Chapter 1 of 100

Chapter 1

18 min read4,440 words

"Lu Ping, get up for class."

"Five more minutes."

"Get up now!"

Whoosh! Sunlight streamed in, bathing Lu Ping's entire body.

"Ah!!!"

A scream echoed through the sky, shattering Lu Ping's drowsiness. Then came Su Tang's angry roar as he slammed the door: "What kind of condition is it for you to sleep naked?!"

"What conditions are needed for sleeping naked?" Lu Ping mumbled, finally getting up. As he stood, the small room seemed even more cramped. Lu Ping grabbed his clothes from the bedside and put them on while looking at the broken door that Su Tang had slammed.

Creak, creak, the broken door trembled, and Lu Ping closed his eyes in pain.

Thud...

The door finally fell, pitifully leaning against the wall.

"Such a powerful girl," Lu Ping sighed, but he didn't bother with the door. He threw his shirt over his shoulder, went to the window, and leaped out.

The sky was blue, the sun was bright, and outside the small house was a flower bed, emitting a fragrant aroma. Lu Ping walked through the fragrance, looking around, and his eyes lit up.

"Here it is!" Lu Ping happily approached, bent down, and picked up the hose for watering the flowers, splashing himself without hesitation.

The cool mountain spring water from Xiaofeng Lake refreshed Lu Ping, driving away the last bit of sleepiness. After washing up, Lu Ping casually threw the hose aside, and another scream pierced his ears.

"Lu Ping!!!!" Master Mo Sen, the horticulturist responsible for the twenty-two gardens of Zhaifeng Academy, stood angrily by the flower bed.

"Oh, it's Teacher Mo, good morning!" Lu Ping seemed completely unaware of Mo Sen's anger.

"My water lily!" Mo Sen roared, his six souls and seventeen layers of power, a master who had reached the Chongpo stage, released a killing intent that even the insects in the flower bed could feel, and the birds in the lush trees on both sides of the avenue were startled into flight.

Lu Ping still seemed unaware, asking in surprise, "Where?"

"Under your feet..."

"Ah?" Lu Ping looked down and moved his foot, seeing a water lily in full bud that he had trampled into a mess. This water lily was a very precious variety, and transplanting it from water to land was extremely difficult. Now, it had been flattened by Lu Ping into a bun.

"Get out of here." Mo Sen, seeing the bun-like water lily, was heartbroken, too busy rushing into the flower bed to be angry, and carefully examined the roots of the water lily.

"Is it okay?" Lu Ping squatted down and leaned in, showing great concern.

"Disappear, or die!" Mo Sen's killing intent was ready to be unleashed.

"I'll disappear." Lu Ping quickly retreated. On the famous avenue of Zhaifeng Academy, he saw Su Tang walking towards him, looking angry. Lu Ping waved to greet him.

"You..." Su Tang was taken aback, not understanding why Lu Ping was in front of him, but when he looked towards the small house and saw Teacher Mo Sen on his hands and knees, he understood.

He glared at Lu Ping and hurried to Mo Sen's side.

"Teacher Mo Sen, he didn't do it on purpose. Is there anything I can help with?"

Mo Sen stood up, not bothering to brush off the dirt, and took a deep breath. The roots of the water lily were fine, and his anger subsided. After all, this wasn't the first time, and he was somewhat numb to it. If it weren't for the precious water lily, he might not have had the energy to be angry. Lu Ping had trampled more than just the water lily as he crossed the flower bed, but Mo Sen didn't even look at the others.

Mo Sen felt helpless at Su Tang's explanation. That brat, of course, wasn't on purpose; he simply didn't care. How could there be any intention or purpose? But it was hard on Su Tang, who always had to clean up the mess left by that good-for-nothing.

It's not worth it!

Mo Sen genuinely felt it was not worth it for Su Tang. Not just him, but everyone at Zhaifeng Academy, except those who envied Su Tang's talent, would be happy to see her dragged down by Lu Ping. Without Lu Ping, if Su Tang could focus entirely on her cultivation, with her talent, her realm...

Hmm? Realm?

Thinking of this, Mo Sen vaguely sensed something. His Chongpo power, which had reached the Yingpo stage, flowed through his body, and his eyes flashed with a bright light.

"Six layers of power? Six layers of Lipo! Your Lipo has already broken through to the sixth layer?" Mo Sen was almost incoherent. The sixth layer was the peak of single-soul cultivation. Su Tang was only fifteen years old and had been cultivating for three years since entering Zhaifeng Academy, yet she had already reached the sixth layer of Lipo, which was unprecedented in the school's history. As for Mo Sen himself, he had reached the sixth layer of Chongpo after nearly seven years, which was already better than many people and something he had always been proud of. But now, compared to Su Tang, he was more than a year behind, and he remembered that he had been fully focused on his cultivation, without any distractions like Lu Ping.

"Amazing! Sixth layer of Lipo, you've reached it so quickly!" After seeing Su Tang nod in confirmation, Mo Sen finally recovered from his shock. At that moment, he made a firm decision. Such outstanding talent and ability should not be wasted.

"Su Tang, answer me one question." Mo Sen's expression suddenly became very serious.

"Yes." Su Tang, seeing Mo Sen's serious expression, found it a bit strange but respectfully responded.

"If one day, your father and mother fall into the water at the same time, and you can only save one, which one would you save?" Mo Sen asked.

Su Tang was taken aback.

"I know you're an orphan; this is just a hypothetical scenario," Mo Sen said.

"But this question..."

"Isn't it a ridiculous question?" Mo Sen said, his eyes shifting to include Lu Ping, who was standing by the road. "But have you ever thought that in life, we sometimes have to make such cruel choices? There's no way out, and you must make a sacrifice. Hesitation or indecision will only lead to even more unfortunate results."

Su Tang was silent, understanding why Teacher Mo Sen was asking such a question.

A sacrifice, a cruel but necessary sacrifice.

Su Tang knew what Mo Sen was hinting at. Since entering Zhaifeng Academy three years ago, many people, from her mentor to her classmates, had advised her to stay away from Lu Ping. Lu Ping was completely useless, while Su Tang was so smart and talented. Lu Ping would be a burden, an increasingly heavy one.

But in fact, you're all wrong! Even if it were as you imagine, I would never abandon Lu Ping for my future. Su Tang was resolute about this.

"Your lives, from the moment you entered Zhaifeng Academy, were destined to take different paths," Mo Sen continued. He didn't lower his voice but intentionally wanted Lu Ping to hear. He knew about the relationship between Su Tang and Lu Ping. These two children were orphans who had relied on each other since childhood and were brought back to the academy by the dean three years ago.

On the entire continent, there were over four hundred academies, each capable of changing a person's life. The academies had strict selection mechanisms, and anyone who had the chance to enter would strive hard. Regardless of their ultimate achievements, they would push their lives to a new level. But Lu Ping was an exception. After three years, he had failed the two annual exams and had been held back for two consecutive years, still a first-year student. According to Zhaifeng Academy's rules, students who failed three annual exams would be expelled.

Zhaifeng Academy's rules were already very lenient and tolerant. In any other strict academy, Lu Ping would have been expelled within a month. With the third annual exam approaching, Mo Sen's Chongpo eyes, which could see the presence of power, saw no possibility of Lu Ping passing.

If Lu Ping is expelled from the academy, what about Su Tang?

Intuition had already given Mo Sen the answer. If Su Tang had to make a cruel sacrifice, she would never abandon Lu Ping. Mo Sen could see this determination in her eyes.

This made him appreciate Su Tang even more. Although he would be very happy to see Su Tang away from Lu Ping, if this were her own choice, he would be somewhat disappointed.

Now, he saw not just talent and effort in Su Tang but also excellent character.

He hoped Lu Ping could see this too. He hoped Lu Ping would think about how much Su Tang had sacrificed for him and consider what he should do to be good for Su Tang.

Mo Sen turned and looked directly at Lu Ping by the road. Su Tang realized that Teacher Mo Sen's words were actually meant for Lu Ping. She smiled, hiding behind Mo Sen, and made a face at Lu Ping.

"Um!" Lu Ping nodded vigorously. "Teacher Mo Sen's teaching is right. Su Tang, did you hear that? You must work even harder. Only then, when you face such a cruel and ridiculous choice, will you have the strength to make a perfect choice, to never give up anything!"

Mo Sen's expression instantly turned cold. Lu Ping's serious face seemed devilish to him. He was wrong to have any illusions about Lu Ping's character. This shameless person had dragged Su Tang down for three years, only taking and never giving. He had already decided to cling to Su Tang. He was building his hopes on the destruction of Su Tang, a thoroughly despicable and shameless parasite.

Killing intent!

This time, Mo Sen truly felt killing intent. Did this despicable person really think no one could do anything about him? No, it was just that everyone still had a glimmer of hope for him. But now, Mo Sen saw that Zhaifeng Academy's lenient rules were a waste on this scum. Such a person had no right to exist.

The killing intent faded quickly, not even startling the insects and birds.

Because this time, Mo Sen was truly determined, not just venting his anger. He quickly hid his killing intent, not planning to act immediately. For Su Tang, he decided to give Lu Ping a more dignified death.

"Alright, you can go." Mo Sen waved his hand, signaling them to leave.

"Teacher Mo Sen, the path from the window to here..." Su Tang mentioned again.

"Let's wait until he passes this exam!" Mo Sen said.

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Mo Sen." Su Tang happily jumped out of the flower bed. Mo Sen watched as she and Lu Ping walked away, turned back, and looked at the water lily that had been trampled into a bun. With a wave of his finger, the flower bud rolled off the stem, leaving a neat cut, and the red stem juice, like blood, seeped into the soil.

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