Ninety Degrees Is a Right Angle; Eighty-Nine Degrees Is a Slope

Several older students followed behind Bai Cheng, each with a formidable aura. Every one of them was at least a Battle Master.

When he emerged from the edge of the woods with his group, Qin Yu was standing atop a protruding rock, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing.

The mountain wind made his robes rustle softly, while his bare feet rested on the cold stone.

"Junior Qin Yu, what refined taste."

Bai Cheng's voice came from behind him, but his tone carried the leisurely amusement of a cat toying with a mouse.

Qin Yu opened his eyes and turned around.

Bai Cheng stood with his arms folded, leaning against an old pine tree. The older students had vaguely formed a half-encirclement, completely cutting off Qin Yu's retreat.

"Instead of sleeping in your dorm in the middle of the night, you came out to these desolate mountains to cultivate? Heh, quite diligent."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people behind him broke into quiet laughter, their voices dripping with mockery.

"If you have something to say, say it. If you need to fart, let it out."

Bai Cheng was not angered. He straightened up and took two steps forward, the fake smile on his face growing even wider.

"I thought about what happened at the Scripture Repository earlier, and I felt that I was indeed a little inappropriate."

"So I came specifically to find you and apologize."

As he spoke, he even cupped his hands in a show of courtesy.

Qin Yu still said nothing, merely watching his performance in silence.

After waiting for a moment and seeing no response from Qin Yu, Bai Cheng could no longer maintain his smile.

"The two cultivation methods and combat skills you took during the day—I've had my eye on them for quite some time."

He dropped the false front, and his tone abruptly turned cold.

Qin Yu thought it over carefully. When Bai Cheng later fought Xiao Yan, he seemed not to have used the Mountain Qilin Suppresses the Mountains cultivation method.

If Bai Cheng had truly coveted that cultivation method for so long, then he had probably obtained it but failed to master it.

"The vice dean gave special permission."

Qin Yu replied blandly. Bai Cheng's smile stiffened for an instant, and a trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.

Special permission from the vice dean.

Those five words were like a wall, preventing him from making a move openly.

But so what?

Out here in the mountains, in the pitch-black night, if a new student "accidentally" slipped, fell, or knocked into something, no one could blame anyone else, could they?

"Enough. I won't beat around the bush with you."

He pressed a step closer, the Dou Qi within his body beginning to circulate.

"Hand over the goods, and this matter ends here. Otherwise, once we get to the competition arena, you, a mere four-star Dou Practitioner..."

He deliberately left the sentence unfinished, only letting out a cold laugh. His meaning could not have been clearer.

The older students behind him cooperatively edged forward by half a step. Some rolled their wrists, while others cracked their knuckles with sharp popping sounds.

The mountain wind suddenly grew stronger, making the branches rustle.

Qin Yu looked at the people before him, and his expression did not change in the slightest.

"Are you done?"

Bai Cheng froze.

He had prepared an entire stomachful of words—threats, intimidation, and tactics both hard and soft.

He had been waiting for Qin Yu to show panic or anger, then he would slowly deal with him.

Yet he had never expected that after hearing everything, the other party would only give him those three words.

"You..."

Bai Cheng opened his mouth, but for a moment, he did not know how to respond.

"If there's nothing else, don't disturb my cultivation here."

Qin Yu gave him a casual glance. His eyes were calm, without anger, fear, or even disdain.

It was simply... pure indifference.

Bai Cheng's face instantly turned liver-red, and the older students behind him erupted.

"Brother Cheng, this kid is too arrogant!"

"We have to teach him a lesson today!"

"Damn it, he's only a four-star Dou Practitioner. What's he putting on airs for?"

The group rolled up their sleeves and prepared to rush forward, Dou Qi already surging across the surface of their bodies.

This time, Bai Cheng did not stop them. His expression was terrifyingly dark, and his fists cracked as he clenched them.

"Qin Yu, you brought this upon your—"

Before he could finish, Qin Yu moved.

He bent his knees slightly as the Dou Qi inside him abruptly circulated, a powerful force surging from his dantian into his feet.

Boom!

In the next instant, the rock beneath Qin Yu's feet exploded, sending shards of stone flying everywhere.

Bai Cheng instinctively narrowed his eyes. When he opened them again, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Qin Yu had actually leaped straight off the cliff. Yet his body moved like a mountain deer, bounding and twisting across the nearly vertical cliff face with unbelievable lightness.

Bai Cheng's gaze locked tightly onto him, but all he could see was a figure shrinking farther and farther away.

Within a few breaths, Qin Yu had already reached the mountainside without slowing down in the slightest.

A few more breaths later, his figure vanished into the woods at the foot of the mountain.

The mountain wind swept past, stirring the rustling leaves.

Bai Cheng stood where he was, his mouth slightly open. A jumble of emotions twisted his expression.

"W-what the hell kind of movement technique was that?"

An older student behind him spoke haltingly. He cultivated wind-attributed Dou Qi and considered himself fast even among those of the same level.

But after witnessing Qin Yu's fluid series of leaps, he had to admit that he could not do it.

Especially not with earth-attributed Dou Qi... How could it possibly achieve that kind of speed?

The group exchanged looks, momentarily forgetting that they had just been about to charge in and fight.

Bai Cheng said nothing.

He stood on the rock where Qin Yu had just been, looking down at the shattered stones beneath his feet before raising his head toward the dark forest at the mountain's base.

Under the moonlight, his expression shifted unpredictably.

This Qin Yu was not simple.

No wonder he had earned the vice dean's favor. That cliff-leaping skill alone was something no ordinary Dou Practitioner could accomplish.

"Brother Cheng... what should we..."

Someone behind him spoke cautiously. Bai Cheng took a deep breath, suppressing the rage churning within him, along with that trace of apprehension he refused to acknowledge.

"Let's go."

He turned around and strode down the mountain, walking much faster than he had on the way up.

The others hurried after him, and no one mentioned fighting again.

When they reached the mountainside, Bai Cheng suddenly stopped. He looked up at the cliff Qin Yu had just leaped from, the corner of his eye twitching.

Ninety degrees was a right angle, but eighty-nine degrees was a slope, was that it?

"Qin Yu..."

He muttered the name to himself, withdrew his gaze, and quickened his pace.

At the foot of the mountain, Qin Yu had already left that peak behind, his breathing still steady.

Though the cliff jump had been risky, the series of movements had deepened his understanding of Mountain Qilin Leap.

Borrowing the earth's power, the mountains' momentum, and the terrain's advantage, every place his feet touched seemed to draw a response from the mountains themselves, making each successive burst of force smoother and more precise than the last.

Moonlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows across his face.

The effects of the Mountain Qilin Leap combat skill were even better than he had expected.

"Tomorrow is the first day of class. I'll call it a night."

Qin Yu stretched hard, then headed toward the dormitories.

Tomorrow was the first lesson of the school term. It would not do to be late.