Xiang Ming took a deep breath. “Su Yi, I admit you’re strong. Just now, we all misjudged you.”

As soon as he said this, his eyes flashed with cold light. “But don’t forget; this is Heaven’s Origin Academy. If this incident gets any bigger, you won’t get off lightly!”

Zheng Muyao’s heart clenched. It’s true; this is Heaven’s Origin Academy. If those old fogies see this, the consequences will be unimaginable!

“If you stop now, I guarantee to let today’s incident go. Otherwise….” Xiang Ming’s gaze was icy. He left the rest unsaid, but the unspoken threat was already obvious. 

Su Yi walked towards him.

“Should I take this as a stubborn refusal to see the light?” Xiang Ming’s expression shifted, and he drew his sword with a clang.

Su Yi shot forward like a bolt of lightning, appearing before Xiang Ming in a flash. His right hand swung, and—

Whap!

He slapped Xiang Ming right across the face, sending him staggering backward. He almost fell, and his handsome features were now swollen and red.

“You dare hit me?” Xiang Ming’s eyes bulged with shame and indignation.

Whap!

Yet another slap hit him right in the face. It was so forceful that this time, even his cheekbone caved in, and blood poured from his mouth and nose. His handsome face was now as swollen and red as a pig’s.

He fell into the dirt with a thud. An agonized wail escaped his lips, and his hair was in disarray. He was both frantic and furious; he dared not believe what was happening.

Not far away, Zheng Muyao gasped.

Xiang Ming!

He was ranked in the top ten amongst inner-sect disciples, with a late-stage Qi Accumulation Cultivation. He was a rare genius of the Martial Dao, second to none!

That combined with his status as the son of the provincial governor made him a dazzling figure within Heaven’s Origin Academy, like the chosen son of heaven!

Yet now, he was more like a ball of clay; Su Yi could knead and squish him as he pleased. Xiang Ming couldn’t even fight back!

Even more terrifying, Su Yi didn’t seem the least bit concerned about the potential consequences….

What Heaven’s Origin Academy? What son of the provincial governor? In his eyes, those were nothing but empty titles!

Zheng Muyao stirred up trouble with some regularity; that’s why others saw her as a Little Witch. But now, even she felt her scalp turn numb; Su Yi’s fearless and despotic methods shocked even her.

Su Yi stood in front of Xiang Ming, then gazed down at him. “Kneel properly.”

Xiang Ming rasped, “Su Yi, you….”

Before he could finish his sentence, Su Yi grabbed him by the throat, lifted him into the air, then jammed him into the dirt like a wooden fencepost.

Bang!

His knees slammed against the ground; he was now kneeling properly, like it or not.

An indescribable sense of humiliation coursed through Xiang Ming’s heart, and he was completely dumbstruck.

Who was he? He was the glorious son of the provincial governor, the miraculous genius famed throughout Heaven’s Origin Academy. Yet here he was, forced to kneel, his dignity in shambles!

“If I hadn’t already agreed not to take your pathetic little lives, you’d already be dead,” said Su Yi, cold and indifferent.

Everything fell deathly silent.

The suppressed Heaven’s Origin Academy disciples slumped in dejection, looking desolate and pathetic. None of them dared utter a word.

Zheng Muyao watched his play out. All she could think was, Fortunately, I didn’t provoke Uncle Su back in the carriage. If I had, the consequences would definitely have been brutal… He’s just too fierce!

In all her years of life, she’d never seen anyone so scornful or despotic. He had a pride that seemed to look down upon everything, and his strength was simply unfathomable!

Su Yi silently calculated the time. “Fifteen minutes are only about half up.”

Suddenly, a startled voice exclaimed from not far away, “This….!” 

Su Yi turned and saw Wen Lingzhao, who’d left and come back. 

“How is this possible….?” Irrepressible surprise rose on Wen Lingzhao’s icy features. Earlier, she left in a rage, but halfway to her destination, she heard the faint sounds of fighting off in the distance. For a moment, she stopped in place to strain her ears and listen.

However, she was too far away. She could only hear the indistinct sounds of startled cries and uproar.

Her first thought was “I’m afraid Su Yi’s getting beaten up!”

After all, this was Divine Firmament Peak, a place where inner sect disciples congregated. A whole group of them had witnessed Su Yi provoking her; it was hard to avoid them seeing Su Yi as their common enemy. 

This conclusion left Wen Lingzhao feeling somewhat conflicted.

Su Yi’s earlier ignorant, brazen arrogance had left her incomparably enraged and disappointed. And yet, she found it hard to bear the thought of Su Yi getting beat up over it.

Besides, they were nominally husband and wife. If Su Yi got beat up while she just stood back and watched, it would hurt her reputation.

In the end, Wen Lingzhao gnashed her teeth and went back.

She could never, ever have guessed what scene would greet her upon her return.

Her sectmates were either kneeling or sprawled out in the dirt. They were scattered across the ground, all of them looking miserable and pathetic as could be!

She almost thought she was hallucinating.

Especially when she saw the youth with the swollen face, caved-in cheekbone, and disheveled hair kneeling beside Su Yi. When she saw Xiang Ming in this state, Wen Lingzhao was dumbstruck.

She was naturally well aware of how powerful Xiang Ming’s cultivation was, and she knew of his illustrious background. Even Heaven’s Origin Academy’s higher-ups dared not provoke Xiang Ming lightly.

Weng Lingzhao would never have guessed someone would dare force the son of the provincial governor to kneel in such a humiliating manner.

As for Su Yi…. He was the only one without the slightest injury.

For a while, Wen Lingzhao just stood there, a bit flabbergasted. What…. What exactly happened here?

As if worried that Wen Lingzhao would misunderstand, Zheng Muyao chirped, “Junior Apprentice Sister Lingzhao, they insisted on making Uncle Su apologize to you, and they wouldn’t let up. They kept provoking him too, and they decided to duel and force him to lower his head. The result… Well, you can see it for yourself. All of them have been forced to their knees, but you can’t blame Uncle Su for this; they brought this upon themselves.”

Hu Jiao, Meng Tuo, and the others all looked angry and ashamed, but they couldn’t argue. 

Xiang Ming lowered his head; it seemed he didn’t want Wen Lingzhao to see his shameful appearance.

“How is this possible….?” Wen Lingzhao looked a bit dazed. To the best of her knowledge, Su Yi had only recovered his cultivation about a month ago, and his greatest accomplishment since was taking first place in the Dragon’s Gate Banquet. At the time, he was still just in the Blood Circulation Realm. How had he grown so strong so quickly?

This dealt an enormous shock to her perception of the world, and she found it hard to process all at once.

“Go find a piece of paper and a brush.” Su Yi glanced at Zheng Muyao, who jumped, then rushed off to do as she was told. 

Inwardly, her heart shook. Uncle Su really is dead-set on retiring his wife!

But when Wen Lingzhao heard that, she immediately came to her senses, and her eyes bulged. “Do you really think… that coming back means I’ve agreed to sign your divorce papers?”

“You can see the situation here too,” said Su Yi flatly. “You ought to wake up and understand that no matter who shows up, no one can change my mind.”

He paused, then added, “But of course, your fifteen minutes isn’t up yet. You still have time to think this over.”

Wen Lingzhao took a deep breath, set aside her scattered thoughts, and said coldly, “I can tell you right now: I shall resolve our marriage contract on our own, and there is absolutely no way I’ll change my mind.”

Su Yi furrowed his brow, but only briefly. “Fine. Since you’re being so stubborn, I’ll just write divorce papers on my own and be done with it.”

“Don’t you think you’re being ridiculous?” Wen Lingzhao’s tone was increasingly icy.

“Ridiculous? You say you’re the victim of this marriage arrangement, but when you just left on our wedding night, did you even stop to think about how badly that would humiliate me? From that day forth, who in Guangling City didn’t jeer at the sight of me?”

Wen Lingzhao paused, then fell silent.

“Then, a year later, you came back with Wei Zhengyang, someone who was my enemy during our time in Blueriver Sword Manor. Don’t you think that was over the line?” said Su Yi, his eyes cold.

Wen Lingzhao furrowed her brow. “I didn’t know anything about the grudge between you two, and besides, there was nothing between us.”

“If there really was something, I’m afraid neither of you would have lived to see this day,” said Su Yi flatly. “I respect your distaste for and rejection of this marriage contract, and I admire the effort you’ve put into escaping it. I cannot be bothered to pursue any past grievances with you any further, but today, we have to end this.” He paused, then continued, “Once this is over, you can carry on as an inheritor of Heaven’s Origin Academy, and you’re welcome to accept the advances of any man you like. As for me, I can cast aside the status of ‘live-in son-in-law.’ This will be good for both of us.” 

Wen Lingzhao couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. “If it were really that easy to resolve this, I would have eagerly agreed a long time ago. But the way I see it, your so-called ‘contract’ is nothing but a worthless scrap of paper. It cannot change our arranged marriage in any way!”

She felt as if she was on the brink of going mad with rage. Does he seriously not understand the Great Zhou’s laws surrounding live-in husbands?

Or is he really ignorant of the fact that, unless the Jade Capital’s Su Family nods their head, there’s nothing anyone can do about our marriage contract?

“A decision I make is far more useful than any law of this mundane nation. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to test it for yourself,” said Su Yi, but before he could continue, another voice boomed, like the low rumble of thunder.

“What’s going on here? Why are all of you kneeling?”

A middle-aged man in brocade robes rushed over, his voice still echoing through the air. His hair whiskers were dark as ink, and his skin was fair. His presence was as steady as a mountain, calm and imposing.

Two others trailed after him, an elder in Confucian robes and a wide belt, and a man with a longsword strapped to his back and long, willowy whiskers. 

“Master!” Xiang Ming was instantly excited, like he’d caught sight of his last hope.

The other kneeling youths were initially stunned, but then, their faces lit up with delight.

The middle-aged man in brocade robes was Xiang Ming’s master, whom he respected greatly. His name was Wang Jianchong, and he was one of Heaven’s Origin’s Academy’s vice palace masters, a peak third-level Martial Dao Grandmaster!

“Greetings, Martial Uncle Wang.” Wen Lingzhao was instantly solemn. She awoke from her mad fury and greeted him with a nod.

Wang Jianchong nodded back, his expression dark. When he saw that Xiang Ming and the others were still just kneeling there, he couldn’t help but roar, “Why aren’t you standing up?”

They reacted as if awakening from a dream. All of them rose, one after another.

Su Yi made no attempt to stop them. A bunch of small fries, that’s all. They weren’t worth the trouble.

“Now, who is going to tell me what exactly is going on here?” said Wang Jianchong, his gaze cold and crackling with electricity as he stared intently at Su Yi.

The men beside him, the elder in Confucian robes and the whiskered swordsman, both glared at Su Yi icily.

They might not know what exactly had happened, but how could they fail to realize that it was Su Yi who’d forced Xiang Ming and the others to kneel?

Su Yi just stood there, hands behind his back, ignoring Wang Jianchong and his companions. Instead, he stared off into the distance. Zheng Muyao was already on her way back, and she was carrying brushes, paper, ink, and inkstones.

Su Yi’s faintly knit brow finally relaxed.

If you’re having trouble picturing what a “willowy beard is”, this picture of Taibai Jinxing might help.