A Home Near the Academies

Within just half an hour, Xiao Chen had become a celebrity on Beast-Fighting Street. He had actually won the precious daughter of the Mande family, Kanasi, to be his attendant, leaving the crowd of onlookers dumbstruck. They marveled that this brat had some nerve. It was one thing to let the crowd shout in excitement, but this fellow had actually taken it seriously. He truly had a death wish.

Even more outrageous was that this unknown youth showed absolutely no awareness of his predicament. He strolled about with his beautiful little attendant in tow, looking carefree and at ease, drawing envious stares and drool from a pack of young wastrels.

“You arrogant brat! You’re too much!” The blue-haired girl wrinkled her delicate brows as her large, lively eyes flashed with anger. “Do you really dare to make me your attendant?!”

“You lost the bet fair and square. You need to accept the consequences. If you want to go back on your word, you can leave on your own. I’m not forcing you. But if you want me to simply cancel the wager—no way!” Xiao Chen wore a careless, unhurried demeanor as he wandered down the street with the two little beasts, looking this way and that.

“Honor the bet! Honor the bet!” a large crowd behind them shouted in support.

“Fine, kid. You go ahead and be arrogant for now. There will come a time when you suffer for this.” The blue-haired girl no longer resembled the proud little phoenix she had been before. She now looked more like an ostrich, keeping her beautiful head bowed low as she followed behind Xiao Chen, desperately hoping no one would recognize her. But how could that be possible? Behind them trailed a host of idle rich youths from the city, laughing and hooting, as if they were afraid no one would know. These were the local scions who held old grudges against the blue-haired girl.

Xiao Chen turned to look at the gaggle of ne'er-do-wells behind him and called out to one particularly handsome youth: “Hey there, pretty boy brother… I have a favor to ask.”

The young man was indeed stunningly handsome, about the same age as Xiao Chen, around his early twenties. His hair cascaded like a waterfall, his skin was as white as snow, his eyes were as clear as autumn waters, and he had a slender, graceful figure. Were it not for the prominent Adam’s apple, Xiao Chen would have mistaken him for a beautiful woman in disguise. He was so handsome it was ridiculous—enough to make many young women jealous.

“Brother, my name is Hai Yuntian. We might be getting familiar, but you can’t just call me whatever you want, or I’ll have to settle the score with you.” The devastatingly handsome young man walked over. Despite his words, he wore a broad smile. He was the one who had just bought the multicolored crane for six thousand gold coins. Clearly, he had his own background and was purposely making trouble for the blue-haired girl Kanasi.

“Pretty boy, you just wait! I’m not done with you. No one else dared to buy it, but you had to buy my crane and make me lose face. Hmph, just wait until my elder brother gets back—he’ll beat you up for sure!” Kanasi shouted angrily at Hai Yuntian.

Xiao Chen could tell they had some history, but he didn’t care about that. He warmly said to Hai Yuntian, “Brother White Face, do me a favor, will you? I’m new to Heavenly Emperor City and don’t know the place. I want to buy a house. Can you recommend one?”

“No problem. Leave it to me.” The handsome scion Hai Yuntian agreed readily. Clearly, he was no ordinary person. He had already seen that Xiao Chen was remarkably strong. He came from a large family and was interested in befriending someone like this.

Tens of thousands of miles of southern wilderness—land was the least scarce thing. But that only applied outside Heavenly Emperor City. Inside the city, it was a different story. Land was as precious as gold. Not only did all the wealthy people from the southern wastes want to move in, but countless nobles and tycoons from other continents also wanted to buy property here. There were many ancient legends about Heavenly Emperor City, said to be the city of emperors, gathering the dragon qi of the earth. Living here brought tremendous benefits, though no one could explain exactly what they were.

Two gold coins would buy a lavish feast, so six thousand gold coins was an immense fortune. But by the time Xiao Chen finished purchasing a compound, he already owed Hai Yuntian five thousand gold coins. The total price was a staggering eleven thousand gold coins! Still, the three-courtyard estate, with its pavilions, towers, winding bridges, and flowing water, was laid out in a classical garden style that Xiao Chen found quite pleasing.

“Brother, don’t feel the sting. If I weren’t trying to make a friend of you, and if I didn’t know that chubby Zhuge Liang was also your friend, I would never have reluctantly sold this to you.” Hai Yuntian, who was beautiful beyond reason, seemed genuinely reluctant to part with it. “Do you know where this is?”

His eyes shone as he spoke, utterly at odds with his exquisite features. He lowered his voice: “This is Academy Road in Heavenly Emperor City! Look across the street—what do you see?”

Across the way was a continuous stretch of ancient walls. Inside were enormous old palaces that resembled an imperial palace. The main gate faced directly toward Xiao Chen’s house, almost directly opposite. Through the open gate, one could see young men and women coming and going.

“This is the famous Big Dipper Academy. Right next to it are Battle God Academy and White Deer Academy. If you ask where the most expensive land in Heavenly Emperor City is, it’s definitely this Academy Road. All three academies are here, and they’re absolutely packed with beautiful girls! If it weren’t for my shrewish fiancée finding out about this property, I would never have sold it to you, even if you killed me. Every evening, sitting at the doorstep and watching those young, vibrant beauties coming and going—that’s the greatest pleasure in the world. And in your free time, you can even sneak into the three academies. Just thinking about it makes me happy!”

Xiao Chen was at a loss for words. This ridiculously handsome kid was a real lecher. But he had to admit, what he described did sound appealing. For a man, this place really was a treasure trove—guarding the academy’s gate and watching the beauties pass by was indeed a pleasant prospect.

“Pervert!” the blue-haired girl Kanasi sneered. “You and that pig Zhuge Liang are always peeping around here. You’ve long since been blacklisted by the three academies. If those people didn’t know you have the backing of the Beast-Fighting Palace, they would have torn you apart long ago. Pretty boy, just wait—I’ll tell that madwoman Li Yu that you called her a shrew!”

“You wouldn’t dare—”

Kanasi slunk away in disgrace. Even though Hai Yuntian mocked her for lacking integrity, she still fled. In her words, “That Xiao Chen doesn’t look like a good person, running around with that pervert pretty boy. Staying here puts my personal safety at risk. I’ll come back in a few days to repay the debt.”

“How did that girl get into Big Dipper Academy?”

“She’s a student there. But as the precious daughter of the Mande family, she’s wild and unruly. Skipping class is a regular thing.”

Hai Yuntian left as well.

Xiao Chen had finally settled down in Heavenly Emperor City.

The courtyard house came fully furnished, so he had no need to decorate. Once everything quieted down, he began to examine the small white-shelled turtle. He calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and grasped the thin black iron chain. His divine consciousness extended outward, sinking into it.

The pitch-black iron chain, no thicker than a few strands of hair, seemed to magnify a million times in that moment, pressing in toward Xiao Chen. Ahead of his keen divine consciousness lay an endless expanse of darkness.

In that darkness, many tiny characters gradually began to shine with brilliant light, dazzling Xiao Chen’s spiritual perception and making it difficult to distinguish their strokes.

Gritting his teeth, Xiao Chen repeatedly steadied his surging emotions, emptying his mind, and strained to push his consciousness further ahead.

Pain!

Excruciating pain!

His consciousness felt as if it were being corroded!

His body felt as if it were being torn apart!

Sweat poured from his pores. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Chen was drenched. This was even more unbearable than enduring a brutal battle. His body began to shake violently, as if he might collapse at any moment.

“Dragon…”

Xiao Chen finally made out a character on the black iron chain. But aside from the frequently appearing “dragon” character, he recognized none of them! The complex script and vigorous strokes resembled a divine scripture, using ancient characters from an age long past. Their meaning was utterly inscrutable.

Densely packed—the thin black iron chain, no thicker than a few strands of hair and only a foot long, was covered in ancient characters from an unknown era. An ordinary person’s eyes could never have detected them.

Even for a cultivator of Xiao Chen’s level, without an exceptionally powerful divine consciousness, it would have been impossible to uncover their secret.

Extraordinary—absolutely extraordinary!

When Xiao Chen’s consciousness finally withdrew from the endless dark realm, he was on the verge of collapse. It took a full hour of meditation to recover. To his great surprise, his divine consciousness seemed to have become much more condensed, and his spirit was remarkably clear!

Peering into the secrets hidden in the iron chain could actually train his divine consciousness. He decided to make it a daily practice.

After washing and changing, Xiao Chen looked at this fist-sized white-shelled turtle with no trace of contempt left.

“Could this be a dragon?!” A bizarre thought arose in his mind—a wild speculation, a flight of fancy. The main reason was that he had seen many “dragon” characters on the iron chain, and the iron chain was locked around the turtle. “Whatever you are, since I bought you, from now on your name is ‘Little Thief.’” Watching the turtle poke its head out, looking furtive and shifty, Xiao Chen gave it that name.

The Little Defiant Dragon ignored it, but Keke constantly turned it over and looked at it from every angle, as if searching for some secret or treasure. Yet Keke couldn’t articulate anything—it seemed to have only a vague intuition, not a real perception.

By dusk, the sunset had stained the sky red.

The fat man and Hai Yuntian arrived at Xiao Chen’s residence, laughing heartily. They sat comfortably on the third-floor balcony, dragging Xiao Chen along to watch the students coming and going through the main gate of Big Dipper Academy, their eyes gleaming.

“Whoa! That girl’s figure is perfect—curves in all the right places. Smokin’ hot!”

“Mmm, here comes a demure, delicate type. Pretty pure. Has a certain charm. Ah, what a shame—stuck on a cow patty. She’s got an ugly guy with her.”

“Look! That’s absolutely a graceful and perfect back view. Just the back makes the imagination run wild—she walks so elegantly, so gracefully. Makes you drool. Damn, it’s her! Motherf—, it’s that woman who flirts with everyone. What bad luck. Didn’t recognize her before she turned around.”

The dead fat man and the pretty boy were a pair of lechers, drooling and commenting incessantly.

“Brother, you’re amazing,” the fat man finally came to his senses after a long while, turning to Xiao Chen. “Actually winning the precious daughter of the Mande family as your attendant—that’s truly satisfying! Haha… I’ve always hoped someone would teach her a lesson. Heaven finally opened its eyes. Too bad I wasn’t there to see it; otherwise, I would have really rubbed it in. Haha… But brother, you need to be careful. That little girl is a handful. Ordinary people don’t dare provoke her. Do you know? She has an elder brother—one of the strongest young experts in the southern wastes. Apart from that freak Dugu Jianmo and a few others, no one can match him.”

Stunned!

Xiao Chen now realized he might have gotten himself into considerable trouble.

The Mande family controlled the “Beast King Beast-Fighting Palace,” one of the true major powers in Heavenly Emperor City. Kanasi was a direct descendant of the Mande family, deeply beloved by the old patriarch. On top of that, she had an elder brother who was undefeated among the younger generation across the southern wastes, which made her especially wild and untamed.

“Quick, look! A really hot one is coming out!” Hai Yuntian called out.

The fat man and Xiao Chen couldn’t help but look.

“I’m so dizzy!”

“Damn! It’s that little minx Kanasi again! Bad luck!”

The fat man and Hai Yuntian exclaimed almost simultaneously.

“Come, let me give you a proper introduction.” The fat man turned to Xiao Chen. “This is Hai Yuntian of the ‘Primal Beast-Fighting Palace.’ He’s a genuine rich scion, a direct descendant of his family just like that little miss Kanasi. I’m not like him—I’m far from the family’s inner circle.”

After this brief introduction, the three of them began to chat without any pretense.

“We need to speed up training the Little Defiant Dragon. I hear that in three months, Heavenly Emperor City will hold a massive beast-fighting tournament. Every win comes with an incredibly丰厚 prize. This isn’t just a contest between a few beast-fighting palaces. Several major cities from the north will send participants. There’s even a rumor that it will be a battle of sacred beasts—of course, divided by level. According to inside information, young dragon kings and powerful lesser sacred beasts will have small-scale life-or-death matches…”

“It will undoubtedly draw forces from all directions. It’s less a beast-fighting tournament and more a confrontation between major powers—a display and contest of their respective strengths.”

“Without a doubt, Heavenly Emperor City is about to see turbulent times! I’ve heard that quite a few young experts will accompany their family elders here. It could very well trigger a great showdown among the younger generation.”

Xiao Chen eagerly anticipated all of this.

“Arrogant brat! I’m back!”

While the three were still talking, the blue-haired girl Kanasi burst into the courtyard. Hands on her hips, blinking her large, lively eyes, she shouted up to the balcony: “Xiao Chen! My elder brother is back. He wants to duel you. Come down and accept your defeat! The venue is the square at Big Dipper Academy. Don’t forget to bring that terrifying white lion of yours!”

“Damn, that girl really called her brother. This is huge trouble.” The fat man shrank his neck.

Hai Yuntian’s hand trembled, spilling his tea.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s go have a look.” Xiao Chen’s cultivation had advanced greatly. He wanted to find a strong opponent for a real fight. And this blue-haired girl’s brother, who was on the same level as Dugu Jianmo, was exactly what he was looking for.

“Let’s go—to the square at Big Dipper Academy.”