The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and violet, but Jin Feng saw none of its beauty. His world was a narrow tunnel of red-hot fury, the day's humiliation burning through him with every remembered glance from Su Yuexi.
She had been the final, unbearable insult. Su Yuexi, with her hair like a waterfall of midnight silk, her eyes the color of clear jade, and a figure that curved in all the right places—a slender waist that flared into gently rounded hips, and a chest that promised softness beneath her training robes. He had watched her for months with a desperation. She had always been just out of reach and today, she had smiled at Xiao Chen.
That common-born trash! The memory of it played behind his eyes like a nightmare. He'd seen them talking by the academy's spirit peach tree, their heads close together. The sight had been a spark to tinder. He'd marched over, his pride a brittle shield.
"Still trying to leech off your betters, Xiao Chen?" Jin Feng sneered, stepping between them. "Don't think your little tricks will save you at the Assembly."
Xiao Chen met his gaze, that infuriating calm never wavering. "I don't have time for your childish games, Jin Feng."
"Childish?" Jin Feng's laugh was a harsh, ugly sound. "This is about knowing your place. My family's wealth could buy and sell your pathetic mercenary company a hundred times over."
Su Yuexi's cool, clear voice cut deeper than any blade. "If you spent less time boasting about your family's wealth and more on your own cultivation, you wouldn't need to bother others, Jin Feng."
The dismissal in her tone, the way her jade eyes had flicked over him with disinterest—that was what truly galled him. He had lunged forward, not with a technique, but with raw, untempered anger, aiming to shove Xiao Chen back.
And he had lost. Again.
Despite being solidly in the first stage of Qi Condensation, his energy had felt sluggish and unrefined next to Xiao Chen's. The commoner's fifth-stage Qi Condensation cultivation, powered by that damned Heaven Root, had moved with a fluid efficiency Jin Feng could only envy. A simple deflection, a twist of the wrist, and Jin Feng was stumbling past him, off-balance and exposed. There was no formal blow, no declared victory. Just the quiet, utter failure to land his own, and the look in Su Yuexi's eyes—not surprise, but a quiet confirmation of her low opinion.
Now, standing in a secluded courtyard of the academy as dusk settled, the shame was a physical weight on his shoulders. The sound of light footsteps on gravel made him turn.
Wang Lei approached, his movements unhurried, his elegant robes of deep blue silk seeming to absorb the fading light. His expression was as calm and unreadable as a still lake, but his mind was already calculating.
"You look like you've swallowed a live coal," Wang Lei observed, his tone carefully neutral.
"That bastard! That commoner!" Jin Feng spat, his fists clenching at his sides. "He humiliated me in front of Su Yuexi! He made me look like a fool!" The words tumbled out in a heated rush. He recounted the entire encounter, his voice rising with each sentence—Xiao Chen's infuriating composure, Su Yuexi's devastating dismissal, and his own pathetic, flailing attempt to assert dominance that ended in yet another defeat. "Fifth stage Qi Condensation! How? How does he keep doing this?"
Wang Lei listened, his sharp eyes missing nothing. He let the silence stretch for a moment after Jin Feng finished, letting the other youth's anger hang in the air. Inside, he sneered at Jin Feng's predictable rage. This spoiled young master was such a useful tool.
"Xiao Chen has always been... unreasonably talented for a commoner," Wang Lei said, his voice a low, measured murmur. He chose his words carefully, knowing exactly how to manipulate Jin Feng's fragile ego. "With that Heaven Root of his, he's becoming a serious threat. He could actually win the Assembly."
The thought of Su Yuexi smiling at that commoner made Wang Lei's blood boil, but he kept his face perfectly composed. He knew Su Yuexi despised bullies who relied on status, which made Xiao Chen's humble origins all the more appealing to her. This needed to be handled carefully.
"He needs to be dealt with," Jin Feng growled, the idea taking root exactly as Wang Lei intended.
Wang Lei nodded slowly, a subtle, scheming light in his gaze that Jin Feng was too angry to notice. "The Soaring Dragon Assembly is everything. Every talented competitor removed beforehand... improves our chances significantly."
He paused, letting the implication sink in. Wang Lei would never reveal his own plans—the Dragon's Ascent Pill he'd secured, his intention to reach the fourth stage. Let Jin Feng be the blunt instrument. If Jin Feng managed to kill Xiao Chen, Wang Lei would be rid of two problems at once. If Jin Feng failed and was caught, Wang Lei would be clean.
"Someone needs to remind him of his place," Wang Lei murmured, planting the seed of violence without ever saying the words directly. "Permanently."
A grim smile finally touched Jin Feng's lips, the heat of his anger cooling into something harder, more determined. "Permanently... yes. That would solve everything."
Wang Lei watched as Jin Feng's mind turned toward murder. Perfect. "I should go. I have... preparations to make." He gave Jin Feng a meaningful look before turning away, his face settling into a cold mask the moment his back was turned. Let the fool do the dirty work.