At that moment, Duan Rong’s eyes were bloodshot red.
After angrily smashing several things, he turned to his father and shouted, “That Li Yunxian doesn’t care at all about those useless beginners in the entry-level classes!”
“Dad, have Yu Juanshu find her and kill her! Make her pay back everything she did to me a thousandfold!!”
Duan Sen’s face was full of impatience as he scolded Duan Rong, “Isn’t it all because of you?”
“I told you to go to the planting area and, even if you had to pretend, put on a gentle and friendly attitude. But you refused to listen!”
“You even went and took on a task! You think you’re clever, huh? Trying to fool me!”
“How could I, Duan Sen, have such a son with the brains of a pig?”
At this, Duan Sen couldn’t hold back his temper any longer and slapped Duan Rong hard.
“Hold your anger in now. No matter what you want to do, wait until this matter is completely over, when no one even remembers it—that’s the right time, understand?”
Duan Sen recalled Li Yunxian’s actions in the grand conference room. “That woman is a troublemaker. It won’t be long before she offends someone else.”
“At that point, we might not even need to intervene ourselves.”
After speaking, Duan Sen looked at his son’s foolish, defiant face and suddenly felt powerless. He stood up and waved his hand.
“The Xuanwen Secret Realm is about to open. Juanshu needs to stabilize his ranking to enter the Secret Realm. Don’t bother him with your problems.”
Thinking back on how Li Yunxian had disabled his son with just two swords and a kick, Duan Sen sighed deeply.
“That woman has a certain sinister quality. Your brother Juanshu might not even be her match.”
Duan Sen was, after all, at the Nascent Soul Stage—he at least had some insight.
Seeing Li Yunxian’s effortless posture, he knew she hadn’t used her full strength. Meanwhile, his student Yu Juanshu still wasn’t capable of resolving Duan Rong’s issues so lightly.
Duan Rong glared furiously at Duan Sen’s departing figure.
Wait, wait! Why should he wait?
The one humiliated wasn’t his father Duan Sen himself, so it didn’t matter to him; he was only brushed off with words.
Yu Juanshu!
Duan Rong gnawed on the name with venom in his heart.
Did his father even remember who his real son was?!
Avenging him wasn’t more important to his father than Yu Juanshu entering the Xuanwen Secret Realm?!
Duan Rong’s face contorted hideously.
Whether Yu Juanshu was a match for Li Yunxian didn’t matter at all.
It’d be better if they both died together.
Duan Rong slowly stood up and headed toward the door with a clear purpose. Not long after, he saw a young man practicing whip techniques.
“Brother Juanshu…” Duan Rong lowered his eyes to hide the hatred in his heart, choking as he called out.
***
Li Yunxian returned to the villa and reported to Yu Qiyao that everyone else was safe.
With this confirmation from Li Yunxian, all the classmates breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Li Yunxian saw that the group chat, which had been hastily formed after someone learned she had gone to find Yu Qiyao, was starting to discuss taking down the protest banners.
Li Yunxian asked around and found out that these guys were planning to hold a banner protest inside the academy.
They couldn’t beat Duan Rong, but they could still do something.
“Don’t underestimate the young and poor!”
Since they hadn’t officially enrolled yet, only Li Yunxian could take on Duan Rong for now!
In one or two years, when their cultivation levels matched Duan Rong’s, each of them would take turns beating him up!
Tch!
Li Yunxian remembered what Professor Chen Bujian had said not long ago, about the academy’s internal turmoil, and immediately laughed.
She quickly forwarded the banner photos from the group to Yu Qiyao with a message:
Li Yunxian: “By the time everyone’s taken turns beating Duan Rong up, you still haven’t started, huh?”
Yu Qiyao: Sometimes I really wonder if Li Yunxian remembers she’s still depressed?
After teasing Yu Qiyao a bit, Li Yunxian looked back at the group and found a new important message.
“[Image] Xuanwen Token!!! Secret Realm!!! Really want to participate!”
“But looking at the conditions the academy set, it seems none of us qualify [crying].”
“I heard there are Yao at Foundation Establishment Stage and above, plus Hunters inside. Whether there are Golden Core True Persons is unknown. It’s deadly—those with too low a cultivation level probably won’t have a chance.”
“Foundation Establishment, huh… Does Yunxian have a chance? Isn’t Shen Bofeng supposed to be stronger than most at Foundation Establishment?”
“We only have a shot if we’re in the top hundred before the Practice Arena.”
“Duan Rong, ranked over a thousand, is so powerful. I can’t imagine how strong the top hundred are…”
“There will be plenty of chances in the academy. We have a lot of time, especially Yunxian—she’s only Qi Refining Third Layer. No need to rush this Secret Realm.”
Just as Professor Chen said, it would be released before tonight.
Li Yunxian glanced at the original information in the image. It was no different from what was said in the meeting.
Seeing what others posted in the group, Li Yunxian smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, I have a plan.”
Upon reading Li Yunxian’s reply, the group sent a long line of ellipses.
“That sounds like you’re already planning to participate!” one familiar with Li Yunxian joked in the chat.
Li Yunxian smiled and slowly replied with a smiling emoji, tacitly agreeing.
***
The next morning, Li Yunxian didn’t attend Wanwuwu.
Instead, she headed to the Practice Arena.
Seeing Li Yunxian’s recently tumultuous face, many in the Practice Arena couldn’t help but give her more attention.
After all, she almost never came here, and on the rare two occasions she had, something significant happened both times.
—Everyone had dug up that on her very first day at the academy, she was last in the rankings during the initial ranking test and went straight into the Blood Pool without being stopped.
—This matter had a fair amount of discussion among the upperclassmen, though no one knew exactly what Li Yunxian looked like.
Still, the attention was quiet and distant.
No one approached Li Yunxian to speak.
Everyone vividly remembered how fierce she was on the Practice Arena the day before yesterday, nailing someone to the wall to dry.
They had also heard the rumors from the swordsmanship entry-level class yesterday, where Li Yunxian coldly taught the students, defeating them all and winning their respect.
Ferocity and unapproachability were now traits permanently attached to Li Yunxian.
Where to begin?
Faced with this scene…
Li Yunxian felt deeply moved.
Recently, because of the list bidding, whenever she logged into Wanwuwu, people swarmed around her—it was terrifying.
The real-life distance people kept made her feel safe!
Thinking this, she found a familiar-looking senior and walked over. “Excuse me, senior, where is the top hundred Practice Arena?”
The senior was caught off guard—no one expected Li Yunxian to approach her—but hearing Li Yunxian’s surprisingly gentle voice, she quickly relaxed.
The senior stretched out her hand and pointed in a direction.
“There.”
Then, seeing Li Yunxian was not so hard to talk to, she asked, “What are you going to do there?”
Li Yunxian smiled and answered straightforwardly, “I’m going to see how strong the top hundred are.”
“See if there’s anyone I can beat.”
“Know your enemy, know yourself, and you’ll never be defeated.”
Li Yunxian was far from arrogant enough to believe she could definitely take the top spot.
In a cultivation world of over a hundred million people, there were countless extraordinary geniuses, let alone this world with eight billion.
“Do you want the Xuanwen Token?” the senior asked in surprise.
Li Yunxian smiled faintly and glanced at the crowd subtly staring at her. “No one says I can’t want it, right?”
With Li Yunxian’s confident smile, many people in the crowd lowered their heads.
They really… had never even thought about it…