The General stared at Gan Jin with unexpected scrutiny. Even warhorses collapsed foaming at the mouth; despite holding back slightly, how could this boy show absolutely no reaction! Did this kid lack pain receptors?

The formidable defense of the Wind and Cloud Golden Body meant Gan Jin felt very little pain. He calmly looked at the bronze-armored General and said flatly, "My companion, my comrade-in-arms, was struck. My teacher, my superior, was insulted. If you were me, what would you do?"

The General paused slightly, stroking the great beard on his chin, nodding gently. "If I were you, I would have done exactly what you did. Even knowing it violates military regulations, I would have done it too—first, punch the bastard!"

The General chuckled, pointing to the insignia on his armor. "But I am not you; I am the General commanding the i-fortress battlefield! If you were me, facing such a situation, what would you do?" Gan Jin smiled. "Adhere to military law." It was a matter of differing positions; neither was right or wrong! "Excellent!" The General let out a rough, hearty sound from his throat. "Then, you have violated my military code now. I shall punish you! Ten days confinement!"

Ten days? A'Liu Ke, with one arm trembling as it supported his weight on the ground, knelt there in a daze, staring at the General's sentence. Causing such a commotion only resulted in ten days' confinement? This deserved a thorough hanging and assignment to a suicide squad, not merely ten days locked up! "Fine." Gan Jin nodded. He had anticipated this outcome before making a move, though he hadn't expected the punishment to be lighter than anticipated.

The General then turned to the veteran soldiers and pointed toward the other cadets from Oakland Academy. "Did any of them participate in the brawl?" "No!" the veterans roared in unison. They had only felt exhilarated by Gan Jin's actions just now, so naturally, they stood with him. "We..."

Gan Jin waved his hand at the Oakland cadets who stepped forward to speak. "That's enough. We are here to witness the battlefield, not compete in serving confinement. Take care of Dak, and take care of yourselves. Resting for ten days isn't bad for me either." "Duan Feng Bu Er!" The General strode forward in two steps and grabbed Duan Feng Bu Er by the back of his collar, demanding, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Me?" Duan Feng Bu Er blinked his eyes, which shone brighter than the stars, a look of bewilderment and confusion on his face. "General, I was just passing by. My teacher asked me to see if there was any soy sauce for sale outside; I was just running an errand." "Is that so?" The General ignored Duan Feng Bu Er and looked back at the veterans. "Did he join the commotion earlier?" "He did, he did!" "Three-tenths of the people here were beaten by him." "No way! I estimate four-tenths!"

The veterans argued loudly, one after another, offering Gan Jin an eye-opening display. Beneath their words lay a strange affection for Duan Feng Bu Er—why were they pushing him toward confinement?

"Listen, Uncles..." Duan Feng Bu Er wore a mournful expression. "Do we have a feud? Don't frame someone like that. I beat at most two-tenths of the people. This fellow was too quick; as a guest, I felt awkward fighting him for the kills."

"Of course, we have a feud! You cheated me out of this month's pay yesterday!"

"Mine too!"

"Mine, mine! And mine too!"

Amidst the outcry, the General handed Duan Feng Bu Er the same ten-day confinement sentence. The two were quickly led by the soldiers to a stone cell that was reasonably spacious but received almost no sunlight.

"Alright, go inside and stay for ten days." The soldier opened the door, and Gan Jin walked in without a word.

"Uncle, how about you sneakily let me out? Staying in here for ten days is so boring. No..." KICK "Go in!" "Ow! You kicked my butt again."

When Gan Jin sat down inside the confinement cell, he realized it was actually two rooms, separated by a row of iron bars, effectively keeping them apart.

"General Feng..." A'Liu Ke, his head bandaged, leaned weakly against the entrance of the General's tent. "The punishment you handed out today was a bit too... transparent, wasn't it? Look at my students, and look at me..."

General Feng, seated behind a low table reading a book, had long since removed his helmet, revealing a head of messy red hair. Coupled with the thick, bushy beard on his chin, he gave off the distinct impression of a rough brute.

"Transparent?" General Feng put down his book and strode toward A'Liu Ke. His armor scraped together, emitting a metallic clash reminiscent of a battlefield. He bent slightly and whispered into A'Liu Ke's ear, "Yes, I was biased. Do you want to know why? Because a long, long time ago, I also came from a very poor warrior academy. I also watched my teacher be disciplined, yet I lacked the ability and the courage to step forward. To this day, that memory surfaces every time I close my eyes to sleep."

A'Liu Ke's mind rang with a 'buzz,' and a chill quickly spread through his limbs. He stood there rigid as a stake, staring blankly at General Feng.

The mockery of inferior academies by superior academies was not uncommon, whether in the True Policy Dynasty or among the Demon or Barbarian races. While not all superior academies engaged in such behavior, one or two would always do so during the annual examinations. "Alright, you can leave now." General Feng flicked his battle robe and walked back to his command seat without looking back, saying coldly, "This General has military duties. You go attend to yours."

A'Liu Ke closed his eyes in despair and turned to leave the General's tent, hatred flashing across his face. "This matter won't end here! You won't intervene? Fine, I'll go find Fen Tu Kuang Ge! Just a little instigation..." The confinement rooms were perpetually dark and damp, silent to the point of deathly stillness.

The confinement cells of the Earth Fortress showed no innovation in this regard either: the same darkness, dampness, and silence bordering on absolute quiet.

Gan Jin leaned against the wall, wishing he could savor this brief moment of tranquility. Unfortunately, Duan Feng Bu Er, residing in the room opposite, did not appreciate the oppressive atmosphere. "Hey, man from Oakland," Duan Feng Bu Er sat before the iron bars, looking at Gan Jin in the faint sliver of sunlight. "Thanks." Thanks? Gan Jin was momentarily confused. That thanks felt strange; he hadn't seemed to do anything for him, had he?

"Actually, I wanted to start a fight when I saw them yesterday," Duan Feng Bu Er shrugged, sighed, and kept shaking his head. "The Odger Magic and Warrior Academy always causes trouble during the annual exams; many academies have suffered losses because of them. Too bad I never had an excuse to strike, but today, I have you to thank for creating the opportunity for me to do so."

Gan Jin was stunned. He had been wondering why the fellow hadn't joined the fray, only to realize the man had been itching for an opportunity to stir up trouble all along. "What a pity~" Duan Feng Bu Er sighed again. "Not satisfying, completely unsatisfying! You beat most of them."

Gan Jin adjusted his posture, wondering what the students from Odger Academy—the ones who had been beaten—would think if they heard the person who beat them was unsatisfied.

"Say, buddy," Duan Feng Bu Er shuffled his rear end closer to Gan Jin, fully leveraging his almost excessive talkativeness, his right index and middle fingers gesturing back and forth. "Got any cigarettes? Your clothes look like good quality; you got any smokes?"

Gan Jin looked at Duan Feng Bu Er in surprise and instinctively touched his clothes. These clothes had been made with help from someone Luo Qingqing knew. He noted that the man's discerning eye was quite sharp.

After a moment of thought, Gan Jin reached inside his robe and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the Dueling Realm. After all, this man had indirectly helped in the fight...

Tearing open the wrapper, Gan Jin took out one cigarette and tossed it over the iron bars.

Duan Feng Bu Er raised his wrist, clamped the cigarette between his index and middle fingers, and brought it to his lips, inhaling deeply. He sniffed it with an expression of intense enjoyment, and the starlike eyes automatically emitted faint sparkles. "Good smoke! Truly a fine item! I can't believe you have such high-quality stuff."

The cigarette shifted from between his fingers to rest behind his ear. His now-free fingers began gesturing toward Gan Jin again, back and forth: "Buddy, give me another one, just one more."

Gan Jin casually pulled out two more and tossed them over. Duan Feng Bu Er caught them easily, again smelling each deeply beneath his nose. Both cigarettes were then clipped behind his ear. His slightly thin lips curved into a beautiful smile as his eyes, like black gemstones, stared intently at Gan Jin in the gloom. "Listen, looking at how you took out the smokes, you probably don't smoke, right? So, they're useless to you! Why not..."

Duan Feng Bu Er rubbed his hands together, his black eyes blinking with the brightness of stars. "How about a few more?"

Two more? Gan Jin finally focused his attention on Duan Feng Bu Er. The smiling face in the darkness held a sense of familiarity—a thick-skinned grin that strongly resembled someone else.

"Fatty..." Gan Jin blurted out subconsciously. The Duan Feng Bu Er before him was much more handsome than Luo Fatty, and he stood tall; outwardly, he bore no resemblance to Luo Lin at all, yet the essence of that shameless arrogance was exactly the same as Luo Lin's. "Fatty?"

Duan Feng Bu Er looked down, confused, examining his waistline, truly unable to see anything resembling a 'fatty.' "Alright!" Duan Feng Bu Er looked up seriously at Gan Jin. "If I turn into a big fatty, will you give me the cigarettes? If so... fine! I'm a fatty now..."

So similar! So very similar! Gan Jin blinked hard. This handsome and spirited warrior looked exactly like Luo Fatty in terms of brazen shamelessness and that ability to climb up anything with just a little encouragement.

Seeing that familiar look, Gan Jin sighed. He flicked the box of cigarettes in his hand lightly; it arced over the iron bars and landed squarely in Duan Feng Bu Er's hand.

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