"What? You aren't joking, are you? A stunted little runt has the nerve to exaggerate like that? Go back and drink milk for another couple of years before showing your face~" Suddenly, a harsh sneer rang out from the crowd, as if trying to tear Lang Lei's self-esteem to shreds. The voice echoed in the air, drawing ripples of laughter from those around them, and the giggles spread outward, turning the speaker into the second focal point of everyone's attention besides Lang Lei.
Lang Lei's gaze remained detached, falling upon the person who had made the noise. It was a tall, arrogant-looking young man who was staring at Lang Lei with a smug expression, seemingly very pleased with his own taunt. The corners of Lang Lei's mouth curled up slightly, revealing an imperceptible smile, yet that smile exuded a bone-chilling indifference.
Zhao Qin stood off to the side, rubbing his temples with helpless resignation. He felt equally astonished by Lang Lei's innate talent; after all, reaching level twenty-nine at the age of six was extremely rare throughout the entire empire. It left him almost unable to believe it, even worrying that the child was exaggerating. Yet on one side stood a student deeply valued by the Crown Prince, and on the other the son of an Imperial Marquis, leaving Zhao Qin genuinely caught between a rock and a hard place right now.
Clearly, Lang Lei also perceived Zhao Qin's dilemma. He sighed inwardly; it seemed he still had to rely on himself to resolve this issue. Although this teacher possessed a certain level of strength, he appeared somewhat overly conservative when handling matters of this sort.
He had no intention whatsoever of hiding his true talent. After all, he was not some ordinary person lacking any background. Anyone bold enough to harbor malicious intentions toward him would first have to get past the daunting obstacles of Snow Empress and Ice Empress. Moreover, he himself was far from lacking ways to cope; the methods at his disposal were more than enough to let him easily handle any potential danger he might face.
"What's your name?" Lang Lei asked expressionlessly, his cold eyes staring at the other person as if looking at a dead man already. His voice was calm and low, yet it radiated a bone-chilling oppressive aura.
"Fleke, what of it?" Stared at like that by Lang Lei, Fleke couldn't help feeling a bit spooked inside, but he still forced a composed response.
Yet before his words even faded, Lang Lei abruptly launched an attack.
"First Spirit Skill, Breath of Destruction!"
Following Lang Lei's soft chant, a mighty surge of Soul Power erupted forth violently like a torrential flood. The energy contained within this Soul Power was terrifyingly immense—unlike anything a Soul Grandmaster should possess—as though it could obliterate everything standing in its path.
Before the other students in the classroom could react, Lang Lei's massive hand moved with lightning speed, sweeping past one student after another to grab straight toward Fleke seated in the back row.
It all happened too fast, so fast that people had no time whatsoever to make any reaction. In the blink of an eye, Fleke was already tightly seized by Lang Lei's giant hand.
Earlier, when confronting Xue Beng and Xue Xing, the reason Lang Lei hadn't dealt a fatal blow was partly due to their special identities, and partly because he still needed to continue his studies at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Combined with the persuasion of Snow Empress and a flash of Nameless's oath across his mind, these factors working together had caused him to temporarily set aside his intent to kill.
However, that was only temporary...
Besides, what sort of thing was this Fleke before him? How dared he act so arrogant and mock him? The fire of rage instantly ignited in Lang Lei's heart, and he decided to show no more mercy to this ignorant wretch.
Fleke struggled desperately within the giant hand. His body was tightly bound, unable to break free no matter how hard he exerted his strength. This giant hand felt as though it were forged from steel, completely indestructible.
One had to know, this was a giant hand capable of capturing a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast! Snatching Fleke up was as simple as pinching an ant to Lang Lei; after all, he could easily control even thousand-year spirit beasts, so how could he possibly fumble in front of a pampered, good-for-nothing young master?
Just as Fleke felt despair setting in, Zhao Qin finally snapped out of his daze. He had been left utterly dumbstruck by the two purple spirit rings around Lang Lei, completely forgetting what he ought to be doing. Only at that moment did he realize the severity of the situation, and he hurriedly spoke up to dissuade him: "Lang Lei, the one you're holding is the son of an Imperial Marquis! Let him go at once!"
Yet Lang Lei simply ignored Zhao Qin's words. He sneered at Zhao Qin, saying, "Teacher Zhao, you chose to remain silent just now, so you'd better continue keeping quiet. Although I might not be able to beat you right now, by the time I grow up, you'll be the very first person I target!"
Just kidding, I can totally beat you right now.
Hearing Lang Lei's threat, Fleke turned pale with fright. He stammered out, "You bas...tard, let... go of me, or else I—my dad will make sure you... come to a bloody end!"
Lang Lei cared not a whit about Fleke's threat. The corners of his mouth tilted up into a dismissive smirk. "Oh, really?"
With that, Lang Lei controlled the giant hand to transform directly into several thick chains, binding Fleke tightly. Fleke's body was wrapped securely by the chains, rendering him completely unable to move.
Immediately afterward, Lang Lei's Breath of Destruction activated once more, and several huge sabers materialized out of thin air in his hand. These sabers flashed with a chilling light, exceptionally sharp as though they could easily hack any object into two halves.
Lang Lei walked step by step toward Fleke, every footfall seemingly carrying an endless pressure. Fleke stared in terror at Lang Lei, his eyes filled with despair and dread.
Having just caught his breath from the suffocation, Fleke was badly frightened, yet he still put on a bold front—he refused to believe anyone would dare resort to violence at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"My dad is an Imperial Count, and my big brother is Imperial Prince Xue Beng! If you dare touch me today, you'll definitely regret it!"
"Is that so?" Hearing those words, Lang Lei's expression darkened—he had originally planned to cut out the fellow's tongue first to teach him a lesson—and he changed his mind.
While studying at Heaven Dou Royal Academy over the next two years, he certainly couldn't kill members of the Heaven Dou imperial family at will, but as for the rest, there were no scruples whatsoever.
Originally he disliked acting with bound hands and feet anyway, only finding trouble a bit bothersome, but now the target had practically delivered himself to his doorstep.
Even though Xue Beng had also been jotted down in his little notebook for a reckoning once he graduated, for now...
He would just treat this as venting some steam in advance.
"In that case, you can repay a portion of my anger on behalf of that fellow Xue Beng."
"Stop right there!" Keenly sensing Lang Lei's murderous intent, Zhao Qin could no longer worry about anything else; if a student died in his class, his career as a teacher would effectively be over.
Moreover, this student's background was far from simple—he was by no means someone a mere teacher could afford to offend.
A Soul Emperor's aura was fully displayed, instantly surging forth to suppress Lang Lei.
Yet just as it was about to touch Lang Lei, a formidable and utterly unreasonable force erupted from within his body, followed immediately by Lang Lei's even more arrogant voice ringing out.
"My strength is gradually returning. Not much... but enough."
Before you continue