Chapter 49: The Legend of the Soft Rice King

In the end, only Ye Chenliang was left, foolishly charging towards the opponent. Ye Chenliang was scared out of his wits, having just witnessed dozens of sharp swords, infused with ki, instantly vaporize. The opponent's black flames could melt even iron; wasn't his mortal body just going to its death?

He hadn't expected Yuan Wendong's swords to be so utterly useless. Even a stone thrown into water makes a splash; how could so many precious swords just vanish like that? By the time he reacted, it was too late to stop. He could only watch helplessly as he crashed into the black flames.

Just then, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline suddenly appeared between the two of them, pressing down on Ye Chenliang's head and instantly stopping him.

"A mere third-rank dares to charge at a fifth-rank? Have you learned nothing all these years?" the somewhat bald middle-aged man scolded loudly. Then he glared at Pei Mianman. "And you, do you need to be so ruthless with a classmate?"

Pei Mianman retracted the black flames on her body. "I stood here without moving," she said. "What can I do if he insists on rushing over to his death?" With that, she completely ignored the school's dreaded Dean of Students and turned to leave.

Those who had just witnessed her power fearfully and automatically parted, clearing a path for her.

Zu An secretly clicked his tongue, feeling fortunate that Pei Mianman hadn't used her elemental power last night. Otherwise, wouldn't he have been vaporized like those swords? No matter how amazing the "Rich Lady's Pleasure Ball" was, it couldn't possibly save his life if he were burned to ashes, could it?

Dean of Students Lu De glanced at Pei Mianman's retreating back, but said nothing. He then turned to Ye Chenliang with a completely different expression. "You're the ones causing trouble, aren't you?"

Ye Chenliang was terrified again and hastily pointed at Zu An. "Teacher, it wasn't me, he was causing trouble!"

Lu De frowned and turned to look at Zu An. "Was it you?"

Zu An shrugged. "I haven't moved from this spot the whole time," he said. "They were the ones jumping around, trying to pick a fight. If you don't believe me, you can ask the people around here."

The people around them readily agreed. While everyone initially detested him for living off women, after witnessing his mastery of the "art of mooching" firsthand—with four of the top beauties from the Beauty Scroll, including the first and second ranked, Chu Chuyan and Pei Mianman, linked to him—all that remained was deep admiration and respect. They eagerly wished he would teach them a trick or two.

Zu An was unaware that decades later, the legend of him as the "King of Moochers" would still circulate on campus. Some people would even refer to him as "that man" to express their profound reverence.

Seeing the students' unanimous identification, Lu De's face turned cold. He grabbed the discipline ruler in his hand and began soundly beating Ye Chenliang. "I've long heard that you form gangs and bully the weak in school," he snapped. "Come on, today I'll show you what 'conquering others through virtue' truly means!"

The Dean of Students' ruler was even more potent than Chu Huanzhao's "Wailing Whip," making Ye Chenliang scream in agony. He felt extremely wronged, thinking, *Yuan Wendong was clearly the main culprit, so why am I the only one being beaten?*

However, he dared not utter those words. Yuan Wendong appeared graceful and refined, but was in fact extremely ruthless. Now that he had been promoted to fifth-rank, he was not someone Ye Chenliang could afford to offend.

Lu De then casually picked up Hong Xingying, who was lying on the ground. "And you," he said, "causing trouble on your very first day of school. Don't think I won't beat you just because you're from the Chu clan. Today, I'll properly teach you the school rules."

Hong Xingying was almost in tears. *I'm clearly the one who got beaten the worst!* As he had just arrived, he wasn't very clear about the situation, so he subconsciously pointed at Yuan Wendong beside him. "Teacher, why don't you punish him?"

A chill flashed in Yuan Wendong's eyes, but Lu De merely snorted. "He's a fifth-rank, what about you?" he said. "Let me be clear: among students, those who can break through to fifth-rank are considered top-tier prodigies throughout the world. Such individuals are cherished like treasures everywhere. If any of you can break through to fifth-rank in the future, as long as you don't commit major errors, the school will turn a blind eye."

Zu An was secretly startled. It seemed that in any world, strength was indeed paramount. The surrounding students seemed accustomed to this, clearly aware of this unwritten rule beforehand.

After Lu De finished speaking, he dragged the two screaming students away. The people around them gasped in shock.

Wei Suo, who was still clinging to Zu An's leg, swallowed hard. "Boss, I was sweating for you when you talked back to him just now," he said. "You know, anyone who falls into 'Bright Peak's' hands is lucky to escape with their life; even if they don't die, they'll lose a layer of skin."

Zu An smiled. "Since Teacher Lu claims to 'conquer others through virtue,' he naturally abides by reason," he said.

"Only you would dare to reason with him," Xie Xiu said, walking over with a smile. "I thought I was quite the ladies' man, but compared to Brother Zu, I'm a mere amateur. To actually win the favor of four beauties from the Beauty Scroll simultaneously... I, Xie, am truly ashamed of my inferiority. Let's become closer in the future and exchange experiences."

"Brother Xie, you flatter me," Zu An replied. "Don't you have one in your family too?"

"Huh, how come I don't know about that?" Xie Xiu was momentarily stunned. Although he was surrounded by beautiful and charming women, none of them could compare to the beauties on the Beauty Scroll.

"Isn't your elder sister also on the Beauty Scroll?" Zu An replied. "When can Brother Xie bring her out for us to meet?"

Xie Xiu nearly choked. "Uh... I have something to attend to. I'll take my leave now," he stammered. Then, no matter how Zu An tried to keep him, he hurried away without looking back.

Zu An looked bewildered. "Why does he look like he's seen a ghost?" he wondered.

Wei Suo, standing nearby, looked utterly awestruck. "Boss," he gushed, "my admiration for you is like an endless river, like the Yellow River overflowing, unstoppable! You're not satisfied with those four ladies; you even want to pursue Young Master Xie's elder sister. You truly think what our generation dares not think, and achieve what our generation cannot!"

"All those clichés, are you studying for a test?" Zu An said, somewhat disgusted by the fawning. He pushed Wei Suo away, then turned to Ji Xiaoxi beside him. "Miss Ji, thank you very much for earlier."

Before Ji Xiaoxi could answer, Chu Huanzhao, who was nearby, immediately protested. "What do you mean? I was the first one to help you!"

Ji Xiaoxi's face reddened slightly. "It's nothing, just a small matter. I'll be going now," she said, clearly unaccustomed to being watched by so many people. After jogging a few steps, she suddenly stopped and turned back to say, "Oh, right. Come to my house often when you have time. My father has something to tell you."

"Oh."

The people around them looked at the two with strange, ambiguous glances. Ji Xiaoxi froze, only then realizing the double meaning of her words. But not knowing how to explain herself, she ran off, her face completely flushed.

"What kind of person is that, trying to flirt with you right in front of me!" Chu Huanzhao said indignantly, her small chest heaving up and down, which was quite adorable.

Zu An rolled his eyes. "You're not my wife, why are you being so nosy?" he retorted. He naturally understood what Ji Xiaoxi meant; it was probably about his hidden ailment. It seemed he needed to buy a bellyband soon to pretend to be normal. He wondered if he could fool that pervert Ji.

"I... I can't keep an eye on you for my sister?" Chu Huanzhao said, puffing out her cheeks. "My sister just left, and you're already flirting around."

Zu An said lightly, "Go ask your sister if she needs you to watch over me." His nominal wife looked at him like a stranger, even worse than a stranger. So naturally, he didn't need to stay faithful to her... *Bah, what nonsense.*

"Hmph, stop flirting here," Yuan Wendong said, walking over with a dark face. "Zu, I don't believe you can hide behind women your whole life. The clan competition will be held soon. Let's see if you can still make women fight for you on the arena then."

Zu An was taken aback. He turned to Chu Huanzhao. "What clan competition?" he asked.

Chu Huanzhao pouted, but still answered, "Their Yuan clan and our Chu clan both operate armories, and the competition is quite fierce. To prevent direct conflict during disputes, the two clans agreed to a clan competition every three years. The results of the matches between the clan disciples determine the market share for each region over the next three years."

"I have to participate too?" Zu An couldn't help but ask.

Chu Huanzhao nodded. "Every clan's disciples must participate," she said. "In the past, my sister, I, and some cousins from the second and third branches participated. Now that you're the son-in-law, you'll probably go too, won't you?"

Zu An felt a wave of depression. *What kind of messed-up situation is this?* He couldn't enjoy the privileges of being a son-in-law, but couldn't escape any of the obligations. "Uh... is the Yuan clan also a ducal family?" he asked.

Chu Huanzhao shook her head. "No, not exactly," she replied. "Although their family has a noble title, they don't have a fief. They're still far behind my father."

Zu An couldn't help but say, "Your esteemed ducal mansion has fallen so low as to need an arena match with such a minor family to determine market share. Isn't that disgraceful?"

Before Chu Huanzhao could answer, Yuan Wendong already said with a dark face, "While Duke Mingyue's status is high, our Great Zhou Dynasty is a place where reason prevails. Besides, the Chu clan isn't the only ducal family in the world."

Zu An uttered an "Oh." "I understand what you mean now," he said. "You have a big backer too, right? No wonder you bark so loudly; you have a master."

Rage points from Yuan Wendong +321!

Seeing the school staff approaching from a distance, Yuan Wendong took a deep breath. "Are you only capable of sharp words and verbal tricks?" he sneered. "I won't stoop to your level today. But on the day of the competition..." He leaned closer to Zu An and whispered, "I'll break your limbs and completely cripple you!"

Zu An sighed. "I think you should worry about how to compensate them for their swords first," he said.

Because Lu De had just come over to disperse the crowd, most of the onlookers had already left. However, over a dozen people remained rooted to the spot, their expressions toward Yuan Wendong showing hesitation to speak. Just now, Yuan Wendong had manipulated their swords to attack Pei Mianman, but the black flames had incinerated them completely, leaving nothing behind. These people were naturally heartbroken, but for a moment, they dared not demand compensation from Yuan Wendong.

Hearing Zu An start the topic, these people finally couldn't hold back and began clamoring:

"Pay for our swords!"

"My precious sword cost so much!"

"My sword was a masterpiece by so-and-so, it could cut through iron like mud..."