mental note of Li Jun's words, sneaking up on this girl at night was definitely a no-no from now on, the last thing Huang Ying needed was to be bombarded by arrows because he forgot to announce his presence. Song Yi let out a deep breath when she saw Huang Ying raise his head again, putting away her bow and lowering her head in apology.
"Sorry, I know that you don't deserve to be cursed at like that for this. I was a bit too absorbed in my cultivation so when you suddenly spoke up like that I couldn't help but be spooked and act on instinct, please forgive me."
Huang Ying gave a casual wave of his hand, the earth a few meters away shifting towards him and bringing over the arrow he had just dodged. He picked up the arrow and tossed it to Song Yi, shrugging his shoulders and sitting down on the wooden fence that surrounded the garden.
"Don't mind it, I probably should have announced my presence ahead of time. But why cultivate out here like this, wouldn't it be better to cultivate in the room?"
Huang Ying's question sounded casual but it was meant to prod at her, if she gave the truth it was fine, but if she tried to cover it up then he would just ignore it and go along with it. They hadn't known each other for long after all so it was normal for them to keep some secrets from each other, even Huang Ying did the same. Song Yi caught and put away the arrow, mimicking Huang Ying's shrug as she pointed at the lanterns around her.
"Room's too stuffy, can't even breathe in there. I prefer to cultivate in the open like this, these lanterns are just something my mother taught me, they're supposed to help me focus my mind on the area around me."
Her words sounded strangely sincere, causing Huang Ying to guess that there might be more to her sitting out here than just her apparent fear of the dark. Huang Ying didn't pursue the topic, making some casual chatter before excusing himself when he noticed that Song Yi would rather be alone right now. He returned to his own cabin and sat down on the bed again, returning to his cultivation so that he could pass the last few hours before the mandatory morning class.
