Chapter 109: The Sudden Surge of Negative Emotions

Inside a vast chamber at the Heavenly Book Academy, Lin Fan gently pressed his palm against a massive stone monolith.

Boom!

Two crystals on the monolith lit up, casting an orange glow, and a row of characters appeared upon its surface.

Qingxue County, Lin Fan, bone age: seventeen, cultivation: early stage of the Qi Induction Realm!

"Pass!"

Seeing this, one of the instructors beside the monolith spoke, signaling Lin Fan to move to the next room. Lin Fan smiled slightly, nodded in acknowledgment, and headed toward the next chamber.

Five days had passed since he provoked the young powerhouses at the Four Seas Restaurant, and the Heavenly Book Academy's entrance examinations had now begun. That stone monolith was designed to test bone age and cultivation, which, when combined with the information registered at enrollment, would all be displayed simultaneously.

Five days ago, Xiao Shuihan had followed Lin Fan's instructions to the letter, defeating Luo Ying of the Heavenly Absolute Fist in twenty-one moves, earning Lin Fan a tidy sum of silver. At the same time, the young powerhouses who had placed bets contributed a fresh wave of negative emotion points to his collection.

Watching Luo Ying's defeat, dozens more young powerhouses at the middle stage of the Qi Induction Realm descended into the arena to challenge Xiao Shuihan, only to be defeated by his overwhelming strength. Soon, those at the late and peak stages of the Qi Induction Realm began to step down, yet they still could not overcome him.

Of course, some geniuses were evenly matched with Xiao Shuihan—most of them being individuals who had achieved Perfect Body Tempering. Helpless, Xiao Shuihan had been forced to utilize his Wind-Thunder Force to secure victory.

Finally, true young powerhouses appeared—those at the early stage of the Pulse-Qi Realm who also possessed Perfect Body Tempering. Even with the use of Wind-Thunder Force, Xiao Shuihan’s battles were fierce and brutal, requiring him to employ nearly mastered martial techniques to emerge narrowly victorious.

Later, as three more early-stage Pulse-Qi Realm experts entered the fray, Xiao Shuihan fought with everything he had, even resorting to hidden trump cards. He managed to defeat two of them but fell to the third, eventually being forced to retreat beneath the stone bridge.

Yet, even in his defeat, no one mocked him. One had to realize that Xiao Shuihan had fought over a dozen consecutive battles; his internal vital energy was already depleted to the point of exhaustion. Despite this, he had managed to defeat three early-stage Pulse-Qi experts and traded hundreds of blows with a fourth. With such formidable combat records, which of these young experts dared to remain unconvinced?

Everyone could see that if Xiao Shuihan had been at his peak, the outcome against that fourth Pulse-Qi expert would have remained unknown. The anger that had initially surged among these young elites due to Lin Fan’s arrogant proclamations had vanished, replaced by profound respect. He was simply too powerful; a single person had forced ninety percent of the thousand gathered young elites to bow their heads.

It was then that Lin Fan had Li Ji, Ou Hu, Shangguan Feihong, Qian Jin, and Sun Hao take turns challenging the crowd. However, the early-stage Qi Induction experts in the audience didn't even dare to breathe loudly, the middle-stage experts didn't dare to step forward, and those at the late and peak stages could only watch from the sidelines. They knew that those who fought later were often no less powerful than those who came before, so they dared not underestimate Li Ji and his companions.

The only ones left among them who could fight were those at the Pulse-Qi Realm. Consequently, Pulse-Qi experts began entering the arena one after another—one, two, five, eight—until over thirty had participated in a short span of time.

Li Ji’s Drifting Rain Sword Technique was a perfect blend of offense and defense. When attacking, it was like a torrential storm, violent and overwhelming, yet also like a fine drizzle, permeating everywhere and impossible to guard against. When defending, it formed a screen of rain that protected his body, impenetrable by anything. Relying on Wind-Thunder Force, the Drifting Rain Sword Technique, and a few hidden cards, he successfully defeated five early-stage Pulse-Qi experts.

Ou Hu practiced the Tiger-Devouring Fist. His strikes manifested a ferocious tiger, the killing intent surging to the heavens. Each punch felt like a savage beast lunging, heavy with bloodlust, as if wading through a mountain of corpses. Combined with his innate divine strength and peerless physical body, his battles with Pulse-Qi experts were purely physical, blow-for-blow. By using Wind-Thunder Force, his nearly mastered Tiger-Devouring Fist, and a reckless, death-defying fighting style, he defeated seven early-stage Pulse-Qi experts. It was not that he was stronger than Li Ji—while Li Ji had defeated his opponents while remaining unscathed, Ou Hu had sustained significant injuries.

Subsequently, Qian Jin, with his sweeping blade energy, and Sun Hao, with his bold and expansive spear techniques, each defeated five Pulse-Qi experts as well.

The most shocking of all was Shangguan Feihong. He single-handedly challenged nine early-stage Pulse-Qi experts and defeated them all, eventually drawing a middle-stage Pulse-Qi expert into the arena to finally take him down. Naturally, Shangguan Feihong was the most severely injured of the six. His sword was too ruthless; when the sword moved like a flying swan, he sought only the result, ignoring the process—or rather, he would pay any price to achieve his goal. His sword was too fast and too absolute, always carrying the aura of a moth flying into a flame.

In the end, even after defeating nine early-stage Pulse-Qi experts, he was so heavily injured that he could barely stand. Yet, he refused to leave the stone bridge until the middle-stage expert forced him down. Throughout this, Lin Fan did not stop Shangguan Feihong, for he knew this was the path that belonged to him.

To have a mind difficult to settle, a heart difficult to focus, a domain that is boundless, and a spirit that is invincible—no matter what level one reaches in these martial arts, one must first recognize their own "Path." Only by knowing the direction of one’s path can one walk it; the Path is the goal.

The six of them had not been training for long, and it was nearly impossible for them to touch upon their Path so soon. However, if one truly recognized their own Path early, then as long as they continued to cultivate, the cultivation of their "Intent" would inevitably succeed, because the direction of the Path is the first hurdle in achieving Intent.

What amazed Lin Fan now was that although Shangguan Feihong had not yet fully recognized his Path, he had already begun moving in its direction. Once he fully understood it, he would step onto the Path. At that time, without any guidance, his Intent would be achieved.

A thought stirred in Lin Fan’s mind: perhaps he could help the six of them touch upon their Paths earlier, though they would have to endure the immense danger involved.

While he was lost in thought, the middle-stage Pulse-Qi expert who had defeated Shangguan Feihong, seeing that no one else dared to challenge them, began to mock and ridicule them. He spouted platitudes about not looking down on others, which immediately resonated with the surrounding young elites. A wave of mockery and insults surged toward them like a rising tide.

Lin Fan’s response to this was simple. He stepped onto the stone bridge and slapped the middle-stage Pulse-Qi expert, sending him flying directly into the wall of a third-floor private room. The man became wedged into the wall, unable to be pried loose.

In an instant, the entire space fell into a deathly silence. It was as if boiling water had suddenly frozen.

Fearing the sudden quiet, Lin Fan immediately offered a friendly greeting to the surrounding youths. His words were very polite: "So what if I called you trash? Not convinced? Come and bite me! Don't be so quiet, don't let the atmosphere get so heavy, come on, you weeds..."

Lin Fan felt his greeting had been quite friendly; otherwise, why would the young powerhouses be contributing such a massive amount of negative emotion points to his system?

Under such provocative language, several more middle-stage Pulse-Qi experts entered the arena. And then... there was no "then." One slap each, and they were all slammed into the walls by Lin Fan.

When no one else dared to step down, Lin Fan took Xiao Shuihan, Li Ji, and the others back to their private room. Immediately, he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his face turning deathly pale as he collapsed. This frightened Xiao Shuihan and the others, who rushed to support him. Only after seeing their "Brother Fan" explaining things while still spitting up blood did they realize he had been severely injured all along. The only physical strength he could use came at the cost of an equally massive backlash.

However, perhaps it was their imagination, but even as Brother Fan coughed up blood, he seemed to be smiling—and quite happily at that.

Lin Fan was, of course, happy. When he had first arrived at the Imperial City with Hongyi, he had barely fifty-something thousand negative emotion points. But after his initial provocations at the Four Seas Restaurant and the subsequent battles involving Xiao Shuihan and the others, he had set up gambling pools for every match and acted as the "finisher." From silver to negative emotion points, he had made a killing.

He had earned over four hundred thousand taels of silver. Had the bettors not stopped wagering after losing continuously, he would have made even more. But the true windfall was in the negative emotion points. The thousand young powerhouses had each contributed at least several hundred points, causing his total to skyrocket from fifty-four thousand to a staggering one million seven hundred and forty thousand.

What a harvest!

In his delight, Lin Fan was generous, ordering a dozen portions of the Four Seas Restaurant’s signature dishes, which cost at least three thousand taels of silver per plate. Over the next four days, he continued to guide the others in their martial arts. Initially, their techniques had only reached the "minor success" stage, but after the trials and his guidance, they were nearing "great success." To reach true mastery usually took years, but under his tutelage, it happened naturally, and they all successfully reached the stage of Great Success.

Just as they achieved this, the Heavenly Book Academy’s examination began. The first stage was the test of bone age and cultivation, which Lin Fan had just passed.

As Lin Fan stepped into the next room, a loud boom resonated in his mind, and he felt a sudden shock. He inexplicably found himself standing amidst a vast, starry sky.

"This is?!"

A sense of familiarity flashed in Lin Fan’s eyes, followed instantly by a heaven-shaking murderous intent. He knew this place all too well—far too well!

"Qin Long, come out here!"

Lin Fan roared, his eyes bloodshot. In that moment, he lost all reason, his usual calmness shattered. Was this not the very place where his mortal enemy—once his best brother—had killed him? Not only him, but his parents, his sister, his brother-in-law, his nephew...!

Boom!

A fresh shock rocked Lin Fan’s mind. His consciousness went momentarily blank, and all his memories vanished in an instant.

Before they completely faded, a strange voice echoed: "This little fellow's soul strength is quite strong; it actually required two strikes..."