Chapter 22

Hugao held the token and, following Hu Yinxue's previous instructions, quickly arrived at the Ordinary Hall.

The place was surrounded by a tall, thick wall, isolating it from the Indoor Hall and the Elite Hall, preventing students from the other two halls from entering. After all, although the Battle Academy valued combat, it could not allow battles between practitioners with vastly different realms.

Hugao looked at the maze-like buildings and the young martial artists walking in groups, dressed in various colors. He suddenly stopped, his brows slightly furrowed. It wasn't because he was lost, but because the five-clawed golden dragon totem in his qi sea suddenly became restless.

The little guy bared its fangs and waved its claws, scaring the Bloodlight Snake into curling up in a corner as if it were severely injured. Hugao tried to communicate with the mysterious totem using his mental power, and after much effort, finally calmed it down.

While Hugao was lost in thought, a young woman in her early twenties approached. She wore a simple brown long dress, but her jade-like feet moved quickly.

As the young woman passed Hugao, she suddenly stopped as if hitting the brakes, looked at him holding the token, and sized him up before asking, "Which hall are you from?" Despite her young age, her voice carried a hint of authority.

Hugao raised his head blankly and was immediately startled by the overwhelming presence in front of him. How could he always run into beautiful women? Looking at her figure, her curves were so perfect that even the best mermaid would react the same way as Hugao. If she wore a pair of black rimless glasses, she would be no different from the mature female teachers in Averi, the perfect fitness partner for a geek.

"Senior Sister, hello. Could you please tell me how to get to Hall Ten?" Hugao put on a naturally innocent look and asked, taking the lead.

"Hall Ten? Why do you want to go to Hall Ten? Do you have some ulterior motive?"

The mature woman saw Hugao's twisted, lecherous expression and immediately became wary, already listing him as a dangerous person in her mind.

Hugao was speechless. He had just casually asked where Hall Ten was, but how did it become an ulterior motive? Although he did have a slight intention, it was directed at her, wasn't it? Hugao really wanted to tell her, "I have no ulterior motive for Hall Ten, only for you..."

"Senior Sister, I have no ulterior motive for going to Hall Ten. I am a new student in Hall Ten, and I am on my way to report in." Hugao had to tell the truth and showed her the wooden token to avoid leaving a bad impression on the beautiful girl.

"You are a new student in Hall Ten?"

The beauty sized up Hugao, her face full of suspicion. "You are also a student at the Battle Academy? How come I don't see you even having a totem yet?"

Hugao rolled his eyes. Just a moment ago, Hu Yinxue had immediately recognized that he was at the middle stage of the Condensing Shadow Realm. How could he be so blatantly ignored now?

He could be looked down upon in terms of cultivation or combat strength, but when it came to totems, how many people could compare to him? A top-ten mutated totem was no joke, and he even had a five-clawed golden dragon that even the Bloodlight Snake feared.

Life as a show-off was the most helpless. "Though I have great strength, I cannot tie a chicken with one hand." Hugao guessed that his totem had the ability to conceal its aura, which needed to be confirmed later. He said calmly, "The world laughs at me for being too crazy, but I laugh at the world for not seeing through it. If we have a chance, Senior Sister, we will meet again."

Watching Hugao's departing back, the young woman bit her lips, still pondering how such a boyish-looking person could say such profound words. After a while, she seemed to have figured something out and shouted, "You almost fooled me, brat! Confess, which of the Hu, Zhu, Wu, Guo, or Wei families are you from? Who did you use to get in here?"

Seeing the mature woman chasing after him with a serious expression, Hugao's mouth opened several times, but he didn't know what to say. This was too much. Did they have to force him to use his ultimate move to scare them into submission and establish his image of humiliating others in the Battle Academy?

"Give me a reason to tell you."

The mature woman waved her fist in front of Hugao, her face cold. "Is this reason enough? I don't care which family you are from. If you don't tell the truth in front of me, I will kick you out of here!"

Being kind makes one vulnerable. Fine, he would just give in to the beauty. Hugao summoned the Bloodlight Snake totem, "Look carefully, this is my totem, the first-stage Red Silk Snake!"

"Hmm, you really have a totem? Strange, how could a first-stage totem hide from my detection?"

The beauty immediately recognized the Red Silk Snake but didn't take it seriously. However, when she carefully observed it, she felt a sense of unease, as her totem sensed fear. "No, this is not a Red Silk Snake. Tell me, what totem is this?"

"Exposed?"

Hugao was startled and quickly retracted the Bloodlight Snake. "Of course, it's a first-stage Red Silk Snake. What else could it be? A mutated totem? If it were a mutated totem, would I still be here? I would have gone to a top sect and been groomed as a successor."

"But..."

"There is no 'but.' I can only tell you that my identity is slightly different from ordinary people. As for the totem, I wish it were a mutated one." Hugao didn't expect this mature woman to be so sharp, recognizing the Bloodlight Snake's extraordinariness at a glance. He had to act mysterious.

"Blue hair and such a young age, could you be the successor of the Hu family?" The mature woman exclaimed, immediately recognizing Hugao's identity.

"What successor?" Hugao pretended to be clueless and tried to step away to avoid the crazy mature woman.

"Hmph, still trying to fool me?" Unexpectedly, although the mature woman seemed a bit neurotic, her movements were as swift as the wind. Before Hugao could react, she had snatched the token from his hand.

"Sure enough, it's the token that Senior Sister Yinxue issued. I didn't expect you to be so cautious, almost fooling me. Tsk tsk, but you don't seem as bad as Sister Wushuang said, except for your weak totem." The unscrupulous mature woman stared at Hugao as if he were something to fill her stomach.

Hugao was in tears. Those who knew his identity were either from the Hu family or from the Battle Academy. But since this woman was Wushuang's friend, he immediately lost interest. "Senior Sister, since you know my identity, can we not talk in such a conspicuous place? Tell me where Hall Ten is, I need to report to the instructor."

"If you are looking for the Hall Ten instructor, hmm..." The mature woman cleared her throat. "I am..."

"What? You are the Hall Ten instructor? Are you kidding me?"

Hugao clearly didn't believe it. How could the instructor of the Battle Academy be so young?

"Hmph, you doubt me. I heard there was a new student coming, so I came to check. I didn't expect it to be you. Follow me to Hall Ten. You liar, I will avenge Sister Wushuang."

The mature woman looked very angry, turned around, and walked forward with her delicate hands behind her back, calling Hugao to follow.

Seeing Yang Le's posture, Hugao was not convinced. Just because you say you are the Hall Ten instructor, I should believe you? No way.

"I will expose your little trick right now..."

Without thinking, Hugao quickly followed.

After a few turns, Hugao saw more people, but he noticed that the martial artists looked at him with strange expressions. Did he forget to tuck in his little brother when he left? He couldn't help but look down, but seeing no issues, he continued to follow the mature woman with a smile.

"Look, who is that person following the little devil Yang Le? Is he tired of living?"

"This guy is really brave, not afraid of the little devil. He must be her student. He's in for a rough time."

"Haha, someone is going to be in trouble. This will be fun to watch."

...

Although the voices of the people were not loud, the sheer number of them made the noise louder. Most of the content reached Hugao's ears, but he didn't care. Instead, he smiled, which made many male students look at him in surprise, even idolizing him and admiring his bravery.

Soon, Hugao arrived at a classroom door with a large "Ten" written on it, which was Hall Ten.

Hugao noticed that Yang Le didn't stop at all when she reached Hall Ten, but walked straight in and confidently went to the podium, leaving Hugao, who was following her, stunned. It seemed, apparently, that this girl was really the Hall Ten instructor.

"Today, I introduce a new student to you all. His name is Hugao. Please give him a warm welcome."

Yang Le stood at the podium and said, then turned to Hugao outside. "Hugao, please introduce yourself."

"Hugao? Which Hugao?"

Hugao didn't care about Yang Le's identity as the Hall Ten instructor and walked straight to the podium, meeting the gazes of the many students below without any hesitation, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, making the entire classroom filled with a thick atmosphere of tension.

"Hello everyone, my name is Hugao, a nobody from the Hu family. Please take care of me in the future."

Boom!

Hugao didn't realize that his seemingly unremarkable introduction was like a bomb, making everyone in the classroom boil with excitement.

Almost all the martial artists in the classroom were angry, their gazes burning with flames. If Yang Le weren't standing on the podium, these restless martial artists would have undoubtedly rushed forward to beat Hugao to the ground.

A man like me, no matter how humble, can always shine brilliantly wherever I go! Hugao concluded with a mix of helplessness and a hint of沧桑 (cang桑, meaning沧桑 can be translated as '沧桑' or 'weathered' in this context, but it's a bit difficult to convey the exact nuance in English, so I'll use 'weathered' here).