Xiang Ning led his sister safely to school.

“Xiang Ning.” 

“Mm? What’s the matter?” 

“Nothing, just remember to come get me after school.” 

“Alright.” Xiang Ning turned to leave while she stood at the classroom entrance, silently watching until he disappeared. 

When the school bell rang, Su Muhan arrived in class as usual. Her eyes swept across the room, then paused. She frowned. “Class Monitor, is Xiang Ning absent today?” 

Li Zimo froze, then stood up and replied, “I think Xiang Ning is indeed absent today, Miss. Didn’t he let you know in advance?” He wondered if Xiang Ning was absent because of what had happened the day before. Despite receiving treatment in the recovery capsule, he had lost a lot of blood and feeling weak the next day was normal. He didn’t consider the possibility of Xiang Ning hiding out due to the online slander—if he cared about what they said, he wouldn’t have challenged Third School. 

If he wasn’t there, the most likely reason would be.…

“Hanwu Academy!” Li Zimo and Su Muhan blurted at the same time, then both of them rushed out of the classroom. The rest of the class plunged into chaos. 

“Goodness, what a bold guy! He wouldn’t actually challenge Hanwu Academy alone, would he?!” 

“That’s impossible! I think he’s just exhausted from yesterday’s fight and overslept today. He just hasn’t applied for leave, is all... or he’s just late.” 

“I’m sure he’s hiding. Didn’t you read the trending discussions on the internet?” The moment the student spoke, a book flew at his head and knocked him over. 

“Now who did that.…” The person stood up while the rest of the class glared out of the corner of their eyes. Zhang Cheng picked up his book, then flung it at his face. Slam! It hit its target. “Sorry, my hand slipped. Could you pick that up for me?” 

“Zhang Cheng, what has me talking about Xiang Ning got to do with you? I said he’s hiding, so what?” 

Slam! Slam! Slam! A few more books flew at his head and he froze, too scared to move. 

Zhang Cheng stood up, cast a cold glare at the few people who were still slandering Xiang Ning, huffed, then left. 

Regardless of what the rest of the world said, it was now rare to hear negative gossip about Xiang Ning within Qiling Academy. In reference to his speech before storming Third School, just as the special trainees didn’t dare retaliate when other schools came knocking, these students didn’t intentionally stay out of it either. On the contrary, they all wanted to retaliate but were too weak. They were a bunch of students who were barely martial artists, what hope did they have against martial artists beyond tier one, six-star? That wouldn’t be passion, just stupidity. Other than the few who joined, the rest of the special trainees were cowardly. 

Yesterday, Xiang Ning had helped Qiling Academy metaphorically slap Third School in the face. They had initially thought Xiang Ning was arrogant, and even laughed at him. Now, how many people were moved by the way he stood his ground despite having a dagger lodged in his arm? The ones who laughed at him were now the true cowards. 

They remembered what Xiang Ning said when they went to Third School, that he would do everything they did not dare, take back what was theirs. It had sounded like a joke at the time, but he’d actually done it. 

If students of other classes slandered him, they couldn’t control it, but any idiot from their class would get a book in their face if they dared ruin Xiang Ning’s name. 

Very soon, Xiang Ning’s possible visit to Hanwu Academy spread like wildfire. Other than the special trainees who had been deeply insulted by Xiang Ning the day before, the rest of the students cheered and hollered. 

“What a man! Did you read the article about him yesterday? I think someone’s behind the negative publicity!” 

“Yeah, I was watching the entire fight live myself. I can vouch that the footage circulating online was edited. If Xiang Ning’s going to Hanwu Academy, it’s likely the culprit is from there!” 

“I know, our school’s teams were harassed by Hanwu Academy first during the wilderness activity.” 

The entire school was talking about the same thing. While there were always naysayers, they would quickly be shot down by the rest. 

“You’re from the special training, right? Xiang Ning was right, you’re weak. He’s speaking with his actions while you’re talking bad about him behind his back.” 

On the other end, Xiang Ning was already standing at the Hanwu Academy school gates. This was a military-style school; it wouldn’t be as convenient to enter as Third School. It was already time for class, so there weren’t many students around. Thus, he stood out. 

An elderly guard walked out from the guardhouse and said, “Hey kid, your uniform doesn’t look like you belong to Hanwu Academy, is there anything you need?” 

“Oh, good morning Uncle, I’m looking for a few people.” 

“Oh, are they your friends? What’re their names and classes?” 

“Zhao Huatai. I don’t know his class, but he’s a transfer student in the upper-first year.” Xiang Ning was very polite, smiling at the old man. 

The old man nodded with a smile and said, “Alright, it’ll be easy to find a transfer student. I’ll go make a call for him to see you. Right, what’s your name?” 

“Uncle, just tell him it’s a classmate from his previous school, I’d like to give him a surprise.” 

“Alright, wait here.” The guard turned and entered his room. Xiang Ning saw through the window that he was making a call. 

Within the school, Zhao Huatai was in class when his teacher told him about the visitor. 

“What? There’s a student looking for me? Who is it?” 

“The guard didn’t say….” 

Although he was puzzled, he hurried to the gates. His expression changed the moment he saw the person next to the gates and he instinctively decided to run away. But after some thought, he smirked and calmed down. Recalling Zhang Hongyu’s words from the day before, he suppressed his nerves and arrived at the gates. He thought Xiang Ning would insult him, but he froze at the first line. 

“Are you surprised?” 

“You aren’t here to challenge Hanwu Academy, are you?” Zhao Huatai held his nose high in the air, condescendingly looking down at him. 

“I am.” It was a simple reply. 

Zhao Huatai cocked an eyebrow and looked behind Xiang Ning. “Just you?” 

“I alone am enough.” 

Fury Points +122

“You’re sure?” 

“Heh, weren’t you hoping I’d come? Now that I’m here, are you surprised?” Xiang Ning didn’t even need to activate Taunt. 

Zhao Huatai coldly laughed. “To be honest, I respect your courage. Since you have a death wish, I have no objections.”