To describe the start of the school year at Holy Orchid Institute as 'eventful' is an understatement.
The news about Shen Yue's little accident and Shen Xiu's bet against a student spread in the academy like wildfire.
According to the rumors, two students went their own way and openly offended both Shen Yue and Shen Xiu, both members of a sacred family.
The first thing the people wanted to know was the identity of these two students, to dare to make an enemy out of Shen Yue and Shen Xiu, these people are either children of influential figures or extremely dumb.
Naturally, the latter title went straight to Nie Li, as the people found out that he's just a member of Heavenly Marks' family, an aristocratic family with a status that is way lower than that of the three major families.
What Nie Li had done was simply asking for their family downfall, "making a bet with Teacher Shen Xiu and wanting to reach Bronze rank in two months is simply laughable" said one the student as he mocked Nie Li's stupidity.
That statement was shared by almost everyone, even if you have an extremely high talent, raising your cultivation that fast is seemingly impossible for most people, unless a family is willing to spend a huge amount of resources to nurture a student, wanting to break through to bronze rank and become a Demon Spiritualist in two months is simply impossible.
Let alone Nie Li, his innate talent is known by everyone as the poorest among the fighter apprentice class students, even if the heavenly marks family has some money to spend, they surely wouldn't spend it all on someone like Nie Li.
The students were sure that Nie Li would be gone in two months, and since he offended the sacred family they would surely make things difficult for him in the future.
Who asked him to offend teacher Shen Xiu? Many of the noble students were laughing at Nie Li, they couldn't wait to see him withdraw from the academy.
On the other hand, all were making fun at Shen Yue's failed attempt of subduing a student and ended up losing face instead.
"D-did he really pissed himself!?" One student asked, a pained expression crossed on that student's face as her side ached from laughing too much. "Yeah, I was there, I saw it all happen, it was hilarious," another student replied, laughing as she recalled the incident.
In contrast to how they reacted to Nie Li's actions, all the students who heard the encounter between Shen Yue and Xue Hui found amusement in Shen Yue's embarrassing defeat.
Everyone hates the members of the sacred family, every member of this family is simply arrogant and overbearing.
So seeing Shen Yue get a taste of his own medicine made them feel satisfied, at last Shen Yue got what he deserved. They all feel satisfied by it.
Not to mention the person who humiliated Shen Yue is a member of a powerful clan.
The Divine family.
A family that has amassed overwhelming wealth and power over the years, something even the sacred family cannot afford to challenge.
a testament to how much the Divine family influence had grown over the past years.
And that boy whom Shen Yue tried to subdue is none other than Xue Hui of the Divine family.
While not everyone in the glory city had ever seen him, everyone is familiar with his name, since a few years ago Chen Zhenlong confirmed that Xue Hui is indeed the disciple of that mysterious Legend rank expert.
Shen Yue really ran out of luck, to actually pick a quarrel with someone with a distinguished status like Xue Hui, Shen Yue really believed himself to be untouchable.
Unfortunately for Shen Yue, there's no way he could rely on his family and borrow the power of his family to get his revenge.
With the protection of both the Divine family and that mysterious Legend rank expert.
Making an enemy out of Xue Hui is like asking for their Sacred family mansion to be flipped upside-down.
In this world one subdues the other, the sacred family is very aware of that truth, thus they have no problem bullying the weak.
These students even wished for the Divine family and that mysterious expert to teach the sacred family some lessons.
Holy Orchid Institute school grounds.
"Is that him?" asked one of the girls, as her gaze followed a lone figure.
"Yes, that's him, Xue hui" confirmed by her friend, their cheeks turned flushed while looking.
"He looked so really handsome," another friend added. She has a dreamy look to her face.
"eeeeiii! He smiled at me, did you see that! He totally did" another girl exclaimed.
Their excited charters got the attention of the surrounding students, which made them look at who those girls were fawning over.
Exiting the building with his usual composed expression is the man of the hour, Xue Hui.
Different from the rest of the crowd, Xue Hui has this elegant air about him, making him hard to approach yet good to look at.
His robe swayed fluidly in the air as he waited in the middle of the school grounds, catching the eyes of everyone, more so among the ladies. Evidence by how they stared at him.
Xue Hui is not a snob, noticing the attention he was receiving, Xue Hui did a little fan service by waving and smiling at the crowd of ladies. Which made them swoon. And earned the ire of male crowds.
While he looks perfectly composed on the outside, Xue Hui was actually sighing wearily inwardly within his mind.
Thanks to Chen Linlin's shenanigans, he ended up standing at the back of the class, together with Nei Li and his newfound brothers.
While he stood among them, Xue Hui couldn't help but hear their conversation.
mostly about how Nie Li and his brothers would be able to reach Bronze rank within two months.
and how Nie Li is planning to court Ye Ziyun while doing so.
That last one is deliberately said by Nie Li so Xue Hui could hear him. making his intentions very clear to him.
Xue Hui just rolled his eyes about it, and ignored it.
He doesn't care if someone wants to date anyone, but at the very least Ye Ziyun is an acquaintance to him, if Nie Li is a trustworthy person and Ye Ziyun approves of him, then so be it, he'll even congratulate the two if they end up together.
But Nie Li is someone with an unknown background, and a mysterious origin.
Xue Hui needs to know everything about Nie Li first, before he lets him do what he likes. not only for Ye Ziyun's sake, but for everyone's safety as well.
His inclusion in their group is pretty much ignored by Nie Li and his friends as he stood there in silence while waiting for the lesson to end.
"There you are!" Hearing a familiar voice, Xue Hui looked behind to see Chen Linlin jogging toward him. Her cheerful countenance and charming smile are enough to captivate the gazes of all the people around them.
"Sorry for waiting, I had to convince my friends to come with me, so I can introduce them to you" as she informed, Xue Hui's eyes drifted to the students following her.
Tagging along with her were three girls whom Xue Hui recognized as the same group of friends whom Chen Linlin sat with during the class.
As his eyes lingered on them, the trio of girls felt uncomfortable as they became fidgety under Xue Hui's prying eyes.
Unease, the trio of girls avoided meeting Xue Hui's gaze, their bodies moved stiffly as insecurities crept onto them.
'Commoners' Xue Hui thought to himself after assessing the trio.
He didn't notice back then, but it seems that Chen Linlin ended up becoming acquainted with these commoner students.
Unaware of the slight tension between her friends, Chen Linlin's eyes lit up in excitement, and she proceeded to pull one of the girls to her side and introduce her.
"Oh Oh! Hui-hui. This is Mei Lin. She is really cool, her family owns that seafood restaurant near the central street, she said the food there is the best, we should visit someday to try it out" Mei Lin is a girl with blonde wavy shoulder-length hair, she has tanned skin, and the same height as Chen Linlin. Mei Lin's look can be described as someone with fierce beauty. Mostly because of her sharp eyes and sword-like eyebrows.
"H-hello, nice to meet you" Mei Lin greeted in an unsure manner.
In return, Xue Hui displayed a friendly expression and introduced himself to her.
Thanks to this, Mei Lin's tense body visibly relaxed, as she stepped backwards so her other friends could introduce themselves next.
After Mei Lin, Chen Linlin, pulled the other girl close to her. smallest amongst the group. Chen Linlin introduced her as Yue Ling. From a farming family to the outskirts of Glory City, where the military base is located. "Oh, Yue Ling here said you really look cool when you confront that Shen Yue guy," Chen Linlin revealed, which caused the shy girl to stammer.
"Eeiii, Linlin, w-why did you say that to him!? It was supposed to be a secret between us" Yue Ling said in a hurry, she had a cute panicked expression. Her brown shoulder-length hair bounced chaotically as her head kept shifting between Chen Linlin and Xue Hui.
After she calmed down and Xue Hui greeted her, she ran back to her friend looking flustered and hid behind Mei Lin's back.
The last girl moves on her own, she has a much calmer disposition compared to the other two, with a stoic expression, she has black hair tied in a ponytail, she is also taller among the friend group with height standing at six feet she has a slender figure, very developed for her ages.
What is unique about her is that she was wearing reading glasses, much like Chen Wenrou.
which made her the second person Xue Hui saw with glasses.
Another thing about her is that Xue Hui somehow recognized this girl from somewhere but he couldn't recall where.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Jing Ya" she bowed slightly, her tone was flat which suited her stoic expression.
Xue Hui nodded as he returned the gesture.
Once the introduction was over, the five of them left the school grounds, as they walked Chen Linlin shared the tale of how she made friends with them.
While they were walking, Xue Hui noticed that Jing Ya kept stealing glances at him,
Xue Hui could tell that Jing Ya had something on her mind so he asked her.
"So Jing Ya, have we met before? You kinda looked familiar but I am not sure why." For a second, Jing Ya's stoic expression lightened up, as she talked to him."Yes!We both knew each other when we were kids, we used to be playmates back in the orphanage." hearing that. Xue Hui's face showed an expression of nostalgia as the memories finally dawned on him.
"Yeah, you're that little girl who hates noises so much, you ended up tailing me around wherever I go." Xue Hui said nostalgically, which made Jing Ya smile as she recalled those days.
Now that she was sure that Xue Hui truly remembered hers, Jing Ya continued to recall their past. "I went back to the orphanage, after I left to visit you Xue Hui, but I was told by the nice lady that you already got adopted. I tried to ask them about your whereabouts because they told me they're not allowed to disclose that information to anyone and just told me that you'll be in a safe home. I'm happy to know that you are doing so well, Xue Hui" Jing Ya exclaimed excitedly.
Both Mei Lin and Yue Ling looked at each other as their jaws dropped, being best friends since they were little, this is the first time they saw their usual stoic looking friend show so much emotion to her face. The sight actually freaking the two girls.
On the other hand, Chen Linlin who kept her silence as she listened to the two. Has a moved expression on her face. Happy that Xue Hui and Jing Ya had reunited.
The two continued to converse as they catched up with one another's life, the mood dampened when Jing Ya began to talk about her family circumstances.
"Yeah, that's the reason why my family loses our nobility," Jing Ya said, with sadness in her voice.
Apparently, the Jing clan, once an aristocratic family, had fallen victim to the Sacred Family scheme, as they wanted to steal the Jing Clan's only most profitable business, this resulted in the Jing clan being subdued by the Sacred family and their business partners.
In the end, Jing clan business was stolen right under their noses, which resulted in the Jing Clan's only gold rank demon Spiritualist to die in resentment, this caused the Jing clan to lose their position as noble.
Seven years have passed since their decline and the Jing clan hasn't recovered from the incident even on these days.
The clan is scraping by with their remaining business just so they could send their younger generation to holy orchid institute, since only by becoming powerful demon spiritualists could they recover their nobility status.
This is the same for Mie Lin and Yue Lin, as their family is relying on them to improve their family's circumstances.
Jing Ya, Mei Lin and Yue Ling all fell silent, as they felt the weight that was placed on their shoulders.
Being a commoner wouldn't be so bad if they're not constantly being targeted and bullied by nobility.
That is why it greatly surprised them when Chen Linlin, despite her noble status, turned out to be a good person who doesn't look down on commoners. Not only that she also expresses her desire to befriend them, different from what they expected.
Shame crept on their body, as the three of them admitted the reason why they
befriend Chen Linlin.
Earlier, during their first meeting, the trio made an unexpected connection when Chen Linlin decided to sit with them.
Because of this an idea forms in their mind, something that can gain them some benefits.
The idea is to become Chen Linlin's subordinate, and use her noble status as some kind of protection during their stay in the academy.
But that idea was quickly thrown in the room when Chen Linlin treated them as friends. And that made their stomach churned, the thought of using her when Chen Linlin only wanted to befriend them.
Feeling guilty, the trio bowed apologetically, promised they wouldn't do it again, and insisted that they didn't deserve her friendship.
Seeing this, Chen Linlin tugged at Xue Hui's sleeve, in hope that he could do something about this matter. "Hui-hui can we help them? I understand why they did it, and I'm not mad at it. On the contrary, I wanna stay friends with them more."
Xue Hui smiled as he patted her shoulder to reassure her. Of course Chen Linlin wouldn't mind it at all. What they did is pretty tame in nature. Although it sounded wrong that people were trying to use other people for their own gain.
They live in a world full of uncertainty and hardship. More so for those powerless, what the trio did is not as bad as they think.
Many commoners would latch themselves to those with power and influence just to earn opportunities for themselves.
You do what you need in order to survive, that simple as it can be.
You can't fault the people for wanting to climb to the top at all costs, especially if that is the only way for them to ensure a better life for their loved one.
At least the trio felt guilty about it and acknowledged their fault.
The difference between paid subordinates and real friends is the lack of genuine concern for each other.
Looking at Chen Linlin's pleading expression, Xue Hui was compelled to help the trio.
Since Xue Hui is not planning to stay in Glory City in the future, it would be good for Glory city if he could nurture a few supreme experts to act as its protector in the future, and the trio of Jing Ya, Mei Lin and Yue Lin is definitely a good choice for this.
Making up his mind, Xue Hue addresses the trio with a serious tone. "I'm going to help the three of you to become a Demon Spiritualist, and become a powerful protector of Glory City in one condition" Jing Ya, Mei Lin and Yue Ling all lifted their heads to face Xue Hui.
They gulped seeing the stern look on his face. It was only then that they remembered that Xue Hui's a pretty intimidating guy if he wanted to be.
Remembering how he dealt with Shen Yue and made him retreat like a dog.
"Whatever happens, do not betray Linlin's friendship. The world is full of hardship, and those who choose to walk it alone will always end up with a huge gaping hole in their souls. It doesn't matter whether one is a man, beast, devil, or god. No one is safe in this kind of fate. So, to avoid such an end, the four of you must treasure your bond from here on out," he declared.
Their gaze darted to Chen Linlin, genuine concern can be seen in those eyes of hers.
She is worried for them, as friends and not a subordinate, something they thought is impossible with the huge gap between their status.
Stealing themselves. The trio made a promise that they wouldn't throw Chen Linlin's friendship no matter what.
"I-I, Yue Ling, would never betray Linlin's trust! If I do, may I be struck by lightning." Surprisingly the one who spoke first is the most timid among the group. Chen Linlin was so moved that she approached the smaller girl and hugged her.
After Yue Ling, Jing Ya and Mei Lin also made their promises and Chen Linlin also promised to them that she wouldn't betray their friendship.
Watching the four of them, Xue Hui felt relieved that Chen Linlin found some new friends. He remembers his previous lives, when there's only the two of them in them, it was silence, lonely and sad.
Xue Hui was glad that he was able to change Chen Linlin's fate, at least in this lifetime she could experience the joy of belonging to a close-knit group.
After they finished, Xue Hui thought of something and asked the trio to pack their stuff which confuses them.
Xue Hui let out a knowing grin, and the trio shuddered at the sight of it.
"You three, pack all your stuff, you'll be staying at the Divine family mansion from now on"
Since he got stuck helping the trio, might as well go all out and protect them.
'Now the question is what cultivation techniques are well suited to the three of them' Xue Hui pondered as he tailed the group.
End of chapter 40