Chapter 26: Protection Fee

The sky was already bright when Jianchen passed by the playground again. There were already many students active on the playground. Jianchen calmly observed the students on the playground, but his steps continued straight toward the library. Over these three days, Jianchen had been practicing the Holy Power and had not yet visited the library. To him, the only thing that could attract him in this academy was the books in the library. As for the courses taught by the teachers, Jianchen simply did not bother to listen; to him, it was undoubtedly a waste of time. Most of what the teachers taught was of no use to him. Even if there were a few things that interested him, he believed he could find them in the books in the library. After all, the library's collection was so extensive that it almost recorded everything on the Tianyuan Continent.

"Hey, look, isn't that Changyang Xiangtian? I heard he defeated the Saint, Cardiwen, with just the eighth level of Holy Power..."

"Yeah, yeah, I saw Changyang Xiangtian fight at the Freshman Martial Arts Competition. Unfortunately, I didn't see his battle with Cardiwen, it's such a pity..."

On the playground, two male students who saw Jianchen stood at a distance, pointing at him and whispering. Their gazes were filled with admiration.

"Wow, Changyang Xiangtian is so handsome, and he's so powerful. He can defeat a Saint with just the eighth level of Holy Power. He's truly my idol..." A noble girl, about the same age as Jianchen, with a very ordinary appearance, stared at Jianchen with bright eyes, whispering excitedly.

The playground was already crowded, and Jianchen's bold walk soon caught the attention of more and more people. Instantly, everyone, without exception, stood at a distance, watching Jianchen and whispering. Since Jianchen defeated the Saint, Cardiwen, three days ago, his name had spread throughout the campus in a short time. Now, even the teachers at Kagas Academy knew Jianchen's name.

Jianchen quickly crossed the playground and came to a tree-lined path, one of the routes to the library. Since few people in the academy went to the library, this tree-lined path was very quiet, with almost no one in sight. The path was lined with fallen leaves, which rustled in the gentle breeze, creating a "soughing" sound as countless leaves danced in the air.

At this moment, several figures suddenly appeared in front of Jianchen, laughing and talking as they walked toward him. There were four people, all about ten years old, wearing the academy's uniform. From this, it was clear that they were students of the academy.

Jianchen did not pay attention to the four students in front of him and continued on his way. However, just as Jianchen approached them, intending to pass by, the four suddenly moved as if they had planned it, surrounding Jianchen from four directions.

Jianchen stopped, looking calmly at the four students who were older than him, a faint smile of contempt appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Seniors, may I ask what your intentions are?"

Although the four were wearing the academy's uniform, it did not hide the arrogance on their faces.

"Kid, you look new, probably just arrived." The one facing Jianchen sneered, staring at him sharply.

Jianchen remained calm, his eyes meeting the speaker's gaze without any change, and he smiled lightly. "Yes, I am new. May I ask what advice the seniors have for me?"

Hearing this, the young man laughed. "If you want to stay in the academy, you need our protection. But to get our protection, you have to pay a certain fee. Since you're new, we'll charge you ten purple gold coins. How about it, a good deal, right?" The young man's face was filled with a confident smile, as if he had already determined that Jianchen would agree. From his perspective, Jianchen's relatively thin build indicated that he was not very strong. He had done this kind of protection fee collection many times in the academy and was very experienced. If he encountered a strong student, he might think twice, but for someone as thin as Jianchen, he did not need to consider it. In the past, every time he collected protection fees from thin students like Jianchen, it was always 100% successful, with no resistance.

If Jianchen were a commoner, the four would never dare to collect protection fees from him, unless they wanted to leave the academy. All the senior students at Kagas Academy knew that the principal favored commoner students. The four had been in the academy for a considerable time and could easily recognize commoner students. From the moment they saw Jianchen, they knew he was not a commoner student, which is why they dared to collect protection fees from him.

Hearing the young man's words, Jianchen sneered inwardly, never expecting them to be here to collect protection fees.

"Seniors, I am very sorry, but I refuse your protection." Jianchen's tone was very calm. Without waiting for their response, he used his shoulder to push aside the young man in front of him and continued toward the library.

Jianchen's actions left the four young men stunned, clearly unexpected. They never thought that Jianchen, whom they considered easy to bully, would refuse their protection so straightforwardly.

The four quickly recovered, staring at Jianchen, who had already broken out of their circle. A fierce look flashed in their eyes, especially the young man who had been pushed aside, whose face turned very ugly.

"Damn it, kid, stand still!" The young man who had been pushed aside shouted angrily, running toward Jianchen and blocking his path. The other three quickly surrounded Jianchen again.

"You actually dared to push me, you must be tired of living." The young man, feeling his dignity severely damaged, shouted angrily and immediately slapped Jianchen's face.

Seeing the young man's hand coming toward his face, Jianchen's calm eyes suddenly turned sharp. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and his right hand quickly rose, intercepting the young man's hand with a speed that the young man could not react to. Then, Jianchen kicked out with his leg, hitting the young man's chest. With a dull thud, the young man was kicked flying and fell heavily to the ground.

The sudden turn of events left the three young men around Jianchen stunned. No one expected that the new student, whom they considered easy to bully, would suddenly become so powerful, knocking one of their companions flying before they could react.

However, they quickly recovered. Almost simultaneously, their faces were filled with murderous intent, and without hesitation, they attacked Jianchen as if they had planned it.

Although they knew Jianchen was strong, the four had been bullying in the academy for a long time and were not afraid of him. Even if Jianchen's strength was so great that even the four of them together could not defeat him, they were still fearless. This was not only because each of them had a powerful family backing them but also because they had a solid support in the academy.

Feeling the Holy Power emitted from the three, which was stronger than his own, Jianchen's face showed a look of disdain. From the moment they attacked, he had already judged their strength to be around the tenth level of Holy Power.

The three's fists were very fast, approaching Jianchen in an instant. However, at this critical moment, Jianchen's body slightly swayed, moving out of their attack range faster than their fists.

The three's attacks missed, but before they could retract their fists, Jianchen's fist had already hit one of them on the forehead. The speed of the punch was so fast that the three had no time to react.

"Bang!" With a dull thud, the young man hit by Jianchen's fist was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground. At the same time, Jianchen's right foot kicked out, hitting another of the three in the chest before they could react.

With a dull thud, the young man, who was prepared, staggered back a few steps but quickly stabilized himself. Despite this, his face turned pale because the force of Jianchen's kick had caused some internal damage, and a faint trace of Holy Power had entered his body, damaging his internal organs.

Just as the young man stabilized himself, Jianchen's second kick was already in the air, creating a shadow and hitting the young man's chest again, perfectly overlapping with the previous hit. Jianchen's kick was so precise that it hit the exact same spot.

Being hit in the same spot twice, the young man's injuries were not simply doubled. When Jianchen's second kick hit his chest, despite his tenth-level Holy Power, he suffered severe internal injuries. His internal organs were in severe pain, his face turned pale, and his breathing became difficult. He staggered back a few steps and finally fell to the ground, unable to get up.

Seeing Jianchen knock out a companion with equal strength in an instant, the remaining young man's face changed. He stopped his charge, his feet rooted to the ground, and his eyes filled with caution, no longer as calm as before, his face filled with tension.

Jianchen glanced at him calmly, a faint smile of contempt on his lips. Without saying a word, he turned and left, heading toward the library.

After Jianchen left, the two young men who had been knocked down by Jianchen struggled to their feet, their eyes filled with hatred as they stared at Jianchen's back. One of them said in a deep voice, "Who is he? He's so powerful, even we can't match him. Is he really a freshman this year? How can he be so strong?"

"Whoever he is, since he offended us, we can't let him off." The other one said angrily, his voice weak and breathless. He was the one who had been kicked twice by Jianchen, and his internal organs were severely damaged. If his strength had not been originally stronger than Jianchen's, he might not have been able to stand at all.