Lin Yunba said through gritted teeth, "Bu Wuchen, I'll remember you!"
"You'd better never cross my path, or else... hmph!"
With that, he flicked his hand, sending two banknotes flying straight toward Bu Wuchen.
"Here's two hundred thousand gold. Buy yourself a decent coffin!"
"Perhaps you'll have a use for it before long."
Just as Bu Wuchen reached out to catch the banknotes shooting unerringly toward him;
Xia Nuoyi suddenly knitted her slender brows and reached out ahead of him-
"Hum~ Sss, ssssss..."
The flecks of ice gathered at the green-robed girl's fingertips erupted in clouds of purple smoke the instant they touched the banknote.
"Purple-blooded heavenly toad miasma?!"
Xia Nuoyi's beautiful eyes narrowed. "Any cultivator below the Divine Communion Realm who touches this poison is certain to die!"
"You even brought out a poison this expensive. I never knew you were so generous, Lin!"
As she spoke, the water-type mystic force Xia Nuoyi had unleashed had already purged the last trace of poison from the banknotes.
At this point, Dean Zhou also spoke. "What makes this purple-blooded heavenly toad miasma so peculiar is that its victims show no reaction at first;"
"Only after three to seven days does the poison take effect, and the victim suddenly drops dead."
"To think that you, the dignified head of the Lin Lineage, could do something so vicious and filthy!"
After his initial shock, Bu Wuchen flew into a rage!
Without Xia Nuoyi's intervention, he would have been doomed to die in as little as three days, or seven at most...
He might not even have understood what had happened by the time he died!
Silently, the intent to kill had taken deep root...
Yet Lin Yunba wore an arrogant look that said, "You can't do anything to me anyway," and played dumb. "What are you talking about? Why don't I understand?"
"There was poison on the banknotes?"
"Even if there really was poison on them, how can you be certain I put it there?"
"You should know that something like a banknote can pass from one person's hands to another's at any time."
"Naturally, some fellow who gave me the banknotes could have applied the poison!"
"But didn't Vice Dean Xia say it herself? Purple-blooded heavenly toad miasma only affects cultivators below the Divine Communion Realm."
"I'm in the Divine Communion Realm!"
"In other words, the poison on this banknote might have been there for a long time. It simply never harmed me..."
Having said that, Lin Yunba looked at everyone's faces, brimming with indignation yet utterly helpless;
The smile at the corners of his mouth grew all the more smug. "Hahaha, everyone, until we meet again!"
With that, he scooped up the unconscious Lin Taoshu in one hand and, after a few darting movements, vanished completely beyond the sea of people...
"That old bastard is utterly shameless!"
Xia Nuoyi cursed indignantly.
Turning around, she handed the two banknotes, each worth one hundred thousand, to Bu Wuchen and did not forget to warn him, "You're far too inexperienced in the ways of the world. You nearly fell into that old bastard's trap. Be more careful from now on."
"All right."
Bu Wuchen nodded in wholehearted agreement, then waved the banknotes in his hand rather showily. "I owe you my life this time, fairy sister. What would you like to eat? My treat."
"Hmph, hmph, I saved your life, you know~"
"You think you can get rid of me with one measly meal?"
The green-robed girl folded her arms, lifted her chin, and raised her eyebrows haughtily.
"Uh, since I owe you such a great debt..."
"How about I take a little loss and treat you to meals for the rest of your life, fairy sister?"
His offhand joke made Xia Nuoyi's face turn bright red, and she stammered in a fluster, "Wh-who wants to spend a lifetime with you? Shameless!"
Only then did Bu Wuchen realize that the women of this world were nowhere near as "uninhibited" as those in the world of his previous life.
"Ahem..."
Fortunately, Dean Zhou, eager to recruit Bu Wuchen into the academy, spoke up and dispelled the awkwardness-
"Bu Wuchen, on behalf of Blood Dragon City Academy, I sincerely invite you to join our Pill Hall!"
"You will enter the academy as a first-class special-talent student;"
"All your privileges and authority will be equal to those of a vice dean at the academy!"
"As for attending classes, that will be entirely up to you."
"I have only one requirement: represent Blood Dragon City Academy in the Hundred Schools League one month from now!"
The moment Zhou Wan'en finished speaking, every teacher and student present erupted into an uproar-
"A-a first-class special-talent student?"
"Senior Bu really has ascended to heaven in a single step!"
"In all of Blood Dragon City Academy's history, only students ranked among the top three in overall strength in successive elite classes have ever been granted that title!"
"And even the best among them were only second-class special-talent students."
"Senior Bu is incredible. He's starting out at the highest rank-a first-class special-talent student!"
"That alone is enough to put him in the academy's history, a towering mountain for countless future juniors to look up to~"
Back when Bu Wuchen first entered the academy, quite a few teachers and students had marveled at his cultivation.
After all, at fifteen or sixteen, his cultivation was already at the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Observation. He could be said to have already stepped more than halfway into the elite class!
Who could have expected that, not long afterward, the boy who had once drawn so many eyes would suffer the tragedy of his cultivation falling again and again?
No one could have imagined that this boy, who had fallen so brutally from the throne of a "future star" into the dust, would one day rise again.
And this time, his achievements surpassed even those of the past!
Just as everyone thought Bu Wuchen would surely accept such generous terms without hesitation;
The boy scratched his head, looking very hesitant. "Well..."
Although the terms Dean Zhou offered could be called brimming with sincerity;
Bu Wuchen was not particularly tempted.
After all, he had the system at his side;
If he simply wanted to grow stronger, the pace of growth from spending his time at Blood Dragon City Academy clearly gave Bu Wuchen little to look forward to.
The lingering imprint of the former Bu Lineage young master's obsession within his body made Bu Wuchen constantly yearn to return to the imperial capital and avenge his grievances!
Unfortunately, the King of Great Liang had spoken with his golden mouth: unless summoned by imperial decree or chosen by Heaven, he could never return...
If Bu Wuchen swaggered back just like that, not only would he be beheaded for defying the sovereign's will, but everyone around him would also be implicated!
That was not an outcome he wished to see.
So he had to grow stronger as quickly as possible;
Strong enough to protect Yao'er and A Chun, and to protect Old Master Bu, who had worried himself sick over him.
Strong enough that, even if he swaggered back into the imperial capital, the emperor high above could only choose to swallow his anger!
To put it bluntly, the "strength" Bu Wuchen wanted was something Blood Dragon City Academy could never give him...
Rather than waste his time here, he might as well venture out on his own!
These were Bu Wuchen's truest thoughts at that moment.
Seeing that he had not agreed, Zhou Wan'en immediately grew anxious. "Young man, please feel free to tell me your concerns!"
"Here in Blood Dragon City... and even in Great Liang's imperial capital, I still have some small measure of influence."
"Perhaps I can help you?"