271 Chapter 271: Weird Exchange

"Fuck you!" I shouted, showing the golden pillar of light my middle finger. Yeah, it was extremely rude, but come on, this was so ridiculous Ling Dao deserved the insult. "What Five Great Academies!? You think this is The Great Ruler, is it!? You're in the wrong story, dude! Get serious and tell us the truth!"

"Ahem…" Ling Dao cleared his throat sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. I was kidding. Mu Chen is correct. There are no Five Great Academies…"

"WHO THE FUCK IS MU CHEN!?" I roared.

"Sorry, I mean Richard Huang. Anyway, instead of great academies or whatever, we'll bill you monetary rewards corresponding to the number of blood tokens you've collected. Spend them however you want."

Ling Dao was clearly telling us to upgrade our equipment or buy new ones. I didn't, because Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were still in pristine condition. Actually, their real names were Hei Yue and Bai Ri, but I completely forgot about their names after the chapter I received them and just called them Gan Jiang and Mo Ye because…well, Fate/Stay Night. Sorry about that. It's about time I start switching back to Hei Yue and Bai Ri.

I sincerely apologize for the confusion.

However, the world didn't revolve around me, and the other students sorely needed the funds to buy their armaments or upgrade their current equipment. Harrison was unwrapping the bandages from his fists and was probably considering a purchase of divine gauntlets. Theodore might want to upgrade his Thunder Hammer to improve its strength, armor penetration and damage. The Knights of Pendragon Academy probably didn't need new armor, considering the still pristine condition of their armaments. However, I was aware that Lilith probably wanted a new sword.

"What the hell?!" one of the readers complained at the side. "What's the point of getting these stupid monetary reward if you have no use for it? You might as well attend something that gave you spirit pills or elixirs or treasures instead! Or cultivation manuals!"

For one thing, this was not a cultivation story, and God, if I hear that stupid word one more time, I swear I'll go smash something. This was reality. And in reality, you don't conveniently just happen to have a tournament or event pop up right at the most opportune time to offer something that you needed right at that moment as the first prize or whatever. Hell, most of the time, you would never get what you wanted. Life just didn't work out so conveniently. I mean, seriously…if you need a Dragon Pill, since when would an alchemy tournament just so conveniently occur a few minutes later, offering that Dragon Pill as the first prize?

Only in stupid cultivation and xianxia novels with conveniently contrived situations would such overly expedient things happen. Oh, boss fight coming up? I'll just happen to conveniently find some treasure weapon in this tomb I'm exploring beforehand to tip the scales in my favor! Oh, I need some herbal ingredient for a breakthrough? I'll just happen to conveniently find that herb in the middle of some dangerous forest that I was somehow exploring even though I'm supposed to focus on breaking through or running away from the enemy.

Yeah, if only real life worked out so conveniently, then nobody needed to be so diligent. Most of the time, the prizes you won from a tournament don't happen to conveniently align with what you need. Seriously, though, if you happen to need to obtain something, why the fuck would it show up as a prize in a tournament?

That was so ridiculously contrived and conveniently, and often served as a poor excuse for the protagonist to show off his skills, beat everyone, and get the praise and compliments from the audience and big-shots.

Just…no.

"Then I'll drop your story!" the reader shouted stubbornly. "I'm here to read about overpowered main characters curb-stomping stupid, one-dimensional enemies with their cheats! I don't care about logic! I just want my power fantasy!"

I kicked the reader back through the fourth wall he broke out of, and then sealed the dimensional rift shut. Drop my story then, see if I care. This was my story, and I was going to dictate how it went. Not pander to the likes of you xianxia addicts seeking overpowered Mary Sue protagonists around which the world revolved around, and how everything just conveniently fell in their laps and in place for them to breeze through life.

"…"

Charles and Gawain were staring at me in astonishment. I scratched my head and shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry. Fourth wall matters, as usual."

"I almost thought that was an Emergence event!" Charles exclaimed. "But I didn't expect a human to pop out from the other dimension…"

"Well, these sort of readers can be considered monsters and a blight on the universe of web novels," I told him. "But enough of that. Let's get out of here."

"…uh, right."

The other students were walking into the golden light and being teleported out. After a month in this place, I was getting sick of the Spiritual Road, and I couldn't wait to get out of here. Joining Harrison and Theodore, I strode into the golden light and allowed myself to be transported back into the real world.

*

After the Spiritual Road training camp, we were given a week to rest. We attended classes as usual, and I trained like always, whether it was at home in Dad's dojo or in Teacher Fielding's combat magic class.

"So, Richard, are you ready for the exchange session?"

It was right after I finished one of those combat magic classes when Vincent Violet approached me. I had just left the classroom, so I was taken aback when he called out to me. Calming myself down, I turned around and swallowed.

"Uh…I guess?"

Violet raised an eyebrow. "Don't forget that you and the others are supposed to go to Vermillion Academy for an exchange session after the Spiritual Road training camp. You will be leaving in three days. I hope you've started packing."

"Oh, right."

"Vermillion Academy, huh?" Harrison happened to be passing by when he heard that. Lily Liam and a few of the Holy Saints were accompanying him. No, not Saint Judgement. Holy Saints. There's a difference. "Their Hell Beast team is one of the favorites to win the national tournament. They are the strongest team in Vermillion Academy."

"Oh, I've heard of them." Lily nodded in agreement. Then she looked at me with a sly smile. "You've met their captain, haven't you?"

"…uh, yeah."

"Their entire team basically has no weakness," Harrison continued gravely. "Their captain is a top-tier summoner with an extremely powerful Soul Beast."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Craig was laughing as he passed by, with Sheila beside him. "That might be true, but Richard here has defeated her in combat!"

"Wait, how the heck did you know that?" I demanded, annoyed. My duel with Lilith was during the Spiritual Road, and even though there were spectators, I was pretty sure none of them were from my school. Otherwise I would have been able to meet up with them instead of floundering around alone for almost a month.

"Your duel with her has been uploaded onto the Internet," Sheila informed me with a smile. "A lot of the other students have been trying to analyze and dissect the battle, to pick apart your tactics and magic."

"Maybe I shouldn't have accepted her challenge after all," I grumbled.

"No, it was actually good that you did." Harrison was pondering deeply. "You managed to obtain invaluable combat data regarding Lilith Porter's summoning magic and fighting style. It'll be very useful for us in the upcoming tournament."

"I know, right?" Vincent Violet smiled as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'll be counting on all of you to make Jing Tian Academy proud. Do your best, and ensure that the other academies do not look down on us."

"Yes, sir!" everyone chorused.

*

What? Were you expecting me to digress into some weird dream arc and explore a tomb?

Nope, this wasn't that kind of story. And I didn't have a stupid clown floating around with me either. I had more important things to worry about than to randomly explore some dreamscape and encounter mummies in a tomb, as well as two powerful people from the Empires. And no, I wasn't going to bring hotdogs and cola. Why the hell would I do that?

Anyway, three days flew by quickly, and I ended up taking the train alongside my friends to Vermillion City. Since we were allowed up to ten members for the national tournament, there were double the number of people who had attended the Spiritual Road training camp.

In addition to Harrison Reed, Lily Liam, Craig Carlson and Theodore Hammond, we also had Sheila Scarlet, Pearl Pang, Dong Fang Yue Chu, Cody Crosby, Bu Fan and me. Even though I disliked the arrogant Bu Fan, I had to admit that his abilities were first rate, and he was one of the rare mages with multiple elements.

I bet you guys had forgotten who Cody was. I almost did, to be honest, until I remembered there was supposed to be an Assassin-type person in our team because…well, Battle Frenzy had him too.

Anyway, I spent most of the journey sleeping on the train, and only woke up when we drew near. Trying to stifle a yawn, I blinked and forced myself to rise from the chair I inhabited the moment the train stopped.

"We're here!" Cody cheered, for no other reason than so that his voice actor had some lines to say.

"Amazing…" Lily was gaping at the sight that greeted us when we disembarked from the high-speed train that brought us here. "So this is Vermillion City!"

"Yeah…to think that the entire city is built across such a vast mountain range." Dong Fang Yue Chu was also awestruck by the sight of a city interwoven with dense trees, and nestled into the mountain range. Despite the presence of towering skyscrapers and commercial buildings, even these hundred-story structures were dwarfed by the mountains behind them.

There was an air of majesty about the city, combined with an untamable wilderness that ran rampant with the sense of unbridled freedom.

"Um…are you the exchange students?"

One of the staff approached us, noting our uniforms. As it turned out, we weren't the only school there. I recognized the uniforms of quite a few schools, and caught sight of Charles Lacroix and his friends from Pendragon Academy. To my surprise, I didn't see Cecilia Stuart and Kureha Franklin, but they were probably busy…I guess?

To no one's surprise, Ji Xuan was absent. The guy had been punished and penalized for flouting the rules and was suspended. He wouldn't be participating in the national tournament or the exchange session. Good riddance, if you ask me.

"All teams, please take the cable car." The staff waved us toward a row of cable cars that were hanging suspended across what seemed like a track. To my amazement, I realized that they were not tethered to the rails at all. Instead, the cable cars were magnetically levitating over an electrically charged track that extended toward the peak of one of the mountains.

Maglev technology, combined with cable cars. Impressive. Licking my lips nervously, I boarded one of the cable cars along with the rest. As expected of maglev technology, the cable cars hurtled forward at incredible speeds, and we found ourselves at the top of the mountain within mere minutes.

That was some crazy speed.

When we alighted from the cable car, we were greeted by the majestic sight of Vermillion Academy, which looked extremely hi-tech and new. I was suddenly reminded of Dad's past. Didn't he enroll in Vermillion Academy when he was my age? So this was the school he attended about twenty years ago…and where he fought the Assassins, such as Ying Bu Si, alongside Uncle Glen.

Speaking of which, Uncle Glen was somewhere in this city. Maybe I should pay him a visit when I have the chance. I doubted I would be able to, though. More likely, Uncle Glen would drop in unexpectedly to say hi.

"I've finally come full circle, huh?" I murmured to myself. I never thought I would be here in Vermillion Academy so soon after Dad's flashback arc. It was funny how life worked out. Small world and all that, eh?

"Um…"

The student volunteers showed up and courageously attempted to organize the milling students into groups. There were so many students from a myriad of schools that we resembled some sort of flower garden. The diversity of colors and uniforms added to the brilliance of Vermillion Academy, and it was impressive how each uniform was able to stand out and stamp down its own individuality and uniqueness.

One of the student volunteers approached my group nervously.

"Um…you are from Jing Tian Academy, right? We will be bringing you to your dormitories. Please follow me. I have your room assignments."

"Okay," we chorused. The volunteer looked relieved that we weren't going to give him trouble. Why he thought we would in the first place, I had no idea. The other schools were also complying with the volunteers who approached them, with minimal fuss. Everything was well organized and going along smoothly.

As it turned out, we were all assigned single rooms. I was impressed by the amenities and accommodation. It was almost as if we were living in a first-class hotel.

"Are we on an exchange session to trade pointers and train, or are we on a holiday?" I mumbled. Honestly, I shouldn't be grumbling, but something struck me as amiss. Well, I should enjoy the utilities while they lasted instead of complaining.

Glancing out of the window and noting that it was still pretty early, I realized that if I had been sticking to my daily routine, I would be training right about now. To me, it was important that I trained everyday, without missing a single session if possible. After all, my goal was to become stronger…to catch up with my dad and become a hero who could save everybody.

I was still far from achieving that objective. Right now, I lacked the strength to save everybody. I didn't possess the power to protect my loved ones.

…like Alicia.

"If Alicia is still alive, she would be here in this exchange session with us, eh?"

Closing my eyes briefly, I forced down the welling of emotions and took a deep breath.

Looked like I really needed the distraction that training provided. The desire to be a hero, the goal to become stronger…those were just excuses.

For now, I just wanted something to distract my mind from all the terrible choices I made and my stupidity that readers constantly harassed me about in the comments section.