Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Zhang Yun felt that today must be his lucky day.

“January 21, 2025.”

He solemnly circled this date in his diary, deciding to treat this day as his lucky day every year from now on.

The extraordinary powers that only existed in novels had miraculously appeared in reality, and he was fortunate enough to become one of the first pioneers to have the opportunity to cultivate martial arts. Not only that, but he had finally made his first friend after nearly three years of high school...

From elementary school to middle school to high school, he had always been the only son of a nouveau riche who entered through the back door in a class full of top students, always ranking last; overly obsessed with novels and comics, often causing trouble for others by saying inappropriate things he had imagined in reality, being treated as the weirdo among weirdos; terrible social skills, barely able to communicate smoothly in real life, always dragging the team down during group work... A person who didn’t mind all these things and was willing to be his friend.

The beginning of the new year started with such luck, as if blessed by the gods. Even if he had bad luck every day for the rest of the year, it would be completely acceptable.

After all, this was a super, super, super lucky day that he had used up his luck from the past decade or more, and possibly even his future luck!

“That won’t do, you know.” The youth’s voice, tinged with amusement, sounded in Zhang Yun’s ear, interrupting his unintentional spoken thoughts. “It’s just an ordinary day, yet for you it’s considered lucky? You’re even willing to use up all your past and future luck... I’m telling you, this absolutely won’t do!”

... Suddenly emitting such heavy negative emotions to pollute the atmosphere, this was his last safe zone in this classroom, and even it was going to be contaminated – this absolutely won’t do!

“?” Zhang Yun turned his head in confusion, discovering that Bai Yi, who had been half-lying on the desk, had raised his head completely at some point and was staring directly at him. As he said the last sentence, his smiling tone suddenly turned serious, and in that instant, all the amusement in his eyes disappeared, leaving only pure coldness in his pitch-black pupils.

He just stared straight at Zhang Yun like this.

“—After all, I never acknowledged that we’re friends.”

Zhang Yun froze like a suddenly powered-off robot.

After several seconds, he slowly opened his mouth. “I-I see, I got carried away with my imagination again, haha...” The corners of his mouth gradually curved upwards, eventually turning into an awkward smile. “Indeed, I can never seem to break the habit of talking to myself. Many people have pointed this out before. Did I cause trouble for you this time, Bai Yi?”

“Yes, you did.” Bai Yi nodded without hesitation, stretching out his hands to make a big circle. “A very, very big trouble.”

Seeing the other’s frozen smile, he pouted. “Being considered a friend by someone, and having that person arbitrarily push all their past and future misfortunes onto me as the price of making friends... Such a heavy burden, I can’t bear it, you know. Isn’t this an extremely, extremely, extremely big trouble?”

Hearing this, Zhang Yun hurriedly shook his head and explained. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just, I just felt I was too lucky today. In the past, no one was willing to listen to me talk so much, and I actually managed to communicate smoothly with you for so long.”

“Every time I want to talk to others, I always lose control of myself. Because I’m too nervous, I say inappropriate things, making others dislike me. Only on the internet can I be a bit more relaxed and natural...”

“... Although I don’t have many friends at school, I’m rejected by everyone because I’m not likable, while you, Bai Yi, actively reject others. Actually, many classmates are curious and want to get to know you – you’re just like a manga protagonist!”

After saying a long string of words, when he got to the part about manga protagonists, Zhang Yun’s stuttering tone became smooth and natural. His dull eyes began to shine again, and he spoke with an excited and unquestionable tone. “For a background extra like me to have a day where I can communicate and become friends with the protagonist at the center of the world, isn’t that super lucky! Although, although it’s just me assuming we’re friends...”

“That’s why I said, I haven’t acknowledged it. Being your friend carries too heavy a burden. I’m the super-powered young protagonist who has to save the world in a manga, I already have enough burdens.” Bai Yi’s attitude seemed to return to its previous calm and gentleness, and he even joked along with Zhang Yun’s imagined script.

“—It’s just an ordinary day of chatting and sharing gossip with a deskmate, nothing special about this everyday occurrence. There’s no need to consider it a lucky day.”

He flopped back down on the desk and turned his head to look at Zhang Yun. “If you have to use up your luck for such ordinary daily occurrences, your luck will become negative in the future, and you might drop dead on the spot.”

Zhang Yun’s eyes gradually regained their brightness, and he nodded heavily. “That’s right, there will often be such ordinary daily occurrences. If I really had to use up my luck, I wouldn’t have enough to deduct.”

He omitted many details that ordinary students shouldn’t know, such as the catastrophe of the Returning to the Void that the Sword Realm encountered, and the people in dreams who turned into ghosts.

—Of course, Bai Yi reasonably speculated that it wasn’t Tu Hao intentionally omitting these details, but rather that he himself didn’t know. The higher-ups probably wouldn’t casually spread information of this level.

“... According to the information obtained by the first batch of accidental travelers who entered the Sword Realm, the origin of this martial arts system is the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, also known as the Lord of the Hanguang Sword. He created the extraordinary martial arts based on traditional martial arts and spread his self-created ‘Martial Arts Classic’, giving others the opportunity to embark on the path of martial arts. All martial arts secrets in the Sword Realm are derived from the ‘Martial Arts Classic’.”

As he spoke, Tu Hao held up the small black booklet in his hand.

“—This is the textbook you now have in your hands.”

“Of course, what you have is an abridged introductory version.”

The classroom immediately burst into a hubbub, with incessant whispers.

It was hard to imagine that the book used as a textbook for students was actually the masterpiece of the founder of martial arts, even if it was an introductory version.

—Should they praise the courage of the Yao Country’s high-level officials, or admire the magnanimity of the Lord of the Heavenly Capital who widely spread his cultivation methods?

“Quiet.”

Once Tu Hao, who came from the military, put on a stern face, he naturally exuded an aura that ordinary teachers didn’t have, immediately making the classroom quiet again.

“The reason for saying all this is to let everyone know that this promotion of martial arts is a major policy of the entire country, not just a small, casual matter. Those who have talent and strength in this area will have unimaginable treatment in the future. So students should take this seriously and not miss this opportunity.”

He wasn’t just speaking to the students in the classroom, but more like expressing the attitude of Yao Country’s high-level officials. To every citizen of this country, to that mysterious Lord of the Heavenly Capital.

Bai Yi believed that at this moment, in countless schools across the country, there were probably many “teachers” saying the same thing.

“—And for this opportunity, we should thank the Lord of the Heavenly Capital who widely spread martial arts. Although this ancestor has returned to his homeland after many years of absence, he may not know how to adapt to this world hundreds of years later and hasn’t appeared publicly yet. But our Yao Country absolutely welcomes the return of this ancestor. For everything he has done to spread martial arts, we, every descendant, have only gratitude and reverence in our hearts.”

As Tu Hao spoke passionately, along with the background story about the Sword Realm and the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, the group of teenage boys and girls below the stage who hadn’t outgrown their chuunibyou phase became more and more excited. In the end, they couldn’t help but hold their textbooks on the desk like treasures.

Gently flipping through the pages, fingers tracing the black printed text, it was as if they could see the past when the Lord of the Heavenly Capital wrote this cultivation method stroke by stroke. Many people’s eyes showed a longing look, as if they wished they could go back hundreds of years to personally witness the legendary period when the Lord of the Heavenly Capital conquered the world with his sword.

Next to him, Zhang Yun had already started to imagine a new fantasy script on his own, and was enthusiastically sharing it with Bai Yi.

He began with a deep voice, as if narrating the opening of a TV series or novel. “This story begins with a boy obsessed with swordsmanship but too poor to join a martial arts school...”

Bai Yi/Pei Hefeng: “???”

... The non-existent story has increased.

As he flipped through the martial arts manual he had personally written on the desk, listening to his deskmate invent non-existent stories about him, he began to anticipate that his life from now on would be very interesting.

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