Chapter 10
Chapter 10: You Ruthless Dog, You Broke a Tree Spirit’s Branch
Deputy Officer Ai and Da Ma Zi looked at each other after hearing Old Jin’s words, their faces full of barely hidden excitement and disbelief.
His Highness was the dragon clan beastman with the highest spiritual power and the strongest supernatural abilities. He did not have a partner. Every year, during his mating heat cycle, his whole body became restless and bloodthirsty, his supernatural abilities and spiritual power rioted. Besides his powerful self-control, he also needed violent release.
This time he had just lain in a room at First Hotel for one night and was fine. Could First Hotel be some kind of legendary feng shui treasure land?
No. Why was His Highness’s neck injured, with several bloody claw marks, all very fresh?
Chong Ming swept a cold look over Deputy Officer Ai and Da Ma Zi. The two of them instantly straightened, eyes on their noses, noses on their hearts, acting as obedient as could be.
“Old Jin, what do you think this plant is?” Chong Ming took out a tender green twig a bit longer than his middle finger. There were two young leaves on it, curled up as if they had been roasted by fire.
Old Jin carefully held out both hands to receive it. He examined it over and over, then raised it to his nose and sniffed. The faint fragrance entered his nose, and in an instant his ears and eyes felt clear. His spiritual power felt like it had been gently combed through.
His eyes widened. He said excitedly, “Your Highness, this thing has spiritual power. It is infused with rare wood-element spiritual power.”
Chong Ming’s deep voice turned cold as he cut him off: “Old Jin, I asked if you recognize what kind of plant this is, not whether this twig has wood-element spiritual power.”
Old Jin forced down his excitement and answered respectfully, “My apologies, Your Highness. My knowledge is shallow, and I do not know much about plants. I cannot tell what plant this wood-element spiritual power belongs to.”
“But I do know some botanists. If Your Highness needs, you can give me this twig and I will ask them.”
Chong Ming’s face remained stern as he held his hand out toward him.
Old Jin’s heart skipped a beat, and his old face went hot. He hurried to present the twig back with both hands. His Highness was the Commander in Chief of the Three Armies and the Prince Regent. With a single order, the top botanists in the whole Empire would appear in front of him. How could he need Old Jin to play middleman?
Chong Ming took back the twig and looked at Old Jin. “Old Jin, when you just examined my body, you did not find anything abnormal?”
Old Jin nodded. “I did find something a bit abnormal, but I am not sure yet. I need to use instruments for a detailed examination before I can give a conclusion.”
Chong Ming’s gaze turned sharp. “Tell me first.”
Old Jin wavered between certainty and doubt. “Your Highness, after the examination, I felt that your spiritual power seemed to have been combed by someone.”
“But then I thought again. Even the top soothing specialist in the whole Empire, whose spiritual power is at Level S, cannot comb through your spiritual power.”
Chong Ming asked in return, “Is that so?”
A spark lit in Old Jin’s eyes. “Your Highness, do you mean…”
“I do not mean anything.” Chong Ming stood up and tucked the short twig into the breast pocket of his uniform. His hoarse, low voice gave the order: “Deputy Officer Ai, go check all the people who checked into First Hotel starting from last night.”
“Pay special attention to any human women with space or invisibility supernatural abilities, and half-beastman and beastman females. Once you find them, bring me all of their information.”
Old Jin was stunned speechless.
His Highness’s spiritual power had really been combed by someone.
The owner of that tender green twig was a top-tier wood-element ability user?
This was absolutely the most explosive piece of news in the whole Empire.
Deputy Officer Ai answered with a sharp snap, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Chong Ming walked out with heavy steps in his military boots. His shoulders were broad, his waist narrow, his legs long. His aura was cold and powerful. The claw marks on his neck were just hanging out there in the open.
The guards outside saw him come out and all saluted him in unison. They followed behind him up to the top floor of First Hotel. He boarded a military flying device, left First Hotel, and headed for the Imperial Military Headquarters.
Jiang Tea Tea’s true body used the cover of trees and flower bushes. Her roots were buried in the soil, absorbing nutrients for several hours before she returned to human form.
The soreness and discomfort all over her body, and the scent left by that whatever-it-was Great Demon Stage guy who had slept with her for nothing, all disappeared without a trace.
She stretched lazily, cast an invisibility magic spell, left the grass and flowers, slipped into her flying device, started it up, and flew back to the Academy.
The fake young miss Jiang Tea Tea was a first-year student in the Beastman and Half-Beastman Pacification Division of the Royal Military Imperial Academy.
The first-year Pacification Division had a total of six classes. Except for Class 6, where the fake young miss was, all the students in the other five classes had supernatural ability levels at C-level and above.
Only the students in Class 6 had supernatural ability levels below C-level. Some, like the fake young miss Jiang Tea Tea, were ordinary people, beastmen, and half-beastmen who had never awakened any supernatural abilities.
The fake young miss’s seat was at the very back, in the farthest corner. The moment Jiang Tea Tea stepped into Class 6, the noisy classroom fell silent. Every gaze turned to her, and a few of them were openly malicious.
Including the fake young miss Jiang Tea Tea, Class 6 had 21 people. The classroom was big and the seats were mostly empty. Under the instigation and scheming of Jiang Yi Zhu and Chu Ming, they had bullied the fake young miss into that corner seat.
[Jiang Tea Tea, this little demon, could not help cursing in her heart: damn, that is really something.]
Under everyone’s staring eyes, Jiang Tea Tea walked step by step toward her seat.
One girl who disliked her and held ill will toward her suddenly stretched out a foot to trip her, wanting to see her fall flat on her face.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Tea Tea paused. She looked down at the stretched-out leg and at the beastman girl in the class, Lu Ling’er, a C-level ability user. She said, “Lu Ling’er, your beast form is a sika deer. You have four hooves. When you run, you hop along, and it looks pretty cute and pretty nice.”
“I have no grudges with you in the past and no grudges with you now. You hear a few bits of gossip from other people and just decide I am a bad person and keep making trouble for me.”
“The old me could swallow it and get by. The current me cannot stand even a little bit of this. I advise you, pull your hoof back, or I will step on it and break it. If you cannot hop around anymore, do not blame me.”
The fake young miss did not have supernatural abilities, so she could not beat these people with powers. But Jiang Tea Tea was a tea tree spirit. Even with only twenty percent of her spiritual power, everyone here put together was not her match.
[With her bad temper, giving this kind reminder was already for the sake of the fake young miss who had sacrificed herself to her.]
It was the first time Lu Ling’er had ever been warned like this, the first time anyone had provoked her like this. She shot to her feet and reached out to shove Jiang Tea Tea. “Jiang Tea Tea, you useless trash without supernatural abilities, who gave you the guts to provoke me…”
Jiang Tea Tea moved like lightning. Before Lu Ling’er’s hand could touch her, she grabbed Lu Ling’er’s wrist and slammed it down onto the desk.
There was a loud bang.
The hard desk shattered into several pieces.
Right after that came a sharp crack.
Lu Ling’er’s wrist broke.
Jiang Tea Tea let go in fake panic and took two steps back. “Lu Ling’er, your hand is amazing. You smashed such a hard desk to bits.”
In the M31 Star System, whether human or beastman, people’s bones were really fragile. With just a little force, they broke easily.
[Next time she had to be more careful. She could not go around breaking people’s wrists and ankles all the time. Too violent really did not look very gentle.]
Lu Ling’er was in so much pain her face turned paper-white. She stared blankly at the shattered desk in front of her. The desks at the Royal Military Imperial Academy could not be broken even by Level S ability users, yet now one had been broken with a casual swing of a hand?
“Jiang Tea Tea, you’re finished.” The little group that always followed Lu Ling’er surrounded Jiang Tea Tea and snarled, “You dared to smash Ling’er’s hand. We will smash both of yours.”
“Yeah, Jiang Tea Tea, I think you forgot how you knelt on the bathroom floor and begged us.”
“Come on, drag her to the bathroom. Today we will show her clearly who the real boss of Class 6 is!”
[Dragging people to the bathroom to bully them. Some things never change. Could they be any more low-level? Why not just do it right here in the classroom and be done with it?]
When Jiang Tea Tea saw them reach out to push her, the corners of her mouth lifted in a pure, innocent smile. “No need to push me. I will walk on my own.”
The few girls were puzzled. Was she crazy? She was not scared, not terrified, and even went willingly?
Jiang Tea Tea turned and walked out on her own. When she reached the door and heard no one following, she looked back at them and urged, “Weren’t you going to teach me a lesson? Hurry up. Do not waste my good study time.”