Chapter 114: The Mountain Head Who Provokes Hatred (Request Subscription)

On the Observation Platform, Lu Chenfeng’s face was dark, his brows knotted into a “ Chuan ” shape.

Miao Long died so quickly, eight of the top ten elites dead—this shouldn’t happen.

According to his prior arrangement, they should have formed teams in the shortest possible time.

Two or three of the top ten elites dying was possible.

Probability event.

But eight dead? That’s—

In the next instant, Lu Chenfeng seemed to realize something, his gaze swiftly scanning the high-floating leaderboard for the names of Yanzhou State Academy disciples.

Until now, Lu Chenfeng’s attention had focused mainly on Miao Long and the top ten elites.

Because achievements depended primarily on them; others merely needed to perform normally.

This search was no small matter—one look sent a shock through Lu Chenfeng.

Yanzhou State Academy had 450 eligible candidates for the Autumn Exam; he, as dean, remembered every single name.

But now, in this Wilderness Battlefield phase, the death toll had already exceeded one-third.

Nearly thirty-five percent.

Lu Chenfeng recalculated the total number of dead disciples across the entire Wilderness Battlefield.

So far, the total death count stood just over nine hundred.

After the second phase, the number of disciples entering the third phase totaled 3,900.

Overall death rate: just over twenty percent—roughly twenty-three percent.

In an instant, Lu Chenfeng realized something was wrong: Yanzhou State Academy’s death rate was far higher than the overall rate.

“What’s happening inside the battlefield?”

As Lu Chenfeng frowned, he unconsciously turned his head and suddenly noticed every mountain head of Yanzhou’s subordinate district academies—all grim, anxious, desperate.

Only Jinshan Academy’s mountain head, Dong Zhao, still wore a faint smile.

Dong Zhao didn’t care about him; that bastard was always like this, always making people uncomfortable.

But the others’ reactions—

Lu Chenfeng’s gaze swept back to the leaderboard.

A few minutes later, Lu Chenfeng felt an urge to slam his fist on the table and curse.

Someone was deliberately targeting Yanzhou disciples.

He’d just quickly tallied: Yanzhou-born disciples, regardless of academy, had a death rate of at least thirty percent, some as high as forty percent.

Someone is targeting him!

Lu Chenfeng immediately grasped the core issue.

The National Academy had an evaluation system targeting state academy deans and district academy mountain heads, included in the Autumn Exam.

There were two main criteria.

One was the number of disciples from their academy who passed the exam; the other was the number of core and true transmission disciples sent into the academy.

The first criterion carried greater weight.

Because cultivating an exceptional genius was relatively easy.

Find one with superior talent and insight, pour resources into them, give them special treatment.

But getting more disciples to pass the exam was far harder; the National Academy even set a minimum requirement.

For his own evaluation as state academy dean, the first criterion was further divided into two sub-items.

One: the number of disciples from his direct jurisdiction—Yanzhou State Academy—who passed; two: the performance level of disciples from all district academies under his command.

Previously, when Lu Chenfeng instructed actions against Jinshan Academy disciples, he hadn’t overlooked this point.

But Yanzhou had twelve districts, hence twelve district academies.

If the other eleven academies all scored middle or above, then even if Jinshan Academy scored low or inferior, it would have no impact on him as state dean.

But the deadly problem: if three or more subordinate academies scored low or inferior, it would seriously affect him as state dean.

Worse still: if his direct jurisdiction—Yanzhou State Academy—also performed poorly, the situation would be catastrophic.

Add to this the two reprimands he’d received this year.

He might lose his position as state academy dean!

In an instant, Lu Chenfeng grew tense.

He couldn’t afford not to be tense—this concerned his future.

He’d planned to simply maintain stability after this year’s reprimand, never expecting the threat now was losing his current post.

That would be catastrophic.

The position of Yanzhou State Academy dean carried power and status comparable to Yanzhou’s Viceroy, and in actual authority, even slightly higher.

Because he controlled vast high-grade resources and military force.

In all of Chen Guo, there were only seven such positions.

One could imagine the cost Lu Chenfeng paid to reach this post—his master, Song Bing, had contributed greatly.

If he lost it—

In an instant, Lu Chenfeng panicked.

Truly panicked.

But now, panic was useless; no matter how desperate, he couldn’t fly into the Wilderness Battlefield to kill for his disciples.

He could only watch the leaderboard’s changes.

The more he watched, the more his heart clenched.

Someone was definitely targeting Yanzhou disciples.

On the entire leaderboard, for every ten disciples who died, at least two were from Yanzhou.

This was extremely abnormal.

Yanzhou’s total disciples accounted for only one-tenth of all Autumn Exam candidates.

But this death rate!

“Who is it?!”

Lu Chenfeng’s inner fury roared—had it not been for the State Master and his master before him, he would have slammed the table and cursed.

To find the cause, Lu Chenfeng focused entirely on observing the battlefield.

By now, the battlefield had shrunk further, to only ten li across; from above, the source was quickly found.

A disciple from Yanzhou, his sleeve and collar dyed crimson, was ruthlessly slaughtering other Yanzhou-born disciples.

Clearly, he was deliberately hunting Yanzhou-born disciples.

His combat strength was terrifying.

One against three: instant kill.

One against five: at most two rounds!

One against six: still two rounds!

Extremely ferocious!

Who was it?

Lu Chenfeng glanced at the leaderboard—his mind already had the answer.

The standard answer.

Someone who could kill five Qi-Seven disciples in two rounds must be a genius from one of Yanzhou’s academies.

That is, the top seed candidate each academy prioritized—this was the first trait.

The candidate pool narrowed to twelve.

Second trait: exceptional strength; he must have shown partial ability in the first two phases.

If he was this powerful now, he couldn’t have been weak in the first two.

Third trait: someone who could crush Miao Long, the state academy’s top seed.

The identity was already obvious.

But there was a fourth, crucial trait.

Points!

Having killed so many Yanzhou State Academy disciples, his leaderboard points must be extremely high.

The only person matching all criteria and from Yanzhou—Xu Jin!

Xu Jin, from Jinshan Academy!

After merely a few minutes of observation, Lu Chenfeng solved the case—found the mastermind behind the targeting of Yanzhou.

“Die!”

Lu Chenfeng clenched his teeth, swallowed the words with blood, then turned to look at Jinshan Academy’s mountain head, Dong Zhao.

He believed a mere academy disciple wouldn’t dare do this without being ordered.

Who else could it be?

Only Jinshan Academy’s mountain head, Dong Zhao!

Seeing Lu Chenfeng’s wolfish, predatory gaze, Mountain Head Dong Zhao smiled faintly, meeting his stare directly.

Dong Zhao had been observing the battlefield and leaderboard changes all along.

What Lu Chenfeng discovered, he had discovered earlier; what Lu Chenfeng missed, he had also noticed.

So now, seeing Lu Chenfeng’s wolfish gaze, Dong Zhao silently sighed inside.

Good disciple!

Good student!

You take the initiative to ease your master’s worries!

If Dong Zhao still doesn’t protect a disciple like this, he’s unworthy to be a teacher!

“Dean Lu, a small token, please accept it!” Dong Zhao deliberately glanced at the leaderboard, then whispered these words directly to Lu Chenfeng.

In an instant, Lu Chenfeng nearly exploded!

So arrogant!

Dong Zhao has admitted it!

He admitted that Xu Jin’s actions in the Wasteland Arena were ordered by him, Dong Zhao!

It was just a whisper!

If Dong Zhao had dared say it aloud, Lu Chenfeng’s fist would already have smashed into his face.

Too bad—it was a whisper. He could only swallow his rage.

“Dean Lu, you started it, so I can certainly finish it. Whatever game you want to play, I, Dong Zhao, will play along!” Dong Zhao, fearing the hatred wasn’t enough, added another jab at Lu Chenfeng.

Lu Chenfeng’s temple twitched; he rose to stand, but halfway up, sat back down.

He turned his gaze, locking it fiercely on Dong Zhao.

“Good! Good! Good! Dong Zhao, we’ll see who has the last laugh!”

“Fine, I’ll wait and see,” Dong Zhao said nothing, but bowed slightly toward Lu Chenfeng, who glared at him.

Lu Chenfeng snorted coldly and turned back to study the leaderboard.

Revenge against Dong Zhao would have to come later—planned carefully.

But the immediate issue was critical.

Disciples from Yanzhou were dying one after another; if this continued, his evaluation would barely scrape a C, no higher!

A C rating—whether high, mid, or low—meant demotion!

In an instant, Lu Chenfeng’s heart felt pierced by needles—urgent, helpless, and tinged with regret—but what could he do?

At the last row of the Observation Platform, Dong Zhao, Head of Jinshan Academy, wiped sweat from his brow.

He was used to smirking while mocking others, striking without showing his hand.

I just smile.

You know I did it, I know you know I did it, but I still just smile!

This kind of direct confrontation, openly provoking hatred—he’d never done it before. Slight sweat.

First he roared, then feared the hatred wasn’t enough, and shoved it right back in.

“Should be enough?”

“Still, directly confronting someone face-to-face? Feels damn good after. Satisfying.” Dong Zhao, too, savored the moment.

In the Wasteland Arena, as the map contracted for the fourth time, its area shrank to roughly ten li.

For Xu Jin, this was like fish returning to water.

Especially at this scale, most Yanzhou Academy disciples had clustered together.

In groups of three or five.

With Xu Jin’s strength, a burst of Flying Star Step, a flash of Nine Veins Divine Sword—he could obliterate five or fewer in one strike, ten or fewer in two or three.

His kill rate was like reaping wheat.

Within mere minutes after the map contracted, he had slain over a hundred Yanzhou disciples.

Including earlier kills, over two hundred Yanzhou disciples had fallen to his hand.

As the battlefield rapidly shrank, the elimination rate surged.

Advance a few hundred meters, and you’d meet wave after wave of enemies.

But the battle dynamics had shifted.

Previously, most fights were solo or at most pairs.

Now, even trios were rare.

Disciples formed teams based on ties within their academies, large and small, sweeping together.

Some teams had dozens; others, just a few.

After slaying another thirty-plus Yanzhou disciples, Xu Jin suddenly heard shouts.

“Senior Brother!”

“Senior Brother!”

Xu Jin saw three teams rapidly approaching the Jinshan Academy group at the center of the map—the stone beach.

The surviving Jinshan Academy disciples had all gathered.

Thanks to Xu Jin, their number still stood at seven, including Wang Weisheng.

With Xu Jin, that made eight.

After so long in battle, fewer than four hundred disciples remained alive across the entire Wasteland Arena—over ninety percent eliminated.

Yet Jinshan Academy still had four-tenths of its original force.

As for Yanzhou’s? Nearly gone.

On the Observation Platform, Lu Chenfeng was utterly hopeless.

No hope left.

The mid and rear sectors required team battles.

But too many Yanzhou disciples had been killed by Xu Jin—especially those in teams.

The few remaining solo survivors couldn’t find groups and were swiftly eliminated by other academies.

Before the Wasteland Blood Battle ended, every Yanzhou disciple except those from Jinshan Academy had been wiped out!

Not one left!

How could they turn this around?

Impossible to turn around!

Xu Jin unleashed Flying Star Step in rapid bursts, sprinting toward the stone beach.

From the east, south, and north, three teams closed in on the Jinshan Academy group.

Their robes marked them as disciples of Chen Guo Academy.

Each team numbered over ten.

At this moment, the three teams were rapidly advancing.

If surrounded, they’d be annihilated for sure.

But the disciples weren’t panicked—they’d survived long, collected many kills, and had solid scores; admission was assured.

Now, their goal was to kill one or two more, squeeze out extra points.

Seeing Xu Jin arrive, they instantly found their anchor.

“Senior Brother, tell us which way to charge—we follow you!”

“Even if we die, we’ll take at least one or two with us—gain more points!”

“Senior Brother, lead us!” Those last words came from Wang Weisheng.

Convinced!

Wang Weisheng had fully accepted Xu Jin’s strength.

“Then charge east—closest to us!”

“Go!”

Xu Jin shot forward instantly; behind him, Wang Weisheng, Zhang Han, Lu Xianbing, Zhang Ming, and Yue Daqi followed.

Beneath the flag in the Chen Guo Academy observer zone, Lu Kun clenched his fists.

Watching the Wasteland Arena, his eyes blazed with excitement: “Finally, we can vent our rage!”

Clearly, Chen Guo Academy had the most surviving disciples, now forming massive squads to sweep the field.

With this sweep, Xu Jin would surely fall.

Even if they killed Xu Jin now, they couldn’t surpass his score or break his future.

But revenge opportunities were endless.

For now, venting some rage was better than none.

Lu Kun’s face glowed with anticipation.

Meanwhile, Chen Guo Academy’s senior officials on the Observation Platform—especially the Xuezheng and Vice Xuezheng—couldn’t even look.

At this point, killing Xu Jin meant nothing.

If they killed him with a group of dozens, Xu Jin would still die with honor.

As for Liu Qingzhu, she buried her head in her chest—wouldn’t watch.

Nothing to see!

In the Wasteland Arena, as the eight-member Jinshan Academy group charged east, Yan Chen, who commanded the southern teams, shouted.

“Hurry! Don’t let him pick us off one by one!”

Instantly, Yan Chen’s southern team and Yuan Feiqing’s western team accelerated.

The next instant, Guan Li’s eastern team met Xu Jin’s group.

In that instant, Xu Jin burst forward with Flying Star Step, flashing out from his group like lightning; his Star Chain shot out, coiling around a disciple’s neck, starlight exploding along his waist.

Kite Ring!

Nine Veins Divine Sword!

Star Arrow Gale!

In just a second, Xu Jin unleashed twenty Star Arrows.

Guan Li blocked two of Xu Jin’s Star Arrows, caught them—but was forced back three steps, his Star Shield shattered, his protective Star Veil trembling on the verge of collapse!

In the next instant, Wang Weisheng lunged forward, unleashing a chain of Star Arrows, Star Rings, and Star Flashes.

Guan Li instantly dissolved into starlight.

Fallen in battle!

One breath later, Lu Xianbing, Yue Daqi, Zhang Han, Zhang Ming, and even Wang Weisheng were all stunned.

They won!

Did they really win without even breaking a sweat?

Eight against eleven!

Not a single one died.

Not even a single minor wound!

They only finished off four of the enemy.

Six were slain outright by Senior Brother!

Is Senior Brother really that terrifying?

“Kill!”

One breath later, Yuan Feiqing and Yan Chen’s teams merged, launching a semi-encircling assault on the Jinshan Dao Academy’s squad.

“You handle the rest—I’ll take Xu Jin. Feiqing, Mingchun, and the other two deal with him!”

“I don’t believe it—we three together can’t take him down!” Yan Chen roared.

In an instant, twenty-three disciples of the Da Chen Dao Academy charged toward the eight disciples of the Jinshan Dao Academy.

“Final battle—charge!”

Xu Jin glanced at his fellow disciples, then instantly led seven of them forward!

(End of Chapter)