"Clang!"

The broken sword in Xia Mo’s hand fell to the ground, his eyes blank, unable to comprehend everything that had happened in such a short time.

Han sheathed his sword. He certainly wouldn’t kill him in this situation.

"Three spiritual plants... I’ll take them without hesitation."

Han's earlier hesitation was gone, replaced by a proud, disdainful look as he surveyed the crowd.

Just as Han secured the three spiritual plants, Long Yun’s furious voice erupted.

"Weren’t you just a beginner in the Flesh Body Realm? Is your weapon broken? Did you cheat?!"

Han looked at Long Yun as though he were staring at an idiot. "Did I ever say I was just a beginner in the Flesh Body Realm?"

"Didn’t you suggest a weapon duel?"

"I only said I was new to martial arts!" Han retorted with a sneer.

Compared to the vastness of martial arts, entering the Flesh Body Realm is just the first step. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

"You’ve only practiced for a dozen days and already reached the minor stage of the Flesh Body Realm? And you’re wielding a weapon?" Long Yun’s gaze fixed on Han’s sword, knowing that it could easily sever a hundred-forged blade. While martial prowess is critical, a weapon is equally important.

"Well, well, well! What a fine disciple from the Taibai Martial Arts School!"

"I didn’t expect the White School Head to recruit someone like you before entering Black Mountain. It seems you’ve completed your mission after all."

Long Yun was seething with anger, never imagining things would escalate like this.

Yang Xing had said that although Han was a beginner in the Flesh Body Realm, his strength rivaled someone in the minor stage of it.

Now, witnessing such power, it was clear Han had already broken through to the minor stage, potentially even matching those at the greater stage.

As for Han being at the greater stage of the Flesh Body Realm? Long Yun dismissed that as impossible.

A breakthrough to the minor stage within twelve days was already a rarity in Black Cloud Town. It was absurd to think he could be at the greater stage.

"What? Han has reached the minor stage of the Flesh Body Realm?"

"He just joined the martial school twelve days ago! His progress is terrifying!"

"Unbelievable!"

"Han is incredible. If I had half his talent, I’d be in that realm by now."

"Still calling him Han? We should call him Teacher Zhou!"

"…"

Taibai Martial School's apprentices slowly came to their senses and started discussing the matter.

Li Wu, the young apprentice who had joined Taibai on the same day as Han, now looked at him with admiration, his previous arrogance gone.

"Big Brother Zhou is much older than me, yet he’s achieved so much. I can do it too!"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Go, Li Wu! You’re the best!"

However, Bai Ruoyue and a few others had a suspicion. Han must have broken through again.

First, he reached the minor stage of the Flesh Body Realm in seven days. Now, five days later, he’d made another breakthrough to the greater stage.

It seemed reasonable, right?

Should be... reasonable, right?

"Reasonable my foot!" Bai Ruoyue thought.

"Taibai Martial Arts School is indeed impressive, as for me, I'm just average, not a genius or anything," Han said coldly, retreating back to the Taibai disciples.

"This guy is still talking about what happened in Black Mountain earlier."

"But I’m just a little better than your disciples in Tenglong. Nothing to make a fuss about," Han added with a dismissive wave.

"Thanks for the spiritual plants, Long Yun. I'm quite happy with my 'appearance fee.' Come again next time when you're free."

One sword strike, and he walked away with three spiritual plants. It was easier than chopping down trees.

Tenglong’s disciples helped the dazed Xia Mo off the ground, retrieved his broken sword, and glared at Han, their eyes full of fury.

They’d lost three spiritual plants and a hundred-forged sword, and their talented disciple had been utterly crushed.

Even if they won every match after this, Taibai’s reputation wouldn’t be tarnished. In fact, it was likely to grow even stronger.

This exchange had been a disastrous loss for them!

Besides, could they possibly win the upcoming matches?

Zhang Yuntao won his duel with Tenglong’s Meridian Realm disciple!

Shen Long defeated Long Yun!

Having secured those wins, they were now ready to claim their resounding victory.

Shen Long and Long Yun were more or less evenly matched, but Long Yun had already suffered two losses, and his anger disrupted his focus.

Most of the time, anger doesn’t strengthen you; it weakens you, causing errors in technique and opening up vulnerabilities.

If anger could truly improve your fighting ability, then there’d be no need for hard training.

Three losses. Long Yun couldn’t accept this outcome.

If it weren’t for Bai Ruoyue watching him with a stern expression, he would have exploded.

"We’re leaving!" Long Yun and his group turned and stormed off.

"Senior Sister, don’t forget to find the gatekeeper."

"I won’t forget."

Looking at their retreating figures, it felt like they were running away, tails between their legs.

Han’s expression remained cold. If it were a normal sparring match, he wouldn’t have been so harsh. A fight should end once it’s over.

Outside Taibai Martial School, a Tenglong disciple asked Long Yun, "Senior Brother Long, should we report this to the Master?"

"Report what?" Long Yun's face darkened. "When have our elders ever interfered with our sparring?"

"There was no definitive news in the morning, so my father won’t take action."

He hadn’t informed his father about coming to Taibai Martial School to cause trouble.

Of course, even if he hadn’t told him, the Master of Tenglong Martial School would surely know by now.

"Are we really giving that brat three spiritual plants?" one disciple asked.

"What else can we do? Go steal them back? We’ll deduct them from Xia Mo’s next share," Long Yun muttered, glancing at Xia Mo, who was still disoriented.

"What a useless piece of trash!"

Long Yun stormed off, with the rest of Tenglong’s disciples muttering under their breath.

"If you weren’t useless, you wouldn’t have lost to Taibai’s second disciple. You can’t even beat their eldest disciple, much less their second. And then you still have the nerve to talk down to others?"

"What a failure! If you didn’t have such a great father, would you even be at this level?"

Tenglong Martial School would eventually fall due to him.

But despite the grumbling, they all followed Long Yun, showing him false sympathy.

After all, who could resist a powerful father?

At Taibai Martial School, Bai Ruoyue hurriedly ushered the apprentices to their training and then quickly dragged Han to the back courtyard.

The apprentices looked on with envy.

"Teacher Zhou is handsome, talented, and even has the headmaster’s daughter favoring him. His future is bright!"

"Can’t help but wish I could switch places!"

In the back courtyard, Bai Ruoyue, along with others, began inspecting Han.

"Incredible."

"Impressive!"

"Is it really true?"

"Greater stage... already."

Martial arts cultivators of higher levels can generally tell where someone stands in terms of realms, but determining the exact stage requires a specific assessment.

Usually, that’s how it works, but there are always exceptions.

Bai Ruoyue retracted her hand from Han and stared at him with a strange look in her eyes.

"Little Junior Brother, sometimes I wonder if I should cut you open to see if you’re truly the same as the rest of us."

"Do you know how long it took me to reach the greater stage of the Flesh Body Realm?"

"One and a half years. A full year and a half!"

"And yet, you did it in just twelve days..."

Bai Ruoyue's emotions were complex.

She, the greatest genius in Black Cloud Town, had just been surpassed by her little junior brother and now found herself underneath him.

She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.