Chapter 24: Returning Home
In the week after the yearly exams concluded, the Holy Orchid Institute was abuzz with commotion as the students and teachers did their best to process the sequence of surprising occurrences which had taken place recently.
Firstly, was the astonishing group of individuals that had disappeared from class for almost two months and then emerged for the exam with miraculous cultivation levels. Five of them had reached 5-star bronze rank, and the other three had reached silver rank! The upperclassmen began to feel extremely pressured because this exponential increase in strength was so different from what they had experienced and seen before. They began to question their training speed and feel rather inadequate.
Even more shocking was that the strongest of the silver-ranked students was a girl who had completely destroyed a third-year student in a spar, where he would spending his next month in the infirmary to stabilise the condition of his broken arms. The rumours that spread around grew more and more exaggerated and embellished, especially among those who were not physically present to observe the spar with their own eyes.
Stories were crafted that drove the imagination of the boys wild as people re-enacted the amount of clothing that had been torn and shredded away from the slim, yet voluptuous, body of Xiao Ning'Er, the most extreme narratives even claiming she had stood there in proud confidence completely nude! Others spoke in awe about how her eyes had glowed red with righteous fury as she shattered the bones in Shen Lue's arms with her hands purely with her grip strength, and how she challenged Shen Fei to fight her next, with a dark and terrifying aura.
Shen Fei, to his credit, exploded with rage at hearing these rumours as a festering bitterness rose up within him, needing to find a way to reclaim his crushed reputation. His blood had run cold when he viewed the cold brutality of Xiao Ning'Er. Her movements had not contained an ounce of hesitation as she took down her opponent with the same calculated efficiency a lioness on the hunt would clamp down the carotid artery in the neck of a deer.
For a moment that day, he had sensed the baleful bloodlust of a predator at the top of the food chain staring at its prey while licking its lips, when Xiao Ning'Er had lifted her eyes to look at him. Over the course of this week, he had already had two nightmares of those feral eyes stalking him. She was only 4-star silver rank at this point. He resolved in his heart to confront her while his 1-star gold rank still gave him a significant advantage in power over her. If he waited another half a year, who knew how fearsome she would become upon reaching gold rank!
It had to be soon!
Even more unsettling was the fact that Teacher Shen Xiu had been forced to resign by a student that everyone had thought to be pathetic with his red soul realm, Nie Li. It was an absolute slap in the face to the Sacred Family, who had already suffered at the hands of Xiao Ning'Er in the situations with Shen Lue and Shen Fei. And Nie Li and Xiao Ning'Er were close friends in the same group! Everything seemed to be connected somehow although outsiders could not find the common linkage or reason behind these events.
Without proper inside information, which Xiao Ning'Er and her group of friends did not bother to provide, the rumours and gossip continued to abound, which caused her legend to grow within the students in the institute. Whispers of her godlike progress and strength began to reach the ears of the families around Glory City, as each of them subtly tried to gain information about her and the rest of the group in case they were to encounter a situation that involved her in future. There were far more implications at play that just offending a weak student of a weak family!
The landscapes of power in the city was beginning to shift, slowly but surely.
At the of the week, the conclusions of the yearly exam were posted in the institute and the students were allowed time off to go back home to their families. Ye Sheng had managed to consult with the Principal on how to handle the outstanding group of students uncovered in the Fighter Apprentice Class, although he had not been able to locate Lord Ye Mo, who had left the city for awhile now.
Nie Li, Wei Nan, Zhang Ming, Lu Piao and Zhu Xiangjun were assigned to the Genius Class of the second-year students, whereas Du Ze, Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'Er were actually placed in the Genius Class of the third-year students, with a chance to graduate the institute by the next yearly exam if they performed well. At that point, they would have the opportunity to join the specialised expert guilds in Glory City such as the police force who enforced the law among the citizens, the protectors who the first line of defense against demon beast attacks, and various adventurer guilds who facilitated challenging missions which were posted for lucrative rewards.
As the group said their goodbyes to each other before they headed back to their respective hometowns, Ning'Er pulled Nie Li aside to inform him of something. "A few months ago when your family brought you to Holy Orchid Institute and helped you settle in, I was able to sense that Nie Yu's physique is rather special. If I'm not mistaken, it links back to the Heavenly Marks Physique that the founding ancestor of your family possessed."
"That's impossible! That hasn't appeared for many generations until we don't even know what it looks like anymore...Are you sure??" Nie Li replied in astonishment.
"I can't be sure but what I sensed from her was so unique...I haven't seen anything like it before and I'm able to sense the nature of most people's soul realm." she said tentatively, not wanting to sound too arrogant in her knowledge.
His eyes widened in excitement. "Does this mean that she'll be very strong in future? What can I do to help her?" he asked in a trembling voice. This could have big implications for his family that had fallen so far in influence and power if both his cousin sister and himself could grow strong. And besides, his cousin was the family member he loved most of all and he was delighted to hear that she had such a high level of talent.
"You know that Wang Shu, the Master Inscriptionist, likes to look for rare books and artifacts, hoping to find new inscriptions or even information that will allow him to know more about inscriptions. There was an old document that I found while looking through his collection saying that the Heavenly Marks Family founder may have brought a cultivation manual to his grave, one that was specifically suited to his physique..." she explained with a made up story.
In her past life, Nie Li had told her where he had found this manual because she had been very curious to know the background to how his cousin had become one of the most powerful warriors in their team battling against the Sage Emperor. She could remember Nie Yu's devastating attacks that knocked back their indomitable enemy each time he was about to end one of their lives. She would need Nie Li's cousin's strength in future as well.
Nie Li's forehead furrowed in uneasiness. "The ancestor's tomb is in the hills behind our village. If I were to break in, I would be desecrating his grave. What would my father say if he knew..." he muttered to himself in indecision.
"I'll leave the decision up to you. Have a great time back with family, Nie Li!" she said with a smile before he headed off with deep thoughts still plaguing his mind. As she was leaving the institute to head back to her Winged Dragon Family home in a countryside village, the only major property remaining from what the Sacred Family had plundered, Wang Shu suddenly called out from the side.
"Xiao Ning'Er! Good thing I managed to find you. I have good news! We have secured an allocation at the prestigious Treasure Auction held by the Hong Yue Auction House once a year! This is the perfect place where we can auction off the three gold rank equipment that we've been holding on to. There is so much anticipation that has built up ever since our exhibition where people got to see the amazing abilities of the two weapons and one armour. I wonder the sky-high price that buyers will push it to!" he said while rubbing his hands together in glee.
"That's great news, Wang Shu! When will the auction be held?" she replied.
"It will be in exactly one week! I will send a carriage to your home in the countryside to bring our esteemed inscription expert to attend this auspicious event!" he cackled in uncontained enthusiasm.
They said their goodbyes and Xiao Ning'Er decided to begin her journey back to her hometown. Linjian had already gone back home much earlier to recuperate and cultivate because he was not physically able to take part in this year's exam anyway.
As she traveled, Xiao Ning'Er had a lot on her mind. Wang Shu's visit had reminded her that she wanted to secure better equipment for herself and her friends but Glory City was limited in the materials that she required. She would need to travel out to the outskirts of the St. Ancestral Mountain Range to source the items.
As she thought about this, she also remembered that there were other places in the Divine Continent she wanted to visit, especially to obtain the alchemy recipes that would help Glory City, but she would need to reach gold rank first, at least, and possess more powerful equipment. She felt a sense of impatience to reach the strength of her past life as quickly as possible so that she could put her plans into place.
At the same time, she had not found the time to source an appropriate demon spirit to integrate with ever since reaching silver rank. She suddenly wondered where Nie Li had obtained that miraculous Nightmare Demon Pot that had aided them so greatly in her previous life. If she could somehow find this wondrous item, it would be an integral part of her future plans.
Eventually, she saw the familiar sights of the majestic hills that overlooked the valley that she grew up and felt her heart beat a little faster as the nostalgia from her childhood memories began coming to her mind.
'That's the tree that I fell out of an broke my arm when I was seven...'
'There's Aunty Xiao Tong out in the paddy fields.'
'Ooh, looks like cousin Xiao Shan Zhu gave birth already. Her baby looks sooo cute...'
Xiao Ning'Er had an extra spring in her step as she headed for the first destination she would always visit every time she came home, her paternal grandfather's farm at the edge of the village overlooking the forest.
"Grandpa Xiao!" she shouted out joyfully. "I'm home."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AerynSun
AerynSun Season 1 of this fan-fic is over. This story will be on pause until 1st April, 2019.
I will be focusing on my Contest novel which has absolutely no popularity at all for the next three months or so because it's closer to my heart.
Have a great year ahead! :) :) :)
PS. More info in the Synopsis if you're interested.
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