Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Dongfang Ren’s reputation far surpassed Zeng Quan’s.

If Zeng Quan was considered one of the top five experts in the Hundred Countries—a highly disputed claim at that—then Dongfang Ren was the undisputed number one expert, with practically no one to challenge him.

At most, only Zheng Liling of the Saint Bone Zheng Family could be mentioned in the same breath. Originally, Su Juehe of the Saint Bone Su Family was also in that category.

But Su Juehe had passed away not long ago.

Many legends surrounded Dongfang Ren throughout the Hundred Countries...

Legend said that in his youth, he had walked into the Azure Flame Sect and defeated every one of its genius disciples, remaining undefeated. The Azure Flame Sect Leader of that era wished to take him as a disciple, but Dongfang Ren refused.

Legend said he possessed not one, but two Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones.

Legend said he was raised by a Demon Beast, living his life alongside a Saint Bone Level Demon Beast and even taking it as his master.

Though he hailed from the Hundred Countries, he served no Flame Country.

Still other legends claimed...

A few years ago, he had dueled the Patriarchs of the Dragon Flame Kingdom’s two great Saint Bone Families. As for the outcome, no one knew besides the two Saint Bone Families themselves... There were even rumors that he had challenged experts from the Great Wu Empire and the Nanye Dynasty.

He was, by nature, a recluse!

So for the Beast Flame Academy to have successfully invited Dongfang Ren to be its vice dean was a shock to countless people.

At that moment, Lu Chao murmured, ”Dongfang Ren... he’s actually here at Beast Flame Academy as a vice dean. What a coincidence.”

Hearing this, Luo Wendeng and the others instinctively turned to Lu Chao. Jiang Yu quickly asked, ”Senior Brother Lu Chao, you know Dongfang Ren?”

Taking a shallow breath, Lu Chao replied, ”We’ve met. Once.”

It had happened when he was sixteen, three years ago. He had just defeated Fan Changcun on the battlefield and returned to the Great Wu Imperial City. It was at the victory banquet that Dongfang Ren had suddenly appeared.

His arrival had horrified Lu Dingtian...

He had wanted to challenge Lu Dingtian, but was refused.

Dongfang Ren hadn’t pressed the issue. Instead, he made a proposal that had caught Lu Chao completely off guard: he wanted to take Lu Chao as his disciple. He asked Lu Dingtian to release Lu Chao to him for three years, but... Lu Dingtian refused that as well.

Lu Dingtian’s reason was, ”My son has no need for another master. And he is to learn more than just the Martial Dao.”

Afterward, Dongfang Ren even proposed...

...that he would owe Lu Dingtian three favors—he would do three things for him... But Lu Dingtian still refused without a moment’s hesitation. This time, his reason became, ”I can’t bear to let my precious son leave my side for three years.”

At the time, the sixteen-year-old Lu Chao had been deeply moved. ’Thinking back on it now, it just makes me sick.’

’There was only one true reason for Lu Dingtian’s refusal.’

’He was cultivating the three Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones within my body, all so he could steal them for himself. How could he possibly let me go study the Martial Dao under Dongfang Ren?’

’During that one encounter, I was wearing a mask, so Dongfang Ren never saw my true face.’

’As for why Dongfang Ren wanted me as his disciple...’

’I’d thought about it later. He must have seen me fight during my duel with Fan Changcun on the battlefield. Or perhaps he’d heard that I possessed a Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone.’

As the entire crowd stood in stunned silence, and as Lu Chao was lost in his memories...

Zeng Quan spoke again, his voice booming, ”Brother Dongfang, would you care to come out and greet everyone?”

As he spoke, Zeng Quan turned his gaze toward a figure in the corner.

The entire crowd followed his gaze, and they saw a hunchbacked old man slowly emerge from the shadows of the corner.

The wrinkles on his face were deeply etched, and his eye sockets seemed like bottomless pits. He was terribly thin...

This image was a far cry from the number one expert of the Hundred Countries that everyone had imagined.

His face radiated a ”keep your distance” aura, and every step he took created an intense, unapproachable feeling.

After stepping into the open, he simply said, ”I am Dongfang Ren, Vice Dean of the Beast Flame Academy.”

At his words, the entire area fell into a cold, solemn silence. No one knew if they should bow or how to react.

The next moment, Zeng Quan asked directly, ”Brother Dongfang, what say you? Shall I declare the first round of the qualification battle complete?”

As soon as he asked, the members of the nineteen University Institutes were jolted back to reality. They had to raise hell for being eliminated.

Dongfang Ren nodded directly and replied, ”Excellent. Rules are rules.”

His voice, ancient and tinged with a metallic, world-weary quality, pressed down on the nineteen University Institutes with terrifying force. Then, without another word, Dongfang Ren turned and left.

He vanished back into the corner.

With his departure, a dead silence fell over the area, as if the pressure from the number one expert still lingered in the air.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

The True Qi of the experts from the nineteen University Institutes began to stir once more, ready to erupt. Fists clenched tightly.

They advanced on Zeng Quan step by step, their eyes gradually turning bloodshot...

Seeing this, Zeng Quan immediately whispered to them, ”You must understand, Dongfang Ren comes from a Small Kingdom.”

Instantly, a chill ran through the hearts of the members from the nineteen University Institutes. They remembered that Dongfang Ren had emerged from one of the Small Kingdoms. If Zeng Quan showed them favoritism by ordering a rematch or something similar, Dongfang Ren would likely be the first to object.

But to be eliminated just like this? It was a joke! How could they accept it?

Zeng Quan continued in a low voice, ”You have to understand the difficult position I’m in. Don’t worry, you’ll get a satisfactory resolution in the second round.”

At Zeng Quan’s words, the nineteen University Institutes finally suppressed their anger and stood down for the time being.

Then, Zeng Quan turned back to the crowd and announced loudly...

”The first round is now officially complete.”

”All students, rest where you are. I will announce the rules for the second round shortly... Due to the many loopholes in the first round, I ask all the senior members of Beast Flame to join me in discussing how to perfect the rules for the second round.”

With that, Zeng Quan’s figure flickered, and he was gone...

The six great deans, all the vice deans, and the various other senior members of Beast Flame followed him and departed.

Back at the finish line of the first round...

As the Beast Flame leadership departed, the area naturally erupted with discussion.

The deans from the hundreds of academies rushed to their students, whispering as they asked for details about the first round.

Sun Shijin, Yu Fei, and Dean Jiang...

They, of course, hurried over to Lu Chao’s group and quickly asked for details as well. When they heard the full story, the jaws of all three dropped in unison.

Dean Jiang gulped. ”Lu Chao, wasn’t that a bit too ruthless?”

Lu Chao smiled faintly. ”We had no choice. Others could afford to compromise, but we couldn’t... If we wanted to pass the first round, our only option was to utterly crush anyone who stood in our way.”

Dean Jiang’s heart trembled at the statement. ’The Dragon Flame Academy’s path is truly a difficult one.’

’The logic made sense, but by eliminating all nineteen University Institutes, hadn’t Lu Chao just created a host of new problems?’

”It was already an irreconcilable situation,” Lu Chao explained. ”If we’d let them pass the first round, they would have targeted us. If we didn’t let them pass, they’d still target us.”

”It was better to eliminate all of them and create trouble for the Beast Flame leadership, who are also targeting us.”

This was Lu Chao’s reasoning for taking down the entire field.

’Since we’re being targeted from all sides,’ Lu Chao thought, ’then we just have to be more ruthless... more absolute than them all.’