Chapter 4: The One-In-A-Million Imperial Aura
Translator: Henyee Editor: JulesNye
The demon rampage six years ago was perhaps one of the gravest catastrophes that Huaxiu nation had ever faced since its founding.
Failure to properly contain residual spirit energy had resulted in the contamination of the fabric of s.p.a.ce, creating holes in the s.p.a.ce barrier which allowed the demon world to take advantage of the Gate Between Worlds.
The demon rampage that year had been so devastating that in one night, Huaxiu nation had made economic losses that ran into tens of billions.
The strangest thing was that the demons had retreated as quickly as they had come, but those few days had given rise to several heroic cultivators who had then been honored with the t.i.tle of Huaxiu nation's "Cultivator of the Year."
Odd Zhuo, who had killed the fifth-ranked sky-swallowing toad with his sky-parting skill, had been one of them.
Apart from him, w.a.n.g Ling remembered that there were nine other individuals who had been granted that honor, but he couldn't recall their names.
He remembered that it had initially been a sunny and cloudless day.
w.a.n.g Ling had been walking alone down the street in the capital of Huaxiu nation, Star City.
He lived in a small villa thirty thousand li away from the city center, in a mixed urban and rural area right on the fringes of Star City. Although it was very far away, it had only taken w.a.n.g Ling around five minutes at full speed to reach the city center.
And as for his reason for traveling thousands of li to Star City, he had just wanted to buy a limited edition crispy noodle snack.
w.a.n.g Ling remembered that Small Racc.o.o.n Crispy Noodle Snacks had released a limited edition collection card that day, which was only being circulated in Star City. If you found the limited edition racc.o.o.n flashcard in your snack packet, you would be able to enjoy free crispy noodle snacks for the next two hundred years.
For w.a.n.g Ling, this had truly been an offer too tempting to resist.
In his memory, the value of these crispy noodle snacks was higher than even the priceless magic objects sold at the market.
Because no matter how expensive these objects were, or how rare the material used in their making, they only lasted minutes in w.a.n.g Ling's hands before he broke them.
But crispy noodle snacks were different.
Even if they broke into pieces, he could still happily gorge himself on them, and satisfy his desire for good food!
From a young age, w.a.n.g Ling had always thought that the inventor of crispy noodle snacks deserved to be given an award for them.
Just as he was hurrying to the Small Racc.o.o.n Crispy Noodle Snacks flags.h.i.+p store, a well-established business that had been around for some eight hundred years, the Gate Between Worlds had split the air without warning, suddenly opening with a loud boom in the sky.
This moment would be forever etched in w.a.n.g Ling's memory.
The split in the sky had happened directly above the store, and the violent vibrations and gravitational waves it caused had leveled the big store in an instant.
Already w.a.n.g Ling couldn't recall much of what he had been feeling at that time.
The only thing he remembered was that he had been so angry, and he had looked impatiently for something to vent his resentment on!
And so it was at that moment when something large had fallen from the sky...
It had a bulky and thick cyan-colored torso, and an insufferably arrogant air as it dropped down in front of w.a.n.g Ling. Its compa.s.s-sized pupils had flickered with a strange l.u.s.ter — it was a ma.s.sive, cyan-colored toad.
This was probably the biggest monster w.a.n.g Ling had seen since he was born.
The instant its three hundred-foot long body landed on the ground, it raised a dust cloud that stretched out for fifty li around.
This poor sky-swallowing toad, however, had been very unlucky to have encountered w.a.n.g Ling.
How the h.e.l.l was it to know what was going to happen to it?
The sky-swallowing toad hadn't even finished its loud cry before w.a.n.g Ling had already pierced through its abdomen with one punch...
It fell to the ground, and in the moment that its spirit was drawn out, the sky-swallowing toad had taken a look at the person who had killed it in one blow...
...
A child just ten years old?
At that moment, ten thousand gra.s.s mud horses 1 had galloped through the sky-swallowing toad's heart.
Motherf**ker, what the h.e.l.l was up with this planet?
With the last trace of its spirit energy, the sky-swallowing toad had warned the monsters on the other side of the gate not to approach this world.
Thus, the reason why the demons had retreated so quickly six years ago was inevitably linked to w.a.n.g Ling.
As for how Odd Zhuo came to be credited with killing the sky-swallowing toad, and the awards presentation after... w.a.n.g Ling had no idea. He only remembered being heartbroken for a long time over the loss of that distinguished, hundreds-of-years-old flags.h.i.+p store which sold crispy noodle snacks.
...
This time, standing once again in front of a system-modified, scaled-down version of the "sky-swallowing toad," w.a.n.g Ling was feeling a mix of emotions.
He had antic.i.p.ated that No. 60 High School was bound to make a big deal of Odd Zhuo's glorious deed in killing the sky-swallowing toad. However, he had never accounted for the possibility that No. 60 High School had actually gotten hold of its spirit and had even transmitted it into the system database in order to create a more authentic simulation.
This was the aura that had killed it with one blow! Even though it had been reduced to this, the sky-swallowing toad had definitely never forgotten it.
Even though six years had pa.s.sed, the sky-swallowing toad still recognized w.a.n.g Ling as he stood in front of it once again.
And so, the instant the toad saw w.a.n.g Ling, it immediately turned petrified... there was not a single monster who wanted to be hit twice by such a freak... would his punch this time destroy the last of its remaining spirit?
Honestly speaking, w.a.n.g Ling had no idea what to do when faced with the sky-swallowing toad again.
While he was hesitating, the sky-swallowing toad made the first move — and fell to the ground with a boom .
And, well, that was it.
w.a.n.g Ling: "..."
The sky-swallowing toad's four legs were pointed to the sky, and it rolled its eyes emphatically.
The system gave its evaluation right away — SSS!!
Everyone cried out in surprise!
"What the h.e.l.l? What is going on? Student w.a.n.g hasn't even thrown a punch yet."
"Could it be a system error?" One examiner's jaw had dropped at what he was seeing.
"That shouldn't be possible... all the equipment was checked yesterday, and there definitely hadn't been any issues."
"I got it!"
Another examiner yelled excitedly, "Could it be... is this the legendary Killer Gaze?"
w.a.n.g Ling: "..."
Sky-swallowing toad: "..."
"That can be the only possibility."
Yet another examiner said solemnly, "Legends speak of some talented people who possessed this special ability. They can make monsters dizzy with the aura in their gazes... it's also mentioned in the cultivation encyclopedia..."
"Im, im... imperial aura?"
At this moment, the three examiners drew in sharp breaths, and were actually so excited they started to cry freely.
Yes! It had to be!
This could be the only explanation for why w.a.n.g Ling was able to knock the toad out just by staring at it!
While w.a.n.g Ling was at a loss, one examiner came up to him and grasped his hand tightly. "Student w.a.n.g, you are the future hope of our No. 60 High School!"
"..."
"According to the regulations, Student w.a.n.g will be directly admitted into our No. 60 High School's elite cla.s.s!"
"..."
"Let us give Student w.a.n.g Ling a round of applause, and we look forward to him performing even greater feats at No. 60 High School."
"..."
...
The red setting sun cast a long shadow as w.a.n.g Ling walked home in solitude.
His eyes swept over the letter for admittance into the elite cla.s.s, personally presented to him by No. 60 High School's director of education.
At that moment, in w.a.n.g Ling's heart, he didn't know whether he should be cursing motherf**ker or not.