A Card In Hand

Chapter 100: Just Give It a Try!

Facing provocation, Cang Yue and Lie Feng were utterly infuriated.

Yet, Li Ao’s expression remained unusually calm, as if there was merely a small insect buzzing in his ear.

He waved his hand nonchalantly, “Senior Lie Yao, didn’t Prince Jinxi tell you that I am a pacifist?”

“How so? You still want to pretend to be a great demon king in front of me? With just a combat power of 2018?”

Lie Yao laughed heartily as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

“This guy must be insane!”

“A measly 2000 combat power is nothing in front of our Captain Lie Yao!”

“Not to mention talent, our captain’s combat power is more than double yours! You dare show off in front of our captain? You’re living in a dream!”

“I can’t wait to see this arrogant fool cry and beg for mercy when Captain Lie Yao beats him down.”

“If Prince Jinxi weren’t cursed, he could beat him down just as easily…”

“Just a bumpkin!”

Lie Yao’s comrades started jeering and taunting relentlessly behind him.

Cang Yue’s golden-silver demon eyes seemed about to shoot fire. All it would take was a gesture from Li Ao, and he would tear these fools to shreds.

Captain Bai Ya hurried over, positioning himself between the two confrontational sides: “Lie Yao, if there’s nothing else, please leave. Don’t cause trouble here. This is the Nine-Layer Ancient Prison, and I am the supervisor for the new recruits this term. If you change locations where I have no authority, you can do whatever you wish, but not here!”

Lie Yao laughed loudly.

He then pretended to notice Captain Bai Ya for the first time and performed an exaggerated gesture of courtesy.

“My apologies, Captain Bai Ya. I didn’t see you just now. Rest assured, we will give you face and won’t start a fight in front of you, no matter the verbal provocation we received. In fact, they haven’t earned the right for us to physically teach them a lesson. We merely wanted to interact with them as seniors to see if we could find even a hint of talent among them to befriend,” Lie Yao offered an excuse so absurd that even he felt it was ridiculous.

“I am honest and kind, making friends with me is a top choice,” Li Ao smiled.

“You’re not worthy of being my friend! Watch my lips, you’re not worthy!”

Lie Yao looked down on him with disdain.

“Bumpkin, you’re only fit for picking up dung…”

“No, I think he’s only fit to eat it!”

“Not wanting to be friends? What a pity! It seems you have cleverly missed the last chance for redemption in your life!” Li Ao spoke calmly, as if describing something perfectly normal. “Seniors, didn’t Prince Jinxi tell you, I can be a bit irritable? But that’s not my flaw. My only flaw is being too powerful. Please, seniors, do take note!”

“Really? Hahaha, do take note!”

Lie Yao pointed straight at Li Ao’s cheek, “Are you talking to me, bumpkin? You tell me to take note? Are you insane? What is your status, and what is mine? You’re just a bumpkin worth two feet of cow dung, while I? I am a noble from a distinguished family in the capital, with land and titles! What are you? Do you really think your little bit of combat power allows you to do whatever you want? Do you really believe that contracting a Demonic Rock Giant makes you some sort of great demon king? Let me tell you, in front of us, you’re less than a pile of dog shit!”

“I’ll tear you apart!”

Cang Yue was furious, ready to act, when Huo Mei slapped him on the top of his head, “Idiot!”

Cang Yue, fearless of heaven and earth, only feared his cousin’s temper.

He knew he had no part in this fight anymore.

His body instantly deflated, relaxing completely.

The rest of the students watched with eager anticipation as Lie Yao and his group continued their tirade.

They knew that no matter who came to persuade them next, it would be useless. Li Ao, the great demon king, was definitely going to turn hostile and strike.

Now, it was just a matter of seeing how Lie Yao and his group would end up defeated.

Li Ao looked at Captain Bai Ya, “Can I kill them?”

Everyone around fainted in shock.

You shouldn’t say outright that you want to kill someone!

Once said, how could Captain Bai Ya agree?

Sure enough, Captain Bai Ya slowly shook his head: “No, perhaps you can settle your differences or even fight to the death on the arena outside, but while I am on duty, you cannot engage in a fight to the death!”

“You want to fight me? If Captain Bai Ya wasn’t here, I assure you your face would already be rubbing against the sole of my shoe!” Lie Yao disdainfully slapped Li Ao’s cheek with his palm, his tone utterly arrogant. “Little rookie, are you angry? Try and hit me, I dare you. Guess what would happen if you did? Although I promised Captain Bai Ya I wouldn’t initiate a fight, self-defense doesn’t count under his watch. Go on, try touching me with even a finger!”

“Let’s try then!”

Li Ao’s fist sparkled, and a fraction of a second later, his thunderous punch smashed heavily into Lie Yao’s face.

Lie Yao roared as he was violently flung over a hundred meters away.

His entire body.

He smashed into the earth like a meteor, deeply embedding himself into the ground.

Instantly, the ground trembled and dust shot up into the sky.

The situation changed so rapidly that not only Lie Yao’s companions were caught off guard, but even Captain Bai Ya couldn’t react in time.

Were they starting a fight now?

It didn’t matter to him how they verbally sparred with each other, but to start a physical altercation in front of him seemed quite inappropriate.

“Captain Bai Ya, I’ve thought it over, and indeed, killing people isn’t right, especially since I’m a pacifist,” Li Ao emphasized his kind and peaceful nature, then suddenly pivoted, “But hitting someone should be fine, as long as they don’t die!”

“How can that be fine?” Captain Bai Ya choked on his words upon hearing this.

“Of course, it’s fine. Hitting someone is a good deed! Faced with his earnest request, even though I’m extremely reluctant, to fulfill and realize his longstanding wish, I must endure the pain in my heart, sacrifice myself, and make the tough decision to hit him!” Li Ao spoke with utter sincerity, as if this were the truth he had sought all his life.

Li Ao said, and his classmates all nodded in agreement.

“Right.”

“You make a lot of sense, we almost believed it.”

Captain Bai Ya listened, dumbfounded, to such tactics. “Are the newcomers really using these tricks? Why didn’t we think of that back in our day? When we used to fight among classmates, we had to secretly arrange a place to fight and sneak back afterwards, not daring to make a fuss. Compared to this new generation, we were absolutely weak!”

“Oh, my eyes!” Captain Bai Ya covered his face with his hand, murmuring to himself, “When will this intermittent blindness of mine ever heal?”

“You guys?” Seeing something amiss, Lie Yao’s companions realized something.

It seemed Captain Bai Ya was not going to intervene.

They hurriedly summoned their strongest war beast.

But before their summoning could succeed.

Li Ao raised his hand, and a gigantic rock shockwave had already crashed onto their heads, booming loudly as it sent everyone flying in an instant!

Struggling painfully to rise from the huge pit created by the shockwave, they faced an unexpected scene.

By now, the edge of the pit had unknowingly filled with onlookers.

Watching the disheveled group before her, Huo Mei, with flames of fury burning around her, shook her head and said, “Such weak opponents are truly boring. I’ll leave them to you!”

With a graceful wave of her hand, she extinguished the flames around her body and soared effortlessly into the air.

Mid-air, she casually took out a golden comb, contentedly tending to her fiery long hair.

“I won’t bother with such trash either!” On the other side, the icy man, Shuanghan, also stepped back, indicating his refusal to join the fight.

“Can you let us handle it, Cang Yue? If you guys get involved, we won’t be able to have any fun!” Zhao Kong was bargaining with Cang Yue, while the fierce generals from his side had already charged forward.

Lie Feng was the fastest.

Man Huang and Zao Chi closely followed, whereas Youjin, always keen on sneaking attacks, never foolishly charged head-on.

Tie Zheng, fists clenched, furiously unleashed the bloodline power within him, his source energy bursting forth from a state of rest like a volcanic eruption.

Qiu Ye, frightened by the sight, quickly flew away, recognizing that Tie Zheng, typically a straightforward man, had genuinely been provoked.

Previously, Lie Yao had twice instigated conflicts, targeting both Fuxi and Li Ao.

Tie Zheng, due to the presence of team captain Bai Ya, had been unable to react.

But with pent-up frustration swelling inside him, and seeing Li Ao engaging openly in battle—with Bai Ya stepping aside under the assurance that Li Ao wouldn’t kill the opponent—how could he miss such an opportunity?

Though he didn’t possess the terrifying power of a demon king like Li Ao, as the future head of the Ironclad Family, Tie Zheng certainly had the resolve to defend the dignity and safety of his family members to the death.

With a resounding roar, the fully unleashed Tie Zheng resembled a steel giant, his presence towering: “You bunch of scum, take my punch!”

His furious punch blasted out, as if the entire sky was about to be shattered by him.

The shockwave spread at an extreme speed.

Faster than sound, his iron fist, carrying streaks of lightning, struck the battleground in the deep pit where fighters were fiercely clashing, boom! The violent shockwave indiscriminately blasted everyone in the battlefield into the air!

Lie Feng and his classmates knew the terror of a normally calm person losing their temper.

Seeing Tie Zheng unleashing his punch and striking down,

They immediately scattered.

All kinds of dodging.

No one wanted to take the brunt of such an angry iron fist assault.

On the other side of the battlefield, Captain Bai Ya was intently focused on the changes in the battle scenario.

He wasn’t worried about Li Ao getting hurt, but rather concerned that the lad might go too far and kill Lie Yao… If no one died, however heavy the beating, it was just a brawl among the younger generation, which could easily be brushed off—don’t all kids fight? But if someone died under his watch, no amount of explanation could clear his name.

“Nowadays, none of the youngsters are worry-free!” Captain Bai Ya couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.

Li Ao took measured steps toward Lie Yao, who was still lying in the huge mud pit.

His steps were neither slow nor hurried.

Lie Yao, from the bottom of the mud pit, blasted into the air with a boom.

Covered in mud, with a face twisted into a ferocious snarl, he hovered in mid-air, glaring down at the slowly approaching Li Ao and let out a bitter roar, “You’re dead! You bumpkin, you’ve thoroughly enraged me! You dare hit me? I’ll tear you to pieces and then devour you bite by bite!”

The next second,

Li Ao’s glowing fist once again heavily smashed into his face…