So what? What can you do about it?

"Xiao, are you okay?"

Just then, Meng Hongchen hurried over with quick little steps and crouched beside him in concern.

But Xiao Hongchen's heart of the Dao had already shattered.

He sat there in a stupor, still drowning in the defeat he had just suffered, saying nothing, his eyes vacant.

Meng Hongchen looked at the molten iron on him and his skin, which was already turning red and scorching hot, almost cooked through. She was frantic.

"Your flesh is about to burn!"

She hurriedly summoned her martial soul.

The Red-Eyed Ice Toad.

The phantom of a toad, icy blue all over with scarlet eyes, appeared behind her, spilling cold air in every direction.

Meng Hongchen raised her hand and released a wisp of cold air, enveloping Xiao Hongchen to help cool him down.

Even as she did so, Meng Hongchen did not forget to glance back at Xu Tianyuan.

Her eyes darted about, and her inner turmoil was even more complicated.

This guy was way too strange.

He was clearly a useless prince who went to brothels every day to listen to songs. Supposedly, his cultivation was only at the Soul Grandmaster level, yet he had defeated her brother with just two swings of his axe.

No.

Defeated seemed to be the wrong word.

After all, her brother hadn't even been able to fight back from beginning to end.

Instantly crushed was more like it.

And this was supposed to be a Soul Grandmaster?

She wouldn't believe that even if someone beat her to death.

If this was a Soul Grandmaster, the entire soul master system would collapse on the spot, and every soul master on the continent would have to line up to jump into the moat.

Still, with her brother beaten this badly, she felt she ought to have some sort of reaction.

Like getting angry.

But the moment she turned and saw Xu Tianyuan's face, her lovestruck side flared up again.

She just couldn't bring herself to dislike him.

What was she supposed to do now?

"What happened?"

"Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, what are you doing?"

"Who's this handsome guy?"

"Baring your chest and stomach in the middle of the night? How disgraceful! This is a public place!"

Just then, the students living in the villa district all came running out.

The commotion earlier had been far too loud. The rising temperature, the shaking ground, the sound of exploding metal-they could hear it all clearly even from two buildings away.

Unable to stay put in their villas, they pushed open their doors to investigate.

The moment they stepped outside, the students noticed the devastation around them.

Many of the flowers, shrubs, and trees had been burned to ash.

There was also a large crater in the ground.

A human-shaped imprint marked the perimeter wall.

Most importantly, Xiao Hongchen had somehow been injured and was blackened all over, while a handsome stranger stood beside him, bare-chested, with an axe resting on his shoulder.

Ma Rulong, Mi Jia, Xiao Xiafeng, Chen Fei, Lin Xi, Wang Shaojie, Nana, and the others hurried over, their minds full of questions.

They did not focus on Xu Tianyuan right away.

Every gaze landed on Xiao Hongchen.

When they saw his blank expression, his utter loss of the will to live, and the burns covering his body, they immediately crowded around him.

"Xiao Hongchen, what exactly happened?"

"Who did this?"

"Say something!"

But by then, Xiao Hongchen's heart of the Dao had collapsed. Dazed and disoriented, he did not hear what they were saying at all.

All Xiao Hongchen could hear was a buzzing in his ears, as though a few mosquitoes were whining nearby.

In layman's terms, he had been beaten stupid.

"Actually..."

Meng Hongchen scratched her head and spoke.

"Actually, it's nothing serious. My brother just took a tumble. He probably hit his head by accident. He'll be fine after a little rest."

Meng Hongchen had the good sense not to reveal the truth and casually made up a lie.

After all, once she told the truth, word of this would reach their grandfather.

If Xu Tianyuan then produced the recording he had made earlier, her brother's entire image would come crashing down.

She understood her brother better than anyone.

Though somewhat arrogant, he treated every word he uttered like a nail hammered into place. He did what he said, and valued his pride above all.

Since he had personally promised not to tell on Xu Tianyuan, he would not tell anyone even if he were beaten to death.

"What?"

Everyone around them looked astonished.

Looking at Xiao Hongchen, who was practically cooked through, they found it hard to imagine that a fall had done this.

Could a fall cover someone in molten iron?

Could a fall burn half the courtyard to ash?

Couldn't she at least sketch out her bullshit before selling it?

Still, since even Meng Hongchen did not want to say more about it, they could hardly dig for answers as outsiders.

They couldn't very well force a girl to admit she was lying.

"Anyway, this fellow looks unfamiliar. I don't think I've seen you before."

Ma Rulong was the first to change the subject. He looked at Xu Tianyuan beside them and asked with a frown.

"Did you just join the academy?"

At those words, the others all turned their gazes toward Xu Tianyuan.

Nana, who often went out and about, felt her pupils contract.

She stared at Xu Tianyuan's face for two seconds, then suddenly sucked in a breath.

"You're the useless sixth prince?"

With Nana's reminder, the others quickly recalled the rumors circulating around town.

Their expressions were quite a sight.

"Holy shit! How did this guy end up in the villa district?"

"Don't tell me he sneaked in?"

"Maybe he joined our academy?"

"What the hell! Someone like him deserves to be in the same academy as us?"

Mi Jia folded his arms, finding Xu Tianyuan more irritating the longer he looked at him.

He was a notorious troublemaker at the academy, hot-tempered and especially contemptuous of people who coasted through life on their family background.

"A level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster coming to our villa district? Isn't he just here to embarrass himself?"

Xiao Xiafeng was more cautious and lowered his voice in warning.

"Keep your voice down. He's still a prince."

"So what if he's a prince? Does being a prince mean strength doesn't matter?"

Chen Fei curled his lip. "I heard this sixth prince can't even beat a guard in the palace."

"How did he get into the villa district?"

Lin Xi frowned. "That's the strange part."

Wang Shaojie snorted.

"Through the back door, obviously! His dad's the emperor!"

They were all talented students the academy devoted special attention to cultivating. With their eyes set high above their heads, they utterly looked down on the infamous Xu Tianyuan.

They spoke without any restraint, one remark after another, none of them quiet.

In their eyes, what right did a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, a wastrel who visited brothels every day, have to live in the villa district?

What sort of people lived in the villa district?

Either the academy's finest talents or distinguished guests of noble standing.

Xu Tianyuan qualified as neither.

"Bad luck for you."

Xu Tianyuan couldn't be bothered to prove himself.

His stomach had begun an even more intense protest, rumbling louder than before. Arguing with these people would be nothing short of wasting his life.

All he wanted now was to hurry off and eat.

Staying here any longer was a waste of time.

"I happen to live in Villa 007."

Xu Tianyuan shrugged. "So what? What can you do about it?"

With that, he waved a hand.

"Bye-bye."

Xu Tianyuan waved and turned to leave.

Sixteen years of experience had taught him that trying to reason with a bunch of self-important people was the world's worst bargain.

For every sentence you said, they threw back ten. In the end, neither side convinced the other, and you wasted enough time to eat an entire meal.

With that time, he might as well check what dishes the cafeteria was serving tonight.

After only a couple of steps, he remembered that his clothes were torn and his upper body was still bare, so he hurried back to his villa to change.

Only then did he stroll leisurely out of the villa district, his retreating figure unhurried and his steps light, humming some unknown little tune.

"The sun shines overhead, the flowers smile at me, the little birds say, morning, morning, morning, why are you carrying a bag of explosives?"

"I'm off to blow up the school, and the teacher doesn't know..."