“Ugh, I thought Qi Yuntian was really impressive, but it turns out he’s just a show-off.”
“Yeah, almost hurt himself just to show off. Totally unnecessary.”
These whispered comments among the crowd were extremely grating, making Qi Yuntian’s originally handsome face twist with anger.
He admitted that he had overdone it a bit earlier, but how did Terra Su see through him? Was Terra Su’s observation really that sharp?
Qi Yuntian wasn’t usually the type to be overly vain. He had tried so hard to show off mainly to catch Gu Qianyin’s attention. But instead of impressing her, he got exposed on the spot, making him feel extremely embarrassed. If it weren’t for the public setting, he might have spat out blood in anger.
However, Qi Yuntian knew he couldn’t afford to lose face by spitting blood; that would make him a laughingstock.
Not all the students were mocking Qi Yuntian, though. Quite a few spoke up in his defense.
“I think it’s already impressive that Young Master Qi can lift a five-thousand-pound cauldron. You guys who can’t even lift a two-thousand-pound one have no right to mock him.”
“Exactly, you low-born bumpkins are destined to be mere foils to Young Master Qi. Shut up.”
Many of Qi Yuntian’s supporters, all from noble families, spoke out, looking down on those who mocked him for being from humble backgrounds.
This made the faces of the students who had been mocking Qi Yuntian turn pale. “What did you say?”
“Hmph, did we say anything wrong?” the noble students sneered. “You low-born bumpkins should know your place and keep your heads down. How dare you criticize noble scions? Even the worst of us are better than you.”
This was blatant contempt for the talented students from humble backgrounds.
Despite their flushed faces, the low-born students couldn’t find words to refute, because it was true. Getting into Anyang Academy was already a great achievement for them, but even then, they would always be overshadowed by the nobles due to lack of resources.
This was the situation at Anyang Academy every year, without exception.
At this moment, one of Qi Yuntian’s lackeys dramatically slapped his forehead and shouted, “Young Master Qi, why do you push yourself so hard? You’ve been overexerting yourself in training these days, and you even got injured yesterday while trying to break through to the next level. You couldn’t even use eighty percent of your usual strength. Why push yourself so hard?”
Immediately, the other lackeys caught on and chimed in, “Yeah, Young Master Qi, if it weren’t for your internal injuries, how could your hands have given out?”
“Exactly, Young Master Qi, you’re just too hard on yourself. Sigh!”
Their words seemed to smooth things over, and to those who didn’t know the truth, it sounded plausible.
“Pathetic excuse.”
Gu Qianyin snorted, clearly disdainful of such a lame excuse to save face.
Yuan Qingcheng also realized what was happening and quickly slapped his forehead, pretending to be self-reproachful. “This is all my fault. I knew Junior Brother Qi was injured, but I still let him participate in the strength test. Junior Brother Qi, I’m sorry.”
Terra Su couldn’t help but twitch his eyelids at Yuan Qingcheng’s shamelessness. To see an upper division Class A genius fawn over a new student like this was beyond his expectations.
“Terra Su!”
At this moment, Yuan Qingcheng suddenly remembered Terra Su.
He turned to Terra Su and said indifferently, “From your tone earlier, it seems you don’t think much of Junior Brother Qi. Why don’t you try lifting a cauldron yourself and see how many you can lift?”
“Yeah, if you have the guts to mock others, why not try it yourself?”
“I bet with that scrawny body of his, he can’t even lift a five-hundred-pound cauldron.”
Qi Yuntian’s lackeys immediately seized the opportunity to attack Terra Su.
“Look at his shabby clothes. He must be another low-born bumpkin. How dare he mock Young Master Qi? He should look at himself first.”
“Exactly, people from humble backgrounds are all trash.”
Terra Su raised an eyebrow. This was getting interesting. Yuan Qingcheng’s deliberate provocation was one thing, but these noble scions were openly belittling low-born students, almost trampling them into the mud.
Given Terra Su’s personality, he wouldn’t tolerate this.
He raised his eyes and said calmly, “You want to compare cauldron lifting?”
“Heh, don’t kid yourself. If you can lift a thousand-pound cauldron, I’ll be impressed.”
“Yeah, and if you can’t, don’t blame us for saying you made a fool of yourself.”
Qi Yuntian’s lackeys eagerly mocked him.
Yuan Qingcheng chuckled coldly, “Junior Brother Terra, strength testing is mandatory for all new students. You’ll have to lift a cauldron whether you want to or not. But let me remind you, if you can’t even lift a thousand-pound cauldron after looking down on Junior Brother Qi, you’ll be the one losing face.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
Terra Su said calmly, then walked towards the row of cauldrons.
“Wait.”
Yuan Qingcheng smiled, “Since you seem so confident, why don’t we make a small bet? If you can’t lift a thousand-pound cauldron, you’ll go to the Elixir Path division and kneel to Senior Brother Shen Chuan, admitting you were wrong to disrespect him the other day. How about that?”
“Of course, if you can lift a thousand-pound cauldron, I’ll apologize to you on the spot for underestimating you,” Yuan Qingcheng added.
“Who are you, and why should I bet with you?” Terra Su retorted.
Yuan Qingcheng was momentarily stunned, then sneered, “Looks like you know you can’t lift a thousand-pound cauldron, so you’re afraid to bet.”
Terra Su couldn’t be bothered with Yuan Qingcheng, this insignificant character. He walked past him towards the row of cauldrons.
Yuan Qingcheng watched Terra Su with a cold smile, convinced that with his Condensing Origin Realm seventh-level cultivation, Terra Su couldn’t possibly lift the thousand-pound cauldron.
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