Jin Huang carried Li Qingyu over to where Hei Shisan and Xu Ye were. Hei Shisan took him, placing him to rest in a comfortable seat.
After that, Jin Huang walked out to the center again, taking multiple deep breaths to calm himself and his energy. Tearing the upper half of his Number Fourteen uniform off, he dusted himself off and then faced the crowd.
"You all have seen," he spoke, voice bolstered by his energy. "I am no mere first year. My strength has already crossed the threshold, and placed me above all of you!"
He paused for effect, his eyes somehow finding the few senior students that were present.
What he did not know was that more and more seniors were beginning to pour in, curious and eager to see what could be causing such a ruckus.
"It should be clear to you all now. If it is not, then allow me to say it plainly."
Jin Huang, fists tight, stood as tall and proud as he could, emanating all the strength and aura he could. In the air, his loose yellow hair very subtly shifted with the soft gusts.
"I am Jin Huang... the most powerful student in this Academy!"
His voice echoed as the words sank in, each and every student present taking a few moments to accurately assess what, exactly, he had just said.
It was then, a few short moments after, that the students reacted.
The first years were mostly silent, but those of them that had older siblings or friends who were seniors had a lot to say.
The second and third years were largely vocal, screaming that Jin Huang shouldn't underestimate the Academy on account of simply having monstrous strength.
The fourth and fifth years, who were also the least in number, were the loudest of the bunch. As more and more of them piled in, hearing the discussions, they also stood in sharp protest of Jin Huang's declaration.
"Who does this little fool think he is!?"
"So what if your body's special? So what if you possess some measly 'inborn divine strength!?' There are countless geniuses who can fight above their cultivation realm!"
Jin Huang stood proudly, taking the brunt of their onslaught. Every now and then, he would glance back at Hei Shisan and Xu Ye, smiling and winking at them as the crowd grew more upset.
Suddenly, he poured even more energy into his speech as he cleared his throat, the sound letting them know he was going to say something more.
Slowly getting silent, they waited, shooting glares at him. Their combined hostility along caused Jin Huang to feel a wave of fear spread through him, but he quickly neutralized it.
"Bold words from you all, but I see not a single one of you dares to step into the ring and challenge me!"
A plethora of scoffs broke the silence, but Jin Huang pressed on even as those scoffs became enraged remarks and unveiled threats.
"Stop your yapping! All of you who have something to say, come say it in the ring if you aren't afraid! All of you, come at me!"
Hearing this, Xu Ye braced himself for the future he had glimpsed back in Obsidian City, before Jin Huang had truly started cultivating.
He prepared to see that future come to pass, a trace of worry in his eyes.
Hostility quickly morphed into stone-cold killing intent. Flying to their feet, dozens of fifth years rushed the boundary between the seating area and the arena itself, desperate to teach Jin Huang his place.
"You insolent little brat! You think you're the shit!?"
"Come on, let's teach this little bitch a lesson!"
"He can't take all of us, the fucking imbecile!"
Wave after wave of senior student flooded the arena, their bodies set ablaze with the powerful energy of Dao Integration stage experts.
Countless conjured images appeared, rhe result of each student executing a vast number of spell techniques and battle skills, withdrawing weapons and summoning tamed beasts.
Every single one of those students radiated the suffocating presence of the Dao Integration stage. Their auras collided in the air like a hurricane as they charged across the broken arena floor.
Flames roared to life. Swords screamed from their sheaths. Spectral beasts howled into existence as contracts were invoked. A rain of talismans ignited midair.
The sky above the arena became a violent tapestry of techniques.
"Kill him!"
"Teach that brat respect!"
The first wave struck like a tidal surge.
Jin Huang didn't run. He welcomed them, like a mighty sea wall against the crashing waves.
The first sword strike descended toward his neck, but Jin Huang shifted, his shoulder slamming into the attacker's chest with a sickening crack.
The fifth year went flying across the arena like a broken arrow.
A flaming spear hurtled toward Jin Huang's back, and he ducked, but the explosion when it struck the floor blasted him forward anyway. Shards of burning stone tore across his skin.
Blood appeared across his shoulder, and Jin Huang grinned.
Three more students attacked at once. A war hammer descended, a wind blade cleared, a conjured tiger lunging with fangs of lightning.
Jin Huang lunged through them, the hammer missing his skull by inches but the shockwave still slamming into him like a battering ram, rattling his ribs.
The wind blade carved a line across his side, the lightning tiger biting into empty air as Jin Huang twisted.
His fist struck the summoner's jaw, causing the fifth year to collapse instantly. From the stands, the spectators watched in stunned silence.
"He's… surrounded!"
"No way he survives this!"
Lu Chen leaned forward, eyes shining.
Nagira laughed under his breath, giving Lu Chen a sidelong glance. "He reminds me of someone."
Cho Yanshi scoffed, "That damned Number Thirteen, passing on the 'Unteachable' legacy."
Lu Chen guffawed, "That's what it is! Hahaha! He's just like I was isn't he? This Jin Huang? Hahaha!"
Shen Wuyou watched in awe, no longer caring about the bet.
Down below, the fight had become chaos. Techniques rained from every direction.
Ice spears, chains of lightning, sword arcs that carved deep fissures across the arena floor.
Jin Huang was struck again and again- not directly, but by the violence of the battlefield itself. Shockwaves blasted him across the stone as explosions simultaneously hurled debris into his back.
Wind blades sliced his clothes to ribbons, blood streaked across his skin.
Yet, he kept moving.
Every step was instinct, every dodge a hair's-breadth escape. His body twisted through the storm like a beast born for battle.
Even as a fifth year lunged with a glowing halberd, Jin Huang caught the shaft mid-swing, his foot slamming into the student's knee as it bent in a totally unnatural way.
The man collapsed screaming.
Another senior charged with blazing fists which Jin Huan maneuvered through before driving his elbow into the man's sternum, the impact folding him in half.
A summoned serpent lunged, but Jin Huang grabbed its jaws and tore its illusory body apart with brute force.
Minutes passed. The arena floor had been reduced to a wasteland of shattered stone.
Weapons lay scattered everywhere. Students were sprawled across the ground, groaning or unconscious.
And still, Jin Huang stood.
He was bleeding, bruised, and breathing hard... but standing.
The final attacker- a fifth-year with twin sabers- charged with a roar.
Jin Huang slipped beneath the crossing blades and drove his palm into the student's chest. The young man flew across the arena and skidded unconscious into the wall.
Silence fell, dozens of Dao Integration students laying, defeated, all around.
Jin Huang exhaled slowly, then turned, every alarm going off in his mind.
A terrifying presence was approaching him. A tall, black-clad man, decorated in chains and a smiling skull. He was terrifying to look at, and even scarier to the other senses.
Jin Huang instincts, in particular, were telling him to run for his life. All common sense was highjacked by that notion.
Survival was the only thing Jin Huang could think about.
Nagira and Cho Yanshi gasped, looking over to see that Lu Chen was gone.
Shen Wuyou gasped; Qin Shuyue, who was still in the midst of celebrating, frowned as her heartbeat quickened again.
Xu Ye gasped, his eyes immediately starting to bleed as he gazed upon Lu Chen.
Hei Shisan's jaw dropped, the words of warning he wanted to say dying in his throat. He tried to move, but total fear and the sheer presence of that man had him rooted in place.
It took every ounce of willpower left in him for him to say the words, but instead of a shout they came out softly.
"That's... Lu Chen..."
Lu Chen stretched, taking step after step toward Jin Huang.
Xu Ye, still crying out in pain, was the only one who heard Hei Shisan's words. "Lu Chen? You mean... the same Lu Chen who leads the Netherworld Company?"
Hei Shisan gripped the low stone wall between him and the drop into the arena, eyes glued to Jin Huang's back.
"Lu Chen... the first unteachable student... number one..."
Xu Ye gasped, but Hei Shisan wasn't done speaking yet.
"He... was expelled from the Academy... for killing an important guest on academy ground."
Desperately trying to open his eyes, Xu Ye saw obscured images of Hei Shisan's terrified figure. "Who the hell did he kill?"
Hei Shisan's grip tightened, shattering the stone. Finding his resolve, but still too rattled to command any energy, he roared at the top of his lungs.
"Jin Huang, don't fight him! That man! Lu Chen! He's a god-killer!"
Those words, in the arena's silence, reverberated like a death sentence. All eyes, which were already on Lu Chen, regarded him in a new light after that.
Jin Huang froze, his will to overcome the fear faltering.
"Come now Mr. 'Most Powerful Student,' you're not about to chicken out on me, right?"
Lu Chen put one arm behind his back, the other inviting Jin Huang to come closer.
"You looked like you could use an opponent that would allow you to fight for real."
"Well... here I am."