Chapter 12: Chapter 12: “The Box Left Behind by Father”
Editor: Misty Cloud Translations
Sima You Yue looked at the box clasped in her hands. She felt a myriad of mixed emotions stir within her as she looked at it, half of her wanted to satisfy her curiosity and quickly open it while another part of her had her reserves of opening it, fearing that if she opened it, somehow she'd be on a path to no return.
"Well, since it's something that cheap Father who had left it behind, I might as well have a look in it." She convinced herself as she broke open the seal and lifted the lid.
Inside the box, lay a simple ring, a piece of leather parchment and a dark stone. She picked up the leather parchment and took a look. There was a map that was drawn on it, and a house was deliberately marked out. Other than that, she could not find anything else that had a clue to what this place was. She wanted to put the map back in its original position but noticed that there was an envelope there.
"What is this?"
Written on the envelope were the words: 'To my Daughter.'
She then picked it up and unsealed it, and out slipped a piece of paper. Her expression became serious as she read it.
The letter was not very long , it simply stated that the ring left behind for her was an ancient artifact and was a prized family heirloom. It was in fact, a rare interspatial ring. Other than that, not much other information on the ring was written. She found it peculiar that if this was really a family heirloom, why would Sima Lie be oblivious to this? Also, she had a feeling that there was more to her family situation.
She placed the ring back, currently she still has yet to cultivate enough to amass sufficient Spiritual Qi to harness the power of a Spiritual Master. The current her still could not make the ring hers as a drop of blood was needed to form the bond and that too, required Spiritual energy. Her fingers deftly glossed over the map as her eyes studied the various lines and landmarks drawn on it. Her Father had also mentioned that this map was very important and she should never ever divulge to anyone else that she possessed it.
This leather parchment looked a little worn, seems like it had quite a bit of story and history behind it. She did not possess any knowledge to provide her any clues to where this map was for. There was no other information written on the paper as well.
"So he left me a dilapidated map, this cheap Father of mine, the least he could have done was to tell me where the map was for! Or else what use of it is it to me if I'm so clueless?!" She shook her head and sighed in resignation, not knowing why that man had to make everything so mysterious, rendering her completely helpless.
Finally, she picked up the final item in the box, the dark piece of stone and carefully placed it on her palm as she brought it closer and studied it intently. After a while, she sighed in exasperation as she tried to figure out how was this small stone an 'ancient artifact' as the letter had claimed it was.
"It's just a very black stone, hmm, a little smooth and rounded more like a pebble… looks a little like obsidian, are you sure it's really an ancient artifact?" She raised an eyebrow in query, her eyes full of doubt as she continued muttering to herself: "That cheap Father had also wrote that this stone chooses its Master, perhaps we're not meant to be and we have no fate so I can't see what's so special about you?"
Sima You Yue finally placed the small stone back into the box after fiddling with it a while longer as she closed the lid and started to earnestly cultivate. As long as she could become a Spirit Master, she would be able to bind the space ring and make it hers by putting a drop of her blood on it. At that time, she would be able to see what was stored inside. A huge part of her was very curious on the items that man had left behind for her.
She gently touched the illusion ring on her finger as she softly cursed in her heart, why was the interspatial ring so troublesome! Why could she only bind it after she has attained the level of a Spirit Master? If only it was convenient like this illusion ring without so many cumbersome conditions, how nice would that be!
This time round, when she was cultivating, she did not absorb all the Spiritual Qi, instead, she spent the whole day trying to sense the various attributes. This time, she carefully observed the various colours and realised that within so many colours, she could sense that here were more of some colours and less of some. She could also sense that those different little light orbs seem to be able to sense her as well and were attracted to her and flying all around her, seemingly wanting to be absorbed into her body.
Soon it was time for dinner and Sima You Yue stopped meditating as she got ready for dinner, those brothers of hers should most probably be back by now.
"Young Master, Fourth Young Master came and is waiting for you." Yun Yue gently informed Sima You Yue from outside the door.
"Alright, I've got it, let him know I'll be out soon." She replied as she got down from her bed.
"Yes, Young Master." Yun Yue respectfully bowed and retreated.
Sima You Yue quickly stuffed the box under her pillow and left. In her hurry, she did not notice that there was a faint glow emitted from within the box.
"Fourth Brother, why have you come?" Sima You Yue walked over the the table that Sima You Le was drinking tea at.
"Oh, I'm here to call you for dinner." He gave her a wide smile.
"You could have just asked a servant to pass the message, why did you have to make this trip yourself? Since you've come all the way here just to pick me up, we should go over now."
He followed her as they walked over to the dining hall. He hesitated a moment before he opened his mouth and said: "I've something else to tell you too."
"What is it?" She turned her head and asked.
"Teacher Mu has given an ultimatum, he said that if you do not appear in the Academy tomorrow, the principal will dismiss you from the Academy. Even if the King pleads on your behalf, you won't be able to attend." Sima You Le said.
"Teacher Mu? Who is Teacher Mu?" Sima You Yue blinked and asked him sincerely with a puzzled expression.
Seeing her reaction, Sima You Le bitterly smiled and patted her head. "Your class teacher. Teacher Mu."
Sima You Yue furrowed her brows as she struggled to think. She seemed to have a small recollection, this Teacher Mu was her teacher in charge of her class, other than teaching, he controlled a lot of other things in school.
"If you do not want to go, I'll let Teacher Mu know on your behalf." He paused. "It's just that you won't be able to attend the Academy anymore."
"No need, I'll just go to the Academy with you tomorrow." She shook her head and said.
Before, she had no interest in the Academy as she could not cultivate but now that she was able to, going to the Academy would let her be more exposed to the various teachings and methods, although it was a little too soon, it did not pose a big problem.
During the dinner, Sima You Yue expressed her interest in attending the Academy to Sima Lie. He also had the same thoughts as her. Since she could cultivate now, going to the Academy would be a good choice.
It was at this point that her other four brothers knew that she could cultivate and they congratulated her one by one, letting her feel the warmth of a family as they were each exhilarated and genuinely happy for her.
After dinner, Sima Yue went back to her room and continued meditating, however this time, she did not only simply observe the various little light orbs, she also tried to absorb them.
At first, with her guidance, she experienced some resistance, however after a few tries, the first orb was absorbed in, as she seamlessly guided it along her meridians and into her abdomen. After the first one was successfully absorbed, the second light orb followed by the third and everything after was just as easily absorbed.
While she was cultivating this time, there was a spectrum of lights shining out from the box which she had placed below her pillow earlier today. When the various coloured lights shone out, more little orbs of light gathered around her as she quickly absorbed them.
Late into the night, she had to stop cultivating as she had to attend the Academy tomorrow. Once she stopped her meditation, the light from the box disappeared completely and not a trace of that beautiful spectacle could be seen.
Chapter 13: Chapter 13: “Returning to the Academy”
Editor: Misty Cloud Translations
Early the next morning, Sima You Yue climbed onto the beast carriage that would bring her to the academy. This carriage was similar to those carriages in her past life, except that the ones pulling it were not horses but were Spirit Beasts.
Sima Lie had arranged a wolf carriage for Sima You Yue and standing before the carriage, were four majestic and magnificent Storm Wolves, every single one of them a fifth low-ranked beast.
Low-ranked spirit beasts, sought by many as a contract beast, however, it was used to pull a carriage for Sima You Yue instead. This had garnered a lot of attention as people could only smile wryly at this luxury.
"Fourth Brother, where's Third Brother?" She could not help but ask as she looked around the massive carriage and saw that it was only the two of them that were seated in this spacious and comfortable carriage.
"Oh, he went out earlier to meet with his classmates to do a mission today, so he had left earlier before dawn." He casually replied.
"Went out on a mission?" Sima You Yue asked in a surprised tone as she look wide eyed at her Brother, imploring him to explain further.
Sima You Le closed the book that he was reading as he looked up and patiently explained. "The Academy is not only a place for studying theory, it's also a place to gain some experience. The Academy occasionally arranges some missions for students to accomplish. They have various missions catered to different levels and these missions are usually not too difficult. This time, he's gone out for a field Mission so it would take him some time to complete it. I don't think he will be back anytime soon."
"That explains it…" Sima You Yue nodded with a satisfied expression, it seems life at the Academy won't be so boring after all!
"I forgot to tell you last night that the Academy is holding their entrance selection for two days and it just started yesterday, so if you are interested you can go and have a look. I'll be busy the entire morning as I've a prior engagement with my Master so I'm afraid that I do not have the time to accompany you. If you want to go and have a look, can you wait till after lunch? I can meet you then and we can have a look together." Sima You Le said.
"Don't worry so much, no need to trouble you, if you are busy don't let me hold you up. If I'm interested, I can just head over on my own." She shook her head and and refused.
She knew that her Brother was concerned about her and was worried that she'd be bored or someone may find trouble with her. But she could not rely on him all the time, at such an age, she was already old enough to be independent, moreover the soul was more mature than the body.
"Yue Er has really grown up!" Sima You Le could not help but looked at her warmly as he smiled in appreciation.
Cold sweat.
Sima You Le's comment made her speechless, he was only three years older and yet the way he spoke was as if he was much older than her! She quickly cast her gaze outside the window to cover the awkwardness she felt. Outside, the street was hustling and bustling with activity, as Sima You Le had mentioned earlier, it was time for the selection for the Academy hence the capital was particularly lively this time of the year.
The wolf carriage brought them directly to the front gates of the Academy and Sima You Le brought her to her classroom and repeatedly nagged and fussed to make sure she had no problems before leaving.
The moment she entered the classroom, the was a moment of silence. The appearance of Sima You Yue made everyone stare in shock, seconds later, jeerings were heard as whistles and boos were thrown in the mix.
"Why is the trash in our classroom?"
"Haha, maybe he's here to check out the freshman! I've heard that this year's selection have quite a few handsome men!"
Another voice cried out in exaggeration.
Boisterous laughter filled the classroom as more voices chimed in.
"I've heard that he had harassed Murong An to the point that his followers almost killed him!"
"No wonder he's been missing for so long, he was actually recuperating at home!"
"He should just kill himself! A useless trash that shames the entire family! Such a Grandfather is wasted on him."
"...….."
Sima You Yue was calmly listening to all the insults thrown at her, as she silently swore in her heart, whoever spat those words at her, she would pay them back with interest. She made her way to an empty seat at the last row and turned to look out the window, completely ignoring those ignorant fools.
Thinking back, one couldn't blame the previous Sima You Yue for her actions. Since she could not cultivate, she had naturally lost all interest in learning. She had no interest in studying as she could not cultivate. She liked handsome guys – she was after all a young girl, this was also understandable. However her obsession was a little excessive. However, looking at her prominent background, she didn't misuse her identity and bullied others, unlike some other rich nobles who went around with their servants in tow whose past times were based around oppressing the poor and the weak.
Everyone around Sima You Yue continued their discussions until they saw that he had no response, the chatter slowly died out as the topics began to hover about the new freshmen in the selection trials.
However some gossip mongers couldn't keep their mouths shut and continued digging out stories and the topic soon steered to how a complete trash could actually enter the Academy, making Sima You Yue the first trash that could actually enter its prestigious gates.
Along the beautiful lake, there were pavilions built along it and there was a group of youths discussing the matter on Sima You Yue appearance at the Academy.
"Murong, don't tell me that trash is actually stalking you?" One of the youths asked Murong An who was the centre of attention.
Murong An indeed had a dashing appearance, if put into modern context, he would be a movie star that ranked amongst the top. Hearing what that youth said, Murong An couldn't help but furrowed his brows.
"Yes, I think that it may be true, perhaps that waste couldn't take it anymore and followed you to the Academy!"
The girl sitting beside Murong An was the very same one who had watched together with Murong An while Sima You Yue was being thrashed and beaten. When she heard that Sima You Yue was coming back to the academy, she could not help herself but ask: "Murong, what would you do if she continues to stick to you?"
Murong An clasped the girl's hand in his and said: "Don't worry, I will not give him the opportunity to do that."
Sima You Yue had just been sitting in the classroom for a little while when she was summoned into Master Mu's office. When she entered, she saw Master Mu sipping tea with a rather young, scholarly and elegant man. Dressed in a white long robe, that man gave people the feeling of being unapproachable and was a no nonsense kind of person.
Seeing her come in, Master Mu's eyes almost dripped with disgust but his face very quickly changed into one full of smiles as he said: "Sima You Yue, this gentleman here is the teacher for the new first years, Feng Zhi Xing."
Sima You Yue offered a greeting to Feng Zhi Xing. "Master Feng."
Feng Zhi Xing turned to look at Sima You Yue, and there was not a single trace of disgust or displeasure on his face as he said: "You are Sima You Yue? Make sure you study diligently or Master will still punish you as well."
Sima You Yue was getting rather confused by Feng Zhi Xing's words and she looked in puzzlement at Feng Zhi Xing and Master Mu.
"Cough cough….. It's like this. As you have never attended classes before, we considered the fact that you might not be able to keep up with the other students in your classes and I went to speak with the Headmaster about it. It so happens today is the selections for new students and I thought you should go learn together with the freshmen. That might be better for you. So, from now onwards, you will be Master Feng's student." Master Mu explained.
Sima You Yue looked at Master Mu's deeply concerned face, and although he was trying his best to hide it, she could still detect that suppressed glint of joy in his eyes.
With a student who was the epitome of worthlessness in his class, Master Mu had always been utterly ashamed of that embarrassing fact. Now that he was finally able to be rid of her, his heart could not help but sing with joy. No one would understand just how disgraceful it was to have a completely worthless and utterly useless student like her! And only the Heavens knew from where the Headmaster managed to dig up a teacher that would accept a student like that!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
200 Power
stone 
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