Rune Studies

Si Ming worriedly said, "Wouldn't this become a sole criterion for judging performance? What if the Second Martial Arts Club doesn't win the championship this year...?"

Murong Qing, "Senior Sister Ke and Senior Brother Hu have already been accepted into graduate programs and will continue their studies at the university next year."

Si Ming slapped his forehead, only then remembering that the age limit for the Youth Martial Dao League was twenty-five years old, and Ke Chajing and Hu Jixian still had three years left.

"But we all promised Senior Sister Ke that we would help her win the championship. After so many years, it's time to fulfill our promise. There's no need to wait until the future. Let's let her and Senior Brother Hu graduate without any regrets."

Murong Qing glanced at him sideways and asked in a strange tone, "Are you sure you want to participate in the competition?"

"Are you worried about bullying the weak? Indeed, if the news that you are Spirit Transformation is exposed, it will be easy for people to criticize you. Although the Youth Martial Dao League does not have any rules or unspoken rules that prohibit Nascent Spirit Transformation from participating in the competition... But I am not Spirit Transformation, so I can participate openly and honestly. Qingqing and Hongdou are not Spirit Transformation either, so they can also participate, and it won't leave anyone with any leverage."

There are very few geniuses who can advance to the Spirit Transformation stage before the age of twenty-five; throughout history, there have been no more than ten. Naturally, no one would be so bored as to add such a rule. However, it's hard to say what the audience will think. Public opinion is easily swayed, and if it turns into the idea of the strong bullying the weak, it will be bad for Murong Qing's reputation.

Si Ming himself didn't care about such reputation. As long as he didn't compromise on his principles, everything else was trivial. Just look at the founding emperors of the various dynasties in Huaxia. Which one of them didn't have a lot of negative stories that were ridiculed by scholars? But who can deny the great achievements of Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Taizu of Ming? Historical evaluation and private morality are two different things. But he felt that Murong Qing might care.

However, Murong Qing shook her head and said, "I don't have a moral fastidiousness. Although I can't let my bottom line be trampled on, I don't care much about other minor details, especially what others say. What do I care about them!"

"Then what are you worried about?"

"What worries me is that every competition you participate in ends without a result. What if something unexpected happens in the National Martial Dao League as well? Even if Senior Sister Ke could have won the championship, it might still..."

"Cough cough cough," Si Ming was really choked. He never expected that such a serious person as the class monitor would make such a joke. "How could you believe in such superstitious things? It's all a coincidence, just something that happened to come together. It has nothing to do with me."

Murong Qing said, "Then can you guarantee that there won't be any more 'coincidences' when you participate in the Martial Dao League this time?"

"Of course I can't guarantee that."

Si Ming deflated like a punctured balloon. Although he wanted to shout, "I guarantee there won't be any accidents, or I'll chop off your bird live on air," he didn't have the ability to foresee the future. What if Remote Heaven Society suddenly appeared to cause trouble again, or some King of Monsters suddenly appeared from some corner? He couldn't prevent that.

"But even if something unexpected happens, you can't blame me. What's going to happen will happen even if I don't participate, and what's not going to happen won't happen even if I participate," Si Ming weakly argued.

Murong Qing smiled gently, "I understand, but just to be on the safe side, you shouldn't participate."

"What kind of mess is this?!"

Just as Si Ming finished his lament, Liu Qingqing, who had been sitting to the side and almost ignored, exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, a Spirit Transformation has participated in the Martial Dao League!"

"No way, who could be so shameless!"

Si Ming quickly took the martial arts magazine from Liu Qingqing's hand and saw a handsome young man standing on the cover, striking a very cool sword-wielding pose. The headline read, "A Twenty-Five-Year-Old New Grandmaster, Aiming for This Year's Martial Arts Championship."

I quickly browsed through the contents and found that the young man on the cover Wei Mengchen. He was a martial arts scholar from the Earth Emperor University who had just advanced to the Nascent Spirit Transformation at the end of last year. The magazine listed his awards from childhood to adulthood and praised him without reservation, almost to the point of making him the greatest genius in history. Titles like "Fist that crushes Germany and kicks Nation of Valor," "Future Void Returning Great Grandmaster," and "National Champion in the making" were thrown at him without restraint.

Murong Qing took it and read it once, then frowned and said, "This person is too arrogant. Although advancing to the Nascent Spirit Transformation at twenty-five is indeed remarkable, there's no need to be so cocky. He's become incoherent after achieving success overnight, forgetting even the principle that there are always people more capable than you."

These words, spoken by a twenty-year-old Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, carried considerable weight.

Si Ming stroked his chin, and said meaningfully, "Is the content in this magazine really a statement made by that Wei Mengchen?"

Murong Qing, quick-witted as ever, immediately understood. "You mean, this magazine is intentionally trying to flatter you to death?"

"I'm pretty sure I've been involved in propaganda and public opinion lately, so I know very well that what's on paper isn't necessarily the author's intention; it's the readers' reaction. Maybe my thinking is a bit conspiratorial, but look at the magazine's content—it's all 'praise from others,' 'the author's opinion,' and 'the opinions of classmates,' not a single one is 'claimed by the person involved.' Its credibility is questionable. I suspect this magazine has a personal grudge against this newly crowned Grandmaster."

"That makes sense. Advancing to the Nascent Spirit Transformation brings an overall improvement, but in terms of pure martial arts prowess, he might not be much stronger than those martial arts geniuses who can challenge opponents of higher levels. This magazine's excessive praise of Wei Mengchen is like putting him on the hot seat of a fire. Other martial artists will inevitably see him as a thorn in their side, and once he is defeated, the title of Spirit Transformation Grandmaster will become a boulder binding him, dragging him to the bottom of the sea... These writers are truly insidious, killing without leaving a trace."

Feeling like he was being dragged into this mess Si Ming quickly said, "It's just our speculation. Maybe this kid is really caught up in the thrill of advancing to the Nascent Spirit Transformation, and then he got carried away by the praise from others, so he became arrogant and disdainful of everyone. Anyway, it has nothing to do with us, so we don't need to care. If we run into him, we'll just defeat him. There's no need to target him specifically, and we don't need to hold back."

"That's true."

Chapter 756 Rune Specialization

As soon as Si Ming entered the classroom, he heard someone say, "Hey, classmate, you've come to the wrong classroom." He felt quite helpless. Although he hadn't been to school for a long time, he couldn't have forgotten everyone, could he? He wasn't Qingqing. He turned around and saw that the one who spoke was that bastard Hao Shuai.

The young man glanced around, then leaned closer with a shifty look and whispered, "You're the 'Mad Ink' who rose to fame in the Northern Continent a while ago, right, boss?"

"Yes, where did you hear that from?"

"It's all in the newspapers. Although they didn't mention your name or your picture, I knew it must have been you who did it just from the description of your fighting style and the fact that you're a young man. Where in the world are there so many martial arts geniuses... No! Even if there are many martial arts geniuses, very few can reach your level!" Hao Shuai said with a fawning expression.

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me. You didn't tell anyone about this, did you?"

"How could that be? Since the newspapers didn't say it explicitly, I knew it was because you, Boss, were intentionally keeping a low profile and not seeking fame. Of course, I have to keep my mouth shut and not go against your wishes."

Hao Shuai thought to himself, "I'm not stupid. What good would it do me to spread this around? The fewer competitors I have to rely on, the better. Ideally, I'd be the only one clinging to this powerful figure. That would be the most comfortable way to do it. Seeking momentary pleasure would only ruin my future. Making a fortune in silence is the best strategy."

Si Ming's thoughts were also conflicted. On the one hand, he liked to show off and be in the limelight, but on the other hand, he hated trouble and didn't want to be seen as Monkey. However, he couldn't have his cake and eat it too, so he had to take a step back and decide to keep a low profile during his student years. After graduation, he could live life to his heart's content.

He entered the classroom and greeted everyone, "Long time no see, everyone."

"It's been a long time, almost a year, hasn't it?"

"Oh, so Si Ming, you're still in our class. I thought you changed your major."

"I only need two days of sick leave at most, Si Ming, but you take sick leave for two whole semesters. How do you manage that? Is it some kind of charm?"

Most people responded with a joke, after all, they weren't stupid. A student who could take a semester off without being punished by the school must have a remarkable background. Even if they couldn't be friends, there was no need to be enemies. Since the professors didn't care, why should they bother?

Moreover, Si Ming has an outgoing and generous personality, and he doesn't fuss over trivial matters. Even a brief encounter can leave a good impression, so no one jumps out and says, "I don't like you, so I'm going to go against you." Besides, based on the strength Si Ming has shown in the Martial Dao League, they can't beat him even if they fight.

Therefore, even if students have opinions about this, they will just keep them to themselves or pretend they didn't see them, and they won't necessarily make trouble for Si Ming.

After a day of classes, Si Ming realized that he could no longer understand what the priests were saying. All sorts of Ancient Seal Script, divine talismans, and Demon Script looked pretty much the same to him, and could be collectively referred to as "ghostly scribbles".

Although the lecturers spoke passionately and enthusiastically on the podium, listing formulas and permutations as if they were expounding the most elegant art in the world, in Si Ming's eyes, it was just like listening to calculus lectures in his previous life. Individually, he couldn't understand them, and apart from Arabic numerals, he understood them even less when they were combined.

Thinking back to when I first entered school, I dreamed of learning knowledge and becoming a master of array formations. Now it seems that achieving that goal is a long way off.

However, it must be admitted that when the priest combined the divine symbols together to draw a complete Divine Arts Array, the pattern was indeed stunning, with an indescribable beauty, as if it might come to life at any moment. Si Ming felt that if he had seen this when he was obsessed with shonen manga during his adolescence, he would definitely have become obsessed with this major and become addicted to drawing.