Chapter 4308 — The Trial Begins
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Braid-hair stood there dazed on his own for a good while. Then all at once he leapt up in excitement, pointed, beside himself with delight, at a corner of the crowd outside, and shouted, "Haho! So I really am a genius after all—this is going to be big! Once I join Morning Star Academy, let's see who dares look down on me! Lu Yaoyang, you and I have a score to settle—I'll be over in a moment to stomp you flat! Bwahaha!"
It felt like striking it rich overnight. Making no effort to hide his smugness and swagger, Braid-hair ran off toward the third selection area, laughing uproariously.
Meanwhile, in the direction he had pointed, a black-clad man of middle-aged appearance was trembling with rage—and beneath the fury there seemed a touch of flustered panic. This must be the Lu Yaoyang Braid-hair had named.
The eyes around him couldn't help but take on a measure of pity. On paper, this Lu Yaoyang was probably the stronger; but if Braid-hair really was chosen by Morning Star Academy, the gulf in status between them would be like heaven and earth. Any clash after that, and Lu Yaoyang would have no standing to resist at all. To be suddenly trampled underfoot by a rival—the man was rather pitiable.
As they spoke, Braid-hair had already dashed eagerly to the third selection area and begun unleashing his martial techniques with all his might, straining every ounce of strength, holding nothing back as he hammered furiously at the assessment formation.
Boom! Braid-hair's technique looked imposing enough, but when it struck the assessment formation, there was only that one thunderous report, and after that—nothing.
"So... did I pass or not?" Braid-hair stared blankly at the examiner beside him, and couldn't help turning his head toward the platform. He had asked around beforehand: if someone performed outstandingly, the academy's high-ups on the platform would call for them by name. Which meant that if he could catch the eye of any one of them, he would enter the Morning Star Academy of his dreams.
"Too weak. Barely matches your current cultivation—nothing remarkable anywhere. Eliminated!" The examiner's icy voice came from beside him. As for the people on the platform whom Braid-hair had been hoping for—from first to last, they had not even lifted their eyelids.
In an instant Braid-hair felt as though plunged into an icehouse. His smug, triumphant look curdled into a bitter gourd's. And in the crowd, the very Lu Yaoyang he had called out and taunted now let out a long breath of foul air, rose to his feet, and with a cold sneer began cracking his knuckles. The meaning was plain enough.
The onlookers, seeing this, burst into a roar of laughter. Braid-hair had celebrated too soon—now he had brought the trouble on himself. Served him right!
At the academy examiner's cold urging, Braid-hair now looked for all the world like one bereaved, and stumbled out in a daze. Before he could collect himself, Lu Yaoyang came striding straight up and seized him by the neck.
Mindful of order on the grounds, Lu Yaoyang did not strike outright; instead he simply dragged Braid-hair off to a corner. Braid-hair put up not the slightest resistance—and as for what drama would follow, anyone could guess it with their eyes shut. (To be continued...)