Teased by Xue Beng

Xue Beng froze for a moment, as if he had heard some enormous joke.

"Hahaha! You want me to move aside?"

He sized Ning Yuan up and down. Seeing that he was dressed plainly, without even a noble crest on him, his arrogance immediately swelled.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you know who I am? I'm the Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Beng!"

He raised his chin, looking utterly haughty.

"If you know what's good for you, leave the woman beside you here and get lost. This prince might even spare your life. Otherwise..."

He sneered. "With me here, don't even think about stepping through the gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy for the rest of your life. I can also have you thrown into the imperial prison for life. Believe that?"

The crowd instantly erupted.

"So it's Prince Xue Beng! This kid's finished!"

"He dares fight Prince Xue Beng over a woman? He must be tired of living!"

"What a pity for that little girl. She's so pretty, but Prince Xue Beng will probably ruin her."

Ning Yuan looked at Xue Beng in surprise. He had not expected the wastrel Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire from the original story—the Xue Beng who had single-handedly prevented the protagonist group from entering Heaven Dou Royal Academy—to appear before him now.

It seemed he had played the part of a wastrel so well that he had even fooled himself.

And he had actually picked a fight with him. Sorry, but he was finished!

Seeing this, the three lackeys immediately crowded forward with vicious grins, reaching for Ning Yuan's shoulders. "Kid, you dare speak to our prince like that? You're asking to die!"

Ning Yuan did not move.

Only when the foremost lackey's hand was about to touch his shoulder did he slightly turn aside and lightly shove him.

It looked as if he had barely used any force, yet the lackey flew two meters away as though he had been struck by a charging rhinoceros. He let out a howl and crashed to the ground, unable to get up for a long while.

The remaining two lackeys froze, then rushed forward with raised fists. Ning Yuan did not even shift his feet. He kicked out left and right, and the two men fell clutching their stomachs, gasping in pain.

The entire scene fell silent.

No one had expected this skinny, tall teenager to be such a formidable fighter.

The smile on Xue Beng's face froze.

"You fucking dared to hit my men?" Shocked and furious, he pointed at Ning Yuan's nose. "You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, huh? Get him! If you beat him to death, it's on me!"

Ning Yuan took a step forward.

Xue Beng startled backward half a step, thinking Ning Yuan was about to hit him. Instead, Ning Yuan merely raised his hand. With a crisp slap, he struck Xue Beng squarely across the face.

Ning Yuan had held back with that slap. Otherwise, with a body as strong as that of a seven-ringed Soul Sage, he could have sent Xue Beng's head flying.

Well slapped!

His mouth was so filthy just now. Smack his face until it swells! I've disliked that dough-faced bun for a long time!

Even so, Xue Beng spun half a circle from the slap. Half his face visibly swelled at a rapid pace, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and two of his teeth had loosened.

"Y-You dared to hit me?!"

Xue Beng clutched his face, disbelief filling his eyes as though the blow had stunned him senseless.

Since childhood, he had only ever been the one hitting others. When had anyone ever hit him?

And he had been slapped in public, no less. This was utterly intolerable!!!

"Uncle Zhou! Cripple him! I want his hands!"

Xue Beng completely lost his mind and shrieked at the person behind him.

A middle-aged man in gray robes stepped out from behind the crowd. His face was resolute, his aura steady, and six Soul Rings rose beneath his feet.

Two yellow, three purple, and one black. His Martial Soul was a mad bear covered in brown fur.

This man was Zhou Hu, the personal protector assigned to Xue Beng by Xue Ye, a level sixty-six assault-type Battle Soul Emperor.

"Kid, you dared assault a member of the imperial family. By law, your Martial Soul should be abolished!!!"

Zhou Hu's voice was heavy as stone. He did not take Ning Yuan seriously either.

For that girl to catch the eye of the Fourth Prince Xue Beng was her honor.

Yet he dared defy the Fourth Prince and even attack him?

A teenager barely in his teens might have some brute strength, but how could he possibly be a match for a Soul Emperor?

He did not strike to kill. He merely raised his right palm, wrapped in Soul Power, and slapped it toward Ning Yuan's shoulder.

He intended to first shatter Ning Yuan's shoulder blade to vent Xue Beng's anger, then hand him over to the imperial family for punishment.

The force of his palm stirred the loose hair over Ning Yuan's forehead.

"Be careful!"

Zhu Zhuqing's face turned pale. She wanted to rush forward and shield Ning Yuan, but a glance from him stopped her.

Ning Yuan stood where he was without dodging. He did not even release his Martial Soul. He merely lifted his shoulder slightly and took Zhou Hu's palm strike head-on.

Boom!

A dull blast rang out, and the bluestone bricks beneath them cracked with fine fissures under the force of the palm.

Everyone waited to see Ning Yuan sent flying and coughing blood.

But the scene they expected did not appear.

Ning Yuan remained standing where he was. His feet had only slid back half a step, and not even a wrinkle had formed in his robes.

Instead, Zhou Hu felt as though he had struck a block of ten-thousand-year cold iron. A tremendous rebounding force traveled up his arm, numbing the web between his thumb and forefinger. He staggered back three steps before steadying himself, his eyes filled with horror as he looked at Ning Yuan.

"Y-You're so young, yet you can take one of my blows head-on?"

Although he had not used his full strength in that strike, it still contained fifty percent of his power. Even a level-forty Soul Ancestor would have been seriously injured by it. This boy looked only twelve or thirteen, yet after taking it, he seemed completely unharmed?

The surrounding crowd was dumbfounded as well.

"Is this kid even human? He took a Soul Emperor's palm strike head-on?"

"They've kicked an iron plate this time... Could this boy be some genius from a reclusive clan?"

Xue Beng was stunned too, but he quickly recovered. Clutching his face, he glared viciously at Ning Yuan. "Fine! You've got guts! So what if you can fight? You hit this prince, which is treason! Listen up, don't even think about running. I'll summon the Imperial Guards right now, throw you into the imperial prison, and wipe out your entire family! And this woman—I'll sell her to a brothel!"

Zhu Zhuqing gripped Ning Yuan's sleeve tightly, her voice tense. For the first time, panic appeared on her face.

"Maybe we should leave. I'm the one who dragged you into this. We won't take the Heaven Dou Royal Academy exam."

She had never feared anything in her life, but the man before them was a prince of Heaven Dou. If they truly angered him, Ning Yuan could lose his life.

Ning Yuan patted the back of her hand, signaling for her to relax.

Leave?

He had come all this way to Heaven Dou. How could he possibly leave?

If Bibi Dong's mission meant he had to swallow his anger everywhere he went, then that was absolutely impossible.

His heart of the Dao would become obstructed.

Just then.

"The First Prince has arrived!!!"

A personal guard's shout carried over from afar. At the sound, the crowd suddenly parted into two lines, and the previously clamorous entrance instantly fell silent.

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw Xue Qinghe, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, slowly approaching under the escort of two personal guards. His expression was gentle, and his temperament as refined as jade.

Ning Yuan met Xue Qinghe's gaze, and in that instant, he realized that this was Qian Renxue.

Seen up close, Qian Renxue's disguise was indeed exquisite. Her complexion, facial features, even her Adam's apple, all looked utterly lifelike. If he had not known the plot beforehand, he truly would have believed that the person before him was the gentle and elegant First Prince of Heaven Dou.

This pretty boy looks far more pleasing than that dough-faced bun from before.

But he has that icy aura about him, just like that Pope woman. He doesn't seem easy to deal with.

Ning Yuan ignored Venom and instead pondered inwardly.

Why had Qian Renxue suddenly appeared here?

Still, this was not a bad opportunity. He could leave a good impression on Qian Renxue, making it easier for her to recruit him in the future.

The moment Xue Beng saw Qian Renxue, his eyes lit up as if he had spotted his savior. Clutching his face, he scrambled over in a miserable state and began tearfully complaining.

Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, revealed a trace of disgust. She wanted to avoid him, but held herself back.

"Big Brother! You're finally here! You have to stand up for me!"

Pointing at Ning Yuan, he wailed with tears and snot streaming down his face.

He looked utterly pitiful.

At the same time, he gave Qian Renxue an exaggerated account of everything that had just happened.

"This bastard came from who knows where. I kindly tried to remind him about the rules for lining up, but he hit me without saying a word. He even said the Heaven Dou imperial family was nothing but shit and that he did not take us seriously at all! Look at my face—it's swollen from his beating!"

"He even tried to forcibly seize a civilian woman. He has absolutely no regard for the law! Big Brother, hurry and arrest him! Chop off his head!"