“If I don’t beat you and stomp you into the ground, it’s not over yet!” Logan Sullivan said aggressively with a sneer. “Don’t worry, my talent is Spirit Breaker—I can shatter my opponent’s spirit equipment. But you… you don’t even have any spirit equipment, so my talent is useless against you. You’re getting a huge advantage here.”

I gritted my teeth. It seemed there was no way to avoid this today. I gathered my strength in both arms, let out a low shout, and immediately a milky white layer of energy buzzed over my body. It wasn’t spiritual power, but the physical strength derived from the Battle Tactic, a power innate to the human body, though only a few people can make it visible through arduous training. However, since my Battle Tactic was damaged, I could only use the most basic strength, which was almost negligible.

“Oh? Finally getting serious, are you?”

Logan Sullivan burst out laughing, dashed forward, and brought Soul Destroyer down on my training iron sword again. Ordinary steel was no match for spirit equipment. With a jolt, I was forced back several steps, my breath already extremely disordered. Facing a spirit equipment user of the Sky Surge Realm with a mortal’s body was truly pushing it.

The surrounding students cheered, “Go, Logan! Give it all you’ve got, stomp this kid under your feet, let’s see how arrogant he can be!”

“Damn it!”

But Logan Sullivan was secretly cursing inside. After two attacks, he still hadn’t succeeded. He spat, “You really are a cockroach that won’t die. Come on, I won’t hold back on my next strike!”

Soul Destroyer glowed ominously. Clearly, Logan Sullivan was about to get serious.

But just then, a voice came from the corridor to the side: “Logan Sullivan, stop!”

The speaker was Lucy Hughes. She was holding a stack of documents, and after glancing at both me and Logan Sullivan, she immediately understood everything. She said, “Logan Sullivan, you’re from the Rising Institute. Don’t you know the academy’s rules? Forcing a challenge on a candidate—you’re just bullying the weak!”

“Assistant Hughes, listen to me…” Logan Sullivan grinned cheekily. “He agreed to the challenge.”

“Get lost!”

A layer of frost covered Lucy Hughes’s face as she said coldly, “If you break the academy’s rules again, not even your father can protect you. Just try it. Now get yourself to the Disciplinary Office and accept your punishment!”

“Yes… yes… Assistant Hughes…”

Logan Sullivan shot me a vicious glare, then called out to his gang, “Let’s go!”

……

“Xiao Xuan, are you alright?”

Lucy Hughes helped me straighten the small cart and said, “I’m really sorry… The academy is like this, there are a lot of students who bully the weak. Logan Sullivan is just one of a notorious bunch…”

I put the iron sword into the cart and smiled, “Sister Lucy, I know. No need to comfort me. It’s not my first time out in the world…”

“Oh?”

Lucy Hughes couldn’t help but laugh. “Look at you, acting all mature for your age. If you’re not a rookie, does that mean you’re already a seasoned veteran? You little rascal, you sure have a wild streak…”

I laughed too. Lucy Hughes was one of Sister Emily’s people, and she gave me almost the same feeling as Sister Emily herself.

“Alright, I’ve got things to do. You keep working. If anyone bullies you again, remember to tell me. I’ll quietly take care of those little punks for you.”

“Okay, you go ahead.”

I pushed the small cart and continued working.

Fortunately, after Logan Sullivan caused trouble, the rest of the day was peaceful. No one else came to bother me. This made me realize even more that Wanling Academy was a microcosm of society—there are bullies everywhere. Among the five major institutes, the students of the Rising Institute are the strongest, so it’s common for them to bully students from the other four. As long as no one dies, the academy can’t, and doesn’t dare to, intervene. Among these students are everyone from the headmaster’s daughter to the son of the director of XX Street Office in Linxue City—there’s all kinds of people.

As for Anna Sutton, with her strength, she’s probably the only one doing the bullying—no one could possibly bully her.

……

After finishing everything, I sent Ryan Scott away and began to break through the Sky Surge Meridian.

The Sword Polishing Office was very quiet. The only sound was the people from the nearby Sewer Office emptying chamber pots, along with the faint, lingering stench.

I activated the Battle Tactic. Wisps of pale white light appeared on my body, and under my guidance, gently entered deep within, searching for the location of the Sky Surge Meridian and beginning to clear it, like a torrent constantly flushing a partially blocked river. The Sky Surge Meridian was the river—it wasn’t dried up, just blocked.

Not long after, a faint sense of detachment spread throughout my body.

It was the result of excessive blood energy consumption. When I have spiritual power, the Battle Tactic uses that; without it, it consumes my own blood energy.

This process was extremely slow, and I gradually became immersed in it. Before long, I couldn’t hear the sounds from the Sewer Office, nor could I even smell the faint stench. My whole being was absorbed in the self-repair of my body through the Battle Tactic. Just as Sister Emily said, this method works—it really works!