236 Chapter 235: New Prodigy (1/2)
”Um…sorry?”
Zhu Jiao was gaping at the glowing Spirit Engraved Pillars, quickly removing his hands after he inadvertently triggered a reaction from them. The light continued to link him to the Spirit Engraved Pillars, however, suffusing both him and the entire space around us.
”Oh my goodness…” Lian Rou's jaw nearly hit the ground. ”Zhu Jiao triggered a reaction from all nine Spirit Engraved Pillars?! How is that possible?”
”It's possible because he's the protagonist,” I muttered bitterly. The bastard just couldn't stop being a bloody Mary Sue, could he? Oh yeah, I caused a ruckus by lighting up three pillars, but then Zhu Jiao comes along and lights up all nine of them.
Reminded me of a certain Qin Lie from a particular story named Spirit Realm. Damn it. I should have seen this coming. I really should have seen this coming. But Zhu Jiao wasn't in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, so honestly, I never wold have imagined that he would come along and do one over me. We weren't even in a competition or something, but it seemed that Zhu Jiao never read the memo.
…all protagonists just had to be some sort of special snowflake, didn't they?! UGH!
However, I couldn't complain. I did have my chance, and I received my spotlight. I guess it was fine if someone else did. Even so, the manner in which Zhu Jiao just effortlessly triggered all nine Spirit Engraved Pillars was grating.
People like me had to work so hard just to get where we did today, whereas protagonists like Zhu Jiao, Lin Dong, Li Fu Chen, Lin Feng, Yue Yang, Chu Feng, etc. had every fucking thing handed to them on a silver platter. Oh, need a powerup? Here, there's a Spirit Pill conveniently appearing from a dead enemy you just killed, or a Treasure Weapon that happened to be in the tomb you were exploring at the moment. Want to break through in cultivation? Here, some mystical space that is super-rich in qi and will boost your cultivation speed.
Every single fucking one of them. Maybe I was somewhat similar, but since I was always relegated to a side character, I never got any of those benefits. Hell, I had to build my own Snow Aegis instead of conveniently getting a Treasure Weapon…okay, I had Azure Lotus Sword, so maybe I can't whine about that. But because of my views on doping, I never conveniently received a bunch of super Spirit Pills or medicine to boost my cultivation or whatever.
And I had to work for over a year before I developed enough of a sense to read the Spirit Diagrams engraved into the pillars, and even then I could only decipher three of them. Then Zhu Jiao comes along and activates all of them like a bloody genius (much like Qin Lie, though that idiot for some inexplicable reason decided to give the spirit pillars a wide berth for almost a year until he conveniently needed a reason to take over as the sect's absolute prodigy and gain authority over Armament Sect after killing Liang Shao Yang, it was so damned contrived and forced).
Feeling ill, I decided to withdraw into the background while a gigantic crowd came rushing over to praise and admire Zhu Jiao.
”What…what is this?!”
Luo Zhi Chang, the only surviving Great Elder, hobbled toward the plaza on his walking stick, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the nine glowing Spirit Engraved Pillars. He turned his gaze to Zhu Jiao, unable to believe what he was seeing.
”Good Heavens…is this even possible? How is there yet another genius capable of triggering a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars? And all of them too?!”
Because he was the protagonist.
”My goodness…”
”Wow…”
”Whoa!”
”Who is that guy?!”
The members of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect were gathering around the plaza to watch the amazing sight. They shook their heads, their eyes riveted upon the amazing spectacle. Their voices fell into hushed murmurs as they tried to make sense of what was happening.
”He's not from Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, is he?”
”What's going on?”
”Then how…?”
”…I have no idea.”
The inner sect elders had also arrived, and they were staring at Zhu Jiao. They were at a loss, too, especially because they were aware that Zhu Jiao was not from our sect.
”What do we do?” Tie Jiang asked.
”…no idea. Probably we should inform Sect Leader.” Hai Mo was barely able to maintain his calm, glancing toward the peak of Flame Volcano.
”Someone, call him.” Another inner sect elder was fumbling for his smartphone. ”Never mind, I'll do it.”
”No need.” Zi Shou De had already appeared atop the plaza, accompanied by his wife, Zi Da Ji. ”I'm already here.”
”Sect Leader…”
”Sect Leader.”
Zi Shou De raised a hand to forestall the ravaged members from carrying out the usual formalities. Like them, he was watching the puzzled and panicked Zhu Jiao trying to distance himself from the Spirit Engraved Pillars.
”Oi!” Zhu Jiao cast a fearful glance at Tong Xue, Lian Rou and me. ”What's going on? Help me out here!”
The three of us exchanged a glance, and then shrugged.
”Uh, well…there's nothing to help with.” I struggled to come up with an answer. ”You've just been recognized by the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars. It's a great honor.”
”Recognized?” Zhu Jiao repeated incredulously. ”Recognized for what?”
…that was actually a good question. Now that I thought about it, I never really knew what exactly the triggering of the Spirit Engraved Pillars meant. It was just something the creator ripped off from Spirit Realm, but he never really gave much thought to this whole bullshit.
So I just threw the first answer that came to mind.
”Recognized for being a prodigy,” I blurted out. Thinking further on how Spirit Realm described Qin Lie, Tang Si Qi and Liang Shao Yang, I began adding a few more adjectives. ”A heaven-blessed child or the pride of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.”
”But I'm not part of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect!” Zhu Jiao protested.
”Not yet,” Luo Zhi Chang agreed, but his eyes were shining. ”But there shouldn't be any problems accepting you as one of our own.”
Zhu Jiao blanched at that, and to be honest, even I was crept out by the look of desire in Luo Zhi Chang's eyes. Bloody hell, that sort of expression, when used by a very old man to look at a younger boy, would cause all sorts of scandals.
”No thanks! I do not wish to join the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect!” he blinked, and then quickly added, ”no offense.” That last statement was hastily added as he glanced at me, Tong Xue and Lian Rou, but we were more bemused than offended.
”Why not?!” Luo Zhi Chang whined, sounding pretty desperate. ”We'll give you everything you desire! Riches, resources, wealth, Spirit Weapons, anything! All you have to do is ask!”
”Uh…no thanks.”
Zhu Jiao was obviously thinking that he had no need of those things. As the typical protagonist, he was already pretty loaded, having gotten his hands on all sorts of treasures and Spirit Weapons during his adventures. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if his wealth exceeded that of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Honestly, there was nothing we could offer him.
”I don't want to be a blacksmith,” Zhu Jiao was explaining. ”And I don't want to tie myself down to a sect.”
”You don't have to be a blacksmith. You can join Blood Blades and be a warrior.”
Hai Rong was present, as she usually was when Hai Mo was around. She raised what sounded like a tempting offer, but Zhu Jiao shook his head.
”No thanks. I have my hands full mastering the martial arts my master taught me, I don't want to get distracted by learning other martial arts.”
Funnily enough, that was the one thing that distinguished Zhu Jiao from other protagonists. Any other wuxia or xianxia protagonist would jump at the chance to learn new martial arts, and master as many as they could…except they wouldn't join the sect to learn it. Those protagonists would steal the techniques and learn them on their own. True to form, Zhu Jiao would probably get his hands on Blood Blades' techniques sooner or later and learn them on his own without Lang Xie or Hai Rong or Zi Da Ji teaching him.
Don't ask me why they had to go through such a convoluted way. Probably to showcase more of their Mary Sue-ness of being able to easily master things that other people needed to put in effort and go through much difficulty to learn.