Chapter 397 - Vermillion Bird Academy

The pouch only contained some broken silver. Most of Xu Zimo’s valuable items were stored in his storage ring.

And just earlier, he had noticed something different about the little boy.

So he didn’t expose him on the spot.

…

Yue Qingli ran panting into a hidden alleyway and ducked inside.

He took out the pouch he had just stolen, opened it, and found several silver pieces and a few scattered spirit stones.

He chuckled and put both into his own pocket, tossing the money pouch aside.

“Looks like he’s worth something. At least I won’t go hungry today,” he said smugly, walking out of the alley.

But as he turned the corner, he saw someone standing at the alley’s entrance, the very person he had just stolen from.

Yue Qingli tried to run, but realized it was a dead-end alley.

And the only way out was now blocked.

Unless he had already reached the Desolate Meridian Realm and could fly, there was no way to escape.

“No one ever told you stealing is wrong?” Xu Zimo turned and walked over with a smile.

“What do you want?” Yue Qingli backed up to the farthest end of the alley, alert.

“Return what’s mine,” Xu Zimo said calmly.

Yue Qingli hesitated, then quickly picked up the discarded pouch from the ground, stuffed the money back in, and handed it over.

Grinning, he said, “Hey, what if I told you I just picked this up, would you believe me?”

“What do you think?” Xu Zimo asked back.

“Take off your hat. I don’t like talking to people who hide their faces.”

“No,” Yue Qingli shook his head quickly.

“I already gave the pouch back and I can apologize, but I won’t take off the hat.”

Saying that, he tried to run past Xu Zimo.

Xu Zimo chuckled and waved his right hand.

A wave of spiritforce shot out and knocked the black hat off Yue Qingli’s head.

But what was revealed made Xu Zimo freeze slightly in surprise.

Under the hat, there was nothing. No neck, no head.

Just the middle of a torso.

“You’re from the Three-Eyed Demon Race,” Xu Zimo said in surprise.

He quickly lifted the boy’s long robe.

And saw a face growing where his belly button should be.

It looked strange and bizarre.

There was a mouth, a nose, and two eyes, all centered on the stomach.

This was the defining trait of the Three-Eyed Demon Race.

Their heads were not on top like other creatures, but in the center of their bodies.

It was said that their ancestors were actually trees.

A tree called the Three-Eyed Demon Tree, which gained a miraculous opportunity and transformed into a humanoid form, but something went wrong.

That’s how they ended up with such a deformed appearance.

Because of how they looked, many of the 3,000 known races either disliked or discriminated against them.

So members of the Three-Eyed Demon Race often used all kinds of disguises when traveling.

The “three eyes” referred not just to their face,

but to a hidden third eye located within their heart.

In their clan, it was said that anyone who could open the third eye was a rare martial prodigy.

They were not a large race and not even ranked among the Thirty-Six Empires.

To put it simply, they were a minority group with very few members.

Now that his identity had been exposed, Yue Qingli panicked and picked up the fallen hat, putting it back on his “head,” trembling all over as he did.

Then he turned and bolted out of the alley in a panic.

Xu Zimo didn’t stop him. He was indeed surprised to see someone from the Three-Eyed Demon Race.

…

With that incident over, Xu Zimo lost interest in walking the streets.

As night fell, he returned to the inn to rest.

Vermilion Bird Academy’s student recruitment was happening in the next few days.

Xu Zimo planned to stay in the city a while and witness the spectacle.

After all, on the five continents, the Heavenly Dao Academy and its four branches were very well known.

Over the next few days, Xu Zimo stayed inside.

Ever since he met the previous generation’s Infernal Lord in the Blissful Empire and obtained the scripture called Demon, he had not yet fully explored its ten styles.

Though the inheritance had a kind of enlightening effect, Xu Zimo still felt he hadn’t reached the full potential of the battle technique.

The Dao is infinite. The deeper your understanding, the stronger you become.

But the Dao can never be completely understood, at least in the history of the Primordial Heartlands, no one had ever fully comprehended it.

No one had ever truly opened all twelve meridian gates and transcended.

After nearly five days of seclusion, the recruitment day finally arrived.

Xu Zimo stepped out of the inn. The streets were bustling with people.

Crowds surged toward the direction of Vermilion Bird Academy.

Hundreds of meters from the academy gates, the roads were jammed with bodies.

Not only youths from Vermilion Bird City, but also from other parts of Slaughter Empire and beyond.

Countless youths from all directions gathered here.

Many were accompanied by family.

Along the tree-lined road in front of the academy, dozens of students in red robes stood guard, maintaining order.

The entire avenue was packed with young hopefuls seeking admission.

Xu Zimo stood at the back of the line, looking ahead.

A commotion nearby suddenly caught his attention.

He saw a group of teenagers surrounding a boy in black robes, mocking and jeering him loudly.

As more people gathered, the black-robed boy curled up in a corner, trembling.

Xu Zimo saw clearly, it was the same Three-Eyed Demon Race kid who had stolen his money days earlier.

“Come see the freak! Even monsters want into Vermilion Bird Academy!” someone shouted.

“He should be kicked out. People from the Three-Eyed Demon Race don’t deserve to enter a sacred academy.”

As the crowd’s shouting grew louder, more people took notice.

The boy’s strange appearance, his head growing from his waist, made him disliked by both humans and beasts alike.

…

“What are you doing?” a voice cut through the noise.

The crowd parted as a Vermilion Bird Academy student stepped forward to maintain order.

He was a young man in a blue robe, carrying a rust-covered longsword on his back.

The sword was still sheathed, but the sheath was so rusted it had lost its shape.

“It’s Senior Mingyu!” someone in the crowd recognized the student and shouted.