The News Was Out

"Huh?"

Mu Qing looked at Song Qing, who was not far away. Song Qing had completely passed out. The blood he had spat up stained his chest red, and the area around his abdomen was charred black, wisps of smoke rising from it. His training uniform looked as if some force had torn it to shreds.

"What happened? I remember only landing one punch on him. Was the first level of Thunderstorm Fist really this powerful?"

Confusion crossed Mu Qing's face. The Thunderstorm Fist he had just unleashed was his first time using it, so there was no way it could have been that powerful. Song Qing was one of the top students with Blood Qi Fifth Rank, after all. At most, the punch should have left him paralyzed for a while. It certainly shouldn't have injured him this badly.

"How vicious! Mu Qing was pretending to be weak to catch Song Qing off guard, tricking him into thinking he was Blood Qi Fourth Rank. Then, once Song Qing let down his guard, he used a martial skill and gravely injured him in the blink of an eye!"

The students around them looked horrified. At West Lake High School, students with grudges were allowed to spar directly, as long as they didn't go too far.

But never before had a student nearly beaten an opponent to death in an instant.

What made it worse was that, in everyone's eyes, Mu Qing's methods hadn't exactly been aboveboard.

"What Mu Qing just used was the Advanced Martial Skill Thunderstorm Fist! He chained one move after another, and that last punch unleashed three bursts of lightning. He's clearly trained Thunderstorm Fist to the third level. Judging by how smoothly he used it, he must have mastered the third level a long time ago!"

Several top students had been watching from the shadows.

One of them was browsing the internet on a communications device, looking up information about Mu Qing's Thunderstorm Fist.

They had started watching in secret when Song Qing went to pick a fight with Mu Qing, wanting to see whether the rumors were true—that Mu Qing still couldn't make a breakthrough.

But the outcome had left them stunned. Song Qing, also at Blood Qi Fifth Rank, had been beaten half to death. Mu Qing's strength was already far beyond that of most top students!

"Thunderstorm Fist cost Mu Qing a full ninety thousand Huaxia Currency. That's a huge fortune. No matter how easy it is to train, there's no way he could have reached the third level in such a short time."

One top student's expression was grave as he murmured, "Everyone thought Ling Fei, Wang Haixuan, and the others would be the first among the top students to awaken their Blood Spirits. But now, it looks like Mu Qing may have been the first to break through!"

"His Blood Spirit is one West Lake High School has never seen before, and he's also trained an Advanced Martial Skill. He'll be a formidable opponent in the mock exam!" One of the top students drew a deep breath, feeling the pressure.

After all, they were still students. They were nowhere near capable of earning money by killing Fierce Beasts. They didn't have much money, and even the top students couldn't afford to buy Advanced Martial Skills. Being able to buy an Intermediate Martial Skill was already quite good.

Among all the top students, only the young masters and ladies of Hangzhou City's four great families had the money to buy Advanced Martial Skills.

"Could it be that I did this to Song Qing when I entered that strange state?"

Watching the strange, frightened looks on the surrounding students' faces, Mu Qing thought it over and more or less figured out what had happened.

From Song Qing's charred, smoking abdomen, Mu Qing could sense the unmistakable aura of lightning from his Purple Lightning Bamboo. It was very possible he had done this by unconsciously using Thunderstorm Fist just now.

"Something's off. I'd better get out of here first." Mu Qing rubbed his nose, the corner of his mouth lifting into a bitter smile. This is trouble.

More and more East Campus students were gathering to watch. Mu Qing hurriedly recalled his Blood Spirit. The Purple Lightning Bamboo flickered with purple mist, returned to his mind, and then he strode toward the dormitory.

West Lake High School allowed students to fight privately, but if someone like Mu Qing beat another person half to death over a petty grudge, the teachers would certainly come investigate and punish him.

And Song Qing was backed by Wang Haixuan. There was a chance the Wang Family would get involved, too.

At the thought, Mu Qing's expression darkened. The joy he had felt after entering that strange state and comprehending the first three levels of Thunderstorm Fist vanished without a trace.

The Wang Family was not only one of Hangzhou City's four great families; according to rumors, they also had connections to the Wang Family in Beijing City. Quite a few Federation Martial Artists were stationed there.

"Hey, it's me. Get over to the East Campus Cultivation Room right away. There's huge news! They say Mu Qing, who supposedly couldn't awaken his Blood Spirit and used to rely on banned drugs to cultivate, was actually Blood Qi Fifth Rank all along. He killed without batting an eye and beat top student Song Qing to death!"

Mu Qing had only taken a few steps when he heard someone shouting nearby, nearly making him stumble.

He turned and saw a student from the school's News Department calling his colleagues on a communications device. Mu Qing's mouth twitched.

"Figures. The News Department..." he thought, speechless. He had heard a thing or two about its students. No matter what happened, they exaggerated it every which way. Once, when the principal of West Lake High School picked up his daughter, they'd spread the story that he was meeting his lover.

I really can't stay here.

"Wait! Mu Qing, you can't leave!" The student from the News Department suddenly noticed Mu Qing trying to go. He leaped forward, grabbed Mu Qing's legs, and wailed, "Our News Department people will be here in a minute, and they'll interview you. We'll make you famous across the whole campus. Don't leave yet!"

The student was so stout his belly nearly burst through his West Lake High School uniform, but he moved with surprising agility. Clinging tightly to Mu Qing's leg, he bawled and snotted, refusing to let him go.

Jiang Yuanjie was actually thrilled. He was the News Department's director, always hunting for breaking stories, spicing them up, and publishing them. It was his passion.

As luck would have it, he had been passing by and witnessed Mu Qing knock Song Qing flying. With the College Entrance Exam approaching, a clash between two top students, both at Blood Qi Fifth Rank, was guaranteed to draw attention. Jiang Yuanjie was determined to get this breaking story and an exclusive interview with Mu Qing!

"Hm?"

Mu Qing had just tried to wrench the fat guy's hands free when he let out a surprised sound and his pupils shrank. A powerful aura poured out of the fat guy clinging to him. A camera suddenly appeared, and wisps of Origin Force gathered in his two chubby hands, binding Mu Qing like steel.

"So the News Department's top student is this guy!" A strange look flashed through Mu Qing's eyes. He remembered hearing that the News Department had a peculiar director who was a top student. After breaking through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank, the man had awakened a camera as his Blood Spirit. It was bizarre!

Mu Qing hadn't expected Jiang Yuanjie to have so little shame. A top student, a powerhouse at Blood Qi Fifth Rank, was lying on the ground clinging to his leg.

Suddenly, Jiang Yuanjie narrowed his eyes. A streak of light flashed across the camera behind him, and a strange force reached toward Mu Qing. The camera floated in midair, switched itself on without anyone operating it, and began recording.

"Mu Qing! Don't leave yet. The rest of our News Department will be here with the equipment any moment. How about we do a quick interview in the meantime?" Jiang Yuanjie kept clinging tightly to Mu Qing's leg and grinned. His Blood Spirit could actually take pictures just like a camera.

In fact, the Blood Spirit Camera could do far more than anyone imagined.

The moment the Blood Spirit Camera appeared, Mu Qing inexplicably felt a force probing him, as if it meant to see through everything about him. It seemed to be trying to invade his body.

"Hmph!"

Mu Qing gave a cold snort. His Blood Spirit was different from other people's: it existed inside his mind. If anyone found that out, it would cause a huge uproar.

His body trembled slightly. Mu Qing circulated the little Origin Force he had left, and tiny sparks of electricity streamed from the pores all over his body. The Purple Lightning Bamboo appeared amid billowing mist.

Having unconsciously used Thunderstorm Fist several times earlier had left him with only a tiny bit of Origin Force. Now Mu Qing gathered the last of it into the Purple Lightning Bamboo.

Crack!

With Origin Force pouring into it, the Purple Lightning Bamboo's mist churned, and a bolt of Blazing White Lightning burst out.

Jiang Pangzi's massive body flew backward. The Blood Spirit Camera's probe into Mu Qing abruptly stopped halfway through. His bulky, obese body crashed down hard nearby, a patch of his chest blackened.

"Ow! He's killing me! I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die..." Jiang Yuanjie secretly recalled his Blood Spirit, then rolled back and forth on the ground, shrieking without pause, his face horribly contorted.

"Look! Isn't that Jiang Pangzi from the News Department? He's a top student at Blood Qi Fifth Rank, too. I only saw him trying to grab Mu Qing's leg for an interview. I can't believe Mu Qing was so brutal he beat him up like this!"

Some students farther away hadn't seen the whole thing. They thought that after beating Song Qing half to death, Mu Qing had gone after Jiang Yuanjie, too.

"Song Qing and Jiang Pangzi are both at Blood Qi Fifth Rank. Is Mu Qing really that powerful?" some students whispered among themselves.

Hearing those hushed voices, Mu Qing's face darkened. He hurried toward the dormitory.

He had only used the last tiny bit of his Origin Force. The lightning could at most have shocked Jiang Pangzi's hands open.

For that enormous body to go flying and Jiang Pangzi to scream like that, he was probably putting on an act.

"I've heard the News Department will stop at nothing for attention..." As Mu Qing strode along, a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

When Mu Qing returned to the dormitory, he was surprised to find Ling Fei wasn't there. He didn't think much of it, though; Ling Fei often spent the night in the Cultivation Room.

After washing up in the bathroom, Mu Qing fell straight into bed. A lot had happened that day, and it was already one-thirty in the morning.

The next morning, Mu Qing sat on his bed, opened his communications device, and logged into the school website. The first thing he saw was a school news article.

<The Demon Mu Kills in the Dead of Night—The Entire Campus Is Stunned!>

<Footage of the Demon Mu Beating Up the News Department Director—Men Weep, Women Fall Silent!>

<The Demon Mu Kills Without a Second Thought, Wields a Mysterious Lightning Blood Spirit, and Kills a Blood Qi Fifth Rank Student in Three Punches!>