The crowd followed the voice and saw that the speaker was none other than one of the five heroes - Triple Furious Axe, Lin Hao.

No one retorted because this was an obvious truth. In fact, the trio would have killed Fan Bai then moved on to kill Li Qiye as well. It was understandable for Fan Bai to kill them now after winning.

In reality, Zhang Yunzhi was wasting his breath. Li Qiye didn’t give a damn about him and Fan Bai only listened to Li Qiye.

“This will ruin the atmosphere of Duality.” Zhang Yunzhi frowned and said.

Lin Hao snorted in response: “Three top students attacking a new cultivator, that’s what Duality is about? Nothing is worse than this in the first place, they’ve embarrassed themselves; it’s their fault for being weaker.”

Lin Hao was as direct as can be. Zhang Yunzhi’s expression soured but still kept his cool

The students thought about it and some agreed with Lin Hao. Nothing was more humiliating than three grown men losing to a little girl. This wasn’t the spirit of Duality Academy.

Of course, none of them said anything because they had wanted to chase Fan Bai out.

“Do it.” Li Qiye told Fan Bai, ignoring the plea.

Fan Bai took a deep breath and walked slowly forward. She was in the best state of mind, no longer a frightened girl.

“Don’t, don’t be insane!” Zhang Changyu turned pale with fear as he shouted: “This is a serio-serious offense in Duality..”

Fan Bai ignored him; she only had ears for Li Qiye.

Yan Jingxuan was overwhelmed with dread as death was approaching. He shouted: “I am a prince! Touc-touch a hair of mine and there will be no place, for you in the holy ground…”

“Li Qiye! Tell her to stop!” Huang Qibing bellowed.

Unfortunately, Li Qiye didn’t listen. Fan Bai moved her hand and brimmed with Buddhist energy.

No one saw how she did it but the technique was already underway.

“Boom!” It smashed onto the three, reducing them to particles before they could scream. The particles then scattered with the wind; nothing was left behind.

The crowd couldn’t believe it. The trio was so confident at the start and now they no longer existed.

Zhang Yunzhi’s expression became ugly. These three were his henchmen or little brothers. Now, they died because of Li Qiye in spite of his pleading. Li Qiye didn’t give him any face at all. He scowled and left, not wanting to linger behind.

He arrived in a cool manner while leaving in the opposite way. This was quite embarrassing but all he could do right now was to hold a grudge.

“Anyone else wants to chase her away?” Li Qiye smiled and asked the crowd.

Meanwhile, Fan Bai calmly stood still like an entirely different person. She could finally stare straight at the crowd and meet their eyes without hesitation.

It didn’t matter if they thought of her as the Foredoomed Star. This was no longer important since she knew that she was just herself.

Those shouting earlier for her banishment kept their mouth shut this time after seeing the demise of the trio.

“Leave if there’s nothing else.” Lin Hao laughed and told them.

They exchanged glances and started dispersing. As they were leaving, one student murmured: “How could a new cultivator defeat those three? Magic or sorcery?”

“Who knows? I didn’t even see how she did it.” His friend shook his head.

Everyone saw her move her hand up and down but that’s it. They didn’t notice anything peculiar yet it was enough to defeat three powerful cultivators.

“Are you forgetting that she’s the Foredoomed Star? Maybe she used this ominous power. Well, we just don’t know anything about this evil power.” A smart student speculated.

Many found this to be a logical explanation.

“No, I feel that her power is very close to Buddhism. It’s similar to Heavenly Dragon Temple.” A stronger student mused.

“No way, Heavenly Dragon Temple is a system of our holy ground. Its power comes from the blessing of the Buddhist dao lords. She has a cursed fate, how can she use Buddhist power?” Someone disagreed.

Most thought that Fan Bai couldn’t possess an orthodox power of the Buddhist doctrine. They assumed that she had access to an evil and ominous force.

***

The old man on top of White Deer Peak stopped watching. He sat back down on his chair and sighed while feeling pretty good: “I’m so lucky… truly unfathomable…”

Fan Bai was just a regular girl yet Li Qiye immediately taught her how to borrow the power of the holy ground. This was terrifying.

He was shocked to see the process because very few in this world could do so. Just the little girl was dreadful, what about the master?

He shivered and thought that he was wise for being subservient.

***

After the students were gone, Lin Hao came closer and bowed towards Li Qiye: “Dao Brother, I was blind back then and didn’t know that you are a master blacksmith. Please forgive me.”

A while ago when Li Qiye criticized his weapon refinement, he didn’t agree and thought that Li Qiye was spouting nonsense.

However, he was smart enough to change his mind after seeing the guy lift the hammer on top of the pinnacle.

He came back and carefully thought about his own weapon and other possibilities within the refinement process. Eventually, he chose to believe Li Qiye and came here specifically to seek advice.

“What is it?” Li Qiye said flatly to the polite guest.

He smiled wryly and rubbed his head: “Dao Brother, I took my time to consider your comment last time and I think there are problems with my refinement process. I come here to respectfully ask for guidance.” Lin Hao got straight to the point.

Li Qiye glanced at him and responded: “Your stupidity is still salvageable, able to change your mind.”

Lin Hao coughed awkwardly after hearing this comment. He then sincerely asked: “Dao Brother, what are the flaws with my technique?”

“The problem isn’t your technique.” Li Qiye said: “It’s that you’re too persistent, brittleness comes with toughness, think about it.” He then entered the temple again.

“Brittleness…” Lin Hao took his time pondering.