Everyone went silent at his answer—he was actually going to fight?!

Did Bai Yunfei had that much faith in his own strength against Zhou Yu? Everyone there shook their heads at the foolishness of Bai Yunfei’s overconfidence.

“Brother Bai, are you really going to fight him?” Zheng Kai gaped at him, “He’s a peak late-stage Soul Exalt and one of the strongest in the academy, you should...”

Bai Yunfei shook his head, “Don’t worry, brother Zheng. I’ve faith in my strength. I won’t be losing.”

Zheng Kai grew silent. He knew Bai Yunfei wasn’t a man to act on his impulses, if Bai Yunfei said he had faith in himself, then that was it. Even he didn’t really know just how strong Bai Yunfei was, but that battle when they first met was more than enough for Zheng Kai to spare him the benefit of doubt.

Like the others, Zhou Yu was a little surprised with how fast Bai Yunfei agreed to the challenge. Blinking several times before sneering in contempt, Zhou Yu grew confident. He had no doubt in his mind that he’d win, and now that Bai Yunfei had agreed to the challenge, Zhou Yu could beat him black and blue in front of a large audience to prove that the crafting instructor wasn’t as strong as people thought.

“Where shall we fight, here?” Bai Yunfei asked him.

Zhou Yu pointed behind himself, “There’s an outdoors arena over there, we’ll go there!”

He took off towards the arena before Bai Yunfei could reply to that. The other students and instructors were already making their way over to the said arena, and when Bai Yunfei looked, he too saw an outdoor arena about about two kilometers away. There was an elevated platform about a meter high into the air and five hundred meters squared. Compared to the area around it, the arena was clearly of more durable make.

Smiling, Bai Yunfei headed towards the arena. In his mind, he was already thinking about how to fight the upcoming battle.

The reason why he accepted the challenge—aside from his faith in his strength—was to establish himself in the hierarchy. Him being a new instructor obviously landed him on the lower part of the power hierarchy of the academy, so he had to avoid being labeled anything negative before his first class even started. As such, he might as well fight it out this time to show everyone that he was strong and well deserving to be the instructor for crafting.

By now, Bai Yunfei and Zhou Yu were both standing on top of the platform, and the audience all gathered around the ring, whispering and chattering to one another.

......

Standing just a hundred meters away from Bai Yunfei, Zhou Yu’s eyes glistened, “We are merely just comparing notes, and not fighting a battle to the death. But seeing how swords are blind, injuries are hard to avoid. If you wish to surrender, say it sooner rather than later.”

Bai Yunfei smiled. “Thanks for the warning. Let’s compare notes then, I’ve a class to teach.”

“You!!” Zhou Yu spat, unimpressed with Bai Yunfei’s attitude. Stepping forward, he flew off towards Bai Yunfei to make the first attack!

Closing in the hundred meters of distance, Zhou Yu brought his right hand high, fire combusting out from it before lashing out a fiery punch onto Bai Yunfei’s chest. It was only a precautionary attack, but the strength behind it was strong enough for even a late-stage Soul Exalt to handle.

But Bai Yunfei.....didn’t move, much to the shock of the others!

His lips were curled into a smirk, as if uncaring for this attack. When the punch was close enough to him, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, bringing out an orange flash of light from his ring to erect a barrier of orange light around his person.

“Boom!!”

Zhou Yu’s fist smashed against the barrier, but he was unable to blow past it! Instead, he was flung backwards while Bai Yunfei remained steadfast! The barrier around Bai Yunfei had only flickered a bit before returning back to normal.

Zhou Yu was amazed, but he rather than stand still in his amazement, he flew forward again with another mighty punch, only to achieve the same effect as last time where he was flung back again.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

One blow after another, Zhou Yu’s figure went back and forth to strike against Bai Yunfei’s barrier. With each hit, he was flung back again before he attempted once more from a different angle.

Steady, Bai Yunfei watched again and again as Zhou Yu tried to strike at his shield without any success.

The audience was amazed at what they were watching. They thought an intense battle would take place, but all it was was Zhou Yu striking at what appeared to be a ‘wooden pillar’.

Those with sharp eyes could see that among the flashes of intermittent light was the Cataclysmic Seal, flashing whenever Zhou Yu tried to strike at Bai Yunfei.

After a minute of striking non-stop, Zhou Yu was starting to feel more surprised than before. He was putting all of his strength behind each of his attacks, but it was doing absolutely nothing on his opponent. After one last blow where it did nothing, Zhou Yu narrowed his eyes and flew into the air. His soulforce began to climb rapidly as elemental fire spiralled around him. A needle-like cone made of fire materialized above his right hand, and like a drill, it start to rotate faster and faster. This had to be a soul skill.

Bai Yunfei’s eyes lit up. Not even waiting for his opponent to attack, Bai Yunfei waved his right hand, sending the Cataclysmic Seal flowing forward with increased speed towards Zhou Yu before he could finish winding up his attack.

Zhou Yu was startled—he hadn’t expected Bai Yunfei’s soul armament to be able to go from defense to offense like that. Its transition had been quick and deadly, and his fire needle hadn’t yet fully finished when he was forced to bring his left arm up to block the Cataclysmic Seal

“Clank!!”

There was a clanking sound as the Cataclysmic Seal was stopped inches away from Zhou Yu before it was deflected past his sides, spinning him around slightly. His left arm ached with pain from the blow even despite the high-earth tier bracer he had on his left arm for defense. But even despite the pain, Zhou Yu was remembered the task at hand and sent the fire drill down like a bullet towards Bai Yunfei!

This elemental attack was far stronger than his normal blows with his fist. The Cataclysmic Seal was already far away enough for Bai Yunfei to not be able to make use of its barrier, making everyone believe Bai Yunfei would move out of the way in order to evade being hit by it.

But Bai Yunfei didn’t move from his spot! He slowly raised his right hand at the drill, looking as if he was ready to meet the incoming attack with his right palm head on!

Practically moments before the drill touched his hand, the audience could see a flash of stunning red light flash from the purple and black glove on his right hand. Then, with that light, Bai Yunfei’s hand pinched at the tip of the drill!

“Boom!!”

There was an explosion as the drill came to a sudden stop, and then half a second later, it dissipated!