Dropout

"You little bastard!"

Director Wang sprang from his chair, rushed to the front of the stage, and pointed at Li Zhengyang's face.

"You went for the kill! You fucking dared to go for the kill! Get the hell out of this school!"

The crowd below began buzzing again.

But this time, no one echoed Director Wang. Everyone was watching to see how Li Zhengyang would respond.

Li Zhengyang was in no hurry.

He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, held it up, and waved it toward the stands.

Liability Waiver.

It bore clear printed terms, signatures, fingerprints, and the official Academic Affairs Office seal personally stamped by Director Wang.

"Both parties participating in live combat must sign a Liability Waiver. The school bears no responsibility for casualties."

He returned Director Wang's words from ten minutes ago exactly as they were.

"Director Wang, you made the rules."

Li Zhengyang folded the agreement and tucked it back into his pocket.

"I'll drop out, no problem. But the two hundred thousand bet is written in black and white. Not a single cent less."

Director Wang's expression turned ugly.

He knew he had been trapped.

The Liability Waiver had been something he created so Wang Ming could legally beat people up. Now, it had become Li Zhengyang's shield.

He had personally notarized the document. Hundreds of people in the school had watched it being signed. He could not deny it.

But even if he could not deny it, he had to try.

He could afford two hundred thousand. The problem was that being pressed for money by a poor student in front of the entire school would leave him unable to hold his head up here ever again.

Director Wang turned and shouted toward backstage.

"Security! Get up here!"

Two men emerged from backstage.

They were not the uniformed old men from the school security office.

They were two burly men in their thirties, with hostile eyes and a Standardized Combat Saber in each of their hands.

First-Grade Martial Master.

Both of them.

Some teachers in the audience recognized them and quietly said a few words to those beside them.

These two were not school employees. Director Wang had hired them from outside under the name of security, but they were really private thugs.

The two First-Grade Martial Masters split to either side, trapping Li Zhengyang between them.

Their sabers were already drawn.

"Student, please cooperate with the inspection." The man on the left spoke in a rehearsed tone.

Director Wang added from behind, "Li Zhengyang! Your strength is abnormal! I suspect you used Contraband Drugs! Until the investigation is complete, you are not allowed to leave the school!"

Contraband Drugs.

It was a clever accusation. Once it stuck, the bet would no longer count.

The hundreds of students below began whispering among themselves.

Li Zhengyang looked at the saber on his left, then at the one on his right.

He smiled.

"You're taking the initiative?"

He cracked his neck from side to side.

"Perfect. Now it's not just debt collection. It also counts as self-defense."

The man on the left moved first, his Battle Saber chopping downward.

Li Zhengyang did not dodge. He raised his right hand and backhanded the swordsman across the left cheek.

Smack!

How powerful was that slap?

The full strength of a Fourth-Grade Martial Master.

The swordsman and his saber were sent flying five meters away.

A mixture of teeth and blood traced an arc through the air, splattering half the arena.

By the time he hit the ground, his eyes had rolled back, and it was impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.

The man on the right watched this happen and froze in terror. He could barely hold his saber steady.

His first instinct was not to attack.

It was to turn around.

He wanted to run.

Li Zhengyang took one step forward and stomped on his right knee.

The sound of shattering kneecap echoed throughout the Testing Ground.

"Aaargh!"

The man collapsed to the floor, clutching his leg and rolling around.

Li Zhengyang looked down at him and removed his foot from the man's knee.

Three seconds.

From the moment the two First-Grade Martial Masters drew their sabers to the moment they were both on the ground, only three seconds had passed.

The entire venue seemed to stop breathing.

Director Wang watched the scene onstage, his legs trembling.

He turned and ran behind the podium, heading for the window on the side.

Second floor. The fall would not kill him. He would worry about the rest after he got away.

A hand seized the hair at the back of his head.

Li Zhengyang had somehow appeared behind him.

With one yank, he dragged Director Wang back from midair.

Li Zhengyang pinned him against the tabletop and gripped his neck with one hand.

"D-Don't... Li Zhengyang... we can talk this out."

"I don't have many flaws, but I hate deadbeats more than anything."

Li Zhengyang flipped him over so he faced upward.

"You want to renege on the two hundred thousand bet. Fine. Interest starts piling up now. Two hundred thousand becomes three hundred thousand."

"Three hundred thousand?! I don't have that! There's only one hundred thousand in my account! Really, only one hundred thousand!"

Director Wang's voice carried a sob.

Li Zhengyang unlocked Director Wang's phone with his thumb.

He opened the banking app. The balance was one hundred thousand.

"No money?"

He scrolled through the phone and found several familiar icons.

Speedy Loan Treasure, Grain Loan, Flash Loan Flower...

They were all Online Loan Platforms.

"Director Wang, your credit is pretty good." Li Zhengyang spoke casually as he scrolled, as though they were merely chatting.

"Y-You... what are you doing?!"

"Helping you borrow money. Didn't you say you had no money? I'm helping you find a way."

Speedy Loan Treasure, limit forty thousand. Tap.

Grain Loan, limit sixty thousand. Tap.

Flash Loan Flower, limit fifty thousand. Tap.

Whenever the live verification required facial recognition, Li Zhengyang pointed Director Wang's face toward the front camera.

Director Wang tried to turn his head, but Li Zhengyang had him by the neck. He could not move.

"Don't move. Open your mouth, blink your eyes."

Hundreds of people watched the scene unfold.

Director Wang of the Academic Affairs Office was pinned to his own podium while a student used his own phone to borrow money from one online lending platform after another.

Surreal.

Money from the three platforms arrived one after another.

Together with his savings, it came to a full two hundred and fifty thousand.

Li Zhengyang transferred all two hundred and fifty thousand to his own account. After confirming it had arrived, he released Director Wang's neck.

Director Wang sprawled across the table, gasping for air. His face was covered in blood and snot, without even a trace of his former dignity as the Academic Affairs Office director.

Li Zhengyang stepped back two paces and took out his phone.

The System Interface lit up.

Recharge Amount: 250000.

Confirm.

[Recharge successful!]

[Recharge Amount: 250000]

[Blood-Qi Value gained: +2500]

[Current Blood-Qi Value: 7328]

[Realm breakthrough: Fourth-Grade Martial Master → Seventh-Rank Martial Artist!]

The instant Blood Qi exploded within his body, Li Zhengyang's body jolted violently.

Astral Qi surged from his body. It was no longer the thin layer from before, but a visible vortex of energy.

Even the air around him trembled as the pressure of a Seventh-Rank Martial Artist blanketed the entire Testing Ground.

The nearest students in the stands were forced off their seats by that pressure. Their legs went weak, and they could not stand.

In the distance, a figure hurried over from the administrative building.

The Principal.

A Sixth-Grade Martial Master, already the strongest fighter in this vocational school.

The moment he reached the Testing Ground entrance and felt that pressure, his footsteps halted.

He backed away three steps.

He had not been pushed back. He retreated of his own accord.

A Sixth-Grade Martial Master stood one grade below a Seventh-Rank Martial Artist.

At the Martial Master level, that gap was no longer a matter of whether one could win.

It was a question of whether one could survive a single punch.

The Principal stood at the entrance and did not dare enter.

Li Zhengyang stood on the arena. His Astral Qi receded, and he exhaled.

The bones throughout his body continued to crackle softly as Blood Qi surged through his meridians.

He jumped down from the arena.

No one stopped him, and no one dared to.

When he reached the Testing Ground entrance, he paused and glanced back at Director Wang, who was still lying on the podium, then at Wang Ming and the two crippled thugs on the ground.

Then he pulled out his student ID from his pocket and threw it onto the floor.

"I'm dropping out!"