Chapter 37: Let This Farce End Here

In the evening, Jiang Qin and Su Lingwei, having just finished another B-level Task, returned to Zhenling Academy.

In the guardhouse, Lin Lao sat comfortably at the door drinking a little wine, with a plate of shelled peanuts beside him.

Su Lingwei quickened her pace, snatched the wine pot from the table, and glared as she said:

"Grandpa, you sneakily drinking again while I'm not here!"

"The doctor said you should drink as little Spirit Wine as possible; drinking too much isn't good for your injuries."

"Ugh, I only had a little, really just a little…"

Lin Lao laughed along, without a shred of authority.

Su Lingwei gave a cold snort and took the wine pot away.

The household hierarchy was clear at a glance.

Jiang Qin walked over, glanced at the quiet Academy, and asked in confusion, "Lin Lao, why is the Academy so quiet today?"

"Hah, they all ran off to the Martial Arts Arena to watch the show."

"A show? What show? Did Han Wenqing get beaten by some new student again?"

Mentioning this, Lin Lao couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Don't even bring it up, kid. After that boy recovered from his injuries, he proposed stepping down as Student Council President, but after the stunt you two little rascals pulled, the position became a hot potato nobody dared to take."

"In the end, it was the Dean who stepped forward, coaxed the boy Han, gave him some benefits, and only then did he withdraw his resignation."

The Student Council President had quite a lot to handle; it had to be a student with both strength and prestige who could take the role.

After saying that, Lin Lao finally brought up the real matter:

"This time it's about that boy Chen."

The old man shook his head and sighed.

"Chen Xiaohu wanted to prove himself, so he formed a team with four new students at the Spirit Attraction Realm and entered a Third-Order Otherworldly Rift. The supervising personnel, seeing that Chen Xiaohu was SSS-level and had already reached Linghai Chuji, let them in."

"And the result?"

"One little girl died, two kids had their martial foundations damaged, and the remaining one was also injured. If a military squad on a mission hadn't happened to pass by on their way back, everyone except that boy Chen would probably have died in the Fierce Beasts' mouths."

Jiang Qin wasn't surprised by this outcome.

Students of the Four Great Academies did indeed far surpass others of the same realm in combat power, but those like him and Su Lingwei who could still suppress opponents across major realms were, after all, a tiny minority.

These new students probably treated the Fierce Beasts inside the Rift the same as the Fierce Beasts raised by the military.

They might look like the same species, but their killing power simply couldn't be lumped together.

It was like the difference between a dog fending for itself in the wild and a domesticated pet dog.

A pet dog that had lost its ferocity and wildness simply couldn't be a match for a wild dog.

Disappointment flickered in Lin Lao's eyes as he continued: "The one who got injured came back and immediately challenged Chen Xiaohu to a Life-and-Death Battle. Right now, all the students are at the Martial Arts Arena watching the show."

"Oh."

Jiang Qin showed little interest and turned to walk toward the outside of the Academy.

"Hey, kid, wait!" Lin Lao called out to him just then.

The old man sighed again: "He was, after all, coaxed into coming to Zhenling Academy by me. My position makes it improper for me to step in. You've come at just the right time—go keep an eye on things for this old man, don't let anyone lose their life."

Jiang Qin stopped, looked back, and pouted: "I'm not the one who tricked him into coming. Just have Su Lingwei go keep an eye on it."

Su Lingwei said with a perfectly serious face: "It's not like I can't."

Like hell you can!

Lin Lao's face darkened. Letting this girl go would probably only make things worse; by the next day, the whole Academy would be saying he played favorites.

"You see, she agrees too. You two can discuss it slowly—I'm still busy getting back to my cultivation."

"Sigh, I didn't expect you to be so heartless, kid. You won't even help an old man past fifty with a small request. And here I was, having spotted a mission related to the Church of the Gods today, and I specially held it for you."

"Lin Lao, you just rest. Let this kid go watch—that's all. I'm the type who loves breaking up fights most in this life."

"…"

Jiang Qin transformed into a light breeze and vanished from the Academy gate.

Su Lingwei also wanted to go watch the show, and before leaving, she didn't forget to confiscate her grandpa's wine cup, leaving Lin Lao with a bitter expression yet unable to say a word.

Meanwhile.

Zhenling Academy, the dueling platform of the Martial Arts Arena.

Huaxia's official stance prohibited Martial Artists from fighting amongst themselves—after all, every Martial Artist was a force of the nation—but grudges left unresolved would only fester, hence the establishment of the "Life-and-Death Battle" provision.

As long as both Martial Artists signed their consent, a Life-and-Death Battle could be held; even killing one's opponent would draw no comment from the authorities.

Generally, unless there was a deep blood feud, no one would reach the point of a Life-and-Death Battle.

Moreover, this time it was a Spirit Attraction Realm Martial Artist challenging a Spirit Sea Realm Martial Artist to a Life-and-Death Battle—an exceedingly rare spectacle—so before the battle had even begun, the Martial Arts Arena was already packed to the rafters.

Among them were students from other schools.

They had expected this to be a one-sided fight, and indeed it was one-sided—just not in the way they had imagined.

On the dueling platform.

Fang Lin attacked Chen Xiaohu like a madman, every strike aimed at a vital point.

But with his attacks, he simply couldn't inflict any effective damage on Chen Xiaohu. His fists landing on Chen Xiaohu's body only drew a pained grunt from him; on closer inspection, the skin wasn't even broken.

But even if all he could do was cause the other pain, for Fang Lin that was already enough.

He roared with red-rimmed eyes: "Why! Why weren't you the one who died back then!"

"If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened!"

Below the platform, Xiao Xiao and Tian Qi, who had already regained their mobility, were equally agitated.

Damage to one's martial foundation was no different from having one's future destroyed. What they had once yearned for and dreamed of had now all dissolved into bubbles. One could imagine how devastating the blow was to them.

"Kill him!"

"Brother Lin, kill him!"

Their roars and gazes that seemed ready to devour him made Chen Xiaohu unable to lift his head.

He, who would instinctively cry out whenever he felt pain before, now clenched his jaw tight, enduring each strike in silence, attempting to use the pain to dissolve the guilt in his heart.

The moment he closed his eyes, the scene of that girl's death would replay in his mind.

He believed all of this was his responsibility, his fault!

"A coward like you doesn't deserve to be a Martial Artist at all!!"

Fang Lin put on a pair of refined iron knuckle dusters, roared, and once again slammed a vicious punch into Chen Xiaohu's face.

The continuous attacks, combined with the hard and sharp knuckle dusters, finally left wounds on Chen Xiaohu's face; thin trails of blood flowed down his cheeks.

But in an instant, his wounds healed as if nothing had happened.

The watching crowd buzzed with discussion, each holding their own opinion.

Seeing the wounds heal, Fang Lin grew even more frenzied. Suddenly thinking of something, he laughed:

"You said you're afraid of pain, right? Since you're so afraid of pain, then I'll let you have all the pain you can handle!!"

He took out three Fragment Grenades from the Storage Bag at his waist.

These Fragment Grenades were Disposable Spirit Tools; the power of the shrapnel after explosion could easily pierce the skin of a Third-tier Fierce Beast, but the drawback was insufficient blast force, so at most they were only effective against Third-tier Fierce Beasts.

Seeing these three Fragment Grenades, the onlooking spectators could no longer sit still, their faces all turning pale!

"Holy shit! This kid's gone crazy, we're still sitting right here!"

"Life-and-Death Battles prohibit the use of these high-destructive weapons — he's lost his mind from anger. If the teacher finds out, he's done for!"

"I don't know if he's done for, but I do know that if you don't run now, with your Spirit Attraction realm body, you're definitely finished!"

"Damn you guys, wait for me! I don't want to die yet!"

The scene descended into chaos, curses flying nonstop.

Just as the teacher hidden in the shadows watching the fight was about to make a move, a figure suddenly appeared on the arena, and no one could see clearly how he had arrived.

Jiang Qin slapped Fang Lin flying, and with an expressionless face, stored those three Fragment Grenades into his Space Ring.

The danger was instantly resolved.

His voice was calm, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"This farce ends here."