Learning To Live As A Cultivator 85 Chapter Eighty Five - Jin Li considers marriage

By the end of the first day, Bowyer and Pike were not first and second place, but they were in the top five, being placed third and fourth. In the last group, a team of six had annihilated the competition, claiming thirty five of the people pushed off stage and becoming the only ones left standing. They had not allowed any others to stand with them. As they also had two extra bodies during their group, they also could claim extra points over all. Two members within their team took the first and second spot.

But perhaps the scariest person to participate in the melee was in the third group. This group had the most survivors, so the least bonus points over all, but one youth, notable due to his blazing red hair and sharply set eyes removed fifteen people from the stage by himself. Pike told them that his name was Ari and he was currently first in the overall Standings. Although he had only claimed joint eighth, he would most definitely rise to be top three in Pike's opinion.

"Round one is a little luck as well as skill," Pike said truthfully. The next round would be a little of the same as well. In the second round, the two hundred and fifty two students of the inner school would be split into teams of six and again there would be a time limit. In this round, weapons were allowed, but again abilities were not. The teams would be random, made up of a top student, three mid rank students and two bottom ranked students and they would get little time to discuss tactics, before being placed against another team. All this was based on the previous years Standings. The team that won would receive ten points per member, the team that lost would receive nothing and each team gained three chances. This would naturally mean that there would be many, many matches and all had to be completed within the day. Therefore, the smaller battlegrounds would be opened for the matches, with Teachers spread thin to cast final judgements.

But that would begin tomorrow, Pike and Bowyer did not know which team they would be placed in, but it was impossible that they would be in the same team. They would find out in the morning. Jin Li, Sun and Leon ate a meal with them before retiring to the outer school dormitories.

Leon could not contain the yawns that spilled from his throat. The day had seemed quite long and too exciting for him, he did not even protest when Jin Li directed him to his bed. There were only two in the room, one was obviously Sun's, but it was not as if Leon and Jin Li had not shared a mattress before.

Leon's excuses regarding his name had been a bit thin, claiming it had been a spelling error on the paperwork for entry into the school and it was too difficult to explain and besides, he was used to it by now. The whole thing was shrugged away, it was not as if his explanation was impossible after all.

"I was wondering who that girl referred to when she spoke of a Leo," Jin Li had muttered to himself, causing Leon to ask;

"W-what g-g-girl?"

Jin Li had given him a cold glare then said no more, leaving both Sun and himself curious. Pike and Bowyer had looked at each other, coughed into their fists then changed the subject, deciding to praise the skills of the two women who were currently in the top ten. One of whom, Luna, was the only woman within the existing top ten of the Standings. Bowyer had wondered aloud whether she would maintain her place. She was currently eighth as of last year, having beaten Pike by just two points. She was skilled, but had a tendency to rely on others and a run of good luck had pushed her into a good position that she had not fallen from.

The other woman had been a first year last year, so this was her first time in the Standings. Pike and Bowyer did not know much about her at all as she had flown under their radar all of this time.

With Leon having fallen asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow and Sun having slipped into dreamland not long after, Jin Li lie upon his side and stared at the youth beside him for a while. Without his thick glasses marring his face and his long hair spilling about his small frame, he definitely had a slightly more feminine look. His waist was still skinny and there was a complete lack of muscle upon his thin arms and he lacked presence over all. But he had been warm upon Jin Li's back and his pale face coloured really easily, which amused Jin Li for some reason. He also revealed his emotions far too easily through his lips, his eyes being too hidden usually.

But what bothered Jin Li the most, was why he was so interested in the reactions that followed the revelation that a man could be interested in a man. Leon had been embarrassed, but that was over the loudness of his voice when others had stopped to listen, and he had become almost sullen when Sun had questioned it. Yet he had not sounded disgusted at all that a man could love another man. Well, neither had Bowyer nor Pike.

Jin Li rolled into his back. As for himself, he had never thought about it before. He had lived his whole life upon his family estate and his focus had been his cultivation and training. His father had his mother as wife and his mother, being the strong martial artist she was, would never allow other women to warm his bed, so learning that his uncle had a wife and several concubines had been a revelation at that time. He had stated that he would marry a strong martial artist like his mother, but he never once thought beyond that. As for sharing said wife's bed.... he could not imagine it. Only Leon had dared crawl into his bed and he had cursed him for it at the time, but now... well the warmth he produced was convenient, he supposed.

And on that thought he rolled over once more and went to sleep.

Chapter end