“The accommodation for first years is the southwest quadrant, which is where we will head right now. If you have any questions, save them until we arrive.”

The group then started their walk towards the southwest, it was a relatively quiet walk as all of the new students took in the sights and identified the buildings that had just been described to them. Xu Long too was taking it all in, with particular emphasis on the Great Library and the Arena which were both monstrously huge buildings yet couldn’t have been more different. The Library was an ornate and beautiful multistory building surrounded by exquisitely manicured gardens, the highlight of the whole picture was the intricate glass dome on the center of its roof. Conversely, the Arena, while still certainly magnificent, was a more brutal and utilitarian looking affair, although Xu Long could only see the outside, he imagined that inside must be quite the sight.

Of course both of these buildings were completely overshadowed by the enormous tower directly in the center of the large circular plaza at the end of the boulevard that they had just traversed. The Spring Pagoda loomed over the entire Academy, no building even came close to it’s intimidating grandeur, it stood alone at the center of the Academy seemingly defying the heavens with its gargantuan height which dwarfed the giant ancient trees that Xu Long had seen out in the depths of the Endless Forest.

As they approached the tower Xu Long turned off his blindfold as he was as of yet unable to perceive the qi around him very well if at all whilst he could see. The moment he did, he froze in his tracks and grabbed his head from the splitting pain. If the plaza of Tianyun overwhelmed him with its cacophony of chaos, this tower overwhelmed him with the antithesis. Order, strict unadulterated order, enforced on all the qi in the surroundings through a staggeringly monumental force that radiated from the tower in front of him. Xu Long had taken but a glimpse before turning his blindfold’s function back on, but that was enough, he took slow deep breaths as the power he had just felt pulsed through his mind like phantom reverberations, it took everything he had not to wretch.

“Xu Long? Are you alright?”

He looked up on instinct after he heard that familiar yet heavenly voice…time froze. The overwhelming power that he had just received a rather severe backlash from seemed a distant memory as he looked upon the most exquisite creature he had ever seen. He watched as her lips moved in slow motion, all he could hear was a faint buzzing in his ears. He continued to stare in awe as the devastatingly beautiful young woman slowly approached him, he watched her every graceful movement right up until she clapped her hands together right in front of his face, snapping him out of the trance that he had just found himself in.

“Xu Long? Are you in there?”

“Bai Mei?”

After coming to his senses and actually taking in the sights around him that were not Bai Mei, he realized that more than a few of his fellow classmates were looking at him strangely as they passed him by on their way to follow the large group that was still walking along, being led by the young female instructor that Xu Long had forgotten the name of. Xu Long shook his head and refocused on Bai Mei who was looking at him rather worriedly. He couldn’t believe that he ever thought that not looking at her was a good idea, right now, at this moment, he felt that any moment spent not looking at her was a wasted moment.

“Sorry about that, I’m alright. I just focused too closely on the tower and got overwhelmed.”

Bai Mei raised an eyebrow at him when she heard his explanation. Between the information that he had divulged and what had happened not long ago when they were atop the Guardian Protector, she was already starting to piece together just what he was doing voluntarily wearing a blindfold despite his reported fully functioning eyes, and it was completely insane.

“Has it ever occurred to you that there are very good reasons that what you are subjecting yourself to is not more commonplace, or done at all?”

Xu Long took a moment, weighing his response, he had just been chided by Ming-Yue for handing out cultivation advice despite being very new to the path, but in this instance he felt that reiterating advice from his mother was fair game and wouldn’t hurt.

He responded with a serious look on his face. “It is very important, especially for the very privileged, to not shy away from hardship, lest they fall into the trap that will no doubt hamper the advancement of many of the graduates of this Academy.”

Bai Mei was taken aback by his response, it was not only not what she was expecting but it also conjured a memory of her Grandmother telling her something very similar. “Did Old Wu teach you that?”

Xu Long slightly shook his head and answered with a slight smile on his face. “No, my mother.”

‘Ah, the elusive mother.’ Bai Mei was very curious about this woman, Xu Long had been vague about many things she had asked him about but she got the impression that his mother was at the heart of the mystery. As she was thinking along those lines she carelessly blurted out, “I would very much like to meet her one day.”

Xu Long gave her a knowing smile. “I am sure that you will.”

When she saw that smile on his face she realized the implication of her comment and his teasing answer and she felt her cheeks heat up. As she was scrambling for a response she realized that there were no more students passing them and she felt relief wash over her as she had found an out of this situation.

“Come on, we better catch up to the group.”

Xu Long stood for a moment as he watched her do an about face and start speed walking back to the group. He already liked teasing her, but seeing her reactions was a whole nother level. Sighing to himself he quickly caught up to her and they made their way to the back of the large group of students.

The rest of their journey to the new student accommodations went by without incident, Bai Mei was quietly walking beside Xu Long who was harnessing every ounce of his will to not look in her direction and give away that he could see through his blindfold. He instead focused intently on their surroundings, which was his original justification to himself for using his blindfold in the first place, he took in as much of the sights as he could without craning his neck around and also incidentally caught more than a few surreptitious glances his way from the large group of students that he and Bai Mei were now at the very back of. Most were glances filled with curiosity, a few filled with hostility, one though in particular caught Xu Long’s attention, a tall young man with golden hair with a decidedly red tinge and similar color eyes gave Xu Long a particularly murderous glare. There was no subtlety, just open and naked killing intent, sure that he would have felt such a gaze even if he had not seen it, Xu Long turned his head slightly in the direction of the young man and smiled at him, curious to see his reaction. He was slightly surprised and frankly a little disappointed when the blond young man seemed to reign in his emotions after being provoked, he was clearly more of a political animal than Xu Long’s first impression led him to believe.

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‘Oh well, at least he provided me with a welcome distraction.’ Xu Long thought to himself as he went back to concentrating on his surroundings and focusing on not turning his head to his left. That is until he heard that familiar voice once again.

“You should beware of him, Xu Long, that is Qin Yang, not only is he very talented and powerful himself, but the Qin Clan shares the apex position of all the clans in the realm with only a few others and they have the power to back it up.”

Xu Long turned his head in Bai Mei’s direction and paused for a moment when he saw her once again, before he smiled at her and replied. “I understand and your concern is welcome, but that just makes me want to fight him even more.”

Bai Mei had an exasperated look on her face as she sighed and replied. “You misunderstand, I am only marginally concerned with the two of you fighting in the Academy, what really concerns me is the way that most of the children of the clans, especially the powerful ones, are raised to deal with their problems. There are few amongst them that would openly act on their grievances and fight someone head on and above board, they are far more likely to make an attempt on your life from the shadows with the hand of another who is a much higher realm than you.”

Xu Long replied after understanding her intent. “Ah, that’s what you meant. You don’t have to worry about that.” He then smiled at her and returned his attention forward.

Bai Mei’s face changed from exasperation to utter confusion at the way that her warnings had just been dismissed by the young man next to her. Either he was completely delusional or he was so sure that he was protected from such occurrences despite his seeming lack of backing that such considerations never crossed his mind. She was far more inclined to believe the latter, given who had enrolled him at the Academy, but she didn’t think that that was enough to be so flippant about the situation considering how few people actually knew just who that old man really was.

As all of these thoughts were rushing around in Bai Mei’s head and Xu Long was busy trying to memorize his surroundings and not stare at her, they arrived at their destination. They had left the central plaza and the giant towering Spring Pagoda down a path that headed directly southwest and was about a quarter the size of the boulevard that they walked down from the entrance. Other than the size, however, it was virtually identical to said boulevard, it was exquisitely paved and flanked by the forest of trees that seemed to permeate every space in the Academy that was not otherwise occupied. Now the group of new students found themselves standing on that path at the point that the forest’s encroachment stopped and gave way to what could easily be mistaken for a small but extremely wealthy settlement in the deep forest.

“Welcome to your accommodations for the next year. You will notice that the layout here is very simple, all of the training facilities and sparring platforms are located centrally and all of the individual accommodations surround them sporadically. Each of you can select your own abode, they are all virtually identical, and once you have registered said abode with your Academy insignia no one may enter your chosen residence but you and those you invite inside. I would warn you against trying to subvert this restriction but it is simply impossible for you to do so.

Now, after I dismiss you, you will all be free to select your accommodations, inside of which you will find some important literature for your future tenure here. Namely, the Academy rule book, a catalog of everything available for purchase with your credits and a timetable of all the classes that are available to first years. Before that, however, are there any questions?”

As most of the students were looking around at the accommodations, no doubt picking out their preferred place of residence, a young man piped up from the front of the group. “Are there any more premium residences available?”

Their guide gave a small shake of her head and had an exasperated look on her face as she answered with a question. “Are you a first year?”

The young man was a little lost for words when he heard the question, but finally managed to sputter out. “...yes.”

“Well these are the first year student accommodations, and as I clearly just told you they are all virtually identical…” She then stopped looking at the young man and addressed the entire group. “Are there any not stupid questions?”

There was a deafening silence from the group of students, even those who may have had a small question or two were unwilling to risk following the young man’s lead and kept their mouths shut.

After taking a moment in the silence as she scanned the group their guide finally took the silence as a no and nodded her head. “Good, you all have the rest of the day to do with as you please, I suggest roaming the grounds of the Academy and familiarizing yourselves with your new surroundings. Just be aware that the only place off limits to you are the living spaces of the three other groups of students that I previously described, incidentally they are also barred from here, and certain sections of the Spring Pagoda.

“Welcome to the Azure Dragon Academy.”

She then started walking towards the path that they had arrived from at a leisure pace as the students parted for her. She was barely a quarter of the way through the small crowd when the students realized that they had been dismissed and they quickly started to scatter to the various residences.

Xu Long, having taken in the entire living space of the first year students while the woman was talking had finally run out of justifications to himself for using his blindfold’s function and had returned to darkness and the qi. He was more than a little surprised at just how many formations he could feel in his surroundings, it was becoming clear to him that the Academy was not only more wealthy than even the prosperous trade city he had just been a guest in, but that most if not all of the rules imposed on the students would be enforced automatically through the intricate web of formations that littered the grounds. As he was marveling at the formations in his surroundings Xu Long's attention was grabbed by the powerful qi of their guide that he could feel coming straight towards him, he stepped to the side the let her through but was surprised when she stopped in front of him.

“You, with the blindfold, follow me, I would like a word with you.”

After a brief pause for his brain to register what he had just heard, Xu Long simply nodded and replied. “Alright.” Before proceeding to follow her. As he passed Bai Mei he heard her say his name in almost a whisper before stopping herself from continuing to talk. Although he could hear the concern in her voice and was a little confused about just what she was worried about he simply smiled at her as he passed by and continued following the instructor.

They continued to walk down the path back towards the main Academy grounds and the looming tower that despite the fact that Xu Long could no longer see it, still somehow managed to let its presence be felt all the way out here. After they had traversed about a third of the distance in silence with Xu Long slightly trailing behind his former guide she suddenly turned around to face him.

“Given your nonchalance I take it that you have no idea why I wanted to speak with you.”

Simply nodding his head, Xu Long replied. “You would be correct.”

“I am the oldest daughter of the Lou Family Patriarch of Tianyun City.”

Xu Long just stood there waiting for her to continue talking but quickly realized that she was done talking and that that sentence was supposed to mean something to him. He racked his brain trying to think of just what that was but came up short, sure, he had just come from Tianyun but most of his attention was dominated by his training to come to terms with large crowds while he was blindfolded. He could feel the annoyance radiating off of this Academy Instructor as the silence stretched out.

Finally the tension broke as she continued. “You really have no idea what I am talking about do you?”

“I apologize, I do not.”

“You almost decapitated my youngest brother in the House of Heavenly Respite.”

“Ah.”