A dozen or so students had gathered outside the teahouse. Besides Lin Yi, others like Zong Yudao and Huang Zhongfei—basically all the boys who lived nearby—had rushed over. They all wore looks of brazen defiance, as if ready for a brawl.

Passersby took one look and gave them a wide berth.

"Old Chen!"

Upon seeing Chen Che, everyone—whether they were standing, squatting, or sitting—walked over.

"...Why are so many people here?"

Chen Che was taken aback and shot Lin Yi a questioning look.

"Didn’t you see the group chat?" Lin Yi asked.

Chen Che pulled out his phone. The group chat was still buzzing with messages.

As it turned out, that guy Lin Yi, ever the drama-monger, had immediately gone to the group chat after Chen Che agreed to the meeting and laid out the whole situation. Then he had announced that the two of them were on their way to Bifeng Tang and that any interested classmates were welcome to come.

These were all people who had come for the spectacle.

"I didn’t come here to fight!"

Chen Che felt helpless.

"How are you supposed to gauge their strength if you don’t fight? They’re trashing our school, and you think we should just take it? What did Old Li teach us in class? Unity, friendship, mutual support! It seems like you haven’t remembered a single thing besides your studies!"

Lin Yi strode forward to lead the way.

"So, of all the things taught in class, that’s the only part you remembered, huh?"

Chen Che shook his head and followed him into Bifeng Tang.

’On Earth Element Star, there are plenty of ways to gauge strength. Fighting isn’t a necessity.’

However, Huang Zhongfei, Zong Yudao, and the others clearly didn’t think so. They followed menacingly, their school uniforms unbuttoned and flapping as they walked with a swagger.

Along the way, many of the teahouse patrons turned to stare.

"They’ve been here for a while, just waiting for you!"

Lin Yi gestured with his chin. Chen Che looked up and saw Qi Fengzhu and his cousin sitting in a booth, apparently in the middle of a conversation.

’Definitely a student from the provincial capital. His looks are average, but his clothes are flashy.’

Most students on the Six Continents used their phones to check the time.

But this guy was pretentiously wearing a sundial watch. He would occasionally lift his sleeve, revealing a watch face inlaid with twelve tiny fire diamonds. Whichever diamond the hand pointed to would immediately ignite, like a leaping flame—an extravagance visible to the naked eye.

’However, compared to Ye Zhihan, whom he’d seen before, this guy lacked a certain noble air.’

"Old Chen! Old Lin!"

Just then, Qi Fengzhu spotted them and waved eagerly.

He then stood up and introduced them to Qi Tianhai.

"This is Chen Che and Lin Yi, my best buddies."

"Old Chen is our class’s Elixir Class Representative and Body Cultivation Class Representative. He advanced in both Pill Pills and combat in the city competition. He could have been class president next semester, but he turned it down. This is Lin Yi, his deskmate. We all hang out a lot."

There was a clear hint of showing off in Qi Fengzhu’s tone, as if to say: The Huang Zhongfei you beat the other day isn’t the strongest in our class. This guy right here is.

After all, he also felt uncomfortable when Qi Tianhai belittled First Middle School.

You could call your own school trash, but you couldn’t let anyone else do it—not even your cousin. That was precisely why he had asked Chen Che to come.

"So, when you said a heavy hitter was coming today, you meant him!"

These words made Qi Tianhai give Chen Che a more serious look. But when he noticed the large crowd trailing behind the pair, and especially when he spotted Huang Zhongfei, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

"What, did you bring this whole crew to get even just because I beat up your class president?"

His punchable tone earned him furious glares from many in the crowd.

"We don’t need this many people to deal with you! Master Chen alone is more than enough!" Huang Zhongfei yelled impatiently.

"It’s not that serious. We’re just here for a friendly exchange."

Chen Che sighed helplessly, holding up his hands to signal for everyone to calm down. He really had just come to get the story, but with so many people in tow, explanations were useless. He could only change the subject.

"I hear Jiang Jingyuan is your deskmate?"

"You’ve heard of Jiang Jingyuan? I didn’t realize the name of the top student at our He City Eighth Middle School was so famous!"

The moment Qi Tianhai opened his mouth, Chen Che understood why Huang Zhongfei couldn’t help but argue with him.

’This guy really has no concept of humility; the boast is written all over his face. An adult might ignore it, but we’re all hot-blooded students here. Who’s going to put up with an attitude like that?’

However, the topic of their conversation left the others scratching their heads.

Who was Jiang Jingyuan?

"Wait, the one from He City Eighth Middle School!"

Huang Zhongfei seized on the key phrase and it clicked.

The name wasn’t unfamiliar.

He had published articles, Cultivation insights, and even some campus romance novels in the Provincial Gazette and the Immortal Gate Newspaper. But people only read the articles, not the author’s name, which is why they hadn’t recognized it immediately.

Once they recalled who he was, they all sucked in a sharp, collective breath of cold air.

"Yes, our teacher has mentioned him. He’s incredibly strong."

Chen Che extended his right hand.

"That’s right. He’s first in our class; I’m fifth."

Qi Tianhai looked slightly displeased. They were supposed to be talking to *him*, yet they kept bringing up someone else. As he shook Chen Che’s right hand, he tightened his fingers, surreptitiously applying pressure.

Chen Che remained completely unfazed. ’Such childish games,’ he thought.

"...Huh?"

Seeing no reaction from him, Qi Tianhai’s eyes flickered.

His Qi and Blood churned, and the bones in his fingers began to CRACK. Veins bulged on the back of his hand, surging up his arm like a great dragon.

But Chen Che still showed no reaction whatsoever.

Qi Tianhai felt as if he were squeezing a block of pig iron; it wouldn’t budge at all. ’No,’ he thought, ’even if it were pig iron, I could crush it and mold it like putty.’

"Are you a Body Cultivator?"

Completely unable to crush the other’s hand, Qi Tianhai finally let go and sat back down.

"That’s some serious strength," he muttered. "Doesn’t feel any weaker than Old Jiang!"

’So, that means Jiang Jingyuan’s Qi and Blood is also this abundant, probably around the Sixth to Seventh Layer. Old Li’s files didn’t mention that. It seems this trip was worth it after all.’

Chen Che made a mental note and shook his head.

"No, I’m a Pill Cultivator."

"Really?"

Qi Tianhai was stunned for a moment, finding it hard to believe. He turned to glance at Qi Fengzhu.

The latter nodded in confirmation.

"So, how do you want to do this?"

After a moment of contemplation, seemingly accepting the fact that Chen Che was a Pill Cultivator yet possessed stronger Qi and Blood than him, Qi Tianhai looked up and asked.

"I’m fine with whatever. You can decide."

Chen Che sat down.

There wasn’t enough room in the four-person booth.

Huang Zhongfei, Zong Yudao, and the others stood behind Chen Che with their arms crossed, clearly there as his backup. Lin Yi didn’t take a seat either; instead, he pulled out his phone, opened the class group chat that Li Xiaoshuang was in, and started a live stream so the students who hadn’t come could watch.

"Fight! I want to see rivers of blood!"

"Why are you sitting down? You can’t kill anyone sitting! Old Chen, just get up and run him through..."

"Qi Fengzhu, get your calculator out! Get ready to start pressing buttons when Chen Che wins!"

The live stream chat was filled with bloodthirsty cries, but the atmosphere at the teahouse was surprisingly amicable.

"...Hmm."

Qi Tianhai glanced at Huang Zhongfei, then said thoughtfully, "We played Kung Fu Tea yesterday. Let’s play it again today!"

Chen Che nodded. "Alright!"

"Waiter, one order of Kung Fu Tea!"

Qi Tianhai called out loudly.

"What’s so fun about Kung Fu Tea? I say just smash the bowl over his head."

"Yeah! Run him through with a sword, then make a run for it!"

While the live stream chat was in an uproar, a waiter brought over a giant teacup. It was larger than a washbasin and shaped like a Yuan-Yang hot pot bowl, with a divider in the middle.

The liquid inside, made of some special Materials, was split into two halves: one black, one white.

This "Kung Fu Tea" wasn’t the kind you drink. It was a game popular among students for competing with their True Essence and their control over it.

The two opponents would each control one of the colors.

Inside the bowl were miniature "ships," "islands," and "houses" for the players to protect, destroy, or occupy.

Because playing gave both participants the feeling of controlling the seas like a Divine Spirit, it was far more entertaining than a simple contest of True Essence and thus quite popular among students.

"Let’s begin!"

Qi Tianhai grinned and decided to strike first to gain the upper hand.

His aura surged, his posture straightening abruptly as a violent torrent of power poured from him directly into the large bowl. BOOM! The once-calm surface erupted into monstrous waves, tossing the small white ships about as if they were in a raging sea.

The rolling white waves, like a mountain flood that had been building for three days and nights, surged directly toward Chen Che’s side of the bowl.

Seeing this, the group chat exploded.

"Holy shit, this guy is almost at the Late-stage Sixth Layer! He’s pretending to be weak to sucker us in!"

"Hmm?"

Li Xiaoshuang, who was also watching the live stream, instantly sat bolt upright. He exclaimed in surprised disbelief,

"This student is incredibly powerful! I’m afraid Chen Che is going to be at a disadvantage this time!"

Huang Zhongfei, Zong Yudao, and the others all held their breath.

Under the crowd’s nervous gaze, Chen Che raised his right hand, gave Qi Tianhai a calm look, and placed his palm against the teacup.

BANG!

The great white wave suddenly shuddered, as if crushed by an immense, invisible force. The liquid, which moments ago had the power of an Overturning River and Sea, became perfectly still in an instant.