Yun Hao could feel his consciousness fade, but he tried his best to stay awake; as there was this growing fear inside him that if he did indeed fall asleep, he would never wake up again. Yun Hao had been injured a lot lately the past few weeks, but this one was different-- he doesn't feel any pain.
And no, it wasn't because he left unscathed, no. His spine most likely broke in half, causing parts of his body to become paralyzed. If he was still a human, then this would have definitely killed him.
'...Fuck,' he could not help but curse in his mind as he could not even talk. If he knew he was going to be like this, then he should have just probably spent his time duplicating money and living a life that normal humans could only dream of. He could have just spent time inside hotels, being served food every day in his room.
No. What was the use of living a boring life like that? And damn, it has been a long time since he got laid, Yun Hao thought. If he was going to get out of this situation alive, he promised himself that he would get a lover.
Yun Hao let random thoughts drown his mind, as this was the only way he could remain awake. He didn't even see what hit him. Come to think of it, didn't that abnormally muscular woman say she wouldn't hit back?
Truly, one cannot trust cultivators. He should have known, he was one of them now.
No, no, no. Yun Hao tried to stress his mind as he could feel his vision fading. Was he really dying like this!?
"S… shit, turn off all of your cameras!" Pan Jing, who instinctively countered Yun Hao's punch, could not help but look all over the place. Her only goal was to humiliate Yun Hao in front of all students and the people watching live from their social media accounts… but to think it was going to be evidence of her crime.
It was Yun Hao's fault, she thought. He was only supposed to be a baby cultivator, and yet the strength of his punch was almost at the Pinnacle of the Spirit Rank. Of course, it wasn't enough to actually hurt Pan Jing, but it was enough for her to slightly lose her balance.
She was taken by surprise by Yun Hao's first punch, and so her body moved in reflex. It was already too late when she realized what she was doing as Yun Hao's body was already rolling on the floor.
If he died here, then she would truly be in trouble with the Academy. It would have been alright if it was a sanctioned duel, but this? She was fucked. She could use the excuse of Yun Hao not really being a student of the Academy, but since he had been gathering clout the past few days, the Academy would surely make her responsible for this.
"I will be confiscating all of your phones! Give them to me!" Pan Jing then rushed towards her students, adamantly demanding that they give her their phones. But before she could even take a single one, someone suddenly leaped to the stage.
"Y… you?" Pang Jin could not help but slightly gasp in surprise as Song Jian suddenly appeared near her. Due to her panicking, she must have lost control of the room, allowing any restraints and seals in the room to disappear.
Song Jian, however, did not rush towards Pan Jing, but instead towards Yun Hao. Her stuttered breaths could be heard coming from her mouth as her legs slightly slowed down as she reached Yun Hao's position.
She wanted to avert her eyes, but she did not. Yun Hao's body was all twisted up, embedded on the wall with no part of his body left untouched by the blood that profusely slid across the bones that penetrated out of his skin. Song Jian bit her lips as she gently placed two of her fingers on Yun Hao's neck.
And as soon as she did so, her expression quickly brightened up. She then quickly flicked her finger, causing what seemed to be a Pill to appear out of thin air. Song Jian did not waste any time as she quickly caught the Pill, putting it in her mouth before touching her lips with Yun Hao's. She then pushed the Pill inside of Yun Hao's mouth with her tongue, using a mixture of her saliva and Yun Hao's blood for it to slide down his throat.
"You'll be alright," Song Jian then let out a long and deep breath as she caressed Yun Hao's cheek. She then wiped the blood on her face as she quickly turned, slowly walking towards where Pan Jing was.
She did not really say anything. But her steps were enough for Pan Jing to know that she was no longer going to hear any reason. Song Jian was one of, if not the most promising student of Echo Hills Academy.
And she was, indeed, stronger than Pan Jing, who mostly handled the younger cultivators. But still, that doesn't mean that Pan Jing had no chance of winning against her, after all, Song Jian was only higher than her by a level.
"...Shit," Pan Jing looked back and forth between the students and the approaching Song Jian. On one side, if she focuses on taking the students' phones, then Song Jian might attack her off guard, and everyone would see her being crushed by a student.
On the other, if she chooses to fight Song Jian head-on without taking the cameras away, then if she loses the fight, everyone could still see it.
"Damn it!" Pan Jing no longer thought about it as she focused on Song Jian, "It was an accident, student Song Jian. It is not like it is uncommon for things like this to happen."
Song Jian still did not speak as she leaped on the stage, "This student greets the teacher," Song Jian looked straight at Pan Jing's eyes while saluting to her, "And respectfully…
...this student wants to exchange pointers."
***
"Ho!"
Yun Hao then sat up as he was awoken by the sound of his own gasp. He then quickly looked around him, only to see that he was in a room he didn't recognize. Before his confusion could kick in, the events before he passed out replayed in his mind.
He then quickly touched his body, to see if anything was broken. But surprisingly, he felt completely normal. Even the hand he had injured yesterday was completely healed.
"...Wow, technology," was the only thing he could mutter as he continued to check his body for injuries.
"Hm, more like magic."
"Huang Yi!?"
Yun Hao almost jumped out in surprise as he finally realized that there was someone sitting beside his bed-- Huang Yi.
"Very expensive magic," Huang Yi held her tone for a few seconds.
"...What do you mean? And why are you here?"
"Why wouldn't I be here? I also go to this school, you know," Huang Yi rolled her eyes as she stood up, "And what I mean is you're only alive now because Song Jian fed you some very expensive pills."
"...Pills? Like a Sen-beans from Phoenix Orb?"
"No, those don't exist. But yes, it is similar to that."
"Wait, where is Song Jian now? What happened?"
"I told you, she fed you something very expensive."
"...How expensive?"
"Enough to be a clan's treasure."
"W… what?" Even though Yun Hao still doesn't have any idea how much that would be, it was probably an astronomical sum by the sound of it, "Song Jian… gave me something like that?"
"Uh-huh," Huang Yi took in a breath as she lightly gritted her teeth.
"Where is she now then!?" Yun Hao repeated his question. He didn't even ask about what happened with the muscular teacher as he stood up from the bed.
"Well, since she gave away something like that…
...she's probably being flogged by her family right about now."
Yikes, almost died there, Yun Hao. A turning point, perhaps?
As always, thank you for reading!