Chapter 94 - 92: Poor Sha Mingliang
Chapter 94: Chapter 92: Poor Sha Mingliang
However, the scene that followed completely shattered Bai Shaoyang’s fragile little heart.
In the middle of the battle, Feng Hao moved with an agile grace, repeatedly dodging Sha Mingliang’s attacks. Sha Mingliang, long since exasperated, mindlessly spammed all sorts of Secret Techniques with surges of sword light, but he couldn’t even touch a hair on Feng Hao.
"How is this possible? My speed is clearly higher than his!" Sha Mingliang couldn’t wrap his head around it and could only continue to mindlessly squander his Magic Power.
Feng Hao responded calmly, moving around Sha Mingliang like a phantom. While dodging, he seized an opportunity to strike with his blade. Although it wasn’t a solid hit, it still left a cut on Sha Mingliang’s face.
According to the Crystal Eye’s monitoring, it dealt less than one thousand points of damage, which greatly surprised Feng Hao.
’His defense really is high after he refined his entire set of gear with essences,’ Feng Hao marveled to himself. It felt like he was a player in starter gear fighting a whale decked out in a full set of superior equipment.
Fortunately, the Ghost Stone Powder was starting to take effect. Poor Sha Mingliang’s face instantly turned pale, and his lips quickly became purple.
"Damn it, you brat, you used poison!" Sha Mingliang was no pushover; he quickly noticed the poison wreaking havoc inside him. What shocked him was that this poison was incredibly potent, even causing his Genetic Tree to enter a weakened state, drastically reducing his overall strength.
Feng Hao dodged a few blasts of Sword Qi, then curled his lip in a cold smirk. "Is it so strange for a Pharmacy student to use poison?"
"The Pharmacy Department?!" Sha Mingliang’s anger vanished instantly. If it had been any other department, he could have called it a dirty trick. But the Pharmacy Department was different. As the department with the fewest students in Five Provinces Academy, it was the only one permitted to use poison in sparring matches.
The crowd of onlookers was equally speechless. They could only watch as the poison eroded Sha Mingliang’s Qi Blood, a sense of dread filling their hearts.
Naturally, Feng Hao wasn’t going to give Sha Mingliang a chance to breathe. Although the Ghost Stone Powder had a toxicity rating of 275, Sha Mingliang’s vitality wasn’t low either. A rough calculation showed it could poison away just over ten thousand of his Qi Blood at most.
Taking advantage of the 80-second genetic weakening effect, Feng Hao launched his counterattack without hesitation!
He unleashed Dark Moon Massacre and Moon Wheel Dance in quick succession, precise black Qi Blades blasting forward with overwhelming force.
"Damn it!"
Sha Mingliang could only do his best to defend. Unfortunately, after the 10% genetic weakening, his speed clearly couldn’t keep up. Feng Hao’s attack angles and timing were also exceptionally tricky, so it only took a few seconds for him to be swiftly defeated.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, Sha Mingliang’s Qi Blood drained away at a steady rhythm.
"Haha... so this is all a Combat Department student amounts to!"
While he had the advantage, Feng Hao didn’t forget to throw in a few taunts. With a wild swing of his dagger, intersecting streams of energy easily knocked his opponent to the ground.
Having lost too much Qi Blood, Sha Mingliang collapsed pathetically to the ground. A dignified second-year from the Combat Department, defeated by a first-year from the Pharmacy Department... he had been utterly disgraced. To top it off, Feng Hao’s taunts made him so angry he coughed up blood.
"Senior, I’m not trying to lecture you, but if you don’t have the strength, don’t try to act like a thug. Otherwise, you’ll just get beaten up," Feng Hao said contemptuously as he stepped forward.
After speaking, he returned to Xiyue Frost under the crowd’s shocked and suspicious gazes. "So? Are you satisfied?"
"Forget it. It’s better to cause less trouble," Xiyue Frost said, her expression complex.
Just then, a coarse voice tore through the sky, roaring like a thunderclap. "Who dares cause trouble at the academy? Do you have a death wish?"
Immediately after, a big and burly middle-aged man descended from the sky. The moment he landed, the ground trembled.
When the middle-aged man appeared, the crowd of onlookers fell into a panic. The older students cried out in alarm, "Oh no, Old Ghost Shi is here! Now there’s gonna be a good show!"
"Who’s Old Ghost Shi?" a few new students next to them asked nervously.
An older student said with a grave expression, "Take a senior’s advice: if you want to get by at this academy, you’d better memorize his face. That man is the academy’s Dean of Discipline, Shi Lingyun. He settles disputes with his fists, not his words. People gave him the nickname Old Ghost Shi. No one he sets his sights on ever has a good ending."
"That brutal?" The new students shivered, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Shi Lingyun.
"Brutal is an understatement. Just wait for the show. That kid from the Pharmacy Department is going to lose at least a layer of skin," the older student said, gloating.
Meanwhile, seeing Shi Lingyun appear was like clutching a lifeline for Sha Mingliang. He cried tearfully, "Minister Shi, you have to stand up for me! This kid just enrolled and he’s already provoking our Strength Department! He even used a dirty trick like poison!"
"Do I not have eyes?" Shi Lingyun snorted coldly and kicked Sha Mingliang aside. Then, he looked at Feng Hao and Xiyue Frost with a deadpan expression. "Kid, you’re a new Pharmacy student. Instead of reporting to the Pharmacy Department, what are you doing in the Strength Department?"
"Seeing a friend," Feng Hao replied calmly. Knowing he was in the right, he naturally had nothing to feel guilty about.
Shi Lingyun mulled it over and nodded, giving Xiyue Frost a meaningful look. "Alright, there’s nothing for you to do here. Get your friend settled, then hurry up and scram back to the Pharmacy Department to report. I’m going to go ’teach’ that little brat a lesson!"
An uproar swept through the crowd at his words. Not only were the student onlookers stunned, but even Feng Hao was dumbfounded.
’What’s the situation? It’s over just like that?’
Poor Sha Mingliang had been kicked so hard he could barely function. He had thought he could use Shi Lingyun’s brutal methods to make Feng Hao suffer, but he never expected this outcome. As he watched Shi Lingyun’s imposing figure walk toward him step by step, a wordless terror surged within him. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
Even so, he couldn’t escape his fate of being "taught a lesson." Shi Lingyun simply picked Sha Mingliang up like a baby chick and sauntered off under everyone’s incredulous stares.
"Holy crap, that’s impossible! Since when does Old Ghost Shi listen to reason?!" the older students exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeah! When I got into a fight after enrolling, he beat the hell out of me. Don’t tell me the old ghost has grown a conscience?"
"I doubt it. Judging by the way he dragged Sha Mingliang off, there’s no way he’s grown a conscience. If you ask me, the issue lies with that junior, Xiyue Frost."
"That makes sense. The academy would definitely show some favoritism to the new student who ranked first in the entrance exams," a few of the older students said, finally understanding.
...
By this time, Feng Hao and Xiyue Frost had already squeezed through the crowd and were heading toward the Strength Department’s dormitory area.
Feng Hao mulled it over for a long time before finally realizing the problem lay with Xiyue Frost. He couldn’t help but frown and ask, "Do you know that... Dean of Discipline?"
"I visited him before with my auntie," Xiyue Frost nodded, her expression strange.
"Uh, West Moon Ridge knows even the higher-ups at Five Provinces Academy?" Feng Hao asked in surprise.
Xiyue Frost pressed her lips together and said calmly, "I told you, Auntie is very good at making friends."
"Looks like I’ll have to rely on your connections to get by at the academy from now on," Feng Hao teased with a purse of his lips.
"You’re overthinking it. Auntie only told him to take care of me and Yaoyao," Xiyue Frost huffed irritably and quickened her pace.
"Tch, it was just a joke, and you took it seriously! Do I look like some pretty boy who needs a woman to protect him?" Feng Hao pursed his lips, speechless. ’This girl with her social anxiety is so boring. She can’t even take a joke.’
He shook his head with a wry smile and hurried to catch up. ’Looks like the task of curing her social anxiety is still a long and arduous one!’
After a series of dull conversations, they finally arrived at the Strength Department’s dormitory area. Following the directions on Xiyue Frost’s student card, they quickly found her dorm. The living conditions at Five Provinces Academy were excellent; the rooms were doubles and fully furnished.
As soon as they reached the door, they could hear the sounds of someone tidying up inside. Clearly, Xiyue Frost’s roommate had already arrived.
"Someone’s inside!" Xiyue Frost froze outside the door, her expression filled with panic.
"What are you afraid of? You have to live together for the next five years. If you’re this panicked now, how are you going to get through it? Just relax, show a little smile and some goodwill. It’ll be fine," Feng Hao said, laughing in spite of himself.
Xiyue Frost took a deep breath, her body tense as she nodded. She muttered to herself, "You can do it, Xiyue Frost! You’re the best!"
"..." Feng Hao couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He decided to just push the door open and drag the self-motivating Xiyue Frost inside.
Xiyue Frost let out a shriek and immediately panicked, ducking her head low and not daring to look up or speak.
Feng Hao was about to speak but was stunned by the scene before him. A dark-skinned girl with twin pigtails was looking up at them. And this girl was none other than yesterday’s bizarre landlord—Three Punches Kills Dad!
"Holy crap, what are the odds?" Feng Hao blurted out, clicking his tongue.