Chapter Forty-Three: The First Lesson of the New Semester

Sparse and scattered, every now and then a handful of promising youths or striking beauties would wander from the bustling city center to the deserted outskirts. With a flicker of their arms, or a sapphire glow from a ring on their finger, the handsome men and beautiful women vanished into thin air.

The main city of Green Forest never faltered in its vibrancy, whether newcomers arrived or old souls departed. Established at the heart of the divine tree, the city lacked towering grandeur but possessed the majesty of a city in the clouds.

In the center stood a colossal statue, stone and gold intertwined, a wooden longsword hanging from its waist. Both hands were raised skyward, as if holding up the heavens. Its head tilted upward, brows dark and bold, lips unsmiling, eyes filled with an arrogance that swept over all beneath the sky.

Humans clustered around the statue like ants, growing in number year by year as the main city appeared anew. Facing the statue was the liveliest commercial plaza, named Wood Ink Street—signifying wood as the brush, heaven as the ink, recording a century of history.

Behind the statue, in stark contrast to its front, stretched a secluded woodland path. White jade slabs encircled the statue and extended toward the street behind—Wood Life Street. At either end stood Purple Star Academy and Heavenly Wood Academy. Wood is reborn from the bud, people from the womb; the students of both academies were the hope of humanity’s renewal.

Ye Bai walked past the statue of the Heavenly Wood King, stepping beyond two young women taking photos nearby. One of them glanced at Ye Bai with a hint of displeasure; as his silhouette entered her shot, she sought a new angle for her photo.

From the statue’s front to its back, Ye Bai gazed up at the imposing Heavenly Wood King, then turned onto Wood Life Street, leaving a ripple in the air behind him. The girl taking photos saw Ye Bai disappear into Wood Life Street, quickly flipping through her pictures. When she found his silhouette still present, she gently patted her slightly rounded chest.

She waved to her friend still waiting for a photo, muttered something, and the two laughed as they headed into Wood Ink Street.

Almost no one knew that the entrance to Wood Life Street was once the entryway to the Divine Wood Secret Realm. After so much time, the secret realm had shrunk, but its barrier remained.

On either side of Wood Life Street stood two pavilions—Book Pavilion and Weapon Pavilion. Their doors, barely wide enough for two to enter, were dilapidated, with peeling red paint revealing the yellow solid wood beneath.

In people's memories, these two pavilions had always been there, seldom entered. The books inside, ancient beyond count, were not only obscure but their writing had faded.

The Sword Pavilion was much the same—swords, spears, blades, and halberds lay upright or scattered, untended, with dozens of rare weapons piled haphazardly in the corners.

Few entered either pavilion, the ramshackle buildings seeming ready to collapse, while two elderly men reclined in grand chairs, eyes closed, fanning themselves.

Between the two pavilions, white jade slabs paved a path, leading into a grove of varied trees behind. Occasionally, groups wandered in to admire the scenery. Only when the air stirred did the two elders open their eyes to glance at the statue before drifting back to sleep.

...

Three days passed in a blur. When leaving, Ye Bai neither sought out the brother he’d known for three years nor told his sleeping sister. Last night, in his dreams, Mu’er asked when he would return. The dream was unusually dark; Mu’er crouched alone in a corner, arms wrapped around her knees, whispering, "Brother, when will you come back? Mu’er is scared."

Ye Bai sat dazed at a table by the window, gazing out at the lush greenery, his thoughts lingering on Mu’er.

On the first day of the new school year, the freshmen of class 2119 mingled, boys flaunting their charms, girls' faces carefully made up, all hoping to leave a good impression.

The classroom buzzed with laughter and chatter, but Ye Bai and the man in a sleep robe napping behind him seemed out of place.

Suddenly, a man entered from outside—not much older than them, yet he stood like a boulder. His gaze swept the classroom; timid girls lowered their heads, uneasy with his stare, and many boys felt their backs chill, as though a wild beast had marked them.

The man’s face was not as fierce as expected. Instead, his pallor was sickly, reminiscent of the internet addicts of the pre-Dark Age, emerging bleary-eyed from days spent in cyber cafes.

Yet this frail-looking figure, standing at the podium, made everyone’s scalp tingle.

"Are you finished?" he asked—his first words since entering. The classroom had fallen silent since his arrival.

"Then it's my turn. Barring any surprises, I'll be your counselor for the next few years. Don’t bother me for trivial matters; don’t bother me for important ones, either."

His blunt words crushed any budding hopes some girls might have had.

"My name is Zhang Jian. I’ll appear in the classroom once every month to tell you what you need to know. The professors in the Science Institute have plenty of free time; you can go to them if you need anything."

His cool, detached voice filled the room. Ye Bai snapped back to attention, and the slumbering "sleep god" behind him finally awoke.

The intelligent device on Zhang Jian’s right arm spun around his wrist, projecting a map onto the wall. Most of it was a blue domain, with only its deepest part a black domain.

"The black domain on the map is the school’s forbidden zone. Entry without permission is prohibited."

Ye Bai recognized the academy’s inner grounds; the blue domain included the teaching buildings, science center, dormitories, and cafeteria. The rest remained unknown.

Zhang Jian continued, "Your class has fifteen students, divided into five groups of three. From the first to the last, you’ll form your teams. How you get to know each other and work together is your own business; I don’t have time for that."

He spread his fingers, and from his middle finger extended red lines, branching outwards, forming a red circle before his hand.

As the red circle appeared, the five fingers linked with lines, quickly shaping into a pentagram. On each finger, a smaller pentagram glowed. In the blank spaces of the large pentagram, a dragon and a phoenix chased each other, while the outer ring, formed of olive branches, spun ceaselessly.

The crowd, witnessing such a scene for the first time, stared in awe; none had expected the power of attributes to be applied with such finesse.

"Fire Shine," Zhang Jian intoned. From the pentagram, a small lion bounded out, landing precisely before the first-row girl, then vanished without a trace.

"The application of attribute power—you’ve just seen it. In essence, attribute power uses your body as a vessel, controlled by your mind."

"When you broke through to the Forging Body stage, you experienced your first body refinement. That process eliminated hidden illnesses and scars. The second refinement is still far off for you, so I won’t elaborate."

Everyone listened intently; those admitted to the Four Great Academies were all exceptionally gifted.

"The use of attribute power must be explored by yourselves. What works for others is suited to them alone. My pentagram, and others, are designed simply to maximize attribute power efficiency."

As he finished, a green pentagram appeared on his left hand. A green lion ran atop it, then faded away.

Fire and wood dual attributes—many in the room were astounded. The odds of possessing fire attribute were rarer than winning the lottery, and here was wood as well. Was this the Four Great Academies? How terrifying.

The freshmen watched as Zhang Jian dispelled the wood pentagram on his left hand, then conjured another on his right. The outer and most inner structures were fire, but the core was green.

"Fire-Wood dual attribute star array: fire is 86%, wood is 12%, fire dominates, offense oriented." Then Zhang Jian manipulated the array, turning most of the outer ring green, with a red dragon and phoenix within, the core remaining green.

"Wood-Fire dual attribute star array: wood is 68%, fire is 32%, wood dominates, aiming for endless regeneration, defense oriented."

As he demonstrated, Zhang Jian explained, "The proportion of each attribute is determined through repeated experimentation; the intelligent device can help calculate the optimal balance."

"Your exam will cover the world of glaciers. The king’s strength isn’t overwhelming, but he can injure the Dragon Armored Man because of the principle of Five Element transformations."

He dismissed the pentagram, surveying the unfamiliar freshmen. "The principles of the Five Elements are ever-changing, a double-edged sword. Missing the metal attribute, the Five Elements are incomplete." With that, Zhang Jian glanced at the freshmen and said, "Class dismissed," then walked out.

He never asked for a single freshman’s name, nor invited questions—he simply left, leaving the class staring wide-eyed at one another.