Chapter 139: Chapter 3 Hong Yi Loses
“Ah?”
With a twitch of his face, the student turned pale with fright and quickly bowed, “I’m sorry, Teacher Zhang, I spoke without thinking. Please don’t hold this against me…”
In Baiyan Academy, openly insulting a teacher in front of them is grounds for immediate expulsion.
“No worries, just tell me who is competing against whom!” Zhang Xuan waved his hand dismissively.
Everyone speaks behind others, everyone gets spoken about—it’s human nature!
If no one talks about you while you are alive, you might as well be dead…
Seeing that he didn’t take it to heart, the student breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at the stage, and explained, “The first match is between the freshman Hong Yi and the senior Zhou Qingkai.”
Zhang Xuan wondered, “Why are they competing?”
This Zhou Qingkai seems to be Chen Hao’s follower, the son of Horse Tamer Zhou Qun; I’ve seen him before in class.
“It’s said that it’s because Chen Hao was disrespectful to you last time, Miss Yu, Miss Liu and others wanted to stand up for you by setting up this wager to compete with him…”
The student explained awkwardly.
Zhang Xuan puzzled, “A wager?”
“Yes!”
The student said, “If Chen Hao loses, he must not only apologize in public but also acknowledge that you, Teacher Zhang, are the best teacher in the entire school…”
“These rascals…”
Zhang Xuan was somewhat speechless.
He asked them to keep a low profile, yet they’ve caused such a big stir. These three really deserve a lesson, but on second thought, these three youngsters, for their own dignity, braved the difficulties and directly challenged seniors—it’s actually quite touching.
In an instant, he thought of Zhao Ya and others who, back then, also practiced the collaborative offensive formation secretly behind his back and united to challenge Lu Xun, defeating him.
“After this matter is resolved, I’ll bring them all over!”
Having confirmed that Sun Qiang could practice, and with the space he had helped to open up as a Source Pool, his progress was incredibly fast; Zhang Xuan knew it was time to bring all his disciples over.
The situation with Empyrean Kong shi was unclear, and not only did he need to swiftly improve his own cultivation, but it was also better to have more people around him.
As he pondered this, the student’s voice rang out, “Teacher Zhang, it’s starting…”
Zhang Xuan looked up and indeed saw Hong Yi and Zhou Qingkai already stepping onto the platform.
“To challenge me just three days after igniting your Furnace, Hong Yi, you must be praised for your courage, unfortunately, you lack brains…”
Zhou Qingkai sneered at the young man in front of him, his body shook and a powerful aura immediately flowed out, spreading around brilliantly.
“Late Accumulative Realm!” the audience exclaimed in astonishment.
Three years into the academy, only reaching Late Accumulative Realm, his talent could only be considered average, but facing someone who had only practiced for three days, he could easily crush him.
Indeed, seeing his strength, Hong Yi’s face grew stern, and after taking a deep breath, he extended his palm, “Make your move!”
“Ignorant of death!”
With a cold snort, Zhou Qingkai’s strength burst forth, and with a lunge, he appeared right in front of Hong Yi, kicking out.
Hong Yi also lifted his foot to meet it.
The two collided, Zhou Qingkai remained unmoved, while Hong Yi took four or five steps back, clearly outmatched in strength.
“Not defeated in one move?”
“He actually blocked it?”
In an instant, the lively crowd below fell silent, filled with disbelief. Even Zhou Qingkai was momentarily stunned on the spot.
He thought he, a senior, would teach the opponent a lesson with just one move, but this Hong Yi’s strength, although not as good as his, was enough for a fight!
“2.5 horsepower?”
Clenching his fists, Zhou Qingkai tentatively asked.
He was in Late Accumulative Realm, around 3.5 horsepower. The opponent’s strength was indeed slightly inferior but was definitely more than 2.0—a close match indeed!
For his peers, even those a year below, it wouldn’t have been much, but the opponent had only been practicing for three days. He had been there when the Furnace was ignited, witnessed it with his own eyes…
At that time, this fellow had no cultivation at all, just a Ninth-grade Source Pool, strength barely 0.2 horsepower, but in such a short time, he had increased tenfold…
“Senior Zhou, good discernment!”
Hong Yi exhaled a turbid breath, his bones cracking loudly, no longer concealing his full strength.
“Really over two horsepower?”
“How did he practice?”
Hearing their conversation, the crowd below exploded with excitement.
Although the earlier exchange had already demonstrated Hong Yi’s exceptionality, hearing it said outright still left people incredulous.
“No wonder he could defeat me, but… I used the Golden Source Spiritual Liquid, practiced the Mo Family’s highest technique, and even had personal guidance from the dean…”
Mo Yanxue in the crowd found it hard to accept.
Her talent was ranked first in the entire Baiyan City, and with the family’s treasure, after much effort, she had only reached around 2.0 horsepower. This common fellow with poor talent, having just attended three of Teacher Zhang’s classes, had hacked his way to 2.5 horsepower now…
Being inferior to a horse was bearable, but even being inferior to this guy was suffocating Mo Yanxue, making her chest tight, and leaving her breathless.
Was that coachman’s class really that amazing?
If she had known, she would have made an effort to make connections back when she was still in Mo Mansion, even to the extent of becoming his disciple!
“I wonder how strong Xiaoyu has become…”
The one in front of her was already so formidable, and her good friend, who was the city lord’s daughter with resources plentiful—surpassing even her own—how much greater must her progress be?
Mo Yanxue began to feel anxious.
It distressed her when her best friend struggled during apprenticeship, diligently taking notes in class and sending them to her, but she felt uneasy when her friend was doing too well…
She feared both her best friend’s suffering and her surpassing herself!
“It’s not 2.5, but closer to 3 horsepower in strength…”
Elder He Qin, observing the duel from the stands, explained.
“Just yesterday it was merely 1.0 horsepower, and in a little over a day, it’s almost 3… The key is that he had minimal resources as aid… What cultivation technique did Zhang laoshi teach him, to be so formidable?”
Lu Mingrong felt he was going insane.
His disciple, Mo Yanxue, was able to advance from 0.45 to 2.0 horsepower in just a few days, a feat that he thought had already broken City Lord Yu’s record and was a century’s first, yet it seemed to pale in comparison with Zhang Xuan’s student…
Is this really just imparting knowledge?
“Regardless of the cultivation technique, after the competition, I hope he can conduct a public lecture to share his cultivating experiences…” Wu Yunzhou said.
“Hold a public lecture? You mean, Dean Wu, to let him teach other students?” Ran Qingxu asked.
“What students? I mean, all our teachers, including myself, should go and listen to the lecture, to properly receive training…” Wu Yunzhou replied.
“Have him teach the teachers?”
Ran Qingxu was stunned.
“Dean Wu is right. After the competition, we’ll gather all the teachers, and not just them—our elders and even the dean himself should attend!”
Lu Mingrong’s gaze was intense: “He has the qualifications and ability!”
“Yes!” Ran Qingxu nodded and bowed, saying no more.
While everyone else’s expressions varied, Zhang Xuan sighed and shook his head as he watched the scene from the platform.
Having tailored a cultivation technique for him that, after a day’s practice, had not reached 3.0 horsepower… this Hong Yi’s talent was indeed subpar…
To still ascend the stage and compete, how thick-skinned could he be?
You might not be embarrassed, but I am!
Blushing at the thought, Zhang Xuan was overwhelmed with embarrassment.
While the crowd below had varying thoughts, on the platform, Hong Yi and Zhou Qingkai had once again clashed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The force of their punches whistled through the arena, full of power.
Though Hong Yi was not as strong as Zhou Qingkai, he had a fierce determination to fight with all his might, knowing all too well the rarity of the chance to follow Zhang laoshi. To lose this opportunity would mean blending back into the masses, so he fought as if his life depended on it.
“He’s gone mad, utterly mad…”
Such duels among students were usually stopped at a moderate point, but this fellow seemed bent on a fight to the death; facing such a savage and unstructured opponent, Zhou Qingkai became fearful as the fight went on.
With his heart faltering, he couldn’t unleash his full strength. Although his cultivation was far superior, he was being steadily pushed back and seemed barely able to hold on.
Zhou Hao’s expression turned sour.
For someone who had been at the academy for over three years to possibly be defeated by a newcomer was not just a disgrace for his opponent but for himself as well.
“Zhou Qingkai, what are you doing? Use all your strength…”
With a fierce shout,
“Yes!” Seeing him speak and knowing that retreating further could prompt the young master of the Chen Clan to abandon him, Zhou Qingkai grit his teeth, pushing his strength to its limit, and charged at Hong Yi.
De Lu Yue Xi.
This battle technique, created by his father Zhou Qun while observing the movements of thousand-li horses, involved leaping and focusing all bodily strength into his fists to exert tremendous pressure and aggression.
Although it was a basic skill, for Hong Yi who had never practiced any skills, it was more than enough.
As he leaped, concentrating all his strength, Zhou Qingkai, already possessing over 4 horsepower, hit with even greater force, causing Hong Yi, unable to dodge in time, to only lift his hands and throw a punch in defense.
Boom!
With their fists meeting, an overwhelming force surged forth, and Hong Yi could no longer withstand it, being sent flying to the edge of the arena.
Splat!
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out as he was seriously injured in one move.
“Looks like I’ll need to teach them some skills…”
Watching this scene, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
Thus far, he had only taught them cultivation methods, and though their strength had improved rapidly, techniques were equally crucial in combat.
Just like before, when his own strength was far inferior to Liu Tianzheng’s, yet he managed to defeat him easily, all thanks to skills!
“You’ve lost…”
Seeing his opponent defeated, Zhou Qingkai breathed a sigh of relief.
“I can still fight, I haven’t lost yet…”
Bearing the pain, Hong Yi struggled to his feet, and just as he was about to continue, he saw a striking figure appear before him—Liu Mingyue had arrived without notice.
“You step down for now, leave the rest to me!”