Chapter 391: "Enrollment (7)"
Very soon, the seniors had quickly almost finished choosing the juniors they were to mentor and in the end, the only one left was the youngest Jun Wu Xie.
One of the senior disciples had not been fast enough to snatch up any of the older new disciples and he was now looking at Jun Wu Xie's skinny little frame from head to toe in disdain, seemingly very unwilling to pick Jun Wu Xie.
"You're already fourteen?" The senior disciple moved to stand before Jun Wu Xie, his face exasperated.
Jun Wu Xie nodded slightly, oblivious to the senior's resentment.
"Which category is your ring spirit?" The senior then proceeded to ask.
"Beast category."
"Sheesh." He cursed softly and turned to the youth who had led the new disciples in and said: "My ring spirit belongs to the weapons category, so I cannot mentor this kid."
The youth who had led the new disciples frowned with displeasure. Usually, the new disciples were paired with a senior mentor who shared the same category for their ring spirits as the methods of training differed across different categories. Even if the seniors were to accept the ward, the mentor would not be able to provide any guidance in the training of their spiritual powers.
The other new disciples who had all been paired up smiled in glee at Jun Wu Xie's predicament of being left out in the cold.
Their feelings of envy and jealousy had quickly turned into mockery.
So what if the little kid had gained Gu Li Sheng's attention? He had ended scorned by all the seniors.
The youths started sniggering softly to themselves.
Faced with the mockery from the new disciples and scorn from the seniors, Jun Wu Xie was not affected in the least and she only watched all this with a cold stare, without a ripple showing in her eyes.
"Beast category? That happens to be the same category as mine." Suddenly a cheerful voice sounded within the huge hall and a tall, impressive and attractive youth stepped in with the morning light behind him. A smile like a clean spring breeze graced his face that made him instantly likable to people.
"Senior Fan! What are you doing here?" The senior disciple who was still trying to come up with a reason to reject Jun Wu Xie suddenly froze when he saw the tall figure enter.
Fan Jin laughed lightly and amicably patted the senior disciple's shoulder and said: "I heard that you were all here to welcome our new fellow disciples into the Zephyr Academy and I thought I had to come see them too."
Upon saying that, Fan Jin's gaze fell onto Jun Wu Xie, who was standing alone on one side. His eyes surveyed Jun Wu Xie up and down before everyone and he asked with bright smile: "Has any senior claimed you yet?"
Jun Wu Xie looked coldly at Fan Jin, but did not reply.
The little black cat within Jun Wu Xie was raging to jump out at him.....
[What do you mean by claim!?]
[My mistress isn't anyone's property!]
The last remaining senior coughed consciously and said: "Senior Fan, I would love to accept the kid, but..... our ring spirits are from different categories and even if I am to accept him, I would only hamper his progress in training." His prior arrogance and disdain had suddenly disappeared before Fan Jin and appeared to be very concerned for Jun Wu Xie's welfare.
Fan Jin laughed and waved his hand dismissively to say: "You don't have to worry about that. Since your ring spirits belongs to different categories, leave the kid in my care. It's been some time since I mentored a junior anyway."
Fan Jin spoke as he looked at Jun Wu Xie, with an amicable smile on his face throughout.
"What? Senior Fan..... You..... you are going to mentor him?" The senior asked with his eyes wide with shock, thinking he might have heard Fan Jin wrongly.
"Yes! I think I like the little kid and can mentor him." Fan Jin said with a laugh.
Chapter 392: "Enrollment (8)"
In an instant, the sound of deep breaths taken by everyone sounded in the hall. The faces of seniors all appeared shocked.
"It getting rather late, everyone should bring the our new fellow disciples around to familiarise themselves. As for this kid, I'll take him." Upon saying that, Fan Jin disregarded the other seniors' shocked expressions and tapped Jun Wu Xie lightly on the shoulder and signalled for him to follow as he turned to leave the hall.
Although Jun Wu Xie did not know who this "senior Fan" who had suddenly appeared out of the blue was, but when she compared him to the rest of the seniors on the halls, this guy was a much better choice.
Even after Fan Jin had led Jun Wu Xie far from the hall, the other seniors in the hall had still not recovered.
One of the new disciples bolstered his courage and asked the senior he had been paired with: "Senior, is there anything wrong with that senior Fan? Why are all your expressions so....."
The senior breathed out heavily and rubbed at his temple: "That was Fan Jin, the adopted son of the Headmaster's! And he came in fourth in the last Zephyr Academy's Spirit Battle Tournament! What did that kid do to get so lucky to have Fan Jin agree to be his mentor! ?"
Fan Jin's identity was unique. He not only had the halo of being the Headmaster's adopted son, he possessed a rather strong ring spirit as well. On top of that, his training of his spiritual power left many other disciples of the Zephyr Academy in the dust.
"What! ?" Getting such a reply shocked the new disciple into shouting out in outrage.
The senior gave his junior a stare filled with impatience and turned to walk off. His shocked junior had no other choice but to run to catch up in a hurry.
The other new juniors who heard the news stood as if struck by lightning, all their faces frozen, that senior's words repeating in their heads.
The Headmaster's adopted son..... Ranked fourth in the Spirit Battle Tournament.....
They had just been laughing at Jun Wu Xie as the hot potato that everyone avoided, but they were now completely stumped instead. No matter how oblivious they were about the inner workings of the Zephyr Academy, it was clear obvious what Fan Jin's two titles meant for his little ward.
From the way all the seniors had deferred to Fan Jin earlier, all the juniors knew that none of the seniors in the halls could even remotely compare to Fan Jin.
First it was Gu Li Sheng's preferential treatment, and next was getting claimed by Fan Jin.....
Jun Xie's good fortune made all the other juniors almost want to bang their heads against the wall in frustration, and hating the fact that none of that fortune had befallen on them!
.....
Jun Wu Xie followed behind Fan Jin to walk out of the hall quickly and continued on through the main thoroughfare through the Zephyr Academy. The pair walked with Fan Jin in front and Jun Wu Xie behind, attracting a lot of attention.
"Is your name Jun Xie?" Fan Jin asked of Jun Wu Xie walking behind him as they continued on their way.
"Yes."
"Haha, there's no need to be nervous. I am always very easygoing and it was Uncle Gu who asked me to come find you. His description of you was spot on! Look for the smallest sized kid and it would be you." Fan Jin had a jovial disposition and his words were always accompanied with a bit of laughter in them.
Jun Wu Xie's steps suddenly faltered and she looked at Fan Jin's back thoughtfully.
"What is it?" Fan Jin turned around and looked at Jun Wu Xie who had suddenly stopped.
"Nothing." Jun Wu Xie replied, and she lowered her head to push the thoughts out of her head.
The fact that Gu Li Sheng had arranged for someone to come get her meant that he had predicted that his words spoken before everyone on the day of her enrollment would bring her quite a bit of trouble. Having made such arrangements meant that Gu Li Sheng was still keen on accepting her into the Spirit Healer Faculty, which suited her intentions fine.
The Zephyr Academy's main division consisted of only three faculties. The Spirit Healer, the weapon ring spirit and the beast ring spirit faculties. On the surface, Jun Wu Xie's ring spirit was a beast ring spirit, but her real ring spirit was the Snow Lotus. Even if she were to join the other faculties, it would be of no help to her anyway.
Chapter 393: "A Disagreeable Roommate (1)"
The Zephyr Academy allocates two people to a room in the dormitories. After Fan Jin brought Jun Wu Xie to claimed her uniforms, he proceeded to lead her to her room.
Within the room, a pale complexioned youth sat, his face gloomy, and his head lowered over a book by the window. When he heard steps approaching, he raised his head and cast his cheerless gaze over, a gaze that made one feel very uncomfortable. He looked at Jun Wu Xie and he frowned deeply, and when his eyes saw Fan Jin behind Jun Wu Xie, the sweeping glance stopped a moment and his eyes flashed very briefly. He averted his eyes away soon after and went back to his book without a word.
"You will live here from now onwards. I am on the seventh floor, last room on the extreme right. If there is anything you need from me, you can find me there." Fan Jin said with a smile and gave Jun Wu Xie a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
Jun Wu Xie nodded and Fan Jin left after bidding goodbye.
Jun Wu Xie surveyed the fittings in the room and did not feel like saying anything.
The dormitories were separated for male and female disciples and female disciples in the Zephyr Academy numbered less than one to ten males.
Jun Wu Xie's bed was on the right side and was directly across the gloomy youth's. She was not interested in other people and proceeded to tidy up her own things.
Besides the clothes, Fan Jin had prepared some daily necessities as well in a through package.
From the time that Jun Wu Xie had entered the room till she had tidied up all her things, her roommate had not spoken a single word. The room was deadly silent broken only by the occasional flipping pages of a book.
After a while, a youth bearing a jade emblem on his chest came in and when he saw Jun Wu Xie in the room, he was startled a moment before he walked towards the gloomy youth's side.
"Yin Yan, this kid is your new roommate?" The youth who had just come in asked of Yin Yan, whose head was still lowered over his book.
Yin Yan raised his head and nodded slightly, his expression showing a tinge of impatience.
"You're in for quite a bit of hassle. All new rookies are always such a handful when they are just admitted in here. I don't know what the Headmaster is thinking. He should just dump these rookies in the branch division to polish them up a little first. I don't know what they are here for at all." The youth spoke mockingly, seemingly directing his words right at Jun Wu Xie.
Yin Yan replied without hesitation: "If they are so much trouble, they should learn their place." Those words seemed to be more for Jun Wu Xie's ears than the other youth.
"Right, I heard that Senior Fan actually brought a rookie here today. What could Fan Jin be thinking! ? We are about to embark on the Spirit Hunt soon, why would he suddenly decide to drag himself down with those useless baggage?"
Yin Yan's eyes had suddenly turned malicious. His gaze fell on the Jun Wu Xie, who was quietly sitting on her bed. Jun Wu Xie had summoned the little black cat and she was leaning against the bedpost with the black cat resting on her lap, portraying a picture of serenity.
Yin Yan stood up suddenly and walked over to Jun Wu Xie.
His shadow fell over the bed and Jun Wu Xie looked up slowly, her cold eyes staring into a pair of malicious and gloomy eyes.
"The Zephyr Academy does not allow for any arbitrary summoning of ring spirits within its compound. Are you blind? Didn't you see it in the academy's rules?" Yin Yan voice sounded so malicious that it raised goosebumps on the other youth.
Jun Wu Xie's eyes did not show any expression and she only stared at her aggressive new roommate without saying a word.
The youth who had entered later was surprised at Yin Yan enmity in his tone, which was glaringly obvious by now.
Although all the seniors did not like new rookies, but he felt that Yin Yan's tone in his words had sounded a tad bit too provocative.
Jun Wu Xie said in a chillingly clear voice: "Below three feet."
After saying that, she lowered her head and did not bother to cast another single glance at Yin Yan.
Chapter 394: "A Disagreeable Roommate (2)"
Yin Yan frowned immediately at that moment. There was a rule in the Zephyr Academy that disciples were not allowed to summon their ring spirits as they liked but there was an exception to that rule. The rule only applied to ring spirits above three feet and did not include any below.
Jun Wu Xie had just been admitted that very day and she had just flipped through the rule book a few times. Yin Yan had seized the opportunity to deliberately make things difficult for her assuming that Jun Wu Xie was not aware of the rules, but he had not expected that Jun Wu Xie not only knew about it, but had even used the only exception to that rule to shut him up, and on top of that, Jun Wu Xie's attitude had been unbelievably arrogant!
Jun Wu Xie had indeed just flipped through the rule book just a couple of times, but what Yin Yan did not know was that Jun Wu Xie's brain was blessed with a photographic memory and she had actually gone through the whole rule book three times since she entered the room. Every single rule for the disciples were now memorized word for word by now.
Yin Yan's first move against Jun Wu Xie based on the assumption that she was unfamiliar with the rules had backfired onto him.
"You dared to answer back?" Yin Yan's eyes had grown even more malicious. Any new freshman that had just been admitted into the Zephyr Academy were all known to be jittery and nervous before the seniors, although Yin Yan had tried to dig up an excuse and tried to teach Jun Wu Xie a lesson, the freshmen were expected to bow down to their seniority and swallow it up in humility, irregardless whether there was a valid reason or not!
Meeting such an audacious freshman was a first for Yin Yan.
"You're too noisy." Jun Wu Xie said as she shot Yin Yan a glare.
Yin Yan's face paled further in fury.
The youth at the side saw that Yin Yan was about to lose his control and he rushed up immediately to tug at Yin Yan's arm to say: "Senior Ning asked to see you, do not waste your time with this rookie here."
Upon hearing the words "Senior Ning", the gloominess on Yin Yan's face faded. He cast a final vicious stare at Jun Wu Xie and turned to leave with the youth.
Silence fell once again within the room.
The black cat rubbed itself against Jun Wu Xie's hand and said: [That numbskull seems to harbour quite a bit of hatred for you. Did you offend someone again while I was in a coma?]
In regards to its Mistress' temperament, the little black cat knew only too well. She was never one to meddle in other people's business and disliked stirring up trouble. But her cold and fiercely independent personality nevertheless had always attracted the displeasure of others like a magnet.
Just like the situation moments ago. Yin Yan's attitude towards Jun Wu Xie might not have been too amicable, but for a freshman to be capable of slapping a senior with the words "You're too noisy" right before another senior, there was no one else but its own Mistress.
Tact had never been a trait that could be found on Jun Wu Xie and the little black cat did not hold any hope that its Mistress would gain any of it in this life.
"Never met him." Jun Wu Xie replied simply.
The little black cat sighed heavily. Its Mistress had never been someone people warmed up to at first sight. This was just their first meeting and the other party already harboured such intense enmity towards her.
The little black cat was still lamenting on its Mistress' provocative personality when on the other side of the door, the youth who had just come out of the room with Yin Yan could not stop himself but ask.
"What is wrong with you? Squabbling with a rookie like that. If you really find him obnoxious, just get someone to deal with him discreetly! You don't have to degrade yourself like that." The youth said easily. In the Zephyr Academy, teaching the freshmen a lesson had always been the norm.
Yin Yan frowned and said: "He was brought in by Fan Jin."
The youth was shocked a moment as he suddenly understood the reason for Yin Yan's actions.
"Even so, you can do it yourself then. He is just a rookie afterall, even with Fan Jin's protection, it would be easy for you if you want to give that kid a hard time. You are afterall a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty and even if anything were to go wrong, no one would dare do anything to you."
Yin Yan's brow finally smoothed out after hearing the youth's words and his mouth twisted into a malicious smile as he said: "Even without Fan Jin, the way that kid spoke to me earlier would not allow me to let her off easy anyway."
Chapter 395: "A Disagreeable Roommate (3)"
The youth nodded readily but he felt a sudden chill in his heart. Yin Yan looked to be refined and gentle from the outside, but the vicious streak hidden beneath that exterior always sent goosebumps into him.
"What does Senior Ning want from me?" Yin Yan cast the matter with Jun Xie aside for the moment to ask of the youth.
The youth could only shake his head to reply: "Senior Ning didn't say, but had only asked me to bring you to her."
Yin Yan did not probe any further on it.
Moments later, the two of them came to the beast faculty's library and on the second level of the library, a young girl dressed in the Zephyr Academy's uniform was sitting by the window. Light rays shone in through the window and fell onto the girl, shrouding the girl in a mesmerising light.
The girl's eyes were lowered, absorbed into the book she held in her hand.
Yin Yan stared at the figure engrossed in her book and cleared his throat lightly before saying: "Senior Ning."
The young girl looked up from her book and her beautiful features overwhelmed Yin Yan imposingly. Her gaze from above suffocated him and he found it difficult to breathe.
Under the girl's gaze, Yin Yan could not help but to lower his head.
The girl then shot a glance at the youth beside Yin Yan and the youth hastily left consciously.
The girl then proceeded to ask in a slow tone: "The new freshman under Fan Jin, is staying with you?"
Yin Yan replied: "Yes, I had only just found out just as well."
The girl continued: "You've seen the freshman?"
"Yes."
"How was it?"
"Very young, looks to fourteen or fifteen years old, and a small skinny frame. Looks unremarkable." Yin Yan related honestly. If not for the fact that the freshman was brought in by Fan Jin into the room, he wouldn't have even paid the new disciple any notice.
The girl shot Yin Yan a sideways glance: "If he's unremarkable, how would Fan Jin bother to choose to mentor him?"
Although the Zephyr Academy had the tradition of having seniors mentor the new freshmen, the tradition however came with a few exceptions. The selection of the mentors had always been done by chance and nobody knew who would be selected.
But within those chances, stood two exceptions.
First, the disciples of the Spirit Healer faculty were exempted. The were already very few disciples in the Spirit Healer faculty and no one knew what criteria the Master Gu Li Sheng set for his selection of his disciples. Every year, only two or three disciples were accepted into the Spirit Healer faculty, and being accepted did not mean that one would always remain in the faculty. If Gu Li Sheng were to find the disciple unsuited to study to become a Spirit Healer in the course of their training, he would not hesitate to kick the disciple out of the Spirit Healer faculty. Past history had shown, that the two to three disciples recruited every year would always end up with only one single disciple remaining with the Spirit Healers.
As of now, the number of disciples in the Spirit Healer faculty only numbered around eight or nine of them in total.
But it was exactly those eight or nine disciples who were most envied throughout the whole Zephyr Academy! It was said that those disciples did not have to shoulder any other tasks besides their training. The Zephyr Academy's only goal for them was to turn them into prominent Spirit Healers.
And besides the disciples of the Spirit Healer faculty, there was another group of people who were exempted from serving as mentors.
And that was those ranked within the top ten in the Spirit Battle Tournament!
The Zephyr Academy sets up a Spirit Battle Tournament at the end of every year. The various ring spirits were not categorised and all the disciples were gathered together to battle and the most outstanding top ten ranks would be selected from it.
Those ten disciples would be rewarded by allocating to them the best resources the Zephyr Academy had to give. Irregardless whether it was towards training or in other areas, they would enjoy better treatment than all the other disciples. The annual Spirit Battle Tournament at the end of the year was always the period the disciples of the Zephyr Academy competed the most fiercely with each other.
Fan Jin was ranked fourth in the last Spirit Battle Tournament last year and he had not needed to provide mentorship to any freshmen this year due to being exempted from taking up the laborious task that wasted time and effort.
Chapter 396: "A Disagreeable Roommate (4)"
Yin Yan nodded in understanding. Senior Ning's words made him look at the entire situation from another perspective.
"But, I have seen the kid's ring spirit as well, and it's just a ordinary little black cat..... It didn't seem to be extraordinary in any way."
"Just an ordinary little black cat?" Senior Ning's attractive face took on one of cold mockery. Her eyes looked at Yin Yan tinged with regret. "Do you think if the kid did not possess any capabilities and possessed only a little black cat, he would be directly admitted into the Zephyr Academy's main division? Little Yan, you are still too young."
Senior Ning's words splashed like cold water on him, waking the ignorant Yin Yan up rudely.
He had only looked at Jun Wu Xie's age and the unremarkable little black cat. But he had naively forgotten about the fact that Jun Wu Xie had been one of the few applicants that had successfully gained direct entry into the Zephyr Academy's main division.
Yin Yan himself was an applicant who had been admitted directly into the main division and he naturally knew how difficult it was to achieve that feat.
Having been reminded, his contempt for Jun Wu Xie seemed to have tapered a little.
"Senior Ning is right as usual, your junior here has learnt something." Yin Yan humbly acceded.
Senior Ning laughed, the sound a light tinkle, and without any other acknowledgement, she lowered her eyes back onto the book in her hand. However, without looking up, she continued to say: "The fact that Fan Jin had gone on his own accord to take in the new disciple as his ward must have made you feel rather bitter, didn't it? He had totally disregarded your existence before and now he is showing so much concern for a newly admitted disciple. It pains me to see the great disparity of his actions in the way he treats the two of you.
Senior Ning's words cut like a knife on Yin Yan's heart as the humiliating scene surfaced once again in his mind, and he was reminded once again by the pictures of his unforgettable disgrace. In the next moment, Yin Yan's face had darkened terribly and his hands clenched into fists. His arms were held tight against his body and veins protruded on them, the only signs revealing his mightily suppressed rage.
Senior Ning's face flashed with an almost unnoticeable smile but it very quickly faded away.
"But that is already a thing of the past, and I think Fan Jin must have deeply regretted it. You are no longer that ignorant freshman anymore and have made it into the Spirit Healer faculty. Compared to many of the other disciples, you would tower of them with your achievements. There is no need to wallow in self pity anymore." Senior Ning gently placated Yin Yan, after having incited his rage and hatred under the mask of sympathy.
Yin Yan was oblivious to the fact that his emotions were being manipulated by a mere few words uttered by a young lady, all well within her control.
"Yes! I thank Senior Ning for your concern! I will never forget the humiliation I suffered that day. I am what I am today due to Senior Ning's benevolence." Yin Yan said with a cold laugh, his eyes narrowed at the memory.
[That's right, he Yin Yan was already a member of the Spirit Healer Faculty and had earned the endless envy of countless other disciples. He was no longer trash that others despised!]
[Fan Jin, I will make you see, that the disciple you yourself have chosen, be reduced to become trash, before me, Yin Yan!]
Yin Yan's eyes grew more and more malicious and Senior Ning noted that change, and her chilling smile grew wider.
"I was willing to give you that chance, not out of pity, but because of the belief I have in your potential, and it was worth it for me to pave the way for you. You must not squander the efforts I have put in." Senior Ning's voice was touching was it carried a tone that allowed no breach to its meaning.
"Rest assured Senior Ning, your wish is my wish. I will not disappoint you." Yin Yan replied with a malicious smile.
Senior Ning beamed and raised her head at him: "Then, first go find out everything you can about the new disciple under Fan Jin's wing."
Chapter 397: "Envy, Jealousy, and Hate (1)"
"Yes." Yin Yan nodded.
Senior Ning was finally satisfied and waved dismissively at Yin Yan. He dared not protest in the slightest and obediently left the library of the Beast Spirit faculty.
Back in the dormitory, Jun Wu Xie was completely unaware of the series of trouble coming her way, brought about by the well intentioned arrangements Gu Li Sheng had specially made for Jun Wu Xie.
Seeing that Yin Yan was not back yet, Jun Wu Xie changed into the Zephyr Academy's uniform. It was be said though, the Zephyr Academy with their exorbitant fees, had taken care of every single details very carefully. Even the uniforms of the disciples used the finest fabrics, but it was the least they could do afterall.
On the first day the new disciples were admitted, they would only be transferred to their respective faculties the next day. And on that first night, all of them were to go attend a lecture about the Zephyr Academy.
Before dinner, tens of the new disciples gathered in small groups of three to five and made their way towards the lecture. All of them were changed into their new Zephyr Academy uniforms, the young youths were all in smiles and in a jovial mood.
Jun Wu Xie walked into the room alone. Within the large room, all the other disciples were seated and Jun Wu Xie's arrival attracted quite a bit of debate among the youths.
Every single disciple who was admitted in the same batch into the Zephyr Academy together with Jun Wu Xie, held great enmity against the unbelievably lucky youth. They all knew that the Spirit Healer faculty only accepted three disciples yearly and Jun Xie had taken up one spot before they were even officially admitted. That had only meant that the competition for those highly vaunted places would be greatly intensified.
"I really don't see what's so special about that kid. Besides his spiritual power, he is inferior in every other aspect compared to us. Why should he get all the luck?" A new disciple complained as he cast a glance at the lone figure of Jun Xie in the corner, grumbling to his companions .
Jun Wu Xie was the youngest among all of them there and the next youngest among this new cohort who had been directly admitted into the main division was already fifteen and a half. Their spiritual powers were all still stuck in the red level, and the reason they had gained direct entry was due to the fact that they possessed rather powerful ring spirits.
It was a fact that in the beginning, the effect their spiritual powers had mattered little and people relied on the might of their ring spirits. The power strong ring spirits exhibited in the earlier stages was more obvious when compared to weaker ring spirits of similar level and the speck of spiritual power of the ring spirit holders at that stage was not important.
Until they reached the green level, would spiritual power gradually demonstrate greater effects. For people below the green level, they would still be helpless if they meet a powerful ring spirit as an opponent.
Like if a person was at the red level in his spiritual power and he possessed a grade three ring spirit, he would be able to completely overpower an orange leveled opponent.
Hence, even when Jun Wu Xie's achievement of an orange level at fourteen had made many jaws drop, to these youths who were able to gain direct entry into the main division, they instead held powerful ring spirits. The weakest one among them was a grade three ring spirit and they did not need to fear someone just because he achieved the orange level.
"His luck will not stay with him forever. You think you would definitely become a Spirit Healer once you are admitted to the Spirit Healer faculty? For all the disciples accepted into the Spirit Healer faculty every year, only one person would remain in there. Looking at him, I do not think that he will last long in the Spirit Healer faculty." The group of youths laughed and chuckled as they stared at the tiny figure, still silent in the corner.
With jealousy eating at their hearts, it made them yearn for Jun Xie to quickly fall from grace.
It was known, that once kicked out from the Spirit Healer faculty, they would not be allowed to stay on in the Zephyr Academy and was expelled completely.
Unfriendly stares came from all directions but Jun Wu Xie sat in the corner of the room completely unaffected. She just sat there quietly and gently stroked the little black cat in her arms.
Chapter 398: "Envy, Jealousy, and Hate (2)"
The noise quickly died down. Dressed in the Zephyr Academy's uniform for teachers, a man walked onto the front of the stage. With a stern face, he began to explain to the new disciples about the three main faculties.
The disciples were simply picked and segregated into the various faculties based on their ring spirit's type, with the exception of the Spirit Healer faculty. The criteria was a little different. When the man mentioned the words "Spirit Healer faculty", all the ears in the crowd pricked up.
Before the new disciples had come here, they had heard a lot from their seniors. The selection of disciples to enter the Spirit Healer faculty was always conducted after the meet on the first night of their admittance into the academy, and Gu Li Sheng would pick the disciples personally.
That was the main reason the exuberant youths were willing to sit patiently throughout the long lecture on the attributes of Beast and Weapon Spirit which the directly admitted disciples had known very well about!
They were waiting the whole night for this! Just for this moment!
Gu Li Sheng!
The founder of the Spirit Healer faculty, and the founder of Spirit Healing. The man at the top of the golden pyramid, who looked like he was only in his twenties.
No one would ever have imagined, the one and only Spirit Healer, would be a young man looking just like being in his twenties, and founded Spirit Healing.
But, no one would actually naively believe that Gu Li Sheng was in his twenties.
In the eyes of the people across the vast lands, they only knew his identity as the founder of Spirit Healing, and the people knew he was in the Zephyr Academy.
But in regards to his origins, his background, his age and his prowess, they were all shrouded in mystery, and no one knew for sure.
Spirit Healers had never been heard of before Gu Li Sheng extended his assistance to heal his country's supreme leader's ring spirit. He became an overnight sensation after that and he soon became the name most highly sought after, and it in turn became his profession.
He started in the Zephyr Academy as a never heard of faculty, to become the place every single disciple of the Zephyr Academy yearned to be.
For those disciples studying Spirit Healing in the faculty, before the youths in there even became full fledged Spirit Healers, all of them would have received invitations from various powers within just the first one month they gained entry into the Spirit Healer faculty.
Gu Li Sheng was very lax with his disciples and besides teaching and guiding them in the art of Spirit Healing, he did not meddle much into their lives nor restrict them in any way. Hence, for the disciples admitted into the Spirit Healer faculty, irregardless whether they chose to serve under their own families' name, or to accept the olive branches offered by the various powers, their reputations and social standings had already grown wings before they even graduated!
It was very clear what having a Spirit Healer on their side would mean for any power, and if they succeeded in becoming a full fledged Spirit Healer, they would gain all they ever wanted and the future held endless possibilities.
All the youths below the stage waited in wide eyed anticipation, waiting for the moment that was finally about to come. Even though Jun Xie had already stolen one of the available spots, at least one or two more among them still stood a chance to be admitted into the Spirit Healer faculty. Whether any of them would eventually become a Spirit Healer would be up to their own capabilities!
The man at the front of the stage stoically completed the full itinerary in a monotonous voice before he suddenly looked up and scanned the crowd of youths, who were all staring back at him with fire in their eyes.
Every year, at this point of the meet, the man knew exactly what the youths were all thinking.
But.....
This time he was about to disappoint them.
The man stayed silent a moment before he suddenly sighed heavily before saying: "I know very well that all of you are waiting eagerly for the arrival of Teacher Gu. But I am sorry to say that he would not be coming today."
Chapter 399: "Envy, Jealousy, and Hate (3)"
The man's words had just fallen into the ears of the crowd when a great roar erupted from the floor!
The youths had been greatly expectant and now, they stared at the man in utter disbelief, unable to stay seated on their seats.
Gu Li Sheng was not coming!?
Why was that!?
Had they changed the format and method in the selection of disciples to be admitted into the Spirit Healer faculty!? The youths were tumultuous as they looked on at the man, asking for further elaboration.
The man looked back at the crowd helplessly to say: "Master Gu has relayed his message that the Spirit Healer faculty's disciple for this year has already been selected."
Selected ! ?
The youths were all stunned.
When was the selection conducted?
Why were they not informed!?
The youths started discussing among themselves and many guessed that Gu Li Sheng had altered his method of selecting his disciples and had secretly observed all of their every single action upon their entry into the lecture room.
No one among them knew the exact criteria that Gu Li Sheng had set in his selection of his disciples and now that it was announced that the selection had been done, they could only guess that Gu Li Sheng had been within the room along and had been secretly observing all of them.
That conclusion made many of the youths extremely nervous as they recalled all of their actions throughout the lecture. They tried to think back on whether they had been paying close attention to the lecture or had acted distracted and unfocused. They were all worried that they might have left Gu Li Sheng a bad impression.
Seeing that the youths were all heavily confused, the man could not help but heaved another great sigh before he cleared his throat and said: "Master Gu has already informed the disciple he had chosen to be admitted into the Spirit Healer faculty and for all those who have not received word by now, it would mean that you have not been selected and need not continue to second guess it any further."
The youths stared blankly at the man before them and a revelation suddenly dawned upon them all.
The man had mentioned that "Master Gu has already informed the disciple". He had said "disciple", and not "disciples".....
"Sir, Master Gu..... accepted how many disciples this year?" A youth who had caught on a little faster than the others asked cautiously as a horrible reality surfaced within his head.
The man replied: "Just one." Cold water splashed onto all the youths within the room and their hearts dropped into their toes. The tiny glimmer of hope they all held flickered and was finally snuffed out!
One!?
The Spirit Healer Academy accepted only one disciple this year!?
How could that be?
All the youths were utterly devastated!
"Who? Who was this most fortunate person!?" This special favour shown on just one person among them drove the youths into a frenzy. They turned to look in all directions trying to locate that most fortunate person among them.
As they turned to peer all around, their gazes swept over a lone tiny figure seated in a corner all by himself. Suddenly, their hearts froze and they stood unmoving, rooted to the ground.
Who?
Who else!
Damn it! Before that brat had even been admitted into the Zephyr Academy, he had already been invited by Gu Li Sheng to go see him at the Spirit Healer faculty! Who else would be the one selected but that brat there!
The youths had only been envious and jealous of Jun Xie before this. But upon knowing that the puny kid had stolen the one and only spot into the Spirit Healer faculty, their rage rose and intensified, coalescing into thick rolling hatred!
All of them were capable enough to gain direct entry into the main division, and they were youths of outstanding talents, praised as geniuses from where they were from. But despite all their magnificence, they had all been deemed inferior to a tiny and puny pipsqueak, who possessed a cold and distant disposition, and lost that one lone opportunity to become a Spirit Healer to him! That was such an outrage!
Even though the other faculties held greater might and power, they were nevertheless indignant that despite the great number of them, they were pushed out by such a character! ! !
All the tens of youths stared with their eyes on fire, all directed at the tiny figure of Jun Xie in the corner, wishing with all their might that the brat would just burn up in flames!
Chapter 400: "Envy, Jealousy, and Hate (4)"
Even the little black cat that was snoozing on Jun Wu Xie's lap could sense the thick hatred coming from all those hate filled stares. It opened its eyes and looked at its calm mistress.
Jun Wu Xie's face did not show any emotion and it was calm as if carved out of stone.
The little black cat covered its eyes with its paw. From another perspective, its mistress' reactions were almost the same as an autistic child.
Before the little black cat could finish lamenting on its mistress' oblivion to others, one of the youths had already stepped out and was walking towards Jun Wu Xie.
"The one that Master Gu chose, is it you!?" The youth still refused to give up and could not help himself but to ask.
Jun Wu Xie raised her head slowly and looked at the aggressive youth before her. She merely gave him one brief glance before she lowered her head once again to return to stroking the little black cat.
Finding himself ruthlessly ignored, a sudden fire burned within the youth. This kid is being unbelievably arrogant! Not a single word in reply but to just shoot him a contemptuous look! How could anyone take it lying down!?
If the little black cat had spoken then, it would have told the fuming youth this:
"Boy, you are getting it all wrong..... My mistress isn't being arrogant, she is just a little speech impaired!"
In both her previous and present lives, she had not existed or lived in any social environment. Even after joining the organization, she had operated alone. In regards to such a place like an academy that had large numbers of people living in the same place, this would be her first time being admitted into one.
When she had been in the Phoenix Academy, the whole East wing had only the few of them staying in it and it had not been too bad. But here in the Zephyr Academy, the place was filled to the brim with menacing eyes and hostility from people and Jun Wu Xie's self containing walls have naturally deployed in defense.
The effects of those walls had caused Jun Wu Xie to be labeled to be an haughty and conceited person, who held everyone in contempt!
Seeing that the youth was about to hit out at Jun Xie, the man warned for them to stop, preventing the tragedy that was about to occur. He told all the youths off sternly, preventing any altercation from erupting from the tense situation. As he scolded the youths, his eyes were invariably drawn to the inconspicuous figure seated in the corner.
That was the kid Gu Li Sheng had his eye on?
That personality was a little hard to take though.
Before the man had come to the lecture, he had met with Gu Li Sheng earlier and found out that the disciple that Gu Li Sheng had picked was among the group. He had come to the lecture with his curiosity aroused, but throughout the whole lecture, he had not noticed anything extraordinary about the boy, Jun Xie. The only thing that stood out was that personality of his. Since he had appeared till now, that kid had not even raised his head even once, and had only been toying with his ring spirit. He did not understand what was so outstanding about the kid.
The man had initially thought that since Gu Li Sheng had decided to only accept one lone disciple this year, the disciple must have been extremely outstanding. But now that he had seen the boy, that did not seem to be the case.
Although he had verbally stopped the other disciples from laying their hands on Jun Xie, he felt that he did not really appreciate Jun Xie's personality.
A kid that was so individualistic would not have an easy time in his days ahead in the Zephyr Academy.
Right before dinnertime, the man finally decided to release all the new disciples.
The youths had not dared to defy the man and had not made any moves against Jun Wu Xie in the room but had intended to find themselves a deserted corner somewhere and teach the arrogant brat a good lesson. However, when the youths came out through the door, they all froze.
With his bright smile flashing, Fan Jin was standing just in front of the door. His tall frame allowed him to scan his eyes through the group of youths and he soon spotted Jun Wu Xie at the end coming out alone. Under the surprised gazes of the other youths, Fan Jin strode up with big steps towards Jun Wu Xie.
What was going on.....
Senior Fan Jin actually came all the way out here just to pick that puny brat up ! ! ?