O'lf Attacked, Tianlin Isolated

Three full days had passed since the O'lf Incident.

Over the past few days, Tianlin attended classes as usual. His identity as Sword Douluo's Direct Disciple was now known throughout the academy, so naturally, no one dared to provoke him without reason.

He was happy to have some peace and quiet. He had no interest in dealing with those spoiled young nobles. Instead, he often sought out the future Royal Fight Team members to spar with them.

Like Tianlin, they disliked associating with playboys and dandies. The seven of them had formed their own small circle. With Tianlin joining them, there were now eight people—no, nine. Gu Ran had recovered from his injuries and returned as well.

Back at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he had already acknowledged Tianlin as his boss. It couldn't be helped—Tianlin had subdued their big sister, Ning Rongrong.

His talent was slightly inferior to that of the Royal Fight Seven, but not by much, and they were willing to accept him. What surprised Tianlin was that Gu Ran bore no resentment whatsoever toward Yu Tianheng, who had injured him. On the contrary, he admired him greatly.

Yu Tianheng had defeated him openly in a head-on battle without resorting to any underhanded tricks. Gu Ran accepted his loss wholeheartedly. He understood the importance of a group. Only by following a powerful group could he continue to grow stronger; otherwise, sooner or later, he would fade into obscurity among the masses.

Tianlin greatly appreciated that mindset.

After spending several days together, Tianlin also realized that Yu Tianheng was actually a decent person. He was powerful and loyal. Though somewhat arrogant, he had the right to be. Moreover, he never displayed that arrogance toward those of the same standing as himself. Otherwise, the others on the Royal Fight Team would not have accepted him as their leader.

Most importantly, he was devoted. It was said that on his very first day at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he had fallen for Dugu Yan. With his status, women could have lined up in a whole company for him, yet he had turned them all down. Even now, when Dugu Yan had yet to accept him, he had no intention of flirting around. Dragons were inherently lustful, but that trait did not seem to show in him.

This perhaps had something to do with Dugu Yan's background. Yu Tianheng wanted Dugu Bo's support, and Tianlin could understand that. However, Tianlin could also tell that he genuinely liked Dugu Yan and was not acting purely out of self-interest. He was completely unlike a certain irresponsible lecherous tiger from Shrek Academy.

Dugu Yan was the only woman in the original story who had remained cold toward Tang San from beginning to end. She spoke to Tianlin the least and was an icy beauty, but in Tianlin's view, she would not be able to withstand Yu Tianheng's advances for much longer.

The Shi Mo brothers had the best relationship with Tianlin so far. The reason was simple: the two brothers were honest to a fault. In their eyes, Tianlin might be a genius, but he was still far too young. As older students, it was only right for them to look after their junior.

In Tianlin's previous life, people like that were simply called nice guys.

There was no need to mention Ye Lingling. She had shown Tianlin kindness, and her personality was mature. Though Tianlin was nearly thirty when counting both his past and present lives, he somehow always felt like a little brother in front of her.

There were also the two Agility Attack System Spirit Masters, Yu Feng and Osler. Yu Feng had a calm personality and little presence, while Osler was a complete show-off who spent every day tending to his beautiful hair.

These were the future Royal Fight Seven. They had already made an agreement that they would definitely participate in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament and win the championship.

They were also very welcoming toward Tianlin and Gu Ran, because not only were the two highly talented, but more importantly, they could make up for the team's shortcomings.

Originally, the team had only Yu Tianheng as a strong attack-type Spirit Master. With Tianlin and Gu Ran joining, the team's versatility increased greatly, compensating for its lack of offensive power.

Even the Shrek Team in the original story had prepared four substitutes to handle the complicated tournament matches. A team of only seven people had never been enough.

That day, after finishing his morning theory class, Tianlin prepared to leave. Yet the moment he stood up, the surrounding students instinctively moved away from him, as if they had been frightened by him.

"What the hell?" Tianlin was utterly confused.

Not only that, as he walked along the road, every student who saw him avoided him from afar as though they had seen King Yan.

It was not until he arrived at the training ground that he saw the only people who were not afraid of him: the Royal Fight Seven.

The Shi Mo brothers hurried over from a distance, anxiously saying, "Xiao Tian, aren't you people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect being a little too ruthless?"

"Ruthless? Brothers Shi, what are you talking about?" Tianlin could not understand at all.

"You don't know? Just two days ago, O'lf withdrew from the academy with O'ldo. While they were returning to Balak Kingdom, they were attacked by an unknown expert. O'ldo was severely injured, and even O'lf's remaining ear was cut off. Everyone outside is saying that your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is taking revenge," Ye Lingling explained.

Tianlin immediately denied it. "Impossible. If our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has a grudge, we settle it on the spot. We would never resort to such petty tricks."

"I also believe it wasn't your doing." Yu Tianheng speculated, "The fact that neither of them died and that only another ear was cut off is the best proof. The attacker clearly did not want to escalate things to the point of war."

"Because the O' Family was in the wrong in this incident, and because there is no direct evidence that the second attack was carried out by your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Barak Royal Family can only choose to let the matter go. But..."

"But the seeds of hatred and suspicion have already been planted, right? Because the only ones with both the motive and the ability to attack O'lf are us, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect," Tianlin cut in. "And they even cut off an ear. Even if we jumped into the sea, we wouldn't be able to wash ourselves clean!"

Tianlin's expression darkened as he quickly sorted through the possibilities in his mind. The incident had only just happened, yet O'lf had immediately been attacked. That meant the attacker could quickly learn what had happened at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Aside from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, several others fit the conditions as well: the three members of the Education Committee, Dugu Bo, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

But Tianlin ruled them out one by one. The three members of the Education Committee had no reason to make the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect enemies with Balak Kingdom.

Dugu Bo and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would not meddle in such a trivial matter either.

"Right, her!" Tianlin quickly locked onto a target: Xue Qinghe—or rather, Qian Renxue.

She had both the motive and the strength to do it.

Moreover, this incident served several purposes for her at once. First, it sowed hatred between the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Balak Kingdom. Second, it left Xue Ye with the negative impression that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would seek revenge over the smallest grievance. Third, it made the other academy students fear Tianlin because of this matter, thereby isolating him.

If Tianlin's guess was correct, she would soon come to visit him. After all, when he was being isolated, she alone would still show concern for him. That would surely move an immature child deeply and perhaps even make him feel boundlessly grateful to her.

Unfortunately, Tianlin was not as immature as she thought. Though he was only seven years old physically, he was at least twenty-seven mentally.

Tianlin even thought of something else. Spirit Hall would surely take action against the O' Family of Balak Kingdom. He remembered that after the Spirit Hall Empire was founded in the original story, the first kingdom it conquered was Balak Kingdom.

For it to take down a military power so easily, aside from Spirit Hall's astonishing strength, there must have been other factors involved as well—such as an insider.

If that was the case, Tianlin might be able to turn the situation to his advantage in the future. The O' Family might be powerful, but they were merely dukes, not the Barak Royal Family. That distinction gave Tianlin many opportunities to strike back.