Chapter Twenty-Nine: What Right Does He Have

The recruitment competition lasted an entire day, and six spots had already been confirmed—well, it should be seven. Aside from Chen Bo, the Chen family had Chen Long, Chen Yizhang, and Chen Yue. Among them, Chen Long was the strongest. Chen Yizhang was the son of the third elder of the Chen family, and Chen Yue was his twin sister. The three of them had a poor relationship with Chen Bo.

The Qin family had Qin Jinyin and Qin Dashan, two names as common as they come. Still, no matter how ordinary, they were better than Chen Bo’s name, which reminded people of a rather charming word.

From the Zhang family, there was Zhang Kai, the eldest among the seven, who was just a month shy of eighteen.

Chen Bo returned home to find Chen Zhenhai waiting for him, who excitedly slapped his shoulder and laughed heartily, “Bo’er, who would have thought you’d actually win the favor of the mentors from Tianyang Academy? They’ve decided to grant you a special admission! Well? Isn’t it a pleasant surprise?”

Ah, this was old news already. It seemed Zhao Qing had been thoughtful enough to inform his father. Judging by Chen Zhenhai’s tone, he had no idea that Chen Bo was now an artificer.

Who knows what excuse Zhao Qing used, but it didn’t matter. Chen Bo only needed to remember this favor for the future.

Chen Zhenhai went on at length, mostly telling Chen Bo to be careful, not to wander off alone, to obey his mentors, not to break academy rules, and to train diligently. The words reminded Chen Bo of his days studying on Earth—nagging, yes, but tinged with warmth.

Tomorrow they would set out for Tianyang Academy. Chen Zhenhai gave Chen Bo four essence stones as pocket money. In fact, all the Chen family members received four stones; Chen Zhenhai made no distinction, though Chen Bo would have preferred some favoritism.

The mentors were already waiting at the town gate of Flame Town. Chen Bo woke early, packed his belongings, and hurried there.

At the town gate, the six prodigies of Flame Town were already assembled, each seated atop a mammoth essence beast.

Curious, they touched here and there. Suddenly, a deep voice rumbled, “Hey, you little humans! I don’t like being poked all over.”

“Who?!”

“What was that?!”

They cried out in alarm, clearly startled. After a moment’s observation, they realized it was their mammoth essence beast speaking. One stammered, “Essence beasts can talk?”

A mentor explained, “Those that can’t speak aren’t called essence beasts, but half-essence beasts. Half-essence beasts are hybrids between essence beasts and wild beasts, much more numerous, lacking intelligence, more bloodthirsty than wild beasts, and bizarre in appearance—very hard to tame.”

“True essence beasts, regardless of rank or maturity, can all speak human language. These mammoths are genuine essence beasts, but the academy has tamed them.”

“Oh!” The group realized, their respect for the mentors of Tianyang Academy deepening. This was indeed an academy of scholars.

“Mentor, may we depart?” The prodigy of the Zhang family, impatient with waiting, asked.

“No, we’re still missing a few,” replied Zhao Qing.

“You mean that witch?”

“Yes, and another person.” Zhao Qing smiled.

“Hello, everyone! I’m not late, am I?” A male voice called from the distance. The group looked over to see a young man with a bundle on his back and a longsword at his waist hurrying toward them.

“Look, someone’s arrived, but we’re still missing two,” Zhao Qing said.

“This—this is—” Chen Long stared at the approaching youth, nearly speechless. After regaining his composure, he said, “Chen Bo, what is a useless thing like you doing here?”

“Why shouldn’t I be here?” Chen Bo shot him a glance and retorted.

“Hmph, we’re heading to Tianyang Academy. Are you hoping to cozy up to me at the last minute?” Chen Long said smugly.

“Cozy up to you?” Chen Bo paused, pondering the odd behavior of so many men in this world—first Zhao Qing, now Chen Long.

Chen Bo replied, “Why would I want to cozy up to you? First, you’re not a woman; second, you’re not beautiful; third, you’re not a peerless beauty. Oh, and by the way, I am now a student of Tianyang Academy.”

With that, Chen Bo clumsily climbed onto the back of a mammoth essence beast, marveling, “I wonder how essence beasts put on weight—how did it get so big? I almost couldn’t climb up.”

“You? You’re a student at Tianyang Academy? Hahahaha! This is the biggest joke I, Chen Long, have ever heard. A useless wretch like you, if you could enter Tianyang Academy, then the person recruiting you must be blind!” Chen Long sneered.

The other prodigies of Flame Town laughed loudly, their gazes at Chen Bo full of contempt.

They failed to notice something was amiss. Chen Bo was seated atop a mammoth essence beast, and the mentors said nothing, clearly allowing it. Yet none of them realized this, and continued to laugh unrestrainedly.

Chen Bo glanced oddly at Zhao Qing and said, “Mentor uncle, so you’re disabled?”

His words incited the mentors’ anger—not at Chen Bo, but at those who were laughing.

“Chen Bo is our special recruit, and none of us are blind!” one mentor said, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot, barely restraining his fury.

His voice was loud, everyone heard, and the laughter died abruptly. Chen Long pointed at Chen Bo in disbelief, “He—he’s really a special recruit? No! How could this useless wretch qualify for Tianyang Academy? He can’t even lift a chicken!”

“It must be some under-the-table deal! Chen Zhenhai must have given you all the family’s essence stones to admit Chen Bo, right? Is that it?”

“Enough!” Zhao Qing shouted, his voice so forceful that Chen Long nearly tumbled off, a trickle of blood at his lips.

“I—I’m sorry, Mentor, I was… momentarily lost,” Chen Long quickly turned contrite, realizing he had angered the mentors and bowing his head in apology.

“Hmph, one more word from you and I’ll throw you off. You won’t need to go to Tianyang Academy! Chen Bo is our special recruit, for reasons that are ours, and it’s not for you youngsters to question!”

The prodigies’ faces turned sour, watching Chen Bo in leisure with clenched teeth; Chen Long, especially, seethed with suppressed murderous intent.

Chen Bo certainly noticed, so he flashed Chen Long a middle finger and ignored him. Whether Chen Long understood its meaning was none of Chen Bo’s concern.

Six hostile gazes bore into Chen Bo, as if hoping to pierce through him.