Battle Through the Heavens: Beauties Abound Starting with Yunlan and Her Disciples

283: Section 283Hu Jia, standing to the side, saw everything clearly.

Watching the young man who had caused a Dou Wang Elder and several Dou Ling Experts to lose their composure simply with a glance, a spark of admiration mixed with reverence unconsciously appeared in her bright eyes.

”How impressive.”

”Is this the true demeanor of an expert? Immovable as a mountain, aggressive as fire... Compared to him, those so-called ’prominent figures’ in the academy are simply like ridiculous, unweaned children.”

Hu Gan, sitting in the main seat, took in his daughter’s ”little fangirl” expression. His serious, square face twitched slightly, but inside, he felt an irrepressible secret joy.

”Hehe. This girl, it seems she’s truly fallen for him. Not bad, not bad.”

”This way, the bloodline of my old Hu family won’t end with her. After I go back, I must hurry and offer incense to the ancestors to comfort his spirit in heaven.”

Of course, his expression remained as serious and dignified as befitted a Vice Dean. He didn’t waste words, instead casting his scrutinizing gaze toward this male student who had just entered and given him such a huge ”surprise.”

Hu Gan nodded inwardly.

Sometimes, there are people who, with just a single glance, can leave an unforgettable and profound impression in your heart. And in Hu Gan’s eyes, Yun Xiancheng was undoubtedly that kind of person.

It was an innate temperament, as if he were born to stand in the clouds and overlook the masses. A natural-born cultivator.

Hu Gan gave this evaluation in his heart. As the Vice Dean of the Outer Academy of Jia Nan Academy, he had managed academic affairs for many years; he had seen countless geniuses.

His ability to judge people was also consummate. With just one look, he saw the young man’s talent, which was so exceptional it bordered on monstrous, as well as the incomparably sharp, proud bones hidden beneath his gentle exterior.

”This youth is definitely not someone who will remain in a pond.”

He looks as gentle as jade, a modest gentleman, yet his style of action carries a ruthless decisiveness that doesn’t drag... Truly hidden, one cannot judge by appearances.

”Hmm... if I could trick him into becoming my Hu family’s son-in-law...”

”Ahem!” Hu Gan cleared his throat, forcibly dragging his outrageous thoughts back. No! What am I thinking! Now is the time to handle official business!

Hmm, but then again, for a young person who is so competitive and sharp, he really needs an elder like me to properly beat him down, grind away his sharpness, and make him understand what it means to keep a low profile.

Otherwise, with his personality, he will inevitably cause bigger trouble in the future, and by then, he might even drag my Hu Jia into danger with him.

Of course, being in danger is fine. As long as this young man has the ability and the heart to properly protect Hu Jia, that’s all that matters.

Hu Gan’s thoughts, in just a few seconds, had completely and unreasonably veered off course.

He no longer cared whether the crippled Bai Shan was dead or alive, nor did he care about how much pressure the Bai family would bring to the academy. He only cared about one thing now—how to subtly test the character and strength of his future son-in-law?

”Young man, don’t stand there, come and sit.” Hu Gan showed a kindly smile on his face, the kind an elder would have for a junior, and beckoned Yun Xiancheng to sit on the chair opposite him.

After Yun Xiancheng sat down composedly, Hu Gan took a sip of tea and spoke slowly: ”Classmate Yun, regarding what you did to Classmate Bai Shan yesterday, as the Vice Dean of the academy, I must say, you went a bit too far.”

He paused, and continued in an earnest tone: ”That which is too rigid easily breaks; you should understand this logic, right? It’s a good thing for young people to have pride, but being too sharp is ultimately not a good thing.”

Upon hearing this, Yun Xiancheng did not show the slightest bit of tension or unease. He sat calmly in front of Hu Gan, even pouring himself a cup of tea. His composed manner made it seem as if he were not a student being interrogated, but an honored guest here to discuss tea and philosophy with an old friend.

”Vice Dean, I naturally understand the logic of conduct you speak of.” He brought the teacup to his lips, gently blowing on the steam, his voice steady and clear:

”However, I also understand the principle of ’seeking truth from facts.’ You say that what is too rigid easily breaks. Then, I would like to ask, where exactly is the boundary of this so-called ’excess’ and ’rigidity’? And who gets to define this so-called ’limit’?”

He put down the teacup, looking at Hu Gan with a burning gaze, a half-smile curling the corners of his mouth.

”Utensils made of ordinary wood will break and be damaged with a little force. However, utensils made of refined steel can withstand immense pressure without any damage. One cannot simply demand that steel follow the standards of wood just because wood is easily broken, right?”

These words were spoken neither humbly nor arrogantly, containing hidden needles, and were full of powerful self-confidence. After hearing Yun Xiancheng’s words, Hu Gan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly once again.

”What a sharp-tongued boy! What a great analogy of demanding steel follow the standards of wood!”

Far from being angry at Yun Xiancheng’s rebuttal, his eyes revealed an increasingly rich appreciation. ”Young man, having confidence is a good thing; having a proud backbone is an even better thing.”

Hu Gan nodded, but changed the subject, his tone becoming much deeper. ”However... you must also know that there is always someone better, and a sky beyond the sky. On this vast Fighting Qi Continent, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers; peerless geniuses are as numerous as carp crossing a river. Just because you can defeat Bai Shan today doesn’t mean you can defeat Li Shan or Wang Shan tomorrow.”

”If you don’t know your limits and blindly charge forward, what if one day you really provoke existences you absolutely cannot afford to provoke? And if you don’t have a sufficiently powerful Dao Protector behind you to escort you, then the only path awaiting you is to perish in regret.”

”This world is far crueler than you imagine. Although you are a peerless genius, you have not fully grown yet. Before growing into a towering tree, any small pebble could potentially snap your seedling in half.”

Hu Gan’s words sounded less like a reprimand and more like a sincere, heartfelt piece of advice from an elder to a junior.

Yun Xiancheng heard the goodwill in his words. He stood up and performed a solemn, standard cupped-hand salute from a junior to an elder toward Hu Gan. ”Thank you for your guidance, Vice Dean. I have learned much.” He sat back down with a sincere smile on his face. ”Whatever I do, I have my own sense of proportion; I am not some arrogant fool sitting in a well looking at the sky. I naturally know who can be provoked in this world, and who cannot.”

He certainly had a sense of proportion.

Moreover, at the end of the day, the Bai family behind Bai Shan is just a Dou Zong Family; is that really so amazing?

Not to mention the massive ancient clan background behind Xun’er.

Just speaking for his own side. Lü Man has only broken through to Dou Zong for a few months and is already a two-star Dou Zong. His master, Yun Yun, and the Big Lion, Zi Yi, have also successively broken through to become Dou Zong. Even among his peers, Ying has also reached Dou Zong.

More importantly, after the ”Sovereign’s Presence” radiated onto them, their progress was rapid, advancing thousands of miles a day. Now, their cultivation speed in the Dou Zong Realm is even several times faster than when they were in the Dou Huang Realm.

In a few years, they will all successively step into the Dou Zun Realm.

Time, future, potential... everything is firmly on his side. So, why should he endure? Why should he retreat?

”Vice Dean,” Yun Xiancheng raised his eyes to look at Hu Gan, explaining in a calm tone, ”Classmate Bai Shan committed a mistake that I personally cannot tolerate. He attempted to harass, pester, and even insult my beloved ones. Therefore, I gave him a small, harmless punishment.”

”I just wanted to use this incident to let him understand a principle in advance—this world is cruel. Life is not always like it is here in Jia Nan Academy, filled with warm, gentle sunshine; there is much more of the cold, ruthless wind, frost, rain, and snow in the real world.”

A gentle smile reappeared on Yun Xiancheng’s face.

”You just said that what is too rigid easily breaks. That’s right, this overestimating-himself wooden stick called Bai Shan, because he was too sharp, suffered a disaster and broke.”

”Now, he has just had his cultivation crippled and will spend the rest of his life as an ordinary person. This is far better than being killed directly by someone else in the real world in the future because of the same arrogance, right?”

Speaking of this, Yun Xiancheng suddenly turned his head, casting his smiling gaze toward the Bai family elder at the side who had been pale-faced and silent since just a moment ago.

”Do you say... that this logic holds true? This Elder of the Bai family?”

From the moment Yun Xiancheng entered, that Dou Master Elder from the Bai family had been suppressing the anger and humiliation in his heart.

Now, hearing these remarks—which to him sounded like a complete twisting of right and wrong and were arrogant to the extreme—the volcano that had been building up in his chest could no longer be contained and erupted violently!

”Where did this madman come from?!”

He slammed his hand onto the table in front of him; that table, made of hard black ironwood, instantly shattered into splinters under the angry strike of a Dou King Expert!

Before the shockwave could spread, it was neutralized by Yun Xiancheng’s Fighting Qi.

The Dou Master was stunned, but he abruptly stood up, pointed at Yun Xiancheng’s nose, and shouted with his beard and hair bristling:

”What a sharp-tongued little beast! How dare you spout lies and twist logic here! It was clearly you who used your power to act violently, used vicious methods, and were at fault first. Yet, you dare to turn all the blame around and pin it on my poor, innocent Baishan?”

A gentle smile still remained on Yun Xiancheng’s face.

But at this moment, in the eyes of the Bai family elder, that smile seemed so cold, so… hair-raising.

”Elder, you seem to have misunderstood something.” Yun Xiancheng’s voice remained calm, yet carried a cold majesty. ”Whether something is at fault first doesn’t depend on who runs here first to aggressively cry and demand debt repayment, but rather on who first committed that unwise, foolish, and provocative act against others.”

”I will say it again: that trash from your family named Baishan, with his unwise act of provoking others—if that had happened anywhere outside the academy, he would have already been slaughtered, flesh and bone. I merely crippled his cultivation and spared his life; this is already my greatest mercy.”

Yun Xiancheng slowly stood up, looking down at the trembling Bai family elder, and said in a detached tone, as if stating a truth:

”Therefore, I will also give you, the Bai family, a piece of advice: ’There is always someone better than you; there is always a heaven beyond the heaven. Those who are too rigid are easily broken.’”

The air in the office seemed to freeze at that moment.

Hu Gan, sitting in the main seat, watched the young man who had completely controlled the entire situation with his own strength. Looking at his calm, composed, and even somewhat effortless demeanor, he finally spread his hands in resignation.

He leaned back in his chair, a new judgment of this student’s strength, character, and potential forming deep within his heart.

279 Controlling the Situation

The moment his voice fell, Yun Xiancheng no longer held anything back.

A majestic, vast, and solid pressure erupted from him, centered on him!

The air in the entire Vice Dean’s office seemed to be sucked out in an instant, then filled with incredibly heavy mercury.

Those few Dou Ling Expert envoys from the Bai family couldn’t even let out a decent cry of alarm; their faces turned flushed, their eyes bulged, and it felt as if an invisible giant hand was gripping their throats, making even breathing a luxury.

They felt like mortals thrown into the depths of the ocean, with endless, terrifying pressure from all sides threatening to crush them completely!

The Bai family’s Dou Master Elder, Uncle Hu, was in a slightly better condition, but only slightly.

The Fighting Qi in his body circulated frantically, his protective aura flickering on his skin, and his bones let out an unbearable, creaking groan. He stared fixedly at the detached young man before him, struggling to squeeze a few words out of his throat, wanting to say something to salvage a bit of dignity.

”You sharp-tongued brat…”

But under that vast pressure, which was like the might of heaven, all his words, all his anger, and all his schemes appeared so pale and ridiculous.

Before he could finish his sentence, he could no longer support himself. A sweetness rose in his throat, and a mouthful of blood nearly sprayed out. He could only clench his teeth, forcing that blood back down. His face turned alternately green and white, and he was in a state of extreme disarray.

”Uncle Hu! Don’t… don’t say anymore! Wait for the Clan Leader! Wait until the Clan Leader comes to… to make a decision!” A slightly higher-cultivation Dou Ling Expert beside him squeezed these words through his teeth with all his might. ”This brat… is a tough nut to crack! We… we shouldn’t get angry with him!”

The Bai family elder known as Uncle Hu seemed to have found a lifeline upon hearing this.

He knew that if he kept holding on like this, he would likely make a fool of himself on the spot. He took a long, difficult breath, as if wanting to burst his own lungs, and only then managed to make his voice sound less shaky:

”Fine! Fine! You brat, you really are a bit strange! Today, this old man will not lower himself to your level, you yellow-mouthed child!” He roared, his tone fierce but his intent weak, trying to use volume to cover up his guilty conscience. ”You just wait here obediently! Our Clan Leader has already gone personally to seek out Great Elder Su Qian of your Jia Nan Academy’s Inner Academy! No matter how glib you are, no matter how flowery your words, in the face of absolute strength and rules, you will never be able to escape the inescapable net of justice!”

After speaking, he immediately stopped talking, not daring to say another word, and only focused all his strength on resisting the omnipresent, terrifying pressure.

Yun Xiancheng looked at their comical appearance—both disheveled and stubborn—and merely raised his eyebrows faintly, noncommittal to their threats.

With a thought, the terrifying pressure that could crush mountains dissipated into thin air in an instant, as if it had never appeared. This precise control, being able to retract it at will, made Hu Gan’s eyelids twitch even more than the violent pressure itself.

Yun Xiancheng sat back in his chair leisurely and refilled the tea, which had long since gone cold, for himself, Ruo Lin, and Hu Jia.

His flowing movements and calm demeanor made it seem as if he were not a student awaiting judgment, but rather the true master of this office.

Ruo Lin looked at her student, recalling his domineering appearance as he suppressed the entire room with his own strength, and then looking at his current calm and indifferent posture. Her beautiful eyes were already filled with a strange luster called ”appreciation” and ”heartbeat.”

She couldn’t help but nod gently, and a trace of an incredibly tender smile, which she herself hadn’t even noticed, appeared at the corners of her mouth. This child… no, he was no longer a child.

She suddenly felt that the Yun Xiancheng before her was more like a towering man than a boy who needed her protection.

Especially in that situation just now, when he unhesitatingly shielded her and Hu Jia behind him—that moment, that back, which wasn’t particularly burly but seemed capable of supporting the entire sky, was simply… too responsible.

Ruo Lin’s heart beat fast at that moment. It was a feeling she had never experienced before, called ”heartbeat.”

Even now, as she looked at Yun Xiancheng’s handsome and peaceful profile, the aftershocks of that intense heartbeat had not yet completely dissipated.

And Hu Jia, beside her, was looking at Yun Xiancheng with eyes that were even more interesting.

In the young girl’s eyes, which were usually sharp and clear, it seemed as if an entire starry sky had been packed into them. They were shining brightly, staring unblinkingly at Yun Xiancheng.

That gaze seemed to be able to speak, exposing everything in her heart: the shock, admiration, curiosity, and a hint of affection called ”admiration” that she herself was unwilling to admit.

When she saw Yun Xiancheng bringing her a freshly refilled cup of hot tea, Hu Jia’s heroic and pretty face turned red in a ”whoosh.”

She lowered her head in a panic, stretched out both hands, carefully took the teacup, and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s hum, ”Thank you.”

The few envoys from the Bai family were just left aside like that.

Compared to the imposing manner they had when they first entered, as if they wanted to eat people, they were now like a group of popped balloons, each one dejected, sitting on the sofa in a dejected and restless manner.

Leaving wasn’t an option, and staying wasn’t an option either; they were in a dilemma, embarrassed to the extreme.

Time passed, second by second, in such a strange and quiet atmosphere.

After waiting for a long while—by the time Yun Xiancheng’s group had developed their serious standoff into a leisurely tea party, complete with laughter—the heavy door of the office was finally pushed open violently from the outside with a ”bang.”

A middle-aged man, who looked seven or eight parts similar to Baishan but had a much gloomier and sharper temperament, and was nearly twenty years older, strode in.

Beside him, following closely, was an old man with a thin figure, white hair and beard, and wearing the simple attire of a Jia Nan Academy instructor.

Although this old man’s aura was restrained, the occasional trace of pressure leaking out was enough to cause ripples in the space. He should be that pillar of Jia Nan Academy, Inner Academy Great Elder, Dou Zong, Su Qian.

However, at this moment, Great Elder Su Qian’s face was full of frustration and helplessness.