Chapter 28

Five minutes later, at the entrance of the No. 9 gymnasium, the school doctor was busy treating the injured.

Because Zhao Liang's legs were severely injured, it was impossible to carry him to the medical room for treatment, so he was treated on the spot.

For the Federation, which mastered advanced cultivation techniques, a comminuted fracture was not a big problem; it could heal in a few days, with only a little bit of... pain.

"AAAAAAH!" The gymnasium echoed with Zhao Liang's increasingly intense screams, making everyone's scalp tingle and their knees ache.

Li Yao and his best friend Meng Jiang squatted on the flower bed outside the gymnasium. An invisible aura seemed to surround them, and other ordinary students stayed far away, not daring to approach.

Meng Jiang's face was full of confusion, and he hesitated to speak.

Li Yao glanced at his best friend and said, "If you have any questions, ask now. If you don't, I'm about to be taken away by the teacher!"

Meng Jiang exhaled a deep breath and smiled bitterly. "My mind is a mess, I haven't even processed it yet. You little monster, when did you become so powerful?"

Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "I've been practicing a high-level cultivation technique. Before I mastered it, my strength was very weak, no different from an ordinary person. But once I mastered it, my strength soared! Yesterday was a critical moment, so I didn't come to school. Now, I've initially mastered it!"

"So powerful!" Meng Jiang's eyes lit up, but he didn't continue to press for more details.

In the Federation, it was an unwritten rule that one should not pry into the source of others' martial arts or cultivation techniques. Even the most powerful cultivators could not force others to reveal their secret techniques.

Otherwise, if a cultivation master could casually force a weaker one to reveal their martial arts source today, the Federation Army could mobilize a million troops to surround the cultivation sects' mountains tomorrow, forcing them to hand over their most valuable techniques.

Every world has its basic rules to protect the weak from being bullied by the strong, at least in theory.

It is these rules that allow society to be established, and for the strong and the weak to unite!

The Starlight Federation relies on these rules to unite cultivators and ordinary people, to fight against beasts and the demonic path. Without these rules, the Federation would have long disintegrated, with cultivators and ordinary people opposing each other, becoming a scattered mess, unable to stand up to beasts and the demonic path.

Therefore, Li Yao came up with this excuse to explain his sudden increase in strength without worrying about being exposed. Even if others knew he was lying, they wouldn't expose him—after all, who in the cultivation world doesn't have some secrets?

Meng Jiang nodded, accepting his best friend's sudden increase in strength, but he frowned and said, "But, did you have to be so brutal? You already knocked Zhao Liang down, and then you smashed his left knee. Isn't that too cruel? You don't know how terrifying you looked when you lifted the barbell, like a... bloodthirsty monster!"

"It was necessary," Li Yao explained. "This morning, you told me that Helian Lie has a lot of power and many followers in the school. Since I've offended him, his subordinates will definitely come after me, and Zhao Liang was just the first!"

He paused and continued, "Zhao Liang is the last student in the top class. If I just knocked him down, do you think others would be afraid? They would still come after me one after another. No matter how strong I am, I can't withstand a continuous assault! Now, when they see Zhao Liang's two knees and hear his screams, they'll think twice before coming after me. Most of them will probably back off."

Meng Jiang was stunned; he hadn't thought that much. He just felt that Li Yao had been too brutal.

Li Yao patted his best friend's shoulder and said seriously, "Xiao Jiang, you know my background. I grew up in a landfill. In the world I grew up in, people can fight to the death over half a rotten banana. Once, I even saw two groups of people fight over half a bag of cold meat buns, resulting in two deaths—half a bag of buns, two lives! Believe me, growing up in such a world, I know how to deal with threats and trouble!"

"But, but—" Meng Jiang's mind was in chaos, as if he was only seeing another side of his best friend today.

Perhaps this was the most real side.

Li Yao said calmly, "Years of life in the landfill have taught me—when faced with a threat, it's not that you can't reason or compromise, but you must first beat the other person so badly that even their parents wouldn't recognize them, and then you can reason and compromise. Otherwise, it's not reasoning or compromising, but putting yourself in a pot to be steamed or fried! In today's case, Zhao Liang wanted me to kneel and beg for mercy and break ten of my bones. I didn't want to kneel or break ten bones, so what else could I do but fight to the death?"

Meng Jiang was speechless for a long time and said, "I used to hear you say that you had a nickname in the landfill, 'Vulture,' and I didn't believe it, thinking you were exaggerating. Now I believe it."

Li Yao smiled and said, "Yes, back then, I was ten times more brutal and a hundred times more crazy than I am now—there was no choice. I was just a kid, unable to even hold a knife steady. If I wasn't brutal and crazy, how could I snatch food from adults? Later, I met my father, who taught me many things, including how to follow the rules and integrate into normal society. I became a bit more restrained. But now that my father is dead, when faced with such situations, I can only rely on the 'Vulture's' instincts to solve them!"

Meng Jiang sighed, "I understand, Xiao Yao. You had no choice, but others will definitely think you're a small person who has become arrogant and overbearing."

"Arrogant? Of course, I'm arrogant!" Li Yao's nostrils flared, and he said dismissively, "We, the garbage bugs who make a living in the 'treasure tomb,' have no tomorrow. We might dig up something priceless one minute and be blown to bits by a spiritual explosion the next! So, for us, once we have power, we must be arrogant immediately. If we can be arrogant this second, we won't wait until the next second. If we can be ten times more arrogant, we won't be just nine times more! Having power but not being arrogant, what's the point of being low-key? If we die the next second, wouldn't that be a waste? It's like winning a five million lottery and not splurging, but saving it in the bank, only to be hit by a hovercar right after leaving the bank. It would be a waste even in death!"

Meng Jiang conceded, "Alright, alright, you're cool and arrogant, but have you thought about what you'll do if Helian Lie uses his family's influence to force you to drop out of school?"

"If this place won't keep me, there are other places that will. The world isn't just Chixiao No. 2 High School. In the worst case, I can change to another high school. Even if I don't go to high school, the Federation allows citizens to take university exams as private individuals, just with more complicated procedures! If Helian Lie really forces me to drop out, why not let him have his way? After all, we both have a lot of good years ahead of us!" Li Yao's eyes flashed with a fierce light, but he said it casually.

As they were talking, a short and thin figure trembled as it approached them.

"The teacher is coming!" Meng Jiang whispered, pulling Li Yao up and jumping off the flower bed.

"Isn't that Old Sun, who manages the school's logistics warehouse? What is he doing here?" Li Yao was puzzled.

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