Zhao Lie Looking for Trouble

Pang Dahai cracked sunflower seeds while Ye Xunhuan sat on the stone steps beside him. The two watched the students in the distance running laps as they chatted idly.

They had not been sitting for even two minutes when a shadow blocked the sunlight.

Ye Xunhuan looked up. A square-faced youth stood before him with his arms folded, looking down at him.

At his side, buzz-cut Liu Mang and a lanky youth stood behind him to the left and right. The shadows of all three covered Ye Xunhuan and the stone steps beneath him.

"Are you Ye Xunhuan?"

Zhao Lie spoke as though he were asking about some irrelevant passerby. He did not even look directly at Ye Xunhuan, instead glancing around at the students still watching on the training field, as if confirming whether he had enough of an audience.

Ye Xunhuan did not answer. He glanced at Pang Dahai.

Pang Dahai tucked his sunflower seeds into his pocket, slowly rose to his feet, dusted off his backside, and stepped in front of Ye Xunhuan.

"This student, Ye Xunhuan is my student. It's practical combat class this afternoon. Whatever it is, you can discuss it after class."

Pang Dahai smiled warmly, his tone calm, as though they were simply making small talk.

Zhao Lie shot Pang Dahai a disdainful glance.

"Teacher Pang, my teacher said you ought to lose some weight. I'm just getting acquainted with the new student and exchanging a few pointers. You won't even allow that?"

Pang Dahai still wore a kindly smile, but his eyes narrowed further, until they were nearly invisible.

"I said, after class."

Zhao Lie snorted. His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone on the training field to hear. "Teacher Pang, do you have no confidence in your own student? Then again, a piece of trash who got in through the back door would indeed be flattered to compete with a genius like me."

The noisy training field fell silent for a moment.

Several students nearby stopped training, and the instructors looked over as well.

Pang Dahai's smile froze on his face.

A cold glint flashed through his eyes. For the first time, there was no smile in those narrowed eyes.

Zhao Lie did not care whether he offended Pang Dahai.

His instructor was one of the academy's top figures, and the academy rules were clear: instructors could not discipline one another's students unless they wanted to be reported to the Academic Affairs Office.

Sure enough, a slightly awkward voice sounded from the side at just the right moment.

"Alright, alright, Zhao Lie, stop making trouble."

A middle-aged man in a gray T-shirt hurried over, wearing an ingratiating smile.

Zhao Lie's instructor, Qian Shuang, was a level sixty-two assault-type Battle Soul Emperor.

Qian Shuang walked between the two of them, placing a hand on Zhao Lie's shoulder as he apologized to Pang Dahai. "Teacher Pang, please don't take it to heart. Young people are hot-blooded, and children speak without thinking. Children speak without thinking. I'll teach him a lesson later."

Pang Dahai glanced at him.

Qian Shuang's words sounded nice, but his hand rested on Zhao Lie's shoulder without the slightest intention of pulling him away.

He was obviously just putting on a show. He spoke of teaching Zhao Lie a lesson, but was actually indulging him.

Pang Dahai said nothing, though his breathing grew heavier.

Qian Shuang gave another dry laugh and symbolically tugged at Zhao Lie. "Come on, don't disturb their class."

Zhao Lie did not move.

Qian Shuang's hand slid off Zhao Lie's shoulder. He did not try to pull him anymore, instead stepping aside with that same mediator's smile on his face.

"Teacher Pang, I'm truly sorry. How about this? Let the two students spar. Friendly Battle Soul Academy supports that, after all."

Zhao Lie looked at Ye Xunhuan, his gaze filled with provocation and smugness.

With so many people watching today, if Ye Xunhuan refused, he would be a coward.

And if he accepted...

Heh heh, his Lion Claw would not hold back.

Ye Xunhuan rose to his feet and met Zhao Lie's eyes.

Pang Dahai reached out to stop him, lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear. "Ignore him. Just refuse. He's a level twenty-five Great Spirit Master, while you're only level seventeen. There's no need to show off."

Ye Xunhuan shook his head.

"Teacher Pang, he can mock me." Ye Xunhuan's voice was not loud, but it was steady, every word landing clearly. "But disrespecting his elders is unacceptable."

Pang Dahai froze for a moment.

This kid...

Pang Dahai opened his mouth, wanting to say something. His Adam's apple bobbed, but in the end, he only patted Ye Xunhuan on the shoulder.

"Don't push yourself."

Ye Xunhuan stepped in front of Pang Dahai and faced Zhao Lie directly.

"A fight, right? I accept."

A triumphant gleam flashed in Zhao Lie's eyes, though his expression remained composed.

"Since Ye is willing to honor me with this, I should put up a stake. Otherwise, there's no point in fighting for nothing."

"What do you want?"

Zhao Lie did not beat around the bush. "If I win, you'll stay away from Xu Qingqing. And Xu Qingqing will join my Blazing Team."

The moment he said that, murmurs rose from the crowd of onlookers.

Ye Xunhuan's gaze instantly turned cold.

So that was why.

That was why this man had provoked him despite not knowing him.

That was why no team had been willing to accept Xu Qingqing, despite her Martial Soul being so powerful.

It was not because nobody wanted her.

It was because this bastard had isolated her throughout the academy.

And what Zhao Lie wanted was for Xu Qingqing to have nowhere to turn, forcing her to come back and seek him out.

Ye Xunhuan took a deep breath and did not rashly agree.

He looked at Zhao Lie, his tone calm but firm. "Xu Qingqing is a person, a living person, not an object to be wagered. I refuse your terms."

Zhao Lie's expression changed.

This was bad.

Sure enough, the students and instructors who had gathered to watch immediately began shouting.

"Well said!"

"Why should a person be used as a wager?"

"Exactly! What kind of bullshit habit is that?"

"You think you're some peerless genius? You know perfectly well why you deliberately repeated a grade. You're a freeloader, yet you don't even look in the mirror."

"The handsome boy is right. Xu Qingqing isn't an object."

Zhao Lie's face grew increasingly ugly.

In the Genius Class, he had always thrown his weight around. No one had ever dared to embarrass him in public.

"You! Just say it, brat—do you dare to bet or not?!"

Zhao Lie finally exploded. Everyone had dug up all his dirty laundry. If he did not beat the shit out of this brat today, then his surname was not Zhao!

"I agree." A clear female voice suddenly rang out.

The crowd automatically parted to make way.

Xu Qingqing walked out from among them.

"Who's that?"

"You don't know her? That's Xu Qingqing, the girl Zhao Lie was talking about."

"She's so pretty..."

Xu Qingqing's small face was taut, and her eyes were red, but her back was ramrod straight.

Her twin ponytails swayed behind her as she walked to Ye Xunhuan's side. Without sparing the leering Zhao Lie a single glance, she stared directly at Ye Xunhuan.

Ye Xunhuan froze. "What?"

Ignoring Ye Xunhuan's disbelief, Xu Qingqing's voice trembled slightly. "I said, I agree to this stake."

Zhao Lie raised an eyebrow, a smile appearing on his face.

Xu Qingqing did not look at him. She turned to Ye Xunhuan.

"Ye Xunhuan, you won't let me lose, right?"

In an instant, the eyes of several hundred people on the training field all fell upon Ye Xunhuan.

Ye Xunhuan fell silent for two seconds, then gently wiped the tears from Xu Qingqing's cheeks.

He turned to Zhao Lie, his gaze shifting from calm to icy.

"I'll beat the hell out of you."