The Lion Breaks Free

When Lin Xiao's deep gaze, as godlike as it was devoid of sorrow and joy, slowly fell upon the purple bamboo forest below the bamboo lodge that had long been waiting, a collective seclusion lasting an entire month—one that could be called the wildest and most extravagant in Cloud Creek Academy's history—finally reached its end.

"The time has come."

Lin Xiao spoke calmly. His voice was not loud, yet it echoed through every corner of Tingzhu Pavilion as clearly as the evening drum and morning bell.

"Everyone, come out of seclusion!"

"Yes!"

As Lin Xiao's unquestionable command fell.

Twenty-nine perfectly synchronized roars, brimming with endless excitement and fervent battle intent, erupted from within the ancient and exquisite bamboo lodge like the awakening dragon cry that had been suppressed for hundreds of millions of years!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The next moment, twenty-nine terrifying auras, more than ten times stronger than before their seclusion, erupted like twenty-nine fully detonated supervolcanoes!

The dense Spiritual Energy above Tingzhu Pavilion, which had been relatively calm, was violently churned by these twenty-nine overwhelmingly powerful new auras into a pot of boiling spiritual porridge!

Then, unseen by anyone.

Twenty-nine young figures clad in matching black combat attire, though their temperaments had already undergone earth-shaking transformations, appeared soundlessly on the open white jade plaza outside the bamboo lodge like twenty-nine black bolts of lightning tearing through space!

They stood in an incomparably orderly formation, as sharp and neat as if carved by blade and axe, behind the lean figure who had long been waiting there.

Each of them stood straight as a spear, deep and steady as a pool, towering like a mountain!

Though they did not deliberately release their auras.

The iron-blooded pressure naturally radiating from them after a month of hellish seclusion and the frenzied piling on of vast resources was nearly solid!

It froze the entire purple bamboo forest!

It made even the cold wind whistling through the woods let out a mournful wail!

Th-this... how were they still a flock of weak sheep that had struggled at the very bottom of the outer academy not long ago?!

They were clearly an undefeated royal army that had drunk its fill of Gods and Devils' blood and returned in triumph from the Nine Nether Hells!

Just as every member of the "Defying Mortals" class assembled.

An aged figure filled with endless majesty and gratification slowly emerged from the space outside Tingzhu Pavilion, which was entirely shrouded in dense spiritual mist.

It was Chu Tianxing.

Behind him respectfully followed a lean old man dressed in the robes of an elder of the Discipline Hall. His face was stern, yet an alarming glint occasionally flashed through his eyes.

"Hehe, it seems we arrived at just the right time."

Chu Tianxing did not immediately step into Tingzhu Pavilion, which he had long designated as forbidden ground.

He merely floated quietly in the air, sensing the thirty utterly transformed new auras continuously emanating from the depths of the bamboo forest with a complicated gaze full of endless emotion and shock.

"V-Vice Principal..."

The Discipline Hall elder behind him had already been so stunned by the horrifying collective pressure within, like that of primordial savage beasts, that he could not speak!

He swallowed with difficulty and asked in a trembling voice filled with dreamlike uncertainty.

"Th-those inside really are just freshmen whose average cultivation was below the Body Refinement Fifth Level a little over a month ago?"

"Yes."

An incomparably radiant and proud smile appeared on Chu Tianxing's face, one that came from the depths of his heart.

"And they were also a group whom everyone had regarded as 'trash' not long ago..."

"Freshmen of the Yellow Class."

Upon hearing this earth-shattering secret, enough to punch a hole clean through the heavens!

The Discipline Hall elder, renowned for being impartial as iron and steadfast as a rock, could no longer maintain his eternally rigid expression!

Like a mortal witnessing a divine miracle descend, he stared fixedly at the purple bamboo forest, full of endless mystery and the unknown, with a dull gaze filled with absurdity and shattered convictions.

His mind was blank, utterly incapable of thought.

"Let's go."

Chu Tianxing paid no further attention to this poor colleague, who had been so stunned by his casual showing-off that he was beginning to doubt his life.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he took the still-petrified Discipline Hall elder forward in a single step.

Like teleportation, they silently appeared upon the white jade plaza already enveloped in a chilling air of slaughter.

When he truly saw the real appearances of those thirty utterly transformed youths with his own eyes.

Even with his calm state of mind, which had weathered great storms and seen towering waves, his cloudy old eyes still contracted sharply!

What replaced it was an immense surprise and gratification, even richer and more brilliant than what he had felt in the Mission Hall!

Strong!

Too strong!

Though the thirty little ones before him all wore calm expressions and stood deep and steady as pools, towering like mountains, without deliberately releasing their cultivation auras.

Who was Chu Tianxing?!

In almost an instant, he had seen through every detail of everyone present!

—Shi Lei, peak Body Refinement Seventh Level! His physical strength had even faintly surpassed that of ordinary Body Refinement Ninth Level cultivators!

—Su Yue, early Body Refinement Eighth Level! Her Clear Sword Heart and Sword Intent had already taken initial form!

—Monkey, mid-stage Body Refinement Seventh Level! His movement technique was strange, and his aura had perfectly merged with the surrounding shadows!

As for the remaining twenty-six members, even the weakest among them had reached the peak of the Body Refinement Sixth Level!

More than ten of them had even successfully entered the Body Refinement Seventh Level, enough to become the backbone of the outer academy!

Th-this was simply a monster army through and through!

If they were placed in the outer academy, they would be enough to sweep aside any class other than Heaven Class One!

"Good! Good! Good!"

After a brief but tremendous shock to his soul, Chu Tianxing finally could not hold back and said "good" three times in a row!

His usually dignified face was now covered in a vast, radiant smile as brilliant and gratified as a chrysanthemum in bloom!

"You truly have not disappointed this old man!"

Yet just as every member of the "Defying Mortals" class felt their hearts surge with excitement and pride at receiving the Vice Principal's public praise.

Chu Tianxing slowly withdrew his smile.

A trace of solemnity flashed through his cloudy old eyes.

"Cultivation is ultimately only data on paper."

"Whether a martial artist is truly strong can only be finally tested through actual combat!"

"Therefore..."

He paused, slowly turning his gaze, filled with endless majesty and expectation, toward the youth who had remained calm from beginning to end, as if everything had long been within his grasp.

"Lin Xiao."

"This student is here."

"Next, this old man will personally test the results of your 'Defying Mortals' class's month of seclusion!"

"Do you dare accept the challenge?!"

"We await it at any time!" Lin Xiao answered neither humbly nor arrogantly. There was not the slightest fear in his deep eyes, only powerful confidence born of absolute strength!

"Good!"

Chu Tianxing nodded in satisfaction.

He had no intention of personally entering the field.

Instead, he slowly turned around and spoke calmly to the Discipline Hall elder behind him, who had already been numbed by this series of earth-shattering changes.

"Elder Zhang, I'll have to trouble you next."

"Ah? Oh! Yes! Yes!"

After blanking out for a moment, the Discipline Hall elder surnamed Zhang finally came back to his senses from the immense shock that had left him feeling as though he were sleepwalking!

He hurriedly stepped forward and took out from his Storage Bag a strange, head-sized sphere made entirely of some unknown black crystal, its surface engraved with countless mysterious golden runes!

"This is the Discipline Hall's unique enforcement puppet—the Golden Armored Warrior!"

As Elder Zhang spoke, he slowly infused his vast Spiritual Energy into the black crystal sphere.

"It was personally refined by an ancient master of mechanisms! Its body is indestructible, comparable to a Profound Grade Middle Rank artifact! Its strength is enough to rival a true peak Body Refinement Ninth Level cultivator!"

"Most importantly, its body bears the combat imprints of generations of Discipline Hall elders! Its combat experience is so abundant that it is far beyond the match of greenhorn brats like you!"

"According to the Vice Principal's wishes, if all thirty members of your 'Defying Mortals' class can remain undefeated for the time it takes an incense stick to burn against this Golden Armored Warrior!"

"Then you will be considered to have passed this final assessment!"

"Buzz—!"

The instant the final word "assessment" left his lips.

The black crystal sphere he had been holding in his palm suddenly erupted with golden divine light of utmost brilliance!

Then, beneath everyone's solemn and curious gazes.

The sphere rapidly extended and transformed like a transforming machine, ultimately becoming a terrifying giant over three zhang tall, forged entirely from unknown dark-gold metal and radiating a cold, powerful aura!

This golden-armored giant wielded a massive battle axe, likewise forged from dark-gold metal!

Cold killing intent devoid of all emotion flashed within its electronic eyes, formed from two enormous red crystals!

A terrifying pressure no weaker than Wu Tianxiong's that day erupted from its body!

It instantly enveloped the entire white jade plaza!

Yet faced with this terrifying existence, enough to drive any elite Heaven Class team into despair!

There was not the slightest fear on Lin Xiao's face.

Even the twenty-nine members of the "Defying Mortals" class behind him showed no fear in their eyes.

Instead, they revealed a nearly cruel bloodthirst and excitement!

"The time it takes an incense stick to burn?"

Lin Xiao slowly shook his head, a wildly arrogant and confident smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"There is no need."

"To deal with a lump of iron that can only act according to its programming..."

"Ten breaths will suffice!"

"What?!"

Hearing Lin Xiao's boast, so arrogant it nearly knew no bounds!

Even Chu Tianxing and Elder Zhang, whose tough nerves had already been numbed by shock, could not help twitching sharply!

Ten breaths?!

To deal with a top-tier enforcement puppet whose strength rivaled the peak of the Body Refinement Ninth Level and whose combat experience was rich enough to match a real elder?!

This...

Had this boy cultivated himself stupid in seclusion?!

Yet Lin Xiao could not be bothered to pay attention to their dumbfounded gazes filled with absurdity and incomprehension.

He simply turned around calmly and slowly issued his first combat order since leaving seclusion to his companions, whose blood was already boiling and battle intent piercing the heavens!

"All members, heed my command!"

"The ultimate secret of 'Wolf Pack Hunt'..."

"—Gods and Demons Feast!"

"Yes!"

Twenty-nine thunderous roars filled with boundless fanaticism and trust shook the air!

The next moment, a scene that would leave Chu Tianxing and Elder Zhang horrified to the core and unable to forget for the rest of their lives appeared!

Under Lin Xiao's command, the thirty members of the "Defying Mortals" class turned into thirty black afterimages too swift for the naked eye to catch!

Following a profound trajectory that neither of them could comprehend!

They rapidly darted and moved around the Golden Armored Warrior, ultimately forming an ancient killing formation overflowing with endless slaughter and destruction!

"Roar—!"

The Golden Armored Warrior seemed to sense the fatal threat coming from this strange killing formation!

Data streams flickered wildly in its red electronic eyes!

Without hesitation, it swung its massive battle axe, capable of splitting mountains and severing peaks, brutally toward Shi Lei, who was closest to it!

Yet just as the terrifying battle axe, capable of instantly cleaving a small mountain in two, was about to strike Shi Lei.

Su Yue's ghostlike blue figure had somehow already appeared behind it!

The thin-as-cicada-wing Flowing Wind spiritual sword in her hand drew an exceedingly tricky and utterly inconceivable arc through the air!

"Clang!"

An exceptionally crisp and pleasing sound rang out!

Using a marvelous technique of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds, Su Yue's sword tip struck with absolute precision upon the weakest energy node on the body of that massive battle axe!

She forcibly diverted that powerful, fatal blow by a full three inches!

And at the same time!

Monkey and the "Ghost Shadow" squad under his command had long since silently slipped beneath the Golden Armored Warrior like a pack of true netherworld ghosts!

More than a dozen sharp daggers coated in deadly poison stabbed viciously into the core joints of energy circulation in its feet like the fangs of venomous snakes!

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

A rapid succession of teeth-grating metal fractures rang out!

The leg joints of the Golden Armored Warrior, enough to support its high-speed movements, were completely destroyed in an instant!

Its mountain-like colossal body suddenly staggered, losing all balance!

"Now!"

Lin Xiao's icy voice rang clearly in everyone's ears like the final judgment of death!

"Roar—!"

Shi Lei, who had long been building momentum, and the Sharp Shield squad under his command slammed fiercely into the chest of the already unbalanced Golden Armored Warrior like five ancient wild bulls driven utterly mad!

"Boom—!"

A terrifying, earth-shattering boom!

That top-tier enforcement puppet, which had been so arrogant and imposing only moments ago, crashed to the ground without the slightest ability to resist, like a battered tin can struck head-on by a siege beast charging at full speed!

And awaiting it were the twenty death-dealing butcher blades of the Fangs squad, long poised and brimming with endless killing intent!

Nine breaths.

By the time the last glimmer in the red electronic eyes of the Golden Armored Warrior—already hacked into eight pieces and reduced to a heap of scrap metal—slowly faded out,

exactly nine breaths had passed.

Tingzhu Pavilion was deathly silent.

Only the ragged breathing of Chu Tianxing and Elder Zhang remained, as though they had seen a ghost.