Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan looked in the direction of the students' exclamations.
Seeing the smiling young man in white, their beautiful eyes lit up.
The impatience caused by Tai Long's pestering turned into bright smiles.
They quickly ran to Li Dixian.
Ye Lingling blinked her clear blue eyes, seemingly afraid that Li Dixian would misunderstand, and quickly explained in a low voice:
"I... I haven't even spoken to him."
"He always bothers me, it's so annoying."
Li Dixian chuckled and shook his head.
He glanced at Tai Long's flushed face, thinking that the latter's nose was even redder than his face.
"Let's go."
Li Dixian casually turned and walked away.
Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan quickly followed, one on his left and one on his right, accompanying Li Dixian.
The three walked side by side.
Especially the young man in white, surrounded by the Royal Fight's twin jewels.
The onlookers' eyes filled with envy.
Tai Long's molars ground together, making a clacking sound.
But to be honest... he was afraid of Li Dixian.
He was one of the spectators who had witnessed "Sword Wine warms wine to slay Xiaotian" in the Academy Soul Arena.
He knew that his own strength probably couldn't even withstand one sword strike from Sword Wine.
However, teenagers of sixteen or seventeen are most prone to hot-headedness.
Thinking of the arrogant words he had just uttered, and sensing the hidden mockery in his classmates' eyes,
Tai Long braced himself and, with a bluster that belied his inner fear, shouted at Li Dixian's retreating back:
"Jian... Sword Wine!"
"You... you stop right there!"
"Hmm?"
Li Dixian paused, his sword-like brows furrowed, and he turned around.
He was full of vigor at this moment, his pervasive sword intent like boiling water in a cauldron; with just this subtle emotional fluctuation, a cold sword light seemed to flash in his eyes and then disappear.
Meeting that fleeting cold gleam, Tai Long's hair stood on end.
He had intended to say a few harsh words in front of his classmates to save face.
But under Li Dixian's black eyes, which seemed to shoot out sword qi, he stammered and couldn't even form a complete sentence.
"I... I..."
After much hesitation,
Tai Long finally gritted his teeth, stiffened his neck, and said:
"Sword Wine! I know I can't beat you!"
"But... but do you dare to compete with me in pure physical strength, without either of us using our Spirits!"
Before Li Dixian could respond,
Dugu Yan, who had been watching with her arms crossed, scoffed disdainfully.
"Tai Long, how can you be so shameless?"
"Relying on the innate divine strength of the Strength Clan to challenge a sword cultivator to a strength contest? Do you have no shame?"
"If you keep making noise, do you believe I'll make you lie down for ten days to half a month with my poison?"
These words caused the surrounding students to whisper.
"Tai Long is too shameless!"
"If he's capable, he should take one of Sword Wine's sword strikes, see if it nails him, that's all!"
"Tsk, does Tai Long still think this is Lan Ba Academy?"
Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan naturally linked their arms with Li Dixian's.
"Little Brother Dixian, don't mind this person's unreasonable antics."
Dugu Yan explained with a scornful tone:
"This guy used to be from Lan Ba Academy."
"After Lan Ba Academy moved out of Heaven Dou City, some students who didn't want to go to a small place transferred to Royal Fight."
"His strength is decent enough, he's considered a reserve member of the Royal Fight Team."
Dugu Yan spoke with great confidence, clearly acting like the big sister of the Royal Fight Team.
And it was indeed true.
Since receiving the Kiss of the Blood Swan gifted by Li Dixian,
her cultivation speed had been terrifying.
Her Soul Power level was already on par with Yu Tianheng's.
By the Soul Master Competition half a year later, she might become the Royal Fight Team's primary combat force.
As Li Dixian listened to Dugu Yan's words, a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes.
So that's how it was.
He remembered that in the original timeline, Tai Long should have joined Shrek Academy.
It seemed that the butterfly effect caused by him prevented Shrek from entering Heaven Dou City and merging with Lan Ba.
Instead, Lan Ba Academy went to Soto City and merged with Shrek.
This led to some students who should have gone to Shrek, like Tai Long, transferring to Royal Fight.
"Interesting... another variable outside the plot?"
Li Dixian's lips curved into a smile, and he observed Tai Long, who was panting like a bull, with keen interest.
"Alright, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll compete with you in physical strength."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar.
Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan were eager to dissuade him but were silenced by a raised hand from Li Dixian.
Tai Long's face, however, showed wild joy.
"Sword Wine, you... you really agreed to compete with me in physical strength?!"
Li Dixian casually flicked his wrist.
"Stop talking nonsense, come on."
Tai Long narrowed his eyes and grinned.
"Heh, Sword Wine, you're asking for it, don't blame me for taking advantage of you!"
Before he finished speaking,
Bang —!
He stomped forward forcefully.
The solid floor tiles beneath his feet shattered instantly.
Then, Tai Long roared, his right arm muscles suddenly bulging three times their size as if inflated, and his tight sleeve let out a tearing sound under the unbearable strain.
His fist, carrying a dull whooshing sound, swung directly at Li Dixian.
He had witnessed Li Dixian punch Feng Xiaotian away, knowing that the other's physique was also extraordinary.
But as a direct descendant of the Strength Clan, he had absolute confidence in his own physical strength.
"Good timing!"
A smile appeared on Li Dixian's handsome face.
He wanted to test the extent of his current physique.
Even when his Meltfrost Spirit Vein Body first formed at the Great Spirit Master level, his physique was already comparable to a Soul Ancestor.
After continuous tempering through drinking wine during this period, what level had his physical strength reached now?
Under countless astonished gazes,
Li Dixian also threw a punch.
Where the fist passed, the air was torn apart, leaving a dazzling trail of intertwined ice-blue and fiery-red light.
Deep within his bones, meridians, and flesh, twin-colored ice and fire spiritual light subtly flowed.
That seemingly slender, even slightly delicate, fist!
The power of the punch that erupted was as heavy as a mountain!
Boom —!!!
Li Dixian's fist and Tai Long's fist collided violently.
Visible ripples of air, centered on their fists, swept in all directions.
"How is this possible?!"
Tai Long's eyes bulged, and he cried out in horror.
He only felt an unimaginably terrifying immense force, accompanied by a strange power of intertwined ice and fire, crushing down from Li Dixian's fist like a bursting flood.
Tear —
Tear —
Tear —
Tai Long's sleeve on his arm burst inch by inch.
Clear, grating sounds of bone cracking rang out.
The next instant,
Tai Long's burly body flew backward even faster than he had charged forward.
But Li Dixian's speed was even greater.
He rode the wind, his white robe fluttering, arriving before Tai Long could land.
Tai Long was still in the air, not yet touching the ground.
Li Dixian flicked the hem of his white robe with his right hand, lifted his right foot high, aimed at Tai Long's chest, and stomped down.
Rumble —
Tai Long's waist and abdomen painfully bent like a shrimp, and he was violently slammed to the ground.
Under the immense impact, the ground itself trembled violently.
The dust slightly dispersed.
Li Dixian stood over him.
Looking down at Tai Long, whose eyes were bulging and face flushed red beneath his foot,
he leaned down slightly and asked softly:
"Are you convinced?"
In front of the academy gate,
the air seemed to solidify.
Only Tai Long, pinned under Li Dixian's foot, squeezed out intermittent "ho-ho" sounds from his throat, which were particularly grating in the dead silence.