"Wu Ming, if you're a man, do you dare fight me?"
Xiao Wu looked toward the flower-clad youth in the crowd, whose face had darkened, and taunted him.
"..."
He was only here to carry out Brother Xiao Ling's instructions. Why would he care about anything else? He'd say whatever would get under the other guy's skin. After all, Brother Xiao Ling had his back.
What the hell did he have to be afraid of?
As for whether he might die in this fight, he hadn't even considered it. Even if he died, he'd make sure to take his opponent down with him. He wanted Brother Xiao Ling to know that he, Xiao Wu, wasn't a coward and wouldn't bring shame on the Xiao Clan.
"Holy crap, has this Xiao Clan kid gone crazy?"
"How dare he challenge a Jia Nan Academy disciple right in front of the academy? Isn't that a slap in the academy's face?"
"I think this Xiao Clan kid really has gone crazy. People have caused trouble during Jia Nan Academy's recruitment before, but it never ends well for them. Does he think his Xiao Clan can take on Jia Nan Academy?"
"Yeah. I wonder what the Xiao Clan's leader was thinking. Why didn't he stop him?"
"..."
"Heh, I'm curious whether that Jia Nan Academy disciple named Wu Ming will accept the challenge."
"Exactly. I think Wu Ming will accept. Someone's already brought the fight to his doorstep. If he doesn't accept, I bet Jia Nan Academy will be the first to make him pay..."
"Not necessarily. If he wins, that's only what you'd expect. But what if he loses? Wouldn't Jia Nan Academy be practically offering this Xiao Clan kid its face to slap? And slap it hard, too."
The crowd in the square erupted at Xiao Wu's words. Some said he was being stupid, others were just here for the spectacle, and still others offered rational analyses. All kinds of discussion swept across Jia Nan Academy's recruitment grounds.
Meanwhile, Xiao Ling sat outside a breakfast shop, watching the commotion in the distance as he leisurely ate a bun. The uproar caused by the challenge had been entirely within his expectations.
He wanted to use the crowd's voices to put a complete end to Jia Nan Academy's habit of protecting its own.
"Brother Xiao Ling, um... will Xiao Wu be all right?"
Xiao Yu set down her soy milk and asked worriedly.
It wasn't that she had feelings for Xiao Wu. Her heart and body belonged only to her Brother Xiao Ling. But they were both members of the Xiao Clan, and Xiao Ling had taught them since childhood, so they shared a special bond.
They were like siblings.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine."
Xiao Ling swallowed his food and replied casually.
Of course he wouldn't let anything happen to Xiao Wu... If it came down to it, he'd step in, even if it meant revealing some of his strength...
Xiao Yu: "..."
In the middle of the square, Xiao Wu saw the commotion his words had caused and grinned. He shot a taunting look at Wu Ming, whose killing intent was rising in the crowd, and laughed.
"Wu Ming, you've got no guts! I'd advise you not to go to Jia Nan Academy. A mongrel like you would only bring shame on the academy..."
"That's enough!!!"
Wu Ming, suppressing his fury, cut off the taunts in a frigid voice.
He'd never imagined that Xiao Ling would play so dirty, or be so ruthless. He'd sent a little nobody to provoke him. Wasn't he afraid Wu Ming would kill Xiao Wu?
Or was he waiting for Wu Ming to kill Xiao Wu so he'd have an excuse to attack?
Or did he have some way to break through Wu Ming's defenses?
A flurry of thoughts flashed through Wu Ming's mind. Although he couldn't be sure what Xiao Ling was really planning, one thing was certain: Xiao Ling wouldn't dare kill him.
Otherwise, he would've acted himself instead of sending a nobody at Dou Power Stage Nine to his death.
After all, Wu Ming wasn't alone. He had the Xiao Clan behind him. If he angered Jia Nan Academy, the entire Xiao Clan could be finished in an instant...
With that in mind, Wu Ming sorted out his short-term plans. Once he returned from Jia Nan Academy, he would wipe out the entire Xiao Clan.
Especially Xiao Ling. He'd dared look down on him. After killing him, Wu Ming would deal with the two women by his side...
But for now, he would kill this nobody who'd dared challenge him right in front of Xiao Ling, and show him the difference between Dou Power Stage Nine and Three-Star Dou Zhe.
Wu Ming stepped forward, about to speak, when a voice interrupted him.
"Enough. You two, stop causing trouble here and get back to what you're supposed to be doing. Wu Ming, you go back too."
A girl in a pale yellow dress stepped out of a tent in the center of the square. She was pretty, with a slightly chubby face, and walked toward them with an angry expression.
Despite her anger, the girl's appearance didn't put anyone off. If anything, she looked a little cute.
"Senior Sister Bai Zhi."
The young men and women from Jia Nan Academy beside Wu Ming saw the girl in the pale yellow dress approaching and respectfully lowered their heads to greet her.
Bai Zhi paid no attention to her junior disciples. Instead, she turned to Xiao Wu, who stood isolated in the middle of the square. Her brows knit playfully as she spoke in a serious tone.
"You're Xiao Wu, right? I don't care what kind of grudge you and Wu Ming have. How about we leave it here for today?
You can settle things in private. That's none of my business.
But Jia Nan Academy is recruiting today, and I won't let you disrupt it.
Otherwise, you'll be making an enemy of the Xiao Clan.
Jia Nan Academy has always maintained its neutrality, but we're not so magnanimous that we'll take a challenge without fighting back. Do you understand?"
Her words immediately stirred up the square. No one had expected the leader of Jia Nan Academy's delegation to be so capable.
In just a few sentences, she'd laid out the whole situation.
If the Xiao Clan kid kept provoking them, he'd be showing disrespect to Jia Nan Academy. She could have the troops nearby put him down, or take action herself, and no one could find fault with her.
Xiao Wu paused. Hearing the discussions around him—the students, the imperial troops, and the crowd—he felt a little nervous.
But after only a second, his respect for Brother Xiao Ling pushed that feeling aside. In a deep, muffled voice, he declared,
"I, Xiao Wu, started cultivating at three. At eight, I reached Dou Power Stage Nine. I just turned nine this year, and I'm a One-Star Dou Zhe. I'm challenging Wu Ming as an individual, not on behalf of the Xiao Clan. This fight is to the death."
"Unless... Jia Nan Academy is willing to recruit a useless piece of trash like Wu Ming?!"
As he finished speaking, Xiao Wu stepped forward. The aura of a One-Star Dou Zhe surged from him, leaving the people around him—who'd been ready to watch a joke—stunned in place.
"You..."
Bai Zhi was just about to lose her temper when she heard his words.
But as soon as she sensed the Dou Zhe aura rising from him, she froze too. Then she immediately came to her senses, grabbed a junior disciple beside her, and urged him anxiously,
"Quick, go get Instructor Ruo Lin. Tell her I've found a nine-year-old junior disciple who's a Dou Zhe."
Junior disciple: "???"
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