Chapter 2#
Chapter 002#
There was a barrier between the viewing stands and the square.
With the support of the magic array, those seated above could not only see the match up close but also clearly hear every sound within the arena.
After the students heard the beastman’s words, their hearts sank.
The ancient realm had existed for too long. This beastman remembered every match he had ever fought, knew an enormous number of skills, and possessed keen learning ability—he could master something after seeing it just once.
The first three teams still shuddered at the memory. In the match they had won, they happened to choose a topic the beastman didn’t know. Even then, they had been stunned by his learning ability. Though they won, they all broke out in a cold sweat.
In this embroidery contest, one side was a beastman who had already studied once, and the other was a pampered young master. Even if he had also learned it, how impressive could he be?
Someone murmured, “It’s over, we’re going to lose again.”
The team leader said, “Maybe he intends to choose a complicated pattern…”
Just as he spoke, they saw a vase and a pitiful three flowers, and heard the beastman ask, “Do you embroider the vase?”
Duan Wei said, “No need, just the flowers.”
The students couldn’t hold back: “Why not embroider the vase!”
Unfortunately, the people inside couldn’t hear them. With the beastman’s “Alright,” the match was set.
The students were anxious and uneasy: “A Yuan, can he do it?”
The man in blue, called A Yuan, said, “I’ve never seen him embroider before. Since he dared to choose it, maybe he can win.”
Some had already completely despaired: “But even if he wins this round, what’s the use?”
Even if they won all five, after them the beastman would choose the next event. He always chose weapon battles—he could kill with a single move, but instead toyed with his opponent, hacking for sport. That wasn’t a contest; it was slaughter.
The atmosphere grew heavy. The team leader said, “At least embroidery takes time. Let’s hurry and think of a countermeasure.”
In the square, a man and a beast sat on the ground, embroidering earnestly. The scene had an eerie, peaceful quality.
Duan Wei had passed through many worlds and had been a craftsman. His embroidery skill was extremely refined.
The students all stared wide-eyed, then immediately slapped their legs in regret. You had such skill, why only choose three flowers? If you’d picked a complex pattern and embroidered for a whole day and night, wouldn’t everyone be saved?
But soon they heard coughing. They looked at that pallid face and realized that if he’d chosen something difficult, the person might give out first.
A Yuan knew the senior disciple had already taken his pulse. If his body couldn’t handle it, the senior disciple wouldn’t have let him go.
He asked, “How are his injuries?”
The team leader said, “Not bad. That pill took effect. He’ll have no problem finishing this match.”
Hearing this, everyone felt relieved. Then they belatedly noticed that this time the beastman hadn’t offered his usual hypocritical concern. They glanced over and saw him staring at his embroidery cloth, utterly focused, his hands moving quickly.
Their hearts turned cold again, and they grew anxious once more.
Fortunately, the fragile young master tenaciously held on. He finished embroidering in just one shichen, while the beastman had only completed a little over half.
The beastman was still magnanimous: “Ah, I lost again.”
Duan Wei’s attention was entirely on the beastman’s embroidery. He leaned closer to examine it: “This is the result of studying once?”
The beastman said “Yes,” tossed the embroidery aside, and stood up.
Duan Wei’s vision blurred again, and he was back on the grass.
Then he saw a demon beast fly out from the beast pack, replaying the scene from the previous round where it was torn to pieces.
The demon beasts didn’t care at all. They immediately began frantically devouring it again.
One of the legs dropped right at the boundary between the students and the beast pack.
Duan Wei walked closer and took a look.
The demon beast was very fat, but its meat was quite firm. It looked a bit like beef.
He asked, “Hey, is it tasty?”
A few demon beasts finished eating in the blink of an eye. They looked up and found a human right in front of them. Drool immediately splattered onto the ground in torrents.
Duan Wei had been reminded of beef when he asked, and his stomach began to rumble, “gululu.”
The beasts stared at him, drooling “hua la la.” Duan Wei didn’t stop. His stomach rang one time after another.
For a moment, the sounds rose and fell in turns.
Beastman: “?”
Students: “?”
The beastman withdrew his gaze, eager to kill him as quickly as possible. “Next.”
The students’ expressions were tense. One of them, pale, was about to step forward when they heard a familiar voice: “Me again.”
The beastman said readily, “Fine.”
The students were stunned. The team leader was only just able to shove a storage pouch into his hand before sitting back in the stands.
They exchanged glances, unsure what this young master planned.
The beastman was in a good mood: “What do you want to compete this time?”
Duan Wei asked, “So far, have you ever voluntarily admitted defeat?”
The beastman sighed emotionally: “I’d like to meet a true master, but unfortunately, no one has ever made me sincerely concede.”
Duan Wei praised, “Good. That’s exactly the kind of spirit I appreciate in you—not easily admitting defeat.”
From the embroidery piece, he had already measured the other’s learning ability. It was better than an ordinary person’s, but not absurdly so.
That left plenty of room to work with.
He smiled: “Let’s solve equations this round.”
The beastman didn’t understand: “What?”
Duan Wei asked, “Do you know arithmetic?”
The beastman said, “A little. We’ve compared that before.”
Duan Wei said, “Equations are a kind of arithmetic. I’ll teach you first, then set a problem. If you solve it correctly, you win.”
The beastman was familiar with this kind of contest. It was a literary duel—either side could pose problems, or one side could pose and the other answer.
He said, “You may not make up a problem you yourself can’t solve. You must know the answer and the method. Otherwise, even if I don’t solve it, you lose.”
Duan Wei said, “No problem.”
The beastman said, “Fine.”
With a command, the match was set.
Duan Wei conjured a blackboard stand and a blackboard, then a lectern, chalk, eraser, and so on.
The newly minted Teacher Duan stood in front and said to his student, “Alright, let’s begin class. First, let’s recognize Arabic numerals, letters, and symbols.”
He didn’t deliberately stall. His explanations were precise and straightforward. After the symbols came various theoretical formulas, one knowledge point after another. When the blackboard was full, he switched to a new one. Without realizing it, he had used over a dozen boards.
The students could follow at first, but later they were dumbfounded. Their faces and minds went blank, and they silently turned to their classmates.
A Yuan said, “Don’t look at me. I never studied this.”
The students said, “Aren’t you a fellow townsman?”
A Yuan answered briefly, “His family had money.”
The students said, “Wasn’t your family also fairly well off before?”
A Yuan said, “Not as wealthy as his.”
The students gained a bit of insight and continued listening to heavenly script. After a long while, they finally saw the young master stop.
Duan Wei coughed a few times: “That’s it. Not bad, right?”
The beastman had a pile of unfamiliar things crammed into his head, but after reviewing them, he could barely grasp it: “Not bad.”
Duan Wei said, “Then I’ll set the problem.”
He switched to a new blackboard and swiftly wrote a big final-exam-level question, complete with variable transformations and traps.
The students were dizzy from the pile of xyzs and several square roots. In unison, they looked at the beastman.
They saw that even he seemed shocked by how complex the problem was. His expression paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on it for a breath, then shifted to the person beside him.
Duan Wei looked every bit the teacher: “What’s the matter? Any questions?”
The beastman looked at the problem on the blackboard again and activated the magic array to check. “Do you really know the answer and the method?”
Duan Wei said, “Really. If you thoroughly understand everything I taught you, you’ll be able to work it out.”
Seeing that the array showed no reaction, the beastman knew he wasn’t lying. He stepped forward and picked up the chalk: “Alright, I’ll solve it.”
Duan Wei cooperatively moved aside, conjured a chair, and sat down. Suddenly curious, he asked, “If this were a combat round, when you got close, could I conjure something and throw it at your face?”
The beastman said, “No. Once the weapon is chosen, nothing else can be conjured.”
Duan Wei asked, “What about throwing it now?”
The beastman tilted his head thoughtfully: “Good question. Want to try?”
Duan Wei didn’t take the bait: “You answer first.”
The beastman failed to trick him and honestly explained the rule: “It counts as a violation. I have the right to punish you.”
Duan Wei said, “Oh,” and stopped bothering him.
The original owner had only cared about the young master. He hadn’t eaten anything since waking up, and there was no food in the storage pouch.
Food could be conjured here, but everything disappeared when the match ended. Eating probably wouldn’t help. He placed his last hope on the storage pouch the team leader had shoved over. Opening it, he found food and water and murmured, “Reliable.”
The dried rations were hard, so he ate slowly. After finishing, he stood up and walked around to digest. By the time he’d made a full circuit of the square, only two formulas had been written on the blackboard.
He raised an eyebrow.
He had expected the beastman to at least solve the first section. But now he was stuck. It seemed no matter how strong one’s practical ability was, mathematical logical thinking couldn’t be mastered quickly.
Seeing the beastman holding the chalk and not moving, he sighed inwardly—math just couldn’t be faked. He waved his hand and conjured a large bed and all its accessories, put on an eye mask, and went to sleep.
Beastman: “…”
Students: “…”
The stands were dead silent for a moment. A student opened his mouth: “He… just fell asleep?”
Just then, a “boom” sounded. Startled, they saw one of the demon beasts on the opposite side explode. They exclaimed, “What’s going on?”
A Yuan thought of a possibility: “Has it been one incense stick’s worth of time since he began answering?”
The students were startled, then remembered what the beastman had said in the previous round. So that rule didn’t only apply to Go, but also here.
On reflection, if a contestant could simply refuse to finish answering to drag things out forever, there had to be a restriction. The magic array didn’t care whether the beastman could solve it or not. Seeing that he hadn’t finished after an entire incense stick, it meted out punishment.
That sound could be heard inside the arena.
Duan Wei lifted his eye mask to check, quickly guessed the reason, and calmly conjured earplugs. He put them in and went back to sleep.
The beastman put down the chalk and strode toward the other blackboards, deciding to review again.
The students watched tensely, thinking, why keep those things around? They wished they could run in and shake the young master awake.
In the end, Duan Wei was shaken awake by the beastman.
Though he hadn’t woken naturally, he had slept very deeply. Most of his fatigue was gone, leaving only a faint ache in his chest.
He asked, “Done writing?”
The beastman loomed over him, staring gloomily: “No.”
Duan Wei said, “Then why did you call me over?”
The beastman said, “It’s been ten incense sticks. The match is decided.”
He pointed at the blackboard: “Go on, work it out once and let me see.”
Teacher Duan got up to check his student’s homework. He saw that the other had at last managed to grind out the first section. Unfortunately, everything after that was wrong, and it wasn’t finished.
So he explained from the beginning and obtained the final number: “That’s how you complete it.”
The beastman was enlightened and nodded.
Duan Wei clutched his chest and coughed, disappointed. “It was all stuff I taught in class.”
For some reason, the beastman felt an odd, inexplicable guilt. He collected himself: “You won this match.”
Both sides returned to the grass.
The students looked at the young master with complicated expressions. After watching ten demon beasts explode in a row, they were no longer so despairing. Calculating the time, outside it would already be dark. If they could just drag things out a little longer, they might be able to wait for their sect’s people.
The team leader took his pulse, felt it was the same as before, and said, “There are pills in the storage pouch. Try taking another one.”
Duan Wei acknowledged. He still had quite a bit of energy—he could actually fully repair his body. But he knew medicine himself and was aware he wouldn’t die at the moment, so naturally he saved what he could.
The beastman swept his gaze over them: “Next.”
Duan Wei said, “Me again.”
The beastman said, “Fine!”
For the third time, Duan Wei stood in the square. “This time it’s still arithmetic.”
The beastman said, “No repeats.”
Duan Wei said, “I know. Look, the earlier sword techniques, saber techniques, spear techniques, and so on were all sparring. The weapons were different, so the matches were different. Arithmetic is the same. This time we won’t solve equations. We’ll do something new, and just like before, I’ll teach you first.”
The beastman had no right to choose the subject, so he could only listen: “Fine.”
Behind the academy’s back mountain, the night was heavy.
Three teachers looked at the time. One of them grew suspicious: “Could something have gone wrong?”
Another said, “What could happen?”
The secret realm only had low-level demonic beasts, and a team leader was watching over them. No matter how they thought about it, there couldn’t be a mistake.
Even so, they sent one person into the secret realm.
That person came out within moments, his expression ugly: “I can’t contact them with message talismans. They’re also not within my divine sense range.”
The other two’s expressions changed. They guessed there might be an ancient realm and quickly notified the sect.
The sect immediately reported it to the sect master.
The sect master’s personal disciple happened to be there. He led a team out at once and also sent a message to friends in the city, asking them to go ahead first.
The three teachers were pacing in panic when they suddenly remembered that the Zuoqiu young master might still be in the city—they just didn’t know where he was staying.
At a loss, three figures suddenly landed on the back mountain.
The man at the lead was handsome, dressed in a moonlight-patterned dark robe. He should have looked refined and noble, yet in his hand he held a candied hawthorn stick with two bites taken out of it, which made him seem far more down-to-earth.
The three teachers couldn’t tell their cultivation levels, but they knew the sect’s people couldn’t possibly have arrived this quickly. They suspected these might be the Zuoqiu young master, yet it didn’t match the rumors. For a moment, they hesitated.
The man’s gaze swept over their waist tokens. He handed the food to a companion and stepped forward: “Are you from Qimu Sect? We’re friends of your sect master’s personal disciple. He asked us to come help. Where is the ancient realm?”
The three teachers quickly bowed in excitement and led them toward the secret realm, tentatively asking, “May we ask your names, seniors?”
The man said, “Wan Chen, Lang Xu.”
His tone was gentle: “Just call us senior brothers.”