Gao Feng only hoped that his beating would not be too severe.
It would be humiliating if he ended up being beaten black and blue. Moreover, there was a chance that he would be receiving a second beating when he returned home.
Gao Feng stood up unsteadily and felt a hand land on his shoulder.
A deep voice said into Gao Feng’s ear, “Don’t be scared. If you can’t hold on during the fight, just shake your head gently at Uncle Zuo.”
Gao Feng turned to see that Liu Jie had stood up as well.
Liu Jie was the center of attention.
When Liu Jie stood up and placed his hand on Gao Feng’s shoulder, the unassuming Gao Feng also ended up in the spotlight.
Gao Feng felt that Liu Jie was his savior, and he knew that Liu Jie had given Zuo Ming a head’s up to help Gao Feng.
Gao Feng had a boisterous personality, so he patted Liu Jie’s shoulder without much thought and pulled Liu Jie closer to him.
Liu Jie allowed himself to be pulled and stood shoulder to shoulder with Gao Feng.
The picture that Gao Feng and Liu Jie painted of two buddies caused the blood of the people outside the palace to boil.
The crowd remembered that Gao Feng and Chief Guard Ye’s disciple did not seem to know each other, yet now they were acting like actual brothers.
The young disciples who had wanted to join the group but could not muster the courage to do so regretted their timidness now.
Even if they failed to join the group and could not stand side by side with Chief Guard Ye’s disciple like Gao Feng was going now, just being able to say a few words to Chief Guard Ye’s disciple would have earned them their elders’ favor and allowed them to climb to a higher position in their family.
A square-faced man was staring at Gao Feng from inside the Midnight Palace. He frowned when he saw Gao Feng standing and smiling.
The square-faced man was Gao Feng’s father, Gao Pei.
Gao Pei sighed and said, “It looks like I’ve been too lenient with Gao Feng.”
Although Gao Pei did not think that Gao Feng had any hope of being accepted as the disciple of one of the members of royalty, Gao Feng was still his only son who would eventually inherit the Gao family.
It was now imperative to leave a good impression on the 13 members of royalty.
As Gao Pei looked at Gao Feng, he felt that all the advice he had given Gao Feng back home had been for naught.
While Gao Pei moped, Night Leaning Moon said, “The one wearing the standard Spirit Guards mask is my disciple.”
Night Leaning Moon smiled under her veil as she looked at Liu Jie.
It had only been two months since Night Leaning Moon accepted Liu Jie as her disciple.
In the last two months, Night Leaning Moon had been consistently helping Liu Jie to increase his power. She had not been a Master for long and had not had time to pay attention to Liu Jie’s life yet, so she did not know who his friends were.
She only knew that Liu Jie cared considerably for Lin Yuan and that he cared to the extent of it being his faith.
Now that she saw him with other people of his age, Night Leaning Moon felt rather happy.
Night Leaning Moon knew that Liu Jie had spent three years in a dark place. At least now, looking at him, she knew that his personality had not atrophied due to that dark time.
Although she rarely spoke, Night Leaning Moon said to the people behind her, “The boy with my disciple should be one of your sons, right? I look forward to seeing his performance in the Martial Stage.”
Gao Pei had been thinking of how he should teach Gao Feng a good lesson so that he would remember not to be so smiley all the time.
But now that he knew that the person that was standing beside his son was Chief Guard Ye’s disciple, Gao Pei’s heart started to beat wildly.
He blinked as he screamed internally. That’s my son! Good job!
However, Gao Pei was confused because he had never heard Gao Feng mention that he was acquainted with Chief Guard Ye’s disciple.
Given his son’s personality, he should have constantly been yapping about it.
Before Gao Pei could express his joy, he heard what Chief Guard Ye had said next.
Her words troubled Gao Pei.
He had insisted on his son participating in the Martial Stage because he wanted Gao Feng to know that his team of feys had serious limitations.
When they were at home, Gao Pei would tell Gao Feng about the issue with his team of feys multiple times.
However, he could never win in an argument with his son.
Thus, he had wanted Gao Feng to participate in the Martial Stage to get a good taste of the weakness that came from his limitations.
He should be proud that his son had been mentioned by Chief Guard Ye, who also said that she was looking forward to his performance.
However, Gao Pei’s expression was becoming increasingly unnatural.
What kind of performance will my son put on?
Chief Guard Ye’s words had placed the limelight on Gao Feng.
When Gao Feng stepped up to the platform and was beaten to a pulp, all the hopes that Chief Guard Ye had pinned on him would be dashed.
While Gao Pei was wrapped up in his concerns, Gao Feng and Liu Jie had arrived behind Zuo Ming.
Liu Jie walked up to Zuo Ming and whispered something, to which Zuo Ming nodded and said, “There are a total of 75 participants for the Martial Stage. If no one else is joining, I shall announce the Martial Stage’s rules. The Martial Stage will be starting now.”
Zong Ze already knew that Liu Jie was Chief Guard Ye’s disciple.
As Zong Ze gazed at Liu Jie, he looked eager to launch into battle and took a step forward.
But soon, he awkwardly hit the back of his head and told himself not to be impulsive.
If he participated in the Martial Stage, he would not be able to participate in the Martial Arts Stage.
Since no one else stepped forward, Zuo Ming said, “Then, the Martial Stage shall officially begin. I will choose a person to stand on the Martial Stage, and the rest can choose to challenge whenever they please. When everyone has used their chance to challenge a fight, the Martial Stage will come to an end. The last person standing on the Martial Stage will be the victor while the second and third place will be decided based on the number of consecutive wins.”
When the younger generation of disciples heard what Zuo Ming said, their expressions shifted.
The rules for the Martial Stage were slightly unusual.
The last person standing would be the victor, while the second and third place would be decided based on the number of consecutive wins. This meant that one should enter the stage later to ensure that they would not tire themselves out in previous fights.
The disciples of veteran and top factions that were present knew how strong each other was as well as what abilities their feys had.
Hence, anyone standing on the Martial Stage would become a living target that would be easily kicked off the stage by a new challenger.
As such, the real question was when was the right time to enter the Martial Stage.
While the others were contemplating when they should step onto the stage, Gao Feng was swimming in delight.
He felt that as long as he waited till Liu Jie stepped onto the stage, he could just surrender.
There was no way that Liu Jie would reject his surrender, and he could save himself a beating.
While Gao Feng was dancing internally with joy, a gust of wind dragged him away.
By the time he came to his senses, he had found himself on the Martial Stage.
