Chapter 22: Chapter 20 - Academies Library
They soon arrived at the Library, observing the entrance, an arc-shaped door made of smooth stone stood in front of the group.
The entrance was decorated simply, without the flair and lavishness that nobles are known for, in the centre of the ornament, the Wang Clan insignia stood alone proudly announcing its presence to all the students who entered.
To the students of the Academy, the library signified their progress as cultivators. It was filled to the brim with cultivation knowledge, spells, martial arts techniques and various other interesting arts.
Of course, it was split into levels, otherwise, it would be too easy for students to have access to the rarer, more valuable knowledge contained within. The motives of the Wang Clan by doing so is to separate the talent from the mediocre, as depending on what you achieve within the time spent in the Academy will determine the rewards you gain from the Library, it also serves as motivation to do well and contribute towards the Academy.
The Academy aimed to encourage students to bring honour and glory back to the Academy and doing so the Wang Clan itself. For most students having further access within the Academy, was a tantalising bait which gave them a great incentive in performing well for the Academy.
Moreover, the idea of the level system, was that students needed a certain amount of contribution points to gain access to the next level, these points can be earned through doing miscellaneous assignments released weekly by the Academy, this included the more simple things such as patrolling the City, or even going out to protect villages from the danger of magic beasts and bandits, this was the more popular choice for students as it was the most accessible.
These tasks can build up your points yearly, but depending on the difficultly of tasks you accomplish, it is slow and considered the least lucrative. Unless it was an exceedingly hard mission which offered a large number of contribution points.
Furthermore, this leads to the second, which is bounties. The older students are stimulated into hunting enemies of the Kingdom who are wanted for committing crimes to the state. These rogue cultivators committed all sorts of heinous crimes, each being ruthless and vicious, making the Academy view them as great wheat stones for tempering their students in true life and death battles.
Of course, there are some incidents, in which a student may overestimate themselves, they may also end up facing an opponent stronger than expected which may lead to their demise. But, to the Guang Academy, these insignificant losses are nothing in comparison to the potential gains.
In the view of the Academy having a bunch of greenhouse flowers was no good, and the results they gained were positive. However, not every Academy shared a similar viewpoint and was more protective of their geniuses. Though, the noble ones anyways, a commoners value wouldn't be too great unless they were a talented genius.
The Guang Academy scoffed towards these weak-minded Academies, which coincidently enough included the four great noble clans and their Academies. A point was proved by the Guang Academy, in showcasing the excellent strength of their Warriors, finishing second, only behind the Royal Academy in terms of Warrior Strength.
Unfortunately, for the Academy, they are still ranked behind the Academies despite this as a result of their lack of powerful Mages, which was vital in any Academy, as, without a strong Mage, the prowess of a battalion would be greatly reduced.
And to the Academies which compete in a team battle with their students to determine their rankings, with the weakness of not having any outstanding Mages, the Guang Academy was beaten down to fifth place every time.
This was why Li Fen provided such great hope to the Academy since revealing her talent because by being a prodigy level healer made her by far the strongest support Mage, having the capability to boast a team's overall combat prowess greatly.
It was also why other Academies believed that she was wasted at the Guang Academy, as with her alongside their powerful Mages, then how much stronger would they be?
Moreover, this leads to the last and final way to gain contribution points. And that was in the head to head collisions between other Academies, great individual contributions and team achievements will bring about a large number of contribution points to those involved. It was also by far the quickest way to earn contribution points in the Academy.
And don't underestimate contribution points value, as its usefulness doesn't just equate to access within the Library, but also used as the currency for access into the other important areas in the Academy.
Walking into the library, Li Fen took in a deep breath. Surrounding her on each side were thick shelves filled with books. Above the shelves were metal plates engraved with wording to identify the sections belonging to different arts.
Within the area, many other children of a similar age to herself were wandering around curiously looking through the books.
In front of her was a desk with a bored-looking old man behind. Feeling a bit puzzled about the library's system, Li Fen approached the old man, walking ahead of her group.
"Hey, old man, can I take a book from here with me?" Li Fen said flatly.
The old mans widened his eyes at seeing such a blunt child, "Eh, you truly don't know the rules girl? I presume you must be from a commoner household not to know, though to answer your question, as a new year with only the basic clearance of level one, you may only take one book to your dorm at a time. This must be returned within a week, in which upon retrieval you may receive an additional book. However, if you stay within the Library common area, you can read any book you want within the level you have clearance, though you cannot take it with you."
The olds man reply explained her question quickly and straightforwardly leaving Li Fen satisfied, promptly thanking the old man, she rejoined her group and began looking around with the others in the library.
The old man's eyes narrowed upon Li Fen's leave, shining with a peculiar light, "Truly youngsters these days, speak beyond their years". The old man mumbled to himself upon thinking about Li Fens disposition, he felt she resembled a young woman rather than a child.
Li Fen, who had long forgotten her conversation with the old man, was now searching around merrily, picking up any book which looked interesting to her.
'Terrible. Terrible. I did not expect such a low levelled Kingdom in having a collection comparable to the Four Empires, but even with this being merely the first level of this Academies library I expect more. At least have a bit of the good stuff, this is merely tricking a bunch of ignorant commoners into thinking this knowledge is difficult to obtain.' Zhang Wei mumbled with obvious disdain.
"Already having a bit of a look within the first level of the library, the Silver Dragon felt the selection was disappointing. To Li Fen a complete cultivation newbie, she thought the knowledge offered by the Academy for practically free of access at the first level was not bad, but to the Dragon, it was a complete disaster.
'Emm. Looks like I just got to pave my way to the further levels within the library, and besides, I don't need the good stuff just yet. I just need to gain a bit of foundational knowledge, even if there isn't much information offered here.' Li Fen voiced in her mind to the Academy
Yan Chunhua and Yan Bohai, on the other hand, reacted completely different to the Dragon's high standard, with Yan Chunhua in particularly saying the knowledge offered by the Academy was 'not bad' leading to the Silver Dragon voicing numerous complaints within her mind about the 'blindness of youth'.
Ignoring the Dragon, Li Fen felt content with the trip and knew that the Library would be a good asset in developing her foundation for her stay within the Academy within the next few years. Deciding that their trip to the Library was a success, with the thought that they would come back regularly to read through the books, the group decided it was time to return to their dorms, with the idea of exploring the other key areas in the Academy tomorrow.
To the group, they weren't too eager at looking at the other areas of the Academy just yet, as they weren't eligible to use them at the moment, such as the battle arena which was only eligible to be used by the older students.
But, just as they were about to leave "Oh my," an arrogant voice suddenly sounded out behind them, "look who we have here. You have still not realized that nobility is not allowed to lower themselves to play with commoners?"
Li Fen narrowed her eyes while looking at the speaker. It was a boy who appeared to be a year older than herself, and despite having a cute, childish appearance, it was ruined by the look of arrogance plastered on his face. He seemed to be above average when it came to his cultivation as he already began cultivation at such an age, but his mouth was curled into a cocky smirk, and his eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at Yan Bohai and Xue Mingxia. It was obvious that he did not accept new nobility or commoners. Behind him was a group of ten youngsters of different ages. Some of them seemed a lot older than the members in her group, with them being at the very least ten or twelve years of age.
The boy had his head held high as he looked down upon her and Yan Chunhua. To the Young Noble present, he only considered Yan Chunhua as eligible enough in terms of status to join his group, and for Li Fen, on the other hand, it was for obvious reasons, as the noble long knew about her, leading him to believe she belonged to be in the presence of nobles.
"Young miss." He said walking towards Li Fen, "I recommend you to not hang around with these people, only nobles equivalent of our status is worthy of having a genius such as yourself in our ranks. These lowly people would only continue to drag you down if you remain in their presence."
The young noble spoke with great confidence as if was assured Li Fen would make the right decision in joining his group. His Father had already persisted him to do whatever it took to recruit her into his group and make her develop familiar feelings with his group. Knowing his Father wants what's best for his future, he came forward to immediately ask her to join his group. Being apart of the strongest noble faction who joined the Guang Academy this year, why would a mere commoner such as Li Fen dare to refuse him?
However, he seemingly forgot that the status he was proud of was likely unknown to Li Fen as a commoner, and even if she did knew she would likely remain unfazed, as receiving the inheritance of the Silver Dragon had already made her destined for greater heights which were beyond this Kingdom, nevermind a mere noble family within that Kingdom.
Without giving the young noble any face at all, she replied sharply, "I'm fine where I am, and even if I was free to join your little group, why would I?"
Upon seeing the distorted expression on the Young Nobles face at her reply, she shouldn't help but think, 'Wait am I bullying a child?'
The Young Noble feeling a bit shocked at such blunt refusal said, "But, don't you know who I am? I am the Kung Families Young..."
Though just as he was about to finish Yan Bohin who was feeling annoyed at being looked down upon said, "Do you think she cares whatever status you're from? Who do you think you are? Even your father wouldn't have to nerve to approach her like this, she is a prodigy level talent, someone the Royal Family wouldn't be assured of gaining their loyalty of, and your daring enough to try and poach her into your little group trying to use your status."
The Young Noble feeling a little embarrassed at his error, still not fully knowing how he seemingly failed in 'easily' drawing Li Fen into his group, decided to leave and approach Li Fen at a later date.
Not before giving Yan Bohai a look of hatred, he stormed off with his group trailing behind him, with the thought in his mind, 'I'd like to see how long she'd last with them, before long she will know who the true rulers of the Academy are and will eventually know what's good for her.'
Quickly deciding in his mind, it was pointless in continuing to pester Li Fen, he felt he should try the waiting game, as in his mind Li Fen will eventually realise the benefits in joining him.
Seeing the little brat leave with such little confrontation, Li Fen couldn't help but ask, "Do you know that boy?"
"Yeah, he's Kung Jingshen and is the Kung's Family Young Master. The Kung Family is a powerful noble family not belonging to this region, and many were left a bit dumbfounded when he decided to join the Guang Academy. Although it is ranked within the top five, with both his status and talent, he could easily get into one of the academies above the Guang Academy." Yan Chunhua answered.
With that in mind, Li Fen decided to place the Kung Families young master in the back of her mind, deciding to forget about this matter entirely.
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