The other patrons in the mess hall turned to watch the commotion caused by Dekli's booming voice. Many who recognized Dekli and Anliya took grim satisfaction in the scene unfolding.

"See that? That's Anliya, the assistant to Teacher Fei Yu," said a pale-clad youth at a nearby table.

"Teacher Fei Yu? You mean Fei Yu, the Alchemist who reached the rank of Seventh-Level Magister?" the green-clad youth beside him asked, clearly astonished.

"Who else would it be!"

"And who is that man, the one shouting so aggressively?" The green-clad youth pointed toward Dekli.

"You don't even know that? That's His Excellency Dekli, last year's champion for the fifth-year class! Word is, he's already advanced to Battle Master!" the pale-clad youth explained.

"Advanced to Battle Master? Wow, that’s impressive..." The green-clad youth's mouth fell open in surprise.

"What good is being a Battle Master? Look, Anliya still doesn't like him," the pale-clad youth remarked, sounding slightly gleeful.

"Quick, tell me—is there some secret history between those two?" The green-clad youth leaned in, suddenly interested.

"Of course. Anliya actually only arrived at the academy last year. She's a Light Elementalist. During the final battle of the last year-end competition, Dekli won, but he was gravely wounded. It was Anliya who treated him. For some reason, Dekli became infatuated with her and publicly declared his intention to pursue the girl!" the pale-clad youth narrated like an insider.

"But Anliya completely ignores him. Naturally, Dekli got furious and publicly threatened to break the legs of anyone who dared pursue Anliya. Several men have already been severely injured just for walking near her. It's not even proper pursuit; if Dekli sees someone walking with her, he attacks..."

"Don't they have rules against fighting on campus?" the green-clad youth asked, confused.

"Rules? Dekli is the Dean's son. How would the school control him? Besides, before every fight, he forces the other party to sign a formal duel agreement. Even if the school investigates, it's recorded as a legitimate brawl, so they won't interfere!" the pale-clad youth clarified.

"Oh..." The green-clad youth finally understood. Looking at Chen Feng, who was sitting calmly in front of Anliya eating, he suddenly snickered: "So, you mean this poor guy sitting there is about to have a very bad day?"

The pale-clad youth picked a piece of meat from his plate, chewing thoughtfully. "It’s inevitable. Let's just hope he doesn't end up like the second guy Dekli targeted—beaten so badly he can't manage his own life..."

…………………………………………………………………………

Seeing Dekli causing trouble again, Anliya snapped, "Dekli, what madness has taken hold of you?"

"Madness?" Dekli was even more enraged by her words. "I think you're the one who's crazy! What's so great about this little nobody? His hair is almost white; you can tell he's just some weak pretty boy. Do you really like someone like that?"

Anliya trembled with anger, pointing fiercely outward. "Get out! I never want to see you again!"

Dekli sneered, ignoring her, his eyes fixed on Chen Feng. "Damn it, if you're a man, say something! Stop hiding behind a woman. I despise spineless cowards like you the most!"

His constant use of "damn it" was gratingly sharp.

While others didn't know who Chen Feng was, Anliya knew perfectly well: this was a monster who could instantly kill a Third-Level Battle Venerable. If Dekli provoked him this way, wouldn't he be courting disaster?

Her face went pale at the thought, and she quickly urged Chen Feng, "Don't mind him, he’s just like this..."

Anliya’s attempt to placate him only enraged Dekli further. He slammed his hand onto the table, sending sauces and juices flying.

"Don't act so profound, you son of a—! If you’re a man, answer me, or crawl out from under that table!"

The commotion was now too loud; a crowd had gathered, watching Chen Feng's silence and beginning to mock him.

"Look at that kid! His cultivation must be weak, yet he dares provoke Anliya. Isn't he asking for death! What an idiot... Haha!"

"See how he folds when faced with Dekli? Dekli is the fifth-year champion; how could this child compare?"

"That's true. Let's just see how this boy crawls out from under the table!"

…………

The surroundings were filled with smug, mocking voices.

Chen Feng looked at the utterly arrogant Dekli and sighed. Right now, he truly didn't want trouble, nor did he wish to clash with anyone. The current situation was too delicate; if he acted, it would inevitably invite a fierce, drawn-out conflict if discovered.

However, no matter how much he tried to concede, he didn't take characters like this seriously. Shaking his head, he stood up and stared at Dekli, saying flatly, "A rabid dog!"

Seeing Chen Feng finally react, Anliya’s face turned sickly green with fear. She quickly grabbed his arm, anxiously pleading, "Don't get angry, just ignore him..."

Anliya meant well, but she overlooked a man's pride. Dekli had openly declared his pursuit of her, yet she was speaking to another man this way. Even setting aside the fiery-tempered Dekli, any ordinary person would struggle to endure that.

"You little brat, I'll kill you!" Dekli roared, his huge fists clenching with audible cracks. He smashed his fist onto the table, causing the entire thing to collapse.

Anliya rushed to stand in front of Chen Feng, shouting angrily at Dekli, "Dekli, what do you think you're doing? Leave now, or you'll never see me again!"

Her idea was that if she could just make Dekli leave, Chen Feng surely wouldn't kill him, thus saving his life. Since she couldn't reveal Chen Feng's identity in this public setting, to everyone else, she appeared to be desperately defending Chen Feng.

Chen Feng understood her intention and truly didn't wish to waste time arguing with such a person. He said lightly, "Fine, I won't kill him," and turned to leave the cafeteria.

Before Anliya could voice her gratitude, she heard a fierce roar from behind: "If I don't kill him today, my name isn't Dekli!" Apparently, Anliya's attitude had completely enraged him.

Chen Feng saw Dekli descending into madness and a cold, sinister smile touched his lips. Just as he was about to act, he seemed to recall something. He swiftly pulled Anliya to him, wrapping his arm around her waist, raising his chin slightly, and walked forward while holding her close.

Faced with such an overt provocation, Dekli went completely ballistic.

Chen Feng hadn't wanted to do that; he could have just fought directly. But any action now would certainly cause unnecessary trouble. Yet, he wasn't one to be bullied either, and he needed to retaliate. Holding Anliya like that was equivalent to slapping Dekli across the face twice—far more satisfying than simply knocking him down.

Just as Dekli was about to attack in fury, a teacher approached. "What are you two doing?"

The moment Chen Feng saw this teacher, he broke into a smile.

It was none other than the hapless teacher, Jacob.

Chen Feng released Anliya, turned to Jacob, and said, "Teacher Jacob, long time no see!"

As soon as Chen Feng spoke, Jacob's face immediately went pale, as if he had seen a ghost, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Knowing Jacob recognized his voice, Chen Feng smiled faintly and said, "This student has been constantly provoking me. You should handle it according to school rules and take him away!"

Jacob remembered the agonizing pain inflicted upon him and a wave of dread washed over him. He spun around and slapped Dekli across the face.

"Come with me. You know the consequences of violating school rules!"

Dekli’s eyes were wide with rage. He shouted, "Cousin, he..."

"Cousin?" Dekli's cry stunned everyone. They never imagined these two were related.

"Come with me!" Jacob extended both hands, immediately grabbing Dekli and pulling him over. He said to Chen Feng, "I'll take him away..."

With that, he applied pressure, ignoring Dekli's loud protests, and dragged him toward the exit.

"I'm not going!" Dekli bellowed. "If I don't teach this brat a lesson today, I'm never leaving!"

"Are you insane? Come with me!" Jacob, aware of Chen Feng's power, panicked when his cousin refused to obey and urgently held onto him.

Suddenly, Dou Qi surged around Dekli. He shoved his cousin Jacob aside, stomped the ground, and lunged toward Chen Feng.

Jacob hadn't expected him to use Dou Qi and was caught off guard, stumbling back a few steps, leaving no time to stop Dekli’s charge.

Seeing that Dekli finally committed, Chen Feng made no superfluous moves. He threw one punch directly into Dekli’s nose.

Crack! A sharp sound echoed. The bridge of the nose was pulverized by the blow, and blood instantly flooded his face.

Under this heavy impact, Dekli’s forward momentum was destroyed, and he tumbled to the ground, his vision swimming as he nearly lost consciousness.

Jacob saw his cousin struck and his face immediately turned deathly white. However, seeing that Chen Feng had held back slightly, he relaxed. "Thank you," he muttered, pulling the semiconscious Dekli up to leave the dining hall.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Make him crawl out from under the table!" Chen Feng’s voice cut through the air, chillingly calm.

Since he had already struck, letting Dekli off now would absolutely not align with Chen Feng's character.

"This..." Jacob frowned, clearly hesitant.

Chen Feng’s eyes snapped open, a flicker of flame crossing his pupils, and he stated coldly, "Must I do it myself?"

"N-no need!" Jacob shivered at the sight of the flame in Chen Feng's eyes. He quickly hauled the nearly unconscious Dekli and forced him to crawl under the table.

The onlookers, witnessing such a theatrical scene, looked at each other, stunned into silence, some appearing completely vacant.

………………Free Below……………… ps: I really didn't want to say anything, but I’m genuinely angry today. Writing books means you’re bound to be cursed at, but people shouldn't cross the line. After adding me on QOO, people left abusive messages! If you subscribe to my book, fine. But if you read it illegally (pirated) and then curse me, on what grounds? Even more ridiculously, they curse me for missing words or lacking chapters, and I'm not even supposed to tell them which pirate sites are responsible... I’m done! My subscription numbers for this book are actually quite good; it's far from a failure. I keep writing because of the support from so many friends. Frankly, my update speed is in the top ten in this platform! On the day it went premium, I uploaded ten thousand words, which includes a period where I worked for half a month, resigned, and was sick twice! My computer broke down, yet I never missed an update! Do you think writing ten thousand words a day is easy? To write ten thousand words, including conceptualizing, I spend over 12 hours in front of the computer daily. For ten thousand words, I only earn about one dime from you guys! What am I doing this for? I'm not masochistic, I also want to earn money. I know most of my readers are students, and I genuinely understand that taking out a few dozen dollars is very difficult. That’s fine. Leaving a comment in the review section or casting a recommendation vote is acceptable. But why curse me? Reading pirated content and then arrogantly cursing the author—did I force you to read it? You finish in ten minutes what took me over ten hours to write, I don't earn a single penny from you, and yet I get cursed up and down. If it were you, try enduring that! Put yourselves in others' shoes; people have feelings. If you truly think my writing is terrible, don't read it. If you still want to read, please don't use such vicious language to provoke me. To be honest, this book’s subscription performance is poor. If everyone curses me, I really won't be able to persevere! To all those who consistently subscribe to the genuine edition and continually cast recommendation and monthly votes, Old Ya [Author's Nickname] offers his sincere thanks. Without you, this book would have been shelved long ago. To repay you, I will do my utmost to keep updating! Thank you all! (To be continued. For future developments, please log in to www** for more chapters, supporting the author and genuine reading!) First Release