Chapter 326 – Mysterious Secret Arts
The apricot blossoms in the central school building were in full bloom, with delicate pinkish-white petals densely adorning the branches. In the middle of each flower were long stamens and pale yellow pistils. At this time of year, there weren’t many leaves on the branches, so the flowers replaced the leaves’ usual position. Those delicate pink and white petals slightly bent the branches, decorating both sides of the path beautifully.
Thus, Emanas entered April, and the beautiful days of student life continued within the campus.
A teenage girl with black rabbit ears carried a small backpack and walked along the shaded path with her classmates. Unlike her companions, she intentionally walked on the raised stone steps at the edge of the path. Because the stone steps separating the path from the grass were narrow, she could only place one foot at a time, walking as if on a narrow bridge.
“Aliya, aren’t you afraid of falling like that?” asked a pink-haired girl beside her, who had a light yellow hairpin with embedded gems by her forehead.
“No, I won’t fall. Feng Nai,” Aliya extended both hands, her body roughly forming a cross to maintain balance.
“Don’t you find this fun?” The two rabbit ears atop Aliya’s head shook, and if one looked closely, they could see some shorter fur on the back of her ears.
“Really?”
Feng Nai was somewhat skeptical. She had been educated as a Young Lady since childhood. Although she could be quite capricious at times, she always paid attention to her image in public.
“Mm-hm, yes,” Aliya continued.
“Have you ever been to the forest? There are no real paths in the woods; they’re covered with fallen leaves. The ground is overgrown with dense grass, some of which has round, tender green leaves. Although it looks pretty, it also makes it easy to hide things underneath.”
“When you step on them, it’s hard to know if what’s beneath is a puddle, mud, something sharp, or even a little snake or centipede.”
“Don’t say that, I hate bugs,” Feng Nai waved her hand to stop her.
“So, when walking through the woods, you should step on solid stones. It might be a bit troublesome, but it’s cleaner and more stable. When I was younger, I discovered this, so I prefer stepping on stones.”
“Though the school environment is nice, walking on these narrow stone steps is much more interesting,” Aliya said cheerfully as she walked forward, then jumped and landed steadily on the stone steps.
Watching Aliya’s agile and perfectly balanced movements, Feng Nai said enviously, “Aliya, are all your rabbit-eared people this flexible?”
“Well, if you grew up in the forest, you could do it too. As for me, I’ve seen that person walk through the woods leisurely. Though she’s human, I don’t think any rabbit-eared person is better than her.”
“Who is that person?”
Feng Nai had heard Aliya mention this unnamed person multiple times, but she still didn’t know who it was. From her description, the person was extremely beautiful, knowledgeable, and philosophical—almost a perfect being.
But such a person would be hard to imagine and believe unless truly met.
“This is a forbidden topic, can’t just talk about it,” Aliya shook her ears in refusal.
“Mm.”
“Alright, let’s not talk about that. Feng Nai, have you heard any recent news?”
“What kind of news?”
Feng Nai became interested. She had just enrolled and was curious about everything.
“There’s an ancient secret art circulating in the school recently. It can greatly develop personal potential and talent, allowing your strength to significantly improve, advancing and breaking through.”
“Is it really that powerful? Then why hasn’t anyone used it before?”
She was somewhat skeptical. Having grown up in a merchant’s family, she naturally knew how merchants exaggerated and promoted things.
“It’s said to have been recently unearthed from a relic. Since it’s still in the experimental stage, not many people know about it.”
“I see. What do the scholars think about it?”
“I don’t know. It seems no scholars are paying attention to it. Actually, I don’t know much either. I heard it from a group of beastmen. Since there aren’t many of us beastmen, we tend to be more united in school, sharing information.”
“Is that so?”
Feng Nai continued walking alongside Aliya.
“I’ll ask some elders I know later. They know more about cultivation methods. As for improving strength, I’m not in a rush. That person advised me to learn more about making clothes and designing styles. She said it’s much more interesting than fighting.”
“Haha, indeed.”
“If you can’t create more value after enhancing your strength, pursuing it blindly is like draining the pond to catch all the fish.”
“That’s also what that person taught me. She told me to focus on farming and development. With abundant resources and a strong foundation, other things will gradually come.”
Aliya looked up at the azure sky and happily said, “That’s what our rabbit-eared people believe in and have witnessed.”
—
In the Northern Region, in the High Tower Academy, the Tide Pattern Stone Tower.
Morning sunlight shone through the round windows, casting onto the oak wood floor. Two students in robes lounged casually on the sofa where the sunlight slanted, seemingly not fully awake yet, waiting slowly for the oatmeal cooking in the fireplace to be ready, their breakfast.
The outer door of the rest room creaked open, and a young man with messy hair walked in. His skin was pale, and there were dark shadows under his eyes, signs of long nights spent studying.
“Has Jack returned?”
“Mm.”
“Are you again staying up late in the lab? Sigh, if this continues, your health will suffer.”
“Thank you.” Jack replied simply, then walked to his room door, took out a key from his pocket, opened the door, and retreated into his bedroom.
Since his roommate had graduated and no new students would join, he lived alone.
After returning to his room, he first took off his clothes and turned on the showerhead in the bathroom, bathing in the steaming hot water.
Warm water flowed over his body. He closed his eyes and carefully washed his hair, feeling a soothing sensation gradually filling his heart.
How long had it been since he last relaxed like this? He couldn’t remember. Day after day, he shuttled between the lab, classrooms, dining hall, and dormitory, living a monotonous routine.
Sometimes he envied those carefree classmates, but he couldn’t be like them. He wasn’t a freshman or sophomore anymore. The promotion exams at Emanas hung over their heads like a sword, creating a sense of urgency and immense pressure for these stagnant students.
Since he entered the third year, he had been stuck here for three years. If he couldn’t advance to the fourth year this year, his academic career would end. The school would only give him a brown completion certificate instead of a white graduation certificate.
Such an evaluation couldn’t be considered excellent. Generally, entering large institutions and organizations required a deep green completion certificate issued after the fourth year. This meant either joining ordinary organizations or going solo. The magic sequence was a system that valued technical inheritance; exploring it alone would waste a lot of time and effort, and the instruments and materials needed would be expensive.
The design of his last experiment was his final attempt, but unfortunately, it failed. He had no more credits to exchange for instruments and materials. There was no progress in his research, and his own strength stagnated. It seemed he had reached the end of hope, with no way forward.
However, that mysterious person he encountered that night gave him new possibilities—a unique secret art, a strange power seed.
From then on, many doors closed for him reopened, and the dormant extraordinary core began to undergo strange changes. Last night, he finally advanced to Sequence 6, stepping into a new world.
This is what it feels like to have power?
Jack opened his eyes in the showering water, watching droplets in the room suddenly freeze in mid-air, circling around him, and his body becoming dry and clean.
Thank you everyone for the votes and tips. Due to not having tracked them daily, I can’t recall the exact numbers, so I’ll thank you all collectively. Please forgive me.
