"How are you feeling?"

I glanced up as Teacher Yi tossed that question casually at me, still lying on the bed in the infirmary.

"I'm all right." Physically, anyway, given how Teacher Yi healed me completely. Mentally, however, was a whole different matter entirely.

As if she sensed my dark mood, Teacher Yi glanced at me. "You did well, you know. You should hold your head proud."

That still doesn't change the fact that I lost, I thought darkly. However, I appreciated her concern, so I merely nodded.

"Thank you."

Teacher Yi watched me for a few more moments, and then sighed.

"Go rest in your room tonight and sleep it off. But make sure you attend classes tomorrow or I'll ask your classmates to drag you out of bed if I have to. Understand?"

"Yeah."

As depressed as I was, I wasn't pathetic enough to mope about and skip classes. That was something only angsty, self-centered and irresponsible teenagers did. I might have the body of a sixteen-year-old, but I was mentally thirty (or thirty-three). The world hadn't ended, and I still had responsibilities to fulfill as a student.

Besides, I had a promise to keep. And I couldn't allow my depression to affect my friends. Zhu Jiao, one of my best friends, had won. He deserved to savor his victory and be happy about it. Me being bitter and sulking about my defeat wasn't just poor sportsmanship. It would ruin Zhu Jiao's mood and made him feel guilt.

That was why I had to do my best and put on an appearance of being fine. No, I was fine. Yeah, I lost.Yeah, losing hurts. But it wasn't the end of the world. I was used to losing. This wasn't the first time I had been defeated.

Why then does it hurt so much?

Most probably because I was so close to victory. I had made it all the way to the final, reached such great heights. However, it was precisely because the greater the heights, the greater the fall. It really wasn't a pleasant feeling crashing back down to earth again.

But it was a good fight.

I had to admit that, at least. It was one of the most difficult battle I had ever engaged in. even though I went all out and even went to the extent of breaking my self-imposed taboo of using Heaven and Earth Formula, I still lost convincingly.

If I was cynical, I might have complained that Zhu Jiao had too much plot armor, that the story was working for him, that the whole thing was unfair to begin with. I was fighting against a protagonist who had all the luck in the world, was an unprecedented genius whose role was to win every battle and impress the mob charaacters and get praised to high heaven. My victory was impossible to begin with.

However, isn't that exactly my goal? To overturn the will of heaven, to defy destiny and forge my own fate? To break out of all these stupid clichés and carve my own place in this world, to leave an impact that no mob character should be able to make?

Yeah. It was precisely because this world was unfair that I wanted to rebel against Heaven and the gods. Whoever was writing this and dictating the events of this world..fuck you. I wanted to show him the middle finger and do what I could.

The problem is that..since I failed to win the tournament and the would-be protagonist still ended up being the champion as anticipated..it means I'm still too weak to change my fate. I still need a lot more power if I want to defy destiny and steal the heavens.

"Student Fei Wu? Are you feeling all right?"

I realized that I must have been completey lost in thought. Teacher Yi was staring at me worriedly while I blanked out, and I shook my head to clear my mind of unnecessary thoughts. Nodding, I hopped off the bed.

"Yeah, just thinking of stuff. I'll be returning to my room now."

The celebration party that Tong Xue promised to throw wouldn't be held until tomorrow at the earliest. He was considerate enough to take note that both Zhu Jiao and I would need some time to receive treatment and recover from our injuries.

"How is Zhu Jiao?" I asked, remembering my friend. Even though I hadn't seen him ever since I lost consciousness, I was certain I at least did quite a substantial amount of damage to him. Despite that sturdy Golden Kirin Sacred Armor protecting him, I had delivered quite a few devastating blows that were powerful enough to demolish an entire building. There was no way he emerged out of our match unscathed.

"Student Zhu Jiao is fine," Teacher Yi replied with a smile. "He's doing better than you, actually. I patched him up and sent him back to his room. To be honest, he actually wanted to wait for you to wake up, but I advised him and your other friends against it."

So it wasn't just Zhu Jiao, but Tang Qi Hong, Tong Xue and the rest of the gang had been here as well. I had half-expected to see them earlier when I woke up, and was a little disappointed to see that they were absent. Now I understood it was because Teacher Yi shooed the away. I raised an eyebrow at that, but Teacher Yi continued, unimpeded.

"I'm sure you would like some time alone, wouldn't you?"

"That's true," I conceded with a nod. "Thank you."

I did appreciate being left on my own for now. The last thing I needed was sympathy from my friends, telling me that I did my best, etc. Furthermore, this was Zhu Jiao's moment. They should be congratulating him, not spending their time worrying about me.

I could handle this. I was mentally an adult, after all. This wasn't the first time I failed. I was used to losing.

But damn it..why does it hurt so much?

Probably because this was the first time I had come so far..only to fall short of the goal when it was right within my reach.

Fuck!

I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to hit something. Not when I was still in the infirmary and Teacher Yi was watching me. It was a good thing she sent everyone home. I needed some time alone to clear my head and calm down.

"Thank you," I told her again and rose from the bed. As I staggered on my feet, I winced from a faint soreness that throbbed throughout my body.

"Careful," Teacher Yi warned as she strode over to help me steady myself. "I might have healed all of your injuries, but you still need rest. Don't force yourself unnecessarily."

"Yeah. I understand."

Sighing, I stretched my right hand and anxiously tested my right leg. It seemed that the broken bones in both limbs had been mended. There was a slight pain when I moved them, but nothing too debilitating.

Compared to before, when I was desperately fighting against Zhu Jiao, the tiny sting was nothing. I was happy that I could walk without falling over.

"Make sure you go back straight to the dormitory without detouring anywhere else."

Teacher Yi was beginning to sound like a fussy mom right now, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me sternly. I nodded. In the first place, I had no intention of going anywhere else unless I got abducted by someone along the way. After Li Chun Long's Treegons failed to assassinate me or Zhu Jiao, the staff had swept the academy clean to make sure there weren't any illegal familiars or monsters or magical beasts dwelling within campus grounds.

In other words, I should be safe as long as I remained within the academy's territory.

"I have my hands full treating all the injured students from the tournament. I don't have time to look for you if you go missing."

Despite Teacher Yi's reprimand, I knew she was only looking out for me. She was actually more concerned about my mental state than worried about getting more work dumped on her. I raised a hand and saluted her to show that I would obey, and then left the infirmary without wasting any more time. I didn't want to disturb Teacher Yi when she was already so busy.

Rather anticlimactically, nothing happened on my journey back to my dormitory room. It had gotten pretty late, and the sun had clearly set long ago. Glancing at the huge clock in the huge academy tower that stood several blocks away from the main campus building, I saw that it was a little after ten. Unsurprisingly, there were almost no students lingering in the main campus grounds, and what little students remained – particularly those crazy enough to continue training at this hour, or absorbing yin qi from the night air – I was able to easily avoid.

I was the guy most well known for mastering Shadow Steps, after all.

Too exhausted and sore to do anything else, I went straight to bed and collapsed on the mattress. Relieved that I didn't have to face anyone, even my best friends, I buried my face into my pillow and tried to go to sleep.

..

Instead of sleep, what came were bitter tears.

Squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my face deeper into my pillow, I quietly wept.

*

"Congratulations to our champion for the 28th annual tournament of Wu Ling Academy! Student Zhu Jiao!"

Everyone clapped as Zhu Jiao went up the stage. Xiao Zhang beamed as he welcomed this year's champion up on stage and shook his hand. Turning around, he received a trophy from Teacher Shu Xue, and then turned around to pass it to Zhu Jiao. The spiky-haired protagonist accepted it and then turned toward the student body and raised it high.

"WOOO!"

"WAAAAH!"

The students went wild, clapping and cheering thunderously. What, did you think this was some sort of wuxia or xianxia story where the other competitors only knew how to be jealous over their losses and behave like spoilt brats, whining like arrogant young masters with totally no sense of sportsmanship? Even if Zhu Jiao was the main character of some wuxia/xianxia story, the people around him were real students.

Of course, it was natural to feel a bit of envy, but everyone had been convinced by Zhu Jiao's performance. He had defeated strong opponents, emerged top of the Group of Death, defeated major heavyweights including the strongest girl and current student council president in Wu Ling Academy. He had proved not with words, but with actions, and persuaded everyone beyond a doubt that he was presently the strongest student in Wu Ling Academy.

Anyone who wasn't convinced was welcome to challenge him.

Let's be honest. The whole "the protagonist is trash" and nobody believing that he could have won a tournament was a contrived manner of forcing the mob characters to praise the so-called "underdog" that the protagonist was, and a convenient way for the protagonist to perform the stupid "face-slapping" that was so popular in Chinese novels. Honestly, it was downright disgusting and forced how practically everyone would trash-talk the protagonist before the tournament, and in each round constantly preach about how he would lose to this genius, or that genius, only to receive slaps in the face when the protagonist proved them wrong each time. You would think they would have learned their lesson, but no, they continued to look down and underestimate the protagonist because the authors for some reason couldn't get it around their heads that real characters don't behave so one-dimensionally, and so that the protagonist could continue slapping their faces and get praised to high heaven later.

It was sickening, really.

"As a reward for winning the tournament, you will receive a thousand gold coins, and you may select a level five martial arts manual from the library, free of charge."

"Thank you very much, Principal."

Zhu Jiao bowed gratefully.

Xiao Zhang then turned to sweep his gaze across the rest of the students and smiled. Stroking his long mustache, he continued.

"Of course, the finalists will also receive appropriate rewards for wherever they finish in the tournaments. Those who end up in the group stages..while your rewards may not be as much as those who make it to the finals, you nonetheless will receive some resources, which will be dependent on your final ranking."

By now, all the group matches and final rankings had been established. Hell, they were done before my final against Zhu Jiao.

Xiao Zhang's gaze swept over me, and my heart skipped a beat. As tradition demanded, only the champion had the right to go up the stage and receive the trophy. There were no silver medals, no bronze medals. Just a trophy for the champion.

However, for us finalists who had made it this far, we received rewards in the form of gold coins, the currency for this timeline.

That's enough for me.

I wasn't a greedy person, and I never intended to win the tournament for money. Just pride and prestige alone.

How much is second place going to get me again..?

Racking my brain, I tried to remember. It was definitely not a thousand gold coins. Hmm, if I wasn't mistaken, it was eight hundred gold coins. Close to the amount that the champion received, to be honest, so it wasn't that big a loss. The academy understood the value of talent, and they never put all their eggs in one basket. They weren't stupid enough to invest all their resources nurturing only one talent and ignoring the other students.

Third and fourth place – which was Bai Ning Xue and Li Chun Long respectively – would normally receive seven hundred gold coins. However, after the student council scandal and Li Chun Long's disqualification, he would be denied the seven hundred gold coins as punishment. A thoroughly deserved one at that, if I might say so myself.

I still hadn't forgiven him for his attempted assassination and assault on both me and Zhu Jiao. If he tried that again when he finished his isolation training, I would definitely be ready for him. And I would make sure not to leave him alive this time.

The fifth to eighth place – which included Feng Tian Yong and Du Lang – would receive five hundred gold coins. Nineth to sixteenth place – which were the last of the finalists and included Tang Qi Hong and Kuang Hu – would receive three hundred gold coins. And depending on their ranking, those in the group stages would receive around one hundred gold coins or less.

Obviously I wasn't going to start detailing which rank received how many gold coins. I couldn't be bothered to remember, and by now the attention span of those existences beyond the fourth wall should probably start tapering off at the amount of info dump I was throwing at them. More importantly, I focused on clapping as Zhu Jiao walked off the stage.

"What martial art would you be picking?" Tong Xue asked when Zhu Jiao rejoined us. He scratched his head and laughed in embarrassment.

"To be honest..I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. I only wanted the money to purchase more spirit pills and training resources to boost my cultivation."

"You shouldn't be relying on drugs," I warned disapprovingly. "Doping has terrible side effects." Then I caught sight of everyone staring at me. "Eh? What?"

"What's doping?" Ban Zhang asked.

Seriously? The people in this timeline had no conception of what doping was? What sort of messed up world was this where everyone pay exorbitant prices for drugs and become overly reliant on them?

Oh, right. A cultivation world.

"I've never heard of spirit pills having side effects before," Lian Rou remarked with a frown.

"That's because it's not studied that much, and people take it for granted," I explained with a sigh. "And it's a cheap plot device for authors to fall back on when they need their characters to experience a growth boost. They claim that these spirit pills are hard to obtain, but honestly the way capitalism works in their stories doesn't make sense. Demand and supply. Sure, the higher quality the spirit pill, the more expensive it would be, but that would entail an entire industry working to produce these pills and having surplus in stock.."

I trailed off when I caught the blank stares. Obviously it would be a terrible idea to attempt to explain Marxism, Capitalism, mode of production, industries, consumption and political economy to my friends.

"Never mind. To sum it up, don't rely too heavily on spirit pills."

"If you say so," Zhu Jiao responded uncertainly, but I could tell that he didn't believe me. Everyone had been doing this for years and no one had complained about side effects. I was probably just applying my previous timeline knowledge to this one and making a terrible mistake. How embarrassing.

"Anyway, you'll probably borrow a martial art that's close to your Golden Kirin Sect martial arts, right?" Tang Qi Hong asked, returning to the topic at hand. "Something that will help you completely restore your Golden Kirin Sect techniques."

"That's right." Zhu Jiao nodded, though his guilty expression revealed that the thought had never occurred to him. He frowned as he pondered, staring at the trophy in his hand for a few seconds. "But just what kind of martial arts techniques would be close to the Golden Kirin Sect's?"

"If I may suggest something."

We almost jumped at Bai Ning Xue's voice. To be fair, Bai Ning Xue had been joining us more lately, having officially become Zhu Jiao's girlfriend. That meant she had to socialize with us, whether she liked it or not.

Fortunately, she seemed to have a thick skin, and she spoke so little that we almost never noticed her presence at all. None of us had gotten used to Bai Ning Xue being around. Not yet, anyway. To be fair, it had only been a few days at most.

Plenty of time for her to integrate herself into our clique..or for us to get used to her hanging out silently with us.

"What is it?" Tang Qi Hong asked as she clung to me. Out of all of us, Tang Qi Hong was the one most not used to Bai Ning Xue becoming part of our little circle. She wasn't outright hostile toward Bai Ning Xue, but after declaring herself to be the latter's rival and trying to compete against her on everything, she wasn't very comfortable with shaking hands and become best friends with the cold school beauty.

"I believe he should redeem the True Inferno technique."

What the fuck?!

"Are you sure you haven't confused Zhu Jiao with Li Fu Chen?" I asked skeptically.

"Yeah, why the True Inferno technique?" Tong Xue added, bewildered. "Jiao's Golden Kirin Sect techniques have nothing to do with fire."

"Then the Three Thousand Lightning Movement."

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"That's just your preference for lightning techniques, isn't it?!" Tang Qi Hong snapped. Actually, this time I suspected Bai Ning Xue was mixing Zhu Jiao up with Xiao Yan.

"Nine Heavens Destruction."

"Does such a technique even exist?" Lian Rou demanded, her eyes wide. I sighed and shook my head.

"Zhu Jiao is not Meng Hao. And where are we supposed to find a Demon Immortal Pagoda?"

"Um..the Great Way of the Buddha..?"

"Say what?" Ban Zhang repeated incredulously.

"Are you asking Jiao to go against the gods now?" I grumbled. "He's far from being Yun Che, and he's not going to **** a girl to 'save her life' unlike that bastard."

"How about Heavenly Thunder Eradication?"

"Now I know you're screwing around with me," Zhu Jiao growled. "We just watched Spirit Realm together recently. I'm not Qin Lie! Are you trying to be Song Ting Yu or something?"

"I'm actually based off Mu Ning Xue from Quan Zhi Fa Shi," Bai Ning Xue corrected with a straight face. "And you..hmm..you don't seem similar to Mo Fan at all.."

"Why do you sound so disappointed?!"

"I was thinking that you could perhaps master fire and lightning magic..ahem, I mean martial arts techniques.."

"My element is mainly earth! I'm from the Golden Kirin Sect!"

The rest of us watched the exchange, astonished. For my part, I was actually amused that Bai Ning Xue seemed to have read so many different wuxia and xianxia novels. That was totally unexpected, coming from her. No wonder she was so aloof and spent so little time socializing. The time she spent not cultivating and training her martial arts was all invested into reading all these different Chinese webnovels. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

On the other hand, speaking of Chinese webnovels..

"If that's the case, shouldn't we copy Linley from Coiling Dragon and get Jiao to learn Essence of the Earth or an earth-type magic..I mean martial art instead?" I voiced out, getting tired of this whole farce.

"That's it!" Bai Ning Xue snapped her fingers. "That's a brilliant idea!"

I couldn't help but gape at her. I was pretty sure such a technique didn't exist.

"There's a martial arts technique in the library called Mystical Earth Essence Formula. It should help you strengthen your current Golden Kirin Sect martial arts."

I sighed a breath of relief. At least it didn't have the same name as Linley's fused magic thingy, otherwise we would be in trouble regarding copyright and all that stuff. Good thing I had the fanfiction label tacked on.

"Okay..I guess I'll swing by the library and ask for it."

Zhu Jiao was already consulting his tablet to make sure that the academy possessed such a technique within its archives.

"I'll accompany you."

Even though Bai Ning Xue didn't raise her voice, it was clear what her intention was. She wanted to go on a date with Zhu Jiao and was hinting for us to leave them so that she could have him to herself for today.

Tong Xue, always the person most capable of reading the mood, quickly picked up on her goal. He clapped his hands with a smile.

"All right..we'll meet at the gate later at 5pm today. Don't forget, we're having a celebration party today! To congratulate Jiao on winning the tournament!"

"Yay!"

All of us threw our fists into the air and cheered. I, for one, was looking forward to a hearty dinner tonight. Tong Xue had reserved a table at a fancy barbeque restaurant and I was just drooling when I thought of the menu.

Therefore we went our separate ways, or would have, but Tang Qi Hong, Lian Rou and Tong Xue stuck close to me when we parted from Ban Zhang, Zhu Jiao and Bai Ning Xue. Tang Qi Hong quickly raised her hand.

"Right..one thing before we go."

"What is it?"

We turned to her, puzzled. Bai Ning Xue frowned.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten. The tournament is over. We're supposed to return to Tushan and resume training."

"Oh, right." Tong Xue looked sheepish. "I probably should return to the Smart Shadow Sect as well to see what they need from me."

"Yes, you should." Lian Rou looked at him sternly. "The Blood Blades selection is near. Don't miss it."

"I won't," he promised.

"Speaking of which.." Tang Qi Hong turned to me. "Wu, Elder Zhao wishes to speak to you regarding the Blood Blades."

"Eh? Me?" I blinked, surprised. Tang Qi Hong smiled.

"Of course. You finished in second place during the tournament and proved your combat capabilities to everyone. Elder Zhao is literally jumping up and down in joy at the prospect of having you in the Blood Blades."