Chapter 393 - 289: Genius Freshman

The regular school opening ceremony convened once again. Being a prominent figure over the past year and hailed as the great hero who saved the White Dragon Empire, it was only natural for Long Yi to be chosen as the representative of the outstanding Dragon Knights within the academy. He stood on stage and delivered a brief speech, which, of course, was written for him by Ai Lin.

Long Yi stood on the stage in front of the whole Dragon Knight Academy. Over the past year, Long Yi, with his fists, suppressed all the dissenting voices, positioning himself at the pinnacle of the ranks. The audience admired him, but some also resented him. Nevertheless, there was no denying that Long Yi’s arrival at the academy had spurred the students to train more conscientiously.

Behind Long Yi were the emperor’s ministers and the leaders of the five major Dragon Knight Legions. Normally, each Dragon Knight Legion has only one leader, but several vice captains are assigned to handle more nuanced tasks.

Vice Captain Lin Qi of the First Legion and Vice Captain Osborne of the Fourth Legion were people Long Yi was familiar with. Then, there was Fan Sen, the leader of the Third Legion, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

Fan Sen was extremely pleased with Long Yi’s performance over the past year. In fact, within the Third Legion, Long Yi had transitioned from a reservist to an active-duty member. This was like providing a back door for Long Yi. As an active Dragon Knight, Long Yi now possessed the status of a noble with a handsome monthly salary and, should he make a mistake, the military would guarantee he didn’t end up in jail.

The leaders of the major Dragon Knight Legions envied Fan Sen’s good fortune. Who wouldn’t want their Dragon Knights to become national heroes?

Around these leaders were also some Dragon Knights, half of them being well-regarded within their legions, their fighting abilities and charisma unmatched. They were all eyeing Long Yi, curious to find out if he truly was as extraordinary as the legends suggested.

Despite facing away from them, Long Yi could clearly feel their probing gaze and seemed to be under immense pressure. When he finished his speech, he turned around and greeted everyone with a warm, simple and honest smile.

Next was the speech by the excellent freshman.

The boy who walked onto the stage was handsome and appeared quite young. His smile was rather shy, but his words were clear and precise, his behavior mature and not at all in sync with his childlike appearance.

"Wesley, tell me this is just my imagination," Long Yi suddenly said.

"It’s not just you, Brother Long. I also feel like something is off," Wesley replied.

"Since you also feel it, keep an eye on them. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire," Long Yi murmured.

After a pause, Wesley suddenly whispered, "Maybe you’ll find this interesting, Brother Long."

"What?"

"Remember those prodigies that appeared this year?"

"Yes."

"Well, they’re all sitting together. Those four in the front row from the freshman class, they all have something in common."

"They all look too young and, for Dragon Knights, their skin looks incredibly well cared for," Long Yi observed.

"I have the admission material of all new students this year. According to it, they are all either fifteen or sixteen, coming from various remote areas within the White Dragon Empire. None of them are from a major city. The boy who gave the speech earlier is even from a small village that hasn’t produced an Earth Dragon Knight in many years. No need to explain to you, Brother Long, how hard it would be for someone to become a powerful Dragon Knight, let alone an academic overachiever, from such an obscure place. After all these years, only you were an exception. But now, four more after you? I don’t believe it!" Wesley reasoned.

"I’ll take it as a compliment. What else did you find?" Long Yi asked, furrowing his brows a little. Did these boys belong to the giants too? It’s not possible. As a giant myself, I’m already too short. These kids are even shorter. Plus, they don’t seem immensely strong. They probably weren’t giants.

"I looked at their test papers from the advancement exams. Their solution strategies were identical, and their answers were very similar. Most importantly, they used solution methods that have been abandoned for a decade now - unless, they learned them when they were five," Wesley added.

"In that case, I think we’re about to have some serious fun," Long Yi laughed.

Those boys surely were up to something, but it was unclear what their motive was. Well, foxes always show their tails eventually.

All the speeches came to an end, and at long last, everyone’s favorite part was here.

The royal martial arts demonstration Event in Front of the Emperor.

This was the highlight of every opening ceremony for numerous Dragon Knights. Since both the emperor and the leaders of the five major Dragon Knight Legions watched the event, those who distinguished themselves here were destined for a promising future!

The moment Dean Gandalf officially announced the start of the demonstration, a figure immediately rushed onto the stage.

It was the same young boy who had given the speech earlier.

"Your Majesty, I wish to challenge Long Yi!" he stated clearly, without hesitation.

The entire venue erupted into a frenzy. Long Yi’s name had become legendary in the Dragon Knight Academy. Ever since his first year, there had been ceaseless challengers, but none so far had attained victory. Now, a freshman dared to challenge Long Yi, who was already in his sixth year?

Even Long Yi himself hadn’t attempted that in his first year!

So that was it - their target was me all along.

Long Yi laughed.

He stood up and leaped onto the stage. His tall figure stood a full head above the boy.

"I hear you’re called Aidong," Long Yi said.

"Yes, I’m Aidong."

"I heard in your village, there’s a wonderful legend linked to the name Aidong. What is it?" Long Yi asked with a smile.

"My father did mention it once, but I didn’t remember because I’ve been training since my childhood and didn’t have much time to pay attention to these things." Aidong’s expression became increasingly shy.

"Fine, I was just curious." Long Yi laughed. What rubbish! Aidong was a very common name locally, as ordinary as any Tom, Dick or Harry.

"Um, Brother Long, I have a request." Aidong shyly said.

"Fire away."

"We only want to demonstrate our strength to His Majesty the Emperor. But just me alone certainly can’t stand against you, Brother Long. Can we four get on together..."

"Alright! No problem!" Long Yi generously agreed.

"I...have another request..." Aidong blushed, evidently embarrassed.

"Shoot! Don’t be shy!"

"Can you not go all out? Otherwise, we might not be able to withstand even one of your moves..." While saying this, Aidong had lowered his face in embarrassment.

"Haha, I thought it’s something serious, this is easy to handle! I will definitely cooperate with you!" Long Yi said, laughing.

Only then did the surrounding Dragon Knights realize. Those four kids were really smart! Despite their limited personal strength, they understood how to use leverage!

They challenged Long Yi, the top Dragon Knight of the academy right from the start, to leave a strong impression. Then they humbly requested Long Yi to cooperate with them in the battle. Thus, relying on Long Yi’s splendid combat skills, if their own strength wasn’t too inferior, they would undoubtedly be carried through a wonderful battle.

Such actions would definitely leave a profound impression on every elite present!

Why didn’t I think about this approach!

Some people couldn’t help but slap their thighs in regret!

Long Yi had a smile on his face, but was slightly surprised in his heart.

This was truly a perfect trap!

Who in this world would be wary of four such little kids? Long Yi considered himself to be a rather cautious person. But if he hadn’t noticed the strangeness of the situation, he would have agreed to all their requests and followed through accordingly.

But now, regardless of whether his suspicions were right, Long Yi had already put up his guard.

While Long Yi made conclusions based on his observations, the Emperor had built up a significant level of caution. Even though nothing unusual showed on his face, he had obviously felt something was off, with his instincts as a conspirator. The sudden appearance of four super geniuses was already suspicious, but the way these four super geniuses behaved was far from consistent with their identities.

The Emperor was familiar with plenty of super geniuses, all of whom viewed themselves as superior to everyone else. Yet these four super geniuses were humbly requesting Long Yi to assist their performance. It was normal if this happened to Wesley, but not to geniuses of such calibre, which was obviously abnormal.

However, the Emperor didn’t expose their act, as he noticed that over at the sixth grade side, Wesley’s eyes were beaming with a serious look. Clearly, Long Yi must have harboured some doubts too!

Now, it all depended on what those four kids wanted to do!

Truthfully, the Emperor indeed hoped that these people were the legendary super geniuses. How delightful it would be for the White Dragon Empire to suddenly have four super geniuses!

But, before proving their absolute reliability, no one dared to believe in them.

The four surrounded Long Yi, enclosing him within. They were all bare-handed, and began to attack Long Yi in turns.

To be honest, all four children displayed commendable combat skills, their movements skilled and adept.

But in Long Yi’s view, their movements were too skilled, too adept.

Given you’re a Dragon Knight from a small village who’s only around fifteen years old, regardless of your talent, it’s entirely impossible to possess such combat skills without a sparring partner. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to cast votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)