7 Chapter 6: Fei Wu the trash (2/2)

Zhu Jiao brightened. ”Really?! That's great!”

”Not exactly.” I sighed, already half-anticipating the catch that came with that supposed piece of good news. ”I bet the techniques we are allowed to access are the inferior, weak ones that nobody wants to learn because they are useless.”

”Well, you don't have to put it like that…but you're not wrong.” Teacher Jiao raised his hands haplessly. ”But you shouldn't give into despair yet. Who knows, you might be able to combine all these supposedly useless martial arts techniques into a powerful one that will take everyone by surprise. Some of the best martial arts have been developed in this way before.”

”Easier said than done. It's not like we have the talent for it.”

I shook my head and grumbled in frustration. Teacher Jiao rubbed his bow, and then glanced at Zhu Jiao.

”Well, that's your choice. You can do whatever you want as long as you complete your chores. But there's no harm trying. You might even regain your talent that way.”

”Yeah, Zhu Jiao shouldn't give up. But I don't have any talent to regain in the first place.”

I realized I sounded pretty bitter, but given the circumstances and pressure mounting upon me, that couldn't be helped. I was only human. My fragile psyche was already beginning to crack.

”I think the whole talent thing is bullshit!” Zhu Jiao growled as he slapped my shoulder. ”Don't worry about it too much. Don't give up! The moment you give up, everything's over!”

Easy for him to say. But I realized that he meant well, so I held in my resentment and complaints and merely nodded.

”That's right,” Teacher Jiao agreed. ”Don't give up, you two. For now, at least we'll have resolved the two pressing problems that you face. Don't worry, there are huge benefits to being Experimentalist students. Even if Xiao Zhang doesn't think highly of you, by rules and on paper, you will have the same amenities and stipends as every other Experimentalist student. You'll get bonuses for wanting to experiment instead of siding with the Traditionalists.”

Now that caught my interest. ”What sort of bonuses?”

”Increased stipends, unrestricted access to training rooms, more resources.” Teacher Jiao smiled. ”Well, the Traditionalists will get additional stipends and resources from their own sects, so it's not as if being an Experimentalist will give you an added advantage but to encourage people to follow this route, I daresay Wu Ling Academy provides an amount of resources that is on par with, if not more than those the traditional sects can offer.”

That sounded pretty good. Granted, I didn't have a choice anyway, but if I could milk as much benefits as I could from my current circumstances, then I had no complaints.

”How are the others doing, though?”

Zhu Jiao turned his attention back to the square, where the rest of our classmates were being swarmed by eager masters trying to vie for their attention and persuade them to join their sects. I had no idea which sect was which. Fortunately, there were hundreds of students, more than enough candidates for the hundred or so sects who had gathered around here to recruit disciples. Quite noticeably, none of the traditional sects paid me or Zhu Jiao any attention.

Not that they needed to. They clearly had a surplus of potential disciples to choose from. If I had to compare this to my previous lifetime, it was analogous to the number of applicants outnumbering the jobs available on the market. I was sure there would be several left over, and they would have no choice but to be Experimentalists like me and Zhu Jiao if they couldn't join a sect. interestingly, there were very few students who willingly chose to be Experimentalists.

Evidently the route of the Traditionalists was perceived to be far more superior and prestigious. It was hard to shake off the rich cultural history of sects who had roots that dated back into the ancient ages.

”All right, it's decided then.”

Nodding, I turned back to Teacher Jiao and accepted his offer. From what he said, it didn't seem like being in the Experimentalist faction was a bad thing. Honestly, it was a lot better than being kicked out of Wu Ling Academy and being sent home in disgrace. On the other hand, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to, what with the high walls, barrier and moat…

But Zhu Jiao is right. I do want to learn martial arts.

For now, I would experiment and see how far I could go with the inferior martial arts that were available to me right now. I could worry about anything else later.

*

We later learned who in our class went into what sect. It was actually Teacher Jiao who compiled the information and told us. Being our homeroom teacher, he was naturally concerned for our wellbeing.

As expected, Bai Ning Xue was pursued by all the four major sects, but she eventually chose to join the White Tiger Sect. I wondered if it was because of her family name (Bai is white in Chinese).

Qi Fu Ren was undecided at first, but he also joined the White Tiger Sect after Bai Ning Xue made her decision. I knew that he was still pursuing her. He even managed to convince the masters at the White Tiger Sect to accept his flunkies as outer disciples. As he was a Four Star Constitution disciple, they decided to indulge him in that request. It also helped that they were Two Star Constitution candidates, so they were regarded as average rather than trash. Another two guys and three of Bai Ning Xue's close female friends, excluding Qing Xin Xia, followed, thus swelling their numbers.

Speaking of Two Star Constitution candidate, Tu Zi Yi was recruited into the Lunar Rabbit Sect. according to Teacher Jiao, the Lunar Rabbit Sect was one of the smaller sects, so they were satisfied with people of average ability. The master would have offered to take Zhu Jiao and me as disciples, but given the tiny size of the sect, they wouldn't have been able to afford it. The smaller the sect, the less resources they had, even with the establishment of Wu Ling Academy. Ideally, no disciple of any sect should suffer disadvantages, but each sect still maintained its own pool of resources to nurture their exclusive disciples. So in reality, it was still very much a capitalistic society where even the different sects were divided into classes, where some were bigger and richer than the others, and some were at the bottom of the economic ladder. At least Tu Zi Yi had a sect to join, so we didn't have to worry about her. The Lunar Rabbit Sect might be very poor, but they had just enough resources to rear one disciple.

A few of the girls joined the Red Phoenix Sect, along with Feng Tian Yong. Given his fiery disposition, I did agree that the Red Phoenix Sect would be a good fit for the red-haired guy. I wasn't on close terms with Feng Tian Yong, but after the first day, I got along well with him, so I was actually happy for him a couple of weeks after learning about it. He was quite the passionate guy, and I hoped to see him succeed.

Li Chun Long and Qing Xin Xia had joined the Green Dragon Sect. that sect was popular with a lot of guys, but only three other guys managed to join the Green Dragon Sect, and one more girl. The Green Dragon Sect refused admittance to the others, despite most of the guys boasting a Three Star Constitution. Probably because they didn't want to incur the wrath of the other sects by monopolizing such a large proportion of the candidates.

Wu Hei Gui and Ban Zhang were part of the Black Tortoise Sect. despite being one of the four major sects, there weren't as many people enthusiastic about joining it as those in the Green Dragon, Red Phoenix or White Tiger Sects. Probably because the first thing one pictured when hearing about the tortoise was the poor reptile slowly crawling across the beach. Or something. Never mind that it stood for longevity.

Tong Xue joined the Smart Shadow Sect. He had winked at Zhu Jiao and me, and promised something about giving us information in future, then disappeared with the rest of the mysterious-looking disciples and masters of that sect before returning to the dorm later that night. Teacher Jiao later said that despite their low combat ability, the Smart Shadow Sect exceled in intelligence, reconnaissance and espionage.

That sounded like something Tong Xue would be interested in. From my first impressions of him, he was the type of guy who collected information on almost everybody and anybody, so he was quite the appropriate candidate for that specific set of skills.

A classmate called Du Lang joined the Silver Wolf Sect. A lot of the students joined this sect or that sect, but I wasn't that close with most of them, so I couldn't remember. Particularly the girls. I knew Du Lang because I ended up on good terms with him as the semester progressed, so I remembered where he went. Teacher Jiao later informed me that the Silver Wolf Sect was known for being a Lone Wolf type of sect that tended to operate on their own, without adhering much to the authority of the alliance.

The last person of interest was Tang Qi Hong. I was surprised that she didn't join the Red Phoenix Sect or one of the four major sects. It wasn't surprising that she would decline to join the White Tiger Sect, where her rival now resided in, but I thought she would at least consider the Green Dragon Sect or Red Phoenix Sect – the latter particularly fitted her proud, majestic personality well. Instead, Tang Qi Hong opted to join the Nine-tailed Fox Sect. Teacher Jiao wasn't astonished, though. He explained to me that the Nine-tailed Fox Sect was still considered a major sect, having been one of the eight major powers that included the four Celestial Guardian Sects.

”Among the eight, they are currently ranked fifth,” Teacher Jiao declared. ”In fact, some may consider them to be on par with any one of the four Celestial Guardian Sects.”

”Wow. I see.”

Even if Teacher Jiao told me that, whatever happened to the Nine-tailed Fox Sect had absolutely nothing to do with me. I was just a trash that no sect wanted. To be honest, I wasn't that reluctant to be an Experimentalist. This faction had its own benefits.

”Well, it's been a long day, so the two of you should rest for now. I'll bring you to the dorms.”

”What about the rest of the class?” I asked. They had all scattered after being selected by their respective sects, and were following their new masters and sect mates. While Teacher Jiao had given us a brief overview of who joined which sect, he didn't mention the students from the other classes. I could see students from the other classes mingling with my new classmates, having joined the same sects as them.

Somehow it felt as if the academy should have divided the students into their sects instead of their classes.

”Their masters will let them go tonight, and we'll have staff on standby to escort them back to the dormitories.”

I nodded at Teacher Jiao's answer. So only Zhu Jiao, me, and a handful of other students were retiring early today.

”Still, there aren't many Experimentalists,” Zhu Jiao remarked, looking at the small number of students who had opted, voluntarily or otherwise, to join the Experimentalists. I noted that the vast majority of them were Two or Three Star Constitution practitioners. There were probably a handful of Four Star Constitution practitioners who had bought into the idea of innovating their own techniques, and they were enthusiastically speaking to a grinning Xiao Zhang at the moment, leaving the rest of us commoners to follow Teacher Jiao.

Teacher Jiao seemed to be the only one sympathetic to our plight.

The dormitories weren't very far away from the square, being a set of buildings that stood at the back of the academy. They resembled high-class condominiums that even my family wouldn't be able to afford to rent.

”You'll each have your own room,” Teacher Jiao assured us, and then swung his hand toward a low-rise complex that was dwarfed by the condo-styled dormitories, but much wider than them in terms of breadth. ”That's the student commons hub. It should have everything you need, from a 24/7 convenience store, gyms, pools, clinic, and even a cinema. It has a huge array of facilities designed to enrich your student life while providing both necessities and entertainment. Use the money from your stipends to purchase whatever you need.”

Wow, that was quite amazing. I didn't expect that we would have such a good life here. I was half-expecting to be thrown in a broken-down, dilapidated shack for our residence, given my status of trash.

”As I said, if you have any questions, feel free to approach me.” Teacher Jiao turned to look at us sharply. ”I know a few of you are disheartened after having your talent measured, but I'll still advise you not to give up. Prove those naysayers wrong and work hard to surpass each and every one of them. Talent isn't everything.”

”Yes, Teacher Jiao!”

This was the best kind of teacher, someone who took care of the less fortunate students and did not practice favoritism.

”Classes begin tomorrow, so you guys should get some rest.” Teacher Jiao turned away, the lenses of his glasses glinting under the fading afternoon light. At some point of time, the sun had begun its lazy descent as the day transited into evening. ”I won't go easy on my class, and I'm sure your respective homeroom teachers won't either. Tomorrow, in class, we'll have a briefing for Experimentalists to explain what sort of resources you have access to. So don't be late.”

”Yes, Teacher Jiao!”

As I watched him leave, I felt a renewed determination to defy my fate. Proceeding toward my assigned room in the dorm, I saw that Zhu Jiao shared my sentiments.

”Let's crush this academy's concept of talent and their bullshit notion of Constitutions,” Zhu Jiao growled enthusiastically as he raised his hand. I couldn't help but smile and bump his fist with mine.

”Yeah. We'll make everyone regret ever looking down on us.”