Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu

Though Hu Niu had yet to awaken her Spirit Base, she had already stepped into the sixth layer of Body Refining Tier because of her continuous eating.

What kind of concept was that?

Ordinary adult men, even if there were twenty or thirty of them working together, could not possibly be able to match her!

Discovering that she was in the hold of an unfamiliar man, Hu Niu’s ferocious nature instantly flared up. “Pa,” like a tiger waving its paw, her hand connected with the large man’s face.

“Pu,” the large man’s head slanted, and seven teeth as well as a mouthful of blood was instantly spat out; he immediately fell onto the ground.

Hu Niu somersaulted in midair and landed steadily in a crouch on the ground. Her mouth opened, revealing two canines. Her four limbs pushed off the ground at the same time, and like a fierce tiger that had finally escaped its confines, she pounced at the large man. Her hands pressed down on his shoulders, and her mouth was already lowering down in a bite at his throat.

Ling Han hurriedly acted and picked up the wild little girl. He definitely did not want this little girl to kill. If she had, then all his and Liu Yu Tong’s efforts would have been wasted.

Even so, the large man that had been knocked down to the ground had already paled in fear. His throat released a shrill shriek. If they hadn’t seen it or heard it themselves, it was really unbelievable that such a tall, sturdy man would actually be able to release such a sissy sound.

The other large man was more “fortunate”. With a knife hand from Liu Yu Tong to his neck, he had instantly passed out.

“If you scream once more, I’ll kill you!” Ling Han said.

The large man hurriedly covered his mouth with his hands, as if he was a young maiden that had encountered a pervert.

Ling Han placed Hu Niu back down. The wild little girl’s ferocious nature was restrained with much difficulty, and she kept baring her teeth at the large man, giving out a low growl. The large man screamed again due to fear, but when he recalled Ling Han’s threat, he hurriedly covered his mouth again.

“I, I am a disciple of the Earth and Water Faction. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let me go immediately!” The large man threatened, though he did not look very confident. He was shuddering in fear even as he spoke, his face pale.

Ling Han turned to look at Liu Yu Tong and asked, “What’s the background of this Earth and Water Faction?”

“It’s an underground party of the imperial city. Because some things cannot be done publicly, even the Eight Great Clans would occasionally make use of the power of this party to do some dirty deeds,” Liu Yu Tong said. She thought for a moment, then continued, “The Faction Chief of the Earth and Water Faction seems to be named Yang Tian Du. He’s in the Spiritual Ocean Tier, and mingles very well with the upper class parties of the imperial city.”

In the field of martial arts, the lines between Cult, Faction, Sect, Association and Society were very strictly drawn. To be able to possess the name of Faction would require a powerful warrior of Spiritual Ocean Tier as support.

Ling Han gave an ‘oh’ and once again looked back at that large man as he said, “I don’t care if you’re Earth and Water Faction or Heaven and Water Faction. I ask a question, and you give me an answer. If I’m not pleased with your answer, then I will sever one of your limbs. You can count how many times can you afford my displeasure yourself.”

The large man’s face paled and he hurriedly nodded without stopping. He was not really afraid of Ling Han—rather, he was afraid of Hu Niu. This little girl gave him the feeling that she was a fierce tiger, with absolutely no way to reason with her.

Who would not be afraid of that?

“Chen Yun Xiang sent you?” Ling Han asked.

“Yes, yes.”

“How many times have you helped him do such deeds?”

“…” the large man hesitated for a moment, but when his eyes fell upon Hu Niu, he could not help shuddering. He hurriedly answered, “I can’t remember exactly how many times, but there should definitely be ten times!”

There were actually as many as ten times!

Ling Han gave a humph and struck the large man’s chest with his palm. Due to the shock wave from his Origin Power, he instantly crushed the man’s heart.

To help a villain commit evil, they deserve more than death!

Liu Yu Tong had already developed a tacit understanding with him. She immediately struck forward with a stab of her sword and killed the man who had fallen unconscious. She then sheathed her sword and said, “Just leave that old fiend to me, I will have people from my clan deal with him.”

Ling Han considered her words for a moment before nodding in agreement.

He knew that Liu Yu Tong was acting in his best interests. After all, this was the imperial city, under the direct jurisdiction of the Emperor. Even if it were the Eight Great Clans, they would have to think twice before doing something. If he killed someone right after he had arrived and this information that could be used against him was acquired by someone who intended him harm, this could possibly result in the thunderous rage of the imperial family.

At that moment, not even Zhu He Xin and Zhang Wei Shan would be able to protect him. Rain Country belonged to the Qi Clan, after all.

However, as for these two little foot soldiers in front of them, even if they died, there would be no one to pay special attention to this matter. Chen Yun Xiang was the boss of a business, so his influence could either be small or large; for Liu Clan, as one of the Eight Great Clans, it’d only be too easy if they intended to deal with a businessman. Moreover, Chen Yun Xiang did not have a clean history, so just randomly collecting information on some of his bad deeds would be enough to ruin him completely.

Ling Han too had not taken such a minor character seriously, so he naturally would not reject Liu Yu Tong’s kindness.

The two of them continued on their journey towards Hu Yang Academy.

The imperial city was extremely big. It was at least ten times the size of Da Yuan City, and after an hour, Ling Han and the others have finally arrived at the entrance to Hu Yang Academy.

They were immediately halted in their advance. This was not a place that anyone could simply enter.

“I am Liu Yu Tong!” Liu Yu Tong removed a silver plaque and handed it over to the four guards who were stationed at the entrance.

“So it is True Disciple Liu!” One of the guards closely examined the plaque, and quickly handed it back respectfully. “We did not know it was you, so please forgive us, True Disciple Liu!”

Liu Yu Tong waved off their apologies. She was currently veiled, so it was only logical that they did not recognize her. She pointed at Ling Han, and said, “This is my friend, and he needs to enter the Academy for an important matter. Register him for me.”

“Understood!” the four guards nodded.

Hu Yang Academy had very strict rules. Disciples of the Academy were indeed allowed to bring visitors into the grounds of the Academy, but the latter were not allowed to stay the night. Upon their entry, they would be registered, and if they had not exited the Academy by night, then the disciple who had brought them in would be severely punished.

After registering, Liu Yu Tong took Ling Han to a courtyard. This was where the teacher who was in charge of welcoming new disciples was stationed. Because the New Year had just passed, there was a huge group of new students that would be coming to report here.

After Liu Yu Tong had led Ling Han here, she then left with Ling Zi Xuan. The little girl had come here with the place of enrollment that Ling Dong Xing had gotten through his deal with the Academy, and so would not need to go through the ordinary channels of registration.

On the way here, Ling Han had heard about a lot of matters regarding the Hu Yang Academy from Liu Yu Tong.

Here, students were separated into three categories: Ordinary Disciples, True Disciples, and Core Disciples.

Ordinary Disciples were simple enough. You’d be considered one from the moment you enter the Academy. The True Disciples were much less in number, only thirty in total. In terms of cultivation resources, they could gain ten times the amount of resources available to Ordinary Disciples, so they were the object of envy for Ordinary Disciples.

There were two conditions for becoming a True Disciple. Firstly, you’d have to at least be in Element Gathering Tier, and secondly, you’d have to be in the top thirty strongest disciples of the Academy. As a result, competition was extremely fierce.

However, Ling Han won the first place in this year’s Da Yuan Tournament, so he would be instantly recognized as a True Disciple upon his entry—though this was only valid for one year. There were also the champions from thirty-six other cities who would be able to obtain such a reward, which meant that by the end of the year, thirty-six people would have to be disqualified, and after that, the True Disciples that were ranked from the twenty-first place to the thirtieth place would have to face challenges from the ten strongest Ordinary Disciples. If they lost, they’d be demoted back to being Ordinary Disciples.

This was also why Qi Yong Ye and Jin Wuji had returned to compete for the first place in the Da Yuan Tournament. Because even as strong as they were, they were still not True Disciples!