Chapter Thirty-Six: Punished

Chen Bo’s actions suddenly enlightened everyone. They hurried to hand over their valuables to the old man, who grinned so widely it seemed his mouth might twist out of shape. With a light cough, he declared, “Since this is your first offense, I’ll let you off today. But if you do it again, the punishment will be doubled. Think carefully!”

“However, you did break the academy’s rules, so you can’t just get away with it so easily. Here’s what you’ll do: clean the entire entrance to the academy. When I inspect it, if I see even a single leaf on the ground, each one will cost you a lower-grade spirit stone.”

“If you have no money, that’s fine—you can run a tab. For the sake of the academy’s charitable endeavors, of course.”

Everyone was miserable. The Tianyang Academy was as large as a small city, so it was clear the entrance covered a vast area. Fortunately, there were no trees nearby, or Chen Bo and the others would owe dozens, if not hundreds, of spirit stones.

A group of a dozen or so slunk back to their dormitory. There were some basic provisions inside, enough for one person to eat for several days, so Chen Bo had no need to buy more. This time, not only had they suffered physically, but financially as well. For Chen Bo, those little trinkets didn’t matter much, but for the others, the loss was enough to make them want to cough up blood.

Unlike Chen Bo, who had all sorts of odd little items, the rest had only their gold, silver, spirit stones, or even weapons—which Chen Bo had secretly pilfered—all now penniless.

Compared to them, Chen Bo was fortunate. Though he was out of spirit stones, he still had weapons and bits of gold and silver on him. Especially the array of swords and blades—there were plenty. Don’t think these things are useless; they could be exchanged for money. The blades these geniuses carried were hardly inferior—each could fetch at least one lower-grade spirit stone. The fight had been worth it.

The dormitory was actually quite small, only about twenty square meters by Earth’s measurements. The bedroom had just one hardwood bed and a simple cabinet, with basic bedding. The kitchen was also modest: a single stove, a small pot, a few kitchen knives, and some bowls and chopsticks. Nothing more. If you wanted to cook, you had to chop firewood yourself.

There’s little more to be said. Even late at night, Chen Bo had to go out to gather firewood for his meal. Luckily, Tianyang Academy had no shortage of plants and trees; the landscaping was truly first-rate. And with trees came dry wood. Chen Bo saw many others out gathering firewood like himself—even those so-called geniuses who couldn’t cook followed suit.

Food is the first necessity of man, after all. No one would starve just to maintain their pride. Especially when others, with talent no less than theirs, were doing the same—why shouldn’t they?

The food in the dormitory was basic: some rice and a small bag of sweet potatoes. The seasonings were all there, though—this academy was truly stingy.

Chen Bo had grown up in the countryside, so cooking over a fire came naturally. He peeled the sweet potatoes, chopped them into small pieces, sprinkled a little salt, washed some rice, put it all in the pot together, and started the fire. Sweet potato rice was common in rural areas—Chen Bo had grown up on it during hard times.

The next day, Chen Bo got up early and headed straight for the academy gate. Soon, the people from Flame Town and Ding Family Town had gathered as well, all glaring at each other with open hostility.

Especially a boy from Ding Family Town with a bandage wrapped around his head—he stared at Chen Bo with undisguised resentment, his broom trembling in his grip as though he wanted nothing more than to smash it over Chen Bo’s head.

He was the one Chen Bo had struck the day before. His head still throbbed, and he wondered if it had affected his intelligence.

“So it was you, you useless wretch, who struck my head yesterday!” the boy gritted out, clenching his fists to restrain himself.

If he started a fight again, there’d be no place for him in Tianyang Academy. Even if he wasn’t expelled, he’d be blacklisted by every mentor. No teacher would want a repeat offender who couldn’t learn from his mistakes—unless his background was overwhelmingly powerful, like the dean being a relative or the vice-dean his sworn brother.

But this genius from Ding Family Town clearly lacked such connections. The Ding family might rule their little town, but here in Tianyang Academy—where geniuses gathered from everywhere—they were nothing. Any random person here likely hailed from a clan or sect far greater than the Ding family’s. With luck, one might even meet a royal scion—though a direct imperial heir was probably too much to hope for.

“What are you talking about? Me, hit you? With my strength, I couldn’t even break your defense—how could I possibly bash your head open?” Chen Bo feigned ignorance. “You have no evidence, so don’t make baseless accusations. Besides, did you actually see me do it? No? Then why slander me?”

“I know it was you!” the Ding family genius protested.

“And I think you spied on the dean while he was bathing. I also think you prefer men, or maybe you hit yourself!” Chen Bo retorted, pursing his lips.

“No wonder you’re the infamous Chen family young master who made an Elder of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect storm off in anger—your reputation precedes you. You may have lost your strength, but your tongue is as sharp as ever,” Ding Kuan of Ding Family Town cut in coldly.

“Thank you for the compliment!” Chen Bo replied with a cheeky grin, making Ding Kuan’s face darken. He’d never encountered someone so shameless—he’d just insulted him to his face!

“Chen Bo, you really are an embarrassment to Flame Town,” Chen Long said coldly.

“What? Brother Ding Kuan was complimenting me. You’re too shallow to appreciate the deeper meaning in his words. Don’t you know he was being sarcastic?”

Ding Kuan wanted to say he wasn’t praising Chen Bo, but the words caught in his throat and he didn’t know how to respond. This feeling of wanting to speak but being unable to left his face twisted in a peculiar way, as though he were constipated.

With a thousand words bottled up inside, all he managed was: “Sweep.”

“Tch, what a killjoy. I was just starting to have fun,” Chen Bo muttered under his breath. These guys had no sense of humor. The group in his livestream back on Earth was far more entertaining—whenever he was in a bad mood, he’d check the chat, and his mood would get even worse.

“The streamer’s been sentenced to sweep the grounds! How delightful, let’s throw confetti!”

“The streamer’s making enemies left and right—first Chen Long, now Ding Family Town. Is he hoping to get ganged up on by everyone?”

“This moment just makes me want to sing for you, streamer—‘Withered Chrysanthemums, a sore behind, your smile has faded yellow…’”

“You all are so naughty, but I like it.”

“Girl, why do you like them? This big brother is skilled and well-equipped.”

“Aren’t you a girl too? What’s with girls these days? So naughty!”

“I still want to know what exactly the streamer did to my two goddesses.”

“Chicken Coop Killer tips the streamer 100 gold coins—farming experience, farming experience, farming experience!”