Chapter Two: The Five Heroes Who Shake the Mountains

“Li Xiaoxue? Is there something you need?” Chu Linfeng asked.

“Oh, no—nothing. I just happened to see you on the way and wanted to say hello,” Li Xiaoxue murmured, her head lowered. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she suddenly recalled something and blushed deeply, burying her head even further.

This path led only to the male dormitory, in the exact opposite direction of the Southwest female dormitory.

“Li Xiaoxue, thank you!” Chu Linfeng broke the silence when she lingered without a word.

“Huh?” Li Xiaoxue was startled but quickly responded, “I should be the one thanking you. Earlier, if you hadn’t helped me out of that situation…”

“Three years ago! The rescue at the East Sea must have been ordered by your father, right? And the three years of healing by the grass hut near Dongping Lake at the foot of Kunlun Mountain—surely arranged by your father as well? Allowing a cripple like me into Beiji Academy must have been his decision despite opposition?” Chu Linfeng interrupted her with a rapid-fire barrage of questions, leaving her flustered and at a loss for words. Before she could respond, he continued in a low voice:

“During your recovery, there was a young woman in white robes who came to see me several times, her face veiled. That girl must have been you, right?” As he spoke, he recalled their first meeting—the cold wind howling, withering leaves falling, occasional calls of geese by the lake, frost and snow drifting past the window.

“How can you be so sure it was me?” Li Xiaoxue sighed inwardly. She had always been tightly wrapped up, silent, and never lingered—just dropped off what she came with and left.

“In the month since you enrolled, I got to know you and noticed you interacted fairly neutrally with others in the class but were especially attentive to me.” Chu Linfeng’s words hung in the air, and seeing no denial from Li Xiaoxue, he took it as confirmation.

“Though I don’t know why you and your father have taken such care of me, I’m grateful to both of you.”

Hearing this, Li Xiaoxue’s heart trembled slightly, a wave of inexplicable guilt washing over her again. She bit her lip lightly, thinking, ‘Enough. I might as well confess. It’s been three years, and I’ve tried to make amends. To cultivate the Great Way, one must sever emotional knots to avoid disturbing the Dao within.’

“I’m sorry, Chu—”

“Hey! What are you two conspiring about here? Oh, wow, is this a junior plotting dual cultivation?”

Chu Linfeng turned at the voice. In the distance, several figures mingled and moved casually, hands in pockets. Their outlines didn’t resemble any of the top students in his class. Approaching, he couldn’t recognize them but noticed the academy badges on their chests emblazoned with the character “Heaven.” He immediately knew their origin.

Beiji Kunlun Academy had three levels of students: “Heaven,” “Earth,” and “Human.” “Heaven” denoted third-year seniors.

Feeling a bad omen, Chu Linfeng stepped forward to shield Li Xiaoxue, eyes scanning the five men who had come forward.

Their leader had a scar running from his right ear to the corner of his mouth, resembling a crooked-mouthed clown. The two beside him were a tall and a short man, one thin, the other stout, looking like a pair of skinny and fat monks. Behind them were two young men, one wearing a baseball cap in hip-hop style, the other donned in a suit with shorts and flip-flops. Chu Linfeng muttered under his breath, “No wonder these beasts can cultivate immortality!”

Joining the academy was like enlisting in the army. Freshmen like Chu Linfeng wore formal suits with ties, and the girls wore white shirts and pleated skirts with bows. By the third year, many were seasoned veterans who had been in the academy for over a decade, their uniforms faded from long wear. The one thing they never lost was the “Heaven” badge pinned on their chest—a symbol of status, strength, and a shining mark when seeking a partner.

“What are you underestimating, kid?” the crooked-mouthed clown sneered.

“To say it’s not unreasonable for us to become immortals—that’s a compliment!” the stout monk proudly patted his badge. “I guess you’re smart enough to recognize we’re all at the Mountain-Shaking Realm!”

“Yo! Yo, yo, yo! To meet a beauty here too!” the thin monk reached out to touch Li Xiaoxue’s skirt.

“Get lost!” Chu Linfeng slapped his hand away, the sudden strike shocking the thin monk, who staggered back.

“Good kid! In decades of the academy, you’re the first freshman to dare hit a senior!” The hip-hop guy shoved the thin monk who’d stepped on his limited-edition AG shoes, anger flaring. “Fatso, you stepped on my foot!” Then he stepped forward and instantly formed a hand seal.

“Thunder Mother, Thunder Lord, swift descent divine art, by law decree, manifest swiftly!” The hand seal was interrupted when the man in the suit and shorts grabbed him, muttering, “You idiot, are you crazy? Summoning heavenly thunder? Let’s calm down first—just let this fool get a few punches to vent, you don’t know the academy forbids messing with laws. You want to graduate early?”

Dragging the hip-hop guy behind him, the suited man approached.

“Fool,”

“Uh-huh! Ahem, ahem!” The suited man cleared his throat twice and switched to the capital city dialect.

“Kid, you probably don’t know who these ‘Heaven’ seniors in front of you really are. I heard you just enrolled a month ago. To give you a proper introduction, allow me—your teacher and senior brother—to explain.”

“To enter first year, you must be at least eighteen and reach the Awakening Realm Level One, with family sponsorship. Only those at the higher Zhou Tian Realm can enroll without sponsorship.”

“To advance to second year, cultivation must reach Zhou Tian Realm Level One. Even those who entered first year at Zhou Tian must complete one year of coursework before moving up.”

“For third year, cultivation must reach Mountain-Shaking Realm Level One. As the saying goes, ‘One level separates mountains, one realm separates galaxies.’ Normally, it takes two to three years to progress from Awakening to Zhou Tian, and from Zhou Tian to Mountain-Shaking, five years at least, sometimes over a decade. So those in our ‘Heaven’ class at Beiji Academy are the elite talents of their nations—future national treasures and heroes of their regions.”

The suited man circled his four companions, speaking grandly, while they closed their eyes, basking in the honor, nodding in agreement.

“As for graduation, anyone over thirty-five automatically graduates, regardless of level. But before thirty-five, if you break through to the Soaring Realm, you can choose to stay at the academy or join the Central Military Department for rank and duty!”

“Take Shen Luoxi, once ranked fifth on the ‘Celestial Prodigy List’—our academy’s campus belle. At twenty-one, she broke into the Soaring Realm, stunning the world, then stayed to become one of our teachers.” The five flushed slightly at this memory.

“So that’s who we’re here for today—” Suddenly, the group saw no one nearby; a man and woman had already walked a hundred meters away.

“You idiots!” The crooked-mouthed clown shouted, slapping the other four, who were still daydreaming. “Fools, they’re running away!”

All four hurriedly opened their eyes. The crooked-mouthed clown kicked off, soaring into the sky, flipping a hundred meters ahead.

Perhaps lost in fantasy too long, his hormones flooding his brain, his cerebellum hadn’t connected to his leg nerves properly. After reaching the height, he forgot how to land, stumbling and falling face-first right in front of Chu Linfeng and Li Xiaoxue.

“Senior, are you practicing the legendary Falling-From-The-Sky technique—Frog Skill? Impressive, impressive!” Chu Linfeng bent down and gave a thumbs-up.

The crooked-mouthed clown rolled his eyes, then croaked “Goo-ga” and spun 360 degrees, standing up gracefully.

“Hmph, you’re smart! I’ve been practicing this skill for a long time and just barely mastered it. I didn’t want to show off before you, but since you disrespect your seniors, I’ll have to strike to shake the mountain and alarm the tiger!” The other four arrived simultaneously.

“Enough beating around the bush. What do you want from me? Speak quickly.” Chu Linfeng was resigned. He couldn’t fight these five buffoons, couldn’t escape, so he had to hear them out and get it over with.

“Ha! Straightforward! Why waste so many words?” The crooked-mouthed clown glared at the suited man. “People from Tianfu City are direct. Why are you such a worrywart, always polite before fighting?”

“Scarface, damn you, you started this… Hey, stop! This idiot’s running again!”

Chu Linfeng and Li Xiaoxue, barely two steps away, were surrounded and blocked again.

“Chu Linfeng, you should leave first,” Li Xiaoxue whispered to him, glancing at the men who obviously wanted to trouble him. “I’m fine. My father is a senior instructor. Once I get their names, I’ll make them pay!”

Chu Linfeng sighed. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to reason with these five.”

“Just say what you want! What is it?”

“I heard three years ago, Shen Luoxi saved you?”

“No, she carried me—princess carry!” The stout and thin monks corrected the crooked-mouthed clown in unison.

“I don’t know. I was unconscious. When I woke up, I was in a grass hut by Dongping Lake under Kunlun Mountain.” Chu Linfeng shrugged. He truly didn’t know how he got there or much about his savior. “Since then, an old man with a crippled leg has been taking care of me. I haven’t seen her again.”

“Lucky kid, to be cared for by the Medicine Emperor for three years!” The hip-hop guy straightened up, suddenly serious.

“Let’s get to the point. No distractions.”

“Right, right, get to the point!”

“I heard you fought a fifth-tier, sixth-level East Sea Flood Dragon—is that true?”

“Sorry, I don’t want to talk about the details!” Chu Linfeng shuddered at the memory of that battle. He couldn’t help imagining his younger brother, limbs bound by a peach blossom demoness, being fed alive to the dragon.

Of course, this was mere speculation—he never saw the demoness that day nor found his brother’s remains. But with no news for years, chances were grim.

“No! This is important. You must think!” Chu Linfeng’s thoughts were snapped back to reality by the urging.

“Right! If it was a fifth-tier, sixth-level flood dragon, comparable to a human cultivator at Soaring Realm Level Three, and Shen Luoxi had just reached Soaring Realm Level One three years ago, escaping such a beast alone would be remarkable. How could she have rescued you?”

Chu Linfeng was slightly startled. He had only known the stunning prodigy was a Soaring Realm expert but never considered her exact level. The “Five Heroes” digging deeper had uncovered a clue.

“Don’t pressure Chu Linfeng. He said he was unconscious and knows nothing,” Li Xiaoxue quickly interrupted, seeing him stroke his chin worriedly.

“No! Li Xiaoxue, are you hiding something from me? And why did you just apologize to me?”