Fang Yuan's brief advantage wouldn't last long.

As their fists and feet tangled, he was already panting heavily. In contrast, Gao Wan's breath remained steady and deep, highlighting the significant difference in stamina between them.

Meanwhile, Gao Wan was warming up, his body growing hotter, and his punches becoming faster. The numbness and sluggishness brought by the cold were gradually swept away, and he began to truly display the strength he had honed over decades of hard training.

"Kid, you can't beat me. The clan rules state that you can't use the Moonlight Gu in the academy. You're done for; today you're destined to be my prisoner!" Gao Wan laughed grimly, his rich combat experience leading him to try to crush Fang Yuan's fighting spirit with words.

"I'm still just a teenager, my body hasn't fully matured, and I'm not as strong as this brute," Fang Yuan's mind was as cold as ice. After five hundred years of honing, how could his fighting spirit be easily shaken?

"Moonlight Gu!" With a thought, he activated his True Essence while leaping back a step to put some distance between himself and Gao Wan.

Gao Wan wanted to pursue, but suddenly saw a layer of blue water-like light emanating from Fang Yuan's palm.

His expression immediately darkened, and he shouted, "Kid, using Gu insects to fight in the academy is against the clan rules!"

"So what if it is?" Fang Yuan sneered. He studied the clan rules, mastered them, but never intended to follow them.

Immediately, he slashed his palm through the air towards Gao Wan.

With a soft hiss, a blue Moon Blade shot towards Gao Wan's face.

Gao Wan gritted his teeth, raised his arms to form a shield in front of his face, and continued to charge at Fang Yuan, intending to take the hit head-on and end the fight quickly.

The Moon Blade struck his arm, and with a muffled sound, blood and flesh splattered under the moonlight. An intense wave of pain shot through Gao Wan's nerves, nearly causing him to faint from the unexpected agony.

"How can this be?!" His charge halted abruptly, and he was horrified to find a deep gash across his forearms. Blood flowed freely from the wound, and he could see the bloody muscles and even the stark white of the broken arm bones.

Gao Wan was utterly shocked: "This is impossible! A Rank One – Initial Stage Moon Blade should only be able to injure my flesh. How could it cut through my bones? That should only be possible at Rank One – Intermediate Stage!"

He had no idea that although Fang Yuan was just a Rank One – Initial Stage Gu Master, the refinement by the Wine Gu had given him Intermediate True Essence.

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With the Moonlight Gu powered by Intermediate True Essence, the Moon Blade's power naturally exceeded the Initial Stage.

"Something's wrong, this kid is strange!!" Gao Wan, caught off guard and severely injured, lost all his fighting spirit and decided to retreat immediately.

"Do you think you can escape?" Fang Yuan sneered, giving chase and continuously firing Moon Blades.

"Help!!" Gao Wan screamed as he fled, his voice echoing far in the quiet academy.

"What's going on? Someone's calling for help!" The cries alarmed the nearby academy guards.

"It's the Mo Clan's servant, Mo Yan's maid." The guards arrived, saw the pursuit, and stopped in their tracks.

"He's just a servant, not worth protecting!"

"Leaving him is already giving face to the Mo Clan."

"Still, we should be careful to prevent him from going berserk and harming Fang Yuan."

The tense guards surrounded the scene but didn't intervene, choosing to watch instead.

This servant named Gao Wan, if he died, it wouldn't matter to them. But if Fang Yuan died or got injured, it would be their responsibility.

Seeing this, Gao Wan's heart sank completely. He cried out desperately, "We're all outsiders, you can't just watch me die!"

He was losing more and more blood, slowing down.

Fang Yuan caught up from behind, his voice cold as ice, pronouncing Gao Wan's death sentence: "Scream all you want, it won't help."

With that, he flipped his hand, sending out two more Moon Blades.

With two swift sounds, they struck Gao Wan's neck.

Gao Wan felt a chill in his heart, as if he had stepped into an abyss.

The next moment, his vision spun wildly, and he saw his own feet, chest, back... and the severed neck.

Then, he was engulfed in complete darkness.

Gao Wan was dead.

Decapitated by Fang Yuan's two Moon Blades, his head flew off, and his body ran ten meters before collapsing. Blood gushed from his neck like a fountain, staining the surrounding flowers and grass red.

"Murder!"

"Fang Yuan killed someone!!"

The guards couldn't help but exclaim softly. Witnessing the entire process, they shivered, feeling a sense of dread and terror.

Fang Yuan was just a fifteen-year-old frail-looking boy, yet he killed a strong adult without a change in expression. This was the power of a Gu Master!

The battle was over.

Fang Yuan slowed his pace, walking over leisurely.

His expression was calm, as if he had just done something as mundane as eating or drinking. This demeanor sent another chill down the guards' spines.

Gao Wan's head lay on the ground, eyes wide open, dead but not at peace.

Fang Yuan, expressionless, lifted a foot and kicked the head away.

The guards' eyes twitched at the sight.

Fang Yuan approached Gao Wan's body, noting that it was still trembling, blood quickly pooling into a small puddle.

He examined the wounds on Gao Wan's body, his face darkening. These wounds were deep enough to reveal his secret of possessing Intermediate True Essence.

If this secret were exposed, it would soon lead to his Wine Gu. Once the Wine Gu was discovered, the clan's higher-ups would naturally associate it with the Wine-loving Wanderer.

Therefore, Fang Yuan had to keep this secret.

"But too many people have seen it," Fang Yuan glanced at the surrounding guards, over ten in number. With less than ten percent of his True Essence remaining, he couldn't kill them all.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yuan bent down, grabbed Gao Wan's ankle, and dragged the corpse away.

"Young Master Fang Yuan, leave this to us," the guards, suppressing their fear, approached Fang Yuan respectfully.

Their respect was mixed with a clear sense of fear.

Fang Yuan quietly glanced at them, and the guards instinctively held their breath, lowering their heads.

"Give me the knife," he said, extending his hand calmly.

His commanding tone carried an undeniable authority.

The guard closest to him involuntarily handed over the knife from his waist.

Fang Yuan took the knife and continued walking.

Leaving behind more than ten guards, standing dumbfounded, watching his retreating figure.

The morning sun rose from the east, the first rays of dawn shining over the mountains, illuminating the academy.

Fifteen-year-old Fang Yuan, with a slender and pale body, walked unhurriedly in the dawn light.

In his left hand, he held a gleaming knife.

In his right hand, he dragged a headless corpse.

As he walked, a trail of bright red blood marked the dark stone bricks.

The guards watched in a daze, a chill freezing their bodies.

The morning sunlight shone on them, yet they felt no warmth or light.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard, the sound echoing in the silence.

...