Chapter 37 Joyfulness and Sadness
In The School of Sword Arts, most of the students were waiting for the arrival of the Prefectural Selection’s namelist.
Ogden paced around the courtyard, throwing glances occasionally towards the entrance’s direction.
‘I’ve already learned the Nine Yang Divine Sword Technique. All three of my basic sword techniques have reached level 10, and my performance in the Prefectural Selection was still acceptable this time.
‘In the second stage, there was still an examiner who smiled at me.’
‘My results for the second stage should be pretty good. After all, aside from Kaunitz, the others didn’t perform that well in the third stage.
‘After factoring all of these things in, I should still have a chance to pass the Prefectural Selection.’
If Ogden really did not have any hint of passing the Prefectural Selection, he would not be so anxious. Instead, he would have given up all hope.
However under these circumstances, while his chances were not high, he still held onto a bit of his wishful thinking.
‘Maybe, I’ve passed it?’
Seeing how he was pacing around nonstop, Kyle could not help but call out, “Alright, stop pacing around. Look at how anxious you are. No matter how anxious you are now, the results will not change.”
“Mmm.” Ogden sat down, but his right leg was still shaking nonstop. He would knit his brows every now and then, as if he was thinking about some matters. Kyle smiled silently when he saw this.
Finally, when the The School of Sword Arts’ atmosphere became filled with tension, Kirst Royal Knight Academy’s staff arrived at last. Everyone present stood up in agitation on noticing the envelope in his hand.
Even though tens of eyes were fixated upon him, the person who had made the dispatch did not fall into panic. He had seen too many similar situations.
He shouted, “May I ask where is The School of Sword Arts’ Headmaster?”
“That’ll be me.” Kyle walked over, cupped his hands towards the deliveryman, and said, “Thank you for your trouble.”
After receiving the envelope, he slowly opened it while being the focus of many expectant, curious, and nervous looks.
While Kyle was looking at the namelist, he appeared very normal at first, but not long afterwards, he looked stunned. He brought the namelist closer to his face and took a closer look, as if he could not believe what was written on it.
Ogden’s heart leapt, ‘Could it be that I’ve made it? Could it be that I’ve made it?’
Kyle looked towards the deliveryman and asked, “This namelist is the correct one, right?”
Of course, the deliveryman had not seen the contents of the namelist before. However, he had encountered similar questions every year until he had forgotten how many times he had answered them. He smiled and said, “There’s no way that there would be a mistake.”
Kyle blinked his eyes, looked at the namelist in his hands, and suddenly smiled.
Ogden was waiting on the side and felt increasingly restless when he saw Kyle’s series of expressions. Finally, he could not help but ask, “Teacher Kyle, so how is it?”
“Let me announce the names in the top ten.” Kyle shook his head and said, “In tenth place for this year’s Prefectural Selection is Aristocrat Academy’s Carter.
“In ninth place is City Guards Institution’s Jack.
“In eighth place is Tresia Knight Academy’s Zhou Yong.
“In seventh place, Anthony.
“In sixth place, Fei Yang Knight Academy, Barbara.
“In fifth place, Shadow Moon Academy, Boris.
“In fourth place, Aristocrat Academy, Ferdinand.
“In third place, Tresia Knight Academy’s Kaunitz.
“In second place is Robert.”
When he had announced the name for second place, everyone looked at Kyle in disbelief. Ogden’s face turned grim as if he had lost all of his energy, but a vague hint of hope was still hidden in his eyes.
‘I can’t possibly be the Prefectural Champion. It’s not possible… but, could it be? Maybe my performance this time around was what the invigilators were looking for, and thus first place was given to me?’
Lambert let out a sigh as he turned to leave, knowing full well that it was not possible for him to place first. He wanted to find a place for some peace and quiet.
Under Ogden’s gaze, which was filled with both desperation and hope, Kyle smiled and announced the last name.
“In first place, The School of Sword Arts, Fang Xingjian.”
“What?!” Ogden was the first to shout. “How can this be possible?! I don’t believe this. I don’t believe this! How can Fang Xingjian be the Prefectural Champion? I started practicing martial arts at the age of eight, and every day and night I’ve been putting in so much effort in my training for years. He has only joined The School of Sword Arts for such a short time, and it’s only been half a year!”
Kyle frowned and said, “That’s enough, this is the truth. Stop embarrassing yourself.”
“This is not possible. How could Fang Xingjian defeat Kaunitz? And Robert, he had already completed the first transition. How could Fang Xingjian be more outstanding than him?” Ogden shouted, “Teacher, let me take a look at the namelist.”
Kyle’s brows twitched, and a slight bit of anger was hidden in the corner of his eyes. “What did you say?” The other party’s words were obviously suggesting that Kyle was suspected of spouting rubbish.
Ogden immediately realized that he had blurted out something he should not have. He knew that Kyle would not do such a silly thing, but he was too agitated to control his own emotions. He spoke in a softer tone, “Teacher, let me take a look to see how I performed.”
Kyle gave a cold snort and threw the namelist over. Ogden fumbled to catch it, and the first thing he did was to visually confirm Fang Xingjian’s name was where the first place’s name was written. He then scrolled down the list and started to look for his own name.
In forty-third place, The School of Sword Arts, Lambert.
In sixty-ninth place, The School of Sword Arts, Ogden.
He fell back two steps, and he felt all the energy from his body slowly seeping away.
Kyle shook his head and asked a student who was on the side, “Where is Xingjian? Go look for him. The namelist is already here, so why is he not here yet?”
“Right…right…”
A few students dashed out and shouted agitatedly, “Martial Brother Xingjian, Martial Brother Xingjian, you’ve become the Prefectural Champion!”
Lambert also suddenly jerked his head around, mumbling to himself in disbelief, “Fang Xingjian achieved first place?” He had thought the other party could pass the Prefectural Selection, but he had never thought he would become the Prefectural Champion.
In the courtyard, many students were also very excited, and the scene became very noisy.
“How did he do that?”
“Didn’t Kaunitz previously beat him up everyday?”
“Did he have some connection with one of the examiners? If not, how could he have passed having only spent half a year in The School of Sword Arts. How could he have passed and reached first place?” Someone questioned.
Everyone in the courtyard displayed different expressions. Some of them felt there was something weird going on while others were surprised. Some could not understand while others were puzzled. It was obvious that they all found it a bit hard to believe that Fang Xingjian had clinched the Prefectural Champion’s position.
Kyle shook his head and smiled. He knew that no one would dare cheat in the Prefectural Selection. Also, the examiners in the academy had deeper insights and a higher level of cultivation than his own, so a mistake was unlikely.
Right when everyone in the courtyard was immersed in a complicated atmosphere, the doors to The School of Sword Arts once again opened and Kaunitz walked in holding his longsword. He looked at a student and asked, “Where is Fang Xingjian?”
Under Kaunitz’s heavy stare, the student felt uneasy all over and said nervously, “One of the Martial…Martial Brothers went to look for him. However, Martial Brother Fang Xingjian has had his breakfast. Usually, he will only be back at noon.”
“This fellow…he doesn’t even stay in the school on the day the results are released?” The flames in Kaunitz’s eyes burned even stronger. He found a random spot to sit down and said coolly, “Then, I’ll wait here for him.”
After seeing this scene, many students revealed a gloating expression at someone else’s misfortune.
“There’s going to be a show to watch. The third place in the Prefectural Selection bashing up the first place?”
“Hehehe, the Prefectural Selection is not particular about one’s battle powers, and it mainly focuses on one’s potential, talent, and foundation. However, it’s going to look pretty bad when the third place beats up the first place.”
“Kaunitz is really infuriated to have his spot snatched by Fang Xingjian this time.”
While watching this scene, Ogden’s gaze also lit up as he headed towards Kaunitz.
Kyle frowned and asked, “Kaunitz, why are you looking for Xingjian?”