Black Devil, Ai Jiangtu

Ai Tutu froze. She spun around to see who had dared stop her from hitting Gu Jian.

The moment she saw that dark, chiseled face, the color drained from her own.

Gu Jian raised his head as well. Standing behind Ai Tutu was a young man whose posture was as straight and imposing as a black sword — his expressionless face carrying an aura of authority that made something instinctive in the gut recoil.

*He's clearly no older than the rest of us — so why does he carry himself like that?*

"My apologies. My younger sister has always lacked discipline…" The dark-skinned young man hadn't loosened his grip on Ai Tutu's wrist. His expression didn't change. He simply addressed Gu Jian with the words of an apology.

"You… you're… Ai Jiangtu!!" Gu Jian recognized him. Then, in disbelief, he glanced at the woman who had just slapped him twice across the face. "She… she's your *sister*??"

"Brother, I…" Ai Tutu looked exactly as she would if she'd just run into her stern father — every last trace of her little-devil energy collapsed on the spot, leaving her as docile and meek as a scolded kitten.

Ai Jiangtu gave a slow nod and gradually released Ai Tutu's wrist.

He stepped forward until he stood before Gu Jian. "Our father has spent years leading troops against Demon-Beasts beyond our borders. He's indulged my sister her whole life. If she has offended you in any way…"

Some expression finally crept back onto Gu Jian's face.

*So Ai Jiangtu still doesn't dare cross the Gu Clan completely — but why the hell didn't he show up sooner? I already had to crawl across the floor and eat two slaps to the face!!*

"Hmph. I'll admit I lost the bet fair and square," Gu Jian said, snapping back to composure and doing his best to reclaim some dignity. "But she impersonated someone and cost me my Nomination Rights. My family's elders won't just let this go."

"My father holds one vote. I'll have him notify you — consider it compensation for this matter." Ai Jiangtu's tone was sincere.

The moment those words left his mouth, the crowd erupted.

Votes were held by only the most powerful figures in the nation. Some Councillors probably didn't even have one. Even the head of the Association might not. Just what kind of background did Ai Jiangtu have, that his own father commanded a single vote?

"You mean that?" Gu Jian's eyes lit up.

*If he could actually get his hands on a vote, he'd take a third slap today and still come out ahead!*

"I already hold four votes and will be representing the Military Academy in the tournament. My father's vote is of no further use to me…" Ai Jiangtu said.

That sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Four votes!!

This guy already had four!!!

*He's* the real pre-selected contestant!!!

Mo Fan, standing nearby, felt a quiet jolt of shock and found himself reassessing this dark-skinned young man for the first time — someone who radiated the unmistakable bearing of a Military Mage.

*I've only got three votes myself — barely a half-confirmed pick. I'd heard there was one genuinely pre-selected contestant besides me, but I never imagined it would be Ai Tutu's older brother, representing the Military Academy of all places!*

The World Academy Tournament drew its domestic representatives from academies across every region of the country — military academies included.

"I have heard of you…" Gu Jian said, affecting a look of reluctant acceptance while his heart hammered with barely contained excitement. "If you're offering compensation, then naturally this matter can be considered settled."

A vote was worth more than a fortune in gold, and no one understood that better than Gu Jian.

"Oh," said Ai Jiangtu. "I didn't say this was settled."

"What do you mean? I slapped her because of the bet I made with Mo Fan — you know Noble Clan rules as well as I do. She cost me my Nomination Rights, and the Gu Clan won't just write that off. If it weren't for your father's vote as compensation…" Gu Jian burst out, panic surging through him at the thought that Ai Jiangtu might be reneging.

Ai Jiangtu's gaze shifted to Ai Tutu. She shook her head, silently pleading with him not to escalate things.

But Ai Jiangtu merely drew one corner of his mouth into a cold line. The moment his eyes left his sister, they became twin blades that drove straight into Gu Jian.

Gu Jian stumbled back several steps under that gaze.

"For what she did wrong, I've already offered compensation. But the words you used to humiliate her…"

Something shifted inside Ai Jiangtu — he seemed to become an entirely different person. Something terrifying surged from within his dark frame.

He closed his fist around empty air, and an invisible hand yanked Gu Jian clean off the ground, as effortlessly as wringing the neck of a chicken.

Gu Jian's legs kicked uselessly, his entire body suspended by something clamped around his throat, veins bulging across his face.

The change came so fast that the watching crowd stumbled backward, gasping.

Ai Jiangtu looked every inch a black devil who held the world in his fist — that iron-dark hand closed on nothing, yet Gu Jian hung half a meter off the ground. Dark energy churned and roiled around him, so cold that every student present felt as though they'd been plunged into freezing water.

"Stop! Stop right there — no causing a scene here!" All three referee-teachers had sensed the killing intent and leapt to their feet.

One of them was already tracing a Star Chart underfoot, clearly preparing to intervene.

"Stay out of this." Ai Jiangtu's aura blazed, and he thrust his other hand in a sweeping motion toward all three.

**Hummm——!!**

An invisible concussive force swept through the air and hurled all three referee-teachers more than ten meters back. Had they not crashed into the soft cushion of the Barrier, the sheer force of that blow would have been enough to leave even them with injuries.

Beside them, Mo Fan and Ding Yumian stood frozen.

He was a contestant — which meant he was roughly the same age as everyone else here, a student at a military academy.

Yet those three referee-teachers had most likely entered the High-Level Domain, and if not, they weren't far off. To be sent flying that far by a single palm strike — even accounting for the fact that they hadn't been on guard — said everything about just how monstrously powerful Ai Jiangtu truly was.

"What… what are you going to do?! I'm warning you — the entire Gu Clan is not to be trifled with!!" Gu Jian's voice shook; the grip on his throat made even speech a struggle.

"You dare talk to me about clans?" The quiet that followed was worse than a shout. "Every man and woman in the Ai family is a soldier, risking their lives every single day to guard the northern borders beyond the Great Wall. This one girl — we kept her from military life and arranged for her to study at Pearl Academy. My father himself wouldn't dare scold her for a single word. If killing you wouldn't compromise our country's standing in the tournament, I'd have your Gu Clan's pack of parasites come collect your corpse right now!!"

When Ai Jiangtu roared, it was the voice of a Demon-Beast — the sound alone enough to make eardrums ring.

Gu Jian's legs went limp with terror. But Ai Jiangtu was clearly not a man who feared consequences. Something flickered beneath his feet — too fast to tell whether it was a Star Chart or a Star Trail — and then Gu Jian's head was driven downward as though struck by a sledgehammer, slamming into the ground with a thunderous **crash!!!**