At this moment, Shen Haoran and Ning Xueli stood before the massive gates of Ogre Academy.
"So this is Ogre Academy?" Shen Haoran remarked, his voice smooth and cold as he took in the sight of the dilapidated buildings.
To a young master of the Central Region, this place looked less like an institution of learning and more like a collection of peasant hovels.
Ning Xueli walked beside him, her posture tense. "Yes, but it was formerly known as the Overlord Dragon Academy. We only changed the name recently after our two schools merged."
Haoran frowned, "Merged? What for?"
"For the tournament. The original Ogre Academy was a tiny, unrecognized shack on the border of the Kingdom, and we only had seven students—the Ogre Seven, a case where there are more teachers than students."
Shen Haoran wondered how such academy was even able to invite students that, in this region, can be called 'talented'.
Hmm, maybe that Ogre Academy is an expert at tricking and scamming people.
"Because we weren't officially sanctioned, we couldn't enter the Regional Tournament. It was only a few months ago that our dean had merged with Overlord Dragon Academy that we can finally participate."
"Oh. But to immediately replace the name to Ogre Academy...the dean of that dragon academy must be incredibly generous."
Ning Xueli smiled lightly, "Apparently the two deans knew each other and were once part of an adventurer team that roamed the Eastern Region. They were pretty famous, actually."
"Still, to give up an entire academy in the name of friendship," Haoran mused. "I would probably die before doing that."
With that, they entered the academy, and under the lead of Ning Xueli, they headed straight for the training field, a wide expanse of packed dirt.
Under the molten sun, six figures were visible, their muscles straining and veins bulging as they sprinted across the field, each carrying a massive boulder on their back.
The sound of their heavy footfalls and ragged breathing filled the night.
Shen Haoran almost laughed out loud. Qinq'er was really telling the truth! They were running while carrying a boulder!
What's the use of that training? Except for when training your physique at Body Refinement Realm, physical training of this scale is completely useless.
There are gravity training artifacts that are far more effective and is cheap, there are pills that refines your muscles and bones, hell even bathing in blood of some demonic beasts along with herbs can strengthen your physique.
"Young Master Shen, our teacher is over there," Xueli pointed toward the edge of the field.
There stood Grandmaster Yu, his hands tucked into his tattered sleeves, watching the "training" with a look of stern satisfaction.
Grandmaster Yu? Is it that charlatan who said something about there is no trash spirit, only trash cultivators?
Isn't this guy just a 1st Stage Qi Gathering realm?! Is he proving his own words that he's a trash?
If so, he, Shen Haoran, greatly admires his dedication.
"Grandmaster!"
As Xueli called out to him, he turned, his eyes narrowing as they landed on the young man accompanying her.
And in that instant, Grandmaster Yu immediately developed an inherent dissatisfaction towards him.
In his eyes, Shen Haoran was a vision of perfection—his golden-blonde hair shimmered like spun sun-fire, and his golden eyes held the depth of ancient, unmovable glaciers.
He embodies the very thing that Grandmaster Yu hated the most, the "favored" children of heaven who were born with silver spoons and jade meridians.
"Grandmaster, this is Young Master Shen Haoran," Xueli introduced him, her voice wavering slightly. "He is the owner of the Profound Ark from earlier and hails from the Central Region."
Grandmaster Yu didn't bow. Instead, he tilted his head back, looking down his nose at Haoran with a sneer of practiced arrogance.
In his mind, he was a protagonist of his own story—the "trash" who had been kicked out of a great clan, the man who had defied the heavens to create a new theory of Spirit Possession.
So what if you're from some powerful clan in Central Region? Are you more impressive than me?!
Without your clan, what are you?
You couldn't even compare to a single one of my fingernail!
"I am Yu Guangdong," he said, his voice dripping with a false sense of superiority. "But in the Eastern Region, they call me Grandmaster Yu. Young Master from Central Region, I hope you understand that in this place, background means nothing. Only raw, tempered effort matters. Can your 'Central Region' pedigree compare to a man who rebuilt himself from nothing?"
Ning Xueli's heart plummeted.
She saw the shift in Shen Haoran's expression—or rather, the lack of it. And in that moment, a chill ran down her spine, and without any hesitation, she retreated.
She jumped back dozens of meters away, breathing heavily.
And just as she sighed in relief...
CRACK!
The sound of shattering bone echoed across the silent field. Without Haoran so much as lifting a finger, Grandmaster Yu's legs snapped like dry twigs.
"AAAHHHHH!!!" A scream of pure agony tore from the older man's throat as he was slammed into the dirt, his body pinned by a weight that felt as though the sky itself had collapsed upon him.
Shen Haoran stepped forward, his eyes devoid of any warmth as he unleashed his Golden Core aura, causing the ground beneath them to groan and buckle, as spider-webbing cracks began to spread from his feet.
Shen Haoran stared at Grandmaster with an emotionless gaze.
There were three types of people Shen Haoran utterly loathed: those who threatened his possessions, those who threatened the order he intends to rule, and most of all—people with mediocre ability who mistook their stubbornness for true power.
"You know, I'm curious, why do people like you think you are more impressive than you really?" Haoran's voice was a low, terrifying silk. "Is it because people around you are stupid and believed in your delusions? Or is it because you lived in a puddle of mud your whole life you started to think the world is only like that?"
He raised a boot and brought it down heavily onto the back of Grandmaster Yu's head, causing the "Grandmaster's" face to be crushed into the dirt, the impact creating a small crater.
Grandmaster Yu's muffled whimpers of pain were the only sound in the sudden, suffocating silence.
"GRANDMASTER!"
At that moment, the Ogre Seven finally snapped out of their daze upon seeing their teacher completely broken and humiliated.
The training stopped instantly as the seven of them moved like an angry dog seeing their owner get hurt.
They didn't think; they only saw their mentor being humiliated and rushed to eliminate the enemy.
"Let him go!" Tang Shan roared, his 1st Stage Foundation Building aura flaring as he launched a barrage of glowing vines toward Haoran.
"How dare you!" A blonde young man with blue eyes roared, gaining a tiger-like features as he rushed towards him.
Not just them, there is also a young woman who possessed feline features, a fat young man who gained wings made of fire, a white haired young man who simply...ate a sausage?
And a young man with rabbit ears also rushing towards him.
Shen Haoran didn't even turn his head. He simply looked at them—a single, sharp glance infused with the crushing pressure of a Golden Core expert.
Boom! A pressure that seems to carry the weight of a mountain crash into them.
The Ogre Seven didn't even reach him, they were intercepted by a wall of invisible force and kne by one, they were slammed into the ground.
Blood began to leak from their noses, eyes, and ears as their internal organs struggled to remain intact under the sheer gravitational weight of Haoran's killing intent and cultivation.
However, in the center of the carnage, Tang Shan remained standing.
His legs were shaking, his muscles were tearing, and his mouth was a mask of blood, but he forced himself to stand.
His pride as a "genius" wouldn't allow him to fall. To him, the humiliation of bowing to an arrogant noble, especially one who hurt his teacher, was a fate worse than death.
Haoran's gaze shifted to the blue-haired boy. This one should be the protagonist, right? He wondered what type of cheat he possessed? Ancient Bloodline? Primordial Physique? Or is he a reincarnator?
"Hmm, curious," Haoran murmured, tilting his head. "For a mere ant at the Foundation Establishment realm, you have a commendable willpower. But that's all, you think your 'determination' makes you special? You think your 'pride' protects you?"
Haoran snorted, a sound of pure, unadulterated contempt. "Your endurance is not proportional to your strength. It is merely a stubborn refusal to accept reality. And reality is this: you are nothing."
Haoran leaned into his aura for a final, decisive pulse. "Fall."
Tang Shan's knees finally gave way.
He hit the dirt with a wet thud, his forehead striking the earth right next to his broken teacher.
At that moment, the aura of the "prodigy" shattered.
The arrogance of the youth who thought he could defy any foe with his "Bright Silver Vine" spirit was ground into the dust by the heel of a man who didn't even consider him a rival.
Ning Xueli stood several yards away, trembling.
She looked at her friends, broken and bleeding, and then at the golden-haired man standing calmly in the center of the destruction.
She finally realized, at this moment, that the pride and arrogance of a genius they have meant nothing compared to the talents of the Central Region.
They weren't just in a different region, they were in a different dimension entirely!
"Is this the 'peak' of your kingdom, Miss Ning?" Haoran asked, his voice returning to its calm, aristocratic melody as he stepped off Grandmaster Yu's head. "If so, I think I'll be leaving early. I've seen better fights in a dog kennel."
Hm? At that moment, Shen Haoran frowned, sensing a powerful energy from a Cultivator nearby.
Must be the guardian of this Tang Shan...
He smirked.
He wondered what will happen if Tang Shan's guardian were to.... dissappear.