Chapter 28: The Sin of a Genius

Luo was drenched in sweat, his clothes completely soaked as if he had just been fished out of a ditch.

Carol called out, "Luo, where have you been? Why are you in such a state?"

"Hmm?" Luo closed the door and began to take off his clothes, "A few classmates challenged me to a duel, so I fought a few rounds." His bare arms bulged with solid muscles.

Carol leaned in and sniffed, fanning the air in front of her nose, "You stink of sweat, go take a shower quickly. Really, you've made the whole room smell." She glanced at Bing Zhiye and smiled, "See that? That's what a man's build looks like, much better than your scrawny frame."

"Are you any different?" Bing Zhiye retorted.

"Che!" Carol exclaimed, "I... I'll eventually become stronger than him, so I have to keep eating!! Didn't you have something to ask him?"

Bing Zhiye shook his head, "Let's wait until he finishes his shower."

Luo was about to enter the bathroom when he heard that Bing Zhiye had something to ask him. He turned around and asked, "What is it, Bing Zhiye?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask where the promotion exam is held and how to apply."

Luo fell to the ground, unable to speak for a long time.

"No way!" Carol exclaimed, "You just started your first day of classes, and you're already taking the promotion exam?"

"How can you be so noisy? Damn, can't you let me sleep?" Vien groggily got up, saw Luo on the ground, and Carol staring at Bing Zhiye in surprise. He asked, "What's going on?"

Luo pointed at Bing Zhiye, "He... he... he wants to take the promotion exam!"

"Take the promotion exam?!" Vien jumped up, hitting his head on the metal beam above, "Ouch... Ouch... Ouch... Ouch... Damn! Who takes a promotion exam after just one day of class? Bing Zhiye, stop making jokes that make others think so hard, okay?"

"No, can't I?" Seeing the three of them looking at him with horror, Bing Zhiye felt a bit intimidated.

Luo jumped up and punched him on the head, "Even if you are that excellent, you can't apply for a promotion exam after just one day of class. You should at least wait until the end of the month. Damn, you really don't know anything, do you? Have you ever read a book?"

"Uh, I've never read one..." Bing Zhiye, who was in pain, rubbed his head, "But, but Mr. Black Spalric told me to take the初级魔法师 (初级魔法师 means '初级' which is '初级' in Chinese, but in this context, it should be translated as '初级魔法师' which means '初级魔法师') exam within a week."

"What did you say?" Luo blinked, looking at him, and Carol and Vien were also stunned. Luo said, "You just said... Mr. Black Spalric?... That's not fair, why would such an excellent teacher teach the beginner magic class? That's so unfair... I... I want him to teach me too!"

Carol finally couldn't take it anymore and kicked him in the face, "That's not the point!"

"Take the初级魔法师 exam!" Vien swallowed hard.

Luo suddenly punched the table and shouted, "Damn! I've been working hard day by day, using all the time I can, and it took me until I was 15 to reach the level of a beginner knight. I've achieved this through constant effort, even though I didn't pass the exam to become a regular knight last time, I've never given up. I believe I can definitely succeed. But... but you so-called geniuses, how much further are you going to trample my self-respect!" Luo's eyes were filled with bloodshot, glaring at Bing Zhiye in anger.

Everyone was shocked by Luo's sudden outburst.

Bing Zhiye stared at him for a while, then turned around and jumped onto the bed, not saying another word.

"What... What's wrong?" Carol felt the atmosphere become tense, and no one was speaking.

Luo picked up his sweat-soaked clothes from the floor and put them back on.

Carol asked, puzzled, "What are you doing? Not going to take a shower? It's so late, are you planning to go out?"

"Go to sleep first!" Luo rushed out the door.

Vien wiped the sweat from his forehead, "This guy seems to have been seriously hit."

Carol said to Bing Zhiye, who was lying on the bed, "Hey, have you ever had friends? You don't consider others' feelings when you speak. Don't you know that when you talk to friends, you should be careful not to hurt them? Talking about exams, I don't understand if you're just showing off." She pushed open the sliding door and went to the balcony.

Vien looked at Carol and then at Bing Zhiye, sighed, and fell back onto the bed to sleep.

Bing Zhiye pulled down his hat and lay on the bed, "Consider others' feelings?"...

In a corner of the Kurantin Academy's forest, Luo swung his metal spear, continuously striking a large wooden post. It seemed he wanted to vent all his grievances and frustrations. The special and sturdy wooden post was already covered in scars, with wood chips falling off from time to time, the result of years of use.

"Why, why, why!" Luo shouted, and the metal spear was filled with electricity, piercing the large wooden post, which instantly turned black and charred: "Why can others easily surpass what I have struggled so hard to achieve? Why, this is so unfair!!"

Luo threw the spear and started punching the wooden post with his fists. One, two... one hundred, two hundred... As he became more and more frenzied, his whole body trembled, and he gathered his magic power. A powerful electric current spread out in front of him, and from the center of a three-dimensional magic array, a four to five-meter-long, one-meter-tall magical beast emerged. Luo picked up the spear again, jumped onto the beast, and charged at the surrounding trees like a true knight.

He kept practicing non-stop, despite being so exhausted that he could barely catch his breath, his unwillingness to give up drove him to fight desperately.

Under the moonlight, several dozen meters away in the shadows, Sophina slowly left.

The next morning at 6:30, the alarm clock woke the sleeping Vien and Carol.

Carol jumped out of bed and saw that Luo's bed was still neatly made, and he had not returned all night.

"Hmm, Bing Zhiye, you're up early." Vien, who was about to wash up, saw him sitting on the balcony chair, enjoying the morning breeze.

Carol angrily walked to the balcony and said to Bing Zhiye, "Hey, you made him angry, you should reflect on it. If he comes back, you should apologize to him for what happened yesterday!"

"No." Bing Zhiye's response was cold and firm, unchangeable.

"Why? Don't you think you went too far?"

Bing Zhiye said, "I don't think I did anything wrong."

"You... Che!" Carol walked out of the balcony, pulling the door, "What a lousy person."

Vien, after washing his face, said to him, "Carol, this is their business, why do you care so much?"

Carol said angrily, "I just can't stand him. What a big deal, thinking he's so great and not caring about others, and not apologizing when he's wrong, I've never seen such a lousy person. What a bunch of annoying geniuses!"

"You're being too extreme." Vien glanced at Bing Zhiye outside the balcony and shook his head, "They've only been living together for a short time, and such a big conflict has already happened, it won't last long."

"I'm back." Luo, looking exhausted, walked into the dormitory and saw Bing Zhiye on the balcony.

Vien stood in the middle, looking at both of them.

Carol, seeing Vien's dirty appearance, asked with concern, "Where were you last night? Why didn't you come back all night?"

"Ah, thanks, I'm fine, I just slept outside." Luo walked forward and opened the balcony door, "Hey, I have something to say to you."

Bing Zhiye stood up from the chair and looked at him, "Go ahead."

Vien walked to Carol's side and whispered, "Are they going to fight?"

"Let them fight." Carol said angrily, "I'll definitely help Luo teach that guy a lesson."

Luo stood there, hesitating for a long time before saying, "That... I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."

"Uh-huh." Bing Zhiye just responded indifferently.

Carol couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward, pulling him, "What? Luo, why are you apologizing to him? It was clearly his fault, saying things that hurt you, why are you saying sorry to him?"

"It's not like that." Luo said to him, "Bing Zhiye's ability to take the exam is his own, I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Carol said, "But... But his words hurt you."

"If I can be hurt by words like that, then I must be too weak." Luo said slowly, "There are many geniuses in the world, and if I were to feel inferior every time I met one, I would have died long ago. I've always known I'm not a talented person, so I will use my efforts to surpass others. If I need others' pity for such a level of setback, I don't deserve to talk about respect!"

Carol looked at the guy in front of her in surprise, suddenly feeling that he was much stronger than she had imagined.

Vien suddenly hooked his arm around his shoulder and laughed, "Ah, I've discovered that you actually have some good qualities, you're a decent guy. Hahaha, I'm going to be friends with you."

"There are no geniuses in the world." Bing Zhiye walked into the room.

Carol said angrily, "Don't be so smug, you're clearly a genius, why are you pretending..."

"Uh... This, this is..." Vien stared at Bing Zhiye with wide eyes, and even Luo was shocked: "What is this?"

Bing Zhiye threw off his magic robe, revealing his bare back. His skin was pitted and scarred, with no intact areas, and many places had scars on top of scars, like a dense web, a body that no normal person should have.

After all, ordinary scars, if not particularly severe, can heal without leaving a mark. To have so many deep scars, he must have experienced something incredibly brutal.

Bing Zhiye, with his back to them, said coldly, "My current strength is something I've won by risking my life. All my abilities have been gained through constant effort. There are no geniuses in the world, at least not those who succeed without effort. If there are, I am definitely not one! If someone uses the label of a genius as an excuse, in my view, that person is just a pitiful coward. I have to go to class, see you at noon." He then left the room with his magic robe.

Everyone was still in shock.

"This... This guy, he..." Vien was still in shock.

"I... I'm sorry..." Carol couldn't help but shed tears.

Luo said, "Being called a genius and still being hated by others, it seems the one who truly suffered is him."

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