"Thud, thud, thud..."
The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor drew closer and closer, then stopped outside Lin Fan's dormitory door.
"Click..."
The door opened, and their eyes met. Lin Fan's gaze was calm, while the burly man at the door went from surprised to vicious.
"Brat, don't you know this is my damn room?" The burly man grinned savagely, casually tossed his bundle onto the floor, then flexed his fists as he advanced on Lin Fan.
His towering frame, over 1.9 meters tall, exerted immense pressure. Ordinary people would instinctively fear him on sight, and he enjoyed the awe on their faces.
But he was disappointed. Lin Fan's expression remained calm, and he looked at him as though he were a clown.
"I really don't like that look in your eyes. I hope you can keep it up when I break your arms and legs!" Lu Hao's expression grew increasingly savage.
He came up to Lin Fan and swung a palm at his face. Lin Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, suppressed the urge to slap this big fellow to death, and used Gale Steps to retreat.
Lu Hao looked slightly surprised. "Entry-level Gale Leg? Too bad I know it too. You can't escape."
With that, he used Gale Leg to chase after Lin Fan, his palm continuing toward Lin Fan's face.
Lin Fan's expression turned cold. His right foot shot out, striking Lu Hao's right foot just as he raised it. Lu Hao lost his balance and stumbled forward.
Lin Fan's palm greeted him.
"Smack!"
A crisp slap echoed through the dormitory. Lu Hao's face went from dark to livid, his teeth chattering with rage.
"Aah!" He threw back his head and roared. "I'll fucking kill you!"
His voice carried throughout the dormitory building and out onto the open ground outside.
Zhang Yu could barely contain his delight and clapped his hands. "Good! Lu Hao really has gone berserk. Better yet if he kills Lin Fan." He waited expectantly.
Many outer courtyard disciples either sighed or fretted.
"It's over. Lu Hao's gone mad. Lin Fan's dead for sure."
"I'm afraid even dying won't be easy for him. Lu Hao loves breaking people's arms and legs."
"What a shame. Lin Fan had such a bright future, and now it's all ruined."
"..."
No one thought Lin Fan could escape this calamity. The gap in their strength was too great.
Inside the dormitory, Lu Hao lunged at Lin Fan, but another light trip from Lin Fan sent him off balance and onto the floor. The faster he charged, the harder he fell.
"Bastard, I want you dead!" Lu Hao pushed himself up with both hands and blasted his lesser-accomplishment Gang-Breaking Fist toward Lin Fan's head with a thousand jin of force.
Humiliated and enraged, he no longer cared whether he killed someone.
Lin Fan used Gale Leg to dash out through the dormitory door, emerging into the corridor and into the onlookers' view.
"Holy shit, Lin Fan actually escaped."
"How did he do it?"
"Is Lu Hao playing cat and mouse?"
Amid everyone's surprise, Lin Fan leaped down from the second floor. A mere three-meter drop naturally could not hurt him.
Lu Hao roared and jumped down after him. Seeing how furious he was, the others instinctively backed farther away, afraid of getting splashed with blood.
After landing, Lin Fan did not flee immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Lu Hao above him.
He flashed a malicious smile, then kicked upward at Lu Hao's vitals.
Everyone present was a man, and they instinctively clamped their legs together. Lin Fan's lineage-ending kick was far too vicious.
Lu Hao's eyes nearly split with fury, but he was in midair with nothing to push off from. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Fan kicked him in the family jewels and sent him flying.
"Aah!"
Lu Hao let out a roar filled with pain and fury. Although his Iron Cloth Shirt training extended to his family jewels, its protection there naturally could not compare to elsewhere.
Even with Lu Hao's perfected Iron Cloth Shirt, this kick hurt enough to make his veins bulge and cold sweat pour over his entire body.
"Hiss..."
Sharp intakes of breath echoed throughout the crowd. Though they felt vindicated, they could not help worrying even more about Lin Fan, because Lu Hao had lost all reason. His eyes were scarlet, making him look like a demon.
Enduring the excruciating pain, Lu Hao charged at Lin Fan with murderous intent. Every muscle in his body tensed as he sought to crush Lin Fan with overwhelming force.
His fist blasted toward Lin Fan's face again. Quite a few people instinctively closed their eyes, afraid of seeing the bloody spectacle of a head exploding.
Zhang Yu's grin stretched all the way to the back of his head. He could hardly wait for what came next.
But his smile soon froze, because Lu Hao's fist missed. Lin Fan merely turned slightly sideways and dodged it.
He got lucky this time. Lu Hao's Gang-Breaking Fist has reached greater accomplishment. He can't keep dodging forever! Zhang Yu secretly gritted his teeth.
But what followed nearly made him grind his teeth to pieces. Every shift of Lin Fan's feet allowed him to evade Lu Hao's attacks with ease.
Nor did Lin Fan merely dodge without fighting back. His fists and feet counterattacked from time to time, each blow precisely striking an opening in Lu Hao's defenses, interrupting his attacks or slamming into his vitals.
Lu Hao roared again and again, but it was nothing more than impotent fury. Anyone with eyes could see that Lin Fan already had him dancing in the palm of his hand.
The onlookers' eyes widened in shock, their jaws dropping to the ground.
"What's going on? Lin Fan's Gang-Breaking Fist and Gale Leg are only at entry level. How is he doing this?"
"Every strike hits an opening in Lu Hao's defenses with perfect accuracy. Naturally, Lu Hao's become his plaything."
"Someone can actually do that? How powerful must his combat instincts be?"
"Of course such people exist. They have a name-combat prodigies."
At the words "combat prodigies," the entire crowd fell silent. The word "prodigy" carried far too much weight. Among the tens of millions of people in Qinghe Commandery, there were currently only seven prodigies, yet Lin Fan was actually being linked to them?
Zhang Yu looked as though he had eaten shit. All his schemes and preparations had become a joke at this moment.
At this rate, never mind Lin Fan having his limbs broken-it would be fortunate if Lu Hao escaped without having his own broken.
Most importantly, the threat Lin Fan posed to him was growing greater and greater, so great that fear involuntarily rose in his heart.
A martial arts genius as well as a combat prodigy-he dared not imagine how quickly Lin Fan's strength would improve if the head steward took him as a disciple. In perhaps half a year, Lin Fan would be able to deal with a lesser-accomplishment Ninth Grade like him with ease.
"Thump!"
Lin Fan kicked Lu Hao to the ground again, sending him crashing face-first into the dirt. This time, Lu Hao did not immediately get up. He had regained some of his reason and knew that if they kept fighting, he would not only lose all face but also get hurt.
Seeing this, Zhang Yu knew his hopes of relying on Lu Hao to kill or cripple Lin Fan had been utterly shattered.
Lin Fan must die. He has to die! he roared inwardly, then hurried away.
Lin Fan's gaze swept across his retreating back, intense killing intent flickering in his eyes. "Zhang Yu, you won't be hopping around for much longer."
He withdrew his gaze and turned it back to Lu Hao, raising an eyebrow. "Big fellow, do you submit?"
Lu Hao clenched his fists. His immense sense of humiliation turned his face as red as a monkey's backside. Without a word, he got up and rushed toward the stairs. He no longer had the face to remain here.
His fellow disciples' gazes stabbed into him like blades.
At this sight, the many outer courtyard disciples could not help grinning. They had suffered plenty at Lu Hao's hands before, and now that he had been humiliated, they were delighted.
When their gazes fell on Lin Fan, their eyes were filled with disbelief and profound awe.