The following day, the opening ceremony was held.
It was undoubtedly an ordeal.
After the dean finished speaking, the department director took over.
Once the department director was done, there was still an outstanding teacher waiting to give a speech.
By the time the ceremony finally ended, it was almost noon.
“Boss, let’s go grab some food together.
My treat today!” Xiao Chenyu said.
“Sure.”
Qi Dao’s family wasn’t exactly poor either.
Every month, his parents could collect ten gold soul coins from the Spirit Hall, and they occasionally went out to help people hunt soul beasts.
They could be considered fairly well-off.
But when his little brother offered to treat him to a meal, Qi Dao wasn’t going to refuse.
It was just a meal, after all.
However, as Qi Dao, Xiao Chenyu, Liu Long, Ling Feng, and a few others were hurrying toward the cafeteria, another group called out to them from a distance.
More precisely, they were calling out to Xiao Chenyu.
“Second Brother, don’t you even greet your big brother when you see me?”
This group was also dressed in Notting Academy uniforms, but they were much taller and clearly upper-year students.
The person leading them looked somewhat similar to Xiao Chenyu.
“Who is that?” Qi Dao casually asked.
“He’s my big brother, Xiao Haijie.
He’s a sixth-year student.” Xiao Chenyu glanced at Xiao Haijie before introducing him to Qi Dao.
Xiao Haijie?
He hadn’t appeared in the original story!
After all, even Xiao Chenyu had only been a minor character in the original story.
By the time the main plot began, he had already graduated.
“Looks like you two don’t get along very well.”
Xiao Chenyu gritted his teeth and lowered his voice.
“Boss, you don’t understand.”
“The struggle to inherit the title has always been like this.
In the future, only one of us can inherit our father’s title!”
Qi Dao’s mouth twitched slightly after hearing this.
That reminded him of something Xiao Chenyu had mentioned yesterday.
His father wasn’t merely the Lord of Nuoding City.
He was also an Imperial Baron.
In the Heaven Dou Empire, noble titles could be inherited from one generation to the next unless the title was revoked for committing a serious offense.
Thinking about this, Qi Dao couldn’t help recalling Xiao Chenyu’s first soul ring in the original story.
The son of a city lord, yet his first soul ring was only a 10-year soul ring.
Could it have been his big brother’s doing?
While the two were talking, Xiao Haijie had already brought his people over.
Soul masters on the Douluo Continent developed physically very quickly.
Xiao Haijie was only eleven or twelve years old, yet he was already around 1.7 meters tall.
His eyes were slightly lowered as he looked down at Qi Dao from above.
After sizing him up, he casually looked away, a faint hint of disdain in his eyes.
“Second Brother, I heard you acknowledged someone as your boss at the academy.”
“To be honest, I’m very disappointed in you!”
“I originally thought that no matter how useless you were, at least you were only useless compared to me.”
“But I never expected you to be defeated by a brat with only half a rank of innate soul power and then acknowledge him as your boss.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
“You’ve really fallen this far!”
Xiao Haijie’s face was filled with undisguised mockery.
His words immediately made Xiao Chenyu’s face flush red.
Liu Long and Ling Feng were equally displeased.
Calling their boss a good-for-nothing was no different from calling them good-for-nothings too.
If Xiao Haijie weren’t a sixth-year student, they would have fought him right here and now.
What the hell gave him the right to act so arrogantly?
A sharp glint flashed through Qi Dao’s eyes as he stared directly at Xiao Haijie like a hawk.
Noticing his gaze, a playful and teasing smile appeared on Xiao Haijie’s face.
“Oh?
Judging by that look in your eyes, you don’t seem to like what I just called you.”
“What?
Don’t tell me you want to challenge me just like you challenged that good-for-nothing Xiao Chenyu?”
Qi Dao slightly raised his head.
His expression remained calm.
Although he was considerably shorter than Xiao Haijie, there wasn’t the slightest hint of retreat in his aura.
“Why can’t I?”
The moment Qi Dao finished speaking, Xiao Haijie burst into laughter.
Seeing their boss laughing, the people beside him immediately followed suit.
“Hahahaha!”
The scene made Xiao Chenyu, Liu Long, and Ling Feng grind their teeth in anger.
Yet beneath their anger was another thought:
Boss, you’ve lost your mind!
You’re only at half a rank.
How dare you challenge Xiao Haijie?!
Xiao Chenyu knew Xiao Haijie’s strength better than anyone.
After all, he was his younger brother.
That guy was a rank 13 Soul Master!
Qi Dao might have been able to defeat him with his swordsmanship, but against Xiao Haijie, who had already absorbed his first soul ring, he would definitely be crushed.
Xiao Haijie looked at Qi Dao with an amused expression, as though he found the situation entertaining.
“Kid, do you even know who I am?
And you still dare to challenge me?”
Qi Dao replied calmly, “What difference does it make whether I know or not?”
“We who walk the path of the sword fear no battle.”
“Hahahaha!”
Xiao Haijie laughed even more wildly.
He looked down at Qi Dao with utter contempt.
Suddenly, he threw a punch without warning.
His fist slammed directly into Qi Dao’s abdomen.
The instant Xiao Haijie attacked, the Wushuang Sword in Qi Dao’s hand trembled slightly.
Qi Dao immediately sensed the sudden attack.
His right hand instinctively reached toward his waist, attempting to draw his sword and defend himself.
Even with Wushuang warning him, he still couldn’t react in time.
Xiao Haijie’s punch sent Qi Dao staggering backward seven or eight steps.
His stomach churned violently, and he nearly vomited from the impact.
Even without activating his martial soul, Xiao Haijie’s physical strength was far beyond Qi Dao’s.
However, his actions immediately drew glares from the first-year students.
“Bastard!
Don’t you have any sense of rules?!”
Xiao Chenyu roared and instantly activated his martial soul.
Liu Long and Ling Feng did the same.
The former’s martial soul was a staff, while the latter’s was a swallow.
Xiao Haijie swept a contemptuous glance over the three of them.
“I didn’t expect you three to be so united.”
“Unfortunately, even if all three of you attack me together, you’re still nothing more than a rabble.”
“You!”
Xiao Chenyu was furious and couldn’t help wanting to attack.
At that moment, a slightly weak voice came from the distance.
“Stop!”
Qi Dao had drawn the sword at his waist and was standing a short distance away.
His face looked slightly pale, but there wasn’t the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.
“Boss, are you all right?!”
Xiao Chenyu and the other two immediately rushed over to him, asking with concern.
Xiao Chenyu, in particular, looked somewhat guilty.
In his eyes, Qi Dao had clearly been dragged into this and suffered for no reason because of him.
Qi Dao shook his head and smiled.
“Don’t worry.
I’m fine!”
However…
Someone was about to have a problem.
Xiao Haijie looked at Qi Dao with slight surprise before teasing him.
“I didn’t expect that punch to leave you standing.
You’ve surprised me.”
“But now that you’ve seen the difference between us, do you still want to challenge me?”
Surrounded by Xiao Chenyu and the others, Qi Dao slowly turned toward Xiao Haijie and his group.
His expression was emotionless.
But inside his mind, he kept replaying the instant Xiao Haijie had attacked.
Wushuang had trembled.
It had warned him!
At that moment, he discovered that, by some stroke of fortune, his connection with Wushuang had suddenly deepened considerably.
His comprehension of the Sword had also surged, as though he had suddenly experienced an epiphany.
Within his mind, the Wushuang Sword he had constructed radiated a faint light.
Qi Dao straightened his body and held his sword horizontally before him.
His voice was calm and utterly unshaken.
“Thanks to you, I’ve gained a little insight.”
“Today, I’ll use you to test my sword and repay the cause and effect of that punch.”
End of Chapter