[Quest completed: successfully taught the arrogant Uchiha Sasuke a lesson; the overwhelming difference in strength made him relive the despair of the night his clan was wiped out.]
[Reward obtained: Fire Release – Great Fireball Technique]
As white letters surfaced in his eyes, a flood of memories poured into Cheng Sui's mind.
Cheng Sui rubbed his throbbing temples and quickly finished digesting the Great Fireball Technique.
It was the first Ninjutsu he had ever learned, yet the implanted memories went far beyond the technique itself.
They also covered hand-seal drills, Chakra refinement, and Chakra nature transformation.
These memories were invaluable to Cheng Sui right now.
After all, he wasn't a real Ninja.
Without the System's knowledge dump he couldn't even perform the most basic Chakra extraction—let alone use Ninjutsu.
"You okay? Can you stand?"
Cheng Sui reached out, offering to pull Chu Zihang up from the ground.
Chu Zihang hesitated, then took the hand Cheng Sui offered.
Cheng Sui hoisted him up and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat.
Others might not know what that look in Chu Zihang's eyes meant, but Cheng Sui—having read the original Dragon Raja—understood perfectly.
Still, there was nothing he could say, so he simply patted Chu Zihang's shoulder in comfort.
"You're really C-rank?" Chu Zihang flexed his aching wrist and couldn't help asking.
Cheng Sui gave an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his head. "The 3E Exam when I first enrolled did place me at C-rank. Maybe my bloodline improved later—who knows, haha."
A flicker of emotion crossed Chu Zihang's eyes.
Anyone else hearing that would have rolled their eyes in disbelief.
Bloodline is fixed from birth; it can't rise or fall—that's an iron rule of the Hybrid world.
But Chu Zihang was different. A week earlier, while browsing the Lionheart Society archives, he'd discovered that history recorded a technique capable of raising a Hybrid's bloodline; ancient Hybrids had even used it to challenge Pure-blood Dragons.
Unfortunately, only fragments of that technique remained in the Lionheart archives; Chu Zihang still couldn't reconstruct it.
Could Cheng Sui have mastered that lost art? Chu Zihang wondered.
While Chu Zihang's thoughts raced, Cheng Sui had already restacked the protective gear and was holding two broken bokken, looking embarrassed. "I don't have to pay for these, do I? My monthly allowance is pretty tight."
Seeing Cheng Sui standing there with the snapped swords and an awkward expression, Chu Zihang dismissed the idea.
Believing Cheng Sui had invented a blood-refining technique was less likely than believing he was a Dragon King.
"..."
Cheng Sui left the Lionheart Society base; along the way plenty of people noticed him and whispered as he passed.
Some bold girls even came up asking for selfies.
Even more aggressive than the girls were the paparazzi from the News Department.
"Senior Cheng, what's your response to Caesar's challenge?"
Cheng Sui stared at the boy who was practically shoving the microphone into his mouth and felt helpless.
Fame really does bring trouble; the vultures were already circling.
But running forever wasn't an option. Even for the System quest he would have to fight Caesar sooner or later—otherwise he wouldn't have asked Chu Zihang to spar.
"Of course—I accept his invitation."
With that brief line Cheng Sui stepped around the reporter and headed straight for his dorm.
The room was empty; his Indian roommate was still interning at the Equipment Department and hadn't returned.
Cheng Sui took an ice-cold cola from the fridge, sat at his desk, and powered up his computer with practiced ease.
Fssst—
He popped the can open, took a satisfied gulp, grabbed some clothes and walked into the bathroom.
Moments later he emerged, toweling damp hair while navigating the computer to the Night Watchman Forum.
[Top 1: Cheng Sui Confirms Duel with Caesar; Training Footage with Chu Zihang Surfaces—Lionheart Society President Apparently Outmatched!]
Cheng Sui raised an eyebrow and clicked into the thread.
Inside were two videos.
The first showed exactly that morning's spar between Chu Zihang and Cheng Sui.
The footage looked shot from a corner on a phone—blurry and occasionally shaking as if the filmer were dodging Lionheart guards.
Cheng Sui's mouth twitched; the News Department really was everywhere.
The final frame caught Chu Zihang igniting his Golden Eyes and slashing upward in defiance, but the outcome wasn't recorded.
The sneak-filmer had apparently been spotted, hastily pocketing the phone and sprinting away; the rest was just jostling footage.
The second clip was Cheng Sui's short interview accepting Caesar's challenge.
Cheng Sui sipped his cola, letting the bubbles pop on his tongue while scrolling down to the comments.
[dictator: I'm really looking forward to this match.]
It was the top-liked comment; "dictator" was the name of Caesar's blade, and on the forum that ID meant Caesar himself.
A chorus of cheers followed, showing just how popular Caesar was at Cassell College.
Others roasted the News Department for being unprofessional—how could they miss the ending? Some even "wished" them another year of study abroad.
Cheng Sui closed the page and flopped back on his bed.
He checked the time: 11:22 a.m.
Afternoon classes started at two; he decided to nap first.
But before that he wanted to do one thing.
Cheng Sui glanced around cautiously, then shut the windows, drew the curtains, and locked the door.
He stepped into the bathroom to be sure any flames wouldn't reach outside.
Cheng Sui inhaled deeply and began forming seals.
Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger.
Fire Release – Great Fireball Technique!
Chakra flowed from his abdomen to his lungs, gathered in his mouth and erupted as a jet of flame.
He held back; with the Chakra reserves of an Uzumaki, a full-power Great Fireball could probably incinerate an entire floor.
Under his restraint a Watermelon-Sized mini fireball shot out, struck the bathroom wall and left a black scorch mark on the tiles.
Cheng Sui almost burst out laughing.
As a kid he'd mimic the hand seals after watching Naruto, shout the technique names and dream of being a Konoha Ninja.
Now the dream had come true.
He doused the lingering embers with the Shower Head and opened the bathroom door.
"Oh, A Sui, I thought I'd never see you again."
The moment the door opened a man hugged him.
"Sang Jie? You're finally back."
Cheng Sui smiled at Sang Jie wrapped around him.
Sang Jie looked up; Dark Rings stood out on his brown face, his once delicate features now scraggly with stubble, the picture of exhaustion.
"What happened to you?"