Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Challenge Platform
With that thought, Wu Liang’s charming, handsome smile returned to his face. He rushed out of his office and gave chase. "Aoxue, wait for me."
The challenge arena of Profound Spirit Academy, located on the left side of the campus, had always been one of its most popular spots. Students often came here to spar and issue challenges.
Today, however, its popularity had gone through the roof. Hundreds, even thousands, of students were gathered here, and the number was still climbing.
At the very front of the crowd, near the stage, a group of students with imposing auras had claimed the best spots. They scanned their surroundings with hawkish eyes, their arrogance so palpable that no one dared approach. They were all members of the Crown Prince Alliance who had come after hearing the news.
"Tong Hong, what were you thinking? Accepting a challenge from a freshman... Don’t you know how much face this will cost our Crown Prince Alliance?"
"He’s just a freshman. You should have just taught him a lesson privately. Why make it a public spectacle? Even if you win, it’s still embarrassing for the Crown Prince Alliance."
"It’s a good thing the Crown Prince isn’t around. If he found out about this, you’d be facing severe punishment."
The few people at the very front of the Crown Prince Alliance group all had extraordinary auras. With arms crossed, they radiated a sharp, intense presence.
These few were the backbone of the Crown Prince Alliance, all prominent figures on the academy’s Power Rankings. They had come to watch the match after hearing that Ye Xuan had challenged Tong Hong.
Tong Hong, who had been sitting at the front with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. "Don’t worry," he said coolly. "I will personally explain this to the Crown Prince later. A lot of new students enrolled this year, and many of them don’t respect our Crown Prince Alliance. This battle will be the perfect opportunity to show all the freshmen exactly what kind of existence the Crown Prince Alliance is."
And indeed, a look around confirmed it. The students in attendance were all buzzing about the overwhelming and monstrous power of the Crown Prince Alliance.
"This Ye Xuan is so arrogant. Does he think he can look down on everyone just because he has some backing? Now that he’s offended the Crown Prince Alliance, his life in the Royal City is over. He really is just a lowly peasant from the countryside who doesn’t know his place."
Below the stage, Princess Xiangming, Zhao Jing, sat quietly, sneering inwardly.
Not far away, Cheng Yu was also smirking to himself, his gaze venomous. ’I was planning to find a chance to teach that kid a lesson myself,’ he thought, ’but it looks like I won’t have to. By provoking the Crown Prince Alliance, he’s sealed his fate. No one in the entire Royal City can save him now.’
Time ticked by. To the crowd’s growing irritation, the scheduled time for the challenge was fast approaching, yet only the Crown Prince Alliance was present. The other party, Ye Xuan, was nowhere to be seen.
"Tong Hong, are you sure that Ye Xuan is actually coming?"
"Don’t tell me that kid orchestrated this whole thing just to stand us up, did he?"
Seeing that the time was almost up and Ye Xuan still hadn’t appeared, the powerful members of the Crown Prince Alliance began to frown.
Tong Hong’s expression hardened. If Ye Xuan really didn’t show up, he would lose immense face. A prominent expert from the Power Rankings, tricked by a mere freshman—if word of this got out, how could he, Tong Hong, ever show his face in the academy again?
"Senior Brothers, this Ye Xuan is arrogant and cunning. It’s entirely possible he’ll flee at the last minute and leave us all standing here like fools."
Yuan Shan seized the opportunity to slander Ye Xuan in front of the others, hoping to fuel their irritation.
One of them turned to glance at Yuan Shan and snorted coldly. "You disgraceful piece of trash, you still have the nerve to talk? As a member of the Crown Prince Alliance, you couldn’t even handle a single freshman. You’re worse than useless. The fact that you dare to even stand here... If you weren’t one of Tong Hong’s men, I would’ve slapped you to death long ago."
Yuan Shan lowered his head, his face flushing bright red, but he didn’t dare to retort.
"Look, isn’t that Ye Xuan? They’re here!"
Just then, a commotion rippled through the crowd. Everyone turned to see a group of four people slowly approaching. Leading the way was a fat man, his face beaming with pride as he swaggered along.
"So that fatty is Ye Xuan. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover," a student muttered.
The person next to him smacked him on the head. "Idiot, the one behind him is Ye Xuan."
"The one behind him? No way. Ye Xuan is a beautiful woman? One is fiery and passionate, the other is cold as ice... which of these two beauties with completely different temperaments is Ye Xuan?" he asked, staring at Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi, practically drooling.
"Idiot." His friend was speechless and smacked him again. "The young man behind the fatty is Ye Xuan."
"Behind the fatty?" Rubbing the new lump on his head, the student looked closer. Only then did he notice a young man in an azure martial robe standing there. From his angle, the youth’s figure had been completely obscured by the fatty’s enormous frame.
Feeling the countless gazes on them, Chen Xing was thrilled. "Haha, Young Master Xuan, look! Everyone’s staring at us! Wow, and there are so many female students. Young Master Xuan, what do you think of my, Third Young Master Chen’s, vibe today? You think any of the girls will fall for me? Hahaha!"
Under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd, Chen Fatty showed not a shred of shame. He swaggered at the front of their group, winking flirtatiously at any female student who happened to glance their way.
Just then, a figure shot over from the distance and landed in front of Ye Xuan and his group. It was Yun Aoxue.
"Ye Xuan, who told you to challenge Tong Hong? Go back right now." She wore an angry expression, her brows raised, but her eyes betrayed her anxiety. She then announced loudly, "Everyone, listen up! I am a teacher at this academy, and I am hereby announcing that this challenge is canceled."
"What? Canceled?" Everyone was stunned.
"No wonder the kid was so fearless. So this was his plan all along—to have it canceled."
"Dammit! We waited all this time for nothing? This sucks."
"The show’s over before it even started. We wasted so much time for nothing."
The students all broke into discussion, many of them cursing under their breath.
"Teacher Yun, this is a challenge between students. As a teacher, you don’t seem to have the authority to cancel it unilaterally, do you?" a member of the Crown Prince Alliance suddenly said with a sneer.
"I said it’s canceled, so it’s canceled. What, are you going to defy a teacher’s orders?" Yun Aoxue glared, her powerful aura flaring.
"Such arrogance. Teacher Yun, is it? I hear you just joined the academy this year. You’re just a counselor. What right do you have to order members of the Crown Prince Alliance around? Besides, a Martial Artist’s challenge is a sacred vow. It’s not something you can just cancel on a whim," the Alliance member sneered, clearly not taking Yun Aoxue seriously.
"That’s right, Teacher Yun. Your actions just now were out of line. As teachers, we shouldn’t be interfering in challenges between students."
Just then, a teacher named Lu Hao stood up and spoke calmly.
He was the teacher the Crown Prince Alliance had invited to officiate the challenge, so he naturally sided with them.
In fact, given the Crown Prince Alliance’s influence, quite a few teachers in the academy had ties to them.
Yun Aoxue’s expression faltered for a moment before she replied coldly, "Teacher Lu Hao, all I know is that Ye Xuan is one of my new students, and I have a duty to protect him. I don’t care about anything else."
"Teacher Yun Aoxue, I know what I’m doing." Ye Xuan looked at Yun Aoxue, who was standing in front of him with a worried expression, and felt a stir of emotion in his heart.
"What do you know?" Yun Aoxue rolled her eyes at him, grabbing his hand. "You don’t understand," she said in a low, cold voice. "The Crown Prince Alliance’s background is not simple. Offending them is a bad idea, regardless of whether you win or lose."
"Aoxue, Teacher Lu Hao is right. A challenge between students isn’t just about them as students; it represents their honor as Martial Artists. We can’t just interfere. And you, student Ye Xuan, what do you think? A man’s promise can’t be easily broken, can it?"
At that moment, Wu Liang finally arrived. Seeing Yun Aoxue anxiously clutching Ye Xuan’s hand, a flash of irritation crossed his heart, and he spoke up.
His gaze swept past Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi, a flicker of stunned admiration in his eyes, quickly followed by an unconscious look of lust.
Ye Xuan looked up, meeting Wu Liang’s eyes and catching his expression completely. "And who are you?" Ye Xuan said coldly. "Whether I can change my promise or not seems to have nothing to do with you, does it? Also, are you qualified to call her ’Aoxue’?"
Wu Liang’s expression froze. He almost choked on his own breath.
"What’s this, Ye Xuan? You were the one who issued the challenge. Don’t tell me you’re trying to back out now," Tong Hong, who had been sitting on the stage, finally stood up. He stared at Ye Xuan with a mocking sneer. "I thought you were someone special, but it turns out you’re nothing more than this."
"I was going to let you sit for a while longer, but since you’re so eager to lie down, I’ll grant your wish," Ye Xuan retorted coldly. He patted Yun Aoxue’s shoulder, his deep gaze meeting hers as he offered a faint smile. "Teacher Yun, don’t you trust me?"
With those words, Ye Xuan, who had at some point freed himself from Yun Aoxue’s grasp, began walking toward the challenge stage.
Ye Xuan’s voice and his gaze were deeply engraved in Yun Aoxue’s eyes in that moment. It was a look filled with confidence and pride, lofty and regal, like a sovereign ruling over the world, gazing down upon his subjects.
For some reason, in that instant, Yun Aoxue felt her heart skip a beat.
By the time she came to her senses, Ye Xuan was already on the challenge stage, walking step by step toward Tong Hong.
"Hmph, that jerk!" Yun Aoxue stomped her foot in frustration, her beautiful eyes flickering. She knew she couldn’t stop the challenge now, so she focused her full attention on the stage, preparing to intervene at a moment’s notice. She absolutely could not let Ye Xuan’s life be put in danger.
"You finally made it. I was starting to think you didn’t have the guts to come up here," Tong Hong said with a sinister smile, his gaze icy.
"Cut the crap. I’m in a hurry," Ye Xuan said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Hearing this, Tong Hong’s gaze hardened. "You’re courting death," he snarled. "Don’t worry, I’m going to cripple you completely, turn you from a genius into a piece of trash. I hope you can still look so arrogant then."
The moment he finished speaking, his aura exploded forth. Waves of powerful energy surged from his body, and the surrounding air seemed to react, beginning to whirl with a low WHOOSH, transforming into a terrifying pressure that bore down on Ye Xuan.
