Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 516: A Show of Force

Chapter 516: Chapter 516: A Show of Force

Shi Hao and Xu Zeqi settled down, becoming official members of the Heavenly Palace Academy.

Xu Zeqi’s desire to dine and dash at the Great Four Seas was immediately dashed because the Heavenly Palace Academy had strict rules that prohibited students from leaving at will.

Thus, Shi Hao and Xu Zeqi could only spend their first night within the academy.

Fortunately, the cafeteria here was very large, and the dishes were quite sumptuous, not inferior to the Great Four Seas at all, and better yet, it was free. They could eat as much as they wanted.

However, Xu Zeqi was still looking around while eating, and just when he was about to finish, he suddenly laughed, "Hey, I’m going to take a leak." Then, he slipped away and never came back.

Hey, doesn’t he know the cafeteria is free?

So you forcefully deceived yourself into thinking you’ve had a free meal, but will you still come back tomorrow?

Shi Hao shook his head; this guy was quite a character.

He returned to his residence, which was allocated to him to share with Xu Zeqi, hence their rooms were next to each other.

Before Shi Hao could enter his room, he saw a line of five people coming over.

By their looks, they seemed to be heading straight for him and Xu Zeqi’s lodgings.

Indeed, it didn’t take long for these five to arrive.

"There’s another newbie, come out quickly!" one of them called out.

Shi Hao crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame, looking detached from the situation.

"Who’s there, disturbing people’s sleep late at night?" Xu Zeqi came out and when he saw five people at the door, he couldn’t help but smile and rub his hands, "Although I’m new here, the fact that you’ve specifically come to invite me for a late-night snack, how can I refuse such kindness?"

He claimed to be modest, yet he had already approached them, reaching out to put his arm around their shoulders.

The five of them were stunned.

Didn’t you see our menacing appearance?

We came to give the newbies a lesson, how did it turn into inviting you for a late-night snack?

"Don’t act so familiar!" The person Xu Zeqi was about to drape his arm over quickly waved their hand, trying to knock away Xu’s hand, but somehow Xu’s hand still landed firmly on his shoulder.

This caused the person’s face to change slightly.

Anyone who could enter the Heavenly Palace Academy was definitely talented, but not everyone was top-notch, so naturally, the person was not stupid. The fact that Xu Zeqi could still put his arm on him despite his resistance indicated extraordinary strength.

This newcomer... was a bit fierce.

The tradition of hazing newcomers began a few months ago, when the first batch of students who entered the academy hazed those who came after them, and thus, the tradition had continued. The last batch of new students who had suffered would look for the next batch to haze.

These five were from the previous batch of new students, having suffered quite a bit, and thus they had come to give Shi Hao and the others a lesson.

——Targeting only those of the same realm, and this time, the Self-Observation Institute students were just the two, Shi Hao and Xu Zeqi.

The person looked at the other four, who also showed a cautious expression.

It seemed like they had met a fearsome dragon. Better not to provoke him to avoid backlash.

"Fair enough, fair enough!" The person whose shoulder was touched spoke with a smile, not daring to reveal their true thoughts, and signaled the others with a glance to target Shi Hao instead.

They didn’t believe that this guy was also a fierce dragon.

Immediately, another person came over and said, "Do you know that according to the traditions of the Heavenly Palace Academy, you have to pass through three challenges before you can be accepted by us seniors?"

Shi Hao shook his head, "There’s nothing about three trials in the school rules."

"If I say there are, then there are!" stressed the second senior student, "Are you defying me?"

He had already walked up to Shi Hao, reaching out to grab at Shi Hao’s chest.

Bang!

A shadow flashed by, and then the individual was sent flying, tracing an arc through the air before heavily crashing down with a dull thud.

"Hehe," Shi Hao chuckled, turning his gaze to the remaining few, "What do you guys say?"

The others exchanged glances and quickly shook their heads incessantly.

Damn, this time it really was like seeing a ghost, having two freaks show up unexpectedly!

They truly were unlucky—bullied upon entering the academy and when they tried to bully the newcomers to regain some self-esteem, they instead met head-on with a painful counterstrike.

"Hey, let’s just go grab some late-night food," Xu Zeqi laughed, dragging the first person forward by force, "Let’s go, guys. Even though it’s early now, we can eat for a long time and still make it till midnight."

You’re also going too far!

Eventually, someone couldn’t help but retort, "You two are quite arrogant! Sadly, newcomers to the academy must endure hardship. That’s a rule set by the big shots. You might dodge it this time, but can you evade the second time, or the third time?"

"The outcome of sticking your neck out is merely suffering greater humiliation!"

Shi Hao smiled and returned to his room, leaving Xu Zeqi to his fun.

A night passed, and early in the morning, Shi Hao and Xu Zeqi were called to gather at the training field.

In Heavenly Palace Academy, the entrance criteria is to be above Breaking the Extreme, hence, the academy is divided into five institutes: Nurturing Soul Institute, Other Shore Institute, Self-Observation Institute, Founding King Court, and Supplementing Divine Temple Institute.

What about beyond that?

Great Sacrificial Heaven could be considered powerful no matter where it was placed, and at this stage of life, one couldn’t possibly improve strength through widespread instruction due to the transformation in the level of life.

Each institute had its independent residential area, lecture area, and practical training area, and in principle, students from different institutes were kept separate. They rarely encountered each other in normal circumstances and bullying of lower realm students by those of a higher realm was strictly forbidden.

Of course, if lower realm students took the initiative to provoke others, that would be a different matter altogether.

Shi Hao glanced around. There truly were many Self-Observation students of varying ages, from white-haired elders to young people in their twenties. One could find someone from any age group.

Due to the large number of students, they were further divided into ten squads, named as First Squad, Second Squad, and so on, with each squad comprising a thousand people.

Shi Hao and Xu Zeqi, having joined late, naturally were placed in the Tenth Squad, which was not yet at full strength, housing a little over eight hundred people.

The head of the Self-Observation Institute was a Great Sacrificial Heaven powerhouse. He spoke some heartening words and then drifted away. Following that, each of the ten squads was led by a teacher of Supplement God Temple Level to start intensive training.

The main content of the training was simple: the instructors taught how to kill opponents as quickly as possible.

To kill, not just defeat.

Additionally, in the face of danger, how to preserve life as much as possible, and if one truly couldn’t save themselves, how to drag the enemy to death along with them.

Shi Hao was astonished, what kind of academy was this, seemingly intent on training them into soldiers?

That day, they spent listening to lectures.

Others said that such "brainwashing classes" would take place every now and then. The rest of the time would be spent in deep mountain practical combat training.