Chapter 99: The Menace

Watching Xiao Yan slowly walking over, Gerla chuckled darkly. He had seen many such rebellious freshmen before, but most of them ended up not faring well. During the enrollment process, dampening the spirits of the new students was almost an unwritten rule at Jia Nan Academy. After all, those who could reach the admission threshold usually had good talent. Such people, in their own small domains, were often pampered and rarely faced ridicule. But entering Jia Nan Academy, where talents emerged in droves, with this mindset would easily lead to conflicts and unnecessary trouble. Therefore, during the enrollment, it was quite a practical and important issue to make the freshmen clearly understand their rank and temper their brashness.

For this unwritten rule, even some of the mentors at Jia Nan Academy did not oppose it. Thus, this tradition had been passed down. Tightening his fists, a faint aura enveloped them, and Gerla laughed darkly. When he first entered Jia Nan Academy, he had also resisted with his talent, but the senior who was at the two-star fighter level only needed one punch to make him smartly run out to sunbathe for half an hour. This personal experience of humiliation made him feel a sense of pleasure in breaking the spirits of new students every time he saw them.

The young man finally stopped in front of Gerla under the watchful eyes of the surrounding crowd.

“Yuer, why didn’t you stop him? Sunbathing is better than being beaten up, right?” Looking at the grinning Gerla, the girls around Xiao Yu couldn’t help but scold her sympathetically.

Standing next to Xiao Yu, Xueni recalled Xiao Yu’s earlier evaluation of Xiao Yan, blinking her bright eyes curiously, she stared at the young man who maintained a calm smile. She really wanted to know if this Xiao Yan really had the terrifying talent that Xiao Yu claimed, which could rival that of a certain enchantress.

Pouting her rosy lips, Xueni clasped her hands in front of her chest, compressing her ample bosom, revealing a deep cleavage. Her eyes flashed with anticipation. The blush on her pretty face had not yet fully faded, making her look extremely seductive.

Xiao Yu stretched her arms lazily, her pair of moderately sized breasts rising proudly. Brushing aside the hair from her forehead, she glanced at the young man’s back and said casually, “Who knows who will suffer more.”

Looking at the two about to fight inside the tent, the twenty or so freshmen outside in the blazing sun also cast curious glances. Before choosing to sunbathe, they had not been without resistance, but these resistances were all suppressed by the overwhelming strength of the seniors. Now, seeing someone challenging the authority of these seniors, they were happy to watch, hoping to see others embarrass themselves.

“Little guy, are you ready?” Very much enjoying the attention, Gerla’s smile grew wider. His squinted eyes swept over Xiao Yan, and he laughed.

“Let’s start,” Xiao Yan raised his chin, his flat voice causing everyone to pause.

“Hehe, your attitude is great,” somewhat surprised by Xiao Yan’s response, Gerla’s heart surged with anger. Could this be considered discrimination against him?

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan was too lazy to waste any more words. His gaze idly fixed on the other’s face, which was filled with a hint of anger.

“Good!” The other’s calmness wounded Gerla’s pride. With a cold laugh, he suddenly leaned forward, clenching his right fist, and sent a powerful surge of aura, slamming it fiercely toward Xiao Yan’s head.

Seeing Gerla use such great force against a freshman, the surrounding crowd frowned.

Lifting his eyelids slightly, watching the rapidly approaching fist, Xiao Yan shook his head slightly. Just before the punch landed, his palm shot forward, intercepting Gerla’s punch firmly.

His palm hardly moved after stopping the punch, as if the force behind the punch had been absorbed into an abyss, without any reaction.

“Speed, slow! Power, weak! Are you really a student of Jia Nan Academy?” Lifting his face, Xiao Yan shook his head, speaking softly.

The young man’s mocking tone left the surrounding crowd dumbfounded. Astonished gazes focused on the point where the fist and palm met, unable to believe that a freshman could so easily block the attack of a one-star fighter.

Originally smiling, Robe’s face gradually darkened as he watched the scene, his cold gaze fixed on the young man. It seemed he had misjudged this time. If he had known, he would have let someone stronger handle this.

“Bastard! You’re asking for it!” Being publicly humiliated by a freshman, Gerla’s face turned red, and he roared, aiming a fierce kick at Xiao Yan’s abdomen.

His face indifferent, Xiao Yan’s idle left hand, like swatting a mosquito, casually slapped down, hitting Gerla’s ankle, instantly causing a bruise.

“Whew.” The intense pain from his ankle made Gerla suck in a breath of cold air. The anger on his face intensified, and he quickly stepped back, freeing himself from Xiao Yan’s grasp. Using the ground for leverage, he sprang into the air, spinning fiercely. A faint green aura appeared on his right leg, and a wind-blade-like light covered it, slicing down at Xiao Yan’s head.

“Despicable, using ‘Wind Blade’! That’s a high-level Yellow-rank skill, how shameless!” Seeing the blurry blade on Gerla’s leg, the girls instantly shouted angrily.

Seeing Gerla’s actions, Xiao Yu’s brows furrowed slightly, but then relaxed. Even when Galile used a Black-rank skill, Xiao Yan still broke his arm. She didn’t believe that this one-star fighter could cause much damage to Xiao Yan.

Raising his face, the sharp wind stung Xiao Yan’s face slightly. Slowly lifting his palm, he aimed at the falling Gerla.

“Go away!” His lips moved, a faint voice uttering a command.

With the command, a fierce invisible force burst from Xiao Yan’s palm, striking Gerla’s chest.

“Poof!” Hit hard in the chest, Gerla, with a cold face, turned pale. Instantly, his body shot backward, spewing blood.

“Thud.” After flying more than ten meters, he crashed heavily onto the scorching stone ground. Gerla’s body twitched, his terrified eyes staring at the young man who still held his hand out. Feeling a tightness in his chest and a momentary blackness, he finally fainted.

From Gerla’s powerful attack to his sudden ejection, only a few seconds had passed. As the crowd both inside and outside the tent witnessed the quick resolution, they fell into a hush.

Under the blazing sun, the freshmen stared at the unconscious Gerla nearby, their hot gazes soon shifting to the young man standing in the shadow. This was the first time they had seen a freshman defeat a senior, and the age of this newcomer seemed even younger than them.

A few of the prettier girls among the freshmen stared at the young man in black, their eyes filled with admiration, almost twinkling with adoration. If it weren’t for the inappropriate setting, they might have screamed in excitement to express their admiration.

“As expected… terrifying talent,” Xueni, fixated on Xiao Yan, marveled, shaking her head. The latter proved the truth of Xiao Yu’s earlier words with facts.

“Yu… Yuer, what level is this person? It seems he has already become a fighter,” staring at the young man in black, the girl next to Xiao Yu asked hesitantly.

It was a joke. To easily beat a one-star fighter meant his strength was already stronger than most here.

Xiao Yu smiled sweetly, fixing her gaze on the young man in the field, her eyes flashing with an unnameable radiance. After a moment, mimicking Xiao Yan’s gesture, she spread her hands and said, “When we fought, I couldn’t even beat him. So, do you think he is a fighter?”

“Tsk, such a young fighter, at Jia Nan Academy, that’s top-tier talent. Hehe, Yuer, you have a good eye. But isn’t he your cousin? How about giving him to us?” the pretty girl teased.

“Get lost, you lecherous woman!” blushing, Xiao Yu pushed her away and muttered, “I already said we’re not blood-related…”

Her sudden thought made her ears turn red, and she hurriedly chided herself mentally, then quickly calmed down, no longer daring to think wild thoughts.

Compared to the laughter and teasing on Xiao Yu’s side, Robe’s face became even darker. Glancing at Xiao Yan, his lips twitched.

“Now, no need to go out, right?” Rolling down his sleeves, Xiao Yan glanced at Robe, smiling faintly.

“Hehe, little brother, you’re truly a hidden talent,” the grimness on his face gradually disappeared, and Robe forced a smile, walking up and patting Xiao Yan’s shoulder, chuckling coldly, “Don’t get too cocky. Although you have some talent, there are many more outstanding people at Jia Nan Academy. Your temper will make you suffer there!”

“Thanks for the reminder,” nodding with a smile, Xiao Yan said cheerfully, “But I believe you don’t have the qualification.”

Xiao Yan wasn’t a fool. He knew very well about Robe’s hostility towards him. Hence, there was no need to pretend in front of him. Even if a fight broke out, Xiao Yan wouldn’t fear him. And if provoked further… killing and disposing of a body wasn’t something he hadn’t done before.

Although Robe’s hostility was due to a misunderstanding, Xiao Yan had no intention of explaining. To be blunt, Robe wasn’t qualified. Besides, despite their usual bickering, Xiao Yan genuinely didn’t want Xiao Yu to be harmed by this hypocritical person.

Hearing Xiao Yan’s blunt words, Robe’s smile turned grim, his cold eyes fixed on Xiao Yan, his face twitching, as if he wanted to cut Xiao Yan into a thousand pieces.

Ignoring the meaningless glare, Xiao Yan’s composed smile was much more appealing than Robe’s forced, fake smile.

“Arrogant kid, once at Jia Nan Academy, I’ll take good care of you!” Robe gritted his teeth, laughing coldly.

Rubbing his cheek, Xiao Yan said softly, “I don’t know about other places, but if you keep showing off, do you believe I can make you unable to leave Wu Tan City?”

Robe’s pupils shrank, his lips twitching as he stared at the young man, noticing a trace of cold indifference in his black eyes.

His body shuddered imperceptibly, and as he met the cold black eyes, Robe felt a chill in his heart, as if facing a fierce wolf alone during a mission.

Swallowing hard, Robe’s threat died in his throat.

“Very good,” taking a deep breath, Robe tried to drive away the chill that made him feel ashamed. Biting his teeth, he nodded at Xiao Yan, deciding to have someone cultivate a good relationship with this little brother in the future.

Gazing at Robe, Xiao Yan was considering whether to find a chance to make this guy stay permanently in Wu Tan City, to avoid future trouble, when a gentle, soft female voice made his heart soften.

“Hehe, the little one has quite a bit of talent. It seems I’ve found a treasure this time.”