Heaven's Eyes

Arrow's Whisper

"Alright then. Since you claim to have accepted five students, bring them here so we can verify it. Or… are you just going to offer up your face now and save us the time?"

Ronan Bixby sneered after Emmett left, folding his arms across his chest. He still couldn’t believe the academy’s bottom-ranked teacher had the gall to bet against the entire logistics office.

"Bring them here?" Jack Reed shook his head. "You’re all members of the logistics department. Don’t tell me you don’t understand basic protocol. Once a student binds their token to a teacher, their name and info are automatically registered with the Education Bureau. All we have to do is check the records. Unless you think the Bureau is in on some grand conspiracy to help me lie?"

The system updates the academy records the moment a student claims a teacher’s identity token. It was foolproof, impossible to fake.

"Harold, go check!" Ronan snapped, his irritation rising. "Let’s see how long that smug act holds up."

Harold Vance, one of the clerks who had mocked Jack earlier, nodded reluctantly and left. A heavy silence fell over the room until he returned, face pale as paper.

"Well?" Ronan demanded, heart pounding.

"There… are five students listed under Jack Reed as their teacher. All verified. These are their names and profiles..."

Harold handed over the report with trembling hands.

Even as he spoke, he couldn’t understand it. How could five students, any students, choose the academy’s laughingstock? Of all the qualified mentors... why him?

"Let me see that!" Ronan snatched the report and scanned the list. The others crowded around.

"Maybe he picked up some hopeless cases," one of them muttered. "You know, the kind who were about to be expelled. Just padding his numbers."

It wasn’t uncommon for desperate instructors to take in barely qualified students just to meet quotas. Some didn’t even last a semester before being expelled.

But as Ronan read further... his expression twisted.

In his mind, someone like Jack Reed, the academy’s lowest-ranked teacher, could only attract bottom-tier students, the ones nobody else wanted. Accepting them wasn’t commendable. It was pathetic.

"Emily Wright and Jennifer Jade... two girls? Their names don’t exactly scream elite. Probably scraped the bottom of the entrance rankings," he sneered.

Astoria Academy's entrance exam was grueling. Students were ranked based on performance, and the best were always recruited by the most prestigious instructors.

"Ronan," one of the others whispered, voice unsteady, "keep reading..."

"What? You think it gets worse?" Ronan scoffed, then read further, and froze.

"Rank 67... younger sister of Edward Wright... personal disciple of an Elder... and heiress to one of the Four Great Houses of Skyreach Province."

His jaw dropped.

"The Wright family? That Wright family? And her brother is Edward Wright?" Ronan stammered.

Wright’s Edge was one of the kingdom’s four ruling houses, and Edward Wright was one of the academy’s brightest stars, already chosen by an Elder.

A girl like that had chosen Jack?

It felt like thunder exploded in Ronan’s skull.

"Look below that," someone whispered hoarsely.

"He probably spent all his luck getting Emily Wright. There’s no way another name could be like that..."

Then he saw it.

"Zara Vale? Ranked seventh in the entrance exam? Daughter of the City Lord of Vale?"

Ronan staggered. Several teachers reached out for support.

Zara Vale was already a legend. Stunning, brilliant, and gifted beyond her years. Dozens of top instructors had fought to claim her.

And she had chosen... him?

Frantically, he read on.

Liam Gray, top 100. A solid cultivator, full of potential.

Zane Rivers, a spear prodigy. The rumor was that he held back during the entrance exam. With guidance, he could break into the top 20.

Ronan read the names again and again, but the result was the same: disbelief.

"He must’ve tricked them somehow! They probably don’t even know who he is. Once they find out, they’ll leave him. Just watch!"

His voice cracked. Panic leaked through the bravado.

"Whether they stay or not isn’t your concern," Jack said calmly. "The bet was whether I had students. I have five. Now it’s time to pay up."

The logistics staff looked like they’d walked into their own execution.

The terms were simple: if Jack had four students, each of them would take a slap in front of everyone.

"A bet? What if we refuse?" Ronan asked suddenly, a cruel smirk forming on his bloated face.

"Exactly," Harold chimed in, stepping forward. "What can you do about it? Gonna fight us? You don’t have the strength."

"You’re the lowest-ranked teacher here. If we beat you half to death, who would even care?"

They laughed, bluffing for dear life.

Jack just smiled.

"So, you’re backing out of your word?"

"Damn right," Harold Vance growled. "You thought you could slap me? I ought to…"

His hand lashed out.

But before it could land…

Pah!

A crisp crack rang out. Blood splattered.

Vance stumbled back, teeth clattering across the floor.

Everyone froze.

Ronan’s breath caught. The others stared, stunned.

Jack hadn’t moved.

But Harold’s face was swollen and red, like he’d been struck by a hammer.

"H-how... how is this possible?" someone whispered.

Silence.

Jack stood calmly, brushing his sleeves.

In the Warrior 4 Iron Body realm, the body was tempered, muscle, bone, and skin hardened like steel. It was a level far beyond the Essence Fist realm.

Yet Jack, still in Essence Fist, had floored a man in Iron Body with a single slap.

Impossible.

"It must be a fluke! Don’t be afraid of him!" Ronan shouted.

One of the teachers growled and charged forward.

He was Advanced Iron Body, skin like armor, muscle like cables.

"You’re going down!"

His palm lashed out. The air cracked.

Jack didn’t move until he did.

Two fingers flicked upward.

Crack!

The man screamed, his arm going limp as he collapsed.

"What?!"

Two strikes. Two Iron Body instructors, defeated instantly.

Ronan and the last teacher hesitated.

"Together!"

They lunged, but Jack moved like a shadow.

He caught Ronan’s face with one hand, jabbed his gut with the other….

Thud!

Ronan collapsed.

The last teacher dropped seconds later, limbs twitching.

"You... how do you know all our Life points?" Ronan gasped, coughing blood.

Jack had struck directly at their pressure points. In martial arts, even the strongest could fall if their vital spots were hit. Those secrets were guarded closely. Many martial artists didn’t even tell their families.

But Jack had known them all.

He didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

The Vault of Eternal Insight had shown him everything: flaws in cultivation, pressure points, weaknesses.

Even if Jack was new to this world and its systems, victory was simple.

"You agreed to the bet. If you'd taken the slaps like men, we could’ve avoided all this," Jack said with a faint smile.

"Don’t get smug!" Ronan hissed. "I don’t know how you found our vital points, but attacking fellow instructors in public… I'll report you to the board! You’ll lose your license!"

It was true. In the academy’s hierarchy, rank mattered. A junior instructor attacking seniors? Grounds for dismissal, maybe even expulsion.

"So when strength fails, you hide behind rules?" Jack asked.

"Damn right!" Harold said, face still bleeding. "Kneel down now and let us beat you, and maybe we won’t report you!"

"Yeah. Once you're fired, no one’s protecting you," Felix Rourke sneered.

Jack's expression didn’t change.

"Alright. If it's rules you want... let’s play by the rules."

He stepped forward, turning to Ronan.

"Ronan Bixby. Three months ago, you gifted Elder Corwin’s soulsteel blade to your mistress and bought her a villa using embezzled academy funds. A month later, you shattered Elder Dalton’s antique vase and framed a student. He was expelled. Want me to go on?"

Ronan turned ghostly pale. "You... you…"

Those crimes were secret. No witnesses. Not even his colleagues knew.

"Harold Vance. Three years ago, you assaulted a student. She took her life the next day. That rash on your back? Not allergies. Guilt. Want me to describe the shape of the scar?"

Harold collapsed, knees buckling. He soiled himself on the spot.

"Alden Graves," Jack said, eyes sharp. "You poisoned your business partner and stole his estate. Investigation came up empty, but a few rumors could spark another look. Should we try?"

"Felix Rourke. You’re cleaner than most. But your antique habit isn’t cheap. You’ve taken bribes. That jade ring? I know which student gave it, and why."

"You... you’re a devil!"

"You're not human!"

They were shaking now, faces white, eyes wide.

Their deepest secrets, laid bare.

There was no more pride. Only fear.

"We were wrong!"

"Please, Jack! We were foolish! Forgive us!"

They dropped to their knees.

Jack scoffed. "I don’t care what you’ve done. But don’t mess with me again. If I hear you’re pulling this garbage on anyone else... I’ll make sure the academy does more than revoke your licenses."

He turned his back.

The Vault of Eternal Insight had done the work. It didn’t just reveal flaws in techniques, but sins, vices, and secrets.

Jack wasn’t trying to be a hero. But cross him?

He would never show mercy.

"We understand! We’ll never cross you again!"

"Jack! Take the identity tokens, take as many as you want!" Ronan begged, shoving a box toward him with trembling hands.

The others followed quickly, eager to please.

Jack gave a half-smile, collected the tokens, and turned to leave.

Their groveling still echoed behind him.

Having seen how Jack handled himself the last time he was challenged, Emmet gave him a look asking if he was needed, and Jack gave a slight shake of his head before Emmett slipped away. Having only just assimilated all of the techniques, he wanted to practice. Wondering quietly around the academy, he noticed the many differences in this academy from his own. Even the very essence of the air was vastly different. He had noticed it the first time around, but his stay was so short he had no time to think about it. Now that he could, he wanted to ask Jack about it and see if they could come up with anything by trading insights. Since it was so vastly different here, he wanted to try cultivating first. Sitting to cultivate, he found it to be much more difficult than when he was home. It seemed like he made hardly any progress at all. Emmett decided to activate his 3rd eye. Through his 3rd eye, he could sense a vast difference in the energies around him. Something deep within was telling him that he was not innately compatible with it. Driving the power of his 3rd eye, he wanted to see if this could be fixed. Around him was an imperceptible air forming somewhat of a forcefield. With this forcefield, he was able to draw upon his full power, but he was not able to cultivate. “interesting,” Emmette muttered to himself. He would have to ask Jack about it later. Taking his mind off of it for now, he began to wonder. Eventually, he found the academy’s martial arts field.