The Attack of the Wastrel

Gu Lingzhi’s words riled up the whole class. Everyone stared at her blankly, except for one, who could not help but speak up. 

“What’s wrong with her? She actually dares to go down to the Alchemy Arena to formally accept Zhixuan’s challenge when she isn’t even a low grade Yellow-Level Alchemist yet? She’s really overestimating her capabilities.” 

Those that could enter the Royal School were people who constantly pushed themselves to their best, so they were not particularly welcoming of people like Gu Lingzhi who got in by connections. 

These accusations came one after another, as if they had already made up their mind that Gu Lingzhi got in merely due to her connections with the Third Prince, so they were not welcoming towards her. 

Gu Lingzhi pretended that she could not hear the discussion around her and looked directly at Xin Zhixuan. 

“Senior, what are your thoughts?” 

There was no way Xin Zhixuan would pass on the chance to embarrass Gu Lingzhi. 

“Let’s go to the arena if you want to. I don’t want your points even if you lost to me, as long as I get to call you a wastrel in front of everybody.” 

“Sure,” Gu Lingzhi laughed, unfazed. “And what if I win?” 

“You think you can win?” Xin Zhixuan narrowed her eyes at Gu Lingzhi. “If you win, I will shout ‘I am worse than a cripple!’ in the arena.” 

“Good. Hopefully, you will remember what you say when the challenge is over.” 

These words made Xin Zhixuan nervous. 

Gu Lingzhi’s reaction was far from what she expected. Was she not always timid whenever people mocked her? Yet, how could she be so calm when challenged? Strangely, Zhixuan had a premonition that she might lose to Gu Lingzhi.

No way, there was no way that Xin Zhixuan would lose to Gu Lingzhi. Even if she was extremely talented, how could it be possible that she would cultivate medicine of a higher Level than me? Furthermore, the rumors had originated from the Tai-an City. If she’s truly talented at Alchemy, then why would these rumors spread in the first place? 

“Alright, since you have come to a decision regarding the challenge, let’s focus for the rest of the class.” 

Wen Qing, who had been watching the events unfold silently, drew everyone’s attention back to the class and began his lesson. 

Gu Lingzhi tried her best to ignore the gazes that were on her and listened to every word that Wen Qing was saying. Slowly, she became fascinated with the lesson. 

She did not think that a teacher who looked like he could fall asleep anytime could actually be so interesting when lecturing about Alchemy. 

When she had read books that were passed down to her in the Inheritance Space, there were some parts that she did not understand, but these concepts became clear to her when Wen Qing explained it in class. 

Surely, even if one had the rarest and best books in the world, he would not progress as far if he studied behind closed doors and did not interact with the outside world. 

Whilst Gu Lingzhi was listening intently, someone pulled at her sleeve. She turned to face a girl who was smiling at her. The girl was timid-looking,her face was full of freckles. 

“Yes?” Gu Lingzhi asked. 

“Well…” the girl paused for a moment, as if she was preparing herself for what she was about to say. “If you feel that you do not have a chance at winning, you should leave after class. Zhixuan may be jealous because the Third Prince thinks highly of you, but if you do not accept her challenge, she will not be able to do anything to you. The school forbids students from attacking each other outside of official challenges.”

So, the reason why Xin Zhixuan was targeting her was because of the Third Prince. She thought about how she had just entered the city yesterday and had already been met with the nasty treatment of the Third Prince’s fiancée. “What makes you so sure that I will lose?” 

The girl blinked her eyes. “Didn’t you awaken your Spiritual Roots not long ago? No one will laugh at you even if you reject the challenge.” 

That may be the case, but… 

“Don’t all these people want to see me stumble?” 

Gu Lingzhi looked at the expressions of everyone around her. The girl immediately stopped talking, as if she did not know that Gu Lingzhi would be aware of that fact. 

When Gu Lingzhi looked at the timid expression on the girl’s face, she was reminded of her past self. 

In her past life, she was someone who did not even dare to lift her head when speaking to others and was careful with every word that she said. Suddenly, she wanted to know the girl’s name.

“What’s your name?”

“Huh?” the girl was stunned for a moment before her face turned red and gave Gu Lingzhi a reply. “My name is Xinran.”

“I’m Gu Lingzhi.”

Seeing some similarities between herself and Xin Ran, Gu Lingzhi felt herself lower her guard. They talked joyously through the lesson. She did not know if she was just imagining things, but she felt that whenever Xinran talked to her, people would stop staring at her as much.

The lesson passed very quickly. When the bell rang, Wen Qing packed his things and left, but Gu Lingzhi still felt hungry for more knowledge.

Regarding Alchemy, there were some concepts Wen Qing explained that she had never learnt on her own. This was the first time she felt that it was a wise decision to enroll in the Royal School. She had learnt so much in just the first lesson; if she were to study here for another fifty years, she wondered how much she could achieve in terms of Alchemy and Martial Arts.

She knew that as long as she was not kicked out of the Royal School, every student could stay in the school for fifty years. In order to secure her spot in the school, the most important thing was to not let anyone look down on her.

“Senior, what time will the challenge be held?” Gu Lingzhi asked Xin Zhixuan in a casual tone.

Xin Zhixuan looked over to Xinran who did not say anything, then told Gu Lingzhi in an arrogant voice, “Since you are so eager to prove that you are a wastrel, let’s get this over and done now.”

Xin Zhixuan then walked away, with a few boys and girls who followed behind her.

Gu Lingzhi said goodbye to Xinran and was about to leave for the arena. Unexpectedly, Xinran wanted to follow her to the arena, Gu Lingzhi just smiled and agreed.

The other students were also eager to watch the challenge and they all rushed to the arena. The big commotion had led students from other class think that two influential people were going to challenge each other, but they were all shocked to learn that it was Gu Lingzhi who was participating in the challenge.