Chapter 176 The Arrogant Qin Hao

The sound of ribs breaking rang out continuously.

"Pfft!" Yang Wei spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolled back, and he almost fainted from the pain.

Relying on the absolute suppression of his cultivation base, Yang Wei couldn't even touch the corner of Qin Hao's clothes.

He could only act like a human punching bag, passively taking the beating.

Soon, Yang Wei had swollen up completely like a pig's head, to the point where he could barely open his eyes.

Yet, he simply couldn't admit defeat.

After all, the injuries he sustained, while looking miserable, were all superficial.

According to the assessment rules, one would only be judged defeated if they lost the ability to fight or were knocked off the stage.

Yang Wei recovered a bit of mobility amidst the excruciating pain.

He simply gave up on pointless resistance, borrowed the force of Qin Hao's punch, rolled along the ground, and scrambled desperately toward the edge of the competition stage.

As long as he fell off this ring, everything would be over.

However, Qin Hao had long since seen through his plan.

Just as half of Yang Wei's body had already extended beyond the edge of the ring, and a glimmer of hope for relief had just risen in his heart.

A large foot descended from the sky and stomped heavily onto his back.

Qin Hao had appeared behind him at some unknown moment.

He looked down at Yang Wei from his superior position, revealing a 'Dragon' King smile.

"I didn't say you could leave."

Qin Hao exerted force with his right leg, kicking Yang Wei directly back to the center of the ring.

Yang Wei slid over ten meters on the bluestone floor, leaving behind a shocking trail of blood.

At this moment, he could be described as unable to lose even if he wanted to, and unable to win even if he wanted to.

He was as frustrated as one could possibly be.

Qin Hao strode forward, walking unhurriedly toward the center of the ring.

He seemed to thoroughly enjoy this process of bullying the weak, and this feeling of holding others' lives in his hands greatly satisfied his twisted heart.

Qin Hao raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and from time to time, he would smile at Gu Xianer in the spectator seats.

Seeing Qin Hao's smile, Gu Xianer frowned slightly, a trace of imperceptible repulsion flashing in her eyes.

She always felt that the current Qin Hao was somewhat different from the Qin Hao in her memories.

But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different.

Although Gu Xianer admired the strong, she found Qin Hao's behavior of using a Golden Core cultivation base to bully a Foundation Establishment Disciple to be despicable.

A true powerhouse should challenge stronger existences rather than seeking a sense of superiority from the weak.

Qin Hao's actions showed a lack of stature and were truly beneath contempt.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for indirectly affecting the image of the Son of Luck, causing the Daughter of Luck, Gu Xianer, to decrease her favorability towards him. Obtained 1000 villain points.]

Lin Xiao subconsciously looked toward Gu Xianer.

He saw that she was dressed in a moon-white fairy dress, her skin like snow, and her beauty was unparalleled.

Although the style of the dress was conservative, it still couldn't hide those undulating, proud assets.

Her waist was slender enough to be held in one's hand, and beneath the hem of her dress, a pair of fair, beautiful legs could be faintly seen.

This dignified and serene demeanor only made Lin Xiao feel a surge of heat.

"It seems it's time to add more fuel to the fire for Qin Hao."

Seeing Yang Wei being tortured by Qin Hao until he was barely human, the Disciples off-stage began to discuss it one after another:

"This Qin Hao is truly a villain! Relying on his overwhelming cultivation base, he bullies his fellow Disciples like this!"

A Disciple in green clothes clenched his fists, his face full of indignation.

A fatty standing next to him shook his head repeatedly, his tone full of disdain:

"Indeed! According to the academy rules, those at the Late Stage of the Golden Core can enter the Inner Court without an assessment."

"Yet, to show off, this Qin Hao actually gave up his exemption qualification."

"He even hypocritically claimed that he didn't want to take the backdoor and wanted to fight his way in with his real ability. How hypocritical!"

"He only knows how to bully us Outer Sect Disciples. If he has the ability, he should go and compete with the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters on the Jiahao Ranking!"

"Sigh." An older Outer Sect Disciple sighed, his face full of helplessness. "Is there really no one in the entire Outer Sect who can curb his arrogant attitude?"

The crowd fell silent.

The Late Stage of the Golden Core was indeed a dimension-crushing blow in the Outer Sect.

Among the Outer Sect Disciples present, no one could surpass him.

Just then, a sweet-looking woman shook her head and sighed:

"It's a pity that Senior Brother Lin Xiao is not in the academy; otherwise, he would definitely be able to extinguish Qin Hao's arrogant attitude."

The woman was wearing a light blue dress, her hands folded across her chest, looking at Qin Hao with disdain.

Hearing the name Lin Xiao, someone asked in confusion.

"Who is this Lin Xiao?"

Because Lin Xiao had always been very low-key while at the academy, and he had stayed for a very short time, coupled with his unpredictable whereabouts.

Therefore, there were still quite a few Outer Sect Disciples in the academy who did not know him.

Hearing someone ask about Lin Xiao, the woman in the blue dress immediately perked up.

She puffed out her chest, her eyes shining:

"You don't even know Senior Brother Lin Xiao? When Senior Brother Lin Xiao participated in the entrance assessment, he displayed a Nascent Soul cultivation base!"

"Nascent Soul?!" Several Outer Sect Disciples around them gasped.

Even in the Inner Court, the Nascent Soul stage was an extremely rare existence.

"Not only that!" The woman in the yellow dress held her chin with both hands, her expression full of undisguised admiration.

"Senior Brother Lin Xiao is also handsome and dashing, with an extraordinary bearing. He is the most handsome man I have ever seen in the whole world!"

Hearing the woman's words, someone next to her rubbed his chin and spoke slowly.

"Listening to you say that, I do remember something."

"I had heard others mention it before, saying that among this year's new students, there was a Nascent Soul Disciple under the age of twenty. But I thought they were just bragging, so I didn't take it seriously."

"After all, no one in the academy has ever seen this person make a move, so whether his cultivation base is truly at the Nascent Soul stage cannot be verified."

In the crowd, a thin-looking man looked thoughtful and spoke slowly.

"If I remember correctly, the Saint of the Primordial Holy Land in the Eastern Region also seems to be called Lin Xiao."

"The night before last at an inn, I heard my cousin-in-law from the Eastern Region say that this person rescued countless female cultivators on Luoli Island a while ago, and later killed the Soul Hall demonic cultivators with thunderous means, causing quite a stir in the Eastern Region."

As soon as his voice fell, someone seemed to have discovered a blind spot.

"Wait a minute, why were you staying at an inn with your cousin-in-law the night before last?"

The thin man gave a light cough and hurriedly changed the subject:

"Ahem, shouldn't the focus of this matter be on Lin Xiao? You have to know that the Soul Hall was one of the top forces in the Central Continent tens of thousands of years ago!"

Hearing this, the crowd's favor and curiosity toward Lin Xiao rose again.

Lin Xiao, sitting in the corner, could not help but smile as he listened to the crowd's discussion.

He did not expect that even though he had long left the academy, his legend was still circulating there.

Above the high platform.

The various Deacon Elders on the Elder's platform were all frowning at this moment.

Originally, the academy's policy of not allowing Disciples to surrender was intended to temper the Heart-Nature of these Disciples, so that they would not develop thoughts of retreat in desperate situations.

But they never expected that someone would actually exploit this loophole to humiliate their fellow Disciples.

Even if the talent Qin Hao displayed at this moment was strong, they were very disgusted by such behavior.

In fact, the reason Qin Hao had become like this.

Besides being his own fault, it was also inseparable from Lin Xiao.

Since practicing the Heart-Burning Emotion-Extinguishing Art, Qin Hao's heart had become increasingly twisted.

There was a fire in his heart that he could never vent, and these people who had once spoken rudely to him naturally became the objects of his venting.

Lin Xiao's lips curled up slightly, and then he walked toward the high platform, bowing to the Elders.

"Disciple Lin Xiao would also like to sign up for the assessment."