I Shall Steal the Heavens 5 Chapter 4: Martial Academy

It was an hour ride away by train, which was an improvement over the three-hour train ride I had to take to Cheng Shi City from Jia Xiang Village when I was in my previous world. Here, the trains literally floated atop invisible tracks as they surged from city to city at incredible speeds. Powered by qi, their magnificent frames streaked across the heavens like blazing spears, crossing vast distances in almost a blink of an eye.

Picking up my luggage, I followed the countless other students who wore the same uniforms as I did. Just like during my time in Cheng Shi City in my previous lifetime, I had to find accommodation in Martial City. It just wasn't practical to commute across long distances everyday, and apparently it was a school rule.

Wu Ling Academy seemed to be a boarding school.

"This way! Over here!"

There were already teachers present in the train station at the edge of Martial City. They waved the students over, calling to us. I went with the flow, trying my best not to get crushed in the unceasing sea of human traffic, and proceeded toward the teachers.

"Whoa!"

"Stop pushing!"

"All of you, get in line!"

The train station was chaotic, with masses of students pressing against each other in their bids to reach the head of the lines, and the teachers bellowing at them to organize themselves.

"Ugh!"

I was trying my best not to shove others, but someone shoved me and I fell over. Fortunately, one of the teachers were near enough to grab me before I crashed onto somebody.

"You okay?"

"Y…yes, sir."

I looked up at him. He resembled an adult version of myself, also wearing glasses like I did. But he was wearing a brown suit with a tie as opposed to my school uniform and had a somewhat stern expression on his aged face.

He nodded, distracted by the mass of students pressing upon me from all sides, and then consulted his tablet that was powered by qi rather than electricity.

"What's your name?"

"Fei Wu."

The teacher typed in my name in his tablet, and nodded when he saw the results. He pointed toward a neat row of students behind the line of flustered teachers.

"You're in class 1-4. That way."

"Thank you, sir."

Trying my best not to get crushed by the endless flow of students, I made my way toward the group of students who seemed to be designated as my new class.

"Oh, hey!"

One of the students, a fairly handsome and cheerful boy with wavy brown hair waved and greeted me as I approached. I nodded in return.

"Hello."

"I'm Tong Xue. It seems like we'll be classmates from now on, so let's get along!"

"Same. I'm Fei Wu."

I bowed at the same time Tong Xue held his hand out. He stared at me, bewildered for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"What, are you half-Japanese or something?"

"No, not exactly." Ah, my bad habit was kicking in. During my past life, I majored in Japanese history and literature, and sort of picked up Japanese mannerism. Trying to correct myself, I took his hand and shook it. "I'm a big fan of Japanese manga and anime."

"Nothing to be ashamed about," Tong Xue assured me with a broad grin. "I'm a big fan of those myself."

I felt like I liked the guy. That was good. Tong Xue was my new classmate, and being new here, not knowing anyone else, it was important to befriend at least one person. Tong Xue was very friendly and seemed pretty reliable. I hoped the rest of my new classmates were as easy to get along with as he was, but I wasn't going to hold my breath regarding girls.

I normally had a bad history with girls, at least until I got into university and learned that girls liked you a lot more when you weren't desperately trying to hit on them, and that there was absolutely nothing wrong in maintaining a platonic relationship with members of the opposite sex. Not everything had to be romantic.

As we looked for a place to settle down, I studied the group I was assigned to. There was a huge variety of people. A serious-looking, thin guy was sitting with his arms folded, the very picture of serenity and discipline. A group of girls had gathered together, whispering excitedly and giggling as they glanced at the boys. There was a single girl who was so beautiful that she caught the eyes of not just the guys in my group but all over the new students crowding behind the teachers. Long, silver hair flowed past her shoulders and toward her waist, and her sapphire eyes stared distantly into nowhere. There was a frosty aura about her that seemed to keep people away from her. Even the group of chatty girls weren't able to muster the courage to approach her.

Not far away, there was a massive guy staring at her, desire evident in his eyes. Flanking him were two cronies who were almost as huge as him, the three of them resembling towering immovable mountains that stood out in a sea of students.

"Oh, that girl is Bai Ning Xue," Tong Xue informed me helpfully. His eyes were brightening as he stared at her, enraptured by her beauty. "She's an unparalleled genius. I heard that she received the top scores in the entrance exam this round. She also belongs to the Bai Clan, one of the largest and most esteemed clans in Martial City."

"…I see."

"There's a lot of guys chasing after her, but she has rejected them all. She's like the ultimate ice queen, and I heard that her martial arts are unrivaled too."

"…martial arts?"

Weren't we going to Wu Ling Academy to learn martial arts? Or were we supposed to learn martial arts as a requirement to enter the academy? To my horror, I realized that I possessed no knowledge of any martial arts. This was bad…the memories I possessed were those of my previous lifetime, but they had somewhat merged with the memories of this lifetime. That said, because of the merger and the overlapping, my memories tended to be fuzzy, but I was pretty sure this version of me hadn't learned any martial arts either.

Tong Xue chuckled bitterly. "As expected of a big clan. They're different from us commoners, you know? I heard the big clans train their children in their own clans' martial arts since young. They're mostly traditionalists."

"Traditionalists?"

The term wasn't familiar with me, but it could be that my memories hadn't fully settled and merged yet.

"You know, the faction that insists on preserving traditional martial arts in their supposedly original form and making minimal changes instead of improving them, and proponents of the rule that martial arts should only learn techniques of their own sects." He stared at me suspiciously. "You do know that it was taboo for martial artists to learn techniques from other sects, right?"

Now that I remembered. "Yeah. Sort of. But they're changing that, right?"

"Ah, yeah. The Experimentalist faction. They encourage learning a variety of martial arts and mixing them together to form new, innovative techniques. But the old masters and sects with long, ancient histories continue to wield power, so they are able to protest against that. Furthermore, in some cases, they are even right – not many of the new, so-called innovative techniques are on par with the traditional ones."

I honestly appreciated the lesson. With the memories of my first lifetime overwriting the majority of the memories from my current one, I really needed the reminders as I slowly got used to this new world and its rules.

"Oh, looks like they're almost done."

At Tong Xue's comment, I looked up and saw that the tide of onrushing students were beginning to thin. By now, the vast majority of students had already been sorted to into their assigned classes, having moved and divided themselves into organized groups.

"Then we'll be heading to the actual academy soon," I muttered as I watched the last of the students filter into their groups. With their task done, the teachers then waved for us to follow them outside of the open-space station. I noticed the bespectacled teacher who helped me earlier approaching my new class.

Before that, however…

"Wait for me!"

A spiky-haired guy rushed toward us, sprinting for his life. Apparently he had just gotten off a flying motorcycle and was dashing toward us, his helmet dangling from his hand. He was so panicked that he forgot about his motorbike. Then again, he was wearing the same uniform as us, so he had to be a student of Wu Ling Academy as well.

"Sorry for being late! I had something come up this morning!"

"It is fine," the bespectacled teacher assured him as he retrieved his tablet. "You just barely made it. What's your name?"

"Zhu Jiao."

The teacher glanced and swiped his tablet, then nodded in satisfaction. He gestured for Zhu Jiao to follow him.

"You're in my class. 1-4."

Wow, what a coincidence. Not only was Zhu Jiao in our class, it seemed that the bespectacled teacher was also in charge of us. I felt a little relieved. From what I had seen, that teacher seemed helpful and not that strict.

As there were so many students, the teachers decided to hold their briefings separately. The bespectacled teacher stood in front and gestured for us to gather around.

"I'm Jiao Shi," he told us promptly and without hesitation. "I'm your homeroom teacher. So if you have any questions regarding school life or Wu Ling Academy, or your curriculum, feel free to approach me."

"Yes, Teacher Jiao," the class chorused. I also joined in, not wanting to be left out.

"Good. For now, we'll be heading to Wu Ling Academy proper. Get aboard the boat."

"The boat?" a male student asked, puzzled. Teacher Jiao smiled and nodded.

"You'll see what I mean."

Indeed, outside the station were rows and rows of hollowed-out boats. There were some arcane-looking machinery at the back of each of the boats, but the wooden seats had cushions. Teacher Jiao led us to one of the boats and got us to board it.

"This is quite the fancy transport they're ferrying us in," I muttered. Tong Xue chuckled.

"Ferry is right. But this is nowhere near fancy."

"But why a boat?" Zhu Jiao asked as he came alongside us with a confused expression. "Couldn't they have chartered a normal bus?"

"It's a Wu Ling Academy tradition," the stern, lanky-looking guy I saw earlier explained. The three of us stared at him, and he shrugged. "You'll see what I mean later, but for centuries the students of Wu Ling Academy always cross into its ground on boats."

"…I see."

The four of us took seats adjacent to each other, and Tong Xue broke the ice by introducing himself. Zhu Jiao followed suit and I joined in.

"I'm Ban Zhang," the fourth guy gave his name somewhat stiffly.

"Nice to meet you," I said. Ban Zhang's shoulders loosened somewhat and he nodded.

"Same."

"But say, Zhu Jiao, you were really cutting it close, weren't you?" Tong Xue asked him with a chuckle. "That was a cool motorbike."

"Yeah, Teacher Jiao told me the school staff will bring it and keep it for me, though." he sighed. "They had better. The motorbike isn't mine. I've to return it to my older cousin when we're allowed to leave school."

I frowned at that. When we were allowed to leave school? What did that mean? Somehow it carried the implication that there would be a period of time when we wouldn't be allowed to leave the campus grounds.

"Huh? Is it my imagination, or is Bai Ning Xue staring at you?"

Tong Xue's sudden question broke me out of my thoughts. My heart skipped a beat, but then I realized that Tong Xue was addressing Zhu Jiao. Not me.

Stupid. Yeah, I shouldn't be so self-conscious. Why would Bai Ning Xue be staring at me? She didn't even know who I was.

In contrast, Zhu Jiao grinned as if that was normal. He turned toward Bai Ning Xue, waved at her and called out in a loud voice.

"Oh, Ning Xue! You've made it to Wu Ling Academy as well!"

From a distance, Bai Ning Xue nodded. She met Zhu Jiao's warm, honey-brown gaze with her glacial sapphire eyes.

"It's good to see you here as well, Jiao."

Even though she wasn't speaking as loudly as Zhu Jiao, her voice rang clearly across the boat as if she was sitting next to us.

"Of course. Who do you think I am? There's no way I would fail the exam."

Zhu Jiao puffed his chest out proudly. Then he blinked and whirled around when he caught sight of me, Tong Xue and Ban Zhang gaping at him with our mouths wide open.

"What?"

"You know Bai Ning Xue?" Tong Xue spluttered. Zhu Jiao shrugged and snorted as if it was obvious.

"Of course I know Ning Xue. She's my childhood friend. We've known each other since young. I used to play with her often."

"You traitor…!" Tong Xue howled as he grasped his face in both his hands. As for me, I didn't know whether to laugh at this somewhat predictable development. With a name of Zhu Jiao, of course he would be the typical protagonist of a story. Of course he would be childhood friends with the most unattainable, beautiful, talented genius girl in our generation. Of course she would be in love with him because he was the protagonist.

Ban Zhang, on the other hand, had other concerns.

"Why is that guy looking at Zhu Jiao like that?"

The three of us followed his gaze and caught the massive guy with his two almost equally gigantic sidekicks sitting at the back of the boat, glaring at Zhu Jiao in sheer hostility. Zhu Jiao blinked, puzzled.

"Did you do something to piss them off?" Ban Zhang asked cautiously. Zhu Jiao snorted dismissively.

"Of course not! I don't even know who the hell that fella is!"

"He's Qi Fu Ren." As always, Tong Xue was on hand to supply useful information. He lowered his voice to a whisper as he cast glances about warily. "I've heard many bad things about him. He's from one of the lesser clans, but still has quite the influence. Because of that, he uses his position to bully others. The other two who follow him around are his cronies Hu Shuo and Ba Dao. They're not very bright, but they listen to everything Qi Fu Ren tell them to do."

"So he's targeting Zhu Jiao now because he plans on bullying him?" Ban Zhang asked somewhat skeptically.

"No," I replied as I restrained myself from adding "you idiot." "He's glaring at Zhu Jiao right now because he's jealous."

"Jealous? Why? Of what?"

As expected of the typical dense light novel protagonist, Zhu Jiao couldn't conceive of any reason why Qi Fu Ren would be jealous of him. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and clobber him.

"Because of your relationship with Bai Ning Xue."

"Huh? What does Ning Xue have to do with anything…?"

I was saved from either insulting him or replying when Teacher Jiao spoke up.

"We're almost there!"

At his words, the students began to peer over the boat's edges. A gigantic, pearly white academy loomed ahead, stretching across miles. For some reason, Wu Ling Academy resembled a castle, or a luxurious palace more than a school, but I kept that to myself. Furthermore, Wu Ling Academy even had a moat surrounding it.

So that's what the boats are for.

Evidently, Wu Ling Academy had a long history that stretched back to ancient times, and the moat that protected its perimeters was one that remained unchanged. Past students must have taken boats to cross the moat to enter the campus grounds, and the academy had preserved that tradition for ages.

That said, the countless boats ferrying dozens of classes and hundreds of students soared over the dark waters that circled the campus, rather than sail across the rippling surface of the moat. Thus defeating any point of preserving the tradition in the first place. Other than the shape of our transports, there was nothing in common between the flying contraptions that relied on qi and ancient wooden boats that braved rivers and seas.

I also noticed that there was no gate for us to enter. Instead, the flying boats soared over the towering white walls that served as barriers to separate the interior of the academy from the outside world. There was a shimmering blue screen of pure, defensive qi that served as a mystical barrier to keep intruders out, but Teacher Jiao raised something and the boat we were on passed through the gleaming barrier as if it didn't exist.

"If you plan to leave campus grounds to take missions or explore Martial City, you must attain the skills to jump over the walls and walk on water," Teacher Jiao informed us coolly.

In other words, we had to master qigong or something similar to that if we ever wanted to leave the academy. No wonder there was no gate. There was no need for a gate, not when any competent martial artist could jump over it. The barriers not only served as a defensive measure to keep invaders out, but also a barricade to ensure we reached a certain level of skill before venturing out into the dangerous martial world outside.

The boat dipped after it crested the gate and dove at a slight angle toward a courtyard with neatly mown grass. All around us, the boats settled on the vast field, and teachers had their students disembarked. Teacher Jiao was no different, hopping off the boat and then gesturing for us to follow him.

"Let's go."

"Teacher Jiao!" Ban Zhang called out as he took his place at the front of the class. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, right." Teacher Jiao nodded as he turned back to us. "I know you've all already passed the entrance exams and successfully enrolled in the academy, but before you begin to officially take classes, you'll have to take one last test?"

"Test?!" Zhu Jiao spluttered, alarmed. He was not the only one. The entire class was exchanging panicked glances, murmuring in low, concerned tones. None of us had prepared or studied for any test.

"What sort of test?" Ban Zhang asked, the only student calm in a rolling sea of frantic chaos.

Teacher Jiao smiled enigmatically as he swept his gaze across the pale, flustered faces of his new charges.

"A test…to gauge your talent."

Chapter end