The couple didn’t linger in their embrace for long. The young woman Zi Xunyi soon released Yan Zhen and urged him to return, lest the girl Xunyi notice something amiss.
Yan Zhen’s consciousness snapped back to reality. He lifted his head from the table and found Zi Xunyi staring right at him. The moment she saw him awake, she quickly averted her gaze.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment.
Yan Zhen knew Zi Xunyi needed time to think things over, so he had no intention of disturbing her further. He stood up and said, “Then I’ll head back for tonight. I’ll come see you again when I get the chance.”
Zi Xunyi gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.
Yan Zhen waved his hand and turned to leave, but Zi Xunyi called out, “Wait a moment.”
He paused. She rose and walked over to him, her pretty face flushed as she straightened the wrinkles in his collar.
“There you go.”
Yan Zhen scratched his cheek, feeling a touch of embarrassment himself. “Thanks.”
A faint smile tugged at the corners of Zi Xunyi’s mouth. In a gentle voice, she said, “Get some early rest. If you run into any trouble, just come tell me.”
Yan Zhen nodded. He then turned and stepped out of the room, onto the terrace. With a leap, he launched into the air and executed the Starry Sky Dance, transforming into a brilliant streak of starlight that arced through the night sky.
But just as he prepared to land, a powerful aura surged toward him from the side, moving at blinding speed. Yan Zhen had no time to react. The strike shattered his balance, sending him hurtling toward the ground like a cannonball.
Boom!
Dust and debris erupted in a cloud, blotting out the bright moonlight.
Yan Zhen had tumbled head over heels, seeing stars. Every inch of his body throbbed with pain. Fortunately, his physique was tough enough, and he’d managed to summon Mystic Force Armor around his vital spots right before impact. Otherwise, that fall might have left him bedridden for days.
“Damn it—a sneak attack? Who the hell is responsible?”
Yan Zhen slung out one arm. Mystic power exploded from him like a gale, scattering the smoke and revealing his attacker. The sight left him momentarily stunned.
“Wen Canglan?”
The bespectacled man—Wen Canglan, No. 2 on the General Star List, a Nine Star Mystic General, and the only one with the guts to openly pursue Zi Xunyi.
Yan Zhen’s expression darkened. Why had this guy appeared out of nowhere?
Right—earlier, when he and Long Ying had gone to the dining hall with Zi Xunyi, it had drawn a crowd of onlookers. Word must have reached Wen Canglan’s ears. He’d rushed over to investigate, spotted Yan Zhen emerging from the Cliffside Small Building, and couldn’t resist making his move.
—As expected, straying from the script always triggered a chain reaction of problems.
Wen Canglan descended slowly from the air, his face set in a stern mask. Behind his lenses, his eyes gleamed like multifaceted crystals.
That was the Wen family’s bloodline legacy: the Crystal Eye, akin to an insect’s compound vision. It offered exceptional dynamic sight and the ability to pinpoint flaws in an opponent’s mystic power flows—precisely what had let him intercept Yan Zhen mid-flight with such ease.
The glasses perched on his nose served to shield those sensitive Crystal Eyes.
“Junior Brother Yan Zhen,” Wen Canglan demanded coolly, “what were you doing coming out of that small building? That’s no place for you.”
“Where I go is none of your damn business,” Yan Zhen replied coldly. “You’re No. 2 on the General Star List, one of the Inner Academy’s true elites. And yet here you are, ambushing a mere new student. Have you no shame?”
“I went easy on you,” Wen Canglan said without a flicker of emotion, adjusting his glasses. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to talk right now. Outside the academy, you’d already be dead… The real difference between the Inner Academy and the Outer Academy is that it teaches students the true meaning of survival of the fittest.”
“That’s no justification for bushwhacking someone,” Yan Zhen shot back, rattling off the rules with fluent precision. “Academy regulations are clear: student duels must take place publicly on the Duel Platform. Unauthorized private fights result in light punishment of three days’ confinement or, for serious cases, outright expulsion. Someone like you, launching a sneak attack and causing injury? You’d pay medical fees, offer a formal apology, and get locked in confinement for at least three days.”
“New students really are naive,” Wen Canglan remarked flatly. “Rules are dead letters, but people are alive. Those rules don’t apply to me—I’m No. 2 on the General Star List, and my grandfather is the Vice Dean of the Inner Academy.”
In the Holy Land Academy, the Yu family wielded the greatest influence, followed by the Inner Academy’s Wen family and the Outer Academy’s Han family. Both the Wen and Han families had connections to the Jialan Holy Land.
The Outer Academy’s Han family posed little threat, but the Inner Academy’s Wen family stood as the Yu family’s sole rival.
That was because the Wen family had the backing of another from the Jialan Seven Sages: Mirror Supreme.
“So you’re just a connected nepotist,” Yan Zhen sneered. “Want to take a good look at where we are? This is Grand Elder’s turf, and I’m her disciple. Your connections? They mean jack shit here.”
Wen Canglan narrowed his eyes. Moonlight glinted off his lenses, making them sparkle brightly.
“I won’t need to call on connections for the likes of you. One move—that’s all. Block it, and I’ll recognize you as a worthy rival. Fail, and stay the hell away from the Cliffside Small Building from now on.”
Without waiting for Yan Zhen’s response, Wen Canglan began channeling his power, building momentum.
—Damn! This guy’s as insufferable as ever!
Yan Zhen frowned.
In the script, Wen Canglan grew jealous upon seeing Yan Zhen’s closeness to Zi Xunyi and issued a formal challenge.
At the time, Yan Zhen was only at the Nine-Star Mystic Master Realm. Zi Xunyi had tried to dissuade him, but he’d accepted anyway, scheduling the duel for the Star Plucking Assembly ten days hence.
The Star Plucking Assembly was the Inner Academy’s annual grand tournament. The General Star List got a full reshuffle there, with rankings updated based on the results.
Ten days later, Yan Zhen had broken through to the One-Star Mystic General Realm. He’d clashed with Wen Canglan at the assembly—and won, needless to say.
But right now, Yan Zhen’s cultivation sat at merely Four-Star Mystic Master, still some ways from Five-Star. Facing off against a Nine Star Mystic General like Wen Canglan—even successfully blocking a single move would leave him seriously injured. Unleashing an Emperor-Grade Mystic Technique might work, but it’d flatten everything in the vicinity.
He did have a nuclear bomb on hand, but he couldn’t just whip that out casually.
Still, as the protagonist, taking a loss was out of the question. Otherwise, System-chan would dock his persona points.
He closed his eyes and silently scanned his backpack for a suitable Special Trump Card.
Go with “Special Trump Card: He Wants to Fight Ten,” followed by “Special Trump Card: I Can Take On Ten”? That ought to do it.
—No, not quite secure enough.
The Overdrive Card Set, then?
—No need to go that far against a single Mystic General.
Right! The “Special Trump Card: Receive-Transform-Emit” he’d claimed last time, paired with the earlier “Special Trump Card: Lightning Five-Chain Whip.” A perfect double counter!
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Wen Canglan completed his charge. He unleashed a single palm strike, birthing a massive crystalline palm print in the air—the Wen family’s signature Crystal Transformation Mystic Palm. Anyone struck by it would have their body crystallize and shatter to pieces.
Yan Zhen was just about to trigger his “Special Trump Card: Receive-Transform-Emit” when a familiar aura rocketed toward him from the Cliffside Small Building. Inspiration flashed. He canceled the trump card, whipped out his Gold Silver Fire Sword Embryo, and raised it horizontally to block.
Boom!
The palm print slammed down. Yan Zhen couldn’t hold his ground. It sent him flying, blood spurting from his mouth.
