The piercingly sharp sword lights locked onto Du Cheng's entire body. They almost sealed off his every possible range of motion. The murderous intent was undeniably real, so intense that even the surrounding temperature plummeted!

Du Cheng, whose mind had been clouded by raging anger, calmed somewhat. Facing the nine sword lights close at hand, he sensed that Star Lord might truly unleash them in the next moment!!

Once the sword lights fall, he would have no chance of survival!!

Du Cheng knew with absolute certainty that he was no match for Star Lord. Even though they were both at the Innate level, there were distinct levels of power, and the gap between them would be immense.

"Instructor Ning, I can apologize." Du Cheng still chose to yield. Much of the anger in his heart had subsided, but he still had his reservations. Taking a deep breath, he said, "However, I absolutely will not kneel to them!!"

Du Cheng was still extremely arrogant.

In his eyes, both Qin Heng and Wang Quan were insignificant ants he could crush at will!! To kneel to them! Absolutely impossible!!

SCHWING!!

However, just as Du Cheng finished speaking, a sword cry exploded—a sound so piercing it made his scalp tingle—and then he felt a searing pain in his left shoulder!

A jet-black sword light had instantly pierced Du Cheng's left shoulder, leaving a bloody wound from which blood spurted, staining his clothes red.

"ARGH!!" Du Cheng grunted, looking at Ning Shuying. "Instructor Ning, what is the meaning of this? Just for Qin Heng? Is it really necessary to go this far?"

Truthfully, he was still indignant. Even if Qin Heng's aptitude for cultivation was heaven-defying, he was currently just an ordinary person who hadn't even begun cultivating! Besides, even if Qin Heng did become powerful in the future, that was still in the future! And that would be Qin Heng's achievement, not yours, Star Lord!! Ning Shuying was the Saint's foster daughter, a member of the Myth Organization, and a peak Innate Great Grandmaster known as Star Lord. She wouldn't lack powerful individuals by her side. Yet, she valued an ordinary person so highly, even attacking him—a legitimate line successor of a Martial Dao family! It struck Du Cheng as utterly unreasonable! Simply unbelievable!! He simply couldn't comprehend Ning Shuying's desire to cultivate powerhouses for the country, to protect this land and its people. In his eyes, even if Qin Heng had immense potential, it wasn't worth Ning Shuying going to such lengths.

"The value of a single Qin Heng far surpasses your Du family," Ning Shuying said, her gaze icy as she looked at Du Cheng. "I'll give you one last chance. Where the next sword light falls is up to you."

"You—!" Du Cheng looked at Ning Shuying, wanting to say something. But seeing the sword lights locked onto him, ready to attack at any moment, he lowered his arrogant head. "Fine! I'll do it! I'll do it!!"

Saying this, he clutched the wound on his left shoulder and slowly walked, step by step, towards Qin Heng and Wang Quan, who had already recovered from his injuries.

THUD!

Kneeling on the ground, Du Cheng's face was filled with humiliation. He glared fiercely at Qin Heng and Wang Quan, the hatred in his eyes so intense it seemed almost tangible.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong!!"

He had truly knelt and apologized. The surrounding students were stunned, looking at him in disbelief.

Previously, Du Cheng had been so arrogant, so condescending; he hadn't even spared a glance for the Daqin Group and had even threatened to call people to kill Qin Heng's entire family. He was utterly unrestrained!

But this very person, after Instructor Ning intervened, had actually gone and knelt to apologize to Qin Heng and Wang Quan!! Unbelievable!! It was truly unbelievable!! Was this the deterrence that came with power? The power wielded by Instructor Ning!! The power of an Innate Great Grandmaster!!

Many students' eyes burned with fervor, their thoughts began to race, and their understanding of the Martial Dao deepened.

"Instructor Ning, I've already apologized," Du Cheng said, looking at Ning Shuying. In truth, he had no intention of apologizing to Qin Heng and Wang Quan; he was only doing this because of Ning Shuying.

As long as he satisfied Ning Shuying, he couldn't care less what Qin Heng and Wang Quan thought.

However, Ning Shuying simply ignored him, turning a deaf ear. Her eyes were closed, as if she hadn't heard a thing.

Du Cheng's expression darkened, but he suppressed the urge to erupt. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Qin Heng and said, "Kid, I've apologized to you. You can tell Instructor Ning now."

"What?" Qin Heng pretended to have just snapped back to reality. He looked at Du Cheng and said, "You apologized? When did you apologize? How come I didn't know? Wang Quan, did you?"

"Not sure, I didn't hear a thing just now," Wang Quan chimed in with a sneer. He wasn't afraid at all because he knew Qin Heng's strength very well. In his eyes, Du Cheng was already a dead man.

"You—! You're courting death!!" Du Cheng was about to explode with rage, but at that very moment, several sword lights descended again, locking onto him.

"Du Cheng, what did you just say?" Ning Shuying slowly opened her eyes, looked at Du Cheng, and said faintly, "Are you tired of living? Do you want to die right now?"

Her voice was very cold.

Du Cheng couldn't help but shiver. He was certain Ning Shuying would actually kill him!

"Qin Heng, Wang Quan, I'm sorry! I was wrong! Please forgive me!!" Du Cheng knelt on the ground, apologizing again to Qin Heng and Wang Quan, his voice so loud that many people heard him.

Those who weren't there before had also gathered to watch the commotion.

Now, Du Cheng's disgrace was known to all.

The bystanders looked at him as if watching a performing monkey; some even took out their phones to take pictures and post on their social media feeds.

Du Cheng trembled with rage.

He gritted his teeth!

He wished he could kill Qin Heng right then and there, but he didn't dare!! Damn it! Damn it all!!!

"Qin Heng, what do you think of this?" Ning Shuying pointed to Du Cheng, kneeling on the ground, and said to Qin Heng, "Will this appease some of your anger?"

"Instructor Ning, what I said earlier was that he should kowtow in apology, then break his own legs, and then crawl out of here." Qin Heng glanced coolly at Du Cheng and said, "He hasn't finished yet."

Upon hearing this, Ning Shuying couldn't help but frown. "After all, he is an Innate Great Grandmaster..."

"An Innate is no different from worthless grass or dust in my eyes," Qin Heng gently shook his head. "Let him break his own legs. That's the price he should pay."

A few classmates, seemingly unable to watch any longer, stepped forward.

"Qin Heng, be merciful when you can. He has already knelt down, admitted his mistake, and apologized. Why are you still being so unforgiving?"

"Exactly! Taking a step back opens up a wider sky! Besides, Instructor Ning is helping you; you can't make things difficult for her. That's not right of you."

"You're holding too much of a grudge. Besides, hasn't he apologized already? Why are you being so relentless? It's too much."

They adopted a stance as if they were on the moral high ground, criticizing Qin Heng.

"Ridiculous!" Wang Quan spoke up, looked at these people, and said, "Where were you when Du Cheng was threatening Young Master Qin, saying he'd kill his entire family? Now you jump out, pretending to be saints? SCRAM!!"

Some people are just like that—hypocrites with double standards, sanctimonious fakes! They just want to satisfy their urge to stand on the moral high ground and criticize others. It's disgusting to the core!!

CRACK!!

Du Cheng himself broke both his legs. He raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, endured the pain, and glared at Qin Heng through gritted teeth. "You little bastard, just you wait! I will surely avenge today's enmity! The humiliation I suffered today, I will repay tenfold, a hundredfold in the future!! The Runan Du family will absolutely not let you go!"

"You'll have no such chance," Qin Heng looked at Du Cheng coolly and sneered. "Didn't you say earlier that nothing in the secular world posed a threat to you? You said, 'So what if one has money?' Now I'll tell you what having money can do... Wang Quan, contact the dark web for me. Post a bounty. I've already figured out the details. Write this:

Wanted: Members of the Runan Du family. Rewards for confirmed kills: Open Force Martial Artists, one million; Hidden Force Martial Artists, ten million; Transcendence Realm Martial Artists, one hundred million; Half-step Innate, one billion; Innate, ten billion!"

Du Cheng was stupefied, staring at Qin Heng in disbelief. He roared, "Impossible! No one will take this contract! No one dares to offend my Runan Du family, absolutely no one! With just ten billion RMB, you think you can kill an Innate Great Grandmaster? Dream on!!"

"Who said it was RMB?" Qin Heng sneered, turning to Wang Quan beside him. "Add a note: the currency is US dollars! Du Cheng, let's make a bet. Shall we see how many people your Du family will have left in a month?"

Du Cheng's face instantly turned white as a sheet.