Where had Zhao Yujian gotten a gun? That question was no longer particularly important; what mattered was that the man had pulled the trigger.

The instant the shot rang out, the birds on campus exploded into flight with a great whoosh, crying out in various sounds of panic. The campus fell silent as if it were a graveyard; time seemed to halt its march, and the very air felt solidified.

The teacher, clutching his textbooks, now sported a bullet hole on his forehead. His eyes were wide with shock as his body staggered and collapsed to the ground.

A female university student who had followed him in stood behind him, her expression vacant. She held her own textbooks, her face spattered with hot, steaming blood plasma—a gruesome mosaic of deep crimson.

The sophomores from the Chinese Department watched the gruesome scene unfolding at the doorway with myriad expressions. They had seen such scenarios countless times in films, moments when they could cheerfully munch popcorn while critiquing the authenticity on screen.

But now, as the cinematic plot played out in reality, their minds had gone utterly blank. A dead silence descended, broken only by the echoes of the gunshot, the ragged, terrified gasps for air, the frantic pounding of hearts, and Zhao Yujian's hysterical roars.

"Why? Why did you all treat me like this!" Zhao Yujian was losing his mind.

The moment he pulled the trigger—or perhaps, when Zhou Qin had once again coldly rejected him, and Ding Nan had shamelessly trampled his dignity again—he had utterly shattered. "Zhao, Zhao…" Ding Nan, usually renowned for her sharp tongue and ready wit, couldn't manage a coherent syllable.

She tried desperately to speak Zhao Yujian’s name, intending to persuade him not to harm her. But Ding Nan knew she had always been Zhou Qin’s shield.

The fundamental reason Zhou Qin kept the village girl by her side, bringing her to high-society gatherings, allowing her to benefit, was that Ding Nan could deflect unwanted admirers and intercept any attacks aimed at Zhou Qin. Ding Nan was acutely aware that in this classroom, she was unquestionably the person Zhao Yujian most desperately wanted to kill!

Yet, Ding Nan also knew with chilling certainty that nothing she said now could possibly turn Zhao Yujian back, for he had already put his finger on the trigger. Humans are the most resilient life forms on this planet, but they are also the most fragile, both physically and spiritually.

A demonic voice roared inside Ding Nan’s mind, wailing and seething with resentment: "I’m done for, I’m finished! This isn't my fault; it's all Zhou Qin’s fault!

She told me to do it!" Ding Nan wanted to scream this out loud, but the sound choked in her throat, trapped. She opened her mouth, emitting only whimpers and broken noises, words dissolving into incoherent sounds, more like the pitiful moans of a dying creature.

Zhao Yujian’s face was contorted with rage and savagery. The girls who knew the campus heartthrob were watching him in stunned disbelief, as if they had never met this boy before.

He used to be so sunny, so handsome, as mesmerizing as an angel. Now, he was terrifying, grotesque, like a demon spat up from hell, chilling them to the bone!

Angel and demon—the transition was but a single thought away. Zhao Yujian pressed the muzzle of the handgun against Ding Nan’s forehead, his eyes bulging grotesquely.

He sneered, "Weren't you so articulate? Speak, go on, say something else!" Ding Nan’s teeth chattered uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

Only fragmented words escaped her lips; she could not form a single complete sentence. Seeing the usually sharp-tongued, arrogant Ding Nan reduced to such a state of terror, Zhao Yujian felt an extreme surge of pleasure.

The power that the gun in his hand granted him made his hysterical state swell into a manic frenzy. Surprisingly, Zhou Qin, though trembling internally from shock, was a socialite accustomed to seeing turmoil.

She took a deep breath and said sternly, "Zhao Yujian, we can discuss anything. Is it necessary to bring things to this point?" Her statement drew sideways glances from the surrounding students, mixed with both admiration and resentment.

The classmates admired Zhou Qin’s courage to speak like that at this moment, yet they resented the uncompromising tone and cadence in her voice. Was this woman insane?

Was she trying to provoke Zhao Yujian into a greater frenzy? Many students, recalling the preceding incident involving their senior, Ma Jiajue, and the victims of American school shootings, began to whimper softly in fear.

These sounds of weeping only agitated Zhao Yujian further, making him increasingly restless. He roared at the students with all the strength in his lungs, "Shut up!

Silence!" At his shout, every student in the room clamped their hands tightly over their mouths in horror, shivering like a flock of sheep. Just then, the female student whose face was splattered with blood slowly slid down and settled against the doorframe.

Director Qian from the Academic Affairs Office, drawn by the gunshot from the hallway, thought someone was setting off firecrackers in a classroom. Before even reaching the doorway, he loudly demanded, "What is going on?

No firecrackers allowed on campus!" Following closely behind him was his new ally, Teacher Liu. The two arrived at the classroom entrance like a pair of comedic guardians, potbellies leading the way.

Teacher Liu, without taking in the situation inside, barked commandingly, "Hey, who's setting off fireworks? What are you doing?" But as they reached the threshold, they caught sight of the dazed, vacant-eyed girl slumped near the door.

They froze, horrified by the blood that coated her face. Both looked down momentarily, then snapped their heads up simultaneously, only to see a black, gaping gun barrel pointed directly at them.

Director Qian and Teacher Liu turned the color of ash, their knees knocking violently. They forgot how to walk and how to speak.

Seeing the teachers arrive, Zhao Yujian let out a sinister laugh and pointed the gun at them. "Come here!" Director Qian and Teacher Liu, embracing an international spirit of 'better the other guy dies,' glanced at each other quickly, then hastily declared, "Hey, he’s calling you over." "No, he’s clearly calling you over." "I am the Director of Academic Affairs.

If I say he’s calling you, then he’s calling you." "Exactly! Precisely because you are the Director, he must be calling you!" Seeing them argue, Zhao Yujian's rage flared.

He raised his hand and fired! "BANG!!!" Another gunshot echoed!

Fortunately, Zhao Yujian hadn't aimed this shot. The bullet whistled between the heads of Director Qian and Teacher Liu.

The two men felt a rush of wind past their ears, like the passing sweep of the Grim Reaper’s scythe. Director Qian and Teacher Liu instantly ceased their bickering.

They exchanged a look of perfect understanding and simultaneously shrieked, scrambling away on either side of the doorway, rolling and crawling, heedless even of the petrified girl blocking their path. Zhao Yujian watched the scene and erupted into loud laughter.

But after laughing for a moment, he suddenly noticed a very familiar figure standing silently near the back of the classroom. Zhao Yujian’s laughter abruptly died, and his gaze turned utterly venomous and resentful.

In his eyes, everything was owed to this young man! It was this boy who had publicly humiliated him and broken his leg, preventing him from performing at the exchange meeting.

This boy had stolen all his glory! Zhao Yujian believed that if he had performed that day, Zhou Qin would have been moved by his onstage splendor, and she would have accepted him!

Pitiable people often possess detestable qualities. Zhao Yujian was pitiable, but his hateful nature lay in his total inability to self-reflect.

After all, had he not been the one aggressively kicking out first, why would Li Yundong have broken his tibia? And if that hadn't happened, how could any of this chaos have unfolded?

Li Yundong stared blankly at the unfolding scene. His mind was a whirlwind.

He had certainly gotten into fights with ruffians before, but fighting and murder were worlds apart; fighting men with clubs was entirely different from confronting someone wielding a firearm. Su Chan, standing beside him, had intended to observe the situation quietly, but she suddenly noticed Zhao Yujian’s attention had locked onto Li Yundong, his eyes gathering killing intent.

She quickly whispered to Li Yundong, "Yundong, circulate your Qi to the Dantian, proceed to the Lingtai, guard the Shenting, and let the Qi flow to the Baihui!" Hearing Su Chan’s voice, Li Yundong’s body subtly trembled. The trust and habits ingrained from long association with Su Chan compelled him to immediately begin circulating his internal energy.

A vast, majestic Golden Core True Qi was drawn from the Dantian acupoint and ascended toward the Lingtai point. As this energy reached the Lingtai point, Li Yundong felt his consciousness clear.

The terror and shock within him began to recede, and everything around him seemed to settle, bit by bit. When cultivators speak of 'guarding the Lingtai,' it refers both to safeguarding one's consciousness and ensuring the Qi path through the Lingtai acupoint remains unobstructed; as long as this passage is clear, a person feels refreshed and utterly comfortable.

The Qi within Li Yundong passed the Lingtai point and reached the Shenting. He immediately felt his mind becoming sharper and more agile.

All the previous confusion and stunned paralysis evaporated into the high heavens. His brain began to spin like a high-speed motor, calm and precise.

The Shenting acupoint is located at the very center of the forehead. When people are vexed or unable to think clearly, they often scratch their hair or scalp; touching the Shenting point stimulates it, clearing the mind and sharpening the senses.

When the internal Qi swiftly gathered at the Baihui point, it signaled that Li Yundong's energy had completed its Small Heavenly Cycle and Large Heavenly Cycle; all his Qi was being mobilized and intensely concentrated. At this moment, Li Yundong was suffused with Golden Core True Qi, feeling as if he possessed inexhaustible strength.

Li Yundong had only that morning broken through to the initial stage of the Third Heaven, 'Concentrating Spirit,' achieving 'Clarity of Ear, Clarity of Eye, and Premonition.' With his Qi now spreading throughout his body, he felt his courage multiply tenfold; he felt capable of charging through a thousand charging cavalry or ten thousand marching soldiers! An audacious thought even flickered in his mind: even if Zhao Yujian shot him now, he couldn't be killed!

As soon as this thought arose, Li Yundong’s eyes instantly erupted with a piercing glare, sharp and aggressive to the point of inspiring dread. His entire body, down to the very pores, exuded an overwhelming, forceful aura!