Chapter 45: The Tiger's Roar
The instructors of the Heavenly Academy and the experts of the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple stood around the stone platform, encircling Luoluo in the middle. Any one of them could easily subdue her. The problem was that she stood only a few feet away from Tianhai Ya'er, her small fists clenched tightly, with the hidden rumble of wind and thunder within them.
If she let her fists fall, Tianhai Ya'er would die—or be crippled.
The faces of the Heavenly Academy instructors and the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple experts were grim. They dared not step forward, yet they did not retreat either, maintaining the current stalemate in hopes of intimidating her. They believed that as time passed and Luoluo emerged from her battle state, she would inevitably calm down.
A profound silence fell. No one wanted to speak and provoke this little girl. No one wanted to witness a bloodier scene.
Tianhai Ya'er himself lacked such awareness. He looked at Luoluo, coughing blood, his voice trembling as he wept, "Don't kill me... please... don't kill me. I'm so scared, so scared... Hahaha!"
His pitiful, tearful plea suddenly erupted into arrogant laughter!
The boy's face was covered in blood, his expression ferocious and twisted. He glared viciously at Luoluo and roared, "Did you really think I was afraid of you! I was just playing with you! Because you're finished! The National Academy is finished! Look at these shameless old bastards—their guts are full of filth. Whether you cripple me or I cripple you, it doesn't matter! You're all done for! Because no one can treat me like this!"
The Heavenly Academy instructor's expression turned sour.
Luoluo frowned slightly, raising her fist higher. Bright specks of light swirled around her fingers—beautiful, yet terrifying.
Tianhai Ya'er's expression shifted abruptly. He shrieked, his feet kicking wildly, his demeanor utterly deranged, like a child whose milk had been stolen!
"What are you trying to do! Do you actually dare to strike! The Saintess is my grand-aunt! Who in this continent dares to lay a hand on me!"
A dead silence fell. Everyone knew that this little monster from the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple spoke the truth. Forget the rumors that he was the disciple of the Pope himself—just having such a grand-aunt meant no one could trouble him. Thinking of the mad retaliation that would follow, the crowd's gazes toward Luoluo turned pitying and sympathetic.
Surrounded by senior experts, threatened by this detestable boy, what would Luoluo do next?
She looked toward a corner of the platform, toward that young man.
It was an instinctive or habitual action. She didn't necessarily need Chen Changsheng's opinion, but she felt she should heed his advice.
Everyone's gaze followed hers to the corner, to Chen Changsheng.
...
...
Chen Changsheng's mood was complicated at that moment.
He wasn't surprised, nor was he particularly delighted. Over the past few days at the National Academy, while instructing Luoluo in her cultivation, he had been well aware that although the little monster from the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple was strong, he was no match for Luoluo. Otherwise, he would have stopped her from stepping onto the stone platform earlier. But he hadn't expected that little monster to be so foolish as to directly compete with Luoluo in true essence strength, losing so miserably that it now fell to Luoluo to make this crucial decision.
He knew what Luoluo wanted to choose. A few days ago, by the lake, a grain of sand had gotten into her eye. The little girl had spent half a day stubbornly trying to remove it before she would continue reading with him. In the end, she succeeded, her eyes red as she ran joyfully along the lakeshore.
He knew why Luoluo hesitated, why she looked to him. She was worried about causing trouble for him and the National Academy, and she habitually sought his opinion before acting. Whatever he chose, she would follow.
The little monster from the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple had been defeated by Luoluo. Luoluo was seeking his opinion. After confirming these two things, Chen Changsheng knew what he had to do—he decided to give his opinion directly, following the path Luoluo had already intended.
That was good, Chen Changsheng thought. This responsibility should fall on him. He stood up, looked at the Heavenly Academy instructor on the platform and the breathless crowd around him, and after a moment of silence, said, "He said earlier he would cripple Tang Thirty-Six."
His voice was a bit dry, his speech halting and clumsy—not from fear, but because he wasn't used to speaking in front of so many people. To be honest, today's Ivy Banquet, with so many people, was a first for him in his life.
Moreover, he was firm in his actions but not skilled at speaking harshly.
He thought for a moment. This reason should be sufficient. He said, "Tang Thirty-Six is my friend, so..."
...
...
Luoluo understood his meaning, and then suddenly realized she had made a mistake—she shouldn't have looked at her teacher earlier. That glance was habit, a sign of respect, but it also meant she had dumped the power of choice and the subsequent responsibility onto her teacher. That was very wrong.
She withdrew her gaze and looked down at Tianhai Ya'er, who lay before her.
At that moment, Chen Changsheng was saying, "Tang Thirty-Six is my friend."
Tianhai Ya'er saw the look in her eyes and understood her intent. His face turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with utter bewilderment. He couldn't understand why this was happening, and then, in terror and panic, he shrieked, "Save me!"
His scream was so loud it drowned out Chen Changsheng's "so" and the words that followed.
But it couldn't drown out the terrifying force of her fist or the crackling sound of lightning.
Luoluo's noble and domineering bloodline made her loathe cowardly life above all else.
Hearing Tianhai Ya'er's frantic cries for help, her brows arched, and her eyes blazed with extraordinary brightness.
A blur of motion, like a young tiger leaping across a ravine!
Her fist landed on Tianhai Ya'er's chest!
A soft crack, and Tianhai Ya'er's shrieking stopped abruptly!
A moment later, the silence shattered as countless gasps and shouts erupted from the crowd.
Tianhai Ya'er lay unconscious in a pool of blood, his ribs shattered, his meridians severed—utterly crippled.
Luoluo withdrew her fist. A gale howled around her small frame.
It roared!
Her black hair swept across her beautiful face like willow branches in the wind.
Not willow branches—traces of grass.
She looked at the surrounding crowd, her expression calm and stern.
As if standing in the wild winds of the northern frontier, amidst the slightly bent grass, always poised for a fatal strike.
An indescribable aura of authority naturally emanated from her.
...
...
Dead silence. The crowd stared at the platform in shock.
That little girl... had actually crippled Tianhai Ya'er! Did she know who Tianhai Ya'er was? Did she know what she was doing?
Chen Changsheng wanted to tell the whole world that he had told her to strike, but at that moment, the world's eyes were all on Luoluo, not on him. Zhuang Huanyu, for instance, could only see Luoluo's small figure, filled with boundless admiration and infatuation.
The light flickered. The Heavenly Academy instructor and several experts from the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple rushed to Tianhai Ya'er's side, checking his pulse and breath. They confirmed he was alive, but... his meridians were shattered, utterly ruined beyond repair. He would never cultivate again in his life. The people from the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple carried Tianhai Ya'er off the stone platform as quickly as possible and headed for the Imperial Palace, hoping that the palace's attendants or imperial physicians could preserve the last shred of hope. If not, they might have to disturb the Saintess herself.
The bishop and instructors of the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple left as well, casting a glance at the Heavenly Academy instructor before departing. Their meaning was clear: you hid this from the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple, you used Tianhai Ya'er, and now you must answer for it.
The Heavenly Academy instructor looked at Luoluo, his face as cold as frost, his voice as sharp as a blade: "Such ruthless cruelty. You little girl are truly cold-blooded to the extreme."
Luoluo thought back to when Tianhai Ya'er had severely wounded and crippled Xuanyuan Po earlier. What had this Heavenly Academy instructor said then? She remembered. At the time, the instructor had said Tianhai Ya'er was too heavy-handed, and Tianhai Ya'er had replied that he had only promised not to kill Xuanyuan Po, not that he wouldn't cripple him.
"I never promised not to kill you. Besides, I only crippled him."
Luoluo felt she was perfectly justified and turned to walk off the platform with righteous confidence.
The Heavenly Academy instructor paused, recalling his earlier exchange with Tianhai Ya'er. He thought Luoluo was deliberately mocking him, which only fueled his anger. His long beard fluttered wildly in the night breeze, his face turning extremely ugly as he barked, "Do you think you can just walk away like that!"
Luoluo stopped in her tracks.
The Heavenly Academy instructor stared at her back, his voice devoid of emotion: "I don't care who you are or who your true master is, but you need to understand this: this is the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, this is the Heavenly Academy. You committed a violent act in public—do you think you can escape?"
On the surface, he said this, but everyone understood the real meaning. No matter how mysterious Luoluo was, she had gravely wounded the Pope's disciple and the Saintess's grand-nephew. In all the human world, no one could protect her.
The Heavenly Academy instructor smirked coldly. "Little girl, you really... have quite the nerve."
Luoluo was displeased and asked, "What are you, to dare speak to me like that?"
The entire venue fell silent. No one expected that at such a moment, this little girl would not only show no fear but would instead be so assertive.
Only a very few vaguely sensed something unusual, because the aura emanating from this little girl was truly formidable.
Facing the Heavenly Academy instructor, she stood like a lord addressing a subject.
What kind of family or master could produce such a female student?
The Heavenly Academy instructor paused, then laughed in fury, his laughter icy cold.
He was now certain that this little girl's origins were extraordinary. But as he had said earlier, crippling Tianhai Ya'er meant that very few in the human world could change her fate.
With a sharp hiss, he casually waved his right hand.
No wind, no rain—only a straight line of concentrated force, enough to pierce even meteorite iron!
Such was the power of a Star Condensation realm expert!
What a figure the Heavenly Academy instructor was!
No matter how strong Luoluo was, she was still just a little girl.
The crowd seemed to hear the sound of death, as if someone was saying that little girl was doomed.
Who could change this situation?
Someone looked toward the corner where the National Academy sat, wanting to see the little girl's companion.
An empty seat.
There was food and wine.
No one.