Book 1: Chapter 5: Border Barbarian, Golden Spoon, or Bumpkin

Simple, direct, just as if an arrow exploded on that robust middle-aged male’s face.

The ferocity the weary elder erupted with at this time made most youngsters widen their eyes. In their eyes, their image of that beaten and exhausted elder was now completely changed.

“Only an old border barbarian would attack in this type of manner and with such killing intent. This type of expert actually personally drove a carriage… look into that young man’s background.”

In the place where the thousand carriages gathered, there was a short-haired middle-aged man dressed in a long green silk gown, his eyes  like those of a hawk, currently standing at the front of a pitch-black carriage. When the weary elder shot out like an arrow, he spoke these words to the two large men on the carriage beside him.

The two large men on the carriage next to him also wore green silk long gowns, the skin exposed outside their bodies was a nice bronze color, reflecting light as if there was a layer of oil applied over it. They were all standing perfectly straight, their manners exceptional, but when they heard the middle-aged man whose eyes were sharp like a hawk’s, these two men both bowed slightly, their eyes naturally revealing respectful and humble expressions. 

“Yes, great one.”

“Loud disturbances and fights are not permitted within the camping site.”

Right at this time, Xia Yanbing who remained silent this entire time spoke up. After saying this, he didn’t bother Lin Xi or the beaten elder in front of him, nor did he give the incredibly miserable robust middle-aged man who was lying on the ground, mouth and crooked nose filled with blood, another look. While carrying the lantern, amidst the lingering fireflies, he headed towards several large tents in the distant lakeside.

The youngsters by the lakeside immediately erupted into commotion.

He didn’t say anything before the conflict, only when the beating was over did he speak up, wasn’t this displaying a clear bias?

“Not being able to see through the other side’s strength is one thing, but the academy’s people are all nearby, yet they are still so overbearing, isn’t this purely looking for a beating?” There were no lack of individuals who understood what was going on even among the lakeside youngsters. When their eyes passed over the entirely white faced golden-clothed youngster, they carried undisguisable scorn. When they passed over Lin Xi, the eyes instead carried a bit of interest.

The one who played a leading role in the conflict, the elder Lin Xi called Uncle Liu was instead completely unperturbed, as if nothing happened at all. He calmly drove the carriage forward, dropping off Lin Xi in front of the stele. When he turned the carriage around and was about to leave, only then did he point towards the place where the thousand carriages were gathered, quietly saying to Lin Xi, “If you fail the entrance examination, I will be waiting for you over there.”

“Got it, Uncle Liu.” Lin Xi smiled brilliantly. Without even giving the still petrified golden-clothed youngster another look, he headed towards the place full of bright bonfires, the place that was, to him, full of a magical feeling, towards the lakeside tents that were just like the meeting place for the Quidditch World Cup.

As he looked at Lin Xi’s pure smiling expression, recalling Lin Xi’s carefree and easygoing nature, the elder felt more and more like Lin Xi was much more lovable than the other youngsters here. When he thought about how his actions today might create some unfavorable effects, the elder’s brows frowned slightly.

…

Lin Xi walked around while sizing up his surroundings.

The tents were built from thick white cotton cloth, the distance between each one only about five or six steps. Right now, most of the young examinees were gathered by the tents near the stele. Some of them looked at Lin Xi without a word or movement, some clearly reserved and careful, already withdrawing into their tents, while there were some youngsters who gathered together as if no one else was there, chattering away.

“Sigh, really can’t even take a beating. I thought that I’ll be able to watch something interesting.” When Lin Xi passed by the first bonfire, he heard a round-faced youngster say with a sigh.

“It’s not that he couldn’t take a beating, but rather that that elder is too strong! That fella had already trained to the Qi Distribution Realm, yet he still had his nose smashed crooked from a single punch, I reckon that elder might have at least reached the Enhancement Realm.” A tall youngster with natural long brown hair said while looking at the round-faced youngster.

“You came from the border?” Right when Lin Xi was looking at these two youngsters with curiosity, several individuals walked towards him, asking him this.

“From the border?” Lin Xi stared blankly for a moment. The figures of the ones who walked over were all a bit stooped, skinny, short-haired, but they all gave off a type of exceptionally bold and capable feeling. Moreover, they were all a few years older than the rest, two of them even carrying black sheathed long blades on them.

“Were you born in the border army?” When they saw that Lin Xi seemed like he didn’t really understand, the skinny youngster with a knife scar over his left brow frowned, asking again.

Lin Xi then understood, shaking his head and saying, “I was not.”

These bold and capable looking youngsters’ faces still carried friendly expressions when they were walking over, but when they heard Lin Xi’s reply, their expressions all changed. One of the youngsters with a wolf head tattoo on his back said coldly with an expressionless face, “I was just gonna say that he didn’t seem like one of us. People like us from the border, how can they have this kind of weak appearance?”

“Let’s go.” The skinny leader with the knife scar over his left brow no longer paid Lin Xi any attention, directly turning around to leave.

“You aren’t a border barbarian, then are you a golden spoon or a bumkpin?” A little fatty moved over, looking at Lin Xi who was left in a somewhat awkward situation by those youngsters.

“What is a border barbarian, golden spoon, and bumpkin?” Lin Xi looked at this little fatty who was about the same age as himself, half a head shorter, face covered under quite a bit of freckles, and replied with another question.

The little fatty seemed to immediately become excited, cracking open a grim while saying, “You don’t even know about this stuff, seems like you are just like me, a bumpkin! Right, I’m called Meng Bai, I came from South Front Province’s Sunny Pass City.”

“I’m Lin Xi, I’m from Eastern Forest Province’s Deereast City.” Lin Xi stuck out his right hand out of habit, but by the time he realized that this wasn’t a custom of this world, the little fatty Meng Bai thought that this was Deereast’s custom, already happily wiped his hand on his green silk clothes, shaking Lin Xi’s hand.

“I know Eastern Forest Province is in the far east, but I’ve never heard of Deereast City.” After the little fatty Meng Bai and Lin Xi shook hands, he said truthfully.

“You still know more than me. Honestly speaking, I’ve never even heard of South Front Province. Is it in the south?” Lin Xi asked.

“Haha.” Then, Lin Xi and Meng Bai both couldn’t help but laugh.

“What exactly is border barbarian, golden spoon, and bumpkin?” After laughing for a bit, Lin Xi asked this little fatty he was becoming more and more fond of.

“It’s actually extremely simple. Border barbarians are the ones recommended by those from the border army who either earned enough merit or those with the authority to give recommendations, golden spoons are the children of nobles who inherently have the right to join the examination, and bumpkins are locally recommended. If they aren’t from merchant families who contributed enough money, then they are country moneybags who purchased their recommendation authority. Either way, they don’t have much of a background.” Meng Bai answered.

“Locally recommended… bumpkins? Then isn’t that basically the same as muggles?” Lin Xi immediately felt like things were more and more interesting. He laughed and said, “None of these three titles seem to be anything great.”

“Of course they aren’t any nice words, they are just things that everyone ended up saying after a while.” Meng Bai curled his lips. “Golden spoons and bumpkins felt like those from the border army are barbarians, while those from the border army feel that golden spoons and bumpkins are ignorant and incompetent hedonistic brats. Golden spoons feel like bumpkins are unsophisticated, lacking knowledge and experience, while bumpkins feel like golden spoons are arrogant and overbearing. The one who just got into conflict with you should be considered a golden spoon… right, are you really a bumpkin? How did you end up with such a strong bodyguard?”

Lin Xi thought for a bit to himself. “I’m probably a bumpkin, my parents only have some stores, Uncle Liu isn’t related to my family. It seems like a local official wanted me to come.”

“Then you are a bumpkin prodigy! This means that your talent is definitely extremely high!” Meng Bai immediately released a loud cry of surprise.

Lin Xi immediately felt like the eyes with which many youngsters around him looked at him became a bit different.

“What is the meaning of a bumpkin prodigy?” Lin Xi lowered his voice, asking another question, somewhat embarrassed.

“It is precisely the local officials who have recommendation authority, but give it to ordinary bumpkins who they have a preference for rather than giving it to their own children. Recommendation authority is extremely hard to obtain, and once it is used, if one wishes to obtain it again, a certain amount of military merit or other contributions must be accumulated again.” Meng Bai mumbled softly. “Normally, good things would always be given to one’s own people, it wouldn’t be given to others. That is unless the local officials have their eyes on some especially talented geniuses, deciding to recommend those special outstanding talents, the local officials will obtain great remunerations for their recommendation.”

“You’re actually a bumpkin prodigy?” In front of a distant bonfire, an ice-cold, long black-haired youngster looked at Lin Xi and Meng Bai. At this moment, he inwardly sneered and said, “I refuse to believe your talent is greater than I, Wen Xuanyu’s.”

“What have you been chewing on all this time?” Lin Xi was a bit speechless. He really had no idea why he would be sent over here. As for this talent of whatever, he also had no idea, momentarily at a loss for what to say. When he saw that Meng Bai had been chewing on something ever since he greeted him until now, he decided to ask about this first.

“There’s a bumpkin over there who came from Jinzhou City. Jinzhou beef jerky is really good, just that it’s a bit tough.” Meng Bai who chewed from time to time pointed outwards, and then Lin Xi saw a somewhat reserved square-faced youngster nod in a somewhat embarrassed manner towards him, seemingly a rather honest person. “Why don’t we chat some more over there? There are some other bumpkins there, I’ll introduce you to them. We can’t continue to just stand and talk here after all.” Meng Bai suggested. “You can chew on some tough beef jerky too.”

“My name is Xiang Lin, I’m from Prosper Province’s Jinzhou City.”

“I’m Li Kaiyun, Northern Manor Province’s Chaste Blossom City.”

“You can call me Zhang Ping, from Xiaoxiang Province’s Water Dragon City.”

A minute later, which was this world’s sixty breathes, Lin Xi and four other ‘bumpkins’ sat inside a tent, chewing on the tough beef jerky Xiang Lin brought from Jinzhou.

Li Kaiyun was a skinnier youngster, his hair a bit yellow. Zhang Ping was the oldest of them, but the earnest one among them as well. According to what the little fatty Meng Bai said, at least half of the drugstores in Xiaoxiang Province were owned by their family.

“Lin Xi, which department in Green Luan Academy do you want to get into the most?”

After exchanging some conventional greetings, the most earnest Zhang Ping looked at Lin Xi and asked.

Lin Xi immediately choked on the tough beef jerky he was chewing on, coughing while saying, “Green Luan Academy is even divided into departments?”

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