Chapter 133: The Gravely Injured Ou Hu

Inside the Quiet Valley dwelling, Lin Fan’s expression was grim as he looked down at Ou Hu, who lay on the bed with a deathly pale complexion. He turned to Xiao Beihan and the others, asking in a low, heavy voice, "Who did this?"

Beside Lin Fan, Lin Hongyi stood in silence. As she gazed at the wounds covering Qian Jin, a cold, murderous intent flickered in her eyes.

"It was a first-year freshman named Xie Haichao, a powerhouse with one hundred and one acupoints opened in the Qi Pulse Realm!"

Xiao Beihan clenched his fists tightly. Because they all ranked within the top one hundred, they had been challenged by countless first-year students. Although they were currently only at the late stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, their strength was in no way inferior to those in the late stage of the Qi Pulse Realm—especially given that they were perfect body-tempering practitioners. This had led them to easily defeat all the students who came to challenge them.

It was worth noting that the new intake consisted of over five thousand students. Eighty percent were in the early stage of the Qi Pulse Realm, fifteen percent in the middle stage, three percent in the late stage, and only a very small fraction had stepped into the peak of the Qi Pulse Realm. As for those who had broken through to the Pulse Connection Realm, there were barely twenty of them.

Naturally, whether they were Pulse Connection Realm experts or at the peak of the Qi Pulse Realm, those students held high rankings—many even higher than Xiao Beihan and his companions. Even those ranked below them had long since challenged higher-ranked individuals to secure better positions. Consequently, those top-tier students had no interest in challenging them, and even if they had, Xiao Beihan’s group could have simply refused since their opponents held higher rankings.

As for the others ranked below them, they were mostly weaker late-stage or mid-stage Qi Pulse Realm practitioners whom Xiao Beihan’s group held in little regard. The early-stage Qi Pulse or Qi Condensation students were beneath their notice entirely.

Although they only needed to accept two challenges a month to satisfy the academy’s regulations, they had been eager to earn merit points, understanding that these points were the key to growing stronger. They had set a rule: anyone could challenge them, provided they wagered merit points. If the terms were acceptable, they would accept the challenge, and the winner would take the points. There were no restrictions on the cultivation level of the challengers; even those stronger than them were permitted to try.

In just over ten days, they had earned a significant amount of merit points and were planning to earn a little more before heading to the Mingxin Tower to continue their cultivation.

However, just then, a large crowd swarmed the Quiet Valley dwelling. They claimed to be there to challenge Lin Fan, taunting that since he dared to make bold threats, he should show his face and stop acting like a coward.

Xiao Beihan and the others would not stand for it. Possessing formidable strength, they took it upon themselves to accept the challenges on Lin Fan’s behalf, even wagering significant merit points. Seeing that Lin Fan refused to appear and that his representatives were only at the late Qi Condensation stage—yet held rankings and were willing to bet such tempting points—the challengers readily agreed, lining up to face them.

Unfortunately for them, the first wave consisted mostly of Qi Pulse practitioners with only ten or twenty acupoints opened, along with some Qi Condensation and novice Qi Pulse students. There were no true experts among them, and Xiao Beihan’s group dealt with them swiftly.

Yet, wave after wave continued to arrive. Those with thirty or forty acupoints were all knocked down and even severely injured by Xiao Beihan and his friends.

It was then that a young powerhouse ranked in the top thirty arrived. It is important to note that since leaving the trial space, none of them—except for Shangguan Feihong and Sun Hao—had managed to break into the top thirty. Even Ou Hu, who had a high score, was only ranked thirty-fifth.

Moreover, there was an unwritten rule regarding the top thirty: aside from Shangguan Feihong, Ou Hu, and Lin Fan—who had been confirmed to have reached the Qi Pulse Realm despite being at the Qi Condensation stage—every other top thirty student was at the "peak" of the late Qi Pulse Realm.

That was correct—that was the rule. It wasn't set by anyone, but it was simply the reality: among the top thirty freshmen, not one was below the late-stage peak of the Qi Pulse Realm. They were all absolute elites.

Back in Qingxue County, the Qi Pulse Realm had been divided into only three stages: early, middle, and late. But at Tianshu Academy, the realm was segmented into many levels, each representing vastly different combat capabilities. Originally, the early stage meant opening sixteen acupoints, the middle stage thirty-eight, and the late stage fifty-four. However, at Tianshu Academy, the grading was different: sixteen for early, thirty-eight for middle, forty-six for late, and the "peak" of the late stage was defined as having opened exactly one hundred major acupoints.

The remaining eight acupoints were collectively referred to as the "Peak of the Qi Pulse Realm." These eight were special; while opening them didn't necessarily provide more true energy than the others, their functions were extraordinary, and each granted a massive surge in combat power.

The person who arrived was Xie Haichao, who had opened one hundred and one acupoints.

He hadn't come to challenge them like the others, but for revenge. His girlfriend, Jin Fengxuan, had been defeated by Ou Hu during a previous challenge. Jin Fengxuan was sharp-tongued; although beautiful, her words were venomous. She had insulted not only Ou Hu but also Lin Fan. Ou Hu was a simple-minded man; he could tolerate being cursed or beaten himself, but he could not endure insults directed at Lin Fan. His current progress in cultivation, his high combat strength, and the advanced techniques he possessed were all gifts from Lin Fan’s guidance. He usually kept his gratitude buried in his heart.

With a roar, he had clashed with Jin Fengxuan. She was strong, having reached the late Qi Pulse Realm, so Ou Hu had used his full strength. In the heat of the moment, he couldn't pull back his final strike, causing her severe injury. Most importantly, the blow had struck an unfortunate area in front of everyone. Bleeding and humiliated, Jin Fengxuan had fled, swearing that Ou Hu would pay the price.

Thus, Xie Haichao had come.

Ou Hu could have refused the challenge, as his strength and ranking were inferior to Xie Haichao’s. However, Xie Haichao had apparently learned from Jin Fengxuan that Lin Fan was Ou Hu’s "reverse scale"—his absolute line in the sand—and proceeded to hurl vile insults at Lin Fan and his entire family.

Because of this, it wasn't just Ou Hu; even Xiao Beihan and the others could no longer restrain themselves. They accepted the challenges one by one and launched their attacks.

However, although their true energy was pure and their combat power was not weaker than those in the late Qi Pulse Realm due to the *Swallowing Origin Sutra*, their martial arts training had only begun ten days prior. They were still raw. Against ordinary late-stage practitioners, they could manage, but against Xie Haichao, they were outmatched.

Soon, they were all severely injured. Even when they unleashed the techniques they had recently mastered, it made no difference; their cultivation base was simply too low. They were beaten until they couldn't rise. Xie Haichao did not let them off easily—especially Ou Hu. While the others had a few broken bones, Xie Haichao had systematically broken every bone in Ou Hu’s body. Had the academy not strictly forbidden killing, Ou Hu would likely have been dead.

Now, seven or eight days later, thanks to a store of healing pills, they had managed to recover slightly, though their combat strength was far from restored. But Ou Hu remained in a coma.

"So, he is a Neiguan Realm expert!"

Lin Fan’s eyes were cold. He never imagined that his desire to avoid trouble—by having the red-haired youth issue a threat—would lead to such disaster for Xiao Beihan and the others, and result in such torture for Ou Hu.

At Tianshu Academy, the peak of the Qi Pulse Realm had such specific classifications. One hundred and one acupoints: a Neiguan Realm expert. One hundred and two: Heguan Realm. One hundred and three: Dazhui Realm. One hundred and four: Shenque Realm. One hundred and five: Yongquan Realm. One hundred and six: Changshou Realm. One hundred and seven: Sanyin Realm. And one hundred and eight acupoints: the Baihui Realm, also known as the "Half-Step Pulse Connection Realm."

A true Neiguan Realm expert had acted with such cruelty. Even with a fortune spent on the finest pills, Ou Hu’s injuries would take months to heal. And in the environment of Tianshu Academy, those months represented a person’s entire future.