After all, Huang Tian was a promising talent whom Instructor Xu had brought up himself. If his martial cultivation were disrupted by outside meddling, Instructor Xu would feel it a great pity. On top of that, he wished to forge a good relationship.
In his eyes, with Huang Tian's talent and character, so long as he was not killed or crippled along the way, breaking through to the middle three ranks was almost a certainty, and he might even stand a chance at testing the Grandmaster realm. Anyone who maintained good ties with him would surely reap no small reward in the future.
He might not need such a connection himself, but he still had children and descendants, and they might very well need it.
With countless thoughts flashing through his mind, Instructor Xu smiled and said, "Now that you've entered the ninth rank, it's time to change quarters. Take your wooden identity plaque to the Records Office and have the clerk reassign your residence. You'll move to the Upper Quarters today. Go on, head over to the Records Office now."
Huang Tian nodded, turned, and left Drill Ground Xuan Three, making his way toward the Records Office.
Watching his receding figure, the martial students who were still bitterly practicing stance work wore expressions of envy and regret. He Xu, who shared a room with him, felt a particularly tangled knot of emotions in his chest.
*Why did he break through so fast? The world is truly unfair. Ah, why don't I have talent like his... If only... if only I hadn't distanced myself from him these past few days. His talent is so formidable; he might become a martial artist of the middle three ranks one day. When that time came, I would have had a chance to receive his support...*
Standing to He Xu's left, Jiang Hou watched Huang Tian walk away, glanced at He Xu's deeply furrowed brow and shifting complexion, and let out a low sigh.
"Look at you. I told you long ago there was no need to go out of your way to avoid suspicion. We all share the same room. By shunning him, Huang Jian won't like you any better, and you ended up offending Huang Tian too. Why bring this upon yourself?"
He Xu gave a low grunt and stubbornly retorted, "Who could have known what would happen? Besides, who knows if his breakthrough was just a stroke of luck? Not to mention he's offended several of his elder brothers—it's still not clear how things will turn out for him..."
Hearing this, Jiang Hou merely shook his head, feeling there was no point in trying to persuade him further. At the same time, he resolved in his heart to keep his distance from He Xu from now on. He looked down on people who fawned on the high and trampled the low, and had no desire to associate with them.
***
Inside the Records Office.
When Huang Tian walked in, he found that the person sitting inside was still the black-robed clerk he had met when he first entered the Guard Academy days ago.
"Huh, what brings you here?"
The black-robed clerk clearly had some recollection of Huang Tian, who had been sent into the Guard Academy on the orders of Thousand-man Commander Xia Hong, and immediately asked in confusion.
Huang Tian took out his wooden identity plaque and placed it on the brown wooden desk. "I've come to change quarters."
"Change quarters? What quarters are you changing?" the black-robed clerk asked in surprise. "Did you quarrel with your roommates? Even if you've had a falling-out, the rules say you cannot switch quarters at will."
Huang Tian shook his head. "I've entered the ranks. I need to move to the Upper Quarters."
"En—entered the ranks?!"
The black-robed clerk shot to his feet, losing his composure. "Didn't you just enter the Guard Academy a few days ago? If I remember correctly, you hadn't even developed force back then!"
"That's correct."
"Which means... within ten days, you developed force and entered the ranks?!"
The black-robed clerk felt a wave of absurdity. It wasn't that he disbelieved that Huang Tian had entered the ranks in ten days—no one would joke about such a matter—he simply found it emotionally hard to swallow. One had to understand that it had taken him nearly two full years to enter the ranks!
Ten days versus two years was simply too vast a disparity!
Huang Tian extended his right palm, his blood-qi surging. His entire palm quickly flushed crimson, suffused with blood-qi. Listening closely, one could even hear an extremely faint gurgling sound.
He moved his palm over his wooden identity plaque and pressed down firmly with a single finger, leaving a very shallow indentation on its surface.
The black-robed clerk's eyes widened. "You truly have entered the ranks!"
Taking two deep breaths to calm himself, he slowly sat back into his chair. Pulling a new wooden plaque from a drawer, he carved the words *Huang Tian, Jia Twenty-Five* onto it, then handed the new identity plaque to Huang Tian.
With a slightly bitter twinge in his voice, he said, "Take it. You can move into Room Jia in the Upper Quarters today."
Huang Tian took the wooden plaque from him, offered his thanks, and left to return to his former quarters.
*To think I would have the chance to witness with my own eyes the rise and ascent of a martial genius...*
Inside the Records Office, the black-robed clerk murmured with deep, lingering emotion.
***
Returning to Section Yi of the Lower Quarters, Huang Tian found no one around; all the martial students were still training on the drill ground at this hour. He walked straight to his quarters, simply packed his bedding and belongings, and then carried the large bundle toward Section Jia of the Upper Quarters.
Before long, he found his new residence: Room Jia Twenty-Five.
It was a room three zhang long and two zhang wide. Not only was it larger than the Yi rooms, but it was also a private single room, exceptionally quiet. Behind the house grew several clusters of bamboo and various flowers and grass; whenever a light breeze blew, the bamboo shadows swayed gently, carrying a delicate, elegant fragrance.
Compared to the living conditions in the Lower Quarters, it was simply night and day.
Yet thinking carefully about it, this was only natural. The Upper Quarters housed ninth-rank martial artists. Even if they failed to break through to the eighth rank within a year, they could still be appointed as little banner officers, commanding a dozen or so stalwart guardsmen under their orders. High or low, they were considered figures of some standing, so their accommodations would naturally not be poor.
After setting down his bedding and belongings, it was nearly midday. Huang Tian stepped out and made his way to the dining hall exclusive to Section Jia of the Upper Quarters. In this dining hall, the Guard Academy provided more potent medicinal soup for ninth-rank martial students to use in their cultivation.
Entering the dining hall, he collected his meal and medicinal soup, sat down, and began eating at an unhurried pace. Just as he was finishing, a flurry of footsteps sounded from outside; the martial students from Drill Ground Tian One had been dismissed from class and were rushing over for lunch.
More than twenty martial students walked in, chatting and laughing, only to freeze when they caught sight of Huang Tian's back as he sat eating inside.
"Someone broke through and entered the ranks?"
Soon, someone caught on.
"So fast? Our batch of students has only been in the Guard Academy for about ten days, hasn't it? Someone already broke through from cultivating force to entering the ranks?"
"No need to be too surprised. It's possible his blood-qi was already accumulated to completion before entering the Guard Academy, and he only broke through once he arrived."
"Still, that's impressive!"
"Indeed. Only once you enter the ranks can you truly be called a martial artist, and only then have you truly set foot on the long road of martial cultivation."
"..."
As the group discussed among themselves, at the very back of the crowd, Huang Rui—medium in build and rather delicate-featured—suddenly froze in his tracks at the dining hall entrance. Staring at that familiar back, he stood rooted to the spot for a long while.
*Why does that back look so familiar, like it's Huang Tian? No, no, it can't be him! How long has he been at the Guard Academy? But if it's not him, who else could it be? Whose back would look so familiar to me?*
Huang Rui swallowed hard. With heavy steps, he slowly walked to the person's side and looked down—only to meet Huang Tian's smiling face as he looked up at him.
*Boom—*
As if a bolt of thunder had detonated in his mind, Huang Rui was utterly stunned. Reflected in his sharply dilating pupils was Huang Tian's familiar, brilliant, detestable, loathsome, and thoroughly terrifying smiling face!
Chapter 55