Chapter 42: Signing Up for the Mountain Academy (Part 2)

  A strange and agile young man was running quickly from the direction of the square, Wang Wanxuan excitedly waved to him:

  "Little Tiger, come quick! Burning Blade is back and he's even broken through his second stage of Jingyuan Power!"

  A strange and clever young man ran up with a joyful expression on his face, panting heavily as he jumped up to look at Li Ruo Dao: "Ruo Dao, is this true?"

  These familiar faces of yesteryear, Li Ruo Jian had not seen for decades, suddenly returned to their midst, with a strange feeling.

  Li Ran took a deep breath and nodded vigorously.

  A strange and clever young man laughed loudly and punched Li Ruo's knife with a punch, shouting:

  "Alright, you've been out and about, what kind of strange encounter did you have? Which white-bearded old man taught you the method to break through that bottleneck? I haven't even broken through yet and you've already surpassed me, it's infuriating."

  Looking at Li Ran's helpless rubbing of his nose, Wang Wenyuan chuckled and said:

  "Alright, stop messing around, Ran Jian is back this time to sign up. Let's go, I'll take you there."

  Three people turned around and walked through the spacious square, a row of red walls and yellow glazed tiles. Wang Wanxuan led Li Ruo to the third house on the left, pushed open the door and entered, only to see four or five people surrounding a root-carved desk, one of whom was standing with his back to them, his hands pressed against the pale green stone, pouring energy into it.

  Several boys watching shouted encouragement loudly.

  Li Ran Dao knew that this was a means of testing the level of Jing Yuan Qi, and to sign up for the Xuanji Xianpai assessment, three layers of Jing Yuan Qi was a bottom line.

  Then, the sturdy figure frowned with effort, and a milky white light rose slowly from the bottom of the stone, getting higher and higher, the sound of gas growing louder and louder. With a whoosh, the milky white light surged to four marks and stopped, and several onlookers cheered in unison.

  "Haha, Wolf Brother is too domineering, Jingyuan's power is fourfold, Teacher, did you see that? Jingyuan's power is fourfold!"

  "Wolf Brother, with your current strength, you can now walk sideways in Wanghe Village, who dares to provoke you? Among the students of our Mountain Academy, those who dare to compare themselves to Wolf Brother can be counted on one hand."

  The instructor with a short-sleeved shirt and leather wrist guard walked over with a smile, registering the sturdy young man. Such strength was indeed rare in the Mountain Institute.

  That sturdy boy half-turned his head, and Li Ran's knife immediately recognized him.

  Suru, nicknamed Mountain Wolf, is a tyrant in the mountain courtyard. He has exceptional strength and a violent temper, often causing trouble for other students by crippling their hands and feet. A group of rowdy brothers always gather around him, while many others have an attitude of not daring to provoke him.

  Li Ran shook his head slightly.

  No matter where you are, there is always a group of people like this. Li Ran has seen many and doesn't mind anymore.

  The teacher on the other side raised his head and saw Wang Wenyu and the others, slightly startled, smiled and greeted them:

  "Wanyuan, didn't you just sign up? Why are you back again?"

  Wang Wanxuan smiled and took a step forward: "Wang Jiao Xi, this is Li Ran's knife. I don't know if you remember him. He used to come to the mountain courtyard all the time. He came over today and also wants to sign up for the Xianpai selection."

  "Alright."

  Wang nodded in agreement.

  Those people on the other side heard Wang Wenyuan's voice and turned their heads to look over, Shan Lang had a sly expression, saw Li Rendao suddenly stunned, couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, loudly said to Li Rendao:

  "I was wondering who you were, turns out you're also from Shan Yuan. Last time I went to Ju Bin Lou, didn't I see you doing chores there?"

  When she heard this sentence, Wang Wenyue's face turned red and slightly embarrassed. As a friend from a humble background, she also felt a little ashamed.

  Li Ran nodded slightly.

  That mountain wolf suddenly turned its head and looked at Wang strangely, asking:

  "Teacher, isn't the Xianpai enrollment restricted? Can even a miner's son participate in that kind of selection? Ah, you don't know yet, do you? Li Ruo Dao's father is actually a miner who was forced to do hard labor."

  Wang Jiaoxi was taken aback, and the onlookers snickered with ill intentions. Wang Wenyuan's pretty face turned red with anger upon hearing this.

  Li Ran's temples throbbed with a faint blue vein, and a chill rose quietly in his heart.

  Having been a human for two lifetimes, he wouldn't normally bother with these young people, but his father from the previous life was the most painful memory in Li Ruo's heart. When others insulted and ridiculed his father, it was hard for Li Ruo to calm down again.

  Wang Xiaohu beside him also got angry when he saw his friend being humiliated, and loudly shouted without caring:

  "Mountain wolf, what are you proud of? Your grandfather was also a pig butcher back in the day..."

  "What did you say..."

  The mountain wolf's fists clenched with a loud noise, his eyes wide open in anger, he pushed away the people around him and strode towards Wang Xiaohu, his gaze sharp and piercing.

  "You little brat, dare you mock my grandfather? Are you tired of living?"

  The mountain wolf walked while taking out two iron fist guards from the animal skin bag at his waist and putting them on, with a fierce glint in his eyes.

  Wang Xiaohu was shocked and pointed at the mountain wolf, shouting:

  "Mountain wolf, what are you doing? You dare hit me? My father is the leader of the hunters."

  The mountain wolf was furious and defeated, its two fists clashed, a loud noise shook the ground, and with red eyes it jumped up and rushed towards Wang Xiaohu.

  "How dare you scold me? Who's your father? I'll beat you up today just the same."

  Jingyuan's fourth-layer strength was extremely powerful, and the mountain wolf swooped out several feet with a single swing of its body. With a rounded fist, it smashed down towards Wang Xiaohu, the thick iron fist sleeve, combined with his powerful strength, if one punch landed, Wang Xiaohu would surely be splattered with blood three feet away.

  Wang Wanyuan beside him was frightened and shouted loudly: "Xiaohu, run quickly..."

  The king's instructor behind him did not expect that this mountain wolf would dare to fight in front of his own eyes, and it was already too late to rescue, roaring from behind:

  "Mountain wolf, you dare."

  The enraged mountain wolf had completely stopped listening, its body leapt into the air and an iron fist came crashing down towards Wang Xiaohu, determined to smash him flying with one punch.

  Wang Xiaohu's second strongest skill was so weak under the overwhelming power of Shan Lang, his face turned pale, he retreated hastily, but Shan Lang's punch was too fast, it made him react slowly.

  "Not good."

  Wang Xiaohu's heart skipped a beat, and his body quickly retreated. Suddenly, the corner of his eye caught sight of Li Ran's knife lightly extending one hand, with three fingers pressing on the mountain wolf's neck, and then suddenly using force to fling it aside. The mountain wolf's body, which had been leaping in mid-air, lost all its strength and crashed to the side.

  With a loud crash, the mountain wolf's head heavily hit the stone ground, falling at Li Ran's feet, with blood all over its forehead, eyes unable to focus, struggling once but not getting up, apparently dazed.

  In an instant, the room fell silent as a pin drop could be heard, and everyone looked at Li Ruo Dao as if they were looking at a monster.

  Wang Xiaohu suddenly stopped his retreating footsteps and stared at the mountain wolf that had fallen into a pool of blood, dumbfounded. He was all too clear about how ruthless the mountain wolf could be; once, he had personally witnessed it punch a tall and sturdy young man flying three zhang away, shattering his scapula, and not getting out of bed for a month, with such brutality still vivid in his eyes to this day.

  But what just happened?

  Li Ran's knife seemed to stretch out casually, but with precision to the millimeter, it intercepted the mountain wolf that was jumping in mid-air horizontally. With a sudden burst of force, he sent the four-layered pure yuan energy mountain wolf tumbling to the ground, unable to get up.

  "Is that witchcraft?"

  Wang Xiaohu panted heavily, his mouth wide open but unable to utter a single word.

  Wang Wanyuan covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes full of incredulous expression.

  Li Ranno Knife didn't make any moves, he just stretched out his hand and threw the mountain wolf to the point where it couldn't get up. Was it luck? Or was Li Ranno Knife's true skill? But what kind of skill would allow him to do this?

  Looking at Li Ruo's calm face, Wang Wanxuan suddenly felt that this friend had changed, and there was a kind of aura on her body that she couldn't see through.