Chapter 539: A Single Glance

"I’m talking to you! Can’t you hear me?!"

Seeing this, Meng Qing flew into a rage. He let out a cold shout as a terrifying wave of Profound Power pressed down on Ye Xuan and the others.

"What do you think you’re doing? This is the main hall for the Trial Tower."

Lin Yuan stepped forward, his expression grim. He shielded Ye Xuan and shouted coldly.

"Who the hell do you think you are? I’m talking to that Xuan Ye. Stop pretending to be some big shot and scram."

An invisible pressure bombarded Lin Yuan, making his body tremble slightly. His face flushed red, and he nearly stumbled backward.

But his gaze was cold and sharp. He gritted his teeth and stared, veins bulging on his forehead, and refused to retreat a single step.

"Heh, not bad, huh? You’re Lin Yuan, right? Think you’re so great just because you made it to the fifth floor of the Trial Tower?"

Meng Qing sneered.

"Get out of my way."

The two young men behind him suddenly snorted, their hands forming claws as they reached for Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan’s expression tightened as he gripped the hilt of his sword. Before the blade was even unsheathed, Sword Qi began to pour out. He was ready to strike back the moment their attack landed.

"Step back."

Ye Xuan sighed and patted Lin Yuan’s shoulder. He didn’t want others sticking their necks out for his problems.

Then he looked at Meng Qing and said indifferently, "That’s right, I’m Xuan Ye. You needed something?"

"So the turtle finally comes out of its shell?" Meng Qing sneered, his tone condescending. "I’ve heard about what you did in the Outer Court. Our Gale Light Academy is a place for the geniuses of the Dream Realm Plain to cultivate, not a stage for anyone to flex their muscles and settle personal scores. Your feud with the Profound Mystery Sect has severely disrupted the order here, so I suggest you wise up and withdraw from the academy. Leave Gale Light Academy on your own."

Meng Qing spoke with self-righteousness, like a senior guiding a junior.

"Are you done?" Ye Xuan glanced at him, his face expressionless. "If you’re done, you can go."

Meng Qing was stunned. He had never expected Ye Xuan to have this kind of attitude.

He had imagined many possible reactions from Ye Xuan: flying into a rage, arguing his case, drawing his sword at the slightest disagreement, or perhaps being meek and not daring to retort.

The one thing he hadn’t anticipated was this. Throughout the entire exchange, Ye Xuan hadn’t even given him a proper look, as if he were just some insignificant person.

This made Meng Qing’s anger flare up. "Xuan Ye, are you even listening to me?! Because of you, several disciples from our Gale Light Academy fell in the Endless Mountain Range! Because of you, countless students in the Outer Court were injured! And what’s more, because of you, our academy’s reputation has plummeted! If you have any conscience at all, you should withdraw voluntarily."

"Do you have any idea who you’ve offended? The Profound Mystery Sect is one of the three top powers in the Dream Realm Plain! They are immensely powerful, with countless experts. No one who offends them ever comes to a good end. You, Xuan Ye, have made a powerful enemy, and yet you bring that disaster to our Gale Light Academy. What are your intentions?"

Meng Qing’s voice was full of righteous fury as he continued his angry tirade.

"Senior Brother Meng is right. In the entire history of the Dream Realm Plain, no one has ever offended the Profound Mystery Sect and gotten away unscathed."

"Hmph, the Profound Mystery Sect is one of the three great powers. They’ve stood firm in the Dream Realm Plain for hundreds of years, their might renowned. How could a brat like you possibly afford to offend them? You, Xuan Ye, brought this disaster upon yourself, but you drag our Gale Light Academy down with you. It’s truly despicable."

The two students behind Meng Qing also chimed in with angry shouts.

The ugly expressions on the trio’s faces made Ye Xuan frown. He coldly uttered a single word: "Scram!"

"What did you say?"

"I said, scram. Didn’t you hear me? Are you deaf?"

"You..."

The three were so angry that veins popped on their foreheads, their eyes filled with malice.

"’You’ what? The three of you are Inner Court disciples, yet you worship the Profound Mystery Sect with every word. Should I call you traitors who bite the hand that feeds them, or are you actually disciples sent here by the Profound Mystery Sect?"

Ye Xuan gave a derisive laugh.

"You—you’re spouting baseless accusations!" A flash of killing intent flickered in Meng Qing’s eyes. "Fine. Fine! If I, Meng Qing, don’t teach you a lesson today, how can I show my face in public again?"

As his voice fell, the Profound Power within Meng Qing’s body erupted.

BOOM!

A terrifying aura burst from his body. The intense Profound Power formed a whirlwind around him, making him look like a demon god.

His fists shot out like cannonballs, smashing viciously toward Ye Xuan’s chest.

"So this was your real purpose. All that talk was just nonsense."

Ye Xuan sneered. ’It was obvious Meng Qing had come looking for trouble, yet he’d spouted so much self-righteous nonsense. What a hypocrite.’

"I heard you’re incredibly strong and defeated Feng Yu with a single punch. Let me see for myself just how terrifying your attacks really are."

Amidst his attack, Meng Qing roared. His entire body pulsed with Profound Power, and strands of thick Profound Power armor formed over his body.

"Spirit Profound Armor?"

Many of the surrounding students broke out in an uproar.

Ye Xuan’s pupils contracted slightly. He noticed that the armor on Meng Qing wasn’t ordinary Profound Power armor. It contained a unique aura, and the Profound Power was condensed in a strange formation, creating a completely new structure.

This type of Profound Power armor must be a kind of Secret Technique, capable of greatly enhancing a Martial Artist’s defense.

If normal Profound Power armor could withstand a force of 10,000, then this Secret Technique armor could withstand at least 20,000.

"Brat, if you don’t make a move now, you won’t get another chance."

Seeing Ye Xuan standing motionless as if he were petrified, Meng Qing couldn’t help but sneer. ’He’s actually letting me power up to my maximum. What an idiot.’

In his current state, he could even hold his own against a Tier Six Third Layer Inner Court student.

"Divine Spirit Gaze—Eye of Illusion’s Grasp!"

A mocking smile played on Ye Xuan’s lips as he turned to look. His black pupils suddenly turned azure, like a bottomless, icy pool.

Meng Qing suddenly shuddered. An icy chill instantly seeped into his soul and bored into his mind.

WENG!

Meng Qing felt his mind go dizzy. It was as if he had lost control of his body and plunged into a stretch of frigid seawater.

SPLASH!

Water splashed everywhere.

"Where am I?"

Before him was a frigid ocean. Over the ink-black surface of the sea, a Gale swept. Looking up, he saw black snowflakes, like life-stealing, cold blades, drifting down one by one.

"Wasn’t I at the academy? How did I end up here?"

Meng Qing cried out in terror, a chill running through his entire body.

"No, this is an illusion."

Suddenly, his mind jolted. He came to his senses and remembered the Illusion Realm Chamber assessment at the academy. Wasn’t it extremely similar to what he was facing now?

"Break!"

He roared in fury, but the scene before him didn’t change in the slightest.

In the sky, a pair of enormous azure pupils appeared, like the gaze of a death god, filled with a hint of mockery, coldness, and dread.

’Xuan Ye.’ Meng Qing’s heart suddenly clenched.

WHOOSH. Under the cold gaze of those pupils, a black tidal wave formed in the distance. The hundred-meter-tall wave, like a massive mountain, rumbled as it bore down on him.

Even though he knew it was most likely an illusion, the suffocating pressure still made his body tremble with overwhelming fear.

"No!"

The moment the giant wave struck, Meng Qing let out a terrified scream. Drenched in a cold sweat, he snapped back to reality, only to find himself kneeling on the floor of the academy hall, almost completely paralyzed.

"Senior Brother Meng, what happened?"

"Senior Brother Meng, snap out of it!"

The two students beside him called out to him anxiously.

"I..."

Meng Qing tried to stand, but he felt weak all over, his heart filled with terror. He looked up and saw Ye Xuan’s mocking gaze, which made him scream and scramble backward in retreat.

Although he had only been in the Illusion Realm for a moment, it had left an indelible scar on his soul.

"What did you do to Senior Brother Meng?"

The two students shouted in a mix of anger and alarm, fear etched on their faces.

All they had seen was Ye Xuan glance at Meng Qing. Then, Senior Brother Meng’s charging figure had suddenly seemed to suffer from dementia—his movements and expression slowed, his body trembled, and his eyes filled with fear and helplessness. Finally, he had collapsed before Ye Xuan, his mind in disarray, as if having an epileptic fit.

"Hehe, I didn’t do a thing. Perhaps he had a sudden epiphany and is now begging for my forgiveness. What about you two?"

Ye Xuan smiled and glanced at the two of them.

His azure pupils swirled, and a wave of fear, originating from the spiritual level, quickly spread and corroded their minds.

THUD!

The two immediately fell to the ground, their faces deathly pale. They scrambled away on all fours, as if they had seen a demon.

After his Soul Power broke through to the Peak of Sixth Grade, the illusory effect of Ye Xuan’s Eye of Illusion’s Grasp had reached a startling level. Bewildering students like Meng Qing was now effortlessly easy for him.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was dumbfounded, either shocked into silence or crying out in alarm.

Throughout the entire process, Ye Xuan hadn’t moved an inch, yet Meng Qing and his two followers were defeated in an instant.

"It was a Pupil Technique. I just felt a terrifying surge of Soul Power released from that Xuan Ye’s eyes."

"That’s terrifying. What kind of Secret Technique is that? Meng Qing and the others are strong experts in the Inner Court. How could they not even withstand a single glance from him?"

"Monstrous. Terrifying."

The entire hall was in an uproar of astonishment.

"This kid... is interesting. That gaze must be some kind of ocular Secret Technique combined with powerful Soul Power, causing Meng Qing’s group to instantly lose the will to fight."

The few people in the corner of the hall saw this, and a slight smile touched their lips.

One of them, a young man in a grayish-brown robe with a flesh-colored scar between his eyebrows, suddenly looked toward Ye Xuan.

SWISH!

An invisible beam of light shot out from his pupils, carrying a provocative intent.

As if sensing something, Ye Xuan suddenly turned his head. Four beams of light from their eyes collided abruptly in mid-air.

CRACK!

The air between the two of them actually let out a crackling sound, and an invisible ripple of energy silently vanished.

"What was that?"

The crowd jumped in fright and followed Ye Xuan’s gaze.

"It’s Celestial Wheel!"

"Did that Xuan Ye just clash with Celestial Wheel?"

"My heavens, he actually blocked Celestial Wheel’s oppressive gaze."

The crowd was horrified, as if the fact that Ye Xuan could meet Celestial Wheel’s gaze was even more shocking than him defeating Meng Qing with a single glance.