The Legendary Janitor

Chapter 22: The Academy

At this point in the novel, I think it is necessary that some explanation is given as to what the Academy is. In this world of sects and martial artists, what reputation does this academy have? Well, the answer is, quite a lot!

The Academy's name was Ren Tiao Tian, or human leaping to the heavens, although most people simply referred to it as the Academy.

The Academy was situated at the two mountains crossing in the Xi An province, in the central continent. As the name might imply, the location of the academy was situated at the foot of two large mountain ranges that separated a large portion of the central continent.

While there were ways to cross the continent without passing through the Academy, it would add several weeks onto the travel time for mortals and for any cultivators under the nascent soul realm, while they could take the risk of crossing the mountains forcefully, the likelihood of fatal injury was rather high. This was because the surrounding mountain ranges were home to a slew of ferocious beasts, with only the regions directly adjacent to the academy being cleared on a regular basis.

Before the academy came, while the passage still existed it was a much riskier endeavor, as ferocious beasts and bandits populated the area. While some merchants had tried to take over the passage for their own usage, none had managed to last over a year under the onslaught of beasts and the scheming of other merchants who wanted to pass without a toll.

As for the academy, while no one was quite sure of the exact power reserves they held, it could be confirmed that they had the ability to contend with the top five factions.

Either way, the academy being situated in this position gave them access to an unimaginable amount of resources and allowed them to be a central hub for the gathering of all different types of forces as a free trade city.

As for how the Academy came to be an Academy and not just a independent city, a sect, or a small kingdom… Besides the elusive founders of the Academy nobody was entirely sure.

In fact, when the Academy first opened, the majority of the surrounding powerhouses that had been keeping an eye on this mysterious new power had thought it was some sort of trick or a form of Hong Men Banquet, and very few forces choose to interact with the Academy beyond a trade city/passage through the mountains.

After all, why take the risk of sending any of your own prodigies into the hands of others and why would you trust someone else's techniques over your own? What top tier force didn't have their own cultivation guides and legacies?

But of course, a few of the more astute individuals in the various first tier forces sent some periphery disciples or members of their factions to the Academy, thinking that there was no harm forming a better relationship with this uprising force.

At the same time, many smaller sects and factions or groups that were being driven to the brink of extinction figured there wasn't much harm in trying their luck working with new power that at the very least they had no animosity with.

Within a few years the factions with insight and the gamblers who invested in the Academy found that the people they sent to the Academy returned safely. Not only did they return safe, but they also returned significantly stronger with no visible side effects.

Following this first wave of success, within a few decades the Academy's influence had grown to the point where they not only got applicants from all major and minor forces from the central continent, but also had a plethora of students attending from each of the four other major continents.

The Academy of today was no longer like when it first emerged. While it still held a reserve of power that no one knew the extent of, they also had become a political hub for the various continents, empires, and sects.

While missing an enrollment or two wouldn't cripple a power, missing too many enrollments would lead to a weakened middle-level power base for a faction and put them in a passive condition for the years to come.

The various powers had also come to trust the relative safety of the Academy and its impartiality in dealing with the various powers, so the Academy, true to its name, became a place for various powers to train their up and coming stars and leaders.

After all, while a genius could receive the full nurturing of their respective sects, it wasn't too late to do so after they had proven that they were capable of snatching resources for themselves and received a basic foundation from their time at the Academy.

Thus, it came to be that the Academy became a place for crouching tigers and dazzling lions. Each generation surpassing the last. In the current era more then 60% of the leaders of the major factions had attended the Academy at some point in their lives.

Of course, none of this had too much to do with Di Tou at the moment, as he was currently walking down a rather busy street while knocking on his back with his left hand hoping to knock away the aches.

"Aiya, how big is this place… I've walked so far and there's not one McD*n*lds or St*rb*cks yet. At this rate I'm going to starve to death."

After walking another five or so minutes without a clue on where to find something to eat Di Tou resolved himself and decided to ask a passerby. After all, what were the odds that they knew Mu Di Bai personally? Even if the man was famous, at best people would have a general idea of the fellow right..?

Looking around, Di Tou found that it seemed like the majority of the people on the street seemed rather busy still, setting up their stalls or already haggling to strike a deal, the only person who looked relatively free was a scholarly looking man who was sitting at a streetside table fanning himself while writing something down in his notebook.

"Hmm…" Di Tou hesitated for a moment, "It'll just be you then."

Reminding himself in his head that he was Mu Di Bai right now, Di Tou walked over to the scholarly looking man and clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, youngster, could you point this old man-"

The scholarly looking man turned around with a frown on his face, wondering who had been so audacious to touch him Li- Then he saw Mu Di Bai's face and instantly paled.

Before he himself could figure out what he was doing, he swiped up his notebook and ran down the street.

Di Tou who was standing there with his hand still in the air: "WTF am I that scary?"

Then Di Tou noticed that the eyes of all the passersby were on him.

"Ahem, I wa-" Di Tou paused, it didn't seem like Mu Di Bai to explain himself, "Ahem, youngsters these days have no respect for the elderly anymore. Hmph."

Feeling rather awkward, Di Tou decided to walk another while before trying to ask again.

At that moment a man walked out of the storefront that the table belonged to and stared at Di Tou.

Di Tou, feeling even more awkward now said, "Ah, I don't know that young man from just now, I was just asking for directions. If he shopped and dashed, you shouldn't be looking at me, you should chase after him before he's too far."

The shopkeeper squinted at Di Tou for a moment, "It's alright, he was just sitting, he didn't buy anything. Could I ask where you're going this..." The shopkeeper paused for a moment, "Senior?"

"Ah, I'm just was out for a walk and got hungry, but I'm not too familiar with the surroundings and wanted to find something to eat."

"If you head down this street for another hundred meters or so then turn to the left and keep walking Old Wang should have set up his stall by now."

"Ah, thanks."

Not wanting to stay another moment, Di Tou started to shuffle off.

…

15 Minutes Later

Holding a fried dough fritter in one hand and a bowl of hot soy milk in the other hand, Di Tou was feeling rather good as he started to make his way back to his house.

While there had been some awkward moments, it didn't seem like Mu Di Bai was too recognizable, and it turned out that the currency Mu Di Bai left behind had some rather strong buying power. If he kept his expenses to a minimum, even if he didn't get any pay over the next course of time, he should be able to buy enough to eat his fill for the next 3 months or so just based on the bag of silver. In 3 months' time, Di Tou figured he'd be able to figure out a way to make more money, or at the very least make it so that his situation wasn't so dire.

As he was making his way back and trying to figure out what to do about his work obligations, he heard a sound coming out of an alleyway.

"Wu-Wu."