Writer Eternal: Another double chapter release. I try to release a chapter or two a week.

Chapter 6: The Antagonist

When the first day of the new term began, hundreds of students swiftly departed their dorms and entered their classrooms. At the Slumbering Beast Academy, only the core class was mandatory. The core class consisted of training and fighting. Han Cong Wei had been busy reading and practicing the many sword martial arts he obtained, incorporating them into his fighting style.

Wei looked around at all the freshmen around him. All first years were restricted to the western area of the academy. It was because there was a large spirit vein there, akin to a metal vein but releasing pure spirit energy for faster cultivation. First years gathered around the track field, wondering what their first lesson would be.

Wei had successfully created his Spirit Crown last night. He felt a deeper connection to the elements of fire thunder, and earth. When he and the director had dinner, the director told him that all immortals, or celestials as they were still in the Mortal Realm, took two paths.

One path was that of an aspiring Magus. Those who followed the mage path focused on elemental manipulation and spells. The other path was that of the Warlord. Aspiring Warlords mastered martial arts and preferred close range combats. The director claimed the Magus path was the best and a celestial could still follow martial arts. Instead of mastering several battle skills, a mage could manipulate the elements and incorporate it into his own martial arts.

It was a more difficult path, but mages are more powerful for a reason. It is the convenience of spells that makes a Magus a standard weakling with lower body refinement and martial arts experience. A Magus who embraced both paths would essentially stand above both.

As students of the advanced class contained those with superior talent, they looked down on the rest of the freshmen both noble and commoner. Wei couldn't be bothered with the prejudices and sat beneath the shade of a peach tree while the other freshmen divided themselves by class, talent, and background.

All the regular freshmen were not at the peak ninth layer, very few at the late ninth layer of condensation. They stared at the advanced students enviously. The evaluation of first years summarized the future of the students. It was clear those individuals would rise to power and would be favored by the academy.

"Shen Ling!" a boy laughed as he thought he saw a familiar face, his bearing average and without much muscle. The boy was at the late ninth layer of condensation and one of the regular students.

"Hmph. Who is this guy to address the princess that way," one of the boys of the advanced class sneered. "Get lost!"

"Shen Ling? Are you here?" the boy asked as he walked towards the advanced class.

"This bastard has no ears---" the other boy growled but was stopped by a palm on his shoulder. He bowed his head as he let the girl in the red leather jacket walk past, an insignia of a gold dragon and white phoenix at her back.

"Greetings Your Highness," all the noble students of the regular class bowed.

"Why do we have to bow? Every student is equal among freshmen."

"That's the princess. Should we?"

"No. We're protected by the academy rules. Let's watch what happens next."

"Lu Mang?" the princess asked. "Wow. Long time no see. You even managed to cultivate to the late ninth layer! Good. You didn't disappoint my cousin's expectations."

"Is she here?" Lu Mang asked, a warmth in his voice.

"She has a lot of suitors. She also got admitted and already reached the middle Foundation Establishment stage. She's past all those students behind me. How did you rise up to the ninth layer so fast? How long did you cultivate?" Ling asked.

"I started a year ago," Lu Mang grinned, stunning some of the students.

Han Cong Wei opened his eyes and frowned as he stared at Lu Mang. Started a year ago? Impossible. Did he have a fortuitous encounter? That Lu Mang had to. Commoner background and a crush on a woman of a higher class.... it was just like one of the xianxia novels he loved to read.

Only the commoner students noticed the lone Han Cong Wei rise from the peach tree and walk over to join the others. Their eyes widened and some whispered as they pointed at the insignia at his back. The boy didn't seem to be from an ancient clan or the imperial family. The boy had to be a duke!

"Is that Duke Nevermore?" a boy in the advanced class began before his legs were pierced with a lightning arrow. Shocked, everyone turned to the source to see Han Cong Wei standing there with a hand on the hilt of his sword by his left hip.

"Did you say something?" Han Cong Wei asked. He felt it was his duty to punish those who bullied and insulted the original Han Cong Wei. That was why he exiled the clans of the bullies. The boy who insulted him was on the ground, the lightning causing his body to twitch violently as if hit by an Taser gun.

"Violence isn't the answer," the princess said.

"Sorry. Haven't interacted with so many people, so I don't know how to 'take it easy.' I didn't use enough power to make him bleed," Wei shrugged. He did have Han Cong Wei's memories, but it was as if he watched a movie in first person. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lu Mang fiddle with a brown ring on his finger.

"You.... you're at the early Foundation Establishment stage!" one of the advanced students shouted as the boy was unable to sense Wei's cultivation.

"You used a Spirit Pearl?" Ling asked.

"I got lucky and acquired one. I am Duke Han Cong Wei," Wei nodded as he held out a hand.

"Shen Ling, also a early Foundation Establishment celestial. I'm a niece of the emperor, but I've never met a duke my own age," the princess said and the two shook hands.

No one took notice of them as Lu Mang tried to walk past the advanced class to see his friend. The boy from before could not be stopped and attacked Lu Mang. As the two boys began to brawl, the students of the regular and advanced class began to fight one another. Ling quickly rushed to her cousin as Wei watched from the sides.

His eyes narrowed as he saw a bloodied brown ring fly to his feet. He looked inside the storage ring as the advanced students began to push the regular students back. His eyes narrowed as he took out an old worn book from the ring. He realized it was a cultivation method.

Cultivation methods allowed a celestial to cultivate spirit energy in a different method accompanied with unique benefits. It just took a difference in cultivation methods to allow someone with no talent to surpass someone with exceptional talent.

With no time to read it, he took out his journal. The journal shined and copied the method instantaneously just like the carvings in the ruins. He was about to put the book back but his spirit energy reacted to something in the journal. His a touch, he removed the cover to reveal a red ring with throbbing veins along its sides embedded along the book's spine. The ring blended so well, the spine felt so smooth and was not affected when flipping pages.

Wei decided to put the ring in his hidden body space and replaced the book back in the ring. He flicked it toward where the fighting started and the ring landed among many other magical items and disarmed weapons. As most of the students were weak and barely had any fighting experience, they brawled and used their items dismally.

Wei returned to the shade of the peach tree, studying his journal. He had recorded many cultivation methods from those he executed and found similarities. However, Lu Mang's cultivation was clearly superior in terms of body refinement. As Lu Mang progressed, his physical prowess would expand exponentially and allow him to fight above his cultivation in the future.

As one enraged man made his way to the lake and brawling students, Wei was reorganizing the data in his journal. He also felt conflicted inside. He felt like an antagonist because his status and cultivation overshadowed Lu Mang. He definitely felt like the antagonist as he saw the red-haired young girl and daughter of the emperor.

She looked like a maiden of heaven, so beautiful that her cousin paled in comparison. Shen Ling was also a beauty too, but with a more mature face and body-line. One was a pure maiden while the other was a hot beauty. Wei really felt hurt as he thought he was like an MC, transferring to a new world and rising in status and talent.

"Even though I might not pursue the princess, my status makes me a contender. I might look like a love rival in Lu Mang's eyes. Should I just keep the brown ring in my hidden body space and dispose of the cultivation method within?" Wei thought silently as he watched the teacher blow the students away from each other by expelling his spirit energy.

"Why the hell are you all fighting? And on the very first day? Are you not willing to give me face and make me look bad? Huh? Who started all this?" the man roared, a flame circle rising around his feet.

As the students remained silent, the man roared, "Are you all mutes? Do you want me to consult the director and have your monthly spirit stones deducted or forfeited?"

"It was those two!"

"It was them. Don't punish us, teacher!"

"We were wrong. Don't take the spirit stones away."

The students of both classes fell to their knees and begged their teacher as the man turned to the princesses, "You two did good to not deal with the brawl like these brats. As expected of the imperial family."

"Duke Han Cong Wei also declined from joining the brawl," Shen Ling said, everyone turning their eyes to see Wei eating a hot bowl of egg noodle soup.

"Where did you get that? A storage ring is not able to freeze time inside the ring. Even herbs would slowly expire in storage rings," the teacher said. "You have a spatial ring?"

"Yes," Wei answered, pointing to his left hand holding the bowl with his chopsticks. "I am a duke."

"Fair enough. Why did you not stop the fight?" the man asked but paused as the director of the academy arrived.

"Sir?" the teacher began.

"A decision has been made. Ten students from among the advanced class will be officially accepted into the Slumbering Beast Sect. Based on what I see, only those three will be accepted. You three can apply for the classes in the eastern and northern academy district. Monthly awards is tripled to thirty. I am very disappointed in what I see. Every one of you....lively youths.....will lose two spirit stones for three months," the director said before giving a jade talisman to the two princesses and Han Cong Wei.

"Slumbering Beast Sect?" Wei asked.

"Our academy is an academy only in name. Mostly. We do have classes, but cultivation depends on the student. There are a total of four hundred and fifty freshmen this year, the seventy of you brats the top two classes. The numbers seem high, but less than a quarter will truly join our academy," the director laughed, the man blanching.

"It can't be....our academy was chosen this year?" the teacher asked, everyone startled to see the man's face so pale.

"Only the fresh meat.....ah, the correct term is new students. My apologies," the director smiled but everyone knew he didn't really mean it. "There is a Space Gate in the hunting grounds of the imperial palace. The Space Gate opens every ten years, and ten of the twenty five academies are chosen to enter every year. The Space Gate never transports you to the same location every single time."

"The land is a celestial paradise. There are countless herbs, spirit stones, and even magical items ripe for the taking. The danger is also very real. Each location is an exotic one where some items cannot be found in our world. The Space gate always mysteriously chooses the academy and only the freshmen can enter. Should your harvest be bountiful, you return with fame and glory," the director smiled. "Don't expect more than a thirty of you to come back alive."

Many students cried out in fear and shock. Even those students from the capital had mixed feelings. They knew the glories of the survivors, but they knew the tragedy of those who died even more. Memorial tablets were erected in the school solely for those who died in the Space Gate's dimensions.

"Now. Now. Don't cry. Each academy is given one hundred spots, you seventy being joined by the thirty students with the next best talents and strength. Of the one hundred spots, only ten are given a Cosmos Ring. This ring is the only storage item that can function in the Space Gate's dimension. If any of you are lucky enough to have a storage or spatial item, know that it is useless where you are going. In two days, the Space Gate opens," the director sighed.

"Whenever the academy is selected, those students who are one of the lucky ten to be given a Cosmos Ring automatically join our sect. Usually, you have to be a second year to be officially recognized as one of us," their teacher nodded. "Cosmos Rings cannot be stolen or used even if the owner dies. They are created by the Space Gate, not by nature or any creature with spirit energy. Each Cosmos Ring contains a 2x2x2 meter space, worse than the best storage ring. However, it functions like a spatial ring with its ability to freeze time inside the pocket space of the ring."

"You thought your lives would be easy for your first year. Me too. Too bad we're both disappointed. There is also a very important information you should all know: the Space Gate allows only one spell and one battle skill to be used originating outside its dimensions. Failure to register with us will get you killed. Same thing applies to one magical weapon and one magical item excluding storage category items. Our academy is willing to give you one of each, but you must choose to use it in the Space Gate. You have less than forty eight hours to prepare. I'd make it count if I were you," Director Ji laughed and left them in petrified silence.

"So the three of us are already considered members of the sect. We should stick together. We'll be safer as a group," Shen Ling smiled, her cousin agreeing as Wei noticed the swift glare in Lu Mang's eyes.

"I'm the antagonist. This guy already sees me as a love rival. If this is some script, I just changed it by taking the ring. The MC might be protected by plot armor. How do I deal with him before his cultivation skyrockets? I stole the ring, but he still has that book," Wei thought, scratching the back of his head as he walked toward his new home in the third floor of the director's pagoda.