Chapter 226 - Weiwei’s Growth

Chapter 226: Chapter 213 Weiwei’s Growth"Weiwei!"

In the wooden schoolhouse of the Green Forest plane, a thirteen-year-old boy poked his classmate’s arm and whispered softly, "How about after class I take you to the Wooden Horse Playground?"

"De Kaka, can you not be so childish?" Weiwei didn’t even glance at her deskmate, "Stop bothering me, I’m listening to the lecture."

Snubbed, De Kaka could only sulkily sit up straight again, as the instructor on the stage withdrew his gaze and continued with the course.

To expand itself, the Natural Sect managed, through its seventh-generation Sect Hierarch, who was also the seventh Tower Master of Green Tower, to wrench control of the entire plane of Green Forest from the empire. The sect established the Natural Sect headquarters here, along with three schools for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, specifically to focus on the training of talented Druids and infuse fresh blood into the sect.

Weiwei had been recommended by the Natural Sect’s branch in Huai’an early on and had successfully entered Green Forest for specialized training.

More than twenty other children with her were all geniuses from different planes, destined to become pivotal pillars of the sect in the future.

"Alright, that concludes today’s lesson," the Natural Sect instructor closed the heavy textbook and continued, "This afternoon you can meditate and practice on your own. Although I won’t check, if there is no improvement in your magic power by the end-of-year assessment, the penalties handed down by the head administrator will be severe, and I certainly won’t plead on your behalf."

"Got it, teacher, goodbye!"

As the children bowed in unison, the instructor floated away.

"De Kaka!"

No sooner had the instructor left did Bulaila, sitting in the first row, spin around furiously, "Didn’t you say you were busy this afternoon?!"

"Yeah," De Kaka shrugged, "didn’t the instructor say we needed to meditate and practice? I definitely don’t want to get a beating during the year-end assessment."

Bulaila ground her teeth in frustration. Meditation in the afternoon was a task, but how could such young children stay put? Didn’t they all run around playing anyway? As long as they weren’t caught by the instructor, everything would be fine.

"It’s just an excuse!" Bulaila exclaimed loudly, "During class, you were still asking that country girl to go to the Wooden Horse Playground. You think I didn’t hear it?!"

De Kaka wasn’t stupid; he had whispered softly, right in the ear. How could Bulaila, sitting in the first row, have heard it?

"Did you put a magic listener next to me?!"

"I...," as she looked around at the strange glances from the classmates, Bulaila felt a bit panicked, listening in on others was indeed very impolite.

To divert attention, Bulaila grabbed the heavy textbook and hurled it ferociously at Weiwei, who was just about to push the door and leave.

Sensing the projectile from the side, Weiwei stepped back half a step. Honestly, she had experienced this kind of attack too many times since her arrival in Green Forest. The textbook hit the door with a heavy, muffled thud, and another female student in the classroom also ducked her head in alarm, seemingly sharing a similar, unpleasant past.

"It’s all because of that cheap country girl, she must have cast some Sorcery on you; otherwise, why would you be so enamored with her?!" Bulaila, attempting to change the subject, directed her anger towards Weiwei.

"Bulaila, don’t cause trouble here!" As soon as Weiwei was mentioned, De Kaka immediately became flustered, "She wouldn’t put any Sorcery on me."

"Hmph!" Bulaila looked at Weiwei arrogantly, "Next time I catch you talking to De Kaka, be careful—your old good-for-nothing grandfather might just end up on the streets, you know~"

Weiwei still refused to bow her head to Bulaila, but thinking of her grandfather who worked in Bulaila’s family store, she could only swallow her pride and respond softly, "Understood." Then, she rushed out of the classroom.

Since entering Green Forest, Weiwei had faced much mockery and discrimination due to her countryside origins. In the several academies of Green Forest, the majority of students were descendants of the great families, each one haughty and arrogant, bringing the practices of the upper-class nobility with them.

People like Weiwei were only fit to live on the lower rungs of society, where each day was a nightmare that they had to endure.

Bulaila was a local gem of a family in Green Forest. She fell short of the qualifications to enter the elite academy where Weiwei was a student, but the high-ranking officials of the Natural Sect made an exception out of respect for her family’s dedicated service and granted Bulaila a spot.

Regrettably, Bulaila’s purpose in attending the academy was not to learn and grow but to fixate on De Kaka. By an unlucky coincidence, although Bulaila was beautiful, De Kaka did not like her. Instead, he had taken a liking to the frail Weiwei.

The person named De Kaka was no simple character either. He was Konstantin’s biological grandson, and when the Eight Great Families rebelled, the eldest prince was killed. As the sole heir of the eldest prince, De Kaka received the most affectionate favor. To ensure his safety, Konstantin had specially sent him to Green Forest.

"You’re being completely unreasonable!" De Kaka shouted in anger, then chased after the figure out of the classroom, but the other was already nowhere to be seen.

Weiwei hurried back to her living place and stood in front of the shabby wooden door, forcing back tears and composing her emotions. Today was her grandfather’s day off; she absolutely couldn’t let him find out.

Upon opening the door, the old man was indeed at home, and a thick soup was simmering in the big pot.

"Weiwei, you’re back? Quick, have some hot meat soup while it’s warm. There were some leftover meat scraps from the store today, and the kitchen staff let me bring them back. Today, we grandparents and grandchildren will have an extra meal!"

The life that Weiwei and her grandfather led in Green Forest wasn’t too delightful. The Natural Sect had no obligation to take care of their disciples’ daily needs, which had to be supported either by themselves or by their families. Lina had given Weiwei a hand but wouldn’t keep her attention on them all the time, and they had long lost contact.

The old man with empty pockets had to work in the city of Green Forest, barely sustaining the two of them with his meager income.

Such days were not easy, not even as carefree and comfortable as in the tiny remote village of Parson realm.

After Weiwei had her meat soup, she remembered everything she had gone through and with tears welling up in her eyes, she choked, "Grandpa, I want to go back and see."

The old man dropped what he was doing and sat next to Weiwei. Green Forest was as sturdy as gold, having been managed by the Natural Sect for many years, and even with his identity as a traveler of realms, he couldn’t tear open the spatial lockdown. Leaving was possible only through the teleportation formation in Green Forest.

"Will your studies be affected?" Just like her, the old man had no desire to stay there anymore, but for the sake of Weiwei’s future, he had always silently endured.

"It should be okay," Weiwei replied softly. "This afternoon I’ll go and ask the mentor for permission. I’ve mastered the skills I’ve been learning recently very well, so asking for a five-day leave shouldn’t be difficult."

"That’s fine." The moment Weiwei’s words fell, the mentor’s voice echoed in their ears, giving both the grandparent and grandchild quite a start.

Although they didn’t know how the mentor had arrived, that wasn’t the point. The old man quickly knelt on the ground and thanked him, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for your understanding, thank you for your consideration."

The mentor, with a stern face, helped the old man up, "No worries, persevering here for three years, Weiwei deserves to have a long holiday to go back and rest."

"Weiwei, this time I’m giving you a month’s leave, but you must return and report back on time in a month. If you are delayed, don’t bother coming back."

"Thank you, mentor. I understand," Weiwei said.

"Hmm." The mentor turned to leave, but his eyes were drawn to a sketch hanging on the wooden wall, his gaze lingered, unable to move away.

Noticing something unusual about the mentor, Weiwei cautiously asked, "Mentor, is there any problem... with this painting?"

Weiwei’s voice trembled. She had drawn that painting two years ago, missing Lu Hong and relying on her memory, creating one that looked about eighty percent like him.

Seeing that the mentor was staring so intently, could it be that Er Leng was a fugitive?!

"Where did you encounter this person!" The mentor suddenly turned around and spoke gravely, "Where is he now?"

"He... He’s just a cripple, a mute. Mentor, he’s not the person you’re looking for!" Seeing the mentor’s serious expression, Nono’s heart raced.

"I don’t care what he is now; I only want to know where exactly he is!" The mentor snapped again, "You must tell me!"

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency. His name is Er Leng; he’s from our hometown, the Parson realm," the old man hastily explained. "He’s someone we picked up five years ago; we don’t know him that well."

"Grandpa!" Weiwei wanted to say more but was restrained by the old man, quietly waiting for the mentor’s response.

"Good, that’s really good." The mentor revealed a rare smile, "Five years ago, the timeline also fits. Hopefully, we haven’t got the wrong person this time!"

After finishing, the mentor took Weiwei by the hand, "Come with me now to meet Lady Danni. She will access a fragment of your memory, and when it happens, don’t be nervous."

"Lady Danni?" Weiwei was astonished. Lady Danni was the Sect Hierarch of the Natural Sect. Just because of a portrait, could she really get so close to this top powerhouse in the world? So, the question was, what exactly was Er Leng’s identity, to make the Natural Sect mobilize with such earnest effort?!