Strength of the leviathan.

A silence that was practically deafening descended on the area around the stone stage where Huang Ying was standing. Even the sound of the spectators breathing had halted, the only sound that was barely audible was the slight noise produced when a drop of blood ran down Huang Ying's fingers and fell into the pooling blood of Qing Moyun. The man called out by Huang Ying, the silver-haired and black-eyed Xing Dong, looked at the still warm corpse splayed at Huang Ying's feet, his throat rolling slightly before he cut into Huang Ying with a strong glare to push down his own unease.

"You... You actually dare to kill a fellow student on this grand martial field? Does the academy mean nothing to you?"

Xing Dong could be said to be somewhat quick-witted, he immediately decided to escalate this from a dispute between students into something that might involve the academy itself. Like this, Huang Ying would at least have some trepidation for what might happen if he acted out of line, giving Xing Dong a bit more room to breathe. But sadly for him, Xing Dong was too used to looking at people through a lens of common sense, a lens that couldn't be used on the opponent in front of him.

Huang Ying simply remained standing on the stone stage while looking down at Xing Dong with undisguised disdain in his eyes. Looking at the way he was standing so casually while looking down at the man who now stood as the strongest amongst this sea of people, those who had been present when he first entered his dorm were reminded of what he said back then. They were guppies in a fishbowl, but he was a leviathan in the endless ocean. Huang Ying stretched out his arm, Xing Dong's eyebrow wincing slightly as his muscles tensed, but Huang Ying simply curled his finger in a gesture indicating that Xing Dong should step onto the stage.

"Don't bother wasting so much time with words, especially not about something as hypocritical as me killing other students. And don't bother dragging the academy into this, it has nothing to do with it. Come. Up."

The fingers Huang Ying used to gesture were the very same ones that had just recently been stabbed into Qing Moyun's throat to tear out her windpipe and vocal cords, the blood on them was still fresh and running. Xing Dong wanted to swallow when he saw the gesture, but his throat was completely dry so he had to expend some effort to prevent his voice from turning hoarse as he spoke.

"Nothing to do with the academy, you say? Have you already forgotten the oath you swore when you entered the academy?!"

Xing Dong raised his voice slightly towards the end of his sentence to drive home his point, but Huang Ying ignored him for a quick second, Li Jun had given him a warning and he was in the midst of responding.

"Huang Ying, you might want to be careful with how much strength you show and expend. That thing, or she, I guess, is watching from a bit away, show too much and she will build up a counter-strategy, expend too much and she will probably attack straight away."

"Yeah, I know, she snuck in with the Silver Cloud members and is keeping a close eye. She's faster than expected, but that's all, I'll accompany her whenever if she wants a fight, that is what I told her."

Li Jun didn't speak more on the matter and Huang Ying saw no reason to continue on it either, his head turning slightly so that his gaze landed on the headteacher of the first years, the black-bearded and brown-haired Gang Yongye. The headteacher's expression was neutral, but his brows were slightly furrowed as he looked at the blood that was starting to spread out over the stone stage. Huang Ying's head continued to face Gang Yongye, but his pupils moved slightly so that he glanced at Xing Dong out of the corner of his eye.

"You wanna talk about the oath I swore? Alright, the oath I swore is the same as the rest of you, that I cannot willingly lower the strength of the Fierce Flame academy. Qing Moyun is dead, yet the gods haven't sent down anything to punish me for 'breaking' the oath. Clearly, Qing Moyun's death hasn't lowered the strength of the academy, well, the gods might just simply not care at all, that's my guess at least. The death of one of the strongest first years and the deaths of a few hundred students in the forest, neither were enough to trigger the oath, what do you think that means? It means that us first-year students are worth nothing in the grand scheme of the Fierce Flame Academy's strength, we simply don't hold the qualification to trigger that oath. Well, killing every last one might hold some chance, but I feel like there is someone here who might disagree with that."

Huang Ying's pupils drifted towards Gang Yongye again as he stated his guess, this was a guess that Huang Ying had been thinking about ever since Langye's death. How could the other students get away with doing something like this despite the oath that they had sworn? And the answer was simple, in this world where the law of the jungle reigned supreme, they were simply not worth noting when it came to the concept of an organization's strength. They were the dust sticking to the bottom of the barrel, nothing would change even if it was all cleaned away.

Gang Yongye met Huang Ying's gaze and somewhat guessed at what he was trying to make him do. It felt somewhat strange that he was practically being told what to do by a first-year student, but there was no telling what might happen later on if he didn't follow along with Huang Ying. As such, Gang Yongye had no choice but to open his mouth with a serious expression.

"It doesn't matter how many first-year students have to be killed to trigger the oath, I cannot allow you to kill more students here. Killing Qing Moyun can be excused since she attacked with the intent to kill first but I want no one else to show any intent to kill, understood?"

Gang Yongye swept his stern blue eyes over the surrounding students, who hurriedly nodded their heads while letting out light breaths. With him speaking up and keeping an eye on things then they wouldn't have to worry about being killed unless they themselves showed killing intent first. But those who gave his words a bit more thought quickly noticed the main point within Gang Yongye's statement, Huang Ying couldn't kill more students 'here.'

This meant that as long as he did it somewhere outside the academy, just like they hadn't pursued the actions of the two factions, they wouldn't pursue Huang Ying's actions. The reason behind this was simple, Huang Ying's earlier words were correct. The oath wouldn't trigger even if all the other first-year students were killed by a single first-year student. After all, that single student would have the strength to kill all the other first-year students, he would be the entire strength and worth of the first-year students.

And even if he used some tricks to kill them, the gods governing the oath would simply see it as his mind being part of his strength and not punish him. Gang Yongye knew this because it had happened twice before, once within the second-year and once within the fourth-year, these two events were among the closest guarded secrets of the academy. Huang Ying didn't know that his guess was completely spot on, even having precedence, he simply turned his gaze back onto Xing Dong.

"You hear that? Justified and fine. So come on up, as long as you don't show killing intent, you won't die here today."

Xing Dong could only draw in a deep breath when faced with Huang Ying's gaze, he failed to have Huang Ying pressured due to his actions but at least his life would be assured now, allowing him to enter the stage with a bit more ease. He took up a position a few steps away from Huang Ying, a member of the Burning Cloud faction quickly entering the stage and removing her corpse so that it could be returned to her family.

Xing Dong sucked in another deep breath and swiped his interspatial ring, bringing out two swords that were longer and a bit thinner than normal. Huang Ying didn't pull out his own weapon despite facing the armed Xing Dong, he simply bent his knees slightly and charged forward at full speed, dashing in such a straight line that Xing Dong couldn't help but be suspicious.

But even if he had his suspicions, he had to attack before Huang Ying could get too close. He stabbed out with the sword in his left arm, and when Huang Ying bent and tilted his body to evade the stab, he slashed out with his other sword in an upward angled diagonal slash aiming at the side of Huang Ying's body that was left open when he dodged the stab.

But Huang Ying's expression remained unmoved in the face of the pincer attack, a gust of wind blew up at him from beneath and supported his body as he momentarily tilted himself into a horizontal position. The wind beneath him supported him for the short second he remained horizontal, a gust of wind beneath his now airborne feet launching him a bit to the side so that he rolled over the incoming sword.

He landed on the ground while still rolling and pushed off from the stage with his hands, stretching out his legs at the same time and dropkicking Xing Dong's chest. He felt Xing Dong's ribs shatter beneath his feet, blood spurting from Xing Dong's mouth as he staggered back while heaving for air. Another gust of wind blew up from beneath Huang Ying, beneath his torso this time, and pushed him into a standing position just as he finished his dropkick, allowing him to grab onto Xing Dong's throat before he staggered too far away.

Huang Ying raised Xing Dong into the air while holding onto his throat with one arm, his expression remaining as disdaining as it had been since they first started exchanging words. Xing Dong sputtered out some blood as he tried to get out some words, but Huang Ying simply ignored him and sneered.

"Leader of the first-years of the Silver Cloud faction? You're really showing what a worthless title and faction it is. Fuck off, and don't show me such pathetic things in the future."

Huang Ying threw Xing Dong down from the stage when he finished his words, tossing him aside as if he was a piece of garbage. Quick and easy, that was the only way such a battle could be described, perfectly showcasing to everyone else just how much Huang Ying had increased his strength while in Cloudreacher Forest. Huang Ying patted his hands after tossing aside Xing Dong, turning his gaze back onto the sea of people around him, picking out a random disciple close to the stage, a man who had just barely reached the 6th Mortal Step.

"You're next, come on up."

Huang Ying hadn't just challenged Xing Dong and Qing Yongye, he had challenged every other first-year student, as well as the now second-year student who had helped the Burning Cloud faction in the ranking competition when they returned from the forest. Right now he was going to show the Burning Cloud and Silver Cloud faction just how pointless they were, how worthless it was to gather together a bunch of guppies when one should instead focus on becoming a leviathan.

The youth forced his own saliva down his dry throat and entered the stage, taking up a position a bit away from Huang Ying. But rather than bring out his weapon, he opened his mouth straight away to speak. But Huang Ying's finger flicked the moment the youth opened his mouth, small blades of wind cutting up the inside of his mouth and forcing him to close his mouth again. Huang Ying didn't even bother shaking his head, he simply stated it clearly.

"No, you don't get to do that. I know what you factions have been doing, I won't let you surrender that easily. If you have any pride, you'll at least launch an attack or two. You'll get beaten down, but at least you'll go down while standing rather than kneeling. Trust me, to die standing is better than to live on your knees."

The youth couldn't say anything in the face of Huang Ying's words, he was afraid that opening his mouth again would result in him getting cut again. He clenched his fists and drew out the weapon he carried at his waist, a normal Jian sword, and charged directly at Huang Ying while bringing down the sword in an overhead slash.

Huang Ying still didn't draw out his weapon when faced with the attack, he instead performed an action that no one present expected, he raised his hand to meet the attack. And while everyone was looking on in shock, he blocked the edge of the sword with his palm and wrapped his fingers around the weapon, grasping it tightly while not even spilling a drop of blood. Huang Ying pulled his arm back, yanking the sword out of the shocked youth's hands and then looking at his own palm.

"A bit better than expected, what a worthwhile trip."

There was a slight mark on his palm, a sign that the sharp edge of the blade had only barely been able to pierce his skin. This was the result of devouring so many Demonic beasts, a body so strong that it almost rivalled a Demonic beast of the same rank. With his body like this, the attacks of those weaker than the 7th or 8th Mortal Step wouldn't even be able to pierce his skin.

Huang Ying removed his gaze from his own palm and looked at the youth again. He took a step forward and punched out with his left arm, his fist connecting with the abdomen of the youth and knocking all the air out of his lungs while launching him off the stage. He tossed the sword off the stage after the youth and gave his merciless verdict.

"Guppies, even when gathered together, will always remain guppies, they'll never grow larger than their little swarm. Next, you."

Huang Ying finished his words by pointing out another student, who could only grimace with slight despair while ascending the stage. Surrendering was not an option, trying to do so would only result in his mouth getting cut up. But just like the previous student, his attack couldn't even pierce Huang Ying's skin and he was quickly thrown down from the stage.

And just like that, Huang Ying called out student after student, beating them down one by one and causing the sea of people around him to dwindle with each passing minute. And by the time half of the people present had been beaten down by him, one of his main targets became unable to hold himself back any longer and spoke up.

"Alright, you've played with the juniors enough. You speak so grandly, but let me see if you can actually back that up when faced with someone strong."

The man who spoke made his way through the remaining people from the Burning Cloud faction and headed for the stage, Huang Ying tossing out another student and turning to look at the man. The man was somewhat short but had a muscular body and a handsome face, his chin was stubbled and he had somewhat unruly blonde hair that slightly covered his green eyes. This was the man who had used a loophole to take part in the ranking competition, the man who had already reached the 1st Stair of Ascension, a completely different cultivation realm from the 9 Steps of Mortality. But as the man made his way towards the stage, another somewhat frosty voice actually spoke up.

"Fuck off, he is mine."

Huang Ying's eyebrow couldn't help but raise in slight surprise when he heard this voice, he hadn't expected her to speak up now. He turned his head slightly to look at the one who spoke, a girl who had been standing at the very back of the group belonging to the Silver Cloud faction, a girl who Huang Ying knew had only entered the academy within the last month.

The girl was rather tall, almost half a head taller than Huang Ying himself, and had a curvaceous figure hidden by a large brown feathery robe. She had what could be considered a beautiful face, but she wore a rather cold expression, a few strands of her pitch-black hair hanging over her deep crimson eyes. Huang Ying had noticed her existence the moment she arrived, his own blood resonated with hers and made it impossible for him to not notice her.

Huang Ying didn't know why she could already take human form or what sort of methods she had employed to enter the academy and the Silver Cloud faction, but he knew that there should only be one other being in the world who could have a connection with his own bloodline. She proclaimed her hatred and he proclaimed that he would fight her whenever, and now it seemed like she had come to make him stay true to his words.