Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Guan Zanyi’s face flushed crimson. He glared at the backs of Lu Chao and the others, desperate to slam a fist into them.

But he didn’t dare...

He wouldn’t dare make a move openly. If Sun Shijin and the others reported him to the Dragon Flame King, he would be finished.

Even if Sun Shijin didn’t report him, there were still all these people watching in front of the Beast Flame Sect.

Heaven knew who might secretly report him.

Guan Zanyi’s fists clenched, his knuckles cracking loudly. He seethed, ’They dare say this is none of my business? Hmph. I’ll give them something to deal with right now. If they’re short just one person, they’ll be eliminated.’

At this, Guan Zanyi strode toward the Dean of Meng Mountain, who was being dragged away.

He faced the dean and asked in a sinister, terrifying voice, ”Do you... still want your students to participate in the qualification battle?”

The Dean of Meng Mountain looked up in a daze, then nodded hastily. He didn’t dare mouth off to Guan Zanyi again.

”Very good. I’ll give you a chance.”

”But once your students are inside, they must catch up to the people from Dragon Flame Academy. And they *must* take one of them out for me.”

Hearing this, the Dean of Meng Mountain’s eyes widened. ’This is blatant cheating!’

”If you can’t do it, I have plenty of ways to deal with you. Don’t forget who I used to be.”

”One day, I will reclaim my position as the Tiger Flame Grand General.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the Dean of Meng Mountain finally gave a heavy nod. For the sake of his students, he had no choice but to compromise and agree.

And so...

Guan Zanyi announced on the spot that the Dean of Meng Mountain had seen the error of his ways, and so they would be given another chance.

At once, a few people immediately began to suck up to him. ”As expected of Grand General Guan! Truly a man of great magnanimity!”

Guan Zanyi held his head high and puffed out his chest, returning to the foot of the Beast Flame Stele to bask in the crowd’s incessant flattery.

The students from Meng Mountain, meanwhile, finally received their maps and hurried to catch up.

What Guan Zanyi didn’t know was that his little scheme had been witnessed in its entirety by two Su Family Elders...

They approached the father and daughter, Cheng Chuming and Cheng Yunsu, once more. After briefly explaining Guan Zanyi’s methods, one of them said softly, ”Do you see? It’s only just begun, and it’s already this difficult. Are you sure you don’t need us?”

Cheng Yunsu didn’t answer, merely offering a faint smile.

Cheng Chuming, however, was hesitant.

Although he also opposed the Saint Bone Su Family establishing a full presence in Dragon Flame Academy, he felt he should perhaps agree to the Su Family Elders’ proposal to make Lu Chao the future Patriarch. He truly didn’t want to see his son-in-law facing danger at every turn.

...

「Inside Beast Flame Academy...」

The teams from the various academies raced frantically, following the routes on their maps ever forward.

Lu Chao’s group was about the fortieth team to enter Beast Flame Academy. Their route required them to take a narrow mountain path that wound between the peaks surrounding the academy.

These mountains were once cultivation grounds for disciples of the Azure Flame Sect, but they now lay deserted.

For now, only this mountain path had been cleared for use by the Seven Great Flame Countries.

As they advanced, Flying Bird Demon Beasts constantly circled in the sky above—the observers for this first trial.

After about fifteen minutes, Lu Chao said suddenly, ”Be on your guard. I smell blood up ahead.”

Hearing this, the group tensed up...

Soon, they saw several people lying on the ground up ahead, with a few others tending to their injuries. The uniforms they wore made Luo Wendeng say in a cold voice, ”They’re students from Wind Wolf Academy—the academy Yan Jun, from the Wolf Flame Kingdom, attends.”

Yan Jun was the one who had bullied Luo Wendeng and his brother since they were children, and his academy was indeed Wind Wolf Academy.

It was the second-largest academy in the Wolf Flame Kingdom...

They were one of the first groups to enter the Beast Flame Gate. It looked like they’d run into a conflict that left some of their students injured.

However, Wind Wolf Academy had dozens of Innate Students, so leaving a few behind wouldn’t be an issue for them.

Just then, a few of the Wind Wolf Students who had been treating the injured suddenly darted out, blocking Lu Chao’s group. ”Stop! Help us carry our wounded, and I’ll give you a handsome reward.”

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of Luo Wendeng and the others as they looked to Lu Chao at the head of their group.

With a calm smile, Lu Chao said simply, ”Halt!”

The ten of them stopped instantly...

Seeing this, the Wind Wolf Students opposite them suddenly looked at Luo Wendeng. One of them said, ”Well, well, isn’t this the Luo Wendeng brothers, who used to grovel at Senior Brother Yan Jun’s feet like dogs? I didn’t realize it was you.”

”Since it’s you...”

After drawing out the words, the Wind Wolf Student immediately added with a vicious grin, ”You’ll still help us carry our wounded, of course. Otherwise, we’ll make sure you fail this qualification battle... and you won’t get any reward for it either.”

In other words, Lu Chao’s group was expected to carry the wounded for them as an obligation. It was a clear case of bullying Dragon Flame Academy.

Hearing this, Yu Xiaoping, Tan An, and the others couldn’t help but clench their fists in anger.

But Lu Chao simply swept his gaze across the surrounding woods, then smiled and prepared to move on...

Suddenly, however, Luo Wendeng pulled him back. ”Brother Lu, let me handle this trash.”

Lu Chao said no more, simply watching as Luo Wendeng strode forward.

As he walked, Luo Wendeng eyed the handful of Wind Wolf Students. His voice was low and deep. ”Playing these little tricks in front of us... Does Yan Jun really think I’m the same person I used to be?”

Before the Wind Wolf Students could react, he suddenly thrust his sword forward.

But his sword wasn’t aimed at any of the standing Wind Wolf Students. It was aimed at one of the ”wounded” lying on the ground.

A flash of the blade instantly pierced one of the wounded men’s knees, and then— ”ARGH!”

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the man’s mouth...

This made the Jiang Family Siblings’ eyes widen in shock.

’Why did Luo Wendeng attack a wounded man? Even if they have a history of bad blood, isn’t this going too far?’

To the surprise of the Jiang Family Siblings, the standing Wind Wolf Students reacted by shouting, ”Damn it! That piece of trash Luo saw through our plan! Everybody up! Kill them!”

As the words fell, a dumbfounding scene unfolded.

The supposedly dying ”wounded” suddenly sprang to their feet, full of vigor, and began to surround the group.

The Wind Wolf Student who had just spoken added grimly, ”Luo Wendeng, we were just going to play with you a bit, but since you saw through our act, we won’t be so polite. We’ll make sure you fail this first trial completely.”

It was obvious that the entire scene was a setup targeting Lu Chao’s group of ten.

It was, of course, something Yan Jun had deliberately arranged to target Luo Wendeng...

After all, Wind Wolf Academy had more than enough students. They only needed to ensure ten of them made it through the first trial.

So, they left a few people behind to play a ”little game” with Luo Wendeng.

But they had never imagined that Luo Wendeng would see through their act in an instant.

After surviving the attempt on Lu Hanyan’s life and the trials of blood and fire in the Chaotic Hundred Countries, the Descendants of Azure Flame had long been reforged.

Wind Wolf Academy’s scheme was a childish trick in Lu Chao’s eyes, and it was just as transparent to Luo Wendeng and the other Descendants of Azure Flame.

It was no different than a child’s game.