Li Qiye never lost sight of his goal and ignored all external matters at the institution.
Zhao Qiushi came to visit him today. In fact, this youth has been visiting every day since Li Qiye’s arrival.
He didn’t dare to be careless after being assigned this task by the dean himself. He was afraid of Li Qiye not being used to this new place.
“Junior Brother, do you want to go outside? You haven’t gone out at all.” Qiushi noticed that the guy has only been meditating: “Cultivation isn’t done in one day. The weather is perfect so why not go take a look around the institution?”
“Indeed, cultivation isn’t done in one day. Let’s go take a look then.” Li Qiye agreed and smiled at the youth.
“I’ll be your guide.” Qiushi enthusiastically said, feeling much better.
He was afraid of Li Qiye being sensitive and feeling inferior about being a member of the sin tribe, and that others would despise him.
Li Qiye understood what the youth was thinking right away and didn’t bother correcting him.
Qiushi took him to different places in the academy while telling him relevant cool stories or interesting anecdotes.
Repentance Institution and this city have been around for about the same time as the four great academies. Alas, it had a serious lack of talents, let alone geniuses.
Thus, there weren’t that many interesting topics about it. Nevertheless, the education here shouldn’t take the blame.
Only natives would join Repentance so there existed a clear lack of potential recruits. On the other hand, everyone in the system wanted to join any of the four great academies.
Moreover, the stigma stemming from the lack of light also hindered its reputation.
Think about it, the merit laws taught in this place were still of the light affinity passed down by Desolate Saint. Therefore, not having the light affinity in abundance slowed the cultivation process.
Students at the other academies studying the same merit laws could train less yet gain more in comparison.
All of these factors culminated in a lack of success and prodigies in Repentance.
In this generation, Zhou Qiushi was already an excellent student. He was already a True King at his age. If he had joined one of the four great academies, he might be a True God right now.
He was relatively older and nearing his graduation date, just missing a chance to go on a training adventure.
That’s why many students here respected and came to greet him. Of course, some glanced at Li Qiye too. Most have heard that he was a sinkin.
However, they didn’t share the same animosity towards him like the students from other academies.
Lu Shimao and his group considered themselves to be righteous. A sinkin like Li Qiye was naturally considered an enemy.
The narratives from outsiders considered the natives of Repentance to be descendants of evil-doers. They weren’t basked in the light either, so in their opinion, Li Qiye being a sinkin wasn’t a big deal.
Li Qiye strolled along and occasionally chuckled at the stories told by Qiushi.
Finally, the duo made it to the very center of the academy. There existed a great pond with surging spring water.
This was the only place in the academy – no, in the entire vast city – that actively exuded the light affinity in a continuous manner.
A stone statue of an old man was in the middle of the pond. It wore a simple robe and sat in the meditative pose with its head lowered. One couldn’t see its face too well. A sword was laying on his knees – ashen in color and had ancient runes carved on the blade along with its name, Repentance.
Seeing these two characters written in an aggressive style left the spectators with a heavy heart.
Li Qiye paused and looked at the old statue then the sword.
“This is our sacred spring also named Repentance, the only spot in this land with light and the power source of our institution.” Zhao Qiushi proudly said.
The water came from the bottom of the pond along with the power of light. Qiushi was right to be proud.
People would start wondering about whether this land was cursed or not if it wasn’t for the existence of this pond. At the very least, it showed that light hasn’t abandoned this place completely.
Li Qiye smiled and nodded, still looking at the sword.
“It’s a statue of our progenitor, of course. I heard he himself put it here. Plus, that might be his personal sword too.” Qiushi said with respect.
“It’s definitely a fine blade.” Li Qiye nodded and stopped looking.
“A peerless divine sword.” Qiushi was still full of pride: “Rumor has it that no one can take this sword away ever since the progenitor left it here. It’s unique and needs to accept a master. Using brute force is useless.”
This pond, the statue, and the sword were symbols and evidence of the institution’s orthodox status.
If it wasn’t for them, who would actually think that this land was a part of the system and that it was started by Desolate Saint? They would have accused the place of being part of the heretical dao long ago, denouncing its role as an academy.
Fortunately, these remnant artifacts stopped everyone from ever refuting the academy’s status.
“No one can take it away?” Li Qiye glanced at the sword again and chuckled.
“Junior Brother, just holding it is impossible, let alone taking it away.” Qiushi put on a serious expression: “According to the dean, for millions of years now, only a few beings can actually pick it up. Even a True Emperor must be recognized by the light before trying.”
“Just picking it up is no big deal. Now, taking it away is indeed difficult.” Li Qiye smiled: “Those who can’t pick it up just lack a firm dao heart.”
“You must be new here.” A student nearby overheard Li Qiye and shook his head. He didn’t mean to mock Li Qiye at all: “Seems like you don’t know much about this blade. Its name is Repentance as well. Students like us have no chance, the same with the older masters. In fact, the only person currently known to be capable of picking it up is Holyfrost True Emperor!”
“He’s right, Junior Brother, it’s an impossibility. Holyfrost True Emperor is from the Sacred Spirit Race. She has cultivated in Northern Academy since youth and is the strongest light user in our system. She’s the only one who can pick it up but she still can’t take it away. Don’t underestimate this sword. People like us have no chance of taking it away without being chosen.” Qiushi said.
He wasn’t exaggerating, only merely stating facts. All along, few have managed to pick it up. The successful ones eventually returned it to this spot.
The brilliant Radiance True Emperor had visited this place too. He held the sword before putting it down again, ending with a comment: “This sword belongs here.”