When the last handful of sand in the hourglass ran out, Dean Zhou announced before everyone-
"The winner of this pill duel is Bu Wuchen!"
"According to the blood pact signed by both parties, the loser, Lin Taoshu, must immediately pay Bu Wuchen two hundred thousand gold;"
"And perform three bows and nine kowtows, acknowledging him as his 'ancestral master.'"
"Furthermore, because of Lin Taoshu's depraved conduct as a teacher, he is hereby stripped of his position as Pill Hall master, expelled from the academy, and barred from ever being employed here again!"
The stern words, amplified by a mystic voice pouring through his throat, made Lin Taoshu tremble uncontrollably.
Perhaps it was from fear, or perhaps from anger...
That was two hundred thousand gold!
Even with his wealth as a Mortal Realm Ninth Layer alchemist, producing such an enormous sum at once would certainly wound him to the bone.
What the old fellow found even harder to accept was that he actually had to kowtow and admit his fault before all the teachers and students?!
And he even had to honor that greenhorn as his "ancestral master"?
What kind of joke was this!
This was no longer merely a matter of his personal dignity.
As a member of the Lin Lineage who associated with its patriarch as an equal, and also the Lineage's strongest alchemist Attendant...
If Lin Taoshu truly kowtowed now and acknowledged that master;
The entire Lin Lineage would become the laughingstock of Blood Dragon City in the days to come!
He, Lin Taoshu, would also become a sinner reviled by the entire Lineage.
No... no!
I'd rather break the pill duel's blood pact and ruin my reputation forever than acknowledge that little bastard as my ancestral master!
Having made up his mind, Lin Taoshu turned and fled without the slightest hesitation!
Yet the instant he jumped off the martial platform, he suddenly discovered that his legs would no longer obey him?
He looked down-
A layer of glittering ice had frozen his legs firmly to the ground!
"You old bastard, trying to slip away before you've paid the stakes stipulated in the blood pact?"
The speaker was Xia Nuoyi.
Her slender, fair hand clasped at empty air, specks of ice crystals gathering at her fingertips.
In truth, Lin Taoshu, who had been piled up to the "Qi Control Realm Seventh Layer" with medicinal resources, was quite formidable in terms of mystic cultivation.
Yet now, the girl in green silk lifted him into the air like an eagle snatching a chick, leaving him utterly powerless to resist!
As he felt the bitterly cold force swiftly freezing the major acupoints in his legs, Lin Taoshu's heart plunged into the abyss.
Two words flashed through his mind-It's over!
Just then-
"Stop right there!"
An explosive shout shook the academy.
Everyone saw an incredibly swift figure streak over the heads of those gathered at the martial grounds;
Then the newcomer's feet, like enormously heavy iron boulders, struck the martial platform with a boom, smashing two enormous footprints into the spot where he landed!
Teachers and students soon recognized him-
"Huh? The Lin Lineage's patriarch, Lin Yunba?"
"Why is he here?"
"Those Lin Lineage disciples at the academy must have sneaked back to their Lineage to report when they saw things going badly!"
"Heh, with the Lin patriarch here in person, we're in for a good show..."
No matter the world, there was never a shortage of spectators who wanted the trouble to grow.
Lin Yunba, patriarch of the Lin Lineage's main branch, was past fifty;
His burly frame resembled a great black bear standing on two legs!
His appearance alone conveyed a sense of explosive strength.
Looking deeper, his "Divine Communion Realm Fourth Layer" mystic Qi cultivation ranked among the top three in all of Blood Dragon City!
The only people whose mystic cultivation could firmly surpass Lin Yunba's were City Lord Ding Moxun and Dean Zhou Wan'en.
Compared with him, even the patriarchs of the Li Lineage and Sun Lineage were half a notch weaker...
After leaping onto the martial platform, Lin Yunba pressed a palm toward the ice crystals at Lin Taoshu's feet from a distance-
Whoosh~
Crack!
A scarlet flame force, its strength controlled just right, melted all the ice crystals on Lin Taoshu's legs in an instant.
"Lord Patriarch!"
Lin Taoshu immediately felt as though he had grasped a life-saving straw.
Lin Yunba gave a quiet "Mm," signaling for him to remain calm.
Then he turned his gaze toward the youth nearby and said with a chilling expression, "You're that little villain called Bu something?"
Bu Wuchen raised an eyebrow.
He had always been the sort to return a yard of respect for every inch he received.
Now, seeing the old fellow adopt such a condescending attitude right from the start;
He mimicked the man's tone, pointed at Lin Taoshu, who had long since lost his nerve, and said haughtily, "You're the dog master of that homeless cur?"
Lin Yunba had never imagined that a junior in Blood Dragon City would dare act so wildly right before his eyes.
"Impudent villain!"
As he roared the curse, chilling murderous intent already filled Lin Yunba's eyes!
The terrifying pressure of the Divine Ability Realm poured down on Bu Wuchen like a torrential rainstorm!
Just then, a small, thin figure flashed over and blocked Lin Yunba's path.
It was Dean Zhou Wan'en.
He merely stood there quietly, and Lin Yunba's pressure, like a primordial beast, seemed to have been stopped before a bottomless abyss, unable to advance another step!
Zhou Wan'en knitted his aged brows and shouted angrily, "Lin Yunba, you're growing more and more arrogant!"
"You actually dare bully a student of my Blood Dragon City Academy right in front of me!"
At those words, Lin Yunba had no choice but to dampen his anger somewhat;
Yet his eyes remained fixed on Bu Wuchen as he said, "Dean Zhou, isn't it inappropriate for you to shield your own like this?"
"That brat spoke disrespectfully first. Am I not even allowed to use my mystic power's pressure to give him a little punishment?"
"Oh? Is that so?"
At that moment, Xia Nuoyi stepped lightly forward, calmly shielding Bu Wuchen behind her.
Then she retorted to Lin Yunba, "But as far as I'm concerned, you were clearly the one who treated this student of ours rudely first, weren't you?"
Lin Yunba snorted. "Hmph, what status does he have? Am I supposed to treat him with the utmost courtesy?"
"Throwing your status around to bully someone?"
The girl in green silk gave a flippant smile. "Ha, isn't that precisely what I'm good at?"
"Would Patriarch Lin care to trade a few moves with me?"
At her words, Lin Yunba's already furrowed brows drew even tighter!
Dean Zhou alone already far exceeded him in cultivation;
And now a troublesome Demoness had come along too...
Although Lin Yunba was conceited, he understood that he was not qualified to fight both of these two to the death at once!
He extended a hand, pointed straight at the youth sheltered behind them, and sneered, "Hehehe, I originally thought that, since you first defeated and killed the little genius from my Lin Lineage's collateral branch in a wagered duel;"
"And then managed, by a stroke of luck, to beat my Lin Lineage's Attendant by half a notch in a pill duel, you could more or less count as someone of note!"
"But now it seems..."
"You're nothing but a pitiful worm who can only hide under a woman's protection!"
Lin Yunba deliberately taunted him, hoping to make the youth's blood rush to his head and rob him of his reason.
If the boy took the initiative to challenge him because of it, that would play right into his hands...