Rage surged again through Wei Buhuan’s mind. That’s right! The Fan Jing of today was not the same as the Fan Jing of a few years ago! Today’s me was far stronger than I was back then. I have tolerated this for quite some time, and now it is time to erupt!

Why should I fear Tian Lian Ling Guan? Wei Buhuan slowly lifted his head, his ash-gray eyes filled with a defiant gleam. "I have now cultivated the Tian Can Dou Qi to an extremely profound level; even you, Tian Lian Ling Guan, might not necessarily be my match," he declared. "Thunder Lion King, I will seek another spar with you another day…"

Wei Buhuan’s words remained unfinished when he saw Tian Lian Ling Guan raise his little finger and gently rock it from side to side.

This is… Wei Buhuan’s eyes suddenly widened! A pinky? Last time you used your index finger; are you implying now that I don't even qualify for you to use your pinky finger?

"Fine! Thunder Lion King, you watch this! The me of today is absolutely not the me from a few years ago…" Wei Buhuan once again strode towards Qian Jin. "Today, I will use this kid’s body to show you just how strong I am…"

The Titan Iron Curtain’s body moved slightly. A warrior beside him grabbed his wrist, and he shot a meaningful glance toward Tian Lian Ling Guan, the Thunder Lion King.

"Hmph…" The Titan Iron Curtain resettled himself in his seat. Tian Lian Ling Guan did not press the issue further, as if none of it concerned him in the slightest.

"Senior… they…"

"This is the Academy of Conquest, and what it cultivates are warriors," Tian Lian Ling Guan coldly stated to a warrior cadet who was about to speak nearby. "Those who get beaten to death here are trash! It’s better they die sooner than waste army rations on the Human-Demon Battlefield in the future…"

Never mind! Quite a few cadets fell into despair. Tian Lian Ling Guan, who was most qualified to intervene, actually endorsed the Headmaster’s law of eliminating the weak, watching impassively as a potential murder unfolded.

Wei Buhuan moved quickly, but the ballroom was indeed vast. After more than ten steps, he still hadn’t approached Qian Jin. Instead, his path was blocked by a young man holding a folding fan, wearing a smile, and clad in robes that resembled long white snow shirts.

"Get out of my way…" Wei Buhuan’s fierce expression suddenly appeared, only to instantly freeze in surprise.

Tian Lian Ling Guan, seated among the Lion Griffin Bloodline warriors, made a slight adjustment to his posture, emitting a faint sound of surprise and confusion from his nostrils.

Qian Jin frowned, staring at the back of the expressionless Tian Ce. It was just for that instant! A powerful aura erupted from this fellow! That was not the might of a warrior exploding with Dou Qi, but purely sheer presence.

It was as if a slumbering king had suddenly opened his eyes at that moment, causing countless people to line up and kneel while an executioner severed their heads one by one.

That is not the aura of a warrior! Qian Jin’s mind was filled with confusion. What exactly was that fleeting aura that suddenly appeared and vanished from the expressionless Tian Ce just now?

Wei Buhuan glanced hesitantly at Mu Ne Tian Ce. He, who always charged forward like heavy cavalry, suddenly bypassed Mu Ne Tian Ce and walked toward Qian Jin. He looked back at Mu Ne Tian Ce, his face mirroring the same question: why did he feel fear just from meeting his gaze?

Yes! It was fear! A completely different feeling from facing the Thunder Lion King, Tian Lian Ling Guan. The man ranked first on the Hundred Battles List gave off an aura of untouchable dominance, but this young man before him, who kept a perpetual, slight smile, inspired a desire to submit.

Why is this happening? Why is this happening? Waves of frustration transformed into rage, filling Wei Buhuan’s heart. "I must kill him! Even if I cannot kill him, I must completely cripple this warrior named Qian Jin!"

Otherwise, how will others view me on campus in the future? Wei Buhuan suddenly stopped. The Dou Qi within his body violently swelled and intensified: Demon Subjugation, Demon Quelling, Demon Extermination!

The Titan Iron Curtain’s eyes shone with a strange light. It was the Nine Battles of Demon Extermination? With this level of strength, his ranking should absolutely not be just outside the top forty on the Hundred Battles List; he should be higher!

Rage mixed with Dou Qi, Wei Buhuan felt his Dou Qi break through the ten-thousand-turn barrier for the first time. Although he hadn't condensed a Golden Dou Heart, it was still more potent than an ordinary Nine Battles of Demon Extermination.

Invincible! A feeling of invincibility flooded Wei Buhuan’s heart. He suddenly placed both hands on the ground… his abdomen nearly touching the floor, his whole body resembling a giant scorpion!

The style of attack Wei Buhuan launched immediately struck most onlookers as utterly bizarre. His arms supported the ground fully extended, yet he gave the impression of massive pincers ready to strike at any moment.

Though only on four limbs, he gave the illusion of an eight-legged scorpion scurrying rapidly on the ground. The friction created a hissing sound, as if a real giant scorpion were charging, threatening to cover the entire floor with its body.

Many warrior cadets felt an indescribable discomfort seeing this. The friction sound generated by his rapid movement was like thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of scorpions suddenly emerging from the sand, their high-speed running creating sounds that made the scalp tingle.

The surrounding warrior cadets were instantly stunned. Is this the power of the top forty on the Hundred Battles List? Truly formidable! Faced with such an attack, they would concede without even engaging.

Wei Buhuan, crawling on the ground, was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Qian Jin. His right leg, tucked behind him, suddenly shot up like a scorpion’s tail, slamming down with an impossibly bizarre curve, locking onto Qian Jin’s head. The fierce critical strike brought with it gusts of pungent, foul wind, as if it were a boneless, soft whip rather than a leg composed of solid bone.

In that instant, in everyone’s eyes, Qian Jin looked like prey targeted by a scorpion—there was no time left to dodge.

Facing the bizarre and brutal attack, Qian Jin’s expression did not change in the slightest. He slightly arched his body, flipping his arm outward. His five fingers crushed the air as he met the scorpion-tail-like foot with his fist, striking head-on.

Seeking death! Wei Buhuan sneered, his brow contorted viciously. His toenails, hardened through countless days of practice, were as tough as steel. The chilling poison within them was enough to instantly freeze a person’s entire Dou Meridian network and then kill them instantly through poison!

Bang! A heavy thud, like a massive object falling from a height, echoed as bone, muscle, and Dou Qi clashed. Dou Qi splattered where the fist and foot met. Wei Buhuan’s shoe instantly shattered into pieces, revealing toenails as black as ink and emitting a foul odor.

Crack! The crowd heard the sound of a bone breaking. For a moment, no one could tell if the sound came from Qian Jin or Wei Buhuan. Tian Lian Ling Guan, seated among the Lion Griffin Bloodline warriors, let out a faint sound of surprise and confusion.

Wei Buhuan’s savage expression instantly changed. Intense pain shot out from his ankle joint. Before he could react in the slightest, hundreds of locations within his body seemed to ignite like hidden magical traps, or erupt like volcanoes. His Dou Qi exploded uncontrollably.

Puff puff puff puff puff…

Nearly a hundred holes, the size of little fingers, suddenly burst open on Wei Buhuan’s skin, spraying blood outward like a fountain. Before he could retreat, his chest was struck by a kick Qian Jin suddenly delivered. His ribs immediately shattered in countless places, and his body was sent flying backward, spurting blood for dozens of meters, leaving a long smear of gore on the ground.

Saint-Level Dou Skill! Submerging Thunder Dou Skill!

Qian Jin coldly watched Wei Buhuan, who had tried to take his life. He looked up at the surrounding crowd: "Can someone tell me, am I now ranked fortieth on the Hundred Battles List…"

"This is…"

In the corner reserved for the Lion Griffin Bloodline warriors, Tian Lian Ling Guan’s questioning voice rang out. His body, which had been unmoving as a mountain, stirred at this moment!

He slowly stood up, gradually turning his body to face the dance floor where the battle had instantly begun and instantly concluded.

The Titan Iron Curtain’s massive frame also trembled. He abruptly stood up and gazed at Qian Jin in the center of the dance floor.

Mu Ne Tian Ce lightly fanned himself, looking at Qian Jin with a perpetual, gentle smile. No one knew what that smile truly signified.

The silent dance floor, the strong cadets from the Hundred Battles List standing up from their seats around the hall, and the warriors and magic cadets still enjoying the ball—all stared blankly at Wei Buhuan lying on the floor in the middle of the dance area, listening to the only sound present—the noise made when Wei Buhuan’s skin burst open, spraying blood outward.

One punch! With just a single punch, Wei Buhuan, ranked fortieth on the Hundred Battles List, was severely injured! In the eyes of almost every cadet on the dance floor, surprise and disbelief were evident.

One punch! The Titan Iron Curtain shook his head slightly. He formed his thick, carrot-sized fingers into a fist. The strength Wei Buhuan displayed in that single instant, combined with the poison in his Tian Can Dou Qi, was enough to place him in the top twenty of the Hundred Battles List!

He hid his strength well! The Titan Iron Curtain looked at the heavily panting Wei Buhuan on the ground. To possess the strength to climb the rankings but deliberately suppress it, unwilling to be tempted by lavish resources—he must have planned to shock the entire academy in the future, right?

Pity… The Titan Iron Curtain’s attention returned to Qian Jin. Pity that Wei Buhuan encountered someone even fiercer than him, and someone who hid their strength even deeper! He won with a single punch!

Even the nineteenth-ranked Huguo would likely require several blows to defeat Wei Buhuan, resulting in a hard-fought victory—a stark contrast to Qian Jin’s one-hit victory.

Mu Ne Tian Ce lightly fanned himself, looking at the blood-splattered and terrifying figure of Wei Buhuan. A calm smile graced his face, as if he had long grown accustomed to such scenes, utterly unfazed by the gore.

"What a strange Dou Skill…" Mu Ne Tian Ce observed Wei Buhuan with genuine interest. "Classmate Qian Jin, you are even stronger than I imagined…"

The Titan Iron Curtain nodded gently in agreement. Indeed, unexpectedly powerful. To think the Academy of Conquest harbored such a cadet. If he could be recruited as a subordinate…

Incredible! With just one punch, he had left Wei Buhuan, ranked fortieth on the Hundred Battles List, gravely wounded and unable to rise! The cadets on the dance floor—nearly every eye showed astonishment and disbelief.