"How dare you!"
The Blue Silver Grass vines lashed toward Zhu Zhuqing.
But just as they crossed the gates of Qianyu Academy, a dignified voice suddenly rang out.
"Bold little thief! What do you think this place is? You dare attack one of our academy's prodigies? Courting death!"
Within Qianyu Academy, seven blazing suns suddenly rose into the sky.
Immediately after—
One of the suns descended directly toward Tang San without hesitation.
Under its searing heat, the Blue Silver Grass vines instantly combusted and turned to ash.
Tang San's body trembled, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but the pain also brought him back to his senses.
As he looked at the blazing sun hurtling toward him, his pupils shrank sharply.
After the preliminary matches, was there anyone in Heaven Dou City who didn't recognize his face?
As one of the top-seeded contestants, although no one openly tried to recruit him because of his ties to the Clear Sky Clan, everyone had shown goodwill towards him.
That was one of the reasons why—despite Shrek's high-level combat forces being weakened by the injuries of Flender and Zhao Wuji—he still dared to come here alone.
But now...
Cai Xu, the dean of Qianyu Academy, was acting like he didn't even know who Tang San was. From the very first sentence, he called him a "bold thief," and struck with a soul skill right away!
Was he seriously trying to kill him?
Although Tang San considered himself peerless among his generation, he was well aware that he was only a four-ring Spirit Elder. Against an experienced Soul Saint like Cai Xu, the difference in strength was immense.
Therefore—
Though filled with indignation, Tang San immediately tried to explain: "Dean Cai—"
"What, still trying to insult me? Calling me 'Cai' [菜, slang for 'trash']?"
Unfortunately, before he could finish the word, Cai Xu interrupted with a shout: "You insolent brat, you still don't know your place? Then let me see just what you're made of!"
As he finished speaking—
The descending blazing sun accelerated even more. In an instant, it enveloped Tang San.
Boom!
A blinding flash erupted, causing everyone to instinctively shield their eyes.
Only after the light faded did the deafening explosion reach their ears.
When the brilliance dispersed—
Everyone opened their eyes and looked toward the massive crater at the academy gates, stunned and speechless.
Wait...
When did our dean become so reckless?
Did he get paid too much? Or maybe the fake wine got replaced with real stuff and he couldn't handle it?
Oh no, oh no. Are we going to be held accountable for this?
…Wait a second, isn't the crown prince backing us? Then we're probably fine!
Ribbit, not bad, Dean. Nice one—so satisfying!
…
The members of Qianyu Academy experienced a rollercoaster of emotions but ultimately burst into cheers.
Each and every one of them was now full of admiration for their dean.
Inside the crater...
"Cough, cough!"
Tang San looked pale as he shakily tried to stand.
When the blazing sun struck, he only had time to cross his arms in front of his body. He also used "Spider Web Restraint" on himself, and activated "Entanglement" and "Parasitism" in an attempt to buffer the attack.
However—
The gap in strength was simply too wide!
Even after unleashing all his techniques, he couldn't defend against Cai Xu's soul skill.
If it weren't for the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone constantly repairing his body, he would've either died or lost half his life.
Even so—
Both his arms were now charred to the bone, and his entire body was covered in injuries with not a single part intact.
Too brutal!
Cai Xu was clearly aiming to kill him!
Tang San's heart filled with hatred, and cold anger engulfed him.
He realized—
If Cai Xu really continued to strike, he would die right here!
So—
In order to survive, Tang San tried his best to stay calm: "Dean Cai, what is the meaning of this?"
"Hmm..."
Cai Xu finally appeared in person.
Looking down at Tang San in the crater, he asked with slight surprise, "You know who I am?"
"..."
Tang San was speechless.
Was this a joke?
Go ahead, keep pretending!
Yet Cai Xu acted as if he hadn't noticed anything, and looked at Tang San with mock reproach. "If you knew who I was, why didn't you say so earlier? You openly attacked one of our academy's prodigies, Zhu Zhuqing, at the gates. I thought you were some bold thief trying to cause trouble because our academy got good results!"
The more he spoke, the angrier he got. "This is outrageous! People just can't stand to see Qianyu Academy thrive! Clearly a traitor trying to sabotage the development of talented young people in our Heaven Dou Empire! This is pure treason!"
"Tell me, how could I possibly hold back when faced with something like that?"
"If I had more time, I would've directly used my Martial spirit Avatar so this little thief could learn the true power of Cai Xu!"
"Eh…"
As he said this, Cai Xu suddenly paused, as if remembering something, and awkwardly added: "Ah, I'm getting off-topic!"
Then, his tone changed to one of feigned concern: "But really, if you were coming to visit, couldn't you have just reported your name first? Now look at what happened—I hit the wrong person. What should we do about that?"
He then looked at Tang San with a face of utter seriousness, as if truly expecting him to offer a solution.
"..."
Listening to this barrage of accusations, along with subtle jabs implying regret over not killing him, Tang San felt completely dazed.
Who am I? Where am I? What the hell is going on?
How could there be someone so utterly shameless in this world?!
After a long silence—
Seeing that Cai Xu was still staring at him, and the surroundings were eerily quiet...
Tang San finally couldn't help it and cautiously suggested, "How about…"
"Eh! Good idea!"
Cai Xu interrupted with surprise and delight: "Great solution! Yes, let's go with that! You apologize to me and this whole matter will be over! Otherwise, people might think I bully kids. I don't want that kind of reputation!"
He stared directly at Tang San and urged, "Come on, come on, just like you said—hurry and apologize!"
"..."
Tang San was dumbfounded.
What the hell?!
You beat me up—nearly killed me—and now you want ME to apologize to YOU?
Have you lost your damn mind?!
What kind of absurd world is this?!
Could you at least try to show some shame?!
"What, changing your mind now?"
At that moment, the six blazing suns still shining in the sky suddenly pulsed, their auras locking onto Tang San once more.
Though searing hot—
Tang San felt a chill run through his heart.
He clenched his fists, then slowly let go, lowered his head, and said weakly, "I'm sorry."
"What was that?"
"I'm sorry, Dean Cai!"
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Dean Cai. I shouldn't have approached Qianyu Academy so abruptly, causing you to mistake me for an intruder and act accordingly. I deserve the misunderstanding."
Tang San lowered his head even more.
"Good, good, good! Knowing one's mistakes and correcting them—good boy!"
Cai Xu finally withdrew his Martial spirit, his face lighting up with a big smile: "Good kid! Now that we've cleared up the misunderstanding, you should hurry back... Don't die here. Go heal up quickly!"
"...Alright. Thank you for your concern, Dean Cai."
Tang San, dragging his broken body, painfully climbed out of the crater and staggered into the distance.
"Wait!"
At that moment, Cai Xu's voice rang out again.
Tang San's body stiffened.
Before he could turn around, Cai Xu's voice continued, "Little brother, about the damage to public property caused by this misunderstanding... You're not planning to skip out on compensation, are you?"