by Tinalynge
Some thought he had cheated or used some sort of treasure to make it to this stage, while others were even more convinced that he was not as simple as he seemed.
Xue Wei completely ignored them as he looked around. Seeing that no one moved, he too decided to stay put as well and observe his surroundings.
Soon, a captain appeared. "Everyone follow me," he ordered and brought the group with him to a large empty field that was located just behind the tent city.
Here a group of experts was waiting for them, amongst those were the commander, a group of captains, a few generals, and finally a blue haired man who seemed quite different from the others.
He had a different air about him, and when Xue Wei's eyes landed on him, the man also locked his eyes into Xue Wei's. As they looked into the eyes of one another, Xue Wei felt danger. He felt an indescribable danger as if he had encountered the most dangerous creature in the entire continent.
The blue haired man frowned when he looked at Xue Wei. His frown was mixed with surprise and slight confusion, but his face quickly returned to the originally calm and collected, slightly mocking, expression it had before.
As everyone gathered in the field, Xue Wei made sure to be at the back; he wished to draw as little attention as possible, as it was clear that this man was anything but as friendly and simple as he seemed.
"Everyone, congratulations on making it to the Genius Camp, for this, I applaud you."
"We are very fortunate this year," the commander continued, and Xue Wei noticed how he was groveling in front of this unknown blue-haired young man. He realized that he was someone very important.
"From the middle of the continent, the only prophet to exist in these lands of ours has come to the Kingdom of Heping on some personal business. We managed to convince him to come and view this year's Genius Camp, and he will divine us a prophecy for this years Genius Camp!"
"He will look at each and every one of you and give you an inkling of what we can expect from your lives. This is something that only your generation is capable of experiencing. This is something that only has happened this one time, and we ought to be very gracious and grateful to mister Lan for bestowing us this honor."
Everyone was excited. It was rare to encounter an expert from the middle of the continent, and it was even more exciting to meet the one and only Prophet in existence.
But everyone was eager to know what had brought him to the Kingdom of Heping. Their kingdom was poor in resources and had nothing amazing to speak of. For him to come here, was there some sort of hidden treasure?
Xue Wei did not think like that. All that was on his mind was how to avoid the encounter with this man. Staying at the very back of the group of youngsters, he spent some time observing the man.
He looked to be in his late twenties. He had long beautiful blue hair that was half hanging, half tied on top of his head with a beautiful golden hairpin that resembled a crown.
He was wearing a beautiful white robe that was obviously made from Primordial Beast silk. The white robe had a blue pattern of snakes embroidered on it, and a few flowers were also adorning the beautiful robes.
He was clearly the most elegant person Xue Wei had ever seen, even more, elegant than Xiao Lei, and he seemed to be the most fearful expert he had ever seen – even more powerful than Xiao Lei and the Primordial Beast woman.
Xue Wei kept staring at him with a feeling of dread as he saw the line in front of him dwindle in size constantly, making it closer and closer to the time for him to be examined by this unknown prophet.
Chapter 17 - A Madman
"Oh, there is only one left." The prophet smirked knowingly as his eyes landed on Xue Wei. It was very much akin to a monster eyeing prey, and Xue Wei could not help but feel uncomfortable.
"I am fine," he said hesitatingly. "I don't need to be told about my future prospects."
"Now, now, young man, don't hesitate. It is not like I will bite you," the prophet said, and the smile on his face widened. It was as if he had found himself a new favorite toy, and that he knew something about Xue Wei that Xue Wei himself did not know.
"Tell me about yourself," the prophet asked, and Xue Wei hesitated slightly. "I grew up in a small town when I was a child. I am an orphan now, and my uncle has looked after me."
Xue Wei tried to say as little as possible. He had a feeling that the more he spoke, the more he'd regret it.
"I see, you come from such humble origins, but when I look at you, I see a person who will become a great person. You will become a great warrior who makes the world change! That is if you manage to survive until you grow up."
Xue Wei frowned. The words he said were basically useless. "Is he just some sort of charlatan? His prophecy is so loose, and anyone can fit the bill," he muttered to himself under his breath, but the moment Xue Wei spoke the eyes of the prophet glimmered and a toothy smile appeared on his lips.
"Well, I am done. Why don't you ask this young man to show me around?" Prophet Lan asked the commander politely while looking at Xue Wei with attention on his face, but Xue Wei quickly shook his head, "I am new here, I am not able to show anyone around."
The commander frowned. He was an experienced man, and he had noticed how Xue Wei had attempted to avoid this prophet a few times already, yet every time Xue Wei had tried to avoid him, the prophet had done all in his power to spend more time with the youngster.
"Mister Lan is a heavenly-sent genius, even within the middle of the continent, and he is the only prophet that our world has seen!" The commander praised Prophet Lan to the skies, and with every word he said, Xue Wei's face twitched.
"Mister Lan is going to be with us for a period of time before he continues on his adventures. While he is here, Xue Wei is to be his guide."
Hearing this, the face of the prophet blossomed into a smile and he gave a satisfied nod of his head.
"Xue Wei is a great name!" he said with exaggerated praise. "I will be honored to deal with someone like you while I am here in the camp. Your destiny is bright and shining; your behavior is knightly and gallant. You are a dragon amongst men and a peerless youth!"
The more Lan praised him, the higher his voice got, and soon it boomed through the entire area, making every other member of the Genius Camp stare at Xue Wei with animosity, jealousy, and complex emotions in their eyes.
"He is doing it on purpose," Xue Wei sneered with a low voice, and his eyes were blazing with anger. "He is intentionally making the others hate me, but why? I have never met him before, nor have I insulted him. I just want him to stay as far away from me as absolutely possible."
"I won't," a voice suddenly emerged in Xue Wei's mind, making him jolt in surprise. "Now, now, don't act so scared, this is a simple trick of compressing one's voice and sending it with Qi into the mind of another. It is frequently used in the rest of the continent, but I guess this backwater place is too uncivilized to know how to do it."
"Now, you be a good boy. Do what I am telling you to do and show me around the army camp for the next two weeks, and I will in return teach you a thing or two."
Xue Wei was appalled. He clearly had no option other than to do what this strange prophet told him to do, but why was the prophet so interested in him?
"Don't think about it too much," the disembodied voice amusingly laughed inside Xue Wei's mind. "I am a collector of strange and weird things, but I have never seen anything as rare and interesting as you. It is only natural that I want to see just what you are capable of doing with your life and to allow me to have my curiosity satisfied. I will in return teach you some things that are useful to you."
Xue Wei was unable to answer this Lan figure. He had no means to do so either, and if he spoke out loud, others would hear him instead.
The commander was aware that something was going on right now, and he dared not interrupt the conversation between the prophet and the young man, so he just waited while antsy on the side.
Although he had a great rank within the Kingdom of
Heping, he felt trepidation whenever it came to this prophet. If he wished, he could wipe the entire Heping Kingdom from the face of the planet.
Although humans did not fight one another, no one wished to provoke a terrible existence. In the middle of the continent, almost every influential figure owed this prophet a favor. To go against him was truly committing suicide.
"Everyone return to your tents. You will have today off to look through the camp and familiarize yourself with the various locations, such as the dining hall, the infirmary, the bathrooms, and so on. Tomorrow, we will take you to the restricted area where our military-grade martial arts, resources, and other interesting items that only the strongest are allowed to enjoy are stored!"
"And you, Xue Wei, your task is to just follow Mister Lan around. When he has finished his visit to our compound, you will be allowed some time in the restricted areas too. But for now, learn as much as you can from this great individual."
Xue Wei grimaced, but he still bowed to acknowledge that he had heard the order, and then he dragged his feet towards Lan, looking at him with dismay written all over his face. Meanwhile Lan grinned from ear to ear.
When everyone else had left, Lan placed his hands on Xue Wei's cheeks and started pulling them. "A smile won't hurt!" he said cheerfully, but Xue Wei just scowled. He was not in the mood to smile at this strange and also rather dangerous prophet.
"Don't look so glum; I promise you I will help you become number one in this strange little camp that someone so optimistically named a Genius Camp."
"I don't need your help," Xue Wei snapped back. He was not sure why, but something about this prophet made him mad beyond belief. A single look at him and he could not help but feel a headache from the great smile the man had on his lips and the cheeky look in his eyes.
"Oh, believe me, you will!" Lan grinned back. "I can also help you learn how to use the heritage ring on your finger. And I can teach you how to telepathically transmit your voice into the mind of your peers."
The prophet was tempting him with a lot of strange things, and Xue Wei was shocked the more he heard. Although he was unsure of why this prophet had taken a liking to him, he would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted, but he also knew that there was no such thing as a free meal in this world.
"What do you want in return?" he asked while on high alert, and his eyes narrowed.
"It's simple," Lan said with a grin, "I want your dantian. I've never before seen such an amazing dantian that is shaped like a pearl. You are a one in a trillion for having such a special physique! It is not a beast core, but it is not a normal dantian either. I want this for my collection!"
Xue Wei's face turned pale, and he suddenly felt a danger to his life that he had never felt before. Without a dantian, he would without a doubt become a complete cripple, but this man had requested his dantian so casually as if it was something that could be traded away easily.
"Look at you, all scared," Lan began laughing again. "I am just joking, just joking," he said as he waved his hand at Xue Wei who had begun to retreat backward.
"Although I am quite curious as to what it will evolve into. Will it become something formidable that I have never seen before or will you flop and become a useless genius that could not survive the test of time?"
"How should I know?" Xue Wei snapped back. "You are the prophet here, not me."
"That's true," Lan rubbed his nose and looked a little embarrassed. "I am a prophet," he repeated the words and his cheeky expression returned to his eyes, his lips once again blooming into a great smile.
Xue Wei rolled his eyes. He quickly understood that he was dealing with a madman. He was impossible to understand, and he would do whatever he wanted to do whenever he wanted to do it.
"Well then, Mister Lan, please tell me what you wish for me to do now?" Xue Wei sighed and lamented his fate. There was no way for him to escape the task of accompanying this Lan guy, but he truly had no idea as to where things were, so he was useless as a guide.
"Well, let us stroll the area and get familiar with the dining hall and all those things that the commander mentioned first," Lan decided and started walking, not waiting for Xue Wei to follow.
While walking through the tent camp side by side, neither of them said a word, but by now Xue Wei had understood that this dangerous man was not that dangerous as long as one did not oppose him. On the other hand, he was incredibly odd and hard to figure out.
As they walked around in the tent camp, many of the geniuses came up to greet Lan. Some had a few questions, others just wished to curry favor with him.
But strangely enough, Lan was not friendly at all. Although he was smiling at them, his face showed complete and utter boredom. He did not even pretend to listen to them.
This strange change in behavior from how he treated Xue Wei and how he treated everyone else puzzled not only Xue Wei but also the other geniuses.
Not many believed that Xue Wei was special. Most knew that his advance was rushed and thought he had an unstable foundation. Some even thought he had cheated to manage to enter the Genius Camp.
How the prophet treated Xue Wei made the others jealous. They were anything but happy with his sudden rise to fame, but none of them dared to say or do anything about it right now as it was clear that Lan favored him.
The two walked through the entire camp, and Xue Wei was capable of looking for the things he needed to locate. He was now able to look around the area, when Lan stopped in front of a tent.
"This is our tent, huh?" he asked and all color drained from Xue Wei's face. They were in front of Xue Wei's tent, but he had never in his wildest dreams thought he had to share it with anyone. It was not very large and although it could hold both of them it would be a tight squeeze.
"You don't have a guest tent for yourself?" Xue Wei asked with a trembling voice.
"Don't know, don't care." Lan answered and entered the tent that Xue Wei had claimed to be his own, causing Xue Wei to stand outside trembling from anger.
"Don't tell me he has fallen in love with me," Xue Wei said through gritted teeth, but then a voice appeared in his mind, "you wish."
Chapter 18 - Compressed Voice Communication
Xue Wei stood outside his tent, fuming with anger. He had intended for his last words to cause the crazy prophet to become self-aware and maybe even angrily stomp out of the tent when his sexuality was questioned, but it seemed that Lan did not care at all.
Xue Wei grumbled. His tent was just big enough for himself, and now that they shared it there was almost no space for anything other than their beds.
Xue Wei looked appalled when he entered the tent and saw that Lan had not even found a second bed but had occupied the one bed that was present in the tent.
"What do you think you're doing?" Xue Wei asked with a frown on his face when he saw Lan sitting on his bed as if it was only natural.
"Oh, I am the guest, so it is only natural that this bed is mine. I mean, you would not request a guest to sleep on the hard ground for two weeks, would you now?"
"If the guest is some weirdo like you, I wouldn't mind being impolite," Xue Wei mumbled to himself, completely aware that no matter how low his voice was, Lan would hear it, yet this time the prophet decided not to react to what the other said, deciding to just smile mischievously.
"This is going to be a long two weeks," Xue Wei sighed, not even bothering to lower his voice as he sat down on the cold hard ground that was the floor of the tent.
The only soft part of the tent was the bed, but fortunately one no longer had much need for sleep as soon as one stepped down the path of cultivation. As long as one meditated and absorbed Qi from the surrounding air and refined it into one's own Qi, then one could remove all fatigue from the body.
Since this was the case, Xue Wei decided to ignore Lan and instead focus on his training completely. He understood that as long as he was unable to break into the Earth Warrior rank, he would not be amongst the strongest in the Genius Camp. In that
case, he would not get the best rewards and resources.
His aim with being in the army was to become an entity that everyone had to respect, but the only way to become such a person was to train diligently and have access to the materials and resources that the Genius Camp had to offer.
Right now, he was at the lowest rank of the Genius Camp, which meant that he would receive the least resources every cycle. Although it would be a significantly higher amount compared to what the ninth layer Ordinary Warriors in the other division received, it was truly nothing compared to the top expert in the Genius Camp.
"Well, since you are not going to pursue the fact that I took your bed, I will teach you the voice compression trick," Lan said magnanimously as he looked at Xue Wei.
Although Xue Wei was unhappy with Lan, hearing this, he suddenly felt that learning this skill would make it worth for him to give up his bed for the next two weeks.