Morning light pierces through the gap in between the windows of a room, the air is fresh and cold, atypical of early day atmosphere.
In the room that has 4 beds, only one of them is occupied. Nanming slept in that bed, even though there are 3 more, no one is willing to sleep in the same room as him.
Nanming knows the reason as to why, they are afraid of him, but he cannot blame his isolation, if he is not Nanming, he would certainly avoid Nanming if he were to be someone else, it is understandable and he doesn't want to blame anyone except himself.
And Chen rooms were full, occupied by Gu Liang, Ni Len and Xiu, so he is forced to be alone.
He opens his lazy eyes, seeing the scattered light isn't enough to brighten the room that he occupies, he should be happy being alone, a room this big all to himself is basically a luxury. But still, he longed for someone to be there.
Even though he is accustomed to the coldness of isolation, it is still disheartening being alone.
And before he knew it, a tear fell from his eyes.
This is a bright day and a good morning with barely any clouds overhanging the Earth below. Yet in these warm bright hours, Nanming can only feel the coldness of being in the shadow.
.
.
.
"Umm… after the Mortal Realm it's the Celestial Realm" Xiu voice echoes out in the empty hallway towards their dorms. It's been about a week since they last entered this Academy. Though every day is filled with activity that drains both their mind and body of their strengths, it is by no means a fruitless endeavor.
"No Xiu, after the Mortal Realm it's the Post-Mortal Realm" Ni Len who sat besides him corrected Xiu mistakes, it was required for students to memorize and recite back the 3 Stages and their respective Realm of Cultivation as well as their classification, this is called the reciting test.
For some students its easy enough since the theory of Cultivating itself is deeply ingrained into their mind, but for most students it was hard, especially since a large portion of them were illiterate.
"Hahh this is hard" Xiu ever so calm face is override with frustration, he ruffled his hair and looked down towards the fine wooden floor. If not for this impairment of his he would've started practicing in the courtyard, and worse yet, he had to drag Ni Len around with him.
"…Let's start over the basic again" Ni Len said as he pulls out all ten of his fingers, a gesture which was then followed by Xiu.
"The left palm is the Internal Stage, Daotian" Ni Len said as he shakes around his left palm.
"The left palm is Internal Stage, Daotian" Xiu recites back, following the same movement Ni Len made.
"The first Realm is the Mortal Realm" Ni Len said as he brought his pinky fingers down.
"The first Realm is the Mortal Realm, then followed by Post-Mortal Realm" Xiu said ahead of Ni Len instructions while simultaneously bring his pinky and ring fingers down. Ni Len smiles in acknowledgement.
"That's it! Now after the Post-Mortal Realm is the Celestial Realm" Ni Len said as he brings his middle fingers down, leaving just the index and the thumb.
"After the Post-Mortal Realm is the Celestial Realm. And then after it is the Post-Celestial Realm" Xiu said as he brings his Index down. He is getting better each day, probably because he used the method Ni Len taught him with.
"And what comes after the Post-Celestial Realm?" Ni Len asks, his expression is that of hopeful and anticipatory. His heartbeat thumps with excitement even though he isn't the one who has trouble reciting the Stage and Realm of Cultivation.
"The Divine Realm" Xiu said as he brings his thumb down, not a beat after he flipped his palm to signifies the peak of Internal name, aptly name…
"And then the Peak-Internal Realm!" Xiu exclaimed, his face is still subtle in its emotion but even then, he felt satisfied, but Ni Len took it to the extreme as he shook Xiu hands and exclaimed in excitement and pride.
"Yes! Yes! You did it!" Ni Len said, he then pulls out the dictionary and asks Xiu this.
"Now what's their classification?"
"What?"
Xiu said in surprise, confusing expression override his previously happy one.
"You know, why is it called the Internal Realm?"
"Oh… Ehhhh… Its because the Aura only manifest when One use a technique?" Xiu said with hesitation, his eyes darting around everywhere as if it could help him remember the imprinted text.
"You don't need to recite the whole text, just explain the main idea and the rest is improvised"
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
Ni Len realized that those who had never read didn't really know the effective method to memorize a certain topic, rather than trying to memorize the main idea they try to memorize the whole thing.
"So, basically the Internal Realm is when an Aura only manifests itself when we use our Inhibition, technique and foundation… Is that correct?"
"Yes!"
Ni Len jabs Xiu shoulder in acknowledgement and pride as he smiles as wide as possible, his voice peaks out like a girl probably due to how excited he is.
For some reason, Xiu felt something strange whenever he saw Ni Len make that face. Almost as if he was… effeminate.
He had seen a lot of serving males without their manhood in the Brothel and Ni Len has a face that strangely resembles one of them.
Maybe he is overthinking much, there is no point drawing correlation when he himself had trouble memorizing the basics of Martial Arts.
"…" The sliding door near both boys suddenly opens, revealing a sight of a beautiful female with white hair, the two didn't flinch, Ni Len did but he is more terrified rather than shocked.
"You still struggling with it?" the female asks with deep voice, it was Nanming who just got out of the room. Much like Xiu, Nanming didn't know how to read, but just in a matter of weeks he was able to recite a full book and even passed the reciting test, albeit he takes a long time reading it, but it is still impressive.
Speaking of which, Xiu also finds Nanming faces a bit odd. He was so beautiful, so much so that he is prettier than even most of the girls here in the academy and his long hair which grown to cover his shoulder didn't help hiding his allure.
But thanks to that bloodbath of a test no one dares to hit on Nanming, some even forget he had a beautiful face simply because they are too afraid of him.
"Yeah… I'm not good with letters" Xiu said, he is among those who is somewhat unafraid of Nanming. Ni Len thought it was maybe due to his upbringing being in Luo Fi.
"You don't need to read all of it right? Just explain the important part" Nanming said, which draws Ni Len attention since Nanming's advice is close to his own.
"Right? I've told you about it already! You don't need to recite it all perfectly!" Ni Len said as he shakes both of his hands.
"…" Xiu who stubbornly tried to recite all the Internal Stage Cultivation Realm perfectly was stumped, hearing two people saying the exact same method that contradicts his makes Xiu contemplates on trying out their advice first.
"Alright…" Xiu said, which cause Ni Len to smile as he promptly decided to explain all the Realm distinction and Classification.
Nanming felt that he was no longer needed here, so he decided to go towards the courtyard. Since after a student managed to pass the Reciting Test, comes the Physical Test, Theorem Test and then the Dexterity Test, called the First Semester.
He walks the empty hallways before he reaches the Courtyard for the second semester students. For some reason Nanming was told to follow the Second Semester curriculum which involves Acrobatic Test, Cultivation Test and Martial Test.
Second Semester was only meant for those who had passed the First Semester, Nanming entire weeks was passed by him learning how to read so he is confused onto why the tester of the Reciting Test told him to go the Second Semester courtyard.
On the way to the courtyard, he passed by several groups of students, roughly 15-17 years old who practiced their own stances in group. Repeating the same movement in a unified routine while bellowing their fighting spirit.
""HAAA""
Their voice echoes the courtyard, both male and female doing the same thing accompanied by their instructor who guides them on what to do and what not to do. They do this by beating the students who did wrong with a wooden stick in an area where they fail.
Nanming watches the group before he moves on, passing by another group doing the same thing. As he reached the second Courtyard where there is a Sparring test.
"YAHH!"
A bulky male slams down another medium-built male with a Martial movement, the instructor raised his hand to signals the end of the spar between the two. The surrounding students who sit in a circular formation clapped and discussed the spar they had just witnessed.
Nanming, once again disinterested, move pass the Sparring group and into the third courtyard.
"Hey, isn't that the new Demonic Prince?" A male student from the Sparring group asks the female next to him, which prompted her to look towards Nanming.
"Who? Prince Wu Yue?" The female asks.
"No, you idiot! Prince Wu Yue is still 5 years old, I mean the newly adopted one!" the male said as he jabs the female shoulders, prompting her to do the same thing.
"You idiot fuck! Stop wrestling with each other!"
The instructor who watches the two students' antics calls out. All the students in the Sparring group laugh at their blunder.
"Hahaha, those two started dating again!"
"Time and place you lovebird~ Hahahaha"
"Oooooh someone is getting married!"
"Heh"
Seeing the sparring group descend into this mocking ensemble caused the instructor to laugh lightly.
"We're not!" The male shouts, shoving the female's face back, causing her to do the same.
"Yeah! Who would want to marry this blockhead!" the female said with fierce and sharp gaze.
"Hahahaha" but those two-protest met deft ear by the groups which continues to tease them to no end.
Their laughter dies out as Nanming enters the third courtyard. This time, it was empty, save for three wooden dolls shaped like a human. Nanming gaze wasn't focused on the wooden statue and instead towards one of the rows of tree meant for shade and cooling the courtyard.
He could see a faint silhouette of someone crouching down. Knowing nothing better to do, Nanming decided to investigate the tree.
As he went closer to the tree, he could make out more of the silhouette, finding them to be a female yet he cannot see her face. But he can make out a quiet voice, too small to be noticed but can be felt.
"AHHHH OH MY GOSH!!!"
Nanming almost jumped back from the surprise.
The female suddenly screams and stands up as she stomped on the ground in a gesture Nanming makes out to be manic.
"Wait! I need to stay silent… But this part… uhhh my small heart can't take it…."
Her voice dies down, Nanming decided to move closer, trying to make out just who this person is.
"And then the prince slams his hands into the wall behind her, closing off all her exit out of the prince's grasp…"
"And before Lin-li knows it, the prince's other hand pressed lightly into her chins, forcing her to meet the prince's face! Uhhhuuu the prince is so brave…"
The figure speaks again, Nanming is confused as to why she speaks like that. As if she was reciting things. Nanming finally peaked around the corner, finding the female to be a girl around her 16.
Wearing a black cheongsam as her long black hair is adorned with an ornament resembling Swallow birds. In her hands she holds a book, Nanming assumed that she recited the words inside of the book.
"He then undresses Lin-li, kyaaaa, revealing her ample bre—" The female coincidentally shifts her eyes towards Nanming who peaked around the corner, she went silent for a while before throwing the book right towards Nanming's face.
The force is enough to cause Nanming, with his unpreparedness, to stumble back.
"P-Pervert!!!!" She exclaimed, assuming a combat stance as she procured a scythe.
"W-wait" But before she can do anything with it, she went silent before she picks the book away from Nanming face.
"I-it's you… ahem… you saw nothing" she said as she makes a threatening gaze, storing her book inside her cheongsam, somehow.
"We've met once, but I never properly introduce myself, my name is Hu Mei, the heir to the Hu Clan"
She said with such elegance and dignity that it contrasted sharply with how she was just a second ago.
Nanming stood up, she said that they had met once, but Nanming cannot remember her. But he figures that it's common courtesy to introduce himself back.
"My name is Wu Nanming, the Wu Clan 7th Prince" Nanming said.
Hu Mei opened her mouth, but she then covered her face with both of her hands before replying to Nanming while averting her gaze from him.
"W-Well, Wu Nanming, I am here to be your instructor for the first phase of Martial Test"
She said, stammering her words quite a bit.
"But I haven't passed the First Semester yet, why am I here in the Second Semester?" Nanming asks, tilting his head slightly.
"That's the order of the Lord of Sword Musashi Gen, let us cut to the chase" Hu Mei then walks towards the wooden doll, she didn't make any gesture while doing so but Nanming decided to follow her.
Hu Mei stops in her tracks abruptly.
"…Can you move a bit back?" Hu Mei said, not even shifting her look towards Nanming.
"…" Nanming complies, wondering why she seldom sees his form. Is he that terrifying?
They then resume their walks into the doll.