The Death of Li Chen

A new day began. Chu Yuan stood silently at the entrance to Class One.

Before long, Li Chen approached from the end of the corridor, surrounded by a few lackeys.

His expression was calm and aloof, carrying an air of standing out from the crowd like a crane among chickens.

Chu Yuan turned his head to look at him. Li Chen met his gaze and curled his lips into a sneer.

Then he walked up to him and deliberately bumped him with his shoulder.

"Move it!"

Chu Yuan sighed inwardly. Truly childish...

Compared to those who were warm and friendly on the surface but struck ruthlessly at the critical moment, this type was much easier to deal with.

But still, utterly infuriating!

He reached out his large hand, pressed it onto Li Chen's shoulder, and slowly tightened his grip.

A grating sound of bones cracking followed. Li Chen's face instantly turned deathly pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead the size of beans.

"Did you do it? My family's affairs?"

"Bastard... You dare touch me!?" Li Chen didn't answer Chu Yuan's question at all. His eyes bloodshot, he drove his knee up toward Chu Yuan's abdomen.

Chu Yuan sensed the strength in his body and was somewhat surprised.

This guy, whether due to abundant resources or genuine martial talent, had actually become a Blood-Qi Realm martial artist just like Yang Yi!

But it made no difference to him.

Chu Yuan clenched his other hand into a fist and smashed it down hard.

With a crisp sound of bone breaking, Li Chen's right leg twisted into a grotesque angle.

Just like Zhou Zhe a few days ago.

But unlike Zhou Zhe, he didn't let out a miserable howl. His pride wouldn't allow him to make such a display before these ant-like commoners.

So he just stared at Chu Yuan with a deathly, hate-filled gaze, as if branding that face into the depths of his soul.

He didn't even speak, didn't utter any threats...

"Actually, I don't get it." Chu Yuan sounded puzzled. "I never offended you?"

"Heh... Scum!"

Crack~

Chu Yuan completely crushed his shoulder blade and threw him down the stairs.

This height wouldn't kill a Blood-Qi Realm martial artist... but it would be humiliating.

After doing all this, Chu Yuan walked back to his classroom as if nothing had happened.

The surrounding students, dead silent, parted a path for him. Their gazes toward him were complicated, mixed with terror, confusion, and a sense of unfamiliarity...

Before the Energy Gathering Array was activated, Huang Bo came to the classroom and gave Chu Yuan a deep look.

But he only sighed and ultimately said nothing.

Chu Yuan had asked the principal what to do if Li Chen caused trouble again.

The principal had said at the time, "Beat him to death."

So that was exactly what he was doing now...

Downstairs, Li Chen, who had fallen to the ground, stared fixedly at the teaching building.

The sound of sweeping came shush-shush as a janitor passed by him without even a glance.

Likewise, he didn't help him up or ask what had happened.

It was as if Li Chen was no different from the other trash on the ground...

An extreme sense of humiliation surged within Li Chen.

Why!?

Just a lowly commoner!!

Marrow Cleansing? Only those with impurities in their bodies needed Marrow Cleansing!

But he, Li Chen, had consumed nothing but top-tier martial resources since birth!

Impurities had never accumulated in his body!

He had only just started cultivating the technique for the sake of "selection"!

Why did a crappy school in a small city dare to deny him the Super-Tier Support Quota!?

Why, after this commoner insulted him, did his family call to tell him to "remember why you're here"!?

"Young master."

A shadow blocked Li Chen's line of sight.

"Uncle Zhou... kill him! Kill Chu Yuan!"

"Young master, let's go back and tend to your wounds."

Li Chen roared in fury: "I said! I told you to kill him!"

Uncle Zhou silently helped Li Chen up and walked him out of the school.

In front of the window of Qi Da's office, he watched the two departing figures and rubbed his brow in frustration.

But then, as if remembering something, he suddenly smiled.

Chu Yuan, however, wasn't affected much. He cultivated, helped Yang Yi refine pills, leeched off the Energy Gathering Array, went home for dinner, and practiced his sword in the park at night.

But the next morning, as soon as he arrived at school, Qi Da called him to the office.

"Principal, something wrong?"

Qi Da nodded, looking deeply troubled.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke: "Li Chen is dead."

"..." Chu Yuan's expression sharpened, and he sat up slightly straighter.

"When did it happen?"

"Late last night... What were you doing last night?"

"I was—" Chu Yuan suddenly frowned. "Principal, you don't think I did it, do you?"

Qi Da said, "If I thought you did it, you'd be at the Public Security Bureau right now."

"..."

Two videos were sent to his terminal.

Chu Yuan opened them to check—two surveillance clips.

The first seemed to be from the entrance of some villa. A person wearing a First High School uniform walked over from a distance and even sneered coldly at the camera.

Chu Yuan knew that face all too well—it was his own!

But he was one hundred percent certain he had never been to an area like the one in the video!

The second surveillance clip was more familiar to Chu Yuan—it was from the entrance of his own neighborhood.

It showed him walking out, then returning a few hours later...

And what a coincidence—the time Chu Yuan left the neighborhood overlapped with the time he appeared in the first video!

"The first video is from Li Chen's residence." Qi Da lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said quietly, "The Public Security Bureau has already stepped in, but I've held them off for now.

I want to hear what you have to say."

"It's obviously a frame-up."

"I think so too, but not everyone agrees."

"Who?"

"The Public Security Bureau, and... the Li Family!" Qi Da smiled bitterly. "These two surveillance clips are their evidence!

Granted, no one is stupid enough to deliberately show their face on camera before committing murder—but what if you're deliberately doing the opposite?

Besides, in the few days Li Chen was in Chenyang City, you were the only one he had a grudge against. You're the only one with a clear motive."

Chu Yuan remained calm: "So, what do I need to do now?"

He was a cultivator, but he still had a long way to go before he was invincible.

Pitting his current strength against the authorities would be like smashing an egg against a rock!

Moreover, no intelligent individual would put themselves in a position where the whole world was against them...

"Where were you last night, exactly?"

"Practicing my sword in the park. There are surveillance cameras along the way that can prove my movements."

"Surveillance can be avoided with the right movement techniques, and someone at the Internal Breath Realm can even block it outright..." Qi Da shook his head. "There's another piece of news. Li Chen didn't come to Chenyang City alone. He had a protector at the Internal Breath Realm with him.

But that person has also gone missing."

Chu Yuan raised an eyebrow: "So, now they not only suspect I'm the killer, but also that I have an accomplice above the Internal Breath Realm?"

"That's right."