Apologize to Zhang Yang!

In the martial school's medical building, inside a private room on the top floor.

Lu Jue reclined against the hospital bed. Though his face was still somewhat pale, his spirits had clearly recovered considerably.

The originally spacious room now seemed rather crowded, packed solid with classmates who had come to visit him.

Liu Ga sat boldly on a chair beside the bed, peeling an apple with a small knife as he sprayed spit everywhere while reenacting several of Lu Jue's shining moments during his duel with Li Zhanting.

"At the time, when Li Zhanting knocked Brother Jue down, I nearly rushed up there myself!"

"That final moment—Brother Jue's punch came from below, fast as lightning! With a bang, Li Zhanting's jaw looked like it had shattered!" His vivid description drew waves of astonished agreement from classmates who had not been there.

"Lu Jue is really someone who hides his true strength!"

"We'll have to ask Lu for more guidance in the future!"

"I've long found Li Zhanting unpleasant to look at. Lu Jue really got rid of a scourge for the people!"

Praise rang without end. Even the girl who had mocked Lu Jue in the recreation room last time was among them. Wearing a slightly awkward smile, she placed an exquisitely wrapped large fruit basket on the bedside table.

Everyone present understood perfectly well that after this battle, Lu Jue was no longer that obscure commoner student he had once been.

Being able to defeat Li Zhanting head-on meant he could at least rank among the top twenty of the year.

A dragon among men like him, so long as he did not fall midway, was bound to have limitless prospects ahead.

If they did not use their shared school days to forge ties with him now, they might not even be qualified to approach and speak to him later.

Just as the atmosphere in the room grew lively, the door was pushed open rather roughly.

A young man in gold-trimmed Training Clothes strolled in. He was tall and straight, with an arrogant expression.

When his gaze swept across the ordinarily dressed students in the room, he made no effort to hide his contempt. Only when his eyes fell upon Lu Jue in the hospital bed did that arrogance recede slightly, though his look still carried the scrutiny of someone looking down from on high.

"Make way. What do you all look like, cramming in here?" His voice was not loud, but its commanding tone instantly silenced the noisy room.

Everyone instinctively made a path for him. The man walked straight to the bedside, his eyes fixed on Lu Jue.

"You're Lu Jue?"

He raised his chin slightly. "Listen. Young Master Zhao values talent and intends to give you an opportunity. As long as you nod and agree, you'll be one of the Zhao Family from now on. Whatever resources you need for cultivation in the future, naturally, you won't lack!"

He paused deliberately, leaving a moment of silence as he enjoyed the classmates' gazes, mixed with envy and shock, before continuing.

"Of course, don't get happy too soon. There's no free lunch in this world. In exchange, for the next ten years, you must obey the Zhao Family's orders unconditionally. Furthermore, before signing the sponsorship agreement, you must apologize to Zhang Yang for your previous rude behavior!"

Upon hearing the words "apologize to Zhang Yang," most of the classmates who had no idea what was going on looked at one another, and whispers instantly merged into a buzz.

Lu Jue leaned against the headboard, his face expressionless as he quietly watched this arrogant visitor before him. He was neither moved by the promise of unlimited resources nor angered by the other man's haughty attitude. His black eyes were unfathomably deep, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

The Young Master Zhao the man spoke of, Zhao He, was the leader of all the playboys at East City Martial School.

If Zhang Yang, Li Zhanting, and Tang Ning could only be called children of wealthy families, then Zhao He was a child of the Great Families, a rank higher than the wealthy.

Throughout Tianhai City, there were countless wealthy merchants and influential families, yet only five could be called Great Families.

Zhao He was one of the direct descendants of the Zhao Family among the five Great Families. Even in the city martial school, where Power Elites gathered, he was absolutely a top figure.

The person Zhang Yang had previously mentioned—the one organizing people in their circle to maliciously suppress commoner students and attempting to control the first-round preliminary screening of the Martial Arts Examination—was precisely Zhao He.

After several seconds of silence, Liu Ga abruptly stood up, tossing both the apple and knife aside. His face flushed red with fury. "Apologize? For what? It was clearly that son of a bitch Zhang Yang who started—"

"Liu Ga." Lu Jue spoke calmly, cutting him off.

His voice was not loud, yet it instantly suppressed Liu Ga's anger and drew every eye in the room toward him.

Lu Jue's gaze passed over the gold-trimmed man's expensive Training Clothes before finally returning to his face. The corner of Lu Jue's mouth seemed to lift in an exceedingly faint curve.

"I appreciate Young Master Zhao's 'kindness'!"

"But I, Lu Jue, have grown used to being free and undisciplined. I can't stand restraints. Ten years of unconditional obedience—that price is more than I can pay!"

The arrogance on the gold-trimmed man's face stiffened slightly. He seemed not to have expected Lu Jue to refuse so decisively.

His tone grew harsher, carrying a hint of threat. "Lu Jue, think this through. We're all adults, so don't act on a fit of temper!"

"By offending Zhang Yang, you've offended the people in our circle. Young Master Zhao saw that you had decent talent and has temporarily kept things under control for you."

"If you fail to appreciate kindness, there won't be many families in Tianhai City that dare take you in! Without resources, do you really think you can establish yourself in this world through your own efforts alone?"

Those words were like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of every listener.

Indeed, if Lu Jue offended the playboy circle led by Zhao He, then aside from the other Great Families, no one would dare recruit him!

Poverty in education, wealth in martial arts. The further martial artists advanced, the more resources they consumed. Relying on personal bitter cultivation alone, they would ultimately find it impossible to take even a single step forward.

Yet Lu Jue seemed not to have heard the threat in his words. He merely adjusted his reclining position slowly before replying,

"My path is mine to walk. There's no need for Young Master Zhao to trouble himself over it. As for apologizing..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the gold-trimmed man.

"Sorry for the trouble, but please tell Zhang Yang that if he wants to win back his face, I'll be waiting for him at the Quota Competition anytime."

The entire room was shocked by those words!

Lu Jue had actually refused the olive branch extended by the Zhao Family!

This was an opportunity countless commoners dreamed of!

"Good! Very good! Lu Jue, you've got some nerve!"

The muscles on the gold-trimmed man's face twitched violently. He almost squeezed those words out through clenched teeth. His voice was low, yet it carried bone-piercing coldness.

"I hope you remember the choice you made today. And I hope that at the Quota Competition, your bones will still be as hard as your mouth! We'll see!"

With that, he abruptly straightened up and snorted coldly. His blade-sharp gaze swept across the people in the room, all silent as cicadas in winter. Wherever his eyes passed, no one dared meet them; they all lowered their heads or looked away.

Then he flicked his sleeve, turned around, and with a body full of vicious fury, roughly shoved his way through the crowd and strode out.

The heavy hospital door slammed shut behind him with a bang. The thunderous sound echoed through the silent room, making everyone's heart tremble.

The room fell into deathly silence.

The atmosphere that had been filled with flattery and warmth moments ago instantly dropped below freezing.

The classmates who had previously crowded around the bed now wore varying expressions.

A small number looked at Lu Jue with admiration, but far more were frightened and clearly distant.

They exchanged looks, their feet unconsciously shifting backward.

It was not as though no one at the martial school had ever refused the Zhao Family's olive branch, and there was still room to mend things after offending people like Zhang Yang.

But someone like Lu Jue, who had already angered them and still brazenly rejected them so mercilessly in full view of everyone, was an entirely different matter.

This was no simple refusal. It was practically an open provocation against that circle. Anyone could understand without using their brains that Lu Jue would surely face their retaliation next. No one wanted to be swept up in the coming storm.

"Um, Lu, I just remembered that the instructor wanted to see me. I'll be going first!"

"Lu Jue, take care of yourself. I'll come visit again tomorrow!"

The false warmth in the room ebbed away as swiftly as the tide.

Excuses came one after another, rushed and stiff.

In the blink of an eye, the crowded room had become deserted. Only fruit baskets and gifts of every kind remained, along with the figures disappearing through the door without looking back.

The door was gently closed, blocking out the faint sounds of discussion from outside.

Warm sunlight streamed through the window onto Lu Jue's pale yet calm face, only making the room seem especially empty and quiet.

Liu Ga kicked away the apple that had rolled to his feet and spat. "Pah! A bunch of snobs! They were the ones flattering him the hardest before, and now they're running faster than rabbits!"

He irritably scratched his hair, plopped back into the chair, picked up the half-peeled apple, and continued peeling it with his head lowered. He kept muttering, "What a bunch of trash..."

Lu Jue said nothing. He merely gazed quietly out the window.

Those hasty retreating figures had not stirred much emotion in his heart.

From the moment he arrived in the hospital room, he had been waiting for someone.