Naked Sword Art

Lai Yun's friends continued whispering beside her.

"You should tell him to come sit with us."

Lai Yun's brow became knitted. "As if I'd let you get close to him. Don't you have any shame?"

Of course, if they knew what she had done in Xiao Fang's office just to join his guild, they might have questioned who really lacked shame.

Xiao Fang, blindfolded as usual, walked up the steps of the class, ignoring the curious stares that followed him. Spotting Bai Fan and Zhao Pan, he quietly slid into the seat beside them.

"Only now returning from Jadepeak City?" Zhao Pan asked, her tone clipped with irritation.

Xiao Fang gave a slight nod.

"Mn, just got back."

"You've missed too many days," Bai Fan added with concern. "You're going to get in trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" Xiao Fang asked lazily.

"You're not getting next month's allowance," Zhao Pan replied flatly. "I asked Teacher Su."

Xiao Fang leaned back in his chair, frowning inwardly. With how much he'd already spent on founding the Nameless Guild, forging contracts, and cutting a deal with the White Jade Guild, missing the monthly allowance would tighten things further.

"Should I go back to sleeping with classmates for merit points?" he thought.

He didn't like the idea, because he didn't think it'd take very long for people to find out he was a dual cultivator if he did.

'Maybe I should start going out on missions like a normal disciple would,' Xiao Fang thought. 'No… unless I could be doing multiple missions at once, that would take far too long…'

But then Xiao Fang thought, why couldn't he do more than one mission at once?

His thoughts were cut off by Zhao Pan.

"Gosh, what were you even doing there all this time? Do you know that we were stuck doing missions with our mentor without you. You need to make it up to us during our next mission," Zhao Pan demanded, but Xiao Fang paused when he realized something then eventually shrugged.

"I've been doing important things. Why should I owe you anything?" He replied, trying to sound as arrogant as he could.

"Bastard," Zhao Pan growled, grabbing a fistful of his robes. "We nearly worked ourselves to death yesterday. I said you're going to make it up to us, so that's exactly what you're going to do."

Xiao Fang tilted his head slightly, a smirk creeping onto his lips.

"You think I'll do something simply because you told me to do it? If you're that confident in your ability, why don't you make me?"

"You—!" Zhao Pan's voice rose, drawing the attention of nearby classmates.

It wasn't every day that group members fought openly in class, but given Xiao Fang's infamous reputation as a delinquent, most wanted to see how things would play out.

"Settle down, you two," Bai Fan said softly. "We shouldn't fight among ourselves."

"Save it," Zhao Pan snapped. "If he'd only been gone a day or two, I'd let it slide. But weeks without an apology? He brought this on himself."

Bai Fan sighed. While her cultivation wasn't lower than Zhao Pan's, she knew she couldn't match the girl's sheer physical strength. Zhao Pan wasn't just feisty—she was dangerous, especially when she was angry.

Xiao Fang turned his blindfolded face toward Zhao Pan, voice low and firm.

"Remove your hand before I remove it for you."

Zhao Pan smirked. "Try me."

Xiao Fang could tell that her strength had increased significantly since he's been away, but that wasn't what he was paying attention to.

As tension thickened, Bai Fan observed Xiao Fang more carefully. Something about him seemed very out of character. She didn't know why he was provoking Zhao Pan. She didn't know what happened in Jadepeak City, but whatever it was, she assumed it was the reason for his change in behaviour.

Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Fang wasn't simply being defiant. He was testing something. His grandfather claimed everyone's memory of Xiao Fang fighting in the tournament had been wiped—but Xiao Fang was skeptical. However, seeing the way Zhao Pan was acting now, and everyone's reaction to it. He felt safe to assume everyone really did have no memory of him fighting.

Unexpectedly, Teacher Su Lingxi walked in, and saw how everyone was quiet and looking at Xiao Fang.

"Hello everyone. And welcome back Long Wang. You're a bit behind, but I'm sure your classmates can help you get caught up."

Zhao Pan sat back down, crossing her arms as the fire in heart still burned ferociously. She was going to have her way one way or another. If not now, then certainly later.

Truthfully, Zhao Pan was thankful to him. Xiao Fang, through his connections with Yao Yin, had gotten her a job at the Disciplinary Department. But after suffering so many trials on missions without him, her resentment towards him slowly returned.

…

After the lecture ended, everyone was sent to the training hall connected to their classroom. There, Bai Fan helped Xiao Fang catch up on the lessons he had missed—handing him the scrolls and techniques they had covered and demonstrating them to the best of her ability.

During the first week Xiao Fang was absent, their focus had been on the [ Illusory Blast ] technique—a basic skill meant to be used in conjunction with illusory clones. After reading its description, Xiao Fang felt no interest in learning it, but he knew it wouldn't hurt to do so.

The following week was centered around [ Illusory Body ] techniques, largely inspired by Xun Wei's demonstration of the [ Illusory Mimic ] technique. That had been the main focus of the lessons following the tournament.

Now, with a new week beginning, the class was learning the fundamentals of manipulating their environment—albeit at a very basic level. Structural illusory manipulation was known to be extremely difficult, but mastering it was a requirement to become a Dragon-Class disciple.

No techniques for environmental control were taught today; it was all theory and conceptualization. Tomorrow would likely be the same.

…

Technique Name: Illusory Blast

Type: Combat

Realm: Profound

1st level: Illusory Palm

> Prerequisites: Refinement realm

> A powerful projectile palm

2nd level: Illusory Punch

> Prerequisites: Spirit Core realm

3rd level: Illusory Blast

> Prerequisites: Spirit Profound realm

…

Technique Name: Illusory Body

Type: Combat

Realm: Profound

1st level: Illusory clone

> Prerequisites: Foundation realm

> Creates a living image of yourself that mimics basic movements and fools the untrained eye.

2nd level: Illusory Mimic

> Prerequisites: Refinement realm

> Projects an afterimage that lingers in your previous position, confusing enemies and disrupting their aim.

3rd level: Illusory Husk

> Prerequisites: Core realm

> Conceals your presence by transforming your body into a convincing illusion of a stationary object. Remains active as long as you stay still.

4th level: Illusory Veil

> Prerequisites: Profound realm

> Alters every physical attribute of the caster—height, weight, age, voice, even gender. Ideal for infiltration, deception, or escape.

5th level: Illusory Body

> Prerequisites: Divine realm

> Your body becomes a flawless illusion, seemingly allowing physical attacks to pass through you harmlessly. To others, you'll appear untouchable and incorporeal as long as the technique is active.

Xiao Fang learned that this was one of the few Divine Realm techniques taught within the Black Paradise Sect.

While there were countless applications for the technique, making it incredibly valuable, Xiao Fang was still only at the Refinement Realm in the [ Illusory Body ] cultivation method. Of the five levels within the technique, the only one he could begin learning was [ Illusory Mimic ].

.

.

.

After class ended, Xiao Fang didn't attend any of his extracurricular clubs. Instead, he went straight to his guildhouse to check in with everyone.

When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. That didn't surprise him though. Around this time, most members would either be attending extracurriculars, working, or spending time with friends. However, there were two members of his guild who didn't have such obligations.

The first was Ye Ming, who, to Xiao Fang's surprise, had already fully mastered the [ Solid Clone ] technique while he was away.

The other was Yuan Fei, who was busy in the laboratory room working on new scents for her perfume business. Much like his reaction to Ye Ming's progress, Xiao Fang was again pleasantly surprised—this time by how successful Yuan Fei's business had become.

Ever since Li Lian and Xun Wei wore her perfume at the tournament, word had spread like wildfire. Disciples from all over the Inner Court had been trying to get their hands on her fragrances. As Xiao Fang had instructed, she sold the perfumes under the guild's name at unreasonably high prices, deterring any unwanted trouble.

The perfume had gained so much fame and recognition it was already considered a luxury item. The amount of merit points she had accumulated in the span of a week alone had already exceeded 100,000 merit points. Business was booming.

The merit point shortage Xiao Fang had been worried about for next month had been solved by that single stroke of luck.