Chapter 107 - The Academy
"What?" Hao Xuan asked calmly looking over at Kuo.
"Captain, please calm down. Whatever is happening we can deal with it, you don't have to take action yourself," Kuo said concerningly, trying to reason with him.
"Ho? Really? You will do it in my stead?" Hao Xuan asked with a raised eyebrow, giving Kuo some reassurance. The massive amounts of Qi leaking out of his body vanished.
"Thank god, at least he hasn't lost it completely," Kuo thought inwardly.
"Yes sir. No matter what it is, we can do it for you," he nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright. Bring me this Mu family. Each and every member. I'm....hungry," he said nonchalantly as a smile crept up on his handsome face.
"Hu...hungry....?" Kuo's face paled in a second as the image of Hao Xuan ripping people's head off flashed past his eyes.
"Yeah. Can you do it or not?" Hao Xuan frowned as he was getting impatient.
Kuo didn't answer and looked down at Aria who still hadn't gotten up from the ground.
"Which Mu family is this? Where are they located?" he asked.
"I'm not sure Lieutenant, I only know the name of the youngest child of the family. He's called Mu Taio," she calmed down and answered while getting back up on her feet.
"Mu Taio?!" Kuo frowned upon hearing the name.
Hao Xuan noticed the change in his expression and asked, "What?"
"This will be a little difficult captain. If I'm not wrong, Mu Taio is the youngest son of the current leader of the Mu family, Mu Qu. He is the treasurer of the kingdom of Mei. We cannot move against him. Even with your background, the backlash for harming him would not be small," Kuo explained the situation.
"Oh, is that so," Hao Xuan nodded back and didn't overreact. Kuo let out a breath of relief looking at his attitude.
But then Hao Xuan smiled and followed up, "Now that I know who they are, it will be easier to deal with them. If they have a big enough family, then maybe they can satiate my hunger."
"E-Eh?" Kuo blanked out after hearing that.
"C-Captain! You can't! Mu Qu himself is already a profound realm expert, not to mention his father, Mu Taio's grandfather. He is retired but when he was still in the public eye, he had already been a profound realm expert for over a hundred years. Who knows he might even have reached the next realm already."
Hao Xuan was about to walk out but stopped after hearing that.
"Emi will always love big brother," he saw the smile once again and then Aria's words echoed in his ears.
He turned around and looked at Kuo, "Alright. I won't move against the Mu family. I'll just 'visit' the National Academy. Tell them I'm coming for an inspection."
Even though Kuo still had his doubts, at least Hao Xuan wasn't going to blindly run into another problematic situation.
"Yes sir!" he used the Spirit band to let the Vice-principal of the academy know about Hao Xuan's arrival.
Along with the four newbies, Kuo, Hash, Maddy, and of course Green and Red, Hao Xuan left for the academy.
***
The National Academy was located not too far from the Royal Palace. It had a radius of almost a hundred miles with many magnificent pavilions, small mountains, and fake rivers passing through. The spiritual energy was much denser than the outside world. It wasn't one of the best academies of the kingdom without a reason.
There were about Seven thousand students currently standing outside the main hall in an orderly fashion. Even though the military didn't have control over the management of the academy, the students were still very disciplined.
With white and gold uniforms they all looked very elegant.
The Khan family children were all standing together near the back, away from everyone else.
Kay was standing next to the twins who looked really sad and weren't their usual happy selves. Sam was very excited and was standing on tip-toes to get a better view of the front.
Between the students and the main hall was a stage with Twelve men and women on top. A few of them were very old but most seemed to be in their 30's. These were the most respected teachers of the academy.
"What's going on? Why did they call an assembly all of a sudden?" asked one female student while looking around.
"I heard someone important is visiting the academy," her friend whispered back knowingly.
"Really? Who?"
"No idea, but it must be someone big for all senior professors and the vice-principal to come out themselves," she said mysteriously.
Similar conversations could be heard all over the academy.
"Attention!" an old man walked out from the main hall and said loudly, silencing the students. He looked around the field and nodded seeing the orderly formation.
"In a few minutes, the honorable Ninth captain of the Red Legion will be coming to inspect the academy. I want all of you to be on your best of behavior. I will not have you tarnish the name of our great institution!" he said sternly, but most people had stopped listening after they heard who it was.
"OMG! It's him?!"
"Holy shit, Ninth captain? You mean the same one that just won the Death Walk?!"
"Deimos! His nickname was Deimos, I remember!"
"Dude! Is this for real?! Hey punch me real quick, am I dreaming?"
"Oww. Haha, it's not a dream!"
The silent students burst into an uproar. The 12 professors shook their heads as they were expecting this.
Hao Xuan was the most popular person from the younger generation in the kingdom right now. Billions had watched his fight and even after it was over, videos and clips of it could be found almost everywhere online.
He was the undisputed star in many people's minds, especially the young ones. And all the students of the academy were younger than 20, so to them, he was an idol.
To the boys, he was a fierce fighter with no equal. To the girls, he was an extremely handsome and powerful genius that made their hearts sway.
Of course not everyone was a fan of his but they weren't going to speak up right now.
The old man's Spirit band vibrated and he smiled looking at the message.
"Quiet!" he raised his hands to silence the crowd once again. "He is here," he whispered looking towards the gate.
All Seven thousand students turned around at once. Some were fixing their hair and uniforms while others had battle intent leaking out.
But before anyone could actually see them,
*Wshhh*
An invisible pressure descended upon the crowd. It wasn't harmful in any way and instead slightly boosted their Qi.
The old man who was the Vice-principal of the academy suddenly had a surprised expression on his wrinkly face.
"To think its true, Emperor's Dominion!" he mumbled while subconsciously straightening his posture and altering his stance to be more respectful.
The professors behind him had the same expressions on their faces and they all straightened up as well. They were well aware of what this represented.
About 10 or so seconds passed and a few figures came into view.
At the front was a huge black beast. It was about 15 or so meters long and 2 meters tall.
It had blue fur around its head like a Lion's mane and a massive serrated tail that ended up in a scythe-like blade swaying behind him. [End of chapter 24 for a detailed description]
To the left and right of the beast were two gigantic men, more than twice as tall as the beast.
As they got closer, the figures got bigger and bigger and finally, a person became visible.
He was riding on the beast's back but because he was much smaller than the beast itself and the giant men around him, only now did others notice him.
A horned mask adorned his face, covering the top half of it. But it was his green eyes that caught everyone's attention. They were glowing and even though the sun was out, they were still bright enough to be seen from almost half a mile away.
It was not until they were less than 50 meters away that the students noticed there were several other people behind him. All had masks on and seemed extremely gallant.
Some of the older students got excited looking at the four newbies who seemed to be the same age as them.
The closer Hao Xuan got to them, the stronger the pressure became.
The students were separated on two sides, and Hao Xuan and the party passed through the path in the middle.
Contrary to the commotion when his arrival was announced, now that he was actually here, there was not a single sound. It was dead silent and no one wanted to be the first one to speak up.
They weren't moving slowly but for some reason, it seemed like the time had slowed down.
Many peoples hearts fluttered when they saw Hao Xuan up close. With his wide back, broad shoulders, and muscular build, he was enough to become the center of attention anywhere he went. Not to mention the vicious-looking beast and the gigantic men by themselves were very awe-inspiring.
Rather than an inspection, it looked more like a King visiting his conquered territories.
Many people had flushed cheeks and some even had to look away, for one reason or another.
"Captain!" the vice-principal gave a slight bow as Hao Xuan reached the front of the hall.
Hao Xuan got off Bai and waved his hand to recall.
"Vice-principal," he said calmly and with a similar bow, and as his voice reached the crowd, they woke up. It seemed like a spell had been cast upon his arrival and when Hao Xuan spoke, it was broken.
"Ahhhhh!"
"Kyaa!"
"Omg, he fainted!"
Once again, pandemonium broke loose.
****
Authors Notes:
In case you guys forgot what Bai looks like:
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/49/31/49/493149e9779eed11c8ed967c7a1459c0.jpg
Shortened url: https://urlzs.com/TQQ5f