Personally Taught by the Old Master

“This…”

Lei Qianjue’s eyes snapped open. He sucked in a sharp breath.

“A Martial Spirit Realm cultivator defeating a Martial Saint?!”

“What the hell is this monster?!”

He turned to look at Nie Changkong, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.

“Old Nie, where did your Jingwu dig up this freak?!”

Nie Changkong remained silent.

With both hands clasped behind his back, he gazed up at the sky.

He wore the aloof, untouchable expression of a man who had tasted the loneliness of being invincible.

In his heart, however, he was cursing up a storm.

I want to know where he came from too! I think he’s a freak as well!

Just as everyone was reeling in shock—

Boom—!!!

A vast, boundless pressure descended from the sky, terrifying enough to suppress all things beneath it.

In that instant, the entire abandoned industrial district seemed to freeze solid.

A towering figure stepped out of the void.

The Nation-Guarding Martial Saint, Huo Zhenshan!

He wore a simple gray robe.

Though he wasn’t deliberately releasing any blood-and-qi energy, merely standing there made him seem like an ancient divine mountain, impossible to cross.

“Greetings, Martial Saint Huo!”

Every Martial Emperor and Martial King present dropped to one knee, their expressions filled with reverence.

Huo Zhenshan gave a slight nod.

“Rise.”

With a casual toss of his hand—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several black-robed figures, their bones shattered and their bodies limp as mud, were thrown at Nie Changkong’s feet.

“Scum from the Abyssal Cult.”

Huo Zhenshan’s voice was deep and commanding.

“These infiltrators tried to take advantage of the commotion caused by the arrival of the Demon Saint in the outskirts and sneak into Jingwu.”

“I intercepted and killed them on the way.”

Nie Changkong looked at the black-robed bodies on the ground, his brows drawing together slightly.

“Into Jingwu?”

“What were they planning to do?”

Huo Zhenshan glanced at Nie Changkong and snorted coldly.

“What else could they have been planning?”

“To kill that special-grade freshman your Jingwu just recruited—Su Yu!”

At those words, even Huo Zhenshan, a Nation-Guarding Martial Saint who had weathered countless storms, showed a rare flicker of surprise in his eyes.

When he had tortured the answer out of them, he had been genuinely astonished for quite some time.

Who would have thought that a mere freshman who had just entered school could make the Abyssal Cult pay such a staggering price and wield such terrifying influence?

It had sparked a deep curiosity in him toward this youngster named Su Yu. Once this matter was settled, he decided, he would have to meet the boy personally.

The moment those words were spoken, Nie Changkong’s heart clenched violently.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Huo Zhenshan looked toward the churning Abyssal Realm ahead.

“A diversion.”

“They used a Demon Saint to tie down the capital’s top combat forces.”

“All for the sake of killing a first-year student.”

Huo Zhenshan shook his head, his tone carrying a trace of admiration.

“It seems this Su Yu from your Jingwu really has quite a reputation!”

“To make the Abyssal Cult fear him so deeply that they would pay such a huge price to eliminate him…”

“He’s a fine seedling.”

“Old Nie, you’d better keep him safe.”

Nie Changkong fell silent.

He looked at the bodies of the Abyssal Cult’s infiltrators on the ground.

Then he glanced at the Abyssal Realm ahead, from which the Demon Saint’s screams continued to echo.

The corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Keep him safe?

Keep him safe my ass!

Was the Abyssal Cult out of its damn mind?!

After going to all this trouble and creating such a massive disturbance, the person they had come to Jingwu to kill—

Was right there inside!

He was currently beating the Demon Saint they had summoned into the ground like a helpless dog!!!

Nie Changkong took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to roar.

If he said the truth out loud, he feared that not only would the Abyssal Cult collapse, but the Martial Emperors and Martial Saints present would collapse right along with it.

At his side, Lei Qianjue snorted upon hearing the name “Su Yu.”

“Su Yu?”

“You mean that freshman who comprehended Manifestation Spear Intent?”

“His talent is decent, but that’s about it.”

A proud light flashed through Lei Qianjue’s single eye.

“Old Nie, don’t think that just because your Jingwu recruited a genius, you can suppress our Mowu.”

“At this year’s National Freshman Exchange Tournament, our Mowu’s Shen Wudao will show everyone what he’s made of. He was born with a Fiendish Physique!”

“When the time comes, we’ll settle things in the arena!”

“Su Yu is going to have a rough time!”

Nie Changkong shot Lei Qianjue a glance.

His eyes were filled with the pity one might show a hopeless idiot.

The exchange tournament?

Su Yu having a rough time?

Old Lei, if you knew that the freak currently beating a Demon Saint like a dog inside was the very Su Yu you were talking about—the one you planned to teach a lesson at the exchange tournament—

You’d probably flee overnight with an entire train strapped to your back. You might even break the legs of that Shen Wudao kid from Mowu just to keep him from going up there and getting himself killed.

Huo Zhenshan paid no attention to Lei Qianjue’s provocation.

As a Martial Saint, his perspective naturally reached far beyond theirs.

He turned his head and stared intently at the Abyssal Realm.

His brows furrowed slightly.

“Old Nie.”

“Who’s in there?”

Huo Zhenshan’s voice carried undisguised confusion and shock.

“There shouldn’t be any other Martial Saints in the capital, should there?”

“But the fluctuations from that battle…”

“Not only are they suppressing the Demon Saint completely, the quality of that dark-gold blood-and-qi energy is enough to alarm even me!”

Huo Zhenshan drew in a deep breath.

“When did Great Xia produce such an absolute powerhouse?”

“Did you call in outside help?”

Everyone’s eyes instantly focused on Nie Changkong.

Lei Qianjue, the several Martial Emperors, and even Huo Zhenshan himself—

They were all waiting for his answer.

Nie Changkong was silent for a moment.

His mind raced.

How should he explain this?

Should he say that the person inside was Su Yu? That he was an eighteen-year-old first-year student?

No!

Absolutely not!

Su Yu’s displayed talent was already heaven-defying enough. It had even drawn the Abyssal Cult into launching this Demon Saint descent and assassination ambush.

If the outside world learned that Su Yu had not only comprehended Manifestation Spear Intent, but had already reached the Soul-Forging Peak…

That he possessed not merely a thousand points of blood and qi, but nine million units of dark-gold divine blood…

That he could not only kill Grandmasters in an instant, but was even capable of crushing a Demon Saint—

Then his talent would be a trillion times more terrifying than they had imagined!

No, a hundred trillion times!

If that news got out, the entire nation of Great Xia—no, the entire Abyss—would be utterly shaken!

By then, the ones coming to assassinate Su Yu would no longer be Demon Saints.

The Abyssal Demon Emperors themselves would probably enter the fray, tearing space apart at any cost to wipe him out!

A tree that rises above the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

To protect Su Yu, this secret had to be kept at all costs!

Even in the face of a Nation-Guarding Martial Saint, he could not tell the truth!

Nie Changkong took a deep breath.

He met Huo Zhenshan’s sharp gaze.

Then he straightened his chest.

With both hands behind his back, his old face assumed an expression of effortless calm and unfathomable depth.

“Martial Saint Huo.”

Nie Changkong’s voice was steady, carrying an unquestionable pride.

“The person inside isn’t an outside helper.”

“He’s one of my students.”

“Martial Spirit Realm.”

“His name is Su Yuan.”

Nie Changkong paused, then gave what he considered a highly measured evaluation.

“Exceptionally talented!”

Silence.

A deathly silence.

The cold wind swept through the abandoned industrial district.

Huo Zhenshan stood motionless.

The Nation-Guarding Martial Saint who stood at the pinnacle of Great Xia—

At that moment, the expression on his face had completely frozen.

He stared fixedly at Nie Changkong.

His deep eyes were filled with bafflement and absurd disbelief.

Exceptionally talented?

Huo Zhenshan’s lips began to twitch violently, completely beyond his control.

A student at the Martial Spirit Realm.

Inside there.

He was holding down a Demon Saint with over ten billion in vital blood, beating it like a punching bag!

And you call that “exceptionally talented”?!

That’s simply against the laws of heaven, all right?!

Huo Zhenshan roared in utter despair inwardly.

I’m a dignified Martial Saint!

The Pillar of Great Xia!

Even I’m not confident I could pin down a Demon Saint and beat it senseless!

And now you’re telling me one of your students did it?!

Then what does that make me?!

A glorified background character?!

Huo Zhenshan took several deep breaths before barely suppressing the urge to slap Nie Changkong to death.

He pointed at the abyssal realm, from which agonized screams continued to echo.

His voice trembled violently.

“Old Nie.”

“You’re sure… he’s really just your student?”

Nie Changkong’s expression remained perfectly calm, and he nodded with absolute certainty.

“Of course.”

“I personally taught him.”

…

At the same time.

Inside the abyssal realm.

The battle had already reached its conclusion.

The Demon Saint’s enormous, thousand-zhang-tall body was now riddled with wounds.

Countless tentacles had been severed at the roots, scattered across the ground and transforming into foul-smelling black water.

The abyssal black mist it had always been so proud of had been completely evaporated under the terrifying heat of Su Yu’s nine million dark-gold divine blood.

Frustration!

Terror!

A complete crisis of faith!

The Demon Saint’s enormous eyes, resembling blood-red moons, were now filled with endless despair.

What the hell was this monster?!

Its physical defenses were impossible to break!

That human’s body was even harder than abyssal darksteel!

Abyssal corruption was useless!

The quality of his vital blood was so absurdly high that it directly vaporized the corruption instead!

As for mental attacks, using them was simply courting death!

That transparent flying knife of his could rip half of its soul apart with a single strike!

“No!!!”

The Demon Saint let out a shrill roar.

It was afraid!

It was a dignified Abyssal Demon Saint, yet it had developed an uncontrollable fear of a human Martial Spirit!

Escape!

It had to escape!

The Demon Saint’s massive body suddenly contracted as it tried to forcibly tear open space and flee back to the Abyssal Plane.

“Trying to leave?”

Su Yu’s icy voice rang out through the void.

He stood suspended in midair.

Not a speck of dirt stained his silver battle armor.

Killing intent flashed brilliantly in his deep, translucent eyes.