Tiandou Academy 3

The training ground was silent.

Yu Tianheng clutched his right arm as he knelt amid the shattered bluestone slabs.

"Tianheng!"

A graceful figure rushed out from behind the crowd.

Her short black hair flew behind her, her purple eyes filled with anxiety.

Dugu Yan threw herself to Yu Tianheng's side, both hands tightly supporting his limp right arm.

"Is it serious? Are your meridians broken?"

Yu Tianheng gave a bitter laugh and shook his head.

"They're not broken."

Dugu Yan gritted her teeth and abruptly turned around.

A faint green poison mark surfaced between her brows.

Soul power surged around her, and a sickly sweet smell spread through the air.

"Whoever you are, you dared strike so viciously at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Don't think you'll leave here alive today!"

The Jade Phosphor Serpent martial soul possessed her.

Just as Dugu Yan was about to unleash a soul skill, her gaze fell upon the blue-robed boy a few steps away.

The boy stood with his hands behind his back.

His gaze was as calm as still water.

He held the broken dead branch between his fingers.

Dugu Yan's charging motion froze instantly.

That handsome, youthful face and that unhurried bearing.

He was the benefactor from Sunset Forest a few days ago—the man who had casually pointed a finger and purified the peerless poison, dragging the Dugu Lineage out of a hell worse than death.

"Yan, get back! This kid is strange. You're no match for him!"

Yu Tianheng forced himself to rise.

But then he saw a jaw-dropping sight.

Not only did Dugu Yan not retreat.

Her knees went weak instead.

She dropped straight to her knees on the bluestone slabs.

With both hands braced against the ground, she slammed her forehead down.

"Dugu Yan did not know the benefactor had arrived!"

"I have offended you before. I beg the benefactor's forgiveness!"

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

Yu Tianheng was stunned.

Bali was dumbfounded.

The jaws of hundreds of Heaven Dou-level aristocratic elites practically hit the floor.

The granddaughter of the mighty Poison Douluo, the proudest thorny rose of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Facing the man who had injured the one she loved, she not only did not attack, but publicly knelt and kowtowed?

Calling him benefactor?

Su Chen casually tossed aside the dead branch.

"Get up."

"This is a training ground. Cut out the formalities."

"The poison has only just been removed, and your meridians are still recovering. Don't casually stir up your origin poison. If you want to grow stronger, train according to the method I taught you."

Dugu Yan cautiously raised her head, her eyes filled with fervor and reverence.

"I will remember the benefactor's teachings. After Grandfather returned, he sealed off the separate residence and focused on stabilizing his cultivation. He specifically instructed me that if the benefactor ever has any orders, the Dugu Lineage will brave fire and water and die ten thousand deaths without regret."

Su Chen's tone remained flat.

"Enough. Take the injured dragon and leave."

Yu Tianheng's mind buzzed.

"Yan... what exactly is going on? Isn't Grandfather the one who dotes on you most? Why are you kneeling to a brat who hurt me?"

Dugu Yan turned to him, her gaze stern.

"Tianheng! Shut up!"

"If you anger the benefactor, forget you—even the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Lineage won't be able to protect you!"

"With a casual point, the benefactor resolved the fatal predicament that the Dugu Lineage had been unable to solve for generations. This debt of gratitude is greater than the heavens!"

Looking at the boy, who was more than half a head shorter than himself, Yu Tianheng felt cold sweat soak his back.

Su Chen's feat of single-handedly suppressing Heaven Dou's highest academy came to an unbelievable end.

At the edge of the training ground.

Xue Qinghe stood quietly where he was.

His gaze rested on the blue-robed youth in the center of the arena.

A trace of daze flashed through his golden eyes.

Last night, aboard the pleasure boat on the moat, he had taken that declaration of defying gods as nothing more than the wild boasting of an ignorant youth.

Only now did he understand what true dominance was.

Those clear yet unfathomable eyes seemed to possess a kind of magic.

Drawing every gaze toward them.

A feeling called infatuation quietly took root within his heart.

Su Chen stepped down from the arena.

The crowd retreated to either side like a receding tide.

They lowered their heads, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

Su Chen stopped before Xue Qinghe.

"The show's over. Back to the residence."

Xue Qinghe gave a slight bow, his voice carrying a gentleness even he had not noticed.

"Let's go. Lunch is ready. You've worked hard today."

The two left the royal academy side by side.

The imperial palace.

The imperial study.

An expensive teacup smashed against the floor, porcelain shards scattering everywhere.

Xue Ye abruptly rose to his feet, his chest heaving violently.

His eyes fixed on Prince Xue Xing, who knelt below him.

"Six years old?"

"One person, one tree branch, and he overturned all the Heaven Dou-level elites of Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"

Prince Xue Xing knelt on the ground, his face as white as paper.

Fine beads of cold sweat covered his forehead, and he did not even dare lift his head.

"Reporting to Elder Brother... it is absolutely true. Yu Tianheng activated his Dragon Transformation to its fullest, yet that youth broke it with a casual move."

"The retainer the Crown Prince brought is simply a monster."

Xue Ye pointed at him, laughing in fury.

"A monster? I think you're incompetent!"

"So many gold coins are allocated to the academy every year, and this is how it cultivates the empire's future pillars?"

"Over a hundred elites were swept aside like chickens and dogs by a six-year-old child!"

"The face of the royal academy and the face of the Heaven Dou Empire have both been utterly disgraced!"

Prince Xue Xing's body trembled.

"Please calm your anger, Elder Brother. It truly is not that the students are incompetent. That brat is simply too strange. He never even released his martial soul, and every method he used was unheard of."

"And... that is not even the most troublesome part."

Xue Ye frowned.

"What else is there? Say it all!"

"Dugu Yan..."

Prince Xue Xing swallowed, his voice trembling.

"Dugu Bo's granddaughter, faced with the culprit who injured Yu Tianheng, and not only did she not attack."

"She publicly knelt and kowtowed, calling him benefactor."

Xue Ye sank back into his chair.

His eyes were full of shock.

When had the Crown Prince's Residence recruited such an extraordinary figure?

At merely six years old, he possessed such strength that even the heir of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Lineage could not withstand a single exchange.

Most importantly was Dugu Yan's attitude.

Dugu Bo was a royal consecrated elder and had always been close to the prince's residence.

Now that his granddaughter had publicly called someone benefactor, this meant the Poison Douluo...

The upper ranks of Heaven Dou were shaken.

A chill shot from Prince Xue Xing's feet straight to his head.

He had always believed that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe was merely a junior he could manipulate at will.

He had planted spies in the academy and cut off the Crown Prince's Residence from recruiting talented individuals.

He had thought everything was under control.

"Elder Brother."

Prince Xue Xing gritted his teeth and raised his head.

"Such a dangerous figure has suddenly appeared beside the Crown Prince. His origins are unknown, and his intentions are questionable. I fear he has great ambitions."

"Great ambitions?"

Xue Ye coldly watched his younger brother, drenched in sweat.

"Qinghe is the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou and the rightful heir to the future throne. Is it not proper for him to recruit extraordinary talents to serve the empire?"

"On the contrary, you."

Xue Ye's tone turned cold.

"You couldn't even win over a single Title Douluo, and now even your control of the royal academy has become a joke."

"From today onward, do not interfere in the academy's affairs again. Go back and reflect behind closed doors!"

Prince Xue Xing was struck as if by lightning.

Inside the carriage.

The cabin was quiet.

Xue Qinghe handed over a cup of warm tea.

"After today's commotion, Xue Xing probably won't be able to sleep."

Su Chen took the cup and sipped from it.

"That's exactly what I want—restlessness. Once people panic, they make mistakes."

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy is only the first step. Next, force those neutral factions that have been wavering to show themselves one by one."

Xue Qinghe looked at the profile beside him, calm and in command.

"Those old aristocratic foxes won't act without seeing a benefit. Relying solely on force to intimidate them may not make them sincerely submit."

Su Chen set down his teacup.

"I don't need them to sincerely submit. I only need them to be afraid."

"When the fist becomes hard enough, so-called loyalty will naturally follow."

"Spread word tomorrow that the Crown Prince's Residence is recruiting talents. Those willing to pledge loyalty will be granted cultivation techniques. Those unwilling can huddle together with Xue Xing and the others for warmth. Then we'll sweep them all away in one go."

A smile curved Xue Qinghe's lips.

"Good. We'll do as you say."