Chapter 24

Watching Chou Ying utilized his movement technique to try to escape, Ye Yuan raised his finger leisurely and channeled essence energy with all his might using the Spirit Bristle Nine Yang Divine Art.

A finger pointed forward, and a formless force shot out from Ye Yuan’s finger. It tore through the air, penetrating Chou Ying’s heart in an instant.

The force was so swift and fierce that Chou Ying did not even notice his injury. His body continued charging forward for several meters more, collapsing only after he lost consciousness.

Absolute Yang Finger was incomparably domineering. The force shot out concentrated instead of dispersing, resulting in an incredibly powerful pinpoint and deadly attack. Being executed using Ye Yuan’s Sixth Level Essence Qi Realm strength, its lethality obviously could not be underestimated.

Of course, Absolute Yang Finger was not without any weaknesses. The biggest flaw was that it took too long to charge up. That was also the reason why Ye Yuan was slower by a beat when saving Lu-er just now.

In reality, if Chou Ying recklessly tangled with Ye Yuan in close proximity, leaving Ye Yuan unable to charge up his full strength, he might have a slim chance of survival.

But the various means used by Ye Yuan had long made Chou Ying wanted to withdraw from the fight. Especially when Ye Yuan had sent him flying with only one finger. This shocked Chou Ying’s state of mind greatly that made him wanted to flee at all cost.

Yet this attempt to escape gave Ye Yuan the chance to charge up.

From the beginning, Ye Yuan looked as if he was careless. But in reality, he advanced gradually, entrenching himself firmly at every step.

First, he used words to agitate Chou Ying, disrupting his state of heart. Next, he displayed Instant Flash. Following which, he swallowed the Five Element Spirit Link Pill, using his finger to overpower his opponent’s sword, crushing Chou Ying’s confidence step by step. Finally, he launched this certain kill strike.

It might have looked bland, but the entire process was filled with trepidation.

Although Ye Yuan had a lot of hidden cards, his strength was still too weak. If it was not for the fact that he swallowed the Five Element Spirit Link Pill and unleashed the Absolute Yang Finger with his full strength, he would not have been able to do anything to Chou Ying.

“Brother Tang, it is time to go,” Ye Yuan said to Tang Yu lightly, not even bothering to look at Chou Ying who was lying on the ground.

Tang Yu was shocked by Ye Yuan’s attack and stood there dumbfounded the entire time. Only when Ye Yuan called him did he recover from his shock.

“Ah? Oh . . . Go . . . Go.”

Tang Yu mounted his horse awkwardly, and the three of them continued heading towards the Dan Wu Academy.

. . . . . .

Passing through this stretch of messy stone forest, their field of vision gradually widened. In front of their eyes was a vast plain, and they were able to indistinctly make out what looks like multi-storied pavilions.

It was the Dan Wu Academy!

The State of Qin established itself through martial arts, with a strong emphasis on the Martial Dao. However, this Dan Wu Academy was not established by the State of Qin.

The domain south of the Endless Forest was hailed as the Tranquil Cloud Ten Nations. There were a total of ten nations, and the State of Qin was only one of them. The reason why they were collectively known as the Tranquil Cloud Ten Nations was that these ten nations were all under the jurisdiction of the Tranquil Cloud Sect; the Dan Wu Academy was the outer sect establishment of the Tranquil Cloud Sect.

The Tranquil Cloud Sect established its sect fundamentally with alchemy; even so, the sect’s internal hierarchy could be divided into the Pill Faction and the Martial Faction. This was why the outer sect establishment was named the Dan Wu Academy. ¹

Just as the three of them entered the gates and were about to head to the residential area, they were stopped by a bunch of people.

“Yoh! Isn’t this the Ten Thousand Years Last Place? Well, aren’t you a tough one. When they sent you out, you were clearly breathing in but not breathing out. To think you had actually returned alive and kicking,” the person in front of them exclaimed, clearly with sarcasm.

He was called Fei Qingping, a loyal lackey of Wan Yuan. Ye Yuan’s predecessor was poisoned because of competing with this fellow and ended up losing his life.

These several people in front of them all came from ordinary backgrounds. In the Dan Wu Academy, in order for those with ordinary backgrounds to obtain additional resources, many would choose to attach themselves to figures from the noble families. Only those who truly had outstanding talent would be heavily groomed by the academy.

“Good dogs don’t get underfoot, get lost.” Ye Yuan could not be bothered with him. Would he not be demeaning his own status to act seriously against a dog?

“You! Ye Yuan, looks like your skin is itching again!” For someone like Fei Qingping, it was a taboo for other people to scold him a dog.

“With just you?” Ye Yuan asked expressionlessly.

“Yoh.  After not seeing you for a few days, you became even more brain-damaged. You First Level Essence Qi Realm . . . Yii . . . How’s that possible? Y-you are already at the Third Level Essence Qi Realm?” Fei Qingping had only just sized him up, and could not help but to draw a cold breath. Ye Yuan was originally at the bottom place. After a few days of not seeing him, he actually rose two level consecutively, stepping into the Third Level Essence Qi Realm.

Fei Qingping still thought that he had seen wrongly, and he checked closely again before realizing that Ye Yuan was indeed already at the Third Level Essence Qi Realm. Wasn’t this a little too heaven-defying?

“Are your dog-eyes blind? Still can’t tell after staring for so long?” Ye Yuan’s words once again made the corner of Fei Qingping’s mouth twitched.

However, at this moment, Fei Qingping had already recovered from the initial shock and thought of a certain possibility.

He naturally knew that Ye Yuan’s father, Ye Hang, was an Alchemy Grandmaster. If he spared no expenses, pulling his son up by two small cultivation realms was not something incomprehensible.

As a matter of fact, there were plenty of methods to suddenly raise strength in this manner. But the price would be to sacrifice one’s potential.

It was said that there was an evil technique called Ghee Empowerment. The empowered individual could even directly break through the Essence Qi Realm and reach the Spirit Condensation Realm. But the price of this sort of empowerment was that it would no longer be possible for the person to increase his strength throughout his lifetime.

Only a few days had passed, yet Ye Yuan actually reached the Third Level Essence Qi Realm. Ye Hang should have known that his son’s talent was inadequate; therefore, he was afraid his son would be bullied. So he used a method similar to the Ghee Empowerment to raise him by two levels.

Linking all of these together, Fei Qingping gave a cold laugh in his heart. A rookie like this, forget about being at the Third Level Essence Qi Realm, even if he were at the Fourth Level, at the Fifth Level, Ye Yuan would not be his match.

Fei Qingping was at Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm, higher than Ye Yuan by one stage. Thus, he naturally had no need to fear him.

“Hehehe. It’s great to have a good father. Poisoned to such extent, and yet you still didn’t die. Even increasing strength becomes so simple. This is really an era for competing with fathers!” Fei Qingping said mockingly.

Ye Yuan knew what Fei Qingping was thinking right away, but he obviously would not explain to him. Instead, he smiled and said, “That’s right. I can compete using my father, but can you? I heard that your father is a watchdog for other people, using connections to let you entered the Dan Wu Academy. But who would have thought that after coming here, you would also become a watchdog. Indeed, a son will inherit his father’s career! One gate and two watchdogs; impressive, impressive!”

Ye Yuan learned from his predecessor’s memories that this Fei Qingping’s father was the confidant of Wan Donghai, and he entered the academy through the Wan Family’s connections. Otherwise, with his talent, he could not possibly join the academy.

It would be wrong to think that he and Tang Yu were both the same, being at the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm. Fei Qingping was two years older than Tang Yu. He was also a commoner but had the support of the Wan Family’s resources. Yet, this Fei Qingping was only at the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm. In the future, at best he would be at the early stage Spirit Condensation Realm, or he might just even be stuck at the Essence Qi Realm.

‘You . . .!” Fei Qingping’s lungs were about to explode in anger. Ye Yuan repeatedly calling him dog made him lose all of his face.

Fei Qingping looked at his companions, and even though nobody laughed out loud, he could tell from everyone’s face that they were all just barely holding their laughter back.

“What about me? You want to bite me?” Ye Yuan stretched out an arm, and with a smile, he said, “Here, for you to bite.”

“Hahaha!” This time around, everyone could not bear it any longer, and they all started to laugh.

Watching everyone ridiculed him, Fei Qingping face turned into the color of a pig’s liver.

“Ye Yuan! I want to issue a deathmatch to you! Accept it if you have the guts!” Fei Qingping pointed at Ye Yuan angrily.

The Dan Wu Academy did not forbid private battles among student. Instead, they tacitly accepted the friction between students. However, there was a point to take note, which was under no circumstances were they allowed to kill someone without permission from the academy. Otherwise, the person would face the wrath of the academy.

However, if both parties agreed to set a life-and-death contract, not only academy will not stop it, an instructor would even be sent to host the deathmatch.

Ye Yuan revealed a surprised expression and asked, “You really want to carry out a deathmatch?”

“Scared? If you are scared, then kneel and kowtow three times loudly for me. Afterward, say ‘I’m a dog’ three times!” Fei Qingping thought that Ye Yuan was scared and continued to goad him.

Previously, he also used this sort of tactic to make Ye Yuan agreed to the previous competition.

Ye Yuan stretched his ear out and pretended he did not hear clearly, asking, “Say what three times?”

“Say ‘I’m a dog’ three times!” Right when the words left Fei Qingping’s mouth, he realized he fell for it.

“Hahaha!”

The surrounding people laughed out loud again.

Fei Qingping wished he could give himself two tight slaps. He shouted angrily, “Ye Yuan, you coward! Playing this sort of little games when you don’t dare to fight!”

“Good dog, so obedient! Your Grandpa Ye has never looked at the owner before hitting the dog. Since you delivered yourself to my door, I will hit for your owner to see,” Ye Yuan said with a smile.