Chapter 8 – No Compromise

“This… this…” Liu Heng’s vision was totally black and his legs gave out with a cry toppling to the ground in shivers.

Ye Qingyu crossed his arms, and did not even spare him a glance.

“Brother Ye, can you spare me…” The solution to a problem was the problem creator. Liu Heng was driven to tears, rushing in front of Ye Qingyu like a pitiful dog.

Ye Qingyu still did not speak.

He turned his head to look at the activated Asura idol.

The Asura way, has always been to repay grievances and good deeds in a suitable fashion and not to become a holy mother. Everyone had to pay for their actions, if Liu Heng only begged and said a few words and Ye Qingyu pardoned him, this was not suitable for his martial heart.

“This… Brother Ye, if you just forgive me this time, from now on I will be responsible for the resources for the next four years of your cultivation.

Everything is negotiable…” Liu Heng was desperate and could not afford to be stingy, throwing out such a term.

Ye Qingyu heard and shook his head. “I’m not going to do any transaction with you, I don’t want my martial path to be constructed by using money from people like you.

Liu Heng hesitated.

He did not imagine, that Ye Qingyu would not accept the carrot or the stick.

“I’ve already said, you need to bow down and beg me.” On Ye Qingyu’s face, a faint smile appeared.

Seeing that Liu Heng was really about to bow down in front him of him he walked to the side continuing, “However, even if you kneel down in front of me right now, I still won’t participate in the blood qi testing. Apart from not wanting to be a snake as fake as you, I feel that a person like you is not fit to be a teacher of White Deer Academy. Allowing you to stay would perhaps cause other poor students to be bullied and oppressed.”

Liu Heng’s face was frozen, one side green and the other side red.

He knew that no matter what he did today, the teenager would not compromise.

“Don’t make things so final,” Liu Heng said bitingly. The goateed face became fierce, a poisonous gaze appearing in his eyes. He lowered his voice and said, “I am still part of the Liu family after all. Don’t be absolute in case we meet again in the future.*”

“I am a person who likes to do things absolutely,” Ye Qingyu said bitingly.

At the same time, on the other side.

Hon Kong was listening to a recital of the entire situation from a student.

The great teachers’ eyes were filled with rage, his gaze was as if it was a sharp sword that landed on Liu Heng. He said, “As a supervisor who was brought up by the academy, you don’t even try to recruit talent but instead privately ruin the selection process of the students! You have nearly caused us to lose a genius, this is unforgivable, just resign yourself!”

Liu Heng seemed as if he was struck by lightning, his body quivering then quickly opened his mouth to speak. “Senior Kong, I’ve been in the academy for over thirty years even if I did not have any accomplishments, I have still worked hard, I…”

“Go!” Hon Kong was like a rumbling thunder, a terrifying energy emanating from him.

Liu Heng was directly sent flying.

His fate, in that instant, was completely decided.

Hon Kong looked elsewhere onto Ye Qingyu, and the original seriousness turned into a warm smile. He said, “The way you handled it was not bad. If you had forgiven him, I would have looked down on you.

As a martial artist, you have to know how to repay grievances and good deeds. If you had pardoned him because of a few begging words, then that really would have been a waste of the true meaning behind the Asura idol. Your future and success will be inevitably limited if so.

Ye Qingyu knew, that this great teacher of noble status was giving him valuable advice. He was touched in his heart, and he respectfully bowed to him, saying, “Thank you teacher Hong for guiding me.”

The fact that White Deer Academy had been immovable in Deer City naturally had its own reasons. A part of this reason was the noble characters within the teachers.

“Your results is, by far, enough to enter White Deer Academy. This blood qi test you don’t need to go through anymore, just return and prepare for a bit and report back tomorrow.”

Hon Kong left his last words, giving Ye Qingyu back his name plate. He then turned and instructed a few words to the teacher beside him then promptly turned at left.

At the same time, the entire crowd was boiling with excitement.

Only going through five appraisals yet being accepted by the great teacher, this was the first time in the academy’s history. Only just considering this simple point was enough to make Ye Qingyu famous.

One could imagine how quickly the things that happened here would spread. The rumours would be as if it had grown wings, flying rapidly across the entire Deer City.

Ye Qingyu, the youth who had endured four years of mockery and contempt, was he finally going to soar to the skies?

Four years without any sounds, was his first sound going to shock everyone? …… ……

Night time.

The dim lights caused the pedestrian’s shadow to become extremely long.

“Strange, why did teacher Hon not allow me to enter the blood qi appraisal?” In Ye Qingyu’s mouth was a piece of leaf, his hands cradled behind his head and idly strolling around.

The ancestral mansion had long been sold off and he had no possessions. He did not need to prepare anything but just turn up and report in at the academy in the early morning.

Out of six appraisals he had only entered five. Despite obtaining the top results in all five, but as a consequence of this, there would definitely be no way he would be able to enter top twenty in the rankings. Even though these rankings were only just rankings and did not possess any sort of monetary prize, but at least it was a proof of strength.

Ye Qingyu originally wanted to enter all six appraisals and obtain this year’s number one student in the White Deer Academy selection.

“Perhaps great teacher Hon was worried that I was attracting too much attention, he was afraid that the tree that stands above others in the forest will get destroyed by the wind?**”

Ye Qingyu could vaguely guess at the reason.

He had the intuition that this great teacher Hon, seemed to pay special care and attention to him.

And this special care and attention seemed not to be because of the prodigious talent he displayed. He seemed to be acting from the perspective of a concerned elder looking after relatives and the younger generation.

But the problem was, Ye Qingyu was sure that today was the first time he had ever seen the great teacher Hon.

With muddled thoughts in his head, Ye Qingyu unwittingly had again arrived in front of his parent’s tomb.

In these four years, this small cemetery was the only spot that Ye Qingyu would hang out in. He casually lied in the pile of hay in front the tomb, smelling the slight fragrance of the grass…

Everything here was so familiar that it made Ye Qingyu incomparably comfortable.

“Mother, Father, your child has made it. Tomorrow, I will enter White Deer Academy. Hehe, I’ve already said, your child is a genius. What the white-haired old man said a long time ago was not wrong, I will astonish the entire Deer City.”

Ye Qingyu revealed a proud smile on his face.

“Mother, Father, I will in the shortest time graduate from White Deer Academy. Then I will leave and according to your instructions, bring the badge and go to the royal family of Snow Country to search for what belongs to me.”

“No one can block my way…”

“The secret that you said was behind the heroic badge I still have not discovered but I will discover it sooner or later. Rest assured, I will complete everything recorded in there…”

“Of course, in the battle to defend the city, even though you did not mention it but I know your deaths are definitely not that simple. I swear, I will absolutely investigate clearly.”

Looking at the night sky, Ye Qingyu was considering a myriad of thoughts.

He continued to ramble on, as if his parents were still alive and he was currently having a conversation with them.

The night sky became darker and darker.

But Ye Qingyu could not sleep no matter what.

He sat in a meditative stance, his hands clasped in front of his abdomen***. His tongue was touching the top of his mouth, his eyes focusing on his nose and his nose was observing his heart. Only concentrating on one thing, he was suddenly like an old monk, and began breathing in a mysterious rhythm.

At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

But after ten breaths, despite not seeing air flow from the long steady breathing of Ye Qingyu, something happened. The grass from within ten feet of him began to come alive, moving in neatly undulating waves, as if it was bowing down to its monarch.

A stream of warmth began to move within the four limbs of Ye Qingyu.

Ye Qingyu was currently imagining that with every breath, he would endlessly bring the fresh air from the outside world into his body. After when breathing out he would expel all the impurities and murky air outside his body.

This was the nameless breathing technique that his father had passed on to him.

From his earliest memories, as a martial artist, his father had not passed on any cultivation techniques to him. He did not request anything apart from strictly instructing him to follow this breathing technique for two hours every day and no matter what happens, never stop this routine.

Afterwards when his parents died in the battle to defend the city, Ye Qingyu’s heart was filled with sorrow but he still followed instructions continued on cultivating with the breathing technique.

This breathing technique, it seems was neither a body strengthening technique nor a technique used to absorb qi.

Through many years of cultivation, the only benefits that Ye Qingyu could feel was that his strength had improved and he did not have any illness or sickness. Apart from that, there was nothing special.

In his heart he had guessed that this was not any kind of matchless divine technique or anything like that.

But many years ago, the White Deer Academy’s Dean, in a trip outside saw the Ye Qingyu who had just finished cultivating with the breathing technique. Who knew what he saw, but he could not hold his words of shock and claimed he saw an unparalleled genius.

Such inadvertent words of shock, when it spread out pushed Ye Qingyu in front of the wind and waves.

Afterwards when the old Dean knew he had misspoken but and on the sly helped compensate Ye Qingyu, but these were all things that had already happened.

Under the night sky, time slowly flowed on.

Ye Qingyu practiced this breathing technique for a total of two hours before stopping, then lay on the bed of hay and went to sleep.

…… ……

When Ye Qingyu was sleeping in front of his parent’s tomb, a small midnight banquet was happening in the fourth year area. It was held in [Residence of Heaven’s will].

[Residence of Heaven’s will]!

This villa with an ancient appearance was the most noble and distinguished private club in the entire fourth year.

It was founded by several legendary aristocrats, former students of the White Deer Academy. It was intended to recruit and develop the most talented aristocrats, and it was also a way for nobles to network and socialize.

After, when the legendary aristocrats graduated, [Residence of Heaven’s will] continued on. Only those who really came from a noble family, and displayed exceptional talent within White Deer Academy, had the requirements to appear here.

*Chinese idiom, really struggled with this translation here. Didn’t know how to put it, basically means that you should not take things too far in case you meet again in the future.

**Chinese idiom, first time I’ve heard about it but I really like it.

***Dan Tian, but I don’t want to introduce pinyin terms when I can just use the English substitute.