The news that "the new student will challenge Hugh Xu at noon tomorrow" quickly spread throughout the academy's teahouses, inns, and dormitories.
Plum Garden.
Only one person lived in this courtyard, and his name was Henry Ji. He was the number-one low-level student, already with one foot in the Grandmaster realm. His combat strength could rival a Grandmaster, since he had once defeated one single-handedly.
The courtyard was filled with plum blossoms, which filled the air with fragrance every winter.
A pot of fragrant tea, an ancient book.
Henry Ji looked completely relaxed.
Just then, a young woman pushed open the door and walked in.
She was tall and slender, her skin white as porcelain, and her phoenix-shaped eyes shone as brightly as stars in the sky.
Her name was Tiffany Wenren, ranked second among low-level students. Even as a girl, she managed to suppress Liam Liang in overall strength.
This left Liam Liang extremely unwilling to accept it; he challenged her many times, but always came up short.
Henry Ji put down his ancient book and slowly stood up, smiling: "No wonder the magpies were singing on the branches so early this morning—it turns out my junior Tiffany Wenren was coming."
"Senior Ji, you’re so fake."
Tiffany Wenren shot him a look, clearly not buying his act.
"Junior Wenren, you’re a bit too blunt, aren’t you!"
"Haha!"
"Hehe!"
Both of them couldn’t help but laugh.
After Tiffany Wenren sat down, she picked up the teapot and poured herself a cup, then drank it all in one gulp. Henry Ji watched in dismay—how could someone so pretty not be a bit more refined? Didn’t she know how hard he’d worked to get this tea?
After finishing one cup, Tiffany Wenren seemed unsatisfied and poured herself another.
Henry Ji quickly called out, "Slow down, junior! That’s not how you drink this tea—you have to savor it slowly to appreciate all its flavors."
Tiffany Wenren curled her lip. "Please, savoring tea? I’m just drinking it to quench my thirst!"
Henry Ji felt like a scholar meeting a soldier—there was no reasoning with her. He could only wave his hand, "Suit yourself, then."
"Senior, have you heard? Liam Liang picked a fight with a new student. He’s really getting pathetic, going after a newcomer!" Tiffany Wenren’s face was full of disdain and mockery.
"You don’t think much of the newcomer?" Henry Ji suddenly said mysteriously.
"Do you, then?" Tiffany Wenren looked thoughtful.
Henry Ji smiled. "Actually, I know a few things about that new student. Before coming to Holy Spirit Island, he personally killed Ethan Ye, the Poison Emperor!"
"Ethan Ye, the Poison Emperor?"
Tiffany Wenren was skeptical.
Henry Ji nodded.
Tiffany Wenren exclaimed, "No way! Ethan Ye may only be an early-stage Grandmaster, but his poison skills are unmatched—he’s even poisoned Great Grandmasters to death! How could Leon Huang possibly kill him?"
Henry Ji shook his head lightly. "I don’t know the details, but the Poison Emperor really did fall to him. Hugh Xu may be strong, but he’s definitely not on the Poison Emperor’s level!"
"I heard he mastered the Asura Sword!"
"So what?"
"I also heard someone opened a betting pool. I’m planning to make some pocket money—are you interested, Senior?"
"Who doesn’t want more money? I’m about to break through to Grandmaster, and I’ll need more and more resources." Henry Ji’s eyes flashed with excitement.
"That soon?" Tiffany Wenren was a bit surprised.
"Not really. I’ve been stuck at Qi-Refining Ninth Layer for three years. If I don’t break through soon, people will say I’m hogging this spot on purpose."
............
News of Song Yan’s upcoming duel with Hugh Xu quickly reached Yoon Zhengyang and the others.
They arrived together.
"Leon, why go through all this trouble? Even if you win, you’ll end up completely offending Liam Liang." Yoon Zhengyang tried to persuade him.
"A person can’t live without pride, but can’t live without backbone. He’s already bullied us, so I have to fight back!" Ian Song said calmly.
His words sounded simple, but they stirred the blood of all six friends.
But their faces were still swollen, and the excitement tugged at their wounds, making them all wince in pain.
"Come on, let me treat you all!"
Ian Song took out some silver needles and quickly pricked each of their faces. Their bruises had lingered because the true qi of their attackers was strange and hard to dispel.
A short while later, all six of their faces were completely healed.
Yoon Zhengyang marveled again, "Leon, I never knew your medical skills were this good. What other tricks are you hiding from us?"
"Oh, there’s plenty more where that came from." Ian Song grinned.
Just then, Harriet Gu, Rose Changsun, and Yvette Xue also arrived.
Unlike Yoon Zhengyang and the others, the three girls weren’t here to talk him out of it—they came to cheer him on and told him to make sure the two Liang brothers got what they deserved.
"Leon, you can’t lose this time! Each of us bet ten thousand taels of silver on you." Rose Changsun cheered him on, waving her fist for support.
"Harriet, you placed a bet too?"
Ian Song looked at Harriet Gu.
Her pretty face flushed slightly, but she quickly returned to normal. "I only did it because Rose convinced me."
"I see. So what are the odds?" Ian Song asked.
"Three-to-one. If you win, we’ll get forty thousand taels back, including the principal." Rose Changsun jumped in.
"Is there a limit to how much you can bet?"
"I heard the maximum bet is one million taels," Yvette Xue said.
Ian Song immediately pulled out a banknote for one million taels and handed it to Rose. "Rose, help me place the bet—I’m betting on myself!"
Seeing Ian Song bet a full one million taels on himself, Rose Changsun suddenly felt her own bet was too small and decided to raise it.
The others’ eyes lit up, and they all rushed off to increase their own bets.
Soon, only Ian Song and Harriet Gu were left in the courtyard.
"Harriet, aren’t you going to place another bet?" Ian Song asked with a smile.
Harriet quietly handed him a jade bottle. "There’s a pill inside. If you take it right before the duel, your true qi will double for a short time—and there’s no side effect afterward."
She passed Ian Song the jade bottle and left before he could refuse, not giving him a chance to protest.
"Is she worried about me?" Ian Song wondered.
He couldn’t help but feel a little surprised—he never expected the ‘ice beauty’ to actually care about someone.
That night, Ian Song sat cross-legged on his bed, refining his true qi until it reached an extraordinary level of purity. He was finally ready to break through to the ninth layer of Qi-Refining.
After an hour, Ian Song exhaled deeply.
His cultivation finally broke through, advancing him to the ninth layer of Qi-Refining.
The next day, at Arena C.
Groups of low-level students arrived together. There was still half an hour before the duel, and neither of the two combatants had shown up yet.
"Mason, did you place your bet yet?"
"Of course I did. I bet on Hugh Xu." Mason replied with a smile.
"How much did you bet?"
"Ten thousand taels!"
"Big spender, Mason! Aren’t you worried about losing?"
"What’s there to worry about? No rookie could possibly be a match for Hugh Xu. In terms of real strength, he’s easily top five among low-level students!"
"True enough. I bet on Hugh Xu too, but not as much—just fifty thousand taels."
As the crowd chatted, time ticked by slowly.
"Hey, the new guy’s here!" someone shouted.
Everyone looked toward the entrance of the arena and saw a youth in white robes walking calmly, surrounded by a group of supporters.
"He looks pretty confident, but how many moves do you think he’ll last against Hugh Xu?" Someone couldn’t help but snicker.
The stage was set for a high-stakes clash—everyone was waiting to see how the newcomer would fare.