Author note: Sorry for being late. I was thinking of entering a competition here in the webnovel, but I am still not sure if to enter the competition or not. What do you guys think should enter or not?
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Once all the students had exited the Dragon Forest, they assembled in front of the Azure Fang Pagoda.
Fu noticed the malicious gazes many academy staff were casting toward Ye Feng, and the sight startled him. Ye Feng, too, sensed the hostility and was equally surprised. Bewildered, he thought to himself, 'What's going on? Why are the academy staff looking at me with such malice? Have I offended them somehow?'
Fu then turned to Ye Feng and asked, "Why are the academy staff giving you that look? What did you do this time? They're staring at you as if you've killed their wives or their sons."
Ye Feng shook his head, completely speechless at Fu's words. "No idea," he said after a moment. "But my gut is telling me that things are going to become troublesome for me at the academy from now on."
Fu nodded in agreement; he shared the same uneasy feeling as Ye Feng.
Instructor Li stood before the students and announced, "Alright, the Monster Core Hunting Competition is officially over. The academy staff will now approach each team and count the monster cores they gathered in the Dragon Forest to determine the winners of the competition."
The academy staff began approaching each team to count the monster cores they had brought back from the Dragon Forest. However, some of them walked toward Ye Feng with clear malicious intent.
Ye Feng and Fu narrowed their eyes, their bodies tensing as they prepared for a possible battle but before the other academy staff could reach them, Senior Zhao stepped forward.
He gave Ye Feng and Fu a friendly smile and said, "Hello, Ye Feng, Fu. You can call me Instructor Zhao. Please show me all the monster cores you collected in the Dragon Forest."
Ye Feng nodded and handed over his and Fu space belts containing all the monster cores that they had collected from the Dragon Forest. Senior Zhao released the contents of the belts, and the monster cores immediately poured out.
He—and the academy staff standing nearby—were stunned as an enormous number of monster cores spilled forth, piling up into a small mountain. Senior Zhao found it hard to believe just how many monster cores Ye Feng and Fu had gathered. After calming down, an almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face.
'Hehe… now I understand why the princess is so interested in those two.'
After carefully counting the pile of monster cores, Senior Zhao placed them back into the space belts and handed the belts to Ye Feng. A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he said, "Ye Feng, Fu, the two of you did an outstanding job. I'm confident you two could challenge the top two spots in this competition. Keep up the good work"
Fu and Ye Feng cupped their fists simultaneously to senior Zhao. "Thank you, Teacher Zhao."
With a lazy wave of his hand, Senior Zhao smiled and left.
The sight of the enormous number of monster cores Ye Feng and Fu had brought back from the Dragon Forest left all the academy staff and students utterly shocked and speechless. Jealousy filled the eyes of many students, while certain academy staff stared at Ye Feng with unmistakable malice.
After the academy staff finished counting the monster cores gathered by all the teams, they reported the results to Instructor Li. Upon receiving the reports, Instructor Li announced the results to the students and revealed the two students who won the first and the second spots of the competition.
Ye Feng emerged as the champion of the Monster Core Hunting Competition, while Fu secured the second place.
Third place was claimed by five students who had joined forces for the competition.
After the academy instructors distributed the badges to Ye Feng, Fu, and the five students, Instructor Li announced the end of the Monster Core Hunting Competition and dismissed all the students.
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After Instructor Li gave the rewards to the winners of the competition, he dismissed the students. Fu and Ye Feng bid each other farewell and went their separate ways. Ye Feng started walking towards his dwelling. After a few minutes of walking, five middle-aged men wearing academy staff robes surrounded Ye Feng. They brandished their saint weapons at him. When Ye Feng saw this, he quickly summoned his Blood Dragon Fang, then Ye Feng narrowed his eyes and asked, "How can I help you teachers?" All five of the academy staff smirked evilly at Ye Feng, and one of them said, "Don't take it personally, kid. The Zhang clan put a huge reward on your head." The one who said this to Ye Feng was a bold, tan-skinned, muscular middle-aged man who was wielding a huge Mace Saint weapon. He and the other four academy staff charged at Ye Feng, and Ye Feng got ready to battle them. He knows this battle will be extremely tough for him.
The bold middle-aged man swung his saint weapon at Ye Feng, who blocked it with his Blood Dragon Fang. "CLANK, CRACK!" Ye Feng was sent flying, and his Blood Dragon Fang cracked. He vomited a glob of blood from his mouth after the Blood Dragon Fang cracked. The other four took this opportunity to finish Ye Feng off. Ye Feng watched helplessly as the four swung their saint weapons at him. He was too slow to react and defend himself. However, out of nowhere, another four academy staff members appeared and blocked the saint weapons that would have claimed Ye Feng's life. Senior Zhao looked coldly at the five academy staff who were engaging Ye Feng in battle and said with narrow eyes to them, "You five really got some guts bullying a student in the academy, aren't you afraid of the consequences?".
The five of them turned around to leave quickly after their attempt to kill Ye Feng failed, but suddenly a strong gust of wind came down at them from the sky, "FWOOOSH.". Everybody heard an angry voice from the sky: "Where do you think you five are going?" The five who attacked Ye Feng grew pale when they heard the voice of the academy headmaster. The bold middle-aged man muttered, "It is the headmaster; this is bad." The headmaster landed on the ground and looked menacingly at the five who attacked Ye Feng. They gulped their saliva nervously when they saw the menacing glare from the headmaster: "You five dare attack a student inside the academy. You really got a lot of courage. Good, very good.".
The bold middle-aged man said nervously, "Headmaster, it is a misunderstanding." The headmaster summoned his saint weapon, which was a golden gauntlet in his right hand. The gauntlet had big and long metal claws. With a gust of wind, the headmaster disappeared and then appeared in front of the bold middle-aged man. The headmaster clutches the bold man's saint weapon. with his gauntlet. The gauntlet started to shine brightly, and after one second, everybody heard a loud, shattering sound: "CRASH." The bold man's huge Mace Saint weapon shattered into small pieces, and the bold yelled loudly in extreme pain, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH." He started coughing up globs of blood from his mouth.
After the headmaster shattered the bold man's saint weapon, the bold man fell to the ground; he was in a very fatal state. The other four who attempted to kill Ye Feng took a step back in fear: "Headmaster, have mercy." The headmaster chuckled. "I am usually a very calm person, but you all attacked one of the students in my academy with the intent to kill him, and you think I will stand by and do nothing about it." One of them then said to the headmaster, "But what about him? He almost killed Zhang Bo and Zhang Wei; if they hadn't activated the flare formation when they did, they would have died in the Dragon Forest." The headmaster nodded. "You are right, but Zhang Bo and Zhang Wei broke the iron rule of the academy; they almost killed Ye Long, according to the report I received, and Ye Feng gave them the punishment they deserved.".
They were speechless at what the headmaster said, and the headmaster continued, "You five are expelled from the academy along with Zhang Wei and Zhang Bo. You all have one hour to leave the academy. Now leave. You are an eye sore.".
They quickly grabbed the bold man and left as fast as they could. The head master then turned to Ye Feng and said, "Ye Feng, you are coming with me; we need to have a long chat with each other." A gust of wind started surrounding Ye Feng, and both he and the headmaster flew away. They left Senior Zhao and the other four academy staff members standing, and they watched them as they disappeared into the sky.
Senior Zhao looked at the men that accompanied him and said, "You all may leave. I need to go and make my report to the princess." The four academy staff members nodded to senior Zhao, and they started leaving one by one.
Senior Zhao walked towards Rou Dwelling in order to tell her what just happened, and he smiled. "I wonder what the princess will say after I tell her this good news.".
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The headmaster arrived at the medical bay while carrying Ye Feng with him. He looked at the Radiant Saint Masters in front of him and said, "Heal him, his saint weapon cracked." After the Radiant Saint Masters received their orders from the academy headmaster, they started healing Ye Feng. After ten minutes, the Radiant Saint Masters healed Ye Feng completely, and then both Ye Feng and the headmaster walked towards the headmaster office.
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The headmaster sat on his chair after entering his office and looked seriously at Ye Feng. "Listen carefully, Ye Feng, because of what you did to Zhang Wei and Zhang Bo, the followers of the Zhang clan who are in the academy will be targeting you from now on in order for them to get the reward that the Zhang clan head put on your head." Ye Feng narrowed his eyes and asked, "Zhang clan followers? What do you mean?" The headmaster started explaining, "You are a young master from the Ye clan. I am sure that you are aware of the Zhang clan's alchemy skills. Their skills are renowned in all the hidden dragon kingdom even the nearby kingdoms are aware of their alchemy skills." Ye Feng nodded in affirmative at what the headmaster just said. The headmaster continued, "Thanks to their alchemy skills, they bought the loyalty of many powerful experts in the hidden dragon kingdom. Some of them are in our academy, like those who attacked you."
Ye Feng's eyes widened in surprise, and the headmaster continued and said with a serious tone, "You need to get stronger and raise your cultivation quickly. I can protect you from the Zhang clan inside the academy, but outside the academy, you will be on your own." Ye Feng's eyes kept narrowing, and a serious expression was present on his face. The headmaster tossed a badge to Ye Feng, and Ye Feng caught the badge. The headmaster said to him, "This badge will let you access level five of the library; use it well, and I also advise you to try accessing the Asura Sword Spirit World again." Ye Feng nodded solemnly. He cupped his fist. "Thank you, headmaster, for everything you have done. I will make sure your kindness isn't in vain". The headmaster smiled and nodded. He then waved his hand and said, "You may leave." Ye Feng nodded and left the headmaster's office.
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Senior Zhao entered Rou dwelling after she gave him permission to enter. He kneeled down. "Princess, I come to give you an update. Young master Ye Feng encountered Zhang clan followers just after the Monster Cores Hunting Competition ended." Rou narrowed her eyes behind the curtain and said with a cold voice, "Tell me everything.".
Senior Zhao told Rou everything that happened: how Ye Feng Blood Dragon Fang cracked when he blocked an attack from the Mace Saint weapon wielder; how the men he brought with him blocked the killing blow that was aimed at killing Ye Feng; and finally, how the academy headmaster arrived, then shattered the saint weapon of the bold middle-aged man. Senior Zhao then told the princess that the headmaster had expelled the five Zhang clan followers, along with Zhang Bo and Zhang Wei, from the academy.
Rou smiled at the news She then started thinking about her next course of action. After a few minutes, she said, "Well, I think I will use Ye Feng as bait to expel all the Zhang clan followers from the Azure Dragon Academy." Senior Zhao was surprised and asked, "How are we going to accomplish this, if I may ask?" Rou smiled at his question and said, "By using their own greed against them." Senior Zhao was confused and asked, "Their own greed?" Rou giggled, "Yes, all cultivators are greedy. Senior Zhao, no one can deny that. I have no doubt that the head of the Zhang clan put a big reward on Ye Feng's head. The Zhang clan followers will be tempted by the reward, so they are going to attack him again soon." Senior Zhao's eyes widened when he heard this: "You and your men will protect Ye Feng from the shadow, and when you fight against Zhang clan followers, I want you guys to make a big commotion so the headmaster will arrive at the fight scene and will have no choice but to expel the Zhang clan followers from the academy. It is time for us to clean the academy from all the Zhang clan followers.".
Senior Zhao nodded with a smile. "Your wish is my command, princes. I will go to deliver your orders to our men. Please excuse me." Rou nodded and said, "You may leave.".
Senior Zhao stood up and left Rou's dwelling.
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Ye Feng entered his dwelling and sat in the lotus position. He started thinking about how he almost got killed by Zhang clan followers today. He also thought about everything the headmaster told him. His eyes narrowed the deeper he thought about Zhang clan followers. "I need to increase my cultivation and my strength as soon as possible. I have many rank-two monster cores that I collected from the Dragon Forest. I can use them to increase my cultivation." He nodded to himself at that. "The headmaster also told me I should try and re-enter the Asura Sword Spirit World, but the problem is, I had no idea how to re-enter the Asura Sword Spirit World. However, I got some theories on how to re-enter the Asura Sword Spirit World." Ye Feng narrowed his eyes and sighed, "There is no point in thinking about the Asura Sword Sprit World; right now, my priority is to increase my cultivation." He summoned all the monster cores he had from one of his space belts, and then he started absorbing monster cores one by one.
It didn't take long for Ye Feng to breakthrough into the fourth layer of the Saint Master realm.
After Ye Feng's breakthrough to the fourth layer, he went to eat some food for himself in the academy dining hall. Many students were looking at him in jealousy for winning the Monster Cores Hunting Competition and collecting a large amount of the monster cores.
After having his fill in the dining hall, Ye Feng went to the library and started reading about cultivation comprehension in the library.
After exiting the library, he returned to his own dwelling and continued absorbing the monster cores. He got left until night came and went to bed.
Ye Feng continued going to the library and reading about cultivation comprehension and absorbing his monster cores. After three weeks, he brokethrough into the fifth layer of the Saint Master realm.