Chapter 163: The Arrogant Han Dan

"He actually severed one of Xu Zhidong's arms!"

"Xu Zhidong is an expert at the third level of the Foundation Establishment realm. Even though he wasn't using his full strength earlier, there is no way Li Jiansan could have lopped off his arm so easily."

"Li Jiansan, this top-ranked newcomer, is truly terrifying..."

Shock and awe.

The hearts of the onlookers were filled with profound astonishment.

One must bear in mind that Li Jiansan had been in the Azure Dragon Academy for less than three days, yet he had already accomplished numerous unbelievable feats.

Slaughtering an elder in anger, mercilessly butchering geniuses, slaying demonic beasts, instructing elders...

What kind of concepts were these?

Every single deed Li Jiansan had done was simply not something ordinary disciples could ever achieve.

Right now, absolutely no one viewed Li Jiansan through the lens of an ordinary person...

"What are you brats doing standing around here instead of cultivating in your cultivation chambers?"

At that moment, an imposing voice echoed from afar as an elder in grey robes walked over leisurely.

"Elder Min."

Following the arrival of the surrounding grey-robed elder, everyone bowed respectfully and called out.

Elder Min, the grey-robed elder standing before Li Jiansan, was none other than the old man from outside earlier. He was the administrative elder in charge of the cultivation grounds.

"What is going on here?" Elder Min demanded abruptly upon seeing Xu Zhidong's bloody arm, his voice stern.

After learning the sequence of events, Elder Min glanced at Xu Zhidong and frowned deeply. "Get lost over here. I will leave this matter to the academy to handle personally."

Soon after the matter subsided, Li Jiansan left the cultivation grounds.

However, those who knew about this incident treated Li Jiansan with utmost politeness thereafter, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.

For not long after, news spread that Xu Zhidong had been executed by the Azure Dragon Academy...

"Within the Azure Dragon Academy, factions are complex, conflicts are endless, and students are constantly at each other's throats. A faction like the Chu Gate is a transcendent power within the Azure Dragon Academy; even in the outer court, the Chu Gate has established its own outer court administration."

"You are right. Nearly half of the outer court in our Azure Dragon Academy is under the jurisdiction of the Chu Gate. But now that a Li Jiansan has emerged, I wonder what kind of landscape the outer court's power dynamics will turn into."

"Sigh... Right now, the Chu Gate is overwhelmingly dominant, suppressing everyone else so they can't even raise their heads. This is indeed extremely frustrating for us, but the academy simply won't interfere in such matters. After all, the Chu Gate possesses deep roots and powerful backing. Besides, the world has always been this way—in the martial dao struggles, everything ultimately depends on strength."

Upon catching sight of Li Jiansan, the surrounding newcomers could not help but begin discussing this top-ranked newcomer.

Although the Chu Gate held absolute sway in the Azure Dragon Academy, not all students accepted it willingly. Both inside and outside the academy, there were plenty of indignant voices among these newly arrived freshmen.

These newcomers would likely have to endure a harsh winter of trials after entering the Azure Dragon Academy.

"That fellow Li Jiansan is wildly arrogant. I heard that not long after entering the Azure Dragon Academy, he offended someone from the Chu Gate. Given the Chu Gate's temperament, it's safe to say he won't escape a relentless crackdown."

"You can say that again. Just earlier, when assigning residences, the Chu Gate deliberately gave the cold shoulder to Li Jiansan's little group of companions. To this day, they still haven't been assigned any housing."

Walking all the way forward, Li Jiansan's expression suddenly turned cold as he overheard these remarks.

"Fatty, what is going on?"

Li Jiansan arrived at a spacious plaza where only a handful of people stood, all of them students from the D-grade class. Everyone else who had entered alongside them had already been assigned residences.

Li Jiansan's cold eyes narrowed. It was abundantly clear that someone was deliberately targeting them!

"Brother Li, earlier when the Chu Gate people were distributing the residences, they demanded kickbacks from us. The few of us refused to pay, so..."

Just as Zhang Dabao was speaking, a man slowly walked over, dressed in a long black robe emblazoned with a prominent, hot-stamped Chinese character for "Chu".

His gaze was icy as he swept it across the people present, a look of disdain instantly crossing his face. "You few, are you truly this ignorant of the rules?"

Hearing this, Li Jiansan shifted his gaze to land on the black-robed student. "What rules?"

"Finally, an understanding person has shown up." The man smiled faintly, looking at Li Jiansan as he made a counting gesture with his hands. "We of the Chu Gate went through so much hardship to arrange your residences. Shouldn't you show some token of appreciation?"

"Heh, and what if I say no?"

Li Jiansan's expression instantly chilled, a terrifying frost erupting from his body and causing the surrounding air to drop significantly in temperature.

"Hissss!"

The man's expression froze as he drew in a sharp breath of cold air, goosebumps instantly covering his entire body.

The sheer momentum radiating from Li Jiansan left him rooted to the spot, completely paralyzed and unable to move.

"I, Han Dan of the Chu Gate, am specifically in charge of freshman housing. How dare you offend me? I'll make sure you regret crossing me."

He rolled his eyes, laughing coldly to himself.

The black-robed senior student named Han Dan was merely an odd-job student within the Chu Gate.

"Humph." Han Dan swept his gaze over Li Jiansan and the others, letting out a cold snort. "Follow me."

Han Dan led Li Jiansan and the others forward at a brisk pace. Before long, towering peaks came into view—numbering close to a thousand—crowned by magnificent clusters of residential courtyards.

Not only that, but rushing waterfalls cascaded down, their rolling waters tumbling three thousand miles in a most spectacular sight.

Wisps of rolling clouds and mist lingered vaguely between the peaks, resembling a realm where immortals cultivated, refreshing the mind and invigorating the spirit of anyone who beheld it.

"An empty valley with echoing responses, not bad."

Hearing the gentle whisper of the breeze around him, Li Jiansan could not help but sigh in admiration. Though nominally an academy, the Azure Dragon Academy was anything but ordinary; it was vast and boundless, covering millions of miles like an independent world of its own.

"The residences of the Azure Dragon Academy are truly insanely awesome. Just the living quarters for newcomers are this grandiose, resembling a royal palace."

Zhang Dabao was growing quite excited at this point. "I can't wait to move in already."

Hearing this, Han Dan frowned. "Who told you these were meant for you to live in?"

"Huh?" The group froze in surprise.

Following that, Han Dan led them swiftly past this pristine area before pointing toward a dilapidated little thatched cottage in the distance, sneering:

"The Azure Dragon Academy has no surplus courtyards left. You few will temporarily stay here."

"What!" Zhang Dabao glared furiously at Han Dan, puffing out his plump belly as he roared indignantly, "You expect us to live here?!"

"Based on our assessment scores, you actually expect us to live in a dump like this!"

This shabby thatched cottage compared to the magnificent courtyards from moments before was like the difference between heaven and earth. As an exemplary representative of the wealthy class, how could Zhang Dabao possibly endure such humiliation?

"You are clearly exacting revenge out of spite!"

Zixuan's gaze was equally frigid. How could she fail to see through Han Dan's intentions? If it were truly as Han Dan claimed and accommodation was tight, staying here might have been acceptable.

However, this was clearly a deliberate harassment and intentional humiliation on his part. Zixuan had no intention of swallowing such an insult.

"I worked so hard to help you arrange your housing, how could I possibly be taking revenge? You young miss look quite pretty, but I suggest you watch your mouth."

Han Dan was visibly displeased. "Our Azure Dragon Academy recruits nearly ten thousand students every year. Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation inevitably get tight at times. Would you have me throw them all out?"

Seeing that the group had fallen silent, Han Dan felt immensely pleased. *Newcomers like you dare to offend me? Once inside the academy, you'll have plenty of suffering ahead of you.*

"You're just deliberately making things difficult for us because we didn't give you kickbacks."

Xu Yan, the straightforward and blunt boy, directly exposed Han Dan's hidden agenda.

To his surprise, upon hearing this, Han Dan grew even more arrogant.

"Heh, since you know it in your hearts, why bother wasting your breath here? If you don't hurry up and grab your spots, you might not even have a thatched hut left."

"Dare to offend me? Do you know who I am? I am a man of the Chu Gate! I'll make sure your days here are a living nightmare!"