Chapter 20-Get down on Your Knees
Domineering, arbitrary, ruthless, and cruel.
The ground was still wet with blood, and a faint smell of blood pervaded the exit of the maze. Students who blocked the doorway swept over Li Tianlan’s group members who had just arrived at the exit of the maze with a grim smile, the expressions in their eyes continuously changing.
When they glanced at Li Tianlan, Ning Qiancheng, and Li Baitian, they did not even bother to hide the ferociousness in their eyes. However, when they fixed their eyes on Wang Yuetong and Yu Qingyan, their eyes turned frenzied.
They were not to blame for weak willpower. When they saw Yu Qingyan, they could manage to resist her charm, but when they spot Wang Yuetong, they could not resist her glamor at all.
She was really a stunner. Every part of her was beautiful and attractive, be it her delicate five sense organs, her faint smile, or her well-shaped body.
Stimulated by blood, all male students were impulsive. Therefore, how could they control themselves as they suddenly saw such a seductive stunner?
They were not alone. When Li Tianlan heard that the young man required to kiss Wang Yuetong’s ruddy lips and imagined that scene, his blood was boiling as well.
But when hearing the last sentence, Li Tianlan subconsciously frowned.
“I’ll cut your tongues if you do not stick your tongues out?”
That sounded disgusting.
So he directly shook his head. Looking at the young man who was surrounded by a crowd of people at the doorway, he refused in a clear and calm voice. “No.”
Li Tianlan would not agree to hand over the Credit-counting Watch over to them, not to mention whether Yu Qingyan and Wang Yuetong were willing to be kissed by him.
The Credit-counting Watch was not a chart (“watch” and “chart” shared the same Chinese character), but the wristwatch that was sent to them from the first day of school. It would be one of their most important pieces of equipment for the next three years. The student code of conduct of the Sky Academy explicitly stipulated that once the wristwatch was lost, one could re-apply for another one under the condition that he would be deducted 50 credits.
Each new student had 50 credits as they registered at the school. However, these credits were related to their basic necessities of life in the first month, so they had no power to use them freely at all. If they lost the watch and wanted to re-apply for a new one, their credits would turn into a negative number. This was something no one wanted to suffer.
“No?”
The young man sitting with his legs crossed slightly raised his eyebrows. He looked up at Li Tianlan with a grim look and waved his hand casually, saying smilingly, “You really have the guts. What are you guys doing in a daze? Go check why would they be so confident. Remember, take good care of our junior female schoolmates, but teach a lesson to a few junior male schoolmates who have an exaggerated opinion of their own abilities.”
As his voice trailed off, a dozen students, who circled around him, rushed toward Li Tianlan the next second.
The young man behaved like an ordinary hedonistic son of rich parents, but his subordinates behaved quite unusually. The ten men acted in unison, and their postures of charging forward were exactly the same. Before they had rushed in front of Li Tianlan, they had vaguely formed a simple formation.
Once there was the slightest disagreement between different students, they would start fighting as soon as possible. Time was precious in the maneuver, so no one had the time to dawdle.
Li Tianlan took a step forward with a cold smile on his face and kept the other four behind him.
Shortly after that, he took hold of his weapon—Human Emperor.
Ten students from the Sky Academy charged downward him.
Five meters.
Three meters.
Li Tian moved forward once again.
The ten-centimeter spear extended with a sudden wave of his hand. However, the spearhead that looked bloody did not extend out this time. Thus, the silver spear directly turned into a two-meter-long stick!
Li Tianlan held the stick with both of his hands and hit the nearest student on the head.
The wind suddenly blew in this confined space.
Turning Qi into a wind! The invisible wind raged and roared as the spear hit downward, wild and ferocious!
“Qi-controlling Realm?”
“Such a powerful expert in the Qi-controlling Realm?”
The expression of the student who rushed to Li Tianlan changed. The first thing that came to his mind was not offense, but active defense.”
His hands were instinctively folded across his chest, and the horrifying force surged in front of him the moment he did that. The moisture in the air was simultaneously condensed into a shield to protect his head while the turbulent force was vibrating.
He held the shield with both hands in a standard defensive posture. With the shield in his hands, he met the silver stick in Li Tianlan’s hands head-on.
The raging wind came from far to near and from top to bottom. While the silver stick was moving downward, it had been completely condensed in the front of the long stick in an instant.
“Crack...”
In low but horrifying noises, the ice shield had been completely torn apart by invisible power when the silver stick was half a meter away from it. Ice flakes danced in the air. Li Tianlan narrowed his eyes and lifted up the stick that weighed 50 kilograms. In this way, he unloaded the better part of the power. However, his stick still hit his opponent on the head.
“Bang!”
Blood sprayed in all directions and the sound of a skull being crushed was clearly heard. The student who rushed to Li Tianlan first did not have any strength to resist at all. He knelt straight on the ground and fell into a coma on the spot.
“You mother f*cker!”
A wild and angry roar sounded.
Just when the opponent in front of Li Tianlan knelt down, a number of sharp ice cones attacked him from behind and directly covered his upper body.
The other side seemed to have forgotten the rule that they were not allowed to kill others in the maneuver. They attacked him ferociously with the determination to kill him.
There was not the slightest change in Li Tianlan’s cold look. The wind whistled around him and moved together with him. Although he was using a stick, everybody else could sense the purest sword intent, which was continuously whistling and whirling around him.
He took a step forward.
...
The air around him twisted wildly with his movements, and a myriad of air currents swirled around him. The ice cones shot toward him with a whistling sound, but before hitting him, they were chopped to pieces by the sword intent and energy around him.
Fast!
The other side could see Li Tianlan’s every move very clear, but in fact, Li Tianlan moved as fast as lightning. As a person who possessed Wind and Thunder Veins, Li Tianlan had a much bigger advantage over common people in terms of strength and speed. When he struck actively, his aggressiveness was almost unstoppable.
Before the second attacker hidden behind the ice cones had yet to strike, Li Tianlan had already leaped up and swept around with the stick in his hands.
The power that seemed to have dissipated just now condensed in the front of the stick once again.
One blow!
And a second blow.
Li Tianlan wielded his weapon wantonly and directly hit the waist of the second attacker. The attacker’s body was sent flying and smashed against the wall four to five meters away.
“Boom!”
Everything at the exit of the maze seemed to be shaking violently. The tough wall, which would only be broken open by a powerful blow from an expert in the Ice-condensing Realm, had cracks densely packed all over it. The student that was sent flying by Li Tianlan’s stick was embedded deep inside the wall, without anyone knowing whether he was still alive.
After this blow, there was still some remaining power on Li Tianlan’s stick. His stick pierced through the air and continued to sweep around. Driven by the long silver stick in his hands, he rushed forward in the direction of Yu Qingyan.
He took big steps, and while he was moving, he impressed other with an oppressing sensation that could almost suffocate them.
“Bang!”
The two meters long stick arrived before Yu Qingyan in a flash. Two students were attacking her, and one of them had just leaped up. However, he was hit in the leg by the stick and sent flying.
He was like...
A shuttlecock!
At that moment, this thought crossed the mind of all the people who witnessed this scene. The freshman held a long silver stick as if he was holding a badminton racket. With a casual wave of his hand, his opponent was sent flying.
As the other man saw that his partner was sent flying, he suddenly dared not to fight again. He immediately put forth his strength and distanced himself from Li Tianlan.
“Thank you, Brother Li.”
Yu Qingyan smiled sweetly.
Li Tianlan shook his head and said, “Nothing, we’re on the same team.”
He turned his head and swept around the battlefield. He happened to see that near him, Wang Yuetong smashed an ice wall in front of her with a kick of her delicate little feet in fine canvas shoes and kicked a student out from behind the ice wall.
Wang Yuetong now looked cold, arrogant, and gorgeous. She was suffused with an awe-inspiring aura from head to toe, and she was cool and proud, like a queen.
Li Baitian was still laughing near Wang Yuetong, but there was no opponent in front of him, and the only thing around him was an ice sword hanging by his side. The ice sword moved up and down around his extremely thin figure, with unfathomable sword intent.
Ning Qiancheng stopped fighting as well.
In front of him lay a student, and another student who had attacked him fled away. They were confronting each other from a distance.
The entire place fell into silence.
The blood on the ground increased again. But this time, it wasn’t the blood of the freshmen.
Ten elites in the Ice-condensing Realm rushed forward to fight the freshmen, but within half a minute, eight of them fell to the ground and only two were still able to stand up, yet they had lost the courage to fight on.
The young man sitting at the doorway stopped laughing and the smile vanished from his face. He stared at the five freshmen who had astonished him with a cruel and angry expression.
“The freshmen of this session really surprised me. Before enrolling at the school, you have actually beaten your senior male schoolmates down.”
After remaining silent for half a minute, the young man straightened up and said in a grim voice, laughing.
“You’re not freshmen?”
Li Tianlan asked as he raised his eyebrows. Instead of putting his weapon away, he held it tightly and was ready to fight at any time.
“They are students of the last session.”
Ning Qiancheng suddenly walked up and squinted at the grim-faced young man, adding slowly, “They also take part in the entrance maneuver. But their missions and the credits they are going to be rewarded are different from us.”
“Oh, I thought who was so freaking awesome, and it turns out to be you, Drunbility Cheng. Ha-ha, let me introduce him to you, guys. This is Brother Drunbility, also known as Drunbility Cheng, and he is one of the top 10 experts of the younger generation. His ability to boast is much better than his actual strength. Am I right, Drunbility Cheng?”
Just when Ning Qiancheng’s voice trailed off, another sharp and jeering voice sounded from another side. Everybody present could hear the irony in his tone.
The grim-looking young man just sat where he was. Two figures, who looked about twenty-six or seven years old, came up to him and stood by his side.
They were a man and a woman. The woman’s figure was plump and hot, although she was dressed in the camouflage clothing. Apparently, she had tailored it herself later. In this way, her body shape was completely revealed. She dyed her long hair devilish purple, and her face that was full of mature amorous feelings was enchanting and eye-catching.
At first glance, her temperament was similar to Wang Yuetong’s, but they were a little bit different with one closer observation. Wang Yuetong was enchanting and attractive, but everyone could feel the pride and reserved character under her charming appearance. However, the woman who just appeared was suffused with indescribable coquettishness from head to toe. Although she appeared to be exceedingly fascinating, she looked a little affected.
The man who appeared together with her was homely. His triangular eyes were emitting a touch of sleazy and malicious. At this moment, he was looking at Ning Qiancheng with a sneer on his face that looked screwy.
Ning Qiancheng ignored him and continued, “Our headmaster just said that there are always students who continue to stay at school after graduation. Some aimed to accumulate enough credits and others tried to gain an opportunity. The former ones do this due to helplessness, but the latter ones do so because they are unwilling to be resigned to the current condition. They were one of the strongest teams of the previous session, but they failed to get the quota to establish their force independently after graduation. That’s why they started all over again. They didn’t have the same mission as us and are on a hunting mission whose target was freshmen. The more Credit-counting Watches they gathered together, the more credits they would gain.”
Ning Qiancheng paused for a while and continued with a sneer, “And if I didn’t guess it wrongly, there are probably similar hunting teams out of the maze or in the woods, except for this one at the exit of the maze.”
Senior students got credits by collecting Credit-counting Watches from freshmen.
And freshmen had to fight tooth and nail to keep their Credit-counting Watches for fear that their credits should be deducted.
Such things were normal in the competitive Sky Academy.
“How to grade?”
Li Tianlan asked seriously.
Headmaster Zhuang Huayang only admitted the top 50 students who had completed the maneuver into his class. However, freshmen and seniors undertook different tasks in the maneuver. As thus, seniors lost the advantage on the familiar environment. But in the end, how would he distinguish the top 50 between freshmen and seniors?
“It’s the same. There is a certain quantity requirement on their hunting mission, and the more freshmen they hunt, the better. But they also need to get to the pool to complete the maneuver. After completing the number of hunting required by the school, they can go straight to the pool. They are going to vie for the first 50 ranks with the freshmen.”
Ning Qiancheng shook his wristwatch and added, “If they collect more of this than required, they will get extra credits. But if they fail to be the top 50 because of this, no matter how many wristwatches they have collected, they will only get credits bonus instead of joining the headmaster’s class.”
Li Tianlan nodded slightly. The rules, though, were not exactly fair, they had done the best job of balancing every side.
“What? Are you afraid of talking to me, Drunbility Cheng? Aren’t you good at boasting? Come on, show us your skill to amuse us.”
The young men who taunt Ning Qiancheng when they met for the first time felt that he was ignored. Thus, he flew into a rage out of humiliation and continued to provoke Ning Qiancheng.
Li Tianlan turned his head and looked at that guy, saying impatiently, “Who is that idiot who laughs like a pervert?”
“...”
“Laughs like a pervert?”
“Idiot?”
The young man with a distorted smile was suddenly livid.
“He’s merely a hatchet man.”
Ning Qiancheng looked at the young man with a disdainful expression.
“Do you know them?”
Li Baitian asked while looking at Ning Qiancheng.
“He is from the Liu family in Huating. Previously, that is an aristocratic family with a profound foundation.”
Ning Qiancheng took a deep breath and said with a nod, “The one in the middle is Liu Dongchao—the eldest grandson of the Liu family who has reached the Fire-flaming Realm. The woman is Liu Dongyu, another expert in the Fire-flaming Realm. They are brother and sister. It’s said that they are invincible when fighting people in the Fire-flaming Realm when they act together. The other one is called Tan Xilai and is an expert in the same realm as them. His father is Tan Qinghua, the deputy commander of the Eastern Theater of Operations of Zhongzhou State.”
Ning Qiancheng looked at the three young people who gathered at the door and introduced them to Li Tianlan one by one.
Tan Xilai flared up and sneered, “A hatchet man? Who can make me a hatchet man? Who is qualified to do so? Dongchao and I are like blood brothers. Who are you? Are you qualified to judge me? Do you really think that the title as one of the top ten experts of the young generation is enough for you to show off? No matter how nice the title is, you are once defeated by me! I’m not a good boaster as you are, but you are simply a good-for-nothing in my eyes in other aspects!”
Even though Ning Qiancheng was badly humiliated, he still did not lose his temper. He looked at Tan Xilai and said coolly, “You did defeat me. Do you want to win again? I’ll give you a chance right here.”
“All right, cut the crap.”
Liu Dongchao suddenly opened his mouth.
Tan Xilai, who had planned to accept Ning Qiancheng’s challenge, snorted with his face darkened and stopped speaking.
Liu Dongchao looked thoughtfully at the five freshmen in front of him. He slowly said after remaining silent for a while, “You are not bad, and no wonder you are so confident. I can give you a chance. I promise I won’t take your wristwatches away from you and I’ll let you go. What do you think?”
“On what conditions?”
Li Tianlan asked coldly.
“You hurt my brothers and I can’t let this go. Now, all of you, get down on your knees and join my organization—Flames of War. I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen, is that okay?”
Liu Dongchao looked into Li Tianlan’s eyes and said imperatively.
“That would be best. You guys are quite powerful and you shall work for our organization in the future. If you behave well, you’ll gain a substantial benefit.”
Liu Dongyu stood beside her brother and said gently with a smile on her face, “I know that all of you are proud and arrogant young talents. However, a wise man should submit to circumstances. Hurry up to accept this condition before you are forced to do so. If you get down on your knees, you’ll have a bright future. What are you hesitating for?”
“We’ll create the glorious future ourselves instead of obtaining it by kneeling down. I also have a suggestion. Now get down on your knees, and I won’t take your organization. I’ll pretend that everything just happened has never happened, okay?”
Li Tianlan said coldly. His patience was running out and his impression of Liu’s siblings was also getting worse. One pretended to be dignified, the other affable. Their hypocrisy made him feel disgusting. “Are these three experts in the Fire-flaming Realm going to force us to kneel down?”
“Do they see themselves as experts in the Invincible Realm?”
“How dare you insult Liu’s descendants? Are you digging your own grave?”
The charming smile on Liu Dongyu’s face faded. She stared at Li Tianlan malevolently and said ferociously.
“I don’t care whether you are from the Liu family or Zhang family. I’ll say it once again; if all of you get down on your knees, let’s call it a day.”
Although Li Tianlan said in an old-fashioned way, he looked more and more domineering.
“Bastard, you are digging your own grave!”
Liu Dongchao suddenly shouted angrily. He leaped up and rushed toward Li Tianlan.
The distance of nearly twenty meters meant nothing to him. In a flash, he was already in front of Li Tianlan and stretched out to grab Li Tianlan by the neck.
“Although I cannot kill him in the entrance maneuver, who can rebuke me if I injure him and make him disabled?” thought Liu Dongchao.
“Swish!”
Poker-faced, Li Tianlan suddenly raised his hand holding the weapon. The silver spearhead extended out and the blades of the spearhead extended to both sides. Li Tianlan rushed forward with an indomitable will with the spear in his hand!
Liu Dongchao was startled. Subconsciously, he took a step back after stopping and stared at the spearhead with his eyes narrowed.
He had always thought that Li Tianlan’s weapon was a long stick. Thus, he broke into a cold sweat as he saw it turn into a spear. If he hadn’t dodged it promptly, he probably had already suffered a loss.
As an expert in the Fire-flaming Realm, he was one of the most powerful ones among the students of the last session. It would be a shame to suffer a loss in the hands of a freshman.
“You son of a bitch, how dare you to launch a sneak attack?”
Liu Dongchao laughed coldly and looked at Li Tianlan, adding slowly, “I won’t kill you today. I’ll just cut off one of your hand. Wait after the maneuver is over, I’ll kill you then!”
“I’m not a son of a bitch.”
With one hand holding the spear, Li Tianlan sneered and explained seriously, “Because I haven’t kept a dog. As for whether you and your sister are sons of a bitch or not, you should go back to ask your mother.”