To practice coordination, the Academy selected students with various attributes within the same year to form small teams for executing a specific designated task. This group was usually led by an older student and competed against several other teams to complete the assignment.

The Academy's current mission was to venture to the fringes of Dragon Map Mountain to procure Blue Ice Grass. Four teams were in competition: besides August’s First Group, there was Warren’s Seventh Group, as well as the Fifth and Eighth Groups, all participating. Due to the competitive nature, the various groups exchanged barbs and held mutual resentment, meeting each other with open hostility.

“It’s forbidden for teachers to help complete assignments; I’ll report this incident!” August suddenly announced.

In their estimation, the Seventh Group had no way of obtaining the Blue Ice Grass on their own. If they did succeed, it could only be with the assistance of their accompanying teacher—meaning they must have cheated!

“I think it’s you who had a teacher’s help!” Anliya retorted, her fair face flushing with anger, “But if you still fail even with a teacher’s assistance, the First Group’s capability is truly something to marvel at!”

“You…”

The members of the First Group roared in fury upon hearing this.

“Warren, I challenge you to a fair duel! Let’s see whether the First Group is truly formidable, or the Seventh Group is utterly incompetent!”

Before Warren could respond, Anliya anxiously interjected, “Senior Warren, you’re injured. Don’t agree! Completing the mission will show which group is superior; there’s no need to pay him any mind!”

“Oh? Scared now?”

“Of course, we’re scared. Can’t you see? Hiding behind a woman. Shows how useless you are!”

“What a coward. Doesn’t even dare accept a challenge…”

…………

A string of jeers erupted from the First Group. Warren trembled with rage. Clenching his iron fists, he roared, “August, I accept your challenge! If you lose, you’ll get out quietly!”

“I think you won’t have the chance. You’re the one who should get out!” August retorted, having successfully provoked Warren’s anger.

Before any blows were exchanged, the air between them was already thick with conflict.

Chen Feng sat at a nearby table, leisurely eating, completely undisturbed by the quarreling of the two factions. In his eyes, their fight was no different from two children squabbling over a piece of candy. As long as neither side bothered him, there was no need to pay them any attention.

“You’re asking for death!” Warren roared, immediately radiating a thick aura of Battle Qi, and kicked out, sending the table in front of him flying straight toward August.

Seeing the table approach, August flinched and leaped four or five meters to the side, dodging the projectile. However, some of the sauce and oil from the dishes splashed onto him.

Upon noticing his soiled clothes, August’s face contorted with immense fury. Stomping his right foot on the ground, he charged forward rapidly.

The room was already small, and the two were not far apart. This charge instantly brought him before Warren. Warren, being an eighth-level Wind Element Fighter, was swift. Seeing his opponent rush in, a flash of joy crossed his face, and he swung his uninjured right arm to meet the charge.

Unexpectedly, after his charge, August twisted mid-air, narrowly evading the attack, while simultaneously swinging his left arm in a horizontal punch aimed at Warren’s abdomen!

If Warren had been uninjured, this punch would have done him no harm. But now, before he could even react, a numbness spread through his body. Unable to turn in time, he was struck squarely in the stomach and sent flying backward, landing directly toward Chen Feng’s dining table.

“Senior Warren…”

The members of the Seventh Group cried out in alarm. Being smashed backward like that, he was bound to fall terribly. Many couldn’t bear to watch the sight of Warren crashing into the table.

However, after a moment, they heard no sound of shattering wood—in fact, there was no sound at all.

Looking up, they saw Warren standing unharmed in front of the table, completely untouched. One hand was steadily supporting his back.

Did the force of Warren’s downward impact just now get neutralized by the Fighter in the Mage robe behind him?

The members of the Seventh Group felt a jolt. As students of the continent’s premier academy, everyone knew the immense strength and precise control required to catch someone of Warren’s weight at such close proximity, especially while remaining seated and stationary. How could this youth possess such formidable skill?

For a moment, the entire inn fell silent, even Teacher Kailin, who stood nearby, was too astonished to speak.

What Chen Feng had just displayed was something even she would find difficult now.

“Could this youth have reached the Battle Master realm?” The thought immediately struck Kailin, but she dismissed it as absurd. She herself, heralded as a rare genius by Tianfeng Academy, only broke through to Battle Master at age twenty-six, and this youth looked under eighteen!

“It must be some special method,” Kailin reasoned internally.

This world was populated by myriad races, and those possessing unique talents were everywhere. Someone capable of casually neutralizing the force of a charge certainly might exist.

Trying to comfort herself, Kailin looked toward Chen Feng.

Warren had expected a harsh fall, but instead, a gentle force came from behind, leaving him standing dazed on the ground. Even with his perspective as an eighth-level Fighter, he couldn't fathom how the youth named Chen Feng behind him had dissipated the violent force of the impact.

“I didn’t expect your Seventh Group to have an expert!” August hissed coldly, his eyes filled with fury as he looked at Chen Feng.

His view of Chen Feng was partially blocked by Warren, so he hadn't seen the action as clearly as Kailin and the others. Though he found it strange, he wasn't afraid.

“Boring,” Chen Feng sighed, rising from his seat.

A contest of this level held no interest for him.

However, the moment he uttered those words, August took it as a deliberate insult, and his face immediately turned green.

“You… you’re asking for death!” August snarled, his teeth grinding audibly as he stared at Chen Feng, who was moving toward the exit.

“Don’t leave!” A youth accompanying August stood in Chen Feng’s path, “Are your eyes blind? Can’t you see Senior August is speaking to you!”

“Scram!” Chen Feng sharply warned.

The youth felt his mind momentarily cloud over, a deep blush immediately spreading across his face as if he were drunk. He spun around three times on the spot and collapsed onto the floor.

“Mental magic… he’s a Mental Mage!” A youth suddenly shouted. All the youths in the First Group adopted defensive postures.

Mental magic attacks were insidious, unseen, and intangible. This youth had only uttered a low warning, and his companion had collapsed internally injured. What was this magic?

At that moment, the entire hotel was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The words “Mental Mage” spread through everyone’s minds like a contagion.

“Mental Mage! Good! Let me see just how capable you are!” August bellowed, his tone filled with resolve.

Though young, his cultivation had reached the peak of the eighth level, and he naturally held his peers in low regard. In his mind, no matter how gifted his peers were, their cultivation couldn't be far above his own. Furthermore, mental magic was notoriously difficult to cultivate; for him to already possess the seventh level meant he was a genius among geniuses. A seventh-level Mental Mage—if he could attack fast enough, this opponent wouldn’t be able to defend himself! It was because he considered these factors that his heart was filled with such firm conviction. If he didn't retaliate after being mocked, how could he maintain authority among his juniors as a senior?

The teacher leading the First Group, Jacob, a third-level Battle Master, possessed knowledge far beyond these students. He had detected the subtle fluctuations of Battle Qi hidden within Chen Feng’s low warning.

“This… this kid is an expert, likely a ninth-level Fighter!” he thought secretly. “August is certainly no match for him!”

To prevent his students from making a fool of themselves, he quickly stepped forward and commanded August, “Fellow students must unite and not quarrel over trivial matters!”

“Teacher Jacob, stay out of this. I must teach this kid a lesson today!” August was seething with anger and ignored his teacher’s advice.

“Teacher Jacob, fair competition among students is an encouraged policy of the Academy. Are you trying to obstruct it? Interfering with normal student competition might not sound good when reported to the Dean, right?” Teacher Kailin’s eyes darted about as she called out with a smile.

Jacob could see the strangeness in Chen Feng’s earlier move; how could Kailin not?

Jacob’s face cycled between red and pale. He hadn't expected that the very words he’d used against Kailin moments ago would now be thrown back at him verbatim.

“Kid, today I’ll let you know why the flowers turn so red!” August roared. Fearing the teacher might intervene again, he shouted loudly after his threat, “This is a personal grudge between me and this fellow; I ask everyone not to interfere!”

This statement effectively silenced the crowd. Warren, who had been about to step forward to help Chen Feng now that he was isolated, felt it inappropriate to intervene, given August’s clear declaration of intent.

“Chen Feng, he’s at the peak of eighth-level Fighter cultivation, specializing in Earth Element Battle Qi, possessing formidable offensive power. If… if you can’t win, admit defeat!” Warren immediately called out.

He was unsure of Chen Feng’s actual strength. Although he had witnessed him act twice, he hadn't understood what he saw. Considering Chen Feng had only just enrolled this year, his cultivation couldn't possibly surpass August, who was in his third year, hence his cautionary advice.

“It’s too late for regrets now. If I don’t make you pay a price today, I won’t leave this door!” August roared, launching his Battle Qi-infused right fist straight toward Chen Feng’s chest with brutal force.

This punch carried the full extent of his power; it looked less like a mere contest and more like a fight to the death.

“Despicable…”

“This isn't a contest…”

“He’s sneak-attacking…”

The members of the Seventh Group, although they didn't hold Chen Feng in high regard, couldn't help but shout accusations when they saw August strike him.

The punch whistled through the air, an unbearably piercing sound in the tavern.

August saw that his fist was less than ten centimeters from his target, yet the opponent remained motionless. A flicker of triumph crossed his face. No one knew better than he the sheer destructive force of his full-power punch. This blow would definitely shatter the young man’s sternum, leaving him crippled if not dead!

This is the price for offending me. The thought barely crossed his mind when he suddenly felt a void engulf him, his head felt light, and he tumbled forward onto the ground with a somersault. Immediately following, there was a sharp crack! A fierce, stabbing pain shot through his right arm—it was broken.

Chen Feng, clad in the Mage robe, stood before him and said calmly, “You want me to pay a price? You are not qualified!” With that, he stepped down heavily on August’s hand with his right foot and twisted, instantly crushing the bones.

“Ahhh…” August screamed in agony, cold sweat running down his neck.

What is happening? he shrieked internally, his eyes filled with disbelief. His fist clearly struck the opponent, yet why was he on the ground, and his right arm broken…

The speed of this exchange was too fast; no one saw exactly what happened. Everyone remained frozen in place.

“What just happened?”

“I don’t know, did you see it clearly?”

“I only saw August throw a punch, and then he fell. It couldn't be that the force of his own punch made him fall, could it…”

After a brief silence, loud arguments broke out in the hotel.

Teacher Kailin’s delicate eyes widened, and her fair hand covered her ruby lips, her face etched with astonishment. Although she expected Chen Feng to lose, winning so quickly, so mysteriously, still shocked her profoundly.

“Student, are you a Mage or a Fighter?” Teacher Jacob couldn’t help but ask.

Even with his cultivation as a third-level Battle Master, he hadn't discerned how the opponent attacked, naturally leading to suspicion.

“I don’t know…” Kailin hesitated for a moment. “He… is not a student in our group. To be precise, he isn't even a student of our Academy yet; he’s here to register this year!”

“He’s only registering this year?” Jacob’s expression became wonderfully complex. “A new applicant with such terrifying strength…”

Having broken the bones in his hand, Chen Feng felt he had taught August a sufficient lesson. Without glancing at the crowd behind him, he slowly walked toward the door.

This time, not a single youth from the First Group dared to step forward to obstruct him.

Chen Feng left the hotel and stepped onto the street. He hadn't expected that accompanying Warren would cause him this much trouble. He still didn't know the status of Tianfeng Academy here, so he would have to ask around.

As Chen Feng stepped onto the street, preparing to question someone, he paused slightly, a cold smile touching his lips, and turned toward a nearby alleyway.

Less than a minute after he entered, Teacher Jacob’s figure appeared at the alley’s entrance, and without hesitation, he lunged inside.

ps: Recommending a reader group, Group Number: 92988827. This is a reader exchange group. The group slogan is: Share good books, feel free to lurk, but engage in discussion; don't just read and stay silent! Also: There will be another chapter tonight, around 12 o'clock. We’ve already updated seven thousand words today... Must reach over ten thousand today at any rate... (To be continued. For future developments, please log on to www** for more chapters, support the author, and support legitimate reading!)