The sweet weekend life dissipated the moment she returned to school on Monday.
When Xuanxi walked into the Class A classroom, she noticed something off about the atmosphere. Students were gathered in small groups, talking in low voices.
Someone was passing around a piece of paper, someone else was typing quickly on a communication stone, serious expressions on their faces.
Xuanxi walked to the back row by the window and sat down, opening her notebook. Out of habit, she glanced toward the front row by the window and found that familiar silver-white figure was not there.
Xuanxi was slightly startled and scanned the classroom. Then she saw a familiar figure walking through the rows of desks toward the back. She walked slowly to the back row and sat down in the seat next to Xuanxi.
Normally, Valeris sat there, but now Xige had taken that seat. Could they have had a fight? Xuanxi thought to herself that if they really fought, she’d have to help both sides.
“Valeris took leave.”
Hildegrifa sat down next to Xuanxi, placing her notebook on the desk, her tone as calm as usual.
“So I’m sitting here to take notes for her this class.”
Xuanxi watched her sit down, watched her place the pen next to the notebook, and watched Xige not look at her even once from start to finish.
“How did you know Valeris took leave?” Xuanxi asked.
Hildegrifa opened her notebook.
“She sent me a message, asking me to take notes for her.”
“Why didn’t she send it to me directly?”
Hildegrifa looked up, giving Xuanxi a speechless look.
“…Do you have her as a friend? How could she send it to you?”
Xuanxi opened her mouth. She still didn’t have Valeris as a friend. Since the start of the semester, the friends she had added could be counted on one hand—just Elsa and Hildegrifa.
Valeris had never asked for her friend code, and she had never asked for Valeris’s either. Even though they sat in the same row, saw each other every day, talked every day, yet they hadn’t added each other as friends—it was really strange when you thought about it.
Xuanxi lowered her head and opened her notebook, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t help curling into a smile.
“What are you smiling about?” Hildegrifa asked.
“Nothing.” Xuanxi said. “It’s just that you seem happy that Valeris took leave.”
Hildegrifa’s pen tip made a scratch on the paper, as if she had slipped. Expression unchanged, she erased the mark and wrote again.
“Not at all.”
“Then why did you sit over here?”
“The front row was too noisy.”
How could the front row be noisy? Because the teacher was strict, the front row was always quiet, but Xuanxi didn’t call her out on it.
Elsa turned around from the front row, about to speak, but when she saw Hildegrifa sitting next to Xuanxi, she closed her mouth again.
Her eyes darted back and forth between Hildegrifa and Xuanxi twice, then she chose to share her information with Xuanxi.
“Did you know,” Elsa lowered her voice, a hint of unease in her dark green eyes, “something big happened at the Academy these past few days.”
“What big thing?” Xuanxi asked.
“There was an accident during the senior year’s secret realm trial. An exploration team was missing for three days in the secret realm and was only rescued yesterday. Three people were seriously injured, and one of them is still unconscious.”
Xige’s pen tip stopped on the paper.
“Secret realm trial? Is it that Dragon Tomb?”
“Not the Dragon Tomb. It’s another secret realm, in the eastern wasteland called Echo Valley.” Elsa’s voice dropped even lower, almost a whisper. “The key point is—they found something that doesn’t belong to the Western Dragon Clan in that secret realm.”
“What thing?”
Elsa handed over the communication stone. On the screen was a blurry photo, showing markings on a stone wall—rough and ancient lines, like some kind of totem or writing. Xuanxi stared at the photo for a few seconds and felt her heart suddenly race.
She had seen similar patterns in the diary of Xige’s elder—those were Eastern Dragon Clan characters.
“These markings… were found in the secret realm?”
“Yes, the rescue team photographed it at the last location where the missing team stayed. They say these markings are not original to the secret realm; they were carved in recent years, which means someone has been inside recently.” Elsa retrieved the communication stone.
“The Academy has blocked the news now, but you know, the more they block something like this, the faster it spreads.”
Xuanxi sat there, replaying the markings from the photo in her mind—those characters belonging to the Eastern Dragon Clan. In a secret realm of the Western Dragon Domain, there were traces from the Eastern Dragon Clan.
The class bell rang. Cecilia Windwalker walked into the classroom, short black hair, sharp eyes. She stood at the podium, swept a glance over the students, and without any pleasantries, directly spoke.
“I know you’ve all heard about the secret realm incident.”
Her voice was not loud, but every word drove into everyone’s ears like nails.
“The Academy is investigating. I’ll notify you all when there are results. Until then, I don’t want to hear any irresponsible speculation or rumors.”
The whispering in the classroom instantly vanished.
“Now, class begins.”
Cecilia turned around. At her fingertips, wind element formed a line of characters in the air, suspended, glowing with a faint cyan light.
“Today, we’ll talk about the composition of this world.”
Her gaze swept across the classroom.
“All of you present here are dragon race, and most of what you’ve encountered since childhood is dragon race. But what I want to say is, there is more to this world than just the dragon race.”
Xuanxi opened her notebook and wrote the words “World Composition” at the top of a blank page.
Cecilia drew a simple world map in the air. Lines made of wind element floated above the podium, faint cyan light outlining the contours of continents, the boundaries of oceans, and the spheres of influence of various races.
“This world is divided into four major plates.”
Her finger pointed at the westernmost part of the map.
“The west is the territory of the beast tribe. The beast tribe is divided into several clans, with the wolf, bear, and eagle clans being the largest. Their physical strength ranks among the top of all races.”
“They revere strength, bloodline, and battle glory. The vast majority of you belong to the Western Dragon Clan. We share the Western Continent with the beast tribe.”
“Although there are occasional frictions between the dragon race and the beast tribe, over thousands of years, a delicate coexistence has formed—they can’t stand each other, but neither can destroy the other.”
A few low murmurs rose in the classroom. Beast tribe—the other half of the masters of the Western Continent. The dragon race occupied the northern mountains and skies, while the beast tribe occupied the southern plains and forests.
The two races cooperated occasionally, sometimes opposed each other, but most of the time they lived their own lives.
Cecilia’s finger moved to the northern side of the map.
“The Northern Ice Fields are the far north. The environment there is harsh, with no major races settled—only scattered primitive tribes. Not worth much attention, so I’ll skip over it.”
Her finger moved to the southern side of the map.
“The Endless Forest in the south is the territory of the elf tribe. The elf tribe has extremely long lifespans and are skilled in archery and nature magic.”
“They are aloof from worldly affairs and rarely involve themselves in the continent’s conflicts. But never think they are easy to bully.”
Xuanxi’s pen formed the words “elf tribe.” That was a name many dragon race had only heard in legends—it was said their sharp arrows could pierce a dragon race’s thick scales, and their high-level magic could even stop time.
“The vast plains in the east are the territory of the Human Kingdom.”
Cecilia’s finger stopped at a large area on the eastern side of the map labeled “Human Kingdom.”
“Humans are the race with the largest population, fastest reproduction, and most rapid territorial expansion in this world.”
The classroom fell silent for a moment.
“Humans have neither the scales of the dragon race, nor the strength of the beast tribe, nor the magical talent of the elf tribe.”
Cecilia’s tone held no contempt—she was merely stating facts.
“Their bodies are fragile and can’t withstand a single blow, their lifespans as short as morning dew. But they have one ability that no other race has—their learning ability is extremely high.”
“Humans can learn the dragon race’s breathing technique, the beast tribe’s combat skills, and the elf tribe’s nature magic.”
“Although learning these requires dozens of times the effort, they are not afraid. Humans learn everything, are willing to learn anything, and this has led to their rapid development of technology and strength.”
She paused.
“A hundred years ago, the Human Kingdom’s territory was only a third of its current size. It took just over a hundred years to expand to its current scale—a mere blink in a dragon race’s lifetime. And our dragon race territory has not expanded by even an inch in a hundred years.”
The classroom was so quiet you could hear the wind rustling through the tree branches outside the window.
“Finally, and most importantly.”
Cecilia’s finger moved to the center of the map.
“The Central Continent is the most chaotic place in this world. It does not belong to any race. The dragon race, beast tribe, elf tribe, and humans all have footholds here, but no one can dominate anyone else. There is no law, no order—only fists and interests.”
Xuanxi looked at the area in the center of the map, a patchwork of various colors, like a piece of cloth dyed with different paints, each color trying to cover the other, but none able to fully dominate.
A student raised their hand.
“Teacher, you’ve talked about the beast tribe, elf tribe, humans, and the Central Continent. What about the Eastern Dragon Domain? Doesn’t the Eastern Dragon Clan count?”
The classroom fell silent for a moment. Xuanxi’s pen tip stopped on the paper. Cecilia glanced at the student.
Her finger moved away from the Central Continent, drawing an arc in the air, crossing the Storm Sea, and landing on another location on the map.
“The Eastern Dragon Domain lies on the other side of the Storm Sea, facing the Human Kingdom across the sea. The Eastern Dragon Clan never shares territory with any race.”
“They believe: all under heaven is the King’s land. Their territory belongs only to themselves. That is why I did not include it among the four major plates—because the Eastern Dragon Domain is not on this continent.”
The classroom fell silent again. Eastern Dragon Domain—this term was not unfamiliar to any dragon race, but very few truly understood it.
“Teacher, what is the difference between the Eastern Dragon Clan and the Western Dragon Clan?” another student asked.
Cecilia’s gaze swept across the classroom, pausing for a moment between the first row and the last.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?”
No one said no.
“The Eastern Dragon Clan and the Western Dragon Clan share the same origin, but they have diverged for so long that they have become two completely different branches.”
Cecilia’s fingertip traced the outline of an Eastern Dragon in the air—it had a long, slender body, no wings, five claws, coiled among the clouds.
“Their cultivation system is not based on elements, but primarily on Spiritual Energy (Qi). Their social structure is neither like the beast tribe’s tribal system nor the Western Dragon’s family system, but more like a human dynasty.”
“They have their own script, their own cultivation methods, and a complete civilization system that is astonishing.”
A few low murmurs rose in the classroom. Dynasty—this term felt both unfamiliar and distant to the Western Dragon Clan, who were used to dozens of families each dominating a region.
Elsa raised her hand.
“Teacher, is the Eastern Dragon Clan stronger than the Western Dragon Clan?”
Cecilia glanced at her.
“Strong or weak depends on the perspective. The Eastern Dragon Clan’s Qi system far surpasses the Western Dragon Clan’s element system in healing and sustained combat, but the Western Dragon Clan’s elemental breath’s destructive power on the front line is incomparable to the Eastern Dragon Clan’s.”
“The two dragon types can only be said to have their own strengths.”
She paused.
“But one thing is certain: three thousand years ago, the Eastern and Western Dragon Clans were one family. Three thousand years later, the Western Dragon Clan has split into dozens of large and small families, constantly fighting each other.”
“Yet the Eastern Dragon Clan remains a complete, unified dynasty centered on the five main bloodlines.”
No one spoke in the classroom, quietly waiting for the teacher’s next words.
“Their dynasty honors the Azure Dragon Clan as the supreme authority, with the other four lineages as support. The highest ruler of the dynasty is called the ‘Dragon Emperor,’ inherited by each generation of the Azure Dragon direct bloodline.”
“Below the Dragon Emperor is a Council of Elders, composed of the heads of each lineage, with a hierarchical system of enfeoffment, orderly and structured.”
Cecilia withdrew the wind element. The map and dragon silhouette in the air slowly dissipated.
“But you don’t need to know too much about the Eastern Dragon Clan. Just know that on the other side of the Storm Sea, there is a dragon civilization older, more unified, and more complete than ours.”
Her gaze swept across the classroom.
“Perhaps one day, some of you will go there, or perhaps you never will. But knowing of their existence is the first step to understanding this world.”
She paused.
“That’s all for today’s lesson. Class dismissed.”
The classroom did not immediately buzz with the noise of dismissal. Students sat in their seats, some staring blankly, some looking at the words they had written in their notebooks.
Xuanxi sat in the back row, staring at the words “Eastern Dragon Domain” in her notebook, her pen tip hovering above the paper, not falling for a long time.
Hildegrifa sat beside her, her amethyst eyes looking at the blackboard, saying nothing. But her hand under the desk, where Xuanxi couldn’t see, gently held Xuanxi’s hand.