“My cloudrider stallion has a noble bloodline, it’s priceless, you can’t repay this!”

“My divine bull is an ultimate beast, your life is not worth one hair from it!!!” Huang Qibing roared.

They got the urge to kill Li Qiye in order to avenge their lost mounts.

“Wow, excuse me then, I didn’t know they were so precious, looks like this will be difficult.” Li Qiye smiled.

“Difficult? You have no chance of making up for this loss.” The female student said: “Speak, what did you do to my freckle? Tell the truth and we might give you a swift death.”

Only the divine bull was accounted for. They didn’t know if Li Qiye had eaten their mounts yet. Just thinking about this possibility made them tremble with rage.

On the other hand, Li Qiye knew that these mounts were food inside the dog and boar’s stomach.

“I don’t know where they are. As I said, I will compensate.” Li Qiye waved his hand.

“With what? Just hand our mounts over or pay with your life.” Huang Qibing’s eyes flashed coldly.

“Really now?” Li Qiye smiled.

“Just your life alone is a great deal for you.” One student said: “Our mounts are expensive; your life is only worth a few coins.”

***

“The brat provoked so many noble students, they’re from Vajra. Their seniors are all generals with numerous soldiers.” One spectator said.

“This lesson will be good for him, he needs to take it down a notch at the academy. He’s too lawless; it’s time for him to abide by the academy’s rules.” Another has been unhappy with Li Qiye’s attitude.

***

Huang Qibing’s group walked closer to Li Qiye, wearing aggression on their sleeves.

“Li, will you do it or do we have to force you?” One student threatened.

“What should I do?” Li Qiye still had a calm expression.

“It’s simple, kneel and admit your crimes then cripple your hands and legs, hand over everything you have. We might spare you then.” Huang Qibing said.

“We’re being merciful here instead of just cutting off your head and hanging it at the base of the mountain.” The owner of the stallion added.

They fully surrounded Li Qiye who didn’t seem to mind. However, Lil’ Yellow slowly got up and growled, ready to lunge forward.

“Stop!” A resounding roar interrupted this key moment, instilling both dread and shock into the crowd.

They immediately turned around and saw an approaching youth.

He wore a robe made from expensive silver brocade. Agility seemed to be his essence. Just one flash and he was already standing before the main parties.

He was handsome with fair skin; his fingers were long and slender, looking scholarly like an intellectual instead of a cultivator.

However, upon closer inspection, one would find that there were lightning bolts flashing deeper in his eyes. They felt murderous and cold. This youth would show zero hesitation when it was time to kill.

“Cold-eyed Lighting Sword!” One spectator roared.

“Li Xiangquan is here, I wonder if he’s aiming at Li Qiye.” An upperclassman wondered.

Many students were in awe, especially the females. One of them said: “Senior Brother Li is becoming more and more handsome. In terms of style and temperament alone, he’s definitely number one among the five heroes.”

Contrary to his appearance, Li Xiangquan was born in a military clan. His father was the current Grand Commander of Vajra, in charge of millions and millions of troops. The majority of legions in the dynasty were under his command.

Moreover, more than half of the current generals in Vajra used to be under his banner and had worked for him.

Thus, the clan was influential in the court. Some said that they had half of the authority and could determine the fate of Vajra and the direction of the holy ground.

The Li was a great ancient clan before joining Vajra. It had plenty of Heavenly Sovereigns. It aided Vajra and played a great role in the founding of this dynasty. Thus, it was richly rewarded with resources and land.

Like father, like son - Li Xiangquan was quite impressive as well. He might not be as brilliant as Dugu Lan but still became listed among the five heroes.

He had no lack of fans and admirers in Duality. Moreover, because of his clan’s influence, he had no lack of henchmen as well.

For those seeing him the first time, they wouldn’t believe that he had followed his father on the battlefield since youth and had meritorious contributions at the frontier.

“Senior Brother Li.” Huang Qibing’s group stopped and cupped their fist to greet him.

They were close to Li Xiangquan; their seniors were working for the Grand Commander as well.

“What is going on?” He asked.

“Senior Brother Li, this Li Qiye stole our mounts. Stealing is a serious offense at the academy so we want to carry out the punishment.” One friend hurriedly answered.

“This might be a misunderstanding.” Xiangquan frowned.

“It’s definitely not, look over there, Junior Brother Huang’s divine bull is being roasted right now.” The female student pointed at the old servant who was still turning the rack.

The bull has been covered in oil and roasted to a golden color. People couldn’t help salivating.

“Hmm, there might be more to this.” Li Xiangquan pondered.

“The senior brother is being too nice.” One listener said: “Why is he standing up for Li Qiye? Anyone else wouldn’t be so benevolent.”

“I’m surprised he’s not here to cause trouble.” An upperclassman smirked.

“What do you mean? He got something against Li Qiye?” A new student standing nearby became curious.

“You’ve only joined recently. Liu Jinsong is Li Xiangquan’s hound, understand now?” Another student answered.

The new student understood right away. Liu Jinsong was crushed to a pulp by Li Qiye. It was surprising to see the master, Xiangquan, not doing anything about it.

“Regardless of what happened, I will pay for the damage.” Xiangquan said.

“But…” One victim didn’t want to accept this.

“Go to my house and pick any mount you want.” Xiangquan repeated with a firm tone.

“I got it.” What else could this student do? He accepted the deal then glared at Li Qiye.

“Brat, looks like it’s your lucky day with Senior Brother Li helping you. You can keep your lowly life now.” Huang Qibing coldly said.

Li Qiye still wore a lazy smile, not caring about the insult.

Meanwhile, Lil’ Yellow sat back down. Huang Qibing’s group had no idea that Li Xiangquan had inadvertently saved them just now. Otherwise, they would be inside Lil’ Yellow’s stomach.