?

"Did you hear? A mere Black Rank Seventh Grade became the number one freshman in the East District. It's only natural for him to be ridiculed by others.

Tang Yan himself didn't say anything, so why is Du Shu getting into a dispute over it?" a student with a round, melon-like face complained loudly.

"Exactly, exactly. With such low strength, how can he command respect? Being mocked is inevitable. If I weren't only at the Black Rank Fifth Grade, I'd want to challenge Tang Yan myself," his companion nodded in agreement.

"But Du Shu was beaten pretty badly... Ah! Who the hell is pulling me..." Before the speaker could finish, he was interrupted by an icy voice.

"What's this about Du Shu being beaten?"

The man turned around, and when he saw that the person pulling him looked somewhat familiar, he asked curiously, "Have we met somewhere before?"

"Tang... Tang Yan?" His companion recognized Tang Yan and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

The melon-faced male student's face turned completely red with embarrassment. Being caught gossiping about someone behind their back-what terrible luck.

"Tell me what happened," Tang Yan demanded, his expression dark.

Although the student wanted Tang Yan to be more polite, one look at Tang Yan's sharp, terrifying gaze made him dare not delay. He honestly replied, "Bro... brother, you still don't know? It's just that someone..."

After hearing the whole story, Tang Yan finally understood.

It turned out that his becoming the number one freshman in the East District with only Black Rank Seventh Grade strength had sparked heated ridicule from the other districts, and rumors had spread throughout the academy.

Today, someone had made arrogant claims, saying the East District's number one was nothing special, and Du Shu happened to overhear them as he passed by.

As Tang Yan's brother, Du Shu naturally had to argue back. Because the verbal dispute grew too intense, the situation escalated, and both sides came to blows.

Du Shu was only at the Black Rank Sixth Grade, while his opponent was at the Black Rank Eighth Grade and had a whole group of friends. With such a disparity in strength, Du Shu was severely beaten.

After understanding the situation, Tang Yan's fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.

"Damn them!" The cold words that slipped from Tang Yan's mouth made the two students beside him shiver.

"Thank you for telling me, brother." Grabbing the melon-faced man's hand, a porcelain bottle fell into his palm. "This is your reward."

With that, he turned and quickly walked toward the East District dormitories.

The melon-faced man stared blankly at Tang Yan's retreating figure, only coming to his senses after a long while. "Heavens, there's a reward too? Could it be a pill?"

"It looks like it. Open it and take a look," his companion said, also staring curiously at the porcelain bottle.

"It's just something everyone knows. It's probably just a First Rank pill. I'll take it tonight. Hopefully, it's a First Rank High Grade," the melon-faced man said with a smile.

"Tch, come on. At most, it's a First Rank Middle Grade," his companion sneered, convinced he was daydreaming.

"Huh?" The melon-faced man originally agreed with his companion's thoughts, but the moment he twisted open the bottle stopper, his mouth began to gape. "S... Second Rank High Grade?"

"What?" His companion immediately snatched the porcelain bottle upon hearing this. After carefully examining it, he also exclaimed, "This appearance, this pill fragrance-it's at least a Second Rank pill, and it's definitely High Grade.

Holy crap, just for telling you some gossip, Tang Yan is this generous?"

"Haha, I hit the jackpot!" The melon-faced man had been feeling a bit unhappy earlier because of Tang Yan's impolite questioning, but now that displeasure had vanished without a trace.

"Melon, you have to treat us!"

"Let's go, let's have a grand feast!"

...

Tang Yan didn't know that the pill he casually gave away had brought the two men immense joy. He rushed all the way back to the freshman dormitory.

Inside the private quarters, Du Shu lay on the bed, his face pale and weak, clearly severely injured.

"Alas, that guy Tang Yan-where has he been these past two days?" Fang Xuan said, his eyes filled with anger seeing his brother beaten like this.

"Let's go. Together, we'll seek justice for Du Shu!" Yu Juechen roared angrily.

He was already at the Black Rank Ninth Grade, and faintly showing signs of a breakthrough, giving him considerable confidence in his strength.

"Forget it. We've just arrived at the academy, and the other side has quite a few experts. There's more than one Ninth Grade expert among them. If we go, we won't gain any advantage," Du Shu said softly from the bed, trying to dissuade them.

Although anger flickered in Yu Juechen's eyes, he knew Du Shu was right. Just two Black Rank Ninth Grade cultivators would be enough to block him. If their group went, they would only suffer.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the room was incredibly oppressive.

"How can it be let go?" A sharp voice suddenly sounded from outside the door.

Everyone in the room was startled, then looked toward the door with surprise. When they saw the familiar black robes, they couldn't help but call out, "Tang Yan!"

"Du Shu, how are you?" Tang Yan quickly walked to Du Shu's bedside and reached out to take his pulse.

"His internal organs have been shaken, and there is multiple damage to his meridians. He probably won't be able to use True Qi for a while," Fang Xuan said with a sigh.

Tang Yan examined him for a moment, and the result was exactly as Fang Xuan had said, even slightly more severe. His already cold eyes were now filled with terrifying killing intent.

"Open your mouth and take these pills." He placed several pills into Du Shu's mouth and patted his shoulder, saying, "Rest and recover peacefully. In three days, you can resume cultivation."

Hearing Tang Yan's promise, Du Shu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He had originally thought he would need a long time to recover, but fortunately, there was a silver lining-it wouldn't delay his cultivation too much.

Du Shu had no reason not to believe it, because as soon as Tang Yan's pills entered his stomach, his internal organs, which had felt extremely weak, seemed to be infused with vitality-cool and comfortable, and his whole spirit improved.

"Tang Yan, just let this go. The other side has quite a few people. The freshman competition is in a month; there's no need to reveal our strength now," Du Shu said, grabbing Tang Yan's sleeve.

At this moment, everyone's eyes fell on Tang Yan. Although they hadn't known each other long, Tang Yan had already become the true backbone of their group.

Tang Yan raised an eyebrow and said solemnly, "We are brothers. For our brothers, there is a reason for everything we do!"

Everyone's bodies trembled upon hearing this. Their eyes, which had been wavering with hesitation, were now filled with fervor.

"Who are the people on the other side?" Tang Yan asked.

"They're all from the Sheng Gang in the South District. The one who beat Du Shu is called Sun Xiaolong, and his strength is at the Black Rank Eighth Grade Peak.

What makes us wary isn't this person, but their leader, Qin Sheng, whose strength is already at the Black Rank Ninth Grade Peak. They also have a deputy leader who is at the Black Rank Ninth Grade," Fang Xuan reported the opponent's strength.

"Two Black Rank Ninth Grades? Let's go. We'll go see them for ourselves," Tang Yan called out.

"Tang Yan..." Du Shu, lying on the bed, wanted to stop Tang Yan, but in the end, he just sighed softly, tears glistening in his eyes.

"Lie here and rest well. You've just taken the pills; now catalyze the medicinal power to recover faster.

Don't worry about us. I know what I'm doing," Tang Yan said with a smile, giving him a reassuring look.

"Safety first," Du Shu earnestly advised.

Nodding, Tang Yan waved his hand and led the group toward the South District.

"That group from the South District usually likes to hang out in the Rookie Zone north of the academy," Fang Xuan had already found out where the opponents were.

"Rookie Zone? What kind of place is that?" Tang Yan asked curiously.

He had just entered the academy and hadn't familiarized himself much with Azure Dragon Academy before being taken away by Zi Yun.

These three days, he had spent most of his time in the Array Pavilion and the Nine Nether Fire Sea, so he wasn't very clear about many places within Azure Dragon Academy.