Chapter Thirty-Two: Arrival

When they arrived at the city gate, everyone dismounted from their mammoth beast mounts, as such massive creatures were not permitted to walk the city streets. After all, the streets of Sunlight City couldn’t possibly be paved with refined iron! A step from one of these beasts would leave a crater in the ground.

Sunlight City boasted a population of over ten million, accounting for a full tenth of the entire Sunlight Province’s residents. And Sunlight Province was not even the most prosperous—there were commerce-rich provinces whose capitals housed forty or fifty million people! As for the imperial capital, its population exceeded a hundred million. The total populace of the Empire was enough to make one weep.

Here, nearly everyone was dressed in splendid attire. As they walked through the city, not a single beggar could be seen. Be they merchants, commoners, or cultivators, each spoke elegantly and treated others with courtesy. Compared to Flame Town, these places were worlds apart.

Chen Bo and his group drew little attention; in Sunlight Province, students of Sunlight Academy were nothing special. In fact, if you threw a brick at the city center, nine times out of ten it would hit someone from Sunlight Academy.

The street they followed led directly to the academy, but it was a long way from the city center. With no mounts, they had no choice but to rest for the night and set out again the next day.

That night, Chen Bo barely slept. Yu Shifei was in the room right next to his. All night, he kept his eyes fixed on the door, ready to shout for help at the slightest sound, leaving Yu Shifei with no chance to strike.

After a few more days, the group of eleven finally arrived at Sunlight Academy.

To call it an academy was almost a misnomer—it was more like a city within a city.

Inside, the only people to be seen were older students dressed in the academy’s uniform and new students in a dazzling array of attire.

The older students appeared calm and collected, while the new students, untested by hardship, all carried themselves with their noses in the air. Each believed themselves a prodigy, and none looked kindly on the others. Many clustered into small groups, but some preferred to stand apart.

Chen Bo and his companions witnessed an arrogant young man berating an older student, boasting of his own strength and belittling the older student’s abilities.

The outcome was predictable: the older student responded with a single retort, and the arrogant newcomer immediately attacked—only to be sent flying a dozen paces by a single kick, a distance of several meters.

Could it be that this academy indulged in open displays of violence?

Sensing their confusion, Zhao Qing explained, “At Sunlight Academy, private fights are forbidden unless they take place in the arena. However, if someone breaks the rules and attacks you, you have every right to strike back, and you won’t be punished.”

“But if you insult someone and they lose their temper and attack you, then you’ll be punished as well. Of course, the attacker will also be punished. If someone instigated the fight from behind the scenes, that person will be punished twice as severely! The academy’s rules are few but strict. If you kill someone here, you must pay with your life.”

“What if someone refuses to admit they started the insults?” someone asked.

Zhao Qing chuckled. “That’s simple. The Oath Laws of the Wild Continent are no joke. Swear an oath and the truth will come out. And to prevent anyone from using verbal traps, our academy has recruited a legion of scholars.”

The group was left speechless. This academy truly treated the laws of the world as mere tools—what a peculiar place.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Zhao Qing shrugged. “This practice has been common for centuries. We’re just making use of it.”

“Here at Sunlight Academy, you’d best keep your heads down and avoid offending anyone. See that girl in blue over there? She may not be much to look at, but her grandfather is a high-ranking official in Sunlight Province. With a single word, he could crush your family.”

“And that boy over there who looks like a farmer? He’s not to be underestimated. He’s a local, born to a humble farming family, but after a lucky encounter, he acquired a cultivation manual. Now he’s at the late stage of Body Tempering, and will soon break through to the Marrow Realm.”

“And that chubby boy who looks like a meatball—his strength is even greater. He’s already in the Marrow Realm. His father is an elder of the Divine Elixir Sect, a sect of alchemists. Half of his strength comes from the pills he’s taken.”

“Well, take that with a grain of salt. Sometimes someone in the Marrow Realm might not even defeat a late-stage Body Tempering cultivator. But even so, these are not people you should provoke. At best, the strongest among you is at mid-Body Tempering, which puts you only slightly above average among this year’s new students.”

Zhao Qing’s warning was heartfelt, and everyone drew in a sharp breath. None had expected so many geniuses here. Even the proudest among them, like Chen Long, lowered their heads in humility.

Only Chen Bo remained unconcerned. Since private fighting was forbidden, what was there to fear? He just had to stay within the academy’s walls until he grew stronger.

After all, Sunlight Academy was vast—what was there to be afraid of?

At that moment, Yu Shifei and her companions prepared to depart. Before leaving, she shot Chen Bo a venomous glare and hissed, “I’m an instructor in the Artificers Division, and you are destined to be my student. We’ll meet again. Let’s see who has the last laugh!”

The last words were practically spat out through gritted teeth, and Chen Bo couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of his future. To have so thoroughly offended an Artificers Division instructor—what would become of him?

The more he considered it, the more a chill crept over him. Suddenly, Sunlight Academy didn’t feel so safe.

Once Yu Shifei and Yu Xin’er had left, a young instructor appeared out of nowhere, clapping Zhao Qing on the shoulder. “Brother Zhao, you’re leading new students this year? Isn’t each instructor only allowed six? Why do you have seven here?”

Zhao Qing replied, “That boy’s sister is Chen Jingjing. His full-blooded sister.”

“Chen Jingjing’s brother?” The young instructor immediately thought of favoritism and looked at Chen Bo with a hint of disdain, for he despised those who relied on connections. But as a low-ranking instructor, there was little he could do.

“It’s not what you think,” Zhao Qing said. “His sister is remarkable, and so is he.”

“Oh?” The instructor’s look of disdain turned to curiosity as he examined Chen Bo, but nothing seemed extraordinary about the boy. Perhaps he seemed a bit more languid than the other energetic new students, but was that really remarkable?

“Heh, this kid is an artificer!”

“What? I see…”