Initially, a few people had issues with the ruthless way Huo Yuhao struck his opponent.
After all, they were all classmates who saw each other every day; beating a fellow student into such a bloody state seemed a bit excessive.
But now that the crowd knew the true identities of the two boys, those objections quickly faded away.
Anyone with eyes could see that the relationship between these two brothers was far from good.
The younger brother had shown no mercy at all, kicking the older one repeatedly with what looked like lethal intent.
The older brother had also called the younger one a "Bastard," using a tone filled with a malice that people could feel from across the stadium.
The younger students did not think too deeply about it, simply watching the drama with wide eyes.
However, the teachers watching the battle began to mentally construct a classic drama of noble family feuds.
It was the typical struggle between a legitimate heir and the son of a concubine.
These stories were common and often tragic within the great noble clans of the continent.
The blood, tears, and hatred hidden behind the walls of those deep estates were never less intense than the slaughter found on a real battlefield.
On the arena stage, Dai Huabin lay flat, his chest heaving with violent, uneven breaths.
His eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao, his expression completely twisted on his blood-stained face.
"How... how is this possible?!"
His voice was hoarse and broken, as if he had to force the words out from deep within his throat.
"Weren't you just trash without a Spirit?"
"How can you be... this strong?!"
He looked up at Huo Yuhao's face, which remained calm without a single ripple of emotion, and panic and fear finally flooded his eyes.
From the time he was a child, he had always been the one standing on high, looking down at everyone else.
He was the Legitimate Son of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, a child favored by heaven and destined to become a powerhouse.
But now, this "Bastard" whom he had never even bothered to care about was looking down at him from a position of absolute power.
Huo Yuhao stood up straight.
He raised his foot and stepped directly onto Dai Huabin's chest.
He carefully controlled his strength, making sure he did not accidentally kick Dai Huabin to death just yet.
His sole slowly applied pressure, pressing down into the chest bit by bit.
Dai Huabin's entire body began to tremble under the weight.
"Pfft!"
Another mouthful of blood sprayed out, splattering onto the floor of the arena in a shocking display.
Huo Yuhao lowered his head and stared at him.
"Keep your mouth clean."
"It's not childhood anymore."
Dai Huabin lay there, looking up at the person who was gazing down at him with cold, lowered eyes.
In Huo Yuhao's eyes, there was no sign of anger or excitement, only a terrifying, calm indifference.
But it was precisely that indifference that caused Dai Huabin's pupils to shake violently.
Because within that calmness, he could hear an undisguised murderous intent.
He suddenly recalled how he used to bully that mother and son when he was younger.
He remembered the deliberate hardships he caused, the malicious words he spoke, and the unbridled humiliation he handed out...
Scene after scene flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
He knew now that this was an enmity that could only be settled by life and death.
Huo Yuhao really wanted to kill him.
Dai Huabin's heart beat so violently it felt like it might jump out of his throat.
He used all the strength he had left to prop up his collapsing mind and spoke with great difficulty: "You... you can't kill me!"
His voice was hoarse and shaking, completely full of terror.
At this moment, he was truly afraid for his life!
"Hmph!"
Huo Yuhao merely gave a cold snort when he heard those words.
He removed his foot from the boy's chest and said coldly, "You indeed deserve to die, but I won't kill you right now. You should live in fear instead."
After speaking, he stepped forward and began to walk toward the edge of the arena.
Just as he reached the very edge of the ring, one final sentence reached Dai Huabin's ears.
"Tell that 'good mother' of yours that there are some debts I will collect personally."
As those words fell, Huo Yuhao's figure had already disappeared from the side of the arena.
Dai Huabin lay on the floor, gasping for large gulps of air.
The joy of surviving a disaster made his entire body go limp with relief.
But before that joy could even spread, it was replaced by an endless sense of terror.
He did not believe that Huo Yuhao would let him off easily, and that last sentence was the source of his deepest fear.
On the arena, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao glanced at one another.
Neither of them spoke a word as they silently followed Huo Yuhao off the stage.
They had not expected that Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin were actually biological brothers.
They also had not realized there was such a massive amount of hatred between the two.
The two followed behind Huo Yuhao as they returned to their class formation; another semi-final match was about to begin.
After sitting down, Huo Yuhao clearly felt the gazes of everyone around him.
Those looks were filled with curiosity, scrutiny, fear, and a strange kind of complexity.
Almost no one in the crowd cared about the matches that were coming up next.
Huo Yuhao slightly closed his eyes, choosing to ignore the stares and the hushed discussions.
He just sat there quietly like a statue, turning a deaf ear to everything happening around him.
After a long while, Wang Dong's small voice came from right beside him: "Are you... alright?"
Huo Yuhao opened his eyes when he heard her and turned his head to look at Wang Dong. Her exquisite face was filled with genuine concern.
He smiled at her, a smile that carried a bit of warmth, appearing a world apart from the coldness he showed on the arena.
"I'm fine."
Seeing that Huo Yuhao's expression had returned to normal, Wang Dong also breathed a sigh of relief.
Her large pinkish-blue eyes blinked, and with a bit of cautious probing, she asked again, "The matter between you and that Dai Huabin... is it okay to tell me about it?"
Huo Yuhao smiled: "There's nothing that can't be said."
Immediately, Huo Yuhao began to recount the experiences of his childhood.
He started from that remote, broken courtyard, talking about his frail mother and the endless bouts of bullying and humiliation they endured.
He spoke plainly, without trying to make it sound overly emotional or hiding his past anger. He simply narrated the events as they happened.
He told her about the hardships of his youth, those dark days, and how he struggled with all his might to survive.
Now, he had already changed the fate of his previous life.
His childhood experiences were no longer painful scars, but the medals of a successful rebellion.
Listening to the story of Huo Yuhao's youth, Wang Dong's expression shifted constantly.
In those large pinkish-blue eyes, there was sometimes anger, sometimes heartache, sometimes anxiety, and sometimes a teeth-gritting rage.
As the little princess of the Clear Sky Sect, she had been raised in the palm of everyone's hand since she was a baby, getting whatever she wanted. When had she ever suffered even a tiny bit of grievance?
She truly could not imagine that such a life, such cruel people, and such terrible things existed in this world.
Finally, Wang Dong's eyes turned red.
Tears were clearly shimmering in her eyes.
"Dai Huabin really deserves to die!"
Her voice carried a bit of a sob and a lot of teeth-gritting resentment.
Huo Yuhao could not help but smile when he saw her react this way.
"He indeed deserves to die, but he isn't my only enemy."
Wang Dong reached out to wipe her eyes, a movement that looked somewhat childish.
She looked up, staring directly at Huo Yuhao: "If you're going to attack the White Tiger Duke's Mansion... count me in."
As she spoke, a faint blush rose on Wang Dong's cheeks: "Although I'm only a Spirit Grandmaster now, among the elders in my family, there are also Titled Douluo."
Huo Yuhao naturally had no doubt about the truth of Wang Dong's words.
He knew that Wang Dong came from the powerful Clear Sky Sect.
But he just smiled and shook his head: "This is my matter; I will handle it myself."
Because of the intense battle between Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin, the crowd watching the other matches was now lacking any real interest.
The second semi-final match ended very quickly.
The winning side was supposed to compete for the final championship against Huo Yuhao's team tomorrow, but those opponents actually surrendered directly today.
The crowd was slightly surprised for a moment, but then they felt it was reasonable.
After all, Huo Yuhao was like an insurmountable mountain; no matter how hard they tried, it was impossible for them to defeat him.
Rather than being publicly defeated in front of everyone tomorrow, it was better to surrender now. The result would be the same anyway.
Just like that, Wang Dong's goal was achieved.
Their team finally won the championship of the Freshman Assessment.
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