Naked Sword Art

When Xiao Fang, Bai Fan, and Zhao Pan arrived at the Club Recruitment Center, they were each given a brochure detailing all the clubs that were on each floor. Since Xiao Fang was blindfolded, he put his brochure away and followed Bai Fan and Zhao Pan.

"Looks like we're early," Bai Fan said.

"Classes should be over now, so it won't be long till this place gets packed. Let's finish this quickly before the others arrive," Zhao Pan suggested.

"There's plenty to see here. If you focus half your mind on the destination, you will miss out on half of the journey," Xiao Fang said.

"What?" Zhao Pan looked at him weird.

Xiao Fang chose not to explain since he knew if did it would only confuse her even more. Instead, he remained silent in hopes that she may someday try to find comprehension in those words all on her own.

Truthfully, Xiao Fang had somewhat butchered the words, but it was still put together well enough to be understood. Perhaps if his grandfather, Xiao Kong, were here, he'd be able to make Zhao Pan understand it with even fewer words than his own.

Xiao Fang didn't like his grandfather very much, in fact, he hated him for the things he's done. However, if there was one thing he couldn't deny, it was that Xiao Kong was the wisest man he knew. However, being wise didn't always mean they were right. It only meant that he hadn't found anyone wise enough to prove him wrong.

.

.

.

The three of them went upstairs till they found a room with a sign above its doors reading 'Inscription Club'.

Once they entered the room they saw 2 girls sitting behind a table with a large stack of papers on it. The moment they walked in they attracted the gaze of the two recruiters, and the moment the girls saw who they were they suddenly smiled.

The middle-aged woman sitting behind the table welcomed them with a smile because she noticed the Phoenix embroidered on all 3 of their robes. The younger looking recruiter was smiling because she recognized one of the 3 people that walked in.

The middle-aged woman was the first to speak, "Welcome, young disciples. Are you interested in joining the Inscription Club?"

"Yes, we are," Bai Fan answered.

"I haven't decided anything yet," said Zhao Pan after her.

The middle-aged woman stood up because she felt like she was being rude to be sitting in their presence.

"Well then, I can give you a quick rundown of what you can expect from the Inscription Club, then you can decide whether you want to apply or not."

The middle-aged woman then began to explain the various uses inscriptions could have, trying to make it seem more interesting than it really was. She explained so much about it that even Xiao Fang learned a few things from her explanation. Eventually, she said something that really piqued his interests, so he tried to ask more about it.

"You said that you could even tame a tiered beast. What level inscriptionist would I need to be to do something like that?" Xiao Fang asked.

The woman who seemed to be ignoring his presence until now nearly frowned when she heard him speak, but considering his status as a Phoenix-Class disciple, she knew she definitely couldn't upset him.

"That would depend on the tiered beast, but even a beginner level inscriptionist could do that if it was weak enough," she explained.

"What if it were a cannibal abnormal beast," Xiao Fang asked again.

This time, the recruiter couldn't help but feel annoyed. She was convinced that Xiao Fang was messing with her by asking such a ridiculous question.

"Why are you so curious about inscriptions? Do you really think a blind man, like yourself, could get accepted into this club?" The recruiter finally snapped.

Even though the words were meant for Xiao Fang, Bai Fan and Zhao Pan couldn't help but feel angry because of them.

Although Zhao Pan had been getting treated poorly by others ever since she made it into the inner court, she couldn't help but feel like Xiao Fang was getting it even worse than her.

Zhao Pan looked at Xiao Fang from the corner of her eyes to see how he was taking it, but since he was wearing his blindfold, it was difficult to tell how he was feeling.

Suddenly, the 2nd recruiter that had been quiet all this time finally began to speak. However, her words were neither kind, nor was it directed at them.

"Ru Ji, shut your mouth this instant!"

"Th-This... but this man-"

"I said shut up, or did you not hear me the first time!?" She stared at Ru Ji angrily.

The younger girl finally stood up from her chair.

"Young man, what's your name?"

"My name is Long Wang," he replied.

"Long Wang, for my senior apprentice's poor behavior, I would like to give you this," she said while handing him a special golden token. "If you are still interested in joining our club, please pass your Qi through it and you'll official become a member of this club.

Both Zhao Pan and Bai Fan couldn't believe what they were hearing. Even if the other recruiter was being rude to him, that still didn't mean he should be allowed to join the guild without doing any sort of talent assessment test.

The moment Ru Ji realized what she was doing, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Young miss, you can't-" Ru Ji said, but before she could finish her words, the young recruiter looked back at her with a terrifying look, reminding her not to say another word.

Zhao Pan was actually a bit annoyed by this. Just a second ago she was convinced that Xiao Fang was having it even harder than she was in the inner court, but it turned out that he was the most privileged bastard she had ever seen.

"Would it be alright if my friends got a token as well?" Xiao Fang suddenly asked.

The young girl seemed a bit reluctant to do as he requested because she only wanted to do him a favor.

"Sure," she finally agreed to it.

Ru Ji could only silently watch with a bleeding heart as her fellow apprentice gave out spots to their club for free and without having to participate in their trials.

Bai Fan didn't understand what was going on, but she still went along with it, and graciously accepted the golden identity token from the young girl. However, when it was Zhao Pan's turn, she refused to take it.

"I must refuse. I have no interest in joining this club," Zhao Pan said.

Even though it was true that she didn't find the club all that interesting, the real reason why she didn't accept the fast-pass invitation to the prestigious club was because she didn't want to owe Xiao Fang any favors.

"Come by the club tomorrow and I'll give you a proper tour of the place. All the clubs in this building will be open after class and will close 4 hours later. You may come and go whenever you like, but all the equipment owned by this club must remain inside," the young recruiter explained.

"I understand," Xiao Fang replied simply.

"Does that mean... you'll come by tomorrow?" she asked in a softer tone.

Xiao Fang finally smiled charmingly then said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Xue Li."

When Xue Li heard her name being said, she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"See you tomorrow, Long Wang."

Xiao Fang nodded, then left with Zhao Pan and Bai Fan.

Despite how they acted at first, it eventually became clear to everyone that they were more than strangers. This became evident the moment Xiao Fang said her name without her even telling them what it was.

Ru Ji suddenly began to experience a sickening feeling in her stomach as regret began to kick in. If she had only known that he had a relationship with Xue Li, she definitely wouldn't have acted the way she did.