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Chapter 5: Academy Director
As Cong Wei walked through the golden gates of the gigantic academy, one tall man wearing a luxurious red leather jacket smiled at him. He looked and nodded at the distant Han Clan elders, the elders visibly stunned at having been detected before leaving.
"If it isn't Han Cong Wei. People once called you Duke Nevermore. What a mistake," the man smiled. "I am the academy director of the Slumbering Beast Academy, Oscar Ji. Director Ji is fine. Of all twenty five academies in the continent-wide empire, ours is the third most powerful."
"Hello Director Ji," Han bowed.
"Light essence spirit energy, peak ninth layer condensation, and triple attribute spirit root. I find it hard to believe you were a cripple until recently," the director noted.
"Light essence spirit energy?" Wei asked.
"You see, cultivators walk three paths. They are light, dark, and neutral. All demons, ghost, and undead possess dark essence in their spirit energy. It is not possible for spirit roots to contain the energy of the two most powerful and versatile elements. It is incredibly rare for a human to possess light essence and most human nations slay those who possess dark essence. Affinity for darkness is an entirely different matter. Essence and energy are two different things entirely," the director answered.
"Essence is another level of spirit energy. For example, those with affinity to fire search for a higher grade flame essence. Once absorbed and refined successfully, their flames might have a different color and are more powerful. Even the heat of the flames would dwarf regular flames made from spirit energy. You have a rare gift indeed," the director continued. "You not only have two light essences, they are refined to the point of harmony in your body. They can be fused later on. You are quite lucky that they haven't consumed each other to lose one of them completely."
"My dark azure and black spirit energy contain light essence?" Wei murmured.
"I am an avid researcher in spirit energy. I collect scrolls and books of ancient spells and skills and try to restore them. I live in a four story pagoda and you may stay on the third floor. There are several rooms you may use for different purposes. All I ask is that you don't enter the fourth floor and assist me in my research every now and then. Research on light essence is difficult, but your spirit energy's undying property will allow me to further my studies as the light essence will linger more," the director proposed. "What do you think?"
"Thank you for this opportunity," Cong Wei bowed deeply.
"Good. You may move your stuff there and settle in. Make friends when the academy starts again and try not to cause too much trouble. Incidents like that on the street is fine," Director Ji grinned.
"You were there?" Wei asked, surprised.
"Of course. Quite a sight. Your Uncle Xin did leave me a letter describing your situation. Truthfully, I had my doubts before today."
"Is the Northern Sword Sect powerful?"
"You don't have to worry. You are a duke and did nothing to their sect. Their actions cannot be justified based on suspicion of killing intent origin. The items in the leader's ring may cause some concern. I shamelessly overhead that the inheritances of the sect are within. It is yours by right of contest. They may desire it back, but the empire will back you. I imagine they will soon be penalized and give you further compensation as a result."
"That is not a problem," Cong Wei said, giving out a green metal spatial ring.
"You're giving it up?" Director Ji gasped.
"Of course not. I took all the silver and gold in the green metal ring. I also took all the various martial arts pertaining to swords. They do not contain skills, but they'll help me develop my own unique sword style," Wei answered, thinking back on the information the dragon gave him as they barraged his mind and kicked him out his realm of consciousness.
"There are spells and battle skills within," the director noted.
"On the way here, I took one battle skill: Indestructible Golden Body. It is rumored to be one of the best body refining skills after all. It also has ties to the earth element," Wei said as the director held the ring and frowned.
"Take this," the director said, tossing a black jade ring from the storage ring. "That is a spatial ring. Spatial rings bind and destroy its contents upon the owner's death unless the spirit imprint is removed by the owner. A duke shouldn't wear a storage ring."
"Ah. Okay," Wei nodded after a while, transferring the items into the storage ring instantaneously.
"Take these things too," the director said, tossing a white and gold colored sword and ancient scroll.
"I never saw those in there," Wei frowned.
"Of course not. Only those with high cultivation could have detected the items hidden inside the spatial ring. This spatial ring is unbound, but the owner sealed items so that they could only be detected by those with certain cultivation levels. We don't want the Northern Sword Sect to get those," the director laughed. "They're not that valuable. This supreme expert left hundreds of swords for those who reached Foundation Establishment and condensed their Spirit Crown."
For instance, you are at the peak ninth layer of condensation. In order to reach the early Foundation Establishment stage, you must condense your spirit energy into a Spirit Crown. Spirit Crowns also determine what element attributes you should follow. If you create a neutral Spirit Crown, it means you lack an element attribute spirit root and further cultivation is exceptionally more difficult," the director continued. "The academy will tell you your route on the first day. The Spirit Crown is unadorned and gets decorated the further you improve your cultivation. I'll leave only a few dozen to be returned. As payment, I'll help you attain an elemental essence of your choosing."
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"Why pick out this sword? This scroll?" Wei asked.
"I saw your sword. It is a good one, but not at the level for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Touch it with that sword and the two will fuse. The white and gold sword will claim the new appearance and is suitable for those with light essence spirit energy. The green azure crystal metal on your sword will become tiny veins near the tip of the white and golden sword. It contains the essence of wood," the director explained. "You having fire, thunder, and earth is a good combination for a Spirit Crown. Light essence will empower you over others and the wood essence will harmonize your elements. Every person with exceptional talent is suggested to condense their Spirit Crown with a medium containing wood essence."
"It feels good," Wei agreed as his swords fused upon contact. He could feel some strange energy nourish his own. Wei opened the scroll to find a strange language within as a green azure pearl fell out. He noticed it had a symbol of a Chinese cauldron on its surface.
"What is this?" Wei inquired, picking up the pearl.
"That is condensed spirit energy of the wood attribute. Once the crown is successfully created, the pearl becomes a diamond. The higher the pearl grade, the better the chances of success. The scroll contains secret knowledge you are worthy to discover on your own. I'd like to research it, but there are others. You need not worry about the Northern Sword Sect. However, you should take this sword battle skill," the director laughed. "That is a long lost sword skill. It doesn't belong to the sect, but it is clearly valued highly as it was one of the best concealed. Welcome to the Slumbering Beast Academy. On behalf of the academy, thank you for your contributions and it is an honor for one of the twenty five dukes to attend our academy."
As Han Cong Wei bowed and left, the director thought, "That kid is just like in the novels. Trash MC who becomes the best in the land. He's got potential. Not enough to match those from ancient and powerful families, but enough to not be ignored. Duke Nevermore..... how ironic. I imagine that the little duke has hundreds of spirit stones. Quite wealthy."
The director laughed as students started entering the academy to acquire their dorm rooms and classes. Many avoided the director as he was both powerful and easily angered when annoyed. He was also in charge of the academy's skills and spells as well as the monthly tributes of ten spirit stones. One spirit stone alone cost five gold, but the academy would not sell a single stone no matter the amount of gold.
Several students noticed Han Cong Wei exit the director's pagoda. The director didn't seem to mind and the academy hadn't started its new term yet. Han Cong Wei also wore bronze cufflinks and wore a red leather jacket for his school uniform. Normal students wore white jackets while bronze cufflinks signified a new student.
It was when they saw his back that they were stunned. No matter how powerful a clan or organization, no one could have any emblems or insignias unless they were a duke or members of the imperial family. Most dukes were adults with considerable cultivation. The director didn't seem to mind, but that meant the boy was a duke!
"Could that be Duke Nevermore? That green dragon with wings attached to the forelimbs is the sigil of the Han Clan. The Frilled Dragon of the Ancients, the extinct dragon that rose to legend before the current dynasty. That crippled duke dares flaunt his clan's sigil?," one of the nobles shouted and had his head slammed into the ground by the director.
"What gives you the right to insult a duke! Insulting another student is one matter, insulting his status is different! You mock both the person and the title. By mocking the title, you mock the empire! You will only receive one spirit stone for the whole year!" the director roared. "And what Duke Nevermore? Can't you tell he is at the peak ninth layer of condensation? He's more powerful than most of you sorry lot!"
"Director, forgive me," the student begged but was kicked away with disgust.
"What an idiot," some of the other students sighed. To anyone going into the academy, it was an unspoken rule not to offend the empire. You can insult a duke and risk his wrath, but you cannot insult his title. Many sighed with relief that they were not the one to make such a mistake.
A few students in the back narrowed their eyes as Han Cong Wei entered the administration building for his classes. To be favored by the director, he was not ordinary at all. He was the most infamous of the dukes for not being able to cultivate due to a damaged soul. He was also respected by merchants for owning one of the more prosperous dukedoms and one of the richest mines in the southern dukedoms.
Most of all, the Han Clan patriarch was someone feared by the sects in Han Cong Wei's dukedom. It was why the sects didn't dare skip their monthly taxes or cause trouble in the duke's lands. Even though the duke's father died, the man was a famous general of the army and many became hired as guars for the Han Clan. Among dukes, the Han Clan probably had one of the most fearsome private armies.
"Could he have eaten something to heal his soul and cultivate?" one of the students from an ancient family asked.
"I don't know. It would be best to observe him first. He'll be in the advanced class, like us. We'll learn the truth sooner or later," a girl replied and the small, elite group also headed to the administration building.