40 Chapter 39: Principal of Wu Ling Academy, Xiao Zhang (1/2)

Seeing Qi Fu Ren's pathetic form miserably kneeling in front of me, a grave silence fell over the spectators who were watching above, through the looking glass. While it wasn't as if nobody expected me to win, they were still caught off guard by the brutality of my final couple of moves, to the extent that they were stunned speechless.

Moreover, some of them had known that Qi Fu Ren cheated by consuming a Qi Burst Pill. They didn't think I would still somehow overcome that unfair advantage and disarmed him in such a violent fashion.

”Oh my goodness…he actually cut off not one, but two of Qi Fu Ren's arms.”

”Well, that bastard was asking for it. Always looking down on others and bullying people weaker than him. Hah!”

”Yeah, he has gotten his just desserts!”

After a moment of stunned silence, a few of the students began speaking. Despite Hu Shuo and Ba Dao glaring at them, they began to boldly cheer and taunt Qi Fu Ren.

”Ha ha ha! Serve you right!”

”Let's see if you can still bully anyone after this!”

”This should teach you for being such an arrogant jerk!”

”Let's see how you feel now that your positions are reversed!”

While some delighted in seeing Qi Fu Ren humbled and crippled, a few of them didn't forget me. Especially my friends.

”Great job!” Zhu Jiao hollered. ”You did it!”

”Hah! I always believed in Fei Wu,” Tong Xue declared proudly. He was lying, of course. Otherwise he wouldn't disappear every time I had a confrontation with Qi Fu Ren.

”I'm so glad you won!” Tang Qi Hong was waving excitedly. Even though I couldn't hear her, I could see her gesturing animatedly, so I waved back at her.

”You guys…you do realize that Fei Wu can't hear you, right?” Ban Zhang sounded exasperated. Zhu Jiao merely grinned.

”Maybe not, but he can still hear us!”

Since there was no reason for me to remain behind and waste my time in the arena, I turned around to leave. However…

Crash! BANG!

The supposedly shatterproof reinforced glass was smashed by a single attack as a powerful expert destroyed it and jumped into the arena.

”You trash! How dare you cut off both of my disciples' arms! Do you not want to live anymore? I'll cut off all your limbs!”

It was Elder Hu Lao from the White Tiger Sect. he landed next to the crippled Qi Fu Ren and helped him up, then turned to glare at me. In that single motion, his qi flared up exponentially, like a dormant volcano erupting into life. The entire air was filled with static as he unleashed his rage on me, saturated the arena with his electric qi.

Faced with such a terrifying qi aura, I felt as if a mountain was weighing down on me, crushing my body with its enormous weight. Gritting my teeth, I fell to my knees and clutched at the ground, desperately trying not to topple over onto my face. The gravity had seemed to increase a hundredfold, immobilizing me completely.

”Master…” Qi Fu Ren had turned white from the massive loss of blood and was on the verge of losing consciousness.

”Don't worry, Qi Fu Ren, if we bring you to the infirmary, we'll get your arms reattached. With Wu Ling Academy's medical facilities, an injury of this extent is nothing. You won't be crippled permanently, I assure you.”

After assuring Qi Fu Ren, Hu Lao turned to glare at me. But I could detect some sort of unease on his face. He never thought that Qi Fu Ren, even after consuming a Qi Burst Pill, would still lose to me. It was completely incomprehensible.

”You bastard, it was just a match, and you were still so brutal and merciless? How dare you! You've revealed your true nature!”

Hu Lao flung out a hand and unleashed a Lightning Blade. My eyes widened when I had a glimpse of how powerful that attack was. It was like facing an onrushing shinkansen, its momentum unstoppable, and its speed and power immense. I had no way of dodging it, not even with my footwork techniques. Hu Lao's Lightning Blade literally covered the entire space of the arena between me and him, hurtling forward at a speed too fast for me to react to.

Frost Barrier!

I used every ounce of my qi to conjure an ice shield that completely towered over me, freezing all of the water vapor in the atmosphere to create a barrier that was several meters thick. This was my ultimate defense, one that theoretically could withstand a missile.

Against Hu Lao, it was nothing. The Lightning Blade shattered my Frost Barrier instantly and struck me, throwing me across the arena and flinging me against the wall. Even as I slammed into the reinforced concrete, cracking it and leaving a small crater, and slid down, the devastating electricity continued to electrocute me.

”Gah…ugh! Ah…!”

Despite the instant demolition, my Frost Barrier had absorbed most of the impact behind the Lightning Blade, or I would have died from that single hit.

”This brat…he's still alive?!”

Hu Lao's expression darkened when he saw me twitching and coughing out blood. Despite the excruciating agony, I crawled to my feet and rose up shakily but defiantly.

”Fucking bastard. Even though you're still so young, you're already so ruthless and evil. You bring shame to Wu Ling Academy. I'll take responsibility on behalf of the sect and destroy your dantian and break your limbs.”

”Why are you telling me all this instead of…you know, actually attacking me?” I asked dryly. I knew it wasn't a good idea to provoke the son of a bitch, but if I was going to die like this, then I would die fighting.

Hu Lao's vein twitched and he glowered at me. So speechless with rage that he ended up listening to me and unleashing not one, but five Lightning Blades this time. One was aimed at my dantian, and the other four were targeted at my four limbs.

The fucker was really carrying out what he threatened to do.

”Hey! You can't do this!” Zhu Jiao shouted. ”You can't just intervene in the fight like this!”

”You're breaking the academy rules! Even though you're an outsider!” Ban Zhang hollered.

”Stop!” Tang Qi Hong screamed.

Even as my friends yelled in impotent outrage, the rest of the spectators were aghast at the blatant atrocity that Hu Lao was pulling in front of them. Furthermore, they were outraged by Hu Lao's shamelessness and sheer hypocrisy. Qi Fu Ren was clearly trying to kill me, and even when I gave him a chance to surrender, he refused to. Moreover, he cheated by consuming a Qi Burst Pill, and was on the verge of crippling me until I turned the tables on him. Yet Elder Hu Lao did not step in or say a single word when I was getting beaten up.

Why was it all right if Qi Fu Ren beat up, cripple or even kill me, but I was not allowed to disarm him out of self-defense? How was this fair?

Despite their outrage, none of them could do anything about it. None of them was a match for the enraged elder, so even if they jumped in, they would get killed along with me. Hu Lao didn't care about the lack of logic or his shamelessness. He was too carried away by his fury that he was determined to destroy me, and anyone who dared to stand in his way.

”Hu…”

I took a deep breath and constructed another Frost Barrier. I knew deep down it was useless. Hu Lao destroyed my strongest defense with a single Lightning Blade, and this time he was firing five Lightning Blades at me. They would shatter my wall of ice instantly and pierce through my dantian and limbs without being as diminished as the single Lightning Blade earlier.

Even so, I wasn't going down without a fight. I was going to defy this bastard to the very last second if I had to…!

The Lightning Blades never made contact with my Frost Barrier.

Instead, a newcomer jumped in and deflected the Lightning Blades with his staff, but just barely. The electricity exploded ineffectively, but the newcomer staggered backward.

”Huff…”

”Teacher Cai?”

I gaped at the teacher who was supposed to be refereeing the match. Realizing that I was in trouble, he had finally stepped in.

”Elder Hu Lao,” Teacher Cai Pan said as he bowed formally. ”I must ask you to leave the arena. This is the Wu Ling Academy, not your White Tiger Sect, and the rules stipulate that no one is allowed to interfere. Fei Wu has won fair and square.”

”Fair and square? What a joke! He obviously cheated!”

Hu Lao lashed out with another five Lightning Blades. Teacher Cai gritted his teeth and blocked them by coating his arms with ice-cold qi, but the lightning disintegrated his frost armor. But he managed to just barely block the attack.

However, he wasn't able to defend against Hu Lao's next attack. As he staggered backward, the White Tiger Sect elder struck him with a devastating Lightning Fist, causing him to double over. Teacher Cai attempted to retaliate, but Hu Lao dodged his hook and slammed his fist into the former's abdomen, unleashing Thunder Break.

”Ugh!”

Teacher Cai was sent flying and crashed into the wall, vanishing in a shower of rubble.

”Hmph. I don't care who you are. If you get in my way, I'll destroy you as well.”

Dusting off his hands, Hu Lao sneered before he turned back to me. Mad glee cackled in his eyes as he prepared to finish me off, now that there was no one capable of standing in his way.

”Die!”

With a swing of his hand, Hu Lao sent a fresh wave of Lightning Blades arcing mercilessly toward my dantian and limbs again. I steeled myself, thankful for not dismissing my Frost Barrier even when Teacher Cai intervened.

It wasn't as if I didn't have any faith in Teacher Cai, but it paid to always assume the worst. The present crisis was a good example of that. clenching my fists, I threw out both hands to reinforce my Frost Barrier with whatever qi I had left remaining, which was alarmingly little. I had expended most of it during my fight with Qi Fu Ren, after all.

Boom!

My eyes widened when I saw a wall of qi shimmer to life in front of my Frost Barrier. The five Lightning Blades crashed impotently into the new barrier and dissipated harmlessly, the golden rays of electricity disappearing without a trace.

”Stop it, Hu Lao.”

Xiao Zhang descended between me and Hu Lao, his expression grave and furious.

”What do you think you're doing? This is my academy, Cai Pan is one of my staff and Fei Wu is one of my students. How dare you attack them?!”

Xiao Zhang glared at Hu Lao, but the latter stubbornly defied him. Gritting his teeth, he gathered his qi and launched another hail of Lightning Blades, but this time Xiao Zhang didn't even bother with a wall of qi. With just his bare hand, he swatted the five Lightning Blades away like flies, completely obliterating them.

”Amazing…”

My jaw dropped as I watched Xiao Zhang, awestruck by his absolute strength and imposing presence. Xiao Zhang's eyes narrowed as his fury increased. If Hu Lao was a volcano, then Xiao Zhang was a supernova, a red star on the verge of blowing up and hurling intense amounts of radiation across the galaxy.

”Cai Pan, are you all right?”

Without turning around, Xiao Zhang issued the question. There was a slight movement in the debris, and then Teacher Cai emerged, throwing the rubble off himself. Dusting himself off and wiping the blood off his mouth, the battered teacher-referee bowed his head.