Somewhat Cute

The heavy rain fell for four straight days before finally abating.

The sun climbed high into the sky, lifting the curtain of rain as though unveiling summer.

The breath of summer had already begun to drift over, faint yet palpable.

The weather grew ever clearer, sweeping away spring's tender, lingering melancholy as the temperature gradually rose.

The Dragon Pill Crickets, so active on spring nights, had withdrawn, burrowing deep underground to lay their eggs. The Qing Spear Bamboo unique to Qing Mao Mountain began growing wildly, shooting up noticeably almost every day.

The grass, plants, and leaves began shifting from emerald green toward a deeper shade. The green mountains stretched on and on, looking ever more lush and verdant.

The boundless sky was blue as crystal.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The sounds of fists and kicks colliding rang out from the Academy's Training Arena.

After exchanging more than a dozen moves, Gu Yue Mo Bei was kicked in the abdomen by Fang Yuan. Staggering backward five or six steps, he happened to retreat beyond the circle drawn on the ground.

The Punch and Kick Instructor stood below the arena, presiding over the match. Seeing this, he immediately announced, "Gu Yue Mo Bei has been knocked out of bounds. Gu Yue Fang Yuan has won thirty-three consecutive matches!"

"Hmph, I lost to you again this time." Gu Yue Mo Bei gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at Fang Yuan. "But don't get cocky. One day, I'll defeat you. And I can already feel that day drawing closer and closer!"

Fang Yuan glanced at him expressionlessly, then lowered his eyelids. "That kick just caused internal bleeding. You should treat your injury first before talking."

"What does a minor injury like this amount to?" Gu Yue Mo Bei had only spoken half his retort when his expression suddenly changed. His throat bobbed, and he vomited a mouthful of blood.

His face abruptly turned pale. This was the first time he had suffered such an injury! Unavoidable terror showed in his eyes.

The Punch and Kick Instructor hurried over and comforted him. "It's nothing. After treatment, you only need to rest quietly for a few days. But you'll have to stop practicing your fists during that time and avoid strenuous activity."

As soon as the words fell, two Healing Gu Masters waiting outside the arena rushed over and carefully helped Gu Yue Mo Bei away.

Gu Yue Mo Chen did not dare say another word. He cast Fang Yuan a deep look, his gaze filled with anger, resentment, regret, and unwillingness.

"Mo Bei's fistwork and footwork are excellent, but he still can't beat Fang Yuan."

"Fang Yuan is too powerful. There's simply no one who can defeat him!"

"Mo Bei was actually beaten until he vomited blood. That's terrifying. I don't want to fight that guy."

"Sigh, but the instructor said today is practical combat training—a ring fight! Everyone has to go up and fight once."

The students stood outside the arena. Some looked at Fang Yuan with fear in their eyes; some sighed mournfully; some were pale-faced; others were on tenterhooks.

Among them, some had already been injured. Some covered their bruised and swollen faces, while others clutched their arms and sucked in cold breaths. Still others lay directly on the ground, rubbing their thighs.

"Next!" With no one stepping forward for a long while, the instructor shouted.

But no one answered. Ordinarily, only Gu Yue Mo Bei, Gu Yue Chi Cheng, and Gu Yue Fang Zheng had the courage to challenge Fang Yuan. Yet all three had already been defeated.

The students fell silent, and some even shrank slightly backward.

The instructor frowned tightly as he looked at the students' timid, cowering expressions.

He could not help recalling the Academy Elder's instructions: "These days, Fang Yuan has been stealing too much of the limelight. He must be suppressed. All the other students have been pressed down so hard by him that they cannot lift their heads. If this continues, even the courage in their hearts will be ground away. What our Academy raises are tigers and wolves daring enough to confront powerful enemies, not lambs afraid of battle."

"What is wrong with all of you? No matter how strong Fang Yuan is, he is only fifteen, the same age as you! He is your age, eats the same food as you, and drinks the same water. He doesn't have Three Heads Six Arms, nor is he some monster! Gather your courage and let me see the pride of the Gu Yue Clan buried in your hearts!" the instructor roared, doing his utmost to stir up the students below.

"But he really is too strong. We simply can't beat him."

"The classmates who fight him all end up horribly. Mo Bei was even beaten until he vomited blood."

"Fang Yuan's attacks are getting heavier and heavier. Instructor, we don't dare fight him."

The students refuted him softly and timidly.

The instructor was so angry he nearly stomped his foot. What a bunch of ignorant brats!

He had seen things clearly from below. After fighting thirty-three consecutive matches, Fang Yuan had not rested at all. Although Fang Yuan had constantly been regulating his breathing, he had little strength left.

Fang Yuan's attacks were growing harsher, which only showed that he was no longer as effortlessly in control as before. He was gradually losing his grasp over the situation.

With another push, they could force him to reveal his fatigue. Send up a few more people, and they could knock him down on the spot!

Once Fang Yuan was knocked down, his intimidating presence would plummet, the students' courage would be stirred, and the goal of suppressing Fang Yuan would be achieved.

But now, the students had all been bluffed by the tiger skin Fang Yuan had propped up.

Sometimes, what defeated a person was not a powerful enemy, but his own heart.

The instructor was anxious and continued to exhort them.

But he was not eloquent by nature. He had said these same words before, stirring the youths' hot blood and drawing out a few challengers. Yet now that they had heard them too many times, the youths had become numb to them.

Fang Yuan stood with his arms folded, coldly watching all of this. Though he stood at the very center of the arena, he seemed like an entirely unrelated outsider at that moment.

The instructor urged them for a long time, but the students still looked at one another, and not a single person moved.

The Punch and Kick Instructor could not help feeling both furious and helpless. He turned to Fang Yuan and rebuked him dissatisfiedly, "Fang Yuan, you are also at fault. Your attacks are becoming more and more vicious. Sparring between classmates should be gentle and friendly. How could you strike so heavily? From now on, pay more attention and be careful with your attacks. If you make another classmate vomit blood, I'll rule that you've lost and make you leave the arena!"

"Instructor, you are wrong."

Fang Yuan snorted coldly, meeting the Punch and Kick Instructor's eyes without yielding. "When sparring, one should naturally go all out. Otherwise, how can it serve as training? Could we demand that our enemies be gentle and friendly when we fight in the future?"

The Punch and Kick Instructor flew into a rage. "Hmph, your methods are vicious, you injure your classmates, and you still dare to twist words and argue!"

"Instructor, you are wrong again."

Fang Yuan sneered. "You arranged this sparring session, and you raised the first-place reward all the way to twenty Primeval Stones. Without your instigation, would these people have been injured?"

"Bastard!" The Punch and Kick Instructor was not good with words. Pointing at Fang Yuan, he roared, "Do you still want the first-place reward or not? If you keep arguing sophistry, then even if you take first place, I'll rule that you've lost! You are so lacking in unity and friendship, and you even dare to contradict your teacher. How are you qualified to receive twenty Primeval Stones as a reward?!"

Fang Yuan laughed loudly. "It is merely one victory or defeat, merely twenty Primeval Stones. Do you think I care?"

As he spoke, he turned and left, walking out of the center of the arena amid everyone's astonished gazes.

Although the shadow wall had not been sold, Fang Yuan still had several hundred Primeval Stones in hand. Besides, he had not entered the arena this time for the Primeval Stones.

"You!" Seeing Fang Yuan truly step down, the instructor stood there dumbfounded, his face showing surprise and confusion.

Weren't fifteen-year-old boys supposed to be full of hot blood, eager to fight and compete?

Fang Yuan possessed such talent for combat. His temperament should have been the same. Why had he withdrawn directly?

Moreover, Fang Yuan had no financial support. Primeval Stones should have been in desperately short supply for him. How could even twenty Primeval Stones fail to tempt him?

For a moment, the Punch and Kick Instructor froze where he stood, not knowing what to do.

Fang Yuan refused to enter the trap and simply stepped down from the arena.

The instructor suddenly realized that there truly was nothing he could do to Fang Yuan. Given his status, he could not openly pick a fight and force Fang Yuan onto the arena, could he?

The surrounding students all backed away, keeping their distance from Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan stood below the arena with no one beside him. Taking him as the center, an empty circular space stretched five steps around him.

What a pity.

Had they stood beside Fang Yuan, they would have heard the sound of him desperately suppressing his panting.

My stamina is running out, Fang Yuan sighed in his heart. On the surface, he looked full of energy, but beneath his clothes, his body was trembling faintly.

After all, his body was only fifteen years old, and he had no supporting Gu worms. Thirty-three consecutive battles had already brought him close to his limit.

Though he possessed abundant combat experience from his previous life, the other youths' fistwork and footwork had greatly improved during this period. From them, Fang Yuan had already sensed an ever-growing pressure.

That pressure was directly reflected in Fang Yuan's attacks. His strikes became heavier and heavier, gradually slipping beyond his control. In the past, the students had been too weak, so he could handle them with ease; at most, they would suffer bruises and sprains. But now, his control of the situation was weakening, and he had to strike hard to stabilize it.

"Experience is not omnipotent after all. The power within any thought requires a material foundation before it has a medium through which to be exerted." Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes. In truth, he had long seen through the Punch and Kick Instructor's intentions.

He was neither surprised nor unprepared for suppression from the Academy.

Ever since he killed Gao Wan, fewer and fewer people had dared challenge him. When he extorted people, more and more were cowed by his intimidation, not daring to resist as they obediently handed over Primeval Stones.

If this continued for a long time, Fang Yuan's image of invincibility would become established. It would cast a shadow over the other youths' hearts, making them lose confidence in their fistwork and footwork from the very beginning. This was something the Academy Elder absolutely did not wish to see. He needed Fang Yuan to spur the students' progress, but he did not want Fang Yuan to completely extinguish their passion for battle.

He wanted to see Fang Yuan lose.

Once Fang Yuan lost, the invincible image he had established early on would collapse and be destroyed.

At the same time, it would awaken the other students' fighting spirit. And after suffering setbacks, they could better forge an unyielding fighting will that refused to yield despite repeated blows.

But for Fang Yuan, he needed such intimidation to make extorting Primeval Stones more convenient.

If he lost, the youths would realize his weakness and swarm up to attack him. Although Fang Yuan currently had quite a few Primeval Stones, robbery and extortion were his primary source of them. If he lost this source, he would become water without a source.

That was why Fang Yuan entered the arena and fought thirty-three consecutive matches. His true goal was not the reward of twenty Primeval Stones, but preserving his intimidation.

If he avoided battle from the start, people would only see through his weakness. But if he kept fighting, his secret would likely be exposed.

"What are you all standing around for? Who still hasn't entered the ring? Keep going! First place comes with twenty Primeval Stones. Don't you want them anymore?" After standing stunned for a while, the Punch and Kick Instructor finally shouted.

The remaining students immediately became eager.

With Fang Yuan out of the arena, it was as if an invisible boulder had been lifted from their hearts.

"I'll go!"

"I'm coming!"

The two youths scrambled to be first, leaping into the arena and exchanging blows with a series of bangs.

"Sigh, if I'd known this would happen, I would've waited too. There was no need to rush onto the arena and get blasted off by Fang Yuan."

"What a pity. I never expected Fang Yuan to step down."

"He really dared to do it. Look, even the instructor can't do anything to him."

Hearing the whispers behind him, the instructor immediately felt his authority steadily declining. His heart was filled with irritation, and he truly wanted to punish Fang Yuan severely. But Fang Yuan had committed no offense; voluntarily leaving the arena was permitted.

The instructor was depressed and helpless. In the end, he looked toward Fang Yuan and shot him a fierce glare.

The corner of Fang Yuan's mouth lifted slightly as he thought, Such a crude method. This instructor is rather cute.