Chapter 86: School Bullying
Translator: Ash Editor: Geoffrey
After a moment of hesitation, Li Yao said, "Principal Mao, I have angered some very powerful figures from Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School. Aren't you afraid that your Mining Clan High School will become the target of their anger if you took me in?"
Principal Mao laughed as he pointed at the surroundings, speaking in a self-deprecating tone, "Take a look around. As far as my school is concerned, it is the worst high school in Floating Spear City. Only the children of penniless miners would come here to study and that too only for the purpose of getting into a technical school to learn cooking, maintenance, or some similar expertise in other fields. How would they take revenge?"
"Alright!"
Li Yao felt warm in his heart. He continuously nodded his head. "Grandpa Wang, Principal Mao, thank you for your kindness. I have decided to attend the college entrance examinations as a student of your Mining Clan High School. However, since I have already found a training room, I won’t always come to school. I hope you do not mind."
"It does not matter. Anyways, you just have to register your name to ease your way into the college entrance examinations, that's all. However, training rooms outside are very expensive, especially before the college entrance examination. Many training rooms will use 'Crash Course' type rooms as a way to cheat examinees of their money. You can’t be fooled. If you can get a refund, then you should take it. Train in the school and save a little bit!" Principal Mao said.
Li Yao smiled. Principal Mao's character was almost the same as Grandpa Wong; both were sincere and kind men.
He shook his head. "It's alright. It’s my friend's training room, so its cost is very cheap."
"Oh!"
Principal Mao exclaimed and no longer tried to persuade Li Yao. He then said, "Student Li Yao, wait here for a while. If you’d like, you can look around and familiarize yourself with the environment. I'll settle the account for today's maintenance with Old Wang first, then I’ll check how I should complete your procedures. To be honest with you, it has always been our students who transferred to another school. If I’m not wrong, in the past few decades, we have not received even a single transfer student from another school. Hahahaha, I will go and sort out a few files. You just need to sign a few papers."
"Alright, I'll definitely go all out in the college entrance examination to win glory for the Mining Clan High School!" Li Yao said in a serious tone.
Principal Mao laughed jovially. Regarding Li Yao's commitment, he made no comments. The two old men, with arms around each's shoulder, went inside the office building.
Li Yao, with hands behind his back, leisurely explored the simple and crude campus. His mood was pretty good.
Helian Lie, Zhao Shude, and Hei Mianshen... All of them were not optimistic about him, did not believe him, and treated him like a cripple, like trash.
However, there were others who were unconditionally good to him, like Ding Lingdang who believed in him, Fiend Blade Peng Hai who was optimistic about him, Grandpa Wang who had been very concerned about him since he could remember, and the recently acquainted Principal Mao also didn’t hesitate to support him!
He was not alone; he had so many people who believed in him, cared for him, and supported him. Why would he have any reason to fail the exam?
"Are you the guy who was kicked out of Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School and had to transfer to our Mining Clan High School?"
"Are you that fleeting Fiend Star from the news?"
"Obviously, he was just repairing the crystal tubes inside the classroom. His dirty appearance fits very well with our school. No wonder he was kicked out from Crimson Nimbus Second Senior High School!"
The three burst into laughter.
Li Yao raised his head to look the three who were speaking. All three were tall and mighty; the shortest among them was approximately 190 cm tall, while the tallest was almost 2 m tall. They had well-developed muscles and wrapping around their bodies was a simple yet crude school uniform that was spun from coarse cloth. A casual movement would seemingly tear their uniform apart.
Looking at their appearance...
All three were vicious as their faces were filled with arrogance. Apparently, they were the bullies of Mining Clan High School.
Li Yao heaved a sigh. In a flash, he jumped back two meters and tossed a fist-sized pebble on the ground with his toe before sending out a punch!
"Crack!" The pebble was smashed into pieces, and its fragments splattered on the three faces, bringing them quite a bit of pain.
"Correct, I am that fleeting Fiend Star. Today, I have just transferred to Mining Clan High School. May I ask, is this the legendary school bullying?" Li Yao enthusiastically asked as he patted his hands to dust off the powder on his fists.
Silence. The three were struck with silence as if they had been subjected to some restraining technique. They remained silent for a total of ten seconds before they could wake from their stupor.
"Of course not! When we heard that there was a new student, you have no idea how happy we were! We are responsible for welcoming the new students!"
"Right, although our Mining Clan High School's teaching quality is very poor, our school's spirit is indescribably a lot better. Between fellow students, there is only a sense of unity and friendship. Everyone here is family. School bullying in Mining Clan High School? I’ve never heard about this!"
"Come, come, fellow student Li Yao. No, please allow us to call you 'Brother Yao'. Wow! Brother Yao's punch is truly powerful. Just in this punch alone, I’m afraid that there was over a thousand pound of force! Brother Yao, if you have some time, be sure to instruct your little brothers a little!"
...
Inside the principal office, Old Wang sincerely said, "Old friend, I truly have to thank you. You have really helped me out!"
Principal Mao smiled and said, "Small stuff. About student Li Yao, I have seen it on the news; a genius with a promising future, but because of an accident, he fell from the sky, unable to cultivate again. It is truly pitiful! Not to mention he is also your friend. Even if you never knew each other, so long as it came to my attention, I would also be very willing to help such a child."
"Yes!"
Old Wang heaved a long sigh as a drop of tear trickled down from the corner of his eye. "Unfortunately, it is truly pitiful. If it was someone else, they would definitely be unable to withstand such a blow. They would have long been reduced to a shadow of their past. But this brat is rather strong-willed — ‘His body might be disabled, but his will is firm’'. He is still planning to attend this year's college entrance examination. Didn't you see? He behaved so calmly in front of us and even staged a completely confident look. This truly puts me at ease. It is truly..."
"Indeed, Student Li Yao has an indomitable spirit. I was very moved. You don't need to worry. Even if he can’t go to college this year, he can still study at Mining Clan High School next year. So long as I, Dagang Mao, am still here, the doors to the Mining Clan High School will always be open for him.
While talking, Principal Mao walked to a window to get a fresh breath of air.
"Hey!"
As he arbitrarily glanced over to the ground, he suddenly exclaimed.
"What happened?"
Old Wang went to the window and looked around on the ground.
In front of the office building at the playground, three stocky and imposing muscular boys nodded and bowed as they respectfully followed Li Yao to an antique Strength Testing Machine.
In an instant, Principal Mao’s face turned dark and bitter as he clenched his teeth and said, "These good-for-nothing punks! I just left for a few minutes and they are already bullying the new student. Awful! I have taught them to be better than this — they should not be doing this!"
"That’s not right." Old Wang scratched his bald head, hesitated a moment, and then said, "It doesn’t seem like they are bullying."
"Yeah, it is a little odd. What are they doing? Do they want to test Li Yao's punching force? What a joke! Student Li Yao's spiritual root is torn; he is already a cripple, yet they still want to test his punching force! Do they want to make a joke out of student Li Yao!?" Principal Mao was extremely furious. As he prepared to stop them, Old Wang grabbed his shoulder.
Standing before the Strength Testing Machine, Li Yao had already taken three steps back, pulled his right fist as far back as he could, as if he was a cannon ready to fire, and postured himself to send out a punch with his right fist.
"He —"
Principal Mao blinked his eyes. Although he was not a cultivator, during his youth, he had been to the battlefield and had seen the blood of many soldiers. Despite being separated by a few dozen meters, he was still able to sense the exceptionally powerful and dangerous aura emitted from Li Yao.
In an instant, Principal Mao returned to a few decades back — to the moment when he had an unexpected encounter with a demon beast in a corner of the trenches in the front-lines.
Principle Mao shrunk his neck as he was suddenly covered in goosebumps.
Li Yao remained motionless, yet his aura continued to increase. The air around him became a little distorted, creating a field exclusive to him.
The three muscular boys near Li Yao, upon noticing the strangeness, involuntarily retreated 3-4 steps.
"His aura is exceptionally strong. His spiritual root is obviously torn, so how is this possible?" Principal Mao muttered to himself. Without a single blink, Principal Mao watched with widely opened eyes, carefully observing Li Yao’s each and every action.
—— But he missed everything! In his eyes, Li Yao had completely turned into a blur. In only one hundredth of a second, his right fist had ruthlessly landed upon the Strength Testing Machine.
"Boom!"
Even inside his office, the cups on Principal Mao's table madly shook.
"How’s that possible? That’s completely crazy!"
Principal Mao's eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. He immediately looked at the counter above the Strength Testing Machine; however, the numbers on the counter were quickly changing as if the shockwave of his punch had spread to the interior of the machine — like a flood, it was out of control!
Finally ——
"Boom!"
From inside the Strength Testing Machine rang a thunderous explosion as a mass of black smoke slowly rose into the air, spreading a strong smell of fire and metal!
Like a shot beast, the Strength Testing Machine swayed for three seconds as it held its ground before it finally collapsed completely, turning into a pile of crushed parts!
This punch of Li Yao had surprisingly sent this antique — with over a hundred years of history — to its grave!
"This——"
Inside the office, Principal Mao and Old Wang were like two wooden statues that had been carved using rooted trees — they stood aghast!
After over a minute of silence, Principal Mao reached out for a cup whilst his hands continued to shiver. The cup made a series of tattering noises as it collided with his teeth. He chugged down the entire tea into his stomach in one go.
"Are you sure he… he is crippled?" Principal Mao stammered as he asked.
"Yes, yes," Old Wang also stammered as he replied.
"Can a cripple’s punch wreck a Strength Testing Machine!? Was he some Nascent Soul Stage old devil in the past before he fell!?” Principal Mao screamed.