"Come in. The door is open," Lin Feng said indifferently.
Almost as soon as his words fell, the wooden doors creaked apart.
A respectable-looking middle-aged man stepped inside and intentionally left the door open.
He was dressed in pristine azure teacher's robes embroidered with the emblem of the Spirit Spring Academy.
His posture was straight, his aura steady, clearly someone who had been a teacher for many years and was accustomed to authority.
The moment his eyes landed on Lin Feng's face, however, a flicker of displeasure flashed across his features.
It was subtle, so brief that an ordinary person might have missed it but it was there nonetheless.
The man's lips tightened slightly before he quickly suppressed the emotion, restoring his usual stern composure.
His gaze then drifted past Lin Feng and fell upon Wang Yuyan.
She remained seated, her head lowered as she carefully reviewed the notes before her.
A lock of hair slipped past her cheek, framing her pretty, delicate face.
Her expression was serious and focused, as though the world around her had faded away.
For a short moment, the middle-aged teacher forgot why he had come at all.
Admiration, mixed with something deeper, surfaced in his eyes.
But that feeling vanished the instant he remembered who was standing beside her.
He turned back to Lin Feng, the warmth in his gaze replaced by a cold, rigid sharpness.
"I apologize for intruding, Teacher Lin Feng," he said, his voice carrying a harsh edge that clashed with his polite words.
"However, I can no longer stand idly by and watch you continue to desecrate the integrity of our Spirit Spring Academy."
The air in the room seemed to tighten slightly.
Lin Feng did not rise, nor did his expression change.
He simply leaned back a little, his hands resting casually at his sides.
His calm demeanor only made the accusation feel more ridiculous.
"I don't understand what you mean, Teacher Wu," Lin Feng replied evenly.
"From my perspective, there is nothing improper about what I'm doing."
Wu Haoxuan's brows twitched, clearly dissatisfied with such a response.
Lin Feng's gaze lingered on him, not sharp, not hostile but amused.
There was a faint smile at the corner of his lips, the kind that suggested he was watching something mildly entertaining rather than confronting a fellow teacher.
To Lin Feng, Wu Haoxuan looked no different from a monkey leaping around a tree, making a great deal of noise while accomplishing very little.
That subtle look of amusement only caused Wu Haoxuan's mood to darken further.
"You don't need to keep hiding behind your lies anymore, Teacher Lin Feng!" Wu Haoxuan shouted, his voice sharp and filled with righteous indignation as it echoed down the stone corridor.
"I don't know what kind of honeyed words you fed Miss Wang, but it all ends today. Stop wagging that snake tongue of yours and let Miss Wang return home at once before you inflict irreversible damage upon her cultivation path!"
His accusation landed like a thunderclap.
Several disciples who had been passing by slowed their steps.
A few teachers standing farther away also turned their heads, sensing trouble.
Before long, a small crowd gathered at a distance, whispering among themselves while pretending not to stare too openly.
After all, conflicts between teachers were rare and when they did happen, they were far more entertaining than any lesson.
Lin Feng, on the other hand, remained completely unfazed.
He stood with his hands behind his back, posture relaxed, his expression calm to the point of indifference.
If Wu Haoxuan expected anger, panic, or guilt, he was sorely disappointed.
Lin Feng looked at him as though he were merely watching an overexcited child throwing a tantrum.
"Your slander won't work on me, Teacher Wu," Lin Feng said leisurely.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried clearly, cutting through the surrounding noise with ease.
"Miss Wang is here entirely of her own free will. No one forced her, coerced her, or deceived her in any way."
He turned slightly and raised one hand, gesturing toward Wang Yuyan behind him.
"If you have doubts, then ask her yourself," Lin Feng continued calmly. "She's sitting right here. I have nothing to hide."
The attention of everyone present instantly shifted.
Wang Yuyan slowly lifted her head.
A faint crease had already formed between her brows, and the gentle focus she usually showed while studying was gone.
In its place was clear displeasure.
When her gaze met Wu Haoxuan's, it hardened.
"Teacher Wu," she said, her voice steady but cool, "I am here because I chose to be."
She took a small step forward, standing slightly closer to Lin Feng, an unconscious gesture that did not go unnoticed by the onlookers.
"I am very satisfied studying under Teacher Lin Feng's tutelage," Wang Yuyan continued. "My cultivation has improved, my understanding has deepened, and I have never once been pressured or misled."
Then, after a brief pause, she added with unmistakable firmness, "Please stop making unfounded accusations."
Her final words were blunt and decisive.
"Do not disturb us anymore, Teacher Wu."
Silence fell.
Wu Haoxuan's face stiffened, the righteous fury he had worn moments earlier cracking visibly.
He opened his mouth as if to argue, but no words came out.
The gazes of the surrounding crowd weighed heavily on him now—curious, skeptical, and in some cases, faintly mocking.
Soft murmurs spread through the bystanders.
"So she really chose him herself…"
"Teacher Wu seems to have misjudged things."
"Tch, he embarrassed himself."
Wu Haoxuan clenched his fists, his expression darkening.
Being dismissed by a student especially in public was a humiliation he would not forget.
Lin Feng, however, merely smiled faintly, as if everything had gone exactly as expected.
Teacher Wu Haoxuan clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw ached.
The humiliation burned hotter the longer the surrounding gazes lingered on him.
His eyes, filled with barely restrained fury, locked onto Lin Feng's calm face.
Try as he might, Wu Haoxuan could not recall the last time he had been insulted like this dismissed so casually, as if he were nothing more than background noise.
"So that's how you choose to act," Wu Haoxuan said through gritted teeth.
"It seems Miss Wang has been thoroughly misled by you, Teacher Lin Feng. Your words are smooth, your tricks refined, but I will not allow an innocent student to be led astray."
He took another step forward.
The crowd instinctively pulled back, sensing the rising tension.
"In good conscience, I cannot let this farce continue any longer," Wu Haoxuan declared. His voice rose sharply as he pointed at Lin Feng.
"I, Wu Haoxuan, formally challenge you to the Dao Teaching Platform! Do you dare accept?!"
The name alone caused an uproar.
Whispers exploded among the bystanders.
"The Dao Teaching Platform?"
"Between teachers?"
"This is getting serious…"
Everyone present knew what that meant. The Dao Teaching Platform was not merely a stage, it was a place where one's teachings, comprehension, and even authority were publicly weighed.
Most matches were polite exchanges of philosophy and doctrine, but there had been rare instances where tempers flared and cultivation clashed directly.
A loss there was not just embarrassment, it could shatter a teacher's reputation entirely.
Wu Haoxuan was certain of his victory.
In his eyes, Lin Feng was nothing more than a smooth-talking fraud with an absurdly handsome face.
On the Dao Teaching Platform, he would strip away that façade piece by piece, crush Lin Feng's so-called teachings, and expose him before everyone without even needing to lift a finger.
Lin Feng, however, showed no excitement.
He didn't react to the rising pressure, nor to the eager, expectant gazes of the crowd.
He merely studied Wu Haoxuan quietly, as though evaluating whether the man in front of him was even worth acknowledging.
After a long pause, Lin Feng finally spoke.
"And what's in it for me?" Lin Feng asked calmly. "What exactly do I gain if I win?"
Wu Haoxuan faltered for half a breath. He hadn't considered that Lin Feng might ask such a thing.
"You clean your name," Wu Haoxuan replied, forcing himself to sound composed. "And you earn the right to continue teaching Miss Wang assuming you even win."
Lin Feng blinked once.
Then he chuckled softly.
"That's it?" Lin Feng said, mild disbelief in his tone. "That's your offer?"
The murmurs around them grew louder.
Lin Feng shook his head slowly.
"No thanks, Teacher Wu," he said plainly. "I pass. My name and conscience are as clear as freshly fallen snow and as unblemished as a newborn baby's skin."
The words hit harder than any insult.
"What?" someone whispered.
"Did he just… refuse?"
"Is he afraid?"
Lin Feng continued, completely ignoring the noise.
"Something like that isn't worthy of my time," he said, his tone unhurried. "Please leave. You're interrupting my teaching hours."
With that, Lin Feng turned around and walked back into his classroom, his sleeves swaying gently with each step. Not once did he look back.
Three breaths passed.
Then…
Thud!
The classroom door closed firmly.
The sound echoed like a hammer striking Wu Haoxuan's chest.
He stood frozen in place, eyes wide, his mind completely blank.
His raised hand slowly fell to his side, fingers twitching uselessly.
The crowd stared at him in awkward silence, some struggling to suppress laughter, others exchanging pitying looks.
"…What?" Wu Haoxuan muttered.
His thoughts were in chaos.
"What just happened?"
This was not how it was supposed to go.
He had prepared himself for rejection, rage, excuses… anything but indifference.
Being ignored, dismissed, and shut out so cleanly was far worse than losing on the Dao Teaching Platform.
Wu Haoxuan stared at the closed door, his expression dark and twisted.