Then You're a Very Bad Dog?

After Jiang Donghua stepped through the gates of the Alchemy Department, the two guards finally sagged in relief. Their backs were already drenched in cold sweat.

The square-faced guard swallowed, his voice trembling.

"We're done for, we're done for. That's Elder Mo Xuan's disciple! If he holds a grudge, the two of us might get kicked out of the academy."

The tall, skinny guard's face turned deathly pale, but he forced himself to put on a brave front.

"W-what's there to be afraid of? Didn't he let it go just now? Besides, who told him to dress like a beggar..."

"Shut up!"

The square-faced guard cursed in a low voice.

"Do you know what Elder Mo Xuan's temper is like? Half a year ago, a Da Dou Shi-level steward docked his disciple's pill allowance. The very next day, his cultivation was crippled and he was thrown out of the academy!"

Hearing this, the tall, skinny guard's legs gave out beneath him, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground.

Inside the Alchemy Department, Jiang Donghua knew nothing of the terror of the two guards behind him—or rather, he simply could not be bothered to care.

He strolled leisurely through the corridor. Quite a few Alchemy Department students turned to look at him along the way. Some frowned in disgust, while others examined him with confusion, but whispers soon began to spread.

"Wait, isn't that Jiang Donghua?!"

"Jiang Donghua? The guy Elder Mo Xuan personally took as his disciple?!"

"Didn't he go into seclusion for half a year? How did he end up like this?"

Jiang Donghua turned a deaf ear to their chatter and headed straight toward the depths of the Alchemy Department.

However, just as he rounded a corner, a sharp, cutting voice suddenly rang out.

"Well, if it isn't our genius Jiang Donghua. You secluded yourself for half a year, yet somehow you've only gotten worse?"

Jiang Donghua paused and looked up.

Ahead of him stood a young man in a luxurious purple-and-gold alchemist's robe, his arms crossed and a mocking sneer hanging from his lips.

Behind him followed several equally well-dressed Alchemy Department students, every one of them wearing a derisive expression.

Liu Qingya, a First-grade Alchemist in the Alchemy Department, was one of Jia Nan Academy's most outstanding youths. He had also once been Elder Mo Xuan's nominal disciple.

Half a year ago, Elder Mo Xuan had made an exception and announced that he would take in a personal disciple.

By convention, Mo Xuan only accepted one disciple every few years.

Liu Qingya had originally been the person everyone believed most likely to be chosen.

His talent was exceptional. He had long been capable of refining first-grade healing pills and had even touched the threshold of becoming a Second-grade Alchemist.

Yet just when he had been full of confidence, Mo Xuan had suddenly brought back an unknown Jiang Donghua and even directly promised him the treatment of a first-grade alchemist!

"A wild brat who doesn't even understand the basics of alchemy—why him?!"

Liu Qingya had been consumed by jealousy. For half a year, he had targeted Jiang Donghua at every turn and even secretly tripped him up, but unfortunately, that fellow was nowhere to be found.

He had not even seen him once in the entire half year.

"Who are you?"

Jiang Donghua asked lazily.

"Can any stray cat or dog now enter the Alchemy Department and start barking?"

Liu Qingya froze at first, then his face went from white to green, from green to black. His entire face twisted as though someone had stomped on it hard.

In all his life, no one had ever dared call him some stray cat or dog.

"You... how dare you!"

His voice trembled as his fingers clenched tightly, his nails nearly digging into his palms.

Jiang Donghua lazily dug at his ear, then flicked his fingertip. A speck of earwax smacked onto Liu Qingya's handsome face.

"Good dogs don't block the road."

He yawned and swept him a disdainful glance.

"You've been standing here in my way. That makes you a very bad dog, doesn't it?"

"Hiss—"

A chorus of sharp breaths rang out all around them.

"Th-this guy has gone insane?!"

A female student covered her mouth, her eyes wide and round.

"That's Liu Qingya! The Eldest Young Master of the Liu Family! An Eight-Star Battle Master! His father is a famous Dou Ling expert from South China City!"

A tall, skinny student beside her cried out in a low voice, disbelief filling his tone.

"It's over, it's over. Jiang Donghua is probably leaving sideways today..."

Someone shook his head and sighed, already foreseeing the miserable scene to come.

Veins bulged on Liu Qingya's forehead. His entire face flushed crimson, and the fury in his eyes nearly burst forth.

"Jiang! Dong! Hua!"

He spoke each word through gritted teeth.

"You're courting death!"

Before his words had even faded, Dou Qi erupted from his body. Pale green currents of energy wound around his arms, and his robes billowed without wind.

"That's the Liu Family's Mysterious-grade Mid-tier cultivation art—the Azure Mist Art!"

Someone shouted in shock.

"Get back! Senior Brother Liu is getting serious!"

Several students hurriedly retreated, afraid of being caught in the attack.

Liu Qingya let out a savage grin. He clenched his right fist as Dou Qi gathered wildly within it, and faint wind blades even swirled around his knuckles!

"Mysterious-grade Low-tier Dou Technique—Wind Breaking Fist!"

He threw a punch. The force of it tore through the air with a shrill explosive crack, shooting straight at Jiang Donghua's face!

That punch was enough to send an ordinary Dou Zhe flying while coughing blood!

Yet Jiang Donghua did not even raise an eyelid.

Just as the fist wind was about to touch the tip of his nose, he suddenly lifted a hand and lightly snapped his fingers.

Snap!

The crisp sound was especially piercing in the silent corridor.

The next second, Liu Qingya's fist abruptly stopped in midair!

"W-what's going on?!"

Liu Qingya's pupils shrank sharply, and the arrogant expression on his face instantly froze.

To his horror, he discovered that his Dou Qi... had been completely suppressed by an invisible force!

"Move! Move for me!"

He roared frantically in his heart, but his body seemed pinned beneath an invisible mountain. He could not move even a single finger!

Cold sweat instantly soaked through his back.

Jiang Donghua strolled up to him and patted his cheek. The force was neither heavy nor light, yet the slaps seemed to ring loudly across everyone's faces.

"That's it?"

Jiang Donghua tilted his head, a mocking curve lifting at the corner of his mouth.

"An Eight-Star Battle Master? A Mysterious-grade cultivation art?"

He shook his head and sighed.

"Trash."

As his words fell, he lightly flicked his fingertip.

Bang!

Liu Qingya flew backward like a kite with its string cut and smashed viciously into the wall ten meters away. He spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Hiss—"

Another chorus of sharp breaths swept through the crowd.

Everyone's eyes went wide, their jaws nearly dropping to the floor.

"O-one move?!"

One student stammered, his voice trembling.

"Senior Brother Liu... was instantly defeated?!"

Another rubbed his eyes, suspecting he was hallucinating.

"How is that possible?! Senior Brother Liu is an Eight-Star Battle Master!"

Someone cried out in disbelief, his face full of shock.

Jiang Donghua picked at his ear, lazily glanced at Liu Qingya on the ground, and said flatly,

"Next time you want to block the road, first weigh whether you're up to it."

With that, he shoved his hands into his pockets and leisurely headed deeper into the Alchemy Department, his carefree back making people grind their teeth.

All he left behind were jaws dropped across the floor and Liu Qingya lying on the ground with terror written all over his face.

"D-Dou Shi?!"

Someone in the crowd trembled as he shouted those two words, instantly setting the entire place ablaze!

"Half a year ago, he was only a Two-star Dou Master! How is that possible?!"

A student's face turned pale, and even his voice cracked.

"This cultivation speed is even more terrifying than those monsters in the Inner Academy!"

Another muttered to himself, his eyes filled with horror.

Liu Qingya lay on the ground, his chest heaving violently and blood continuously spilling from the corners of his mouth. But compared to the pain in his body, the humiliation and shock in his heart nearly suffocated him!

Half a year ago, a Two-star Dou Master.

Half a year later, he had instantly defeated an Eight-Star Battle Master with one move!

What kind of concept was that?!

Among the geniuses of Jia Nan Academy's Outer Court, who did not need one or two years to break through from the lower ranks of Dou Zhe to Dou Shi?

Even those top students hailed as prodigies could never cross such an enormous gap in merely half a year!

Yet Jiang Donghua had done it!

"Pfft—!"

The more Liu Qingya thought about it, the angrier he became. He spat out another mouthful of blood, and his entire face turned as pale as paper.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Donghua's retreating figure, his eyes full of venom. Yet deep in his heart, an unprecedented sense of fear and powerlessness welled up.

Compared to him, what was he even worth?

A stray cat or dog?

He was probably not even as good as a stray cat or dog!

"Senior Brother Liu! Are you all right?!"

Several lackeys rushed over in a panic, trying to help him up.

"Get lost!"

Liu Qingya shoved them away and struggled to his feet, but his legs would not stop trembling.

The gazes of the surrounding students pierced him like needles. There was shock, pity, and even... gloating!

"Heh, Liu Qingya usually throws his weight around because of his family. Today, he finally ran into someone he couldn't afford to provoke!"

Someone sneered softly.

"He deserves it! He bullies us all day long, and now he's finally met someone tougher, huh?"

Another quietly echoed.

Though those voices were low, every word reached Liu Qingya's ears, driving him nearly mad with shame and fury!

"Jiang Donghua... Jiang Donghua!"

He gritted his teeth, his nails digging deep into his palms as blood dripped through his fingers.

"I, Liu Qingya, will repay today's humiliation a hundredfold!"