“How did he see through my current situation?”
Watching Fan Xiwen’s utterly confident smile, Xie Min felt a storm surge through her heart.
After arriving in Dragon City, Xie Min had done everything she could to conceal the fact that she was a martial artist. She had presented herself as an ordinary person and had never displayed anything abnormal in front of anyone else. Logically speaking, her student, Fan Xiwen, should not have known.
Yet Fan Xiwen wore a smile, and his tone was utterly unquestionable.
“Could it be that I misjudged him? Is there actually an unparalleled martial arts expert hidden among my students?”
When that thought occurred to her, Xie Min was startled by her own bold speculation.
After all, anyone capable of seeing through her cultivation had to be at least on the same level as her.
But how old was Fan Xiwen?
Sixteen or seventeen!
A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old at Bright Force Peak, or even an Internal Force martial artist, would be an exceedingly rare existence in today’s martial arts world. At the very least, even Miss Xie Min, the eldest daughter of the Xie Family, a Martial Arts Family from Yanjing City, had never heard of such a monstrous genius existing in the current martial arts world.
“Teacher, why are you so surprised? You should know that beyond the heavens there are further heavens, and beyond people there are greater people.”
With both hands behind his back, Fan Xiwen leisurely walked into the room and finally stopped before the calligraphy scroll.
“A heart as still as water.”
After examining it from top to bottom, he shook his head.
Although he said nothing, it was clear that he thought little of the calligraphy scroll.
Xie Min subconsciously followed Fan Xiwen into the inner room. Seeing his solemn, experienced manner, she immediately felt dissatisfied. “Although my grandfather isn’t some great calligrapher, he has at least immersed himself in calligraphy for decades.”
The implication was obvious: You’re just a young upstart. What qualifications do you have to judge it?
“Teacher, I came this time because I want to make a deal with you.”
It was only a calligraphy scroll. Fan Xiwen had no intention of wasting too much time on it.
“What deal?”
Xie Min looked at Fan Xiwen somewhat irritably and thought, At such a young age, you don’t study properly, and now you’re talking about making deals with people. Are you trying to defy heaven?
What Xie Min did not know was that Fan Xiwen truly was going to defy heaven. This deal was the first step.
“Get me a Leave Slip, and I’ll help you break through your realm.”
At the end, he added, “I guarantee it won’t have any effect on your future cultivation.”
The cultivation technique Xie Min practiced emphasized following nature, while also requiring a substantial accumulation before releasing its power. Otherwise, she would not have remained at Bright Force Peak for ten years. Of course, once the obstacle was broken through, the path of cultivation ahead would become smooth, and her realm could advance a thousand miles in a single day.
However, this cultivation technique, once praised by the Xie Family as a Superior Cultivation Method, was not worth mentioning in Fan Xiwen’s eyes.
Back then, Chu Emperor Fan Xiwen had led armies in campaigns across all directions, expanding his territory countless times. The sects and Immortal Palaces he had crushed were too numerous to count, and the cultivation techniques collected by his civil and military officials had piled up to the point where they could nearly fill a large city. As for the trash cultivation techniques casually discarded by those officials, they were even more innumerable. Yet any one of those trash techniques, selected at random, would be a hundred times stronger than the one Xie Min was currently practicing.
Of course, the reason Fan Xiwen did not say this aloud was that he wanted to leave Xie Min some dignity. After all, she was his teacher.
If she became angry out of embarrassment, the deal would fall through immediately.
Even if Xie Min refused, Fan Xiwen had plenty of ways to obtain a Leave Slip. However, the main reason he had come to find Xie Min was that he still remembered how kind she had been to him back then. Thus, while accomplishing his own goal, he might as well give Xie Min a Fortuitous Opportunity.
Unexpectedly, Xie Min furrowed her brows, planted her hands on her hips, and stared sternly at Fan Xiwen. “A Leave Slip? You just returned to school, and you’re already asking for leave again. What for?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
Shouldn’t the focus now be on how to break through the realm? Fan Xiwen found Xie Min’s train of thought rather strange. They said women were unreasonable creatures; apparently, even female teachers were no exception.
“You’re my student, and I’m your teacher. Can’t I manage matters related to your studies?”
Xie Min glared at Fan Xiwen, but her glare had no deterrent effect whatsoever in his eyes.
“I don’t care who you are. As long as you’re still my student, I have the right to exercise my authority as your teacher.”
..
Xie Min assumed the identity of a teacher and continued lecturing him incessantly. Fan Xiwen was utterly helpless. He drew a deep breath, turned around, and pressed his palm against the calligraphy scroll bearing the words “A heart as still as water,” slowly brushing across it.
Fortunately, the Teachers' Dormitory was an old building, and the main structure was not very tall. The scroll had been hung at just the right height for Fan Xiwen to reach after extending his hand. Otherwise, things would have been somewhat awkward. Who was Fan Xiwen? The Chu Emperor! Did the Chu Emperor really have to stand on tiptoe just to touch a calligraphy scroll? Give me a break.
“What are you doing?”
Xie Min looked at Fan Xiwen in confusion, her gaze unconsciously falling upon the calligraphy scroll.
The scroll was still the same scroll as before. However, when Xie Min’s gaze landed on it, something seemed different.
At that moment, Xie Min felt as if she were standing atop a tranquil lake. Her reflection lay motionless in the water, but what made her heart tremble was that the seemingly calm lake appeared to contain terrifying energy.
“I understand.”
Xie Min suddenly murmured those words, then retreated and sat cross-legged on the bed.
Fan Xiwen silently withdrew from the inner room and used his divine sense to isolate it from the outside world. Xie Min had reached enlightenment and was about to seize the opportunity to break through the realm; she absolutely could not be disturbed by anything outside.
“Sigh, I have to gather spiritual energy and resume cultivation as soon as possible.”
Fan Xiwen sighed. If this had been in the past, then setting up a conceptual realm for Xie Min to observe and comprehend would have been as simple as forming a thought or waving a hand—not to mention during his prime, but even after his orthodox ascension. Why did he have to go through all this now?
“Still, this little girl really does have some talent.”
With more than three thousand years of age behind him, calling Xie Min a little girl was not excessive.
Although the conceptual realm had been created by Fan Xiwen, Xie Min had been able to comprehend it merely by experiencing it. Her ten years of accumulated insight certainly played a part, but her talent was also indispensable.
Fan Xiwen was now considering whether he should teach Xie Min some methods of cultivation.
After all, whether in his previous life or this one, Fan Xiwen’s ultimate goal remained to become the Lord of Great Han, invincible beneath the heavens. Having returned to start over, Fan Xiwen needed to accumulate even more power.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Fan Xiwen furrowed his brows.
Someone outside knocked on the door.
..
A young man in a suit stood outside Xie Min’s home. His hair was slicked back, and he wore a smile he considered exceedingly handsome.
The young man’s name was Li Yuan, and he was also a teacher at Second High School. Unlike Xie Min, however, after teaching at the school for a while, Li Yuan had been transferred directly to the school’s Political and Educational Affairs Office. The Political and Educational Affairs Office was a place that made every student’s heart ache at the mere mention of its name. It practically stood above all the other school departments and could manage almost anything.
One could say that Li Yuan had entered that department at a young age and had only failed to carve the words “I have someone above me” into his forehead.
Ever since Li Yuan saw Xie Min at a staff meeting, he had been stunned by her beauty. From then on, whenever he had nothing else to do, he ran off to curry favor with her. Unfortunately, Xie Min had always been indifferent toward him. For some reason, however, Li Yuan only came around more frequently. This time, he had come because he had learned that a once-famous singer would be performing at Dragon City’s Shuimu Nianhua Bar that evening. He had therefore come specifically to invite Xie Min to go watch the performance with him.
Dragon City’s entertainment industry was not very developed. Every so often, Shuimu Nianhua Bar invited some faded stars to perform, which the country bumpkins of Dragon City loved. Whenever a star came, the place was packed. Li Yuan had also pulled quite a few strings to secure a table. It had not been easy.
However, what he had imagined and what he saw were worlds apart.
The door opened, but the person standing there was not Xie Min. Instead, it was a student Li Yuan had never seen before.
The smile on Li Yuan’s face immediately froze, because the first thing this student said upon seeing him was, “Teacher Xie is asleep. If you have something to say, come back another time.”
After saying that, he made as though he were going to close the door.
Wait...
Li Yuan pressed one hand against the door and said darkly, “What are you to Xie Min?”
If Xie Min was asleep, then what were you still doing here?
And you were even trying to close the door?
At this point, Li Yuan could not help thinking too much into it.
“A student.”
Fan Xiwen looked at the young teacher before him with amusement. Seriously, how had someone with this level of intelligence become a teacher?
There was no need to doubt it: the memories of three thousand years were too distant and immense, so Fan Xiwen naturally could not remember who Li Yuan was.
“What are you doing here?”
The interrogative tone and condescending attitude immediately made Fan Xiwen narrow his eyes.
“What are you supposed to be? You think you’re worthy of speaking to me like that? Kneel down and speak.”
In this world, aside from his parents, fewer than three people had the right to question him, Chu Emperor Fan Xiwen. Li Yuan did not qualify.
Kneel... kneel down and speak?
Li Yuan felt as though he had misheard. He was just about to lose his temper when the young student’s eyes swept over him. For some reason, Li Yuan’s heart immediately began pounding, while his shoulders felt as if a great mountain had come crashing down upon them. His knees bent involuntarily.
Thud!
Both knees slammed hard into the concrete floor. Fear and pain appeared on Li Yuan’s face.
He knelt!
He had really knelt!
Perhaps spurred on by courage from nowhere, Li Yuan actually roared angrily at Fan Xiwen. “Just you wait! Do you know who I am? From now on, don’t even think about continuing to attend school!”
..
Fan Xiwen narrowed his eyes. “Are you threatening me?”
Boundless killing intent instantly spread from his body and swept directly toward Li Yuan.
After thousands of years of warfare, how could the killing intent surrounding Fan Xiwen be endured by a mere mortal like Li Yuan?
After only one exchange, Li Yuan immediately passed out.