Chapter 32: Mithril

“Teacher Zhang! How could you agree to a survival competition against Themis Academy?” Carlet whispered anxiously to Zhang Wen, her voice low but her excitement evident from the flush on her pretty face.

“Oh? Why shouldn’t I agree?” Zhang Wen shrugged. Carlet’s blushing face was incredibly adorable—even when she was angry.

“Didn’t I just say? There’s no way we can win. Now you’ve volunteered to accept their challenge. If we lose, they’ll blame everything on you!” Though Carlet’s tone was somewhat agitated, each word she spoke came from concern for Zhang Wen. This made Zhang Wen smile bitterly, unwilling to hurt the girl who had already taken his side.

“Haha, I will win. You shouldn’t have so little confidence in me, Student Council President Carlet. Think carefully, when have I ever done something without confidence?” Zhang Wen smirked slightly, smiling at Carlet.

“Uh… well… this time is different… this time…” Looking at Zhang Wen’s mischievous grin, Carlet couldn’t help but recall how before each of their previous bets, Zhang Wen had always smirked at her like this, so smugly that she wanted to bite him hard to relieve her frustration.

Even so, Carlet had originally wanted to argue further. However, when Zhang Wen’s gaze passed over her delicate figure and maliciously lingered on her perky rear, Carlet immediately froze. She suddenly remembered that she had indeed lost their previous bets and hadn’t yet paid off the stakes. The beautiful girl’s face flushed even redder, her ears turning crimson with embarrassment.

“Ugh! Do whatever you want!” Embarrassed and flustered, Carlet stomped her foot and fled.

“Haha!” Zhang Wen heartlessly laughed, watching Carlet’s flustered back disappear.

After chasing away the angry student council president, Zhang Wen still didn’t join the discussion among the psychokinetic arts teachers. The voices of several psychokinetic arts teachers grew louder as their discussion heated up, seemingly on the verge of turning into an argument.

“Teacher Zhang, why are you standing here daydreaming by yourself? Is our psychokinetic arts department really that repulsive to you?” Just as Zhang Wen was lost in thought, a soft and seductive voice suddenly reached his ears.

“Of course not,” Zhang Wen snapped back to reality, shaking his head earnestly at the famous beauty of Almexis Academy. “It’s just that they’re arguing so happily, I didn’t want to interrupt the seniors’ fun.”

“Haha, you actually consider them seniors?” Linoah scoffed.

“Aww, I always respect every senior,” Zhang Wen said solemnly, his expression turning serious.

“Hehe. Zhang…” Linoah smiled seductively again, seemingly wanting to say something to Zhang Wen. However, before she could speak, the other psychokinetic arts teachers who had been discussing heatedly suddenly seemed to reach an agreement and turned their heads in unison. Linoah immediately swallowed her half-finished sentence, putting on a faint smile as if nothing had happened.

“Teacher Zhang, we’ve reached a decision,” Instructor Robert said, emphasizing the words “Teacher Zhang” with heavy sarcasm, his eyes filled with jealousy that wouldn’t dissipate.

Although Zhang Wen didn’t understand why Robert suddenly harbored such hostility toward him, he had no intention of quarreling with someone who would surely fall out of favor after the competition. Without even glancing at Robert, he lazily said to the psychokinetic arts teachers, “I’ll completely follow the arrangements of you seniors this time.”

“Hmm.” Several psychokinetic arts teachers exchanged glances, finally the middle-aged teacher spoke, “We’ve divided into three groups this time. The first group is led by Teacher Kyle. The second group is led by Teacher Robert. Zax and Cloud from the physical arts department, and Luther from our department will join this group. Then, the last group will be handled by Teachers Zhang Wen and Linoah. Of course, Zhang Wen’s outstanding student, Amelia, will join this group. In addition, our department’s Carlet will also join Zhang Wen’s group. As for the remaining physical arts students, we’ll discuss with Instructor Xin after returning to the academy. Teacher Zhang, do you have any objections to this arrangement?”

“Hehe! Of course I have no objections. It’s exactly what I hoped for—to be in the same group as several of the academy’s most beautiful ladies!” Zhang Wen laughed heartily, finally understanding where Robert’s hostility came from.

No one could figure out what the psychokinetic arts teachers were thinking when they not only grouped together the most beautiful teacher and student from their department but also added Amelia. This group was truly a “beauty group.” If Zhang Wen, this lucky guy thrown into a group of beauties, didn’t provoke jealousy from other men, that would be truly unjust!

With the psychokinetic arts teachers making the decision and Zhang Wen having no objections, the final group assignments were naturally confirmed. Having reached a conclusion, everyone had no desire to continue lingering at the governor’s mansion. They informed Governor Temis of their decision and hurried away with their students. From their expressions as they left the governor’s mansion, it was clear that none of the psychokinetic arts teachers felt confident about the upcoming survival competition.

Fortunately, the survival competition wouldn’t start immediately. According to previous tradition, both sides had at least five days of preparation time before the competition began. With these five days, Almexis Academy, being the home team, could naturally prepare more thoroughly than their opponents.

Due to the audacious assassins who had dared to rescue someone from the city defense forces and had threatened to attack Almexis Academy, Zhang Wen immediately noticed significant changes at Almexis Academy when he returned with Amelia after dealing with the situation.

Although the confrontation with Themis Academy’s visiting delegation was imminent, Principal Jackfrit of Almexis Academy still forcibly passed a resolution to temporarily suspend classes. After a morning of evacuation, thousands of students at Almexis Academy had been mostly evacuated, and many teachers had also left.

As for the remaining students, most had been organized by the teachers who stayed behind into groups of ten to dozens of people to patrol the academy grounds. Among these students who voluntarily remained at school, the majority were from the psychokinetic arts department.

On his way back to the academy with Amelia, Zhang Wen encountered many patrolling groups. The topics of discussion among these patrolling students at this moment naturally revolved around the terrorist attack they had just learned about in the morning, as well as the events of last night’s banquet at the governor’s mansion.

Since Governor Temis had kept the entire Almexis delegation at his mansion the previous night, none of the students at Almexis Academy had yet learned about what had happened at the banquet. When the delegation members returned to the academy, they immediately and discreetly retreated into the training center. This naturally allowed the students’ imaginations to run wild.

When Zhang Wen and Amelia returned to the academy, various rumors about last night’s banquet were already flying everywhere, many of them sounding quite credible.

Perhaps because Amelia was wearing the psychokinetic arts uniform and Zhang Wen’s age and attire made it difficult for people to immediately recognize him as a physical arts teacher, when the two walked side by side past the patrolling students, the others assumed they were just two psychokinetic arts students.

Although they were somewhat puzzled about why there were still lone psychokinetic arts students on the road at this time, the students merely glanced at Zhang Wen and Amelia a few times before continuing to casually discuss the “inside information” they had heard.

“Hey, did you guys hear? Last night at the governor’s mansion, our academy and Themis got into a fight.”

“Of course I heard!”

“Hmph! What’s so surprising about that? Whenever our academy and Themis Academy clash at a banquet, when have they not ended up fighting?”

“That’s true… but this time was different. This time, it wasn’t our psychokinetic arts department that fought with Themis Academy—it was the physical arts department.”

“What? The physical arts department actually dared to confront Themis Academy’s delegation? Weren’t they taught a lesson last year? What happened?”

“Do you even need to ask? Of course they were taught another harsh lesson.”

“Sigh, they’re just overestimating themselves…” Several psychokinetic arts students shook their heads while sighing.

“But… the story I heard seems a bit different,” a physical arts student hesitantly approached several psychokinetic arts students in the patrol group, asking with a hesitant expression, “I heard that last night…”

“Haha! That’s right, that’s right!” A tall, thin psychokinetic arts student immediately slapped his companion’s shoulder and laughed, “Our information all came from Harvey’s cousin who works at the governor’s mansion. But do you really think that guy’s story is reliable? What he said about psychokinetic arts students getting beaten up and then a physical arts girl instantly defeating Themis Academy’s physical arts representative? Haha! Even if Themis Academy really did produce some monster this year capable of defeating our psychokinetic arts department, when did Almexis Academy’s physical arts department ever have such a powerful girl? In fact, our psychokinetic arts department still has several very capable girls.”

“Hehe, that’s right! Especially our student council president junior. It’s said that her strength isn’t much less than Luther’s!”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” The tall, thin psychokinetic arts student happily waved his finger, “He must have gotten the story reversed! It should have been the physical arts department getting beaten up, and then our student council president junior stepped in to save face for us!”

“Well… that must be how it was…” The physical arts student who had questioned nodded, giving a slightly self-deprecating smile without any intention of insisting on his viewpoint.

Clearly, although he had questioned the discussion among the several psychokinetic arts students, deep down he himself didn’t believe that anyone from Almexis Academy’s physical arts department could defeat Themis Academy. As for the rumor about a “physical arts girl instantly defeating Themis Academy’s representative,” in the mind of that physical arts student, it was probably just as absurd as it was to the psychokinetic arts students.

However, while those patrolling students quickly reached a consensus, Amelia, who had overheard their entire conversation from beginning to end, was practically furious.

In an empire where honor meant everything, even the most magnanimous person wouldn’t like having their achievements belittled. Let alone Amelia, who had never been associated with the word “magnanimous.”

“Hey! You few!” The flushed, angry little beauty shouted fiercely, almost rushing forward to confront them on the spot.

“Ahh?” The students hadn’t expected their discussion to offend a passing beautiful classmate to this extent. Amelia’s sudden angry shout startled them, and they instinctively turned their gazes toward her and Zhang Wen. It was only at this moment that some observant students noticed the insignia on Zhang Wen’s shoulder for the first time.

“That teacher is the representative of the physical arts department.” Several students who recognized Zhang Wen’s identity immediately became nervous. They naturally knew that the scathing remarks they had carelessly made about the physical arts department must have all fallen into the ears of this representative teacher.

Although the physical arts teachers had no authority to punish these psychokinetic arts students, at this time of an impending inter-academy competition, the school had repeatedly emphasized the need for unity between the psychokinetic and physical arts departments in facing external challenges. If Zhang Wen reported their remarks to their department head, they would probably be in serious trouble, at the very least receiving severe punishment.

However, just as the students were at a loss, they noticed that the seemingly stern physical arts teacher showed no intention of dealing with them. Without even glancing at them, he coldly turned and walked away.

“Teacher Zhang?” The furious little beauty was quite surprised, but she couldn’t stop the physical arts teacher who was walking away with a stern expression. She could only glare angrily at the psychokinetic arts students before chasing after him.

“Phew! That scared me to death! I thought we were definitely done for! At the very least, we’d get a serious reprimand!” Watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance on the academy’s main road, the tall, thin student couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Exactly! And what was up with that little beauty? She was wearing a psychokinetic arts uniform, yet walking with the physical arts representative teacher?”

Several other students nodded anxiously in agreement.

“Ah! I remember now! Haven’t you heard? This time, the physical arts delegation’s representative teacher is that Zhang Wen! The three students he selected for the competition include one from the psychokinetic arts department!”

“What? A female student from the psychokinetic arts department? Has he gone mad?”

“Wait! You said, a female student from the Psionic Arts Department? And a representative from the Physical Arts Department… And they suddenly showed up at the entrance of the academy at this moment… Could it be that…” The tall, thin student suddenly froze, his expression shifting to shock as he stared again in the direction Zhang Wen and Amelise had disappeared. Moments later, the patrolling students who had overheard his muttering also froze, one after another wearing expressions of extreme bewilderment on their faces.

Meanwhile, Amelise hadn’t walked far with Zhang Wen before she couldn’t help but start complaining loudly, “Teacher Zhang, why did you leave? Don’t you think those guys went too far?”

“Enough! Even if you had gone over there just now, what could you have accomplished? Start a big argument with them and tell them that this time the Psionic Arts Department lost and the Physical Arts Department won?” Zhang Wen replied coldly, his face displaying undisguised disappointment.

Since accepting the appointment from Instructor Xin, Zhang Wen had known the Physical Arts Department at Almace Academy was in a bad state, but he hadn’t expected the reality to be ten times worse than he could have imagined!

Zhang Wen had originally thought the Physical Arts Department at Almace Academy had merely lost confidence after years of failure. However, after witnessing the behavior of that Physical Arts student just now, he suddenly realized he had overestimated the department. They had lost not just confidence, but also the fighting spirit to strive for victory!

From Instructor Xin at the top, all the way down to the lowest-ranking students in the Physical Arts Department, everyone bore the look of beaten dogs who had failure etched into their bones. Losing confidence wasn’t terrifying, but losing the fighting spirit…

“Tsk… This time it’s really troublesome!” Zhang Wen spat out, shaking his head.

He was even somewhat grateful now that he had brought Amelise, a girl from the Psionic Arts Department, to the banquet. If he had been accompanied by a student from the Physical Arts Department at that time, even under his command, they might have lost that crucial battle! Although Amelise’s combat strength might not match most of the Physical Arts students, at least she had full confidence in both Zhang Wen and herself. During the fight against the representatives from Themis Academy, she had been fearless and always firmly believed in her victory. But if Amelise had been replaced by a Physical Arts student, even a small doubt or fear during the battle would have ruined everything.

Although the Spring Water Technique was indeed a martial arts skill that broke the limits of the Empire’s martial arts, it wasn’t omnipotent. What use would the most sophisticated techniques be to a martial artist who had no belief in defeating their opponent and had already given up before the fight even began?

“I wonder how those two are doing with their training at the arena,” Zhang Wen exhaled softly.

At the moment when the academy was being threatened by a group of unidentified terrorists, Almace Academy naturally became extremely cautious. They not only increased inspections within the academy, but also required all teachers and students returning to school to stay on campus, forbidding them from wandering outside carelessly. Even though Zhang Wen was the representative instructor of the Physical Arts Department at Almace Academy, he couldn’t violate these new rules.

However, when Zhang Wen first heard about the academy’s newly issued regulations, his biggest concern wasn’t even that he couldn’t go out to check on Zack’s and Cloud’s training progress, but rather that they might suddenly finish their training and return to the academy!

After all, the task Zhang Wen had assigned to Zack and Cloud yesterday was only a small part of his special training regimen. They still had a long way to go to reach the goals Zhang Wen had envisioned. If they returned to the academy now and were confined within the school, even Zhang Wen, no matter how capable, would be helpless.

Fortunately, as the representative instructor of the Physical Arts Department at Almace Academy, the academy had specially provided Zhang Wen with a telepathic communicator a couple of days ago. Now, Zhang Wen had to contact Zack and Cloud before they returned to the academy, ordering them to stay at the arena and continue with the remaining special training. Thinking this through, Zhang Wen could only bid Amelise farewell and quickened his pace back to his quarters.

However, just as the anxious Zhang Wen placed his hand on the doorknob of his dorm room, about to push the door open, his movement suddenly stopped.

Someone was inside! Zhang Wen’s increasingly sharp intuition, cultivated through practicing the Spring Water Technique, clearly told him that someone was “waiting” for him in the small room that should have been empty.

“What kind of person is it?” Zhang Wen’s heart tensed, instantly recalling the assassins who had ambushed him and Garite the previous night. In the blink of an eye, he made his decision. Then, he opened the door as usual and walked in casually.

From his outward actions, Zhang Wen seemed to have noticed nothing. Even the brief hesitation before opening the door had only lasted an instant. Even if someone had been watching him from outside the door, they probably wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual. In reality, however, Zhang Wen had already maximized the Spring Water martial energy circulating within his body.

The moment he stepped into the room, Zhang Wen detected through the faint sound of breathing that the person was hiding near the curtain behind his left side. Just as Zhang Wen confirmed the opponent’s position, the assailant burst out from behind the curtain with full force, lunging at Zhang Wen.

Whoever the person was, they must have used some method, because in an instant, they had also raised their martial energy to its peak. When the attacker swung his short dagger with full force toward Zhang Wen’s back, the martial energy gathered on the weapon not only turned the entire small room red but also emitted a low, shrill whistling sound.

However, although the attacker’s all-out strike was powerful and impressive, Zhang Wen wasn’t worried at all and even slightly curled his lips. Just as he had said at last night’s banquet, the person behind him completely ignored the balance of power. No matter how impressive the attack was, it was useless if it couldn’t hit the target.

He had poured all his martial energy into his weapon, which indeed generated great power and an intimidating aura, but this powerful strike had a fatal weakness—it lacked speed! And speed was exactly what Zhang Wen excelled at.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Wen, who had already prepared himself, used the same ultimate move he had employed several times in the arena. His figure seemed to vanish into thin air right before the attacker’s eyes!

“Ahh?!” The attacker only had time to let out a brief cry of surprise before suddenly feeling a sharp pain. “Ahh!” He screamed in pain, his body arching from the agony.

“A woman?!” After landing the punch, Zhang Wen only then realized that the assassin who had attacked him was actually a woman. However, Zhang Wen, already fully charged with the Spring Water Technique, couldn’t afford to show any mercy or chivalry. Without thinking, his instincts kicked in, and he automatically executed the follow-up moves of the Spring Water Technique. He retracted his right fist, grabbed the attacker’s right hand that held the dagger, and simultaneously raised his left arm to lock the attacker’s neck, accelerating once again.

Boom!! With a dull sound coming from the deepest part of the room, the female assassin was already forcefully pinned to the ground by Zhang Wen’s grip. This final blow from Zhang Wen held absolutely no restraint. If the female assassin hadn’t possessed a certain level of martial arts skill herself, and hadn’t been somewhat prepared for Zhang Wen’s terrifying speed by pulling back a large portion of her martial energy to defend her body the moment her attack missed, this strike would have shattered her spine into several pieces, leaving her confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.