Huo Wushuang's words were extremely nasty, and the students around him began snickering along.
In their eyes, Chen Jin really did look like a swindler who relied on a handsome face to deceive innocent girls.
Huo Wu's pretty face instantly flushed red with anger, her chest heaving.
"Huo Wushuang!"
"You won't even believe me?"
"Could something I saw with my own eyes possibly be false?"
Huo Wushuang looked at his furious younger sister and sighed helplessly.
"Huo Wu, you grew up pampered by Father and everyone else. You have no idea how treacherous this world is."
"Some people look perfectly respectable on the surface, but behind everyone's backs, all they do is strut around swindling others."
Faced with Huo Wushuang's intimidating stare and threats, Chen Jin's expression did not change in the slightest.
He did not even raise his eyelids any farther.
"I'm not a swindler."
Chen Jin spoke calmly, his voice quiet yet reaching everyone's ears clearly.
Hearing this, Huo Wushuang reacted as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world.
"Hahahaha!"
"Not a swindler?"
"Then prove it to me!"
Chen Jin looked at the wildly laughing Huo Wushuang without wasting any more words.
He slowly extended his right hand.
"There's no need to prove anything."
"A fight between us will suffice."
Huo Wushuang froze on the spot.
"You want to fight me?"
The red-haired young man picked at his ear, wondering whether something had gone wrong with his hearing.
The contempt on his face turned into a peculiar astonishment.
Chen Jin shrugged, his expression as unruffled as still water.
He did not even change his stance.
"No amount of talk beats an actual fight."
His words spread through the air.
A deathly silence fell over their surroundings.
The watching students of Blazing Fire Academy exchanged glances before erupting into an uproar that soared skyward.
"Has this guy gone mad?"
"Challenging Senior Wushuang? Does he have any idea that Senior Wushuang is a rank-forty-three power attack system Battle Soul Ancestor?"
"A three-ring Soul Elder who's only just reached rank thirty is actually provoking a Soul Ancestor. He really doesn't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is."
"His brain must be broken. Does he think a handsome face lets him swagger around Blazing Fire Academy however he pleases?"
Comments rose one after another, brimming with mockery of Chen Jin for overestimating himself.
Huo Wu grew frantic at the sight and darted in front of Chen Jin.
She spread her arms to block him.
"Chen Jin, don't be rash!"
Her eyes were filled with anxiety as she gestured repeatedly and lowered her voice to dissuade him.
"My brother is very strong. His martial soul is a top-tier power attack system martial soul. He has almost no equal at his rank, and he excels at attacking."
"His flames are corrosive. Once you start fighting, you could easily be seriously injured, or even suffer damage to your meridians."
Huo Wu was deeply worried.
Although Chen Jin could kill a six-thousand-year Soul Beast, a human Soul Master's combat intelligence and coordination of soul skills were far beyond anything a Soul Beast could match.
Moreover, Huo Wushuang was a genuine rank-forty-three Soul Ancestor, with combat experience that ranked among the best of the Heaven Dou Empire's younger generation.
Chen Jin did not step back.
He watched Huo Wushuang quietly, without the slightest retreat in his golden-red eyes.
His resolute gaze left Huo Wu, who stood between them, momentarily dazed.
The words of warning on the tip of her tongue were forcibly swallowed back down.
Huo Wushuang noticed Chen Jin's gaze.
There was no fear in those eyes, no hesitation, only an almost absolute confidence.
"Hahahaha!"
Huo Wushuang was so furious that he laughed instead, his laughter carrying the excitement of being challenged.
It shook the surrounding leaves into a rustling chorus.
"Good! You've got guts!"
"Since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, I'll grant your wish!"
"I accept your challenge!"
The two walked side by side toward the training grounds deep within the academy.
Huo Wushuang's strides were heavy and powerful, each step falling with the force of a tremendous weight.
Chen Jin appeared much more relaxed, his robes whiter than snow and his hands clasped behind his back, as though strolling through a quiet courtyard.
Huo Wushuang looked at the white-robed man beside him, the aversion in his eyes growing stronger.
At Blazing Fire Academy, Huo Wushuang had always been like the moon surrounded by admiring stars, while Huo Wu was also the pearl cherished in the academy's palm.
Now, Huo Wu was defending a fellow of unknown origins so fiercely that she would even talk back to her own brother.
This left Huo Wushuang extremely displeased.
He had to use his strength to beat this swaggering swindler back into his true form.
The news seemed to sprout wings, spreading through half the academy.
Blazing Fire Academy's open-air training grounds soon filled with a dense crowd of students who had hurried over upon hearing the news.
The crimson stone flooring radiated warmth beneath the lingering rays of the setting sun.
The air was filled with dry heat.
"Have you heard? A three-ring Soul Elder from outside is challenging Senior Wushuang."
"Three rings? Isn't he just here to make a fool of himself?"
"Who knows? I heard Senior Huo Wu brought him back herself."
Several female students in red uniforms clustered together in the crowd.
Their gazes fell on Huo Wu at the edge of the grounds, their voices dripping with jealousy.
"Could Huo Wu have taken a fancy to this man and tried to use her authority to bring him into the academy, only for Senior Wushuang to catch her?"
"He really is quite handsome. Too bad he's brainless. Senior Wushuang will probably beat him until he's searching the ground for his teeth."
The gossip reached Huo Wu's ears.
Huo Wu's willow-leaf brows shot up, and her angry gaze swept sharply toward them.
Soul power surged around her.
The female students blanched with fright, hastily shrinking back and shutting their mouths, not daring to say another word.
Having silenced the gossip, Huo Wu turned her gaze back to the center of the grounds.
Without realizing it, she twisted the hem of her clothes between her hands.
Although she had witnessed Chen Jin's might when he faced the Blazing Fire Azure Sparrow head-on, Huo Wushuang was, after all, her own brother, and his strength was formidable.
No matter who was injured in this battle, it was not something Huo Wu wanted to see.
At the center of the grounds, the two stood facing each other twenty meters apart.
Huo Wushuang folded his arms across his chest, his manner composed as he radiated the pressure unique to a Soul Ancestor.
"Since you're a newcomer and your soul power level is low, you can make the first move."
The red-haired young man held his head high, his tone indulgent.
It was as though he were instructing a junior.
Chen Jin shook his head.
"I only just obtained my third soul ring, so I don't know how to gauge the force of my blows."
"It would be best if you attacked first."
At those words, the noisy training grounds grew so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Huo Wushuang's face turned livid.
Veins bulged on his forehead, and he lowered his folded arms.
To Huo Wushuang, those words were a naked insult.
A three-ring Soul Elder had actually told a rank-forty-three power attack system Soul Ancestor that he "didn't know how to gauge the force of his blows"?
"Arrogant brat!"
Huo Wushuang forced those words through clenched teeth, the fury in his eyes almost erupting.
The next instant, crimson soul power burst from Huo Wushuang's body with a roar.
Two yellow and two purple soul rings-four dazzling rings in all-spiraled up from beneath his feet.
They radiated powerful fluctuations of soul power.
Accompanied by a piercing dragon's roar, the enormous phantom of a One-Horned Fire Tyrant Dragon flashed behind Huo Wushuang before vanishing.
Huo Wushuang's hands swelled.
A layer of crimson dragon scales covered his skin, and his fingernails extended like sharp blades.
Waves of heat spread outward in rings, forcing the students in the front row to retreat repeatedly.
The One-Horned Fire Tyrant Dragon was a supreme fire-attribute martial soul, possessing the lingering oppressive might of dragonkind.
With Martial Soul Possession, Huo Wushuang's eyes took on a crimson hue.
Those were flames with explosive properties.
The surrounding air warped under the intense heat, and his oppressive might surged toward Chen Jin like toppling mountains and overturning seas.
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