Chapter 268 Establishing Authority with the First Strike!

The mountain wind stopped abruptly.

Even the air seemed to freeze.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the figure on the jade steps, and only one word echoed frantically in their minds.

Arrogant!

Too arrogant!

This newcomer, this Heavenly Saint Student.

How dare he, at such a moment...

Stand alone and openly provoke every Prodigy in the academy!

"below amethyst rank?! All may come and fight?!"

Those eight words exploded like a clap of thunder.

They roared incessantly in everyone's ears.

That wasn't just a provocation.

That was a declaration of war.

A declaration of war against the entire younger generation of Sky Dome Academy.

A declaration of war against every Genius below the Amethyst Rank!

"He... is he crazy?!"

A tall, thin student in the front row had trembling lips and subconsciously took half a step back, as if intimidated by the dominance contained in those words.

"With the strength of an Early Stage Gold Rank, he dares to say such things? Who does he think he is?!"

"Even with an SSS-Rank Talent, this is far too contemptuous!"

"If the prodigies on the Earth Ranking hear this, they'll want to tear him apart!"

The crowd instantly boiled over.

Shock, anger, disbelief, sarcasm, curiosity... all sorts of emotions mixed together, turning into a buzzing clamor.

Thousands of gazes converged on Jiang Yun.

Flames of jealousy burned, a chill of doubt spread, and a few people had a strange light flashing in their eyes.

This youth.

On what basis did he dare to say such things?

Could it be that he had some Heaven-Defying trump card?

Intense doubt and curiosity welled up in everyone's hearts.

Amidst this chaos, in an inconspicuous corner at the back of the crowd, Fox Immortal stood quietly.

Her signature golden eyes were slightly narrowed at this moment, and a Rare trace of surprise flickered across her cold face.

This guy... she whispered in her heart.

In her impression...

When Jiang Yun was in C City, although he occasionally showed his sharp edge, most of the time he acted in a low-key and cautious manner, one might even say he was calculating every step.

Yet today, the moment he stepped into Sky Dome Academy, he chose to announce his presence in the most overbearing and arrogant way!

Hadn't he always been low-key?

Why did he suddenly become so domineering?

The thought crossed her mind.

Then, a very faint curve formed at the corner of her lips.

However... this domineering behavior...

Is quite to the taste of my Yao Race.

The weak are prey to the strong, and strength is respected.

In the world of the Yao Race...

Humility is often regarded as weakness.

Only dominance and strength can win respect.

Jiang Yun's actions today...

Though arrogant to the extreme...

Happened to align perfectly with the survival Law in the bones of the Yao Race.

Her golden eyes flickered slightly.

She continued to observe the situation with great interest.

In the shadows of the mountain gate.

Several figures who had originally only cast casual glances...

All had intense reactions now.

Thud!

A muffled sound.

On a hidden observation deck.

The Sturdy Youth suddenly stood up straight!

The stone slab beneath his feet was actually cracked by his step.

The muscles all over his body bulged like iron.

An unbelievable, fanatical light shot out from his eyes!

"This kid... is actually this arrogant?!"

His voice was thick.

Carrying an irrepressible excitement.

"He's too much to my taste! Damn it, he's just too much to my taste!"

The Sturdy Youth licked his lips.

Battle Intent boiled in his eyes.

"An Early Stage Gold Rank dares to say such things... interesting! So interesting! My fists are itching so much, I really want to rush down and have a fight with him right now!"

At the corner of another ancient pavilion's eaves.

The White-robed Woman stood quietly.

The mountain wind blew her waist-length silver hair across her exquisite but bloodless face.

Her slender fingers were wound with several strands of almost transparent ice silk. Her movements were originally gentle, but the moment Jiang Yun's declaration fell...

Her fingers suddenly tightened!

Snap...

The wound ice silk instantly pulled taut.

Making a faint sound.

Those ice-blue eyes that should have been lazy and blurred now revealed a visible shock for the first time, even mixed with a hint of a chill as if being offended.

The White-robed Woman was silent for a moment.

The fingers wound with ice silk slowly loosened.

She whispered in a volume only she could hear.

"Madman."

Two words, cold as frost.

But if one looked closely, they would find that in the depths of her eyes, which were like cold pools, a very shallow ripple seemed to have spread out.

Upon the gnarled branches of an ancient pine.

The Green-robed Youth holding a sword remained in a cross-legged position, as if merging with the ancient pine beneath him, silent as the world itself.

But at the instant Jiang Yun's voice fell...

Hum!

The simple ancient sword resting across his knees.

The green glow that was originally just faintly flowing on the scabbard suddenly blazed brilliantly!

As if an ancient sword that had been dormant for a thousand years was awakened by some power, a low but soul-shaking hum came from inside the scabbard!

At the same time.

The Green-robed Youth who had been resting with his eyes closed...

Suddenly opened his eyes!

Swish!!!

Two sharp beams of light shot out from his eyes like lightning!

That was no ordinary gaze.

It was Sword Intent refined to the extreme.

A sharp edge capable of piercing the Void Realm!

There was no expression on his handsome face.

But his thin lips hooked into a slight curve.

That curve was extremely faint.

Yet it was like a crack suddenly opening on an ice field.

Carrying a bone-chilling sharpness.

He softly spat out two words.

"Interesting."

His voice was very soft, so soft that only he could hear it.

But within three zhang of him...

All the falling pine needles suspended for a moment at this time, and then silently crumbled into powder.

He looked down at the long sword on his knees.

The green glow of the scabbard was slowly receding.

But the resonance of Battle Intent coming from inside the scabbard did not cease for a long time.

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and he turned his gaze back to the figure on the jade steps, with a true sense of scrutiny in his eyes for the first time.

"It seems this Heavenly Saint Student is not that simple."

The mountain wind blew over the Peaks.

Stirring up waves of pine forest sounds.

Yet it could not disperse the iron-like, deathly silence currently frozen before the mountain gate.

No!

It wasn't complete silence.

There were also countless heavy breaths.

There were heartbeats like the thumping of drums.

There were gulps from swallowing saliva.

Everyone was stunned by those eight words.

For a moment, they didn't even know how to react.

Only on the jade steps...

The youth who announced he would challenge every Genius below the Amethyst Rank in the entire academy stood with a lonely and proud back like a mountain, radiating an invincible Aura of 'who else but me' and looking down on the world!

That Aura did not come from his Early Stage Gold Rank cultivation.

There were plenty of people present with higher cultivation than him.

It was a kind of momentum.

An unshakable confidence and dominance that seeped from his bones!

It was as if what he said were not wild words...

But a declaration that was about to become a fact!

"He... he really dares..."

A girl covered her mouth, her eyes wide and round.

"Crazy, he's absolutely crazy..."

A companion beside her muttered to himself.

"But... look at him, it doesn't seem like he's joking..."

Finally, someone realized this.

If it were just bluffing, facing the gazes of thousands of people and the stares of those Earth Ranking experts in the shadows, a normal person would have shown a weakness long ago.

But Jiang Yun didn't.

He stood there calmly, his expression indifferent, as if that earth-shattering sentence he just spoke was merely saying the weather was nice today.

This calmness...

Instead made his arrogance seem even more real.

Even more... terrifying.

"You... you...!"

Finally.

Chu Yunfei struggled out of that boundless shock.

His face turned from green to red, and then from red to purple. His chest heaved violently, as if a fire had exploded in his chest!

This bumpkin from C City not only ignored his existence, but now... now he actually dared to say such insanely arrogant words?!

below amethyst rank? All may come and fight?!

Then what was he, Chu Yunfei?

What was his provocation just now?

The performance of a jumping clown?!

"Arrogant! Simply too arrogant!"

Chu Yunfei squeezed these words out from between his teeth.

The Aura all over his body erupted!

This time...

It was no longer a probe like before.

It was an unreserved, full-force release!

The pressure of a Gold Rank Six Beast Tamer descended like a physical mountain!

Boom!!!!

The students standing close by only felt a huge force striking them, and they retreated repeatedly. A few with weaker cultivation even turned pale and almost fell to the ground.

"My god, Senior Brother Chu is truly enraged!"

"This pressure... Gold Rank Six is indeed terrifying!"

"That Jiang Yun is going to have it rough..."

Under everyone's horrified gazes.

Chu Yunfei stared fixedly at Jiang Yun.

He said word by word.

"You bumpkin from C City! You are far too arrogant!"

His voice trembled with extreme anger.

"As far as I know, you're just a rookie who has just advanced to the Early Stage Gold Rank! A sixteen years old Gold Rank Beast Tamer, you are indeed a Genius... but!"

He suddenly took a step forward.

The stone slab beneath his feet cracked into a spiderweb-like pattern with a 'kacha' sound.

"You shouldn't be so arrogant! So contemptuous! I'm telling you, I've seen plenty of geniuses like you! Relying on good talent to be oblivious to the heights of the heavens, in the end..."

A ruthless look flashed in his eyes.

"In the end, they usually break very quickly!"

These words were already nearly a naked threat!

The sound of people gasping for air echoed around.

"Senior Brother Chu's words... are a bit too heavy, aren't they?"

"This is forming a death feud!"

"But that Jiang Yun is indeed too wild, he deserves to be taught a lesson!"

People in the crowd began to shout.

"Senior Chu! Take action and teach this arrogant guy a lesson!"

"Right! Let him know that Sky Dome Academy is not a place where he can act wild!"

"A bumpkin from the countryside really thinks he's invincible just because he has an SSS-Rank Talent?"

"Brother Chu! Get him!"

The few lackeys behind Chu Yunfei were even more excited.

They shouted one after another.

"Brother Chu! Let him see what real strength looks like!"

"Expose his fake tricks! What Heavenly Saint Student? I think he's just a joke!"

"Exactly! An Early Stage Gold Rank dares to bluster in front of Brother Chu, a Gold Rank Six Beast Tamer? He's looking for death!"

Hearing the clamor around him and feeling the egging on from his lackeys behind him, Chu Yunfei's rage burned to the extreme.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Yun.

Waiting for his reaction.

Anger? Fear? Shrinking back?

However.

Jiang Yun just looked at him calmly.

There wasn't even a hint of emotion on his face.

In this eerie confrontation,

Jiang Yun spoke.

His voice was very calm.

So calm it made one's heart turn cold.

"What?"

He tilted his head slightly.

His gaze fell upon Chu Yunfei.

"This Senior Brother Chu... is he going to be the first Genius to challenge this Sacred Student?"

"Boom—!"

These words were like a bucket of oil poured onto a raging fire!

What did he mean by the first Genius to challenge this Sacred Student?!

This was no longer just responding to a provocation.

This was drawing a clear line.

Using the lofty status of a Sacred Student,

he positioned Chu Yunfei as a challenger!

Turning the tables!

An instant reversal!

"My god... he really dares to say it!"

"Is he trying to use Senior Brother Chu as a stepping stone to establish his authority?!"

"So ruthless! These words are harsher than direct insults!"

The crowd erupted in an uproar again.

Everyone understood Jiang Yun's subtext.

You want to provoke me, don't you?

Fine!

Then I'll give you this chance.

But it won't be an equal duel.

Instead, it's you challenging me, the Heavenly Saint Student!

Identity! Status! Posture!

At this moment, they were completely flipped!

Chu Yunfei's face had turned a purplish-black, the veins on his forehead were bulging, and his temples were throbbing.

He felt an unprecedented humiliation.

It felt as if countless needles were pricking his face.

A burning pain.

Using me to set an example?!

He actually wants to use me to establish his prestige?!

"Brother Chu! We can't take this!"

The lackey behind him roared.

"Get him! Brother Chu! Show him how powerful you are!"

"Just an Early Stage Gold Rank, and he dares to be this arrogant?!"

Under the gaze and egging on of the crowd,

Chu Yunfei finally exploded completely.

He took a deep breath.

Forcibly suppressing the rage that was almost out of control.

A string of cold laughs escaped from between his teeth.

"Heh... hehe... Good! Very good!"

A fierce light glinted in his eyes.

"You want to use me to set an example? Fine! So what if this young master is the first one?!"

He took a step forward, his Aura rising once again.

"However! You picked the wrong person to set an example with!"

He grinned savagely, enunciating every word.

"This young master is no soft persimmon! I'm not someone a piece of trash like you can manipulate at will!"

As his words fell,

he changed the subject.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and pointed into the distance.

"The academy has explicit rules! Students are not allowed to fight or provoke each other privately; violators will be severely punished! If you want to fight, it must be done according to the rules!"

He stared at Jiang Yun.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Our distinguished Heavenly Saint Student..."

He deliberately emphasized the word 'distinguished',

full of sarcasm.

"Do you dare to move to the Colosseum? Under the witness of the Law Enforcement Elder and in front of everyone, let's have a fair and square battle?!"

"Let me see if your SSS-Rank Talent is truly worthy of your arrogance!"

The Colosseum.

The official venue of Sky Dome Academy for resolving student disputes and conducting public duels.

All battles are conducted under the supervision of the Law Enforcement Elder,

ensuring fairness.

It also avoids private brawls that could lead to the death or injury of Beast Tamers or Spirit Beasts.

Chu Yunfei made this request.

It seemed like he was following the rules, but in reality, he had hidden motives.

Fighting publicly in the Colosseum,

once defeated, one would completely lose face.

It might even affect Jiang Yun's reputation as the Heavenly Saint Student!

He was forcing Jiang Yun to make a choice.

If he didn't dare to accept the challenge, it would be cowardice.

His arrogant declaration from just now would become a laughingstock.

If he dared to accept... a cold light flickered in Chu Yunfei's eyes.

Gold Rank Six against Early Stage Gold Rank.

He had absolute confidence!

Today, in the Colosseum,

he would beat this arrogant kid until he knelt and begged for mercy!

If he defeated the Heavenly Saint Student, who was currently in the limelight,

his fame would surely resound throughout the academy.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Jiang Yun,

waiting for his answer.

Jiang Yun looked at Chu Yunfei and suddenly smiled.

It wasn't a smile of extreme anger, nor was it a sarcastic one, but rather... a smile with a hint of interest, as if looking at an interesting toy.

In his mind,

information from the Myriad Manifestations Map of Tianqiong automatically surfaced.

The location of the Colosseum was less than three miles away, situated in the trial area on the east side of the academy—a giant open-air venue capable of accommodating tens of thousands of spectators.

An excellent stage.

A thought flashed through his mind.

Today's battle was inevitable.

Since he wanted to establish his authority, he had to do it thoroughly.

So that no one would dare to question it!

As for how many people he would fight,

or who he would fight?

It was still unknown at this moment.

But since he had already said that anyone below amethyst rank could fight, it meant that

today at the Colosseum!

There might be more than one battle!

But it didn't matter.

As long as an Amethyst Rank Beast Tamer didn't intervene,

Jiang Yun had absolute confidence.

Little Fire's current combat power

had long since exceeded the scope of an ordinary Gold Rank Vicious Beast.

Little Skylark's potential was even more unfathomable.

Even if one Spirit Beast found it difficult to fight,

with the two of them cooperating,

plus his hard cultivation and trump cards from these past days... sweeping through the Gold Rank Prodigies of Sky Dome Academy

was no idle boast!

And this Chu Yunfei,

Jiang Yun's gaze fell back onto that face distorted by anger,

would be the first strike to establish his authority today!

If he was going to strike!

He had to do it cleanly and decisively!

Strike so that it awed the entire audience!

Under the tense gaze of the crowd,

Jiang Yun spoke slowly.

Only four words.

"Why not?"

Calm and indifferent, yet carrying a decisiveness that cut through all hesitation.

As his words fell,

he didn't even spare Chu Yunfei another glance.

He turned directly and followed the jade steps down the mountain,

walking toward the direction of the Colosseum.

His steps were steady, and his back was straight.

It was as if he wasn't being forced to accept a challenge,

but was actively heading toward his own battlefield.

As if Chu Yunfei... was just on his path to the Peak,

the first stepping stone that needed to be crushed.

This scene once again left everyone stunned.

He... he just left like that?!

After accepting the challenge, shouldn't they confront each other, exchange harsh words, and then head to the Colosseum together?

But what about Jiang Yun?

He just turned and left,

as if Chu Yunfei wasn't worth staying for even another second!

As if he didn't take Chu Yunfei seriously at all?!

This complete disregard

was more hurtful than any verbal insult!

"Jiang! Yun!"

Chu Yunfei let out a low growl from deep within his throat,

the sound distorted and deformed by extreme rage!

He felt like a clown, like a fool!

All the provocations, all the pressure, and all the harsh words seemed like a boring farce in the other's eyes!

Humiliation!

Monstrous humiliation!

"Good! Good! Good!"

He said the word 'good' three times in a row.

With each word, the Aura on his body surged!

His Gold Rank Six cultivation was released without reservation.

There were even faint waves of air surging around him!

"I'll see just how long you can stay arrogant!"

He slammed his foot onto the ground!

"Rumble—!"

The stone slab beneath his feet completely shattered, sending debris flying!

His whole being turned into an afterimage, carrying monstrous rage and a malevolent Aura as he rushed after Jiang Yun!

"Today in the Colosseum, I will make you pay a painful price for your arrogance!!!"

The roar echoed in front of the mountain gate.

Only then

did the onlookers wake up as if from a dream.

"Go! Quickly, follow them!"

"The Colosseum! They're going to the Colosseum!"

"Heavens, they're really going to fight! Gold Rank Six against Early Stage Gold Rank!"

"Quick, quick, quick! Go grab a seat! If we're late, we won't see anything!"

"This is the Heavenly Saint Student's first battle! We absolutely can't miss it!"

The crowd instantly boiled over, like a floodgate being opened,

surging toward the direction of the Colosseum.

Everyone's faces were filled with excitement, anticipation, curiosity, and schadenfreude.

The front of the mountain gate soon emptied of most people.

Only a few people remained.

Fox Immortal quietly watched the direction where the crowd had gone.

Light swirled in her golden eyes.

The Colosseum... the first battle, huh.

Her lips curled slightly as her figure slowly vanished into the shadows, also heading in that direction.

In the darkness,

the three Earth Ranking experts reacted differently.

The Sturdy Youth laughed loudly.

Carrying a broadsword on his shoulder, he strode after them.

"Interesting! So interesting! I'm going to grab a good spot to see clearly! I hope this Heavenly Saint Student actually has some skill; maybe I'll get a chance to show my face then too!"

The White-robed Woman was silent for a moment.

Her figure drifted up,

like a snowflake, she quietly glided toward the Colosseum.

Atop an ancient pine, the Green-robed Youth slowly stood up.

He held that simple, ancient longsword,

looking at the direction Jiang Yun had left.

Sword Intent swirled in his eyes.

"The first battle...?"

He whispered to himself, then took a step forward.

His figure turned into a streak of green sword light,

disappearing from the spot in an instant.

The mountain breeze finally began to blow again.

Sweeping across the empty mountain gate, the shattered stone slabs, and the shock and clamor that had yet to dissipate.

And everyone's hearts

had already been drawn three miles away,

to the stage that was about to witness the first battle of the most arrogant newcomer Sky Dome Academy had seen in recent years.

The Colosseum!