From Death To Dominion

The humiliation was unbearable.

Ye Qianying's eyes turned frosty. "How about I teach you a lesson instead?"

Lu Wen gritted his teeth. "Ye Xian, do you only know how to hide behind a woman? Be a man and face me properly!"

Ye Xian smirked. "Ah, but this is what it means to be a real man. Do you have a woman as beautiful as my Qianying willing to protect you? No? Not even in your dreams, huh? With that face of yours, the only thing you'll attract is a pig."

He turned to Riener. "What do you think?"

"Oink, oink," Riener replied, causing the students to burst into laughter.

Lu Wen's face burned with embarrassment. He wanted nothing more than to beat Ye Xian into the ground.

"You'll regret this," Lu Wen growled. "You hide behind women now, but you'll end up as a kept man in the future!"

Ye Xian smirked. "This is called mooching, my dear Lu Wen. Jealous, are you? If you had the ability, why don't you mooch off a beautiful woman too? Oh, wait—you don't."

Lu Wen clenched his fists. "Only weaklings rely on women! A real man—"

Ye Xian smirked, his tone dripping with mock concern.

"Ah, so that's it—you're going to be single forever. No wonder you're so angry all the time."

He paused, then gasped in mock realization.

"Wait… don't tell me…"

He glanced at the two young men standing beside his opponent and pointed at them with exaggerated suspicion.

"Is that why you're dragging them around everywhere? You prefer men instead?"

The crowd erupted into laughter, some students nearly doubling over in amusement. Even those trying to maintain a neutral stance couldn't help but smirk at Ye Xian's relentless taunts.

His opponent's face twisted in rage, veins bulging at his temples. "Y-You—! Shut your damn mouth!"

Ye Xian simply chuckled, folding his arms. "Hey, no judgment here! Love knows no boundaries. But next time, maybe try chasing handsome sidekicks instead of ugly pigs?"

The laughter in the crowd only grew louder, fueling his opponent's fury to the brink of explosion. Riener nearly doubled over. Even Ye Qianying felt awkward—she never knew Ye Xian could infuriate people so effortlessly.

Lu Wen's face twisted in fury. "Ye Xian, the moment I get my hands on you, I'll make you regret everything!"

Ye Xian smirked. " Well I did say chase handsome man but I'm booked so look for another one."

Lu Wen was enraged and was about to bark when Ye Xian interrupted him. " If you want to teach me a lesson, how about a duel? I know you've been itching for one."

Ye Qianying frowned. "Ye Xian, what are you doing?"

"Don't worry," he reassured her with a confident smile. "Just trust me."

She hesitated but eventually nodded. "Alright."

Lu Wen's eyes glowed with excitement. This was his chance. He would defeat Ye Xian in front of everyone, humiliate him, prove his superiority, and perhaps even earn Ye Qianying's admiration show how weak Ye Xian.

Ye Xian's grin widened as he leaned forward slightly. "But let's make it interesting," he said, his voice brimming with confidence. "A wager of 5,000 ki stones."

Lu Wen burst into laughter, arms crossed as he looked at Ye Xian with amusement. "Five thousand ki stones? Do you even have that much?"

Ye Xian smirked. "You should be more concerned about yourself. How are you going to get 5,000 ki stones?"

Then, his gaze shifted to a familiar face standing behind Lu Wen—a chubby student he had already defeated previous time before. Ye Xian clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"And then there's you, Fatty. You must really love getting beaten by me. What is this now, our third encounter? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you had a hobby of losing to me."

The crowd erupted into laughter. Even a few students from the elite Sky Class, who had gathered to watch, smirked at the chubby student's increasingly red face.

"You! Don't be so arrogant!" Fatty snapped, his humiliation turning into anger. "Lu Wen is here this time—let's see how cocky you'll be after he crushes you!"

Ye Xian stroked his chin, feigning deep thought.

"Hmm… If I recall correctly, last time you said something similar. And what happened? Oh, that's right—I wiped the floor with you."

He sighed dramatically.

"And yet, here you are again. You know, if stupidity were a martial art, you'd be an elder in its sect."

Laughter exploded through the crowd, some students clutching their stomachs from laughing too hard. Even Ye Qianying, who was usually composed, let out a faint chuckle before quickly regaining her usual calm expression. Riener, on the other hand, was completely losing it, gasping for air as he laughed.

Not far away, Steve—another of Ye Xian's former opponents—was grinding his teeth in frustration. Having already suffered humiliation at Ye Xian's hands, he was now being dragged into the ridicule once more. "Ye Xian, don't think you're invincible just because you got lucky against me using underhanded method !"

He snapped.

"Lu Wen is at the Initiate Stage of the Element Disciple Realm—his strength is leagues beyond yours!"

Ye Xian turned to him, his expression suddenly exaggerated with concern.

"Oh no, Steve, you're absolutely right! He's leagues above me! I should be trembling in fear—except, wait a moment…" He paused, tapping his chin.

"Didn't you say the same thing about yourself before I kicked your ass or slap your face?"

The crowd howled in laughter, while Steve's face twisted with rage. Before he could fire back, Ye Xian continued mercilessly.

"Let's be honest, Steve. You talk big, but when it comes to actual combat, you fold like a cheap paper talisman. Do you even train? Or do you just stand in front of a mirror all day, practicing your 'young master' lines?"

At this, some students completely lost it, doubling over in laughter.

Lu Wen's patience finally snapped. His fists clenched as he stepped forward. "Enough of your nonsense, Ye Xian! Are you ready for this duel or not?!"

Ye Xian smirked, completely unfazed. "Of course I am. But as I said—5,000 ki stones. If you're too broke to afford that, just say so. No shame in admitting you're poor."

Lu Wen's expression darkened. He did have 5,000 ki stones, but losing them would be a huge setback. He had spent the past two months saving up to buy a new sword, and if he lost this bet, it would be all for nothing. But backing down now? In front of all these people? That wasn't an option.

However, rather than feeling pressured, Lu Wen's confidence surged. His lips curled into a smirk as he cracked his knuckles. Ye Xian thinks he can challenge me? he scoffed inwardly. Foolish. My strength is on an entirely different level from his. There's no way I'll lose.

"Fine!" he growled. "I accept your wager! But show me your ki stones first!"

Ye Xian's grin only widened. He turned to Ye Qianying with a shameless, pleading look in his eyes. "Big sis, help your dear little brother out?"

Ye Qianying sighed, shaking her head.

"I hope you know what you're doing,"

she said, retrieving a small but elegant space ring from her sleeve.

"Here. In this ring, there are around twenty thousand ki stones." She placed it in Ye Xian's palm.

The crowd fell into stunned silence.

Twenty thousand ki stones.

Everyone knew how precious ki stones were. Even in special auctions, a single piece could be worth between five to ten gold coins. For a student to casually pull out twenty thousand of them was simply unheard of.

Even Lu Wen looked shaken. He only had around 5,000 ki stones, and that had taken him two months to accumulate. He had planned to use them to buy a powerful sword, but now, compared to Ye Xian, he looked completely insignificant.

Still, he quickly regained his composure. So what if he has more wealth? he thought. Ki stones don't fight battles—strength does. And in that department, he's nothing compared to me!

Ye Xian turned the ring over in his fingers, admiring it with a smirk.

"Not bad, not bad at all…"

He infused a trace of his spiritual sense into the ring, and instantly, he could see its contents—twenty thousand ki stones, neatly stacked, glowing with pure energy.

The space inside the ring was 10 meters wide—far superior to his own space pouch, which barely held one cubic meter.

Satisfied, he winked at Ye Qianying.

"Relax, Qianying. Just sit back and enjoy the show."

As he spoke, he casually tossed the space ring in the air and caught it again, his confidence completely unshaken.

The tension in the air grew thick.

Lu Wen's eyes gleamed with battle intent. Laugh all you want, Ye Xian, he thought. Once we step into the arena, I'll make sure you never laugh again.

The students around them murmured excitedly. This was no longer just a simple challenge.