Chapter 18: Shen Wu Academy
Silence returned to his surroundings. Just as Cheng Xuyuan managed to detach himself from the previous world's emotions, the system's voice echoed in his ears.
"Plug-in 10287, your second mission is about to commence. Please remember the guidelines for players. First, if the protagonist is in danger, you must make an immediate rescue..."
The system continued to repeat the instructions, signifying that the next task was about to begin.
Cheng Xuyuan composed himself, took a deep breath, and dismissed the complex emotions from his mind.
About ten minutes later, what seemed to be a huge noise resonated through the dark space. It sounded like an earthquake or the shattering of glass, so immense that even the air seemed to vibrate.
Startled, Cheng Xuyuan quickly asked the system, "What's happening?"
"Each world presents its own challenges," the system explained calmly. "Some worlds require intense energy to open a portal, resulting in such vibrations."
The vibrating sensation lasted for a few minutes and then gradually ceased.
At that moment, the mechanical voice of the system came to life once more.
"Next station: 'Shen Wu Academy'. The plug-in delivery system will arrive at the station in two minutes. Plug-in 10287, please be mentally prepared. Friendly reminder: the climate in this world is highly variable with significant day and night temperature differences, please dress warmly..."
"Can you provide something useful?" Cheng Xuyuan was highly dissatisfied with such an irrelevant prompt.
"'Shen Wu Academy' is a riveting fantasy tale following the growth journey of a hapless protagonist who eventually saves the entire world. This world's survival difficulty level: Five-star."
The system's words plunged Cheng Xuyuan into panic, "Five-star?! This is just my second world!"
"The survival difficulty of each world is random," the system emotionlessly replied.
Before Cheng Xuyuan could protest against this unsavory practice, a sudden brightness flashed before his eyes, and he found himself in the second world. Just as before, he landed head-first onto the ground.
Simultaneously, the system's voice resounded: "The mission for the 'Shen Wu Academy' officially starts now. Countdown: Half a month."
Cheng Xuyuan exclaimed, "What, only half a month?!"
The system explained, "The protagonist of this book has lots of character support, and you are just one of them. You'll mainly play an important role at the beginning, so be mentally prepared."
"Silly furball, don't run around recklessly."
A gentle and pleasant voice echoed from above. A pair of healthy color hands effortlessly lifted Cheng Xuyuan, caressing the fluffy fur on his body gently.
Cheng Xuyuan's eyes widened in surprise asking the system: "Am I... a pet now?!"
"You are a spiritual beast, a Qingqiu fox, contracted to the protagonist, Yin Qingcheng." The system patiently explained, "In this world, you possess supreme magical energy and are among the powerful plug-ins that help the protagonist save the world."
Cheng Xuyuan lowered his head, looking at his snow-white fur and pudgy paws. He moved his fox ears and tail but didn't feel like a powerful spiritual beast at all.
Cheng Xuyuan tried to open his mouth, making a fox sound: "Ao..."
Why did he feel like a mascot?!
Yin Qingcheng looked at the furball in his arms that suddenly made a noise, assuming it was hungry, and his eyes showed a hint of guilt. He took a piece of magical chocolate out of his pocket and stuffed it into the furball's mouth.
The moment the chocolate entered his mouth, Cheng Xuyuan's eyes widened — was it way too delicious?!
After gobbling up the chocolate, the furball looked at Yin Qingcheng pitifully, hoping for a few more treats.
Just then, a serious male voice sounded, "Yin Qingcheng, it's your turn. Come in."
"…Alright." Yin Qingcheng's voice seemed somewhat hesitant.
Cheng Xuyuan finally noticed that they were in an enclosed room with a slightly damp smell. The vintage walls had mottled patterns, and a few dim, lifeless fireflies emitted a magical aura. The surrounding decorations were simple and heavy, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
Thanks to Cheng Xuyuan's database which updates in real-time, he was able to instantly discern: This was an interrogation room.
Yin Qingcheng slowly moved towards a table where several tall interrogators were sitting opposite him, looking stern. One of them asked him with a cold voice, "Where were you on the night of Devin's disappearance?"
Yin Qingcheng swallowed hard, "I... I was taking Maoqiu for a walk outdoors." (Note: 毛球 [Máo qiú] = literally, furball)
"Furball?"
"Ah," Yin Qingcheng hurriedly lifted the little fox in his arms, "This one."
The little fox, lifted abruptly, still had a bit of chocolate on its lips. It looked pitifully at the several interrogators and whimpered softly.
Every interrogator in the room was adorned with Grand Mage badges and gauging the furball with no magical vibrations around it, they looked at each other with confusion, doubting it was a spiritual beast.
"Can anyone vouch for you that you were out for a walk that night?" A female interrogator stared straight at Yin Qingcheng.
"Maoqiu..." Yin Qingcheng's voice was a bit dry, "It...it knows..."
The interrogators exchanged helpless glances, and after a moment, someone asked, "You're a Fire Mage, aren't you? Have you received your Junior Wizard Certificate yet?"
The stages of a magician, from lowest to highest, are: Apprentice Wizard, Junior Wizard, Intermediate Wizard, Senior Wizard, Grand Wizard, Magic Guide, Grand Magic Guide, and Holy Magic Guide. Regardless of the level, one must go through the personal testing certification of the Shén Wǔ Academy and receive a certificate.
Yin Qingcheng's face instantly turned red, and he muttered, "I... I'm not a Junior Wizard..."
"Not?" The female interrogator raised her eyebrows in surprise. The magic aura he was emitting was clearly very weak. "Aren't you a freshman? Have you already passed the Intermediate test?"
"I... I..." Yin Qingcheng seemed to be speaking of something he found deeply embarrassing, his gaze flickering, "I failed the Junior test." Therefore, he could only be regarded as an Apprentice Wizard.
As soon as he finished speaking, the several interrogators seemed to understand. They took another careful look at the small and unnoticeable fox in the young man's arms, exchanged views with their eyes, and after a moment, they announced the results of the interrogation directly.
"Considering that Devin's ranking in Shen Wu Academy is among the top, and although you are his roommate, there is a huge gap in strength, we believe there is no possibility of you committing the crime." The female interrogator calmly announced the results. "You may leave. If you have any information about Devin, please contact us as soon as possible."
At this point, a blonde, blue-eyed interrogator interjected: "Keep in mind, this is the eighth disappearance case this semester."
Yin Qingcheng hurriedly nodded in agreement, carrying the furball out of the interrogation room. The moment he walked out of the interrogation building, the fresh air outside made him sigh with relief, and the tight nerves in his body finally relaxed.
________________________
"For the first time, I'm thankful for my useless skills." Yin Qingcheng rubbed the furball's head and handed it a piece of chocolate. "I don't know how the principal chose me back then, given the large population in the China region..."
The land under Yin Qingcheng's feet was called "Shen Huan Continent", a parallel world to the human world. On the Shen Huan Continent, everyone revered the powerful, and Shen Wu Academy was the highest institution on the continent, a place that had produced countless strong individuals.
Every year, Shen Wu Academy recruits freshmen from various countries in the human world, and Yin Qingcheng is one of the lucky ones. However, he could never quite figure out why the academy chose him, as his talent was obviously extremely lacking, his magic energy was close to zero, and he appeared almost indistinguishable from an ordinary human.
Through the interrogation process just now, Cheng Xuyuan had roughly understood the protagonist's strength, which could be summarized in one sentence: there probably wasn't anyone more useless in Shen Wu Academy than him.
Returning to the academy, Yin Qingcheng didn't bother to attend his Magical Theory class. Instead, he took the school bus directly back to his dormitory, looked at the empty room, and sighed softly.
Shen Wu Academy dormitories were all designed to house two people. Since Devin's disappearance, Yin Qingcheng had been alone.
… and a little fox.
Maoqiu was something Yin Qingcheng had found on the road when he first arrived at the Shen Huan Continent. His classmates told him it was a Qingqiu Fox, a type of spiritual beast, albeit a weak one.
At the time, the furball was filthy, as if it had just fought other spiritual beasts, and its energy was weak and barely there. To save it, Yin Qingcheng formed a blood contract with it, infused some magic energy into it, and asked a wood-element mage classmate to heal it.
A little over a month later, the furball had grown white and clean, lively and active. However, the issue was that this spiritual beast didn't seem to recognize itself as such. It never used magic, and there were no fluctuations in its aura.
Yin Qingcheng treated it as if he had picked up an ordinary fox, a good pet to keep.
Yin Qingcheng placed Maoqiu on the bed, went to take a shower, and threw his clothes into the magic laundry box after washing. Once his clothes were cleaned, Yin Qingcheng lit a small fireball in his palm to dry them—this was pretty much the only spell he could perform.
Cheng Xuyuan was puzzled as he looked at the protagonist's slender and robust physique, wheat-colored skin, handsome features, and... the pitifully small fireball in his hand. He couldn't comprehend how someone who seemed so promising could be this weak.
Hence, he asked the system.
The system replied, "The strength of the male protagonist lies in the fact that he is an infinite container. In other words, he can absorb indefinitely as long as he comes into contact with powerful magical energy. However, the only entity capable of awakening this container is the Qingqiu Fox."
So, that was it.
After getting a better understanding of the male protagonist, Cheng Xuyuan suddenly remembered something, so he asked the system, "Does the male protagonist in this world have a romantic story arc?" He had been scared off by Gu Juncheng from the world of "Pen God".
"The protagonist does have a girl he likes, also known as the heroine," the system replied.
That's a relief... Cheng Xuyuan felt his heart return to its place.
After painstakingly drying his clothes, Yin Qingcheng took out a pan and proficiently started to cook dinner in the dormitory's self-provided kitchen. The fragrant aroma of the food made Cheng Xuyuan somewhat dumbfounded. He couldn't help but ask the system, "Why do all these male protagonists know how to cook?"
System: "... convenient for attracting girls."
However, Yin Qingcheng didn't let the furball eat dinner. He took out a small bowl, poured some pet food for spiritual beasts into it, and placed it in front of the furball. He gave its tail a rub, "Eat up, it's your favorite seafood flavor."
Cheng Xuyuan wrinkled his nose at the smell of the pet food for spiritual beasts. The fishy smell was unbearable for him. He looked pitifully at his owner. However, the latter completely ignored him, eating his dinner.
"Wu....."
The furball whimpered sadly, trying to get the male lead's attention.
Upon glancing at the pitiful-looking little fox, Yin Qingcheng casually tossed a few pieces of meat into its bowl before it finally satisfiedly took a few bites. Yin Qingcheng chuckled, "When did you become so picky..."
However, at this moment, there was a knock at the dormitory door.
Yin Qingcheng didn't have time to clean up his dishes. He only wiped his hands quickly and went to open the door. He was surprised to exclaim, "D...Dean?"
The visitor was a handsome man with black hair, who was none other than Yun Yi, the Dean of the Fire Magic Department, who was also Chinese. He looked around the dormitory with a frown. Afterwards, he looked at the nervous Yin Qingcheng and sighed, "Qingcheng, you've been expelled from Shen Wu Academy."
"Ex... expelled?!" Yin Qingcheng's face turned pale instantly.
Yun Yi nodded. Despite being only 28 years old, he carried an incredibly stable demeanor. Although fire magic symbolizes passion and freedom, these traits were nowhere to be seen in him.
Dumbfounded, Yin Qingcheng asked, "Why?"
"Because your magical strength is too weak," Yun Yi's eyes flashed with an indescribable emotion, "The academy decided to enrol you because we saw something unusual in you. But it seems you can't bring out your own potential."
Yin Qingcheng was stared at him in a daze.
Yun Yi continued, "Plus, a lot of people have gone missing in the school lately, and you can't protect yourself. So, the headmaster decided to expel you."
Yin Qingcheng finally realized that things were set in stone, but he still unwillingly said, "I... I can try harder..."
Yun Yi's voice was very cold, cutting off all possibilities, "You are one of the few students in the history of the Shen Wu Academy who failed even the elementary magic test. The school has decided to let you leave tomorrow."
Yin Qingcheng lowered his head, looking a bit helpless. He clenched his fists and slowly let go, finally saying calmly, "Fine, I accept the school's decision..."
________________________
Meanwhile.
In the Dean's office of Shen Wu Academy.
Dean Ashiya scratched his fiery red hair; the document in front of him seemed to make him somewhat troubled.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Dean," the Dean's assistant furrowed his eyebrows, "if we don't do this, we won't be able to protect those nine students."
"I can understand all the previous things you've done, and those eight students are relatively safe," Ashiya tapped the table with his slender fingers, "But why expel Yin Qingcheng? His strength hasn't even reached the level of a Junior Wizard."
The assistant walked to the table, lowered his head to look at Ashiya, and murmured, "Yin Qingcheng and Yun Yi share the same constitution, so he's been targeted for a long time. If we don't expel him, Yun Yi will definitely..."
After a moment of contemplation, Ashiya said, "Then do as you proposed, remember to keep an eye on Yun Yi's movements."
"Yun Yi went to the Abyss last night," the assistant said with a grave face.
"What?!" Ashiya was taken aback, "What is he doing there?"
"Wake up the demon beast."
Ashiya blurted out, "Has this guy gone mad?"
It took Ashiya half a minute to calm down, finally, he said to the assistant, "Now, you contact the Special Agency for Humans and have them strengthen their defense in the human world. We must not take this lightly."
The assistant said solemnly, "Yes, I will do it right away."
________________________
Author's Note:
Friendly reminder: The plot progression in the second world is quite fast-paced, and there is relatively less romance. Little darlings, it's up to you whether you want to read it or not.
If you're not interested in this world, you can directly move on to the third world (starting on the evening of April 7), which features a sweet, romance-filled story set in the entertainment industry. In any case, I hope you all won't mind, and I will work hard to improve the writing for you guys. Love you all~
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