Chapter 8 It's Not What It Looks Like!

• With a final burst of speed, they both leapt simultaneously, barely squeezing through the narrow opening just before the gate slammed shut.
• 6:30 AM.
• "Ow! Get your bony ass off me! I don't do men."
• "Oh yeah? And who said your metallic chest is attractive?"
• Jackson groaned, realizing he had landed on top of a noodle-eating boy. Their eyes met.
• Silence.
• The kind of silence that should never happen between two men in compromising positions.
• Before they could process the situation, a passing student passing stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly raised an eyebrow. Then he smirked.
• "Ah, love is in the air this early in the morning," the student mused. "You two make a cute couple. Don’t be shy, I support interspecies romance too! We’ve got pig-human couples, rat-human lovers, even that one guy who’s dating his flying sword or a thousand years old qi condense vegetable—"
• Hearing those words, Jackson immediately shot to his feet like a spring-loaded chicken. "IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"
• "Yeah, totally not!" the other boy Logan waved his hands defensively.
• But the student just nodded sagely, misunderstanding further.
• "You don’t have to hide your feelings anymore. This is a progressive school. People here swing, bend, pivot, twist, triple-flip, hell, some even cultivate sideways when it comes to relationship, like I said, if someone can date a rat, you guys don't even need to be ashamed of being two dude, heck both of you are handsome. The people in school will love to hear your love stories."
• Jackson and Logan’s faces turned beet red.
• "My mom will execute me if she hears rumors about me liking my own gender," Logan whispered, already picturing his Asian mother appearing from thin air, slipper in hand, shouting:
• “JUNJIE! YOU THINK I RAISE YOU TO BREAK BLOODLINE?! KNEEL AND FACE MY WEAPON HEAD-ON!”
• No. This wouldn’t do.
• They had to stop that guy before rumors spread like wildfire, maybe bribe him! Yes, bribe, the best slightly legal way to shut anyone's mouth.
• Meanwhile the dazed Jackson’s Mind was thinking something else: First day of school and my reputation is already in the toilet. Forget becoming a great martial artist—I’m gonna be labeled as ‘that dude who likes strong, muscular hairy chest men’ before I even cultivate my strengths to the top.
• Logan groaned. "We have to bribe him!"
• Jackson sighed as they dusted themselves off and surveyed their surroundings.
• "Nice academy I must say, giving off a hero academy style." Jackson mutters.
• "You mean hero academia?" Logan joked.
• "What's that?" Jackson asked.
• "Nothing."
• Storm Academy's gate area was no joke.
• Majestic stone tiles. Towering statues of legendary martial artists. Ancient trees that probably absorbed so much Qi they could one-shot a student.
• Young cultivators were scattered around—some sparring, some meditating, and one guy who was clearly trying to tame a demon beast with raw meat.
• "Here kitty, kitty, this is a high level meat, just allow me pet you and you will have the meat all for your-"
• Roarrrrrrrrr!
• "Ahhhhh, don't bite my butt you asshole!"
• "..."
• Jackson adjusted his bag and muttered, "So this is Storm Academy… one of the top sects in China. My dream has come true and at the same time, why the hell is that dude not being saved? Forget it."
• Logan, still traumatized from the earlier misunderstanding, slowly nodded.
• As they approached the entrance, Logan extended his hand with a grin. "I'm Logan Kane. And you?"
• Jackson hesitated. "Jackson. Just Jackson."
• "Just Jackson? Bro, that’s mysterious as hell. I like it," Logan smirked. "Let me guess, tragic past? Family slaughtered? Or… did you awaken a crippled dantian and now you’re secretly plotting revenge?"
• Jackson rolled his eyes. "Nah, I just don’t trust people enough to give my full name."
• Before Logan could respond, a loud chime rang out. A disembodied voice echoed across the academy:
• "All new students, report to the assembly ground immediately. Attendance is mandatory."
• Logan groaned. "Assembly already? Shouldn’t we be given a proper welcome? You know, a grand ceremony, a speech about destiny, a potential test where some arrogant rich young master flexes his superiority?"
• Jackson didn’t respond. He was too busy thinking about his aunt’s warning:
• "First day of school is always full of plot twists you won’t expect."
• Was this the first of many plot twists?
• As they followed the wave of fresh victims er, students, toward the assembly ground, Logan elbowed Jackson.
• "Check it out. That’s the son of the Zhao Clan—big deal, super talented, walks around like he owns the place. Rumor has it, he mastered the Crimson Ten Thousand Burning Sun Sword Art by age ten."
• Jackson followed his gaze. A tall, arrogant-looking young master stood at the center of a fan club of bootlickers. His posture screamed ‘My father owns this school, peasant.’
• (Eh? Isn't that sword skill name too long? I bet before he calls it, his enemies would have taken a bath and have kids with a woman.) Jackson thought as he turn towards the person and immediately he saw him, he affirm: Yup. Definitely the kind of guy who will get offended if I breathe in his direction.
• In fact, if this were a proper cultivation novel, this guy would already be shouting:
• "You dare look at me? You’re courting death!"
• Quickly averting his gaze to avoid unnecessary drama, Jackson spotted another figure.
• Logan smirked. "And her? Celeste Dawn. Ice-cold beauty from the Dawn Pavilion. Rumors say she once froze an entire river during her awakening ceremony."
• Jackson’s eyes landed on Celeste, a silver-haired, jade-skinned goddess with an expression as cold as a tax collector.
• Jackson’s Thought: Ah yes. She’s THAT girl. The one who’s reserved for the main character. The one who’ll get poisoned by some aphrodisiac and will need urgent ‘dual cultivation therapy’ to be saved.
• Yup. He had to stay away from her.
• Less he makes all males his enemies and have young masters plotting to kill him even while in the toilet.