Reporting In

After waiting at the scene for about ten minutes, the reinforcement team from Center City finally arrived. This time, in addition to the liaison personnel dispatched by the Esoteric Cult Examination Bureau, the Disposal Bureau had also sent a team. Upon reaching the scene, they cleared away the corpses littering the ground and made routine inquiries into the situation. Upon learning that a convoy suspected of belonging to Lianwei Heavy Control was present further back, they immediately detached a contingent to investigate. However, that convoy was very likely using an assumed identity; after all, no one would attack government officials while openly engraving their own name on their vehicles for all to see. Once everything at the scene was settled, the escort party boarded the vehicles provided by the reinforcement unit and resumed their journey. But with that delay along the road, by the time they reached Center City, it was already dusk, and the sky had darkened. Sitting inside the Jiade car, Wu Han and Wei Dong stared wide-eyed at the towering skyscrapers lining both sides of the boulevard, the light screens flashing back and forth overhead, and the ostentatious advertisements chiming incessantly through their boundary credentials. Even though they had heard about all this from Chen Chuan long ago, seeing it with their own eyes still brought an inevitable surge of intense shock, prompting frequent exclamations of wonder. After entering the city, Chen Chuan first submitted a verbal report to the Disposal Bureau via his boundary credential, then sent a transmission to all his acquaintances, letting them know he had returned to Center City. Perhaps because he had explicitly suffered an ambush just now, a city security defense company in Center City actually pushed a promotional advertisement to him, pitching their security services. Not only did it list various service packages tailored to his estimated income at the Disposal Bureau, but it also offered a thoughtful reminder that, as a premium client, if he were temporarily short on funds, they could provide him with a long-term loan. As an agent of the Disposal Bureau whose main duty was managing all kinds of violent crimes within the city, being urged to purchase this kind of service struck him as quite nuanced—yet thinking it through, it was surprisingly reasonable. Swiping the ad away, he turned to Wu Han and said, "Senior Wu, let's take Wei Dong to the academy to report in first, and once we're back, I'll arrange a place for you to stay." Wu Han replied, "Junior, whatever you say. I've never seen what the Martial Academy at the Main Academy looks like anyway—this'll broaden my horizons." Chen Chuan drove the Jiade car onto the elevated highway. Roughly an hour later, they came down from the overpass, and an octagonal skyscraper piercing the sky came into view. Its upper tiers were ringed with old-style upturned eaves, surrounded by floating auspicious clouds and airborne lanterns. "That's Xuan Palace Building," he said. Wu Han marveled, "Whoa, that's tall. Truly magnificent." While Xuan Palace Building was not the tallest in Wuding District, it was indeed one of the highest structures in the area. Chen Chuan looked up and gave a slight nod through the car window toward a figure in red above. The vehicle passed smoothly through the inspection checkpoint and entered the underground parking garage. Once here, it connected seamlessly to the academy platform, and he took the opportunity to submit an application to serve as Wei Dong's guiding student. Usually, doing so would earn evaluation points, but he had no need for those anymore. Taking Wu Han and Wei Dong into the elevator, they arrived at the reception lobby, where students walked about in twos and threes in a hurry, conversing in hushed voices. Back when he first arrived, it had been only a few days after the New Year; at that time, the field resources only needed to be opened to him alone, allowing him to behold many grand and wondrous sights through the boundary credential. This time, however, the official start of term was drawing near. With more students around, the resources were diluted. All that could be seen were the two golden-armored divine generals standing by the entrance, still gazing down with haughty disdain at the students coming and going below. In reality, students showing up before classes had even begun was not the norm for Wuyi Academy. In the past, many students had no desire to come to Xuan Palace Building at all, as there were always restrictive rules here making many things inconvenient; most preferred to purchase services directly and train elsewhere. However, because the academy had recently established a rule that those trailing in evaluation points would be demoted to external students, everyone was forced to scramble and push themselves relentlessly to avoid being sent onto the fighting ring in the end. Chen Chuan first took Wei Dong to the registration desk to verify his identity, collect his student card, and arrange his dormitory. Wei Dong was assigned Room 3 on the fortieth floor. Since outsiders were not permitted inside the dormitories, Chen Chuan had Wu Han wait down below while he brought Wei Dong up to the fortieth floor. Chen Chuan also went up to the forty-ninth floor to drop off his belongings before taking the elevator back down to the ground-floor lobby. This time, he didn't leave Chaoming in his dorm. Having promised to treat it to an extra meal today, he brought it along; Chaoming was clever anyway, following closely behind without requiring the slightest worry. Yet after waiting with Wu Han for quite a while, Wei Dong still hadn't come down. Right at that moment, Hongfu's voice rang out through the boundary credential: "Student numbered '95124003' and student numbered '95093701' are in conflict near the twentieth-floor elevators. All students are advised to avoid the area." Chen Chuan raised an eyebrow. Wasn't Wei Dong's number just assigned as '95124003'? Did he get into a brawl with another student right off the bat? Still, he remained calm. At Wuyi Academy, this sort of thing was nothing out of the ordinary: any damaged property was paid for at full value, and with Hongfu watching over the place, no student would end up beaten to death. He said, "Senior Wu, Wei Dong got into a fight with someone. I'm going to take a look." "A fight?" Wu Han looked surprised, then said with excitement, "Can I come?" There was nothing wrong with that. Chen Chuan nodded and led him into the elevator straight to the twentieth floor. When the elevator doors parted and they stepped out, they immediately saw Wei Dong grappling with another solidly built student. It was evident that the opponent specialized in grappling. At the moment, Wei Dong was covered in dust, while the other youth sported a red mark on his face—by his looks, he was also a freshman. A scattered crowd of onlookers had already gathered, yet not a single person stepped forward to intervene; everyone was simply waiting for the two to settle it between themselves. When they spotted Chen Chuan, however, many people tensed up and actively raised their hands in greeting, clearly recognizing him. Others whispered to their companions, who then cast awestruck glances at him. Chen Chuan nodded in response to those greeting him, then turned his attention back to the ring of combat, waiting for the victor to emerge. A clash between grappling and external conditioning rarely offered much spectacle; it was simply a matter of who could hold out longer. However, he didn't favor the other student. Wei Dong had phenomenal stamina and extraordinary regenerative ability; if the other couldn't subdue him quickly, there would be no suspense left in the outcome. Just as he predicted, the student channeled his jin for a long time, his face flushing crimson, yet he couldn't do a thing to Wei Dong. Wei Dong, unable to exert his power fully either, stayed locked in a stalemate with him for ten-odd minutes until the student began to tire. Spotting an opening, Wei Dong flipped the other over, pinned him to the floor by sitting on him, and immediately raised a fist. The student underneath yelled, "Don't hit the face!" Wei Dong ignored him and slammed a punch straight into his face. "I told you... don't hit the face! You're still hitting? Still... Ouch! Stop hitting... Stop, stop, I yield..." Hearing him surrender, Wei Dong finally pulled back his fist. He hauled the grimacing student up off the floor and asked, "Classmate, you alright?" With a swollen black eye and holding half his face, the student glared furiously at him: *Damn it, what do you think?* Just then, a student hurried over. Chen Chuan glanced over; he recognized this person too—it was Fan Cheng, whom he had bumped into in the elevator once before and hadn't seen since. Even though quite some time had passed, people like them possessed sharp memories and had not forgotten. Fan Cheng said to the beaten student in displeasure, "Fan Shen, I've been waiting for you forever, and you're here getting into brawls?" Fan Shen snorted, looking rather sullen. Chen Chuan said, "Junior Wei, let's go." With that, he turned and headed toward the elevator. Only now did Fan Cheng notice Chen Chuan. Seeing Wei Dong follow him, Fan Cheng hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice, "How did you two end up fighting?" Fan Shen didn't even look at him, walking toward the elevator on the other side. Fan Cheng felt exhausted. This cousin of his had always been arrogant and proud. School hadn't even started yet; he couldn't imagine what would happen once it did. He called after him, "If you like fighting so much, go fight on the ring! I won't stop you." Fan Shen snapped back, "I don't need you meddling! It's not set in stone who's going to end up on that ring!" Fan Cheng choked with fury, mostly because those words hit too close to home. He threw down, "Fine, then I won't bother with you!" and stormed off in anger. As the elevator descended, Chen Chuan asked Wei Dong about what had just happened. In truth, the cause wasn't complicated: Wei Dong had looked at Fan Shen a few extra times, Fan Shen took offense and glared back, the two stared each other down, and without wasting words, settled things with their fists as soon as they stepped out of the elevator. Wu Han was entirely supportive of this. He said, "Nicely done! You shouldn't back down. You came to the Main Academy to learn real skill, not to take crap from people. But earlier when he told you not to hit his face, you really went ahead and hit it." Wei Dong replied, "Senior Guan said: the more an opponent tells you not to do something, the more you have to do it. As long as he hadn't surrendered, I wasn't going to listen to him." Wu Han remarked, "Guan Xinyin, huh? She's definitely a capable fighter and sharp, too, though when it comes to raw potential, she can't match you, kid." He then turned to Chen Chuan. "From how it looked just now, that kid seems to know people in the academy? Are those types like the recommended students in the Mutual Aid Society? Will they cause trouble afterward?" Facing such people, there was no need to fear a straightforward fight; what they feared were underhanded tricks. Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Regardless of their background, once inside the Main Academy, it makes little difference. Once Wei Dong secures an investor, no student will come looking for trouble with him." Wu Han sighed with emotion. "Must be nice." He hadn't had the chance to study here, but experiencing the atmosphere of the Main Academy today stirred genuine envy in his heart. After the three descended, Chen Chuan planned to take them to the Shu Tianxia Hotel for dinner since it wasn't too late yet. The main reason was its commanding elevation and location right on Center City's central axis, making it well worthy of a scenic viewpoint. Driving out of Xuan Palace Building, the Jiade car swiftly plunged into the dazzling, brilliant neon glow where light and shadow intertwined.