Qing Moyun and Xing Dong's eyes flashed with a sharp light when they heard Huang Ying's carefree response, their eyes sweeping his entire body in an attempt to figure out where his boundless confidence came from. They both nodded their heads slowly and then turned around, casting one last look at Huang Ying, Song Yi, and Chen Hong before they walked away.

Contrary to their normal arguing and fighting, as their opposing factions were want to do, the two actually walked rather close and seemed to be whispering to each other. The completely disregard that Huang Ying and the others had shown them had clearly infuriated them greatly. Langye, who had felt choked by the mere presence of the two students, couldn't help but worriedly lean closer and whisper to Huang Ying.

"Senior Brother Ying, are you sure that it's wise to anger the two of them so much? In the long history of the academy, there have already been many students who have wound up dead after going against either of the two factions."

The Silver Cloud faction took care of troublesome students from both their own faction and from the opposing faction and the Burning Cloud faction was much the same. Over the years, the two factions had buried many students, some strong and some weak. But contrary to her worries, Huang Ying still maintained his carefree smile, not even Song Yi and Chen Hong looked anxious.

"Thanks for the warning, but I already knew that. This world isn't a kind place, it never has been and it likely never will be, that's just how the cultivation society is. Even here in this academy, the best thing they can do is basically throw a cloth over the problem and hope that we won't see the truth. But that cloth still gives us some time, neither factions are willing to just tear it away and expose everything, they'll wait for an appropriate time. They're probably planning on waiting until the ranking competition or until we head to Cloudreacher Forest. But by the time they get the chance to deal with us, they have to take care that they aren't the ones that get eaten up. I wonder what nitwits like them taste like?"

Langye still had no idea where Huang Ying's arrogance-like confidence came from, but seeing the carefree curve of his lips she could feel herself calm down a little. This was why she had decided to follow him, so that she could learn how to have this level of confidence, to have the determination to be free and unyielding. Song Yi and Chen Hong's laughters were also dying down at this point, Song Yi patting Huang Ying comfortingly on the shoulder.

"Aiai, look at that, you've already gone and caused so much trouble that I feel sorry for you. Did you see their faces before they left? Man, it looked like they wanted to skin you alive and eat you."

Song Yi was still chuckling while speaking, a somewhat gloating expression on her face that showed how she really felt about the situation. Huang Ying glanced at her, raising an eyebrow while pointing at Chen Hong, who was also still chuckling a little.

"I don't wanna hear that from someone who burst out laughing right in their faces. I'm fairly certain that the last look was aimed at the two of you. But really, you did the same back when we were in front of my cabin, are you just trying to cause trouble for all of us or what are you thinking?"

If they were angered because Huang Ying disregarded them then he couldn't even guess at how furious being laughed at and basically mocked like that would make them. Song Yi maintained her smile but there was actually a rather serious light flashing in her eyes as she spoke and stretched out her arms as if she was trying to encompass the whole world.

"Hehe, of course, I'm trying to cause trouble for all of us, why else would I be mocking them so openly? But come on, let's be honest, things would have gone to shit even if I didn't laugh like that at those occasions, you've got a knack for stirring up trouble after all. And that's a good thing, a necessary thing. This world is stagnating and rotting, it won't be long before the weight of its own decay causes it to collapse. It doesn't need heroes, what it needs is people like you, me, and Chen Hong, one's that cause trouble wherever they go and can stir up a massive wave to rock everything."

Song Yi's casual smile took on an unquestionable majesty as she spoke, speaking about her true ambition for the first time since it was born in her. Just like Huang Ying, her eye's weren't trapped here in this small patch of land, her gaze wandered into the endless ocean of the universe and burned with a desire to turn it upside down.

Langye shuddered slightly upon hearing about the grand determination that didn't belong in a small academy like this, even Chen Hong's eyes lit up slightly before he took on a ruminative expression. Even Huang Ying looked somewhat affected, rubbing his chin with an unprecedentedly serious expression.

"No need for heroes, huh? Guess there's no need for me there then."

All the majesty and seriousness that Song Yi had built up instantly evaporated after Huang Ying spoke, even Langye looking at him somewhat caught off guard. Song Yi once again started to laugh somewhat, her expression cringing slightly.

"Oh come on, if you're gonna make a joke at least make it a good one, that one was so terrible that it physically hurt me."

(Author note. The Mc's name literally translates to Bright Hero, so he really was just making a shitty pun.)

Even Chen Hong, who hadn't joined in on the conversation, ended his pondering just so he could heavily roll his eyes in exasperation, letting Huang Ying know just how bad he found the joke. But as the one who made the joke, Huang Ying obviously had to defend it somehow.

"Fuck you, that joke was great and you know it, you're just jealous that you couldn't come up with it before I did."

Song Yi and Chen Hong simply rolled their eyes repeatedly at Huang Ying, not even bothering to come up with any counter-arguments to convince this deluded person of the truth. Huang Ying was about to open his mouth once more when a powerful voice resounded over the entire martial field.

"Alright, that's enough. Stop playing around with your little girlfriend and come over here so that we can start the lesson."

Huang Ying closed his mouth and turned his head, the headteacher Gang Yongye had somehow arrived without anyone noticing, standing right by the crowd that surrounded one of the stages. Huang Ying didn't immediately head over, his eyes turning to glance at Song Yi.

"My little girlfriend? Her? Yeah, no thanks, you can throw her onto someone else."

Huang Ying shrugged his shoulder and took his eyes off of Song Yi, casually sauntering towards Gang Yongye and the others. But a hand landed on his shoulder before he could make it too far, the voice of Song Yi coming from behind him.

"Now you hold on just a minute, the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

Huang Ying stopped in his tracks and turned his head, his gaze landing on the slightly twitching expression of Song Yi. He tilted his head slightly while looking at her, returning the question with another, starting a little tirade with her.

"What, you want to be my little girlfriend?"
"heck no, I'd dump your ass without a second thought, as if someone as pretty and great and amazing and grand as me could end up with you. But now you're just hurting my pride, rejecting the idea that fast, are you trying to start a fight? The least you could do is explain why your tastes are so bad."
"First of all, now you're just being unreasonable..."
"Fuck you, I can."
"... And second of all, why would anyone want to have a little child like you as their girlfriend? The last thing I need is to be labeled a pervert."
"A little child? I'm the little child here? You sure that you of all people want to be the one to say that?"

Song Yi ended the tirade by sweeping her differently colored eyes all over Huang Ying, telling him very clearly that she knew not just his actual cultivation but also his actual age. Huang Ying was once again caught completely off guard by her, raising his arms in defeat and remaining silent while having a quick chat with Li Jun.

"Grampa Jun, do you have any idea what sort of bloodline she might have?"
"It's not hard to guess that it's an eye-bloodline, but I can't say I've met anyone with an eye-bloodline that would let her see things like that. I have a guess based on a legend I once read in a scroll, the Right eye of God and the Left eye of the Devil, one eye to see all truths and one eye to ruin all beings. But you'd have to make her fully use her bloodline against you for me to be able to tell if she has the other traits of this bloodline. That Chen Hong fellow is much the same, you'd have to make him fully use his bloodline if you want me to guess at what it is."

Huang Ying gave a very faint nod after receiving Li Jun's response. He himself knew practically nothing about bloodlines so he had placed his hopes on Li Jun, but it seemed like Song Yi and Chen Hong's bloodlines were far more special than he first thought.

Song Yi let out a puff of air upon seeing that Huang Ying raised his arms in defeat, taking her hand off his shoulder and walking past him with her head held high in victory. Chen Hong also walked over, doing a poor job of suppressing his smirk while patting Huang Ying comfortingly on the shoulder.

Huang Ying simply shook his head, he hadn't expected a simple quick joke to create such a reaction from Song Yi. The three of them headed over to Song Yi, who had stopped a few steps away and was pretending to be impatiently looking at the shadows while waiting for them to catch up. The group of four then headed over to the rest of the first-year students, the black-bearded Gang Yongye nodding his head and throwing two beast-skin scrolls to Huang Ying.

"As you currently hold a rank within the top 10 of the first-year students, you have earned the right to a cultivation technique fitting your elements rather than having to use the generic one. The brown hide scroll contains the moves of the Mountain Mover cultivation technique while that silk-like leather scroll contains the moves of the Cloud Devourer technique. I'll also teach you the generic one now along with the rest of the students so make sure you watch closely and memorize the moves!"

Huang Ying caught the two scrolls but didn't read them right away, putting them into the pockets lining the inside of his robe. He then nodded his head and closely observed Gang Yongye, this was a good chance to learn more about actual and proper cultivation, it was not something he could miss or do half-heartedly.