Chapter 18: Jiang Sheng

Lu Fan's expression changed slightly. Before he could even turn around, he waved his large sleeve, and several rune seals shot out.

"Condense!" He suddenly formed a seal, and a rune array blocked the incoming energy, giving him time to look.

The person who attacked was a thin, tall middle-aged man in an instructor's robe—it was Jiang Sheng, an instructor for the third-term students.

Jiang Sheng was slightly stunned. With his Great Martial Master cultivation, he hadn't been able to suppress a student, and he couldn't help but feel angry.

"Third-term training, it's one thing to be late, but to not even greet me—do you not have me, your instructor, in your eyes?"

The words weren't particularly harsh, but they were full of insinuation, effortlessly pinning a label of disrespect on Lu Fan.

"Tianyuan Academy values martial arts above all else. The training is for cultivation; I came prepared to go to the forbidden room for hard training, so why would I need to greet you?" Lu Fan narrowed his eyes and said word by word.

Jiang Sheng was slightly stunned. A student actually dared to talk back to him? He flew into a rage and was about to attack.

Kang Jun walked out, pointed directly at Lu Fan, and cursed, "Lu Fan, you are derelict in your duties and disrespectful to your elders; you are not fit to stay at Tianyuan Academy. You even dare to talk back to Instructor Jiang? Your cultivation should be abolished, and you should be expelled from the Academy!" Lu Fan was slightly stunned—why was Kang Jun everywhere?

"Hmph! Shameless! I have let you off repeatedly, yet you still don't learn your lesson. This time, I will grant your wish: I will abolish your cultivation and expel you from the Academy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he leaped into the air and pounced toward Kang Jun.

Kang Jun was no longer panicked as he had been in the past; a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, revealing a sense of triumph, "Instructor Jiang, save me!"

Jiang Sheng's face twisted in anger. Kang Jun was a student he admired; if he were to have his cultivation abolished by a student right in front of him, how could he command respect in the future? He would be laughed to death by the other instructors in the Academy.

"Kid! Don't be arrogant!"

He waved his large hand, and suddenly, a palm shadow the size of a winnowing basket rose up and slapped toward Lu Fan. His Great Martial Master cultivation was revealed without any restraint.

Lu Fan was naturally not acting on impulse; he had been prepared. He shook his sleeve, and the art refining crystal furnace floated out, growing in the wind.

With a bell-like chime, the furnace mouth opened, and a whirlwind rolled out, swallowing the palm shadow and refining it in mid-air.

"This is impossible?" Jiang Sheng's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected a student at the Gathering Essence Realm to be able to neutralize his attack.

The surrounding students were all shocked, looking on in disbelief.

"Isn't that Lu Fan? How does he dare to fight Instructor Jiang, and he actually blocked it? Is this still that waste from before?"

"Am I too tired? Am I seeing things? How could Lu Fan, that piece of trash, be so powerful!"

Lu Fan ignored the surrounding chatter and leaped in front of Kang Jun.

"Today I will grant your wish, as a warning to others!"

The triumph at the corner of Kang Jun's mouth hadn't yet faded, but his pupils were filled with horror—it looked contradictory, yet it fit the situation perfectly.

"Ah!"

He let out a scream, feeling as if his chest had been struck by a giant hammer. His True Qi dissipated instantly, leaking out through his pores and acupoints—he had become a cripple.

"My cultivation! My cultivation..." His face was filled with extreme panic, his expression dimming, and he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

Lu Fan didn't even glance at him, instead turning to stare at Jiang Sheng with a cold, arrogant look.

"You... damn you!" Jiang Sheng was furious to the extreme. He had attacked first, yet he hadn't been able to stop a student. "If I don't grind you to dust today, I, Jiang Sheng, am not fit to be a third-term instructor!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his entire figure rose from the ground, and he waved his large arm, reaching out to capture Lu Fan.

Lu Fan frowned and didn't hesitate for a second, immediately summoning the art refining crystal furnace. He suddenly formed a seal, and several rune seals shot through the furnace.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Jiang Sheng was unstoppable; Lu Fan's rune seals were like paper, not even holding up for a single breath.

Lu Fan's expression changed. Having no other choice, he could only push the art refining crystal furnace to meet him.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

A series of crisp metallic clashing sounds erupted. The surrounding students were all shocked, and those closer felt dizzy, forced to retreat repeatedly by the energy.

Jiang Sheng had originally wanted to shatter Lu Fan's furnace to intimidate the students and save his own face.

He never expected this furnace to be so rigid; he struck more than a dozen palms, but it had no effect at all.

"A fourth-tier profound artifact! No wonder you are so bold!"

He realized it instantly, and a look of wild joy appeared in his eyes, his greed plain to see.

If he killed this brat, this profound artifact would be his!

Once the thought took hold, the murderous intent became apparent.

"Want to kill me and take the treasure! You're dreaming!"

Lu Fan snorted coldly and, instead of retreating, advanced, closing in.

The surrounding crowd was in an uproar. Jiang Sheng's murderous intent was clear, yet Lu Fan didn't flee—wasn't this just asking for death?

"Hmph! Want to die? I'll grant your wish!"

Jiang Sheng smiled viciously. His Great Martial Master cultivation erupted, and he poured his full True Qi into his arms, slapping out a solid palm shadow the size of a millstone.

Just at this moment, Lu Fan paused in mid-air, his figure shifted, and he placed both hands on the art refining crystal furnace.

"Boom!"

The palm shadow exploded, pushing the art refining crystal furnace and Lu Fan along with it toward a forbidden room, disappearing into it in the blink of an eye.

"Jiang Sheng, I'll remember today's events! I will pay you back a hundredfold in the future!"

Lu Fan spat out a mouthful of blood, threw out a gloomy sentence, and directly activated the restriction.

A flash of profound light, and the restriction surged. The forbidden room was instantly sealed; if the person inside didn't want to come out, no outsider could ever open it.

"What? This kid is so smart; so that was his plan!"

"Haha! This is good to watch; that old ghost Jiang Sheng lost face—it's enough to make people laugh their teeth off!"

"Damn it! Which idiot said Lu Fan was a waste? If he's a waste, then you're a pile of shit!"

Jiang Sheng was stunned, seemingly unable to react. The deliberately lowered comments around him couldn't escape his ears, making him fly into a rage from embarrassment.

But Lu Fan had entered the forbidden room, and he couldn't open it, so he could only vent his resentment and anger on the other students.

"Hmph! You're all asking for death—ten more rounds of basic drills, one hundred rounds of military boxing! Whoever doesn't finish won't be leaving the Wulian Tower today!"

The students sighed and cursed. They even dragged Lu Fan into it, but unfortunately, the person involved didn't know at all.

Inside the forbidden room, Lu Fan sat slumped in a corner, a pool of blood on the floor. He frowned, not even daring to take a deep breath, grimacing in pain!

"A Great Martial Master is indeed powerful. Even with a fourth-tier rune tool in hand, I am no match; I almost fell here!"

A murderous aura shot from Lu Fan's eyes; he had already sentenced Jiang Sheng to death.

"I came back in such a hurry that I didn't bring the body-tempering potion. It seems I can only rely on these things!"

Lu Fan took out the magic crystals and stuffed them all into the art refining crystal furnace. "This thing can refine ore, so naturally, it can refine magic crystals too!"

His True Yang Qi erupted, turning into a raging fire that drilled into the art refining crystal furnace, slowly refining them.

A quarter of an hour later, the fire dissipated, and Lu Fan took out a dozen Origin Qi magic pills. They were the size of soybeans, but they radiated abundant Origin Qi, suppressing the five times Origin Qi in the forbidden room and slowly increasing it!

Lu Fan didn't even think; he chewed them like candy and swallowed them all.

Abundant Origin Qi erupted, rampaging through his internal organs. It caused his injured meridians to ache incessantly, spreading throughout his body.

He was in excruciating pain, as if pierced by ten thousand arrows or bitten by ten thousand ants. But he didn't even let out a groan, gritting his teeth tightly as he refined them.

Time passed, and cultivation was silent. Lu Fan didn't know how much time had passed before he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze piercing.

"Peak Gathering Essence Realm, only one step away—a third-tier Great Martial Master is within reach!"

He was slightly surprised. Fighting the fourth-tier Great Martial Master Jiang Sheng earlier had ignited the bloodthirst in his body, and the soul of the peerless powerhouse who had looked down on the world in his past life had come alive again.

Though he looked severely injured, it had actually stimulated his potential. After swallowing enough Origin Qi magic pills, his cultivation had advanced again.

"With my current strength and the art refining crystal furnace in hand, I can protect myself against a third-tier Great Martial Master. But dealing with Jiang Sheng, I'm afraid it's far from enough!"

Only at this point did Lu Fan feel troubled, losing all the toughness he had shown outside.

"A Gathering Essence Realm student fighting an instructor—I'm afraid the Academy will be in an uproar before long. Those elders and deacons definitely won't stand idly by; they'll come out to mediate!"

Tianyuan Academy values martial arts above all else. As long as one is powerful and has outstanding potential, even if one causes a huge disaster, there will be someone to clean up the mess.

Jiang Sheng was only a mere fourth-tier Great Martial Master, the most trashy instructor in the Academy. Offending him was no big deal.

Lu Fan nodded slightly, stopped thinking about Jiang Sheng, and continued to cultivate.

In the Wulian Tower hall, the students glared at each other. It had been seven days—there had never been such a long training session, but Jiang Sheng insisted on keeping everyone there.

"Instructor Jiang, the training should be over, right! What do you mean by blocking the door?"

A few bold second-tier Martial Warriors gathered together and questioned Jiang Sheng.

"Hmph! This is closed training; without my permission, no one is allowed to leave!"

Jiang Sheng snorted coldly and glared at the few students in front of him, scaring them into retreating repeatedly. A look of triumph appeared at the corner of his mouth, thinking:

Who wants to accompany you wastes? If it weren't for the fourth-tier profound artifact on Lu Fan, I wouldn't bother with you.

I'm afraid of the news leaking out and attracting other instructors or even elders; I can't compete with them!

"Instructor Jiang, it's been seven days. Our dry rations are all gone, and many people haven't had water for days! If we keep training, we'll collapse, and it won't have any effect!" Yang Sheng stepped forward and said to Jiang Sheng, neither humble nor pushy.

"Yang Sheng, you have quite some nerve. Your group has been the most active these past few days, and it seems you have quite a few complaints about me! What, do you know that waste Lu Fan?"

Jiang Sheng frowned, speaking in a sinister tone.

"Tianyuan Academy values martial arts above all else. I, Yang Sheng, respect Lu Fan as a martial artist, a man with a backbone of iron. Although I cannot reach his level, I yearn for it in my heart!"

Before Yang Sheng's words had even finished, Jiang Sheng's face changed drastically. He looked ferocious, his True Qi surged, pushing Yang Sheng and the others back several steps—they were horrified.

"A good 'although I cannot reach his level, I yearn for it in my heart'..." ===== CHAPTER 19 =====