Swish!!!
With that single point of Song Hao’s finger, he instantly captured every eye in the entire venue.
On the steps, Lu Chen’s expression shifted slightly, and he instinctively narrowed his eyes.
“You… want to spar with me?”
“That’s right, Classmate Lu. It’s just sparring, not a life-or-death fight. I figure you’ve just stepped into the first rank, so you must be eager to test your strength, right?”
The sinister grin on Song Hao’s face could no longer be contained, the corners of his mouth practically splitting to his ears.
He clenched his fists, and the knuckles immediately let out a teeth-grinding, “crack, crack” of explosive pops.
The surging magical power flowing through his body gave him an unprecedented sense of overwhelming confidence.
— “Finally, this moment has come!”
— “Today, I, Song Hao, will settle all grievances—old and new—at once!”
“Song Hao! What kind of trouble are you causing? Have you forgotten what occasion this is? Get the hell off the stage!”
A sharp reprimand rang out.
The principal’s face was ashen as he scolded him harshly.
This troublemaker—it might be tolerable when he acted up on normal days—but on this important day, how dare he act so insolently right in front of the City Lord and so many leaders?!
He was completely disregarding the principal’s authority.
“Principal, the rules have been set. If others can do it, why not me?”
Song Hao refused to back down an inch: “It’s just sparring. It’s not like I’m going to go for the kill. What are you afraid of?”
Now that he’d finally seized this opportunity, how could Song Hao possibly give it up?
Isn’t Lu Chen supposed to be amazing?
Fifty percent Devotion Level?
Pretty impressive, huh?
Well, the elite are exactly the ones I want to crush!
Song Hao was dead set today on wiping the floor with Lu Chen.
He wanted everyone to see clearly—so what if his Devotion Level was high?
In this world, strength ultimately speaks through fists!
A mere support deity—no matter how high his Devotion Level, he was destined his whole life to be nothing but a lamb waiting for slaughter, or a dog to be ordered around by some powerful family.
What a joke!!!
“Song Hao, do you have no shame?!” Li Ruoyi finally couldn’t hold back anymore and started yelling at Song Hao.
“You serve Kuimu Lang—you walk the path of martial combat! Lu Chen serves the God of Wealth—he’s on the literary support path! Challenging him to spar is clearly just you settling a personal grudge!”
“Ruoyi, that’s not fair,” Song Hao pretended to be wronged, but a glint of cunning flashed in his eyes. “What personal grudge could I have with Classmate Lu? We’re dear, beloved classmates! It’s just sparring—why such a strong reaction? Don’t forget, we’re spirit users now! In the future, if others challenge us, can we refuse every time?”
“You—!” Li Ruoyi was momentarily speechless and couldn’t argue back.
This time, Song Hao had indeed hit the nail on the head.
He’d seized the moral high ground.
“So what’s it going to be, Lu Chen?” Song Hao locked onto his target again, his laughter unrestrained and arrogant:
“Scared? We’re both first-rank, evenly matched—what’s there to be afraid of? You’re a genius with 50% Devotion Level! I’m only at 3.5%—not even a fraction of yours! I should be the one who’s scared.”
He pointed directly toward the area below the stage: “Yes or no on the spar—give me a straight answer! You seemed pretty brave and impressive when you were accepting that mission a moment ago.”
——-
Meanwhile, City Lord Yu Feng, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, slightly tilted his head and asked, “Principal Zhang… do those two have some kind of history?”
Principal Zhang quickly leaned in and lowered his voice: “My Lord, to be honest, Song Hao is a famous troublemaker here at No. 3 High. He usually likes to bully the weak. Before today, Lu Chen was always the quiet, unremarkable type—exactly the kind of person Song Hao typically likes to pick on.
No one expected that Lu Chen would blow everyone away today and steal all the glory. It seems Song Hao can’t handle the jealousy, so he’s looking for an excuse to make trouble.”
“Oh? He dares to play these kinds of mind games even right in front of me? That’s pretty bold, isn’t it?”
The corner of Yu Feng’s mouth curled into a meaningful smile.
“Yes, my Lord. This kid’s family background is a bit complicated. Through constant exposure, he’s picked up a lot of bad habits…”
“And you’ve just been letting it slide all this time?” Yu Feng looked at him sideways.
Sweat broke out on Principal Zhang’s forehead: “My Lord, you misunderstand. Although this kid is arrogant, he’s never done anything truly heinous, so the school’s side…”
“If you wait until that day actually comes, will you be able to take responsibility?” Yu Feng’s tone was calm, but it made Principal Zhang tremble all over, and he immediately bowed repeatedly to admit his mistake.
Yu Feng stopped looking at him and took a step forward.
“Classmate Lu.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly suppressed the chaotic noise of the entire venue.
Everyone’s gazes shifted back.
Yu Feng smiled and said, “According to the rules, since Classmate Song has proposed a spar, you indeed cannot refuse it.”
Upon hearing this, a flash of wild joy appeared in Song Hao’s eyes.
“However! If you really don’t want to spar with him, then I’ll take charge of this matter. The spar can be waived. I think young Classmate Song shouldn’t have much objection to that, right?”
Yu Feng’s gaze turned sharp.
Song Hao instantly felt as if he had plunged into an ice cellar—his entire body seemed frozen solid.
Was this… a threat to him?!
Damn it!
The City Lord really did hold this guy in special regard.
As the saying goes, you have to bow to those in power.
Though he was reluctant inside, Song Hao could only swallow hard, clasped his fists, and said, “Whatever my Lord decides… However, even if the spar is waived, he must still apologize to me!”
“Apologize?”
“He called me an SB this morning! I can’t let that slide!”
Pffft!
That comment came completely out of left field.
The surrounding crowd immediately burst into laughter.
“Song Hao, you—this is exactly what you’re doing—settling a personal grudge!” Li Ruoyi said angrily.
“Ruoyi, if you say so, then fine. But he insulted me. Shouldn’t he apologize?”
“Then how do you account for all the times you’ve picked fights with him in the past?”
“I don’t care about the past! I only care about today. If he won’t apologize, then we spar! We’ll follow the rules!”
Song Hao, now annoyed by the questioning, simply said whatever came to his mind.
“It seems Classmate Song is very confident in his own abilities.”
Yu Feng said with a smile.
Song Hao stiffened his neck and clasped his fists: “My Lord, I know my strength is insignificant in your eyes, but when it comes to dealing with him… I am confident that it’s more than enough!”
As he spoke, he looked at Lu Chen again, gritted his teeth, and smiled: “Classmate Lu, apologize or spar—just give me a straight answer. Can you stop stalling already?”
“Yeah, Lu Chen, don’t be a coward!”
“Spar with him! Go for it!”
“What are you afraid of? We’ve got your back!”
The students both on and off the stage were now all joining in the jeering.
From all sides came a mix of outright mockery and inflated praise.
To be honest, Lu Chen had stolen all the spotlight today, and there were plenty of people who were secretly unhappy about it.
Now that someone was leading the charge to take him down a peg,
these students, thirsty for drama, were more than happy to see Lu Chen agree to the spar.
And as soon as he agreed,
given their current difference in abilities, Song Hao, who served Kuimu Lang of the Combat Department, could probably knock Lu Chen down with one punch—maybe two at most.
Just imagining the unparalleled legend of No. 3 High getting ground into the dirt…
Quite a few people were eagerly looking forward to it.
Seeing that he seemed to have stirred up “public outrage,”
amidst the roaring wave of voices, Lu Chen, still standing on the steps, shook his head.
“It’s true what they say—the King of Hell is easier to face than his little imps. Fine then… let’s… shine a little. I’ll take this all the way, so I don’t have to deal with this kind of trouble again later.”
“What did you say?” Song Hao had heard him mumbling for a while but couldn’t make out a single word.
“I said… as you wish!”
Upon hearing this, Song Hao’s face lit up with joy. Damn, he finally took the bait!
“Great! Then let’s find a more open space!”
“No need.” Lu Chen stepped forward and climbed back up onto the high platform. “Right here is fine.”
“Here? There’s no room to move properly!”
“Do you really think…” A sinister, eerie smile suddenly spread across Lu Chen’s face. “That you’ll even have a chance to move?”
That smile sent a chill straight to Song Hao’s core, and an inexplicable terror seized hold of him.
Before he could even open his mouth—
“BOOM!!!”
A dull, heavy clap of thunder exploded in the sky without any warning!
The sky instantly darkened.
Everyone looked up.
They saw that, at some point, the once-clear sky had been devoured in an instant by an impossibly thick mass of black clouds that had appeared from nowhere!
The sunlight was completely blocked out, and the world suddenly grew dim!
“What is this?”
In that instant, Yu Feng, Principal Zhang, and the others sensed that something was very wrong.
Their hearts tightened, and they immediately looked back at Lu Chen.
And their pupils instantly constricted!
Lu Chen stood motionless in place, but his robes were flapping wildly as if caught in a fierce wind—yet there was no wind at all!
But then, in the next second—
A dense, ink-black aura of darkness surged wildly out of his body, swirling and rising, and in the blink of an eye transformed into a black tornado connecting heaven and earth, its violent presence sweeping across all directions!
“Netherworld death energy!” Yu Feng’s pupils dilated as if hit by an earthquake. “How… how does he have the divine power of the King of Hell from the Underworld?!”
This sudden turn of events made the whole world feel as if the pause button had been pressed instantly.
Across the entire playground, a bone-chilling, ice-cold oppressive force erupted and swept through the crowd!
Like an enormous, frost-covered invisible hand, it viciously squeezed everyone’s heart!
At that moment, the pupils of every single person reflected a scene that would be seared into their nightmares for life!
There, on that high platform—
“Thump!”
Every step Lu Chen took,
the moment his foot landed, the wooden platform covered in red carpet let out a groan as if it could no longer bear the weight, and even countless splinters and clouds of sawdust burst into the air!
And what was even more terrifying was that the dense black Netherworld energy entwined in his hair seemed to have a life of its own, driving his hair to grow wildly!
In the blink of an eye, his originally clean, short buzz cut had transformed into a mane of wildly dancing, jet-black hair that reached all the way down past his waist!
“Boom—CRACK!!!”
A blinding bolt of lightning tore through the darkened sky, followed closely by a deafening crash of thunder.
The deathly energy surged skyward, churning the wind and clouds!
At this moment, Lu Chen looked like a demon lord emerging from an endless hell, descending upon the mortal world.
On the back of his hand, the King of Hell’s Token glowed a vivid, bloody red, as if it had come alive, casting behind him a massive, twisted, horrifying ghostly shadow filled with endless resentment and the stench of death!
In an instant, with Lu Chen at the center, a radius of dozens of meters transformed into a ghastly demonic domain—chilling winds howled, faintly bringing the agonized wails and heart-wrenching cries of ten thousand ghosts. The air turned bitterly cold, thick with the aura of death and terror.
“Dual deity worship?! He actually carries the inheritance of the Underworld’s King of Hell as well! And this presence… it’s peak first-rank, flawless perfection! So he was already in the first rank all along!”
Yu Feng stared fixedly at that figure, an unprecedented, fanatical light blazing in his eyes, repeating to himself, “This young man… this young man!!”
Beside him, Principal Zhang and the others had long since turned pale as ghosts, their legs too weak to hold them up.
“CRACK!!”
Song Hao, who was bearing the brunt of the pressure, was absolutely terrified out of his wits!
Under the terrifying oppressive force, his knees finally gave way, and he collapsed onto the platform like a puddle of mud.
Not a trace remained of the arrogance and belligerence he’d shown just moments ago—only extreme fear and despair were left.
Watching Lu Chen approach step by step, his long hair wildly dancing, his eyes blood-red, his body wreathed in swirling Netherworld energy like the King of Hell himself descended,
Song Hao’s throat convulsed for a moment before he finally let out a gut-wrenching scream:
“Ghost! A ghost!! Help!!”
Tears and snot streaming down his face, he scrambled backward on all fours, desperate to escape.
But the tangible Netherworld death energy wrapped around his ankles like icy snakes, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t move an inch!
Lu Chen tilted his head slightly, his blood-red eyes looking down at the ant beneath his feet.
His voice seemed to come from the deepest pits of the underworld, layered with echoes:
“Weren’t you the one who wanted to fight, Song Hao?!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Song Hao screamed in terror, his eyes bulging so wide they nearly popped out of his head, letting out an inhuman, agonizing shriek.
Then came a strange “squelch” sound—a puddle of foul yellow liquid spread rapidly from beneath him, and a pungent stench immediately filled the cold air.
Lu Chen frowned slightly.
He pissed himself from sheer terror?
He averted his gaze in disgust and swept his eyes over the crowd below.
By now, those elite students who had been jeering moments ago had also collapsed onto the ground, their faces drained of blood, trembling uncontrollably, not even daring to breathe loudly.
“Is there anyone else who dares to spar?!”
Seeing Lu Chen’s divine presence sweeping over them,
the students frantically waved their hands, their voices cracking with tears, their minds on the verge of breaking down completely:
“No, no! We don’t dare!”
“Since you don’t dare…”
Lu Chen’s voice suddenly rose in pitch. He spread his arms wide, and the sound was like ten thousand vengeful spirits roaring in unison, shaking the very cosmos:
“Since you see your Lord—”
“WHY DO YOU NOT BOW?!”
