At the sight before them,
many of the older disciples suddenly remembered.
The last time Qin Lie's sister had stepped into Zhou Academy, she had come to witness the supreme glory of Qin Lie being accepted by Zhou Liang as his Closed-Door Disciple.
That scene felt as though it had happened only yesterday.
When Qin Lie heard they were taking him away, he flew into a rage. "I'm not leaving! I'm a Martial Champion! This place is my..."
His face twisted ferociously as he brandished a dead branch. "Who dares touch me? Beat him to death!"
In the end, with several disciples helping, Qin Lie's sister exhausted all her strength, practically half-carrying and half-dragging Qin Lie out of Zhou Academy.
As she left, Chen Qing caught sight of Zhou Liang forcibly stuffing a purse into Qin Yue's hand.
"Alright, everyone disperse and continue training!"
Zhou Yu clapped her hands, breaking the stagnant air in the courtyard.
Only then did the disciples awaken as if from a dream and scatter in different directions.
Chen Qing's gaze remained in the courtyard, but his thoughts drifted back to the corner of the backyard when he had first entered Zhou Academy, beside the foul-smelling latrine.
Back then, Qin Lie had been small and thin, quiet, and so bashful he had nearly seemed cowardly.
Like Chen Qing, he had been an apprentice sent off to do the filthiest, most exhausting work the moment he entered.
Then wind and cloud changed in an instant.
The moment he rose to power, Qin Lie shed that bashfulness with astonishing speed, becoming spoiled, arrogant, and contemptuous of everyone beneath the heavens.
Later, on the Martial Arts Examination arena, Gao Sheng had crippled him.
Chen Qing had watched with his own eyes as he soared straight to the heavens, then