Under Bai Yuze's stern reprimand, the vicious-looking investigators all turned pale.
They immediately put on flattering smiles and apologized in hushed voices, clearly aware of just how terrifying the Bai family's Little Devil King was.
Without another word, they hurriedly dragged the half-conscious Qiong Baicang away. His battered face, split open from repeatedly smashing his head against the ground, left a long trail of blood across the floor as he was dragged off.
"Brother-in-law, you're incredible!"
Bai Yuze grinned at Chen Beiyuan beside him, his face full of admiration.
"That old dog has been throwing his weight around at Donghua Academy for years. I heard he once saved Principal Jiang's life when he was younger, so nobody dared provoke him. Even the heirs of noble families got scolded by him—I was chewed out by him a few times myself."
"But after offending you..."
"Just three days later, he ended up like this."
Lowering his voice, Bai Yuze leaned closer.
"Brother-in-law, should I have the Imperial Tribunal give him some special treatment?"
"With all the crimes he's committed, he'll definitely get at least eighty or a hundred years. But honestly, that's too lenient—it'd practically be sending him to prison to enjoy his retirement."
"How about I have him reassigned to the imperial frontier to help expand the Empire's territory?"
Frontier Expansion.
As the name implied, it meant opening up new territory for the Donghua Empire along its dangerous frontiers.
Those sent there were usually cultivators who had committed serious crimes.
Rather than execute them outright, the Empire placed special restraining shackles on them and formed them into expendable Penal Vanguard Squads, forcing them to risk their lives scouting the movements of ferocious beasts and hostile races.
In other words...
Anyone sent to the frontier was as good as dead.
As long as they survived, they would continue to be used.
Only when they finally died would their debts to the Empire be considered repaid.
Chen Beiyuan knew Bai Yuze wasn't bluffing.
The head of the Imperial Tribunal was Bai Yuze's third uncle.
One sentence from Bai Yuze was enough to completely change Qiong Baicang's fate.
Instead of spending the rest of his life comfortably in prison...
He would be shipped directly to the Empire's front lines.
Retire in prison?
He could forget about it.
He might as well contribute to the Empire before he died.
That...
Was the influence wielded by a top-tier noble family.
Sometimes, a single sentence was enough to determine another person's destiny.
Over the years, Qiong Baicang had offended plenty of aristocratic heirs.
Even if Bai Yuze didn't make a move, someone else eventually would have.
Chen Beiyuan neither agreed nor refused.
Instead, he looked at Bai Yuze's ingratiating grin and suddenly asked,
"So... what trouble did you get yourself into this time?"
No one suddenly became this attentive without a reason.
Either they were plotting something...
Or they wanted a favor.
"What trouble could I possibly have caused?"
Bai Yuze raised his chin proudly, putting on an indignant expression.
But under Chen Beiyuan's calm gaze, his confidence quickly crumbled.
An embarrassed smile spread across his face as he awkwardly rubbed his hands together.
"Well... there is a little something."
"You know my sister is coming back soon."
"Before she left, she told me to keep an eye on you while you were at the academy, and she also ordered me to cultivate diligently."
"But... I've been busy with other things these past few years..."
"So my cultivation kind of... fell behind."
"I still haven't broken through to the Fourth-Rank Battle General Realm."
"When my sister comes back... she'll seriously beat me to death."
"So, Brother-in-law... you'll have to say a few nice things for me."
"She listens to you more than anyone."
An eighteen-year-old at the peak of the Third-Rank Battle Spirit Realm...
By ordinary standards, that was already considered a genius.
But compared to Chen Beiyuan—
Who was also eighteen and had already reached the peak of the Fifth-Rank Battle Marshal Realm—
Bai Yuze's achievements looked pitiful by comparison.
Chen Beiyuan knew his brother-in-law's talent wasn't lacking at all.
In fact, it was among the very best.
The only problem...
Was that Bai Yuze loved having fun far too much.
Otherwise, he would have broken through to the Fourth Rank long ago.
"We'll see how you behave."
"Come on, Brother-in-law!"
"If you don't protect me, my sister will really beat me to death!"
"I've already heard the news."
"She has broken through to the Sixth-Rank Battle King Realm."
"And while training in the Far North, she even subdued a Seventh-Rank Ferocious Beast as her battle companion."
"With my weak little body... she'll beat me to death in minutes!"
Chen Beiyuan remained speechless.
Meanwhile...
As Qiong Baicang was forcibly escorted away to the Imperial Tribunal...
Lin Xiao, the Child of Destiny, was also being driven out of Donghua Academy under the watchful eyes of the academy's senior officials.
He had technically been on academic leave for some time already.
Yet he had stubbornly refused to leave the academy grounds.
Now that his greatest protector had fallen...
No one had any reason to show him mercy.
Facing several academy elders whose cultivation had reached the Seventh-Rank Battle Emperor Realm...
Even as stubborn as Lin Xiao was, there was no way he could confront them head-on.
In the end...
He could only endure the humiliation.
Outside the academy.
Lin Xiao looked utterly miserable.
His clothes were stained with foul-smelling black egg yolk.
Gone was the high-spirited confidence he had displayed after successfully transforming into a dragon.
Now...
He looked nothing more than a stray dog that had been chased out of its home.
He clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the tightly shut gates of Donghua Academy.
His fists tightened until his fingernails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood.
"No matter how talented you are..."
"In the eyes of those truly powerful people... you're still insignificant."
"If you have no strength..."
"And no background..."
"A single sentence is enough for them to crush you."
"From the very beginning..."
"Chen Beiyuan never regarded me as an opponent."
"With just one command..."
"He can unleash countless wolves beneath his command to hunt me down."
"And those influential figures..."
"In order to earn his favor..."
"Would abandon a genius born from the bottom without hesitation."
"If I want to stand against Chen Beiyuan..."
"I need someone powerful enough to rival the Donghua Chen Family."
"Otherwise..."
"My only fate is death."
Lin Xiao had believed that after completing his Dragon Transformation...
A whole new world would open before him.
A future free from restraints.
But...
He had been far too naïve.
The relentless blows he had suffered one after another had taught him a brutal lesson.
Talent...
Did not determine everything.
If you wanted to survive in this world...
You needed powerful connections.
You needed someone to back you.
A genius who hadn't fully grown...
Was nothing.
Every year, countless gifted individuals died anonymously in dark alleys or filthy gutters.
Who could honestly claim those dead geniuses had been any less talented than he was?
Yet they all died before reaching greatness.
Not because they lacked talent...
But because they lacked influence.
They had no powerful family.
No protector.
So when others targeted them...
There was nothing holding their enemies back.
Suddenly...
His pupils shrank into needle-thin slits.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
A powerful sense of danger engulfed him.
Without him noticing...
A figure had silently appeared behind him.
A hoarse voice slithered into his ears like the hiss of a venomous serpent.
"Mr. Lin Xiao."
"Please come with me."
"Young Master Lin wishes to see you."
Young Master Lin?
Not someone from the Chen Family?
Then could it be...
The killing intent in Lin Xiao's eyes instantly disappeared.
Even the movement of his hidden hand came to a halt.
He seemed to have guessed the other party's identity.
"Very well."
"I'll come with you."
-------------------
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