I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the latest chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Link: Patreon.com/NineClouds69
--- Chapter 292 ---
"It's him!" Ruo Ling exclaimed in surprise, her eyes widening as she stared at the wild-haired young man in blue. Nevertheless, compared to her students' shock, she felt more confused than anything else.
Ruo Ling was confident her senses were functioning just right. She knew Han Yuan had used extremely pure Water and Wood Dou Qi to treat a girl earlier, but the reports she received indicated that he had used Wind and Lightning Dou Qi.
The main reason she was interested in recruiting Han Yuan as a special admitted student was because of the rarity of his Dou Qi. Ignoring the basic five attributes, just possessing either lightning or wind is rare, yet this young genius had both in addition to a high cultivation realm.
"You're Han Yuan?" asked Xiao Yu, her expression complicated.
Han Yuan smiled faintly. "I don't think anyone else in this establishment goes by that name."
"If you're looking for Han Yuan, then that should be me."
"What about you, young lady? What's your name?"
Xiao Yu instinctively looked away from his silver eyes and stuttered, "X-Xiao Yu, my name is Xiao Yu."
"Xiao Yu? That's a beautiful name," Han Yuan nodded appreciatively. "Are you perhaps from the Xiao Clan?"
As if someone had stepped on her tail, Xiao Yu snapped, "So what if I'm from the Xiao Clan?!"
Han Yuan raised his arms in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, calm down. I don't mean any disrespect."
"I just noticed that you look quite similar to one of our outer disciples, who is also from the Xiao Clan. His name is Xiao Ning. He must be your relative, right?"
"I..." Xiao Yu replied slowly. "That's my brother's name..."
"Xiao Yu, that's enough! Apologize to Han Yuan for being rude!" Ruo Ling's voice suddenly echoed in the room.
"Teacher, I..." Xiao Yu didn't expect to be yelled at and glanced at Ruo Ling, only to find her glaring menacingly.
Feeling humiliated, she hung her head low. "I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have snapped like that."
Han Yuan chuckled helplessly. "Haha, it's fine. Honestly, I'm used to being treated harshly by the Xiao Clan, even though I thought we had no grudge anymore."
"I just didn't expect you to be so sensitively hostile at our first meeting; you must admire that person a lot."
Xiao Yu blinked in awe, thinking, 'This guy, how can he be so humble and cheerful?'
Also, she didn't need to be a genius to realize that the "person" Han Yuan referred to was her cousin, Xiao Yan, and she had indeed become hostile toward Han Yuan because of him.
Han Yuan, unfazed by Xiao Yu's complex gaze, added, "After I defeated him five years ago, many of the Xiao Clan's younger disciples, including him, challenged me countless times."
"Of course, I defeated them all!" He flashed a confident smile at Xiao Yu, causing a vein to pop on her forehead.
"But I also gained their respect."
"So, let's do this the old school way."
"Let's fight fairly—same cultivation realm, one-on-one fight."
"Of course, if that isn't enough, you can also ask for help from your fellow students of Jia Nan Academy." He smiled at the rest of the people in the room.
'This guy!' Several students were irritated by Han Yuan's words, except for Xue Ni.
Xue Ni winked at her best friend, signaling, 'No, don't get provoked by this guy! He might be handsome, tall, and um, those forearms, slurp, but I can't sense his cultivation realm at all!'
'Xiao Yu, don't fight this guy!'
"Okay, let's do it!" Ruo Ling said with a smile, surprisingly agreeing to Han Yuan's proposal, leaving Xue Ni speechless.
Xue Ni gave her usually strict teacher a disbelieving look. 'Teacher Ling, what the hell? Aren't you supposed to rein us in from fighting him?'
'Why are you adding more fuel to the fire?!'
"Great!" Han Yuan clapped his hands. "Let's move to my training ground on the roof."
After saying that, Han Yuan led them to the roof. Meanwhile, Ruo Ling watched the young man's back solemnly and then glanced back at the calm-looking Meng Xi. "Dojo Master, you don't seem nervous."
Meng Xi raised an eyebrow. "Nervous? For what?"
"Don't worry, Teacher Ling. My disciple is unbelievably strong and knows how to hold back."
"That's not how it works," Ruo Ling's mouth twitched. "Whatever, I will go up and see it for myself."
"Dojo Master, are you going to the roof, too?"
Meng Xi blew on his tea and replied, "Believe it or not, by the time the fight is over, my tea is still warm."
"..." Ruo Ling.
---
---
On the roof of Soaring Wind Dojo, an arena made of reinforced alloys and ancient woods was built neatly, allowing multiple people to fight all at once.
This place was Han Yuan's personal training ground. Although he used it very rarely, the reason it was 'purposely' built at the highest point of the dojo was because of the strong winds above.
Yes, it is a mimetic training ground that allows one to grasp the feeling of wind elements in the atmosphere.
Han Yuan stood at the center of the arena and asked, "Who wants to fight me first?"
"Me, me first!" A green-clothed young man, older than Han Yuan, stepped up to the arena. "My name is Mu Chen, 19 years old, my cultivation is 4-Star Dou Master!"
Hearing this name, Han Yuan's expression became amused for a second because it was the name of the protagonist of Great Ruler, a follow-up story of Battle Through the Heaven, before nodding, "Great name."
A nineteen-year-old with 4-Star Dou Master cultivation is a great talent, but it wasn't a genius by any means.
After all, someone like Nalan Yanran could reach the Dou Spirit Realm at a similar age.
Seven-year-old Gu Xun'er could tap into the Dou King realm by releasing the power of her sealed Golden Emperor Burning Sky Flame.
Then, again, these girls are geniuses and monsters of this world.
Mu Chen is just a slightly talented young man.
Han Yuan lifted his right arm while putting the other behind his back, his cultivation revealed to 4-Star Dou Master just like Mu Chen's, shocking everyone.
"Let's start," He said calmly.
Xiao Yu's eyes widened, 'How could he possess the same cultivation as Mu Chen?!'
Xiao Yu's own cultivation realm is also 4-Star Dou Master, the same as Mu Chen's, but she's two years younger than him. However, she didn't forget that Han Yuan is five years younger than her, like her cousin.
"Monster..." Xue Ni mumbled in awe.
At the same time, Ruo Ling also arrived at the rooftop. She watched Han Yuan facing her student Mu Chen, and frowned because the former was really suppressing his cultivation. Yet, the Dou Qi was just as steady as ever, even with suppression.
"Fight!" Mu Chen roared as he lunged toward Han Yuan. Blazing Dou Qi burst out from his hands.
"Blazing Fire Palm!"
Han Yuan stood motionless, watching the incoming palm attacks with a calm gaze. As the fiery palms were about to reach his face, he tilted to the right and dodged them efficiently before knee-kicking Mu Chen in the guts.
Bam!
"Agh!" Mu Chen gasped for air as he staggered a few meters back. He held his stomach in pain, gazing at Han Yuan in surprise.
Han Yuan casually lowered his knee, "First rule of a fight, you shouldn't shout out your dou technique like a fool."
"Not only do you let your opponent know the name of your dou technique, but you also give them an idea of what it was, which then exploits your weakness."
"Shut up!" Mu Chen roared, charging forward again. This time, he didn't shout his move, but he couldn't even touch the edge of Han Yuan's robe as the faint wind cloak stopped him.
"What, why couldn't Mu Chen touch him?!" shouted one of the students in confusion.
Ruo Ling observed the wind cloak and answered for her student, "That's a Dou Qi cloak. Han Yuan manifested one that stopped Mu Chen's attack from reaching him."
"However, to achieve this effect, Han Yuan's Dou Qi must be extremely pure and dense."
"Not only that, his control must be precise to stop Mu Chen's attack from reaching his body."
Actually, Ruo Ling didn't disclose one more detail about Han Yuan's Dou Qi cloak, which was how casual he was doing it. Unless Han Yuan is born with immense talent to manipulate Dou Qi, the only explanation for this is that his cultivation is above the Dou Master, where Dou Qi manifests more solidly.
'He really is a Dou Grandmaster at the age of twelve,' Ruo Ling bit her lips in self-depreciation because she's also a Dou Grandmaster. 'The young generation will always replace the old one.'
Mu Chen clearly heard Ruo Ling's comment and praise for Han Yuan and felt the resistance in his palms grimly, "So what if your Dou Qi cloak is strong? You're not the only one with it!"
After saying that, Mu Chen's hand was 'quickly' cloaked with fiery fabrics, enhancing his Blazing Fire Palm even further.
Yet, even after being enhanced by the Dou Qi cloak, Mu Chen couldn't go further as if nothing ever happened.
"Are you wondering why even with your Dou Qi cloak, you can't touch me?" Han Yuan said with a friendly smile.
"The answer is quite simple, actually. I constantly stack my wind Dou Qi cloak, creating an infinitely regenerating barrier or distance between me and you."
"It's a little trick I developed, which I called Infinity."
"Of course, this little trick is not without weakness; if your Dou Qi is more powerful than mine, and there are no natural winds around us, then my 'Infinity' is going to break."
"But that doesn't apply to our current situation, because..."
Han Yuan grinned playfully at them.
"You're weak, after all~!"