Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
A massive rumble could be heard as the earthen courtyard wall collapsed. Fiery Thunder tumbled into a different sect’s courtyard. In the end, he was sprawled on the ground and quickly disappeared.
Aqua Thunder didn’t fare any better than Fiery Thunder. The bones of his two arms were completely broken, and his lower stomach was caved in. The man knelt on the ground, spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. It looked like he was unable to die from his appearance.
“How is this possible?”
Aqua Thunder had already been ejected from the state of the Great Sage Fist. He looked at Qin Fen in helplessness and disbelief. The Great Sage Fist combined with hypnosis made him truly akin to the Monkey King Sun, giving him a body of copper skin and iron bones. He wasn’t afraid of even an encounter with a practitioner of the Iron Mantle. How did a practitioner of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art and on the same level as him break his arms so easily? And six of his ribs as well?
Qin Fen carried an imposing air of having just defeated two experts by himself. He gazed at the crowd around him and asked, “Who else wants to fight?”
….
The Thunder Mountain Villa turned incomparably quiet. Most of the members of the villa were merely at the two-star strength, and there were even people with one-star strength among them. Everyone possessed self-awareness when it came to facing Thirty-Six Hours, someone who had defeated two four-stars by himself.
Qin Fen placed his gaze back onto Aqua Thunder, who he had left alive on purpose. “Now can you give me back Dragon Hall’s sign?”
“Dragon Hall….” Aqua Thunder was half-kneeling on the ground as he sneered, “We sold that sign long ago to the Guardian Deity Sect.”
“You sold it?”
Qin Fen didn’t have a good understanding of the rules around here. He could only cast his gaze toward his adviser, Zhang Xiangyang.
“Hall Master, selling other people’s signs is a very common occurrence.” Zhang Xiangyang arrived before Qin Fen. “Once a sign has been seized, one needs to wait for five days to pass before one can obtain the system’s rewards. However, who is daring enough to protect the sign for five days and ensure that no one takes it away? Therefore, this is how the matter of selling signs came about. Those who seized a sign would often sell the sign to sects who are confident of being able to hold onto the sign until the final day. They would often sell it for forty or fifty percent of the system’s rewards.”
Qin Fen shook his head over and over when he heard this. He fought for the better part of the day and yet his sign was still not in his possession. “The Guardian Deity Sect? Where are they?”
“Opposite of the street, to the left side.” Aqua Thunder answered very simply. Thirty-Six Hours could only continue on for the sake of his sign. Whether Guardian Deity Sect loses or Thirty-Six Hours loses, Aqua Thunder wouldn’t suffer any losses. Instead, he could rejoice in the misfortune of others. Who wouldn’t do the same as him?
Qin Fen nodded his head, turned around, and was about leave when he suddenly recalled something. He asked Zhang Xiangyang, “Does this count as beating a sect in a sect-challenge?”
“Yes.”
“Then I can take away this place’s sign?”
“Of course you can!”
“Okay!” Qin Fen yelled to his comrades outside the door. “Help me tear down the sign…”
Before Qin Fen could even finish his sentence, Qin Fen’s comrades had already rushed toward the top of the entrance in cheers.
“Let’s go. We’re going to the Guardian Deity Sect….”
“Hold it!” A furious howl came thundering from the collapsed wall. “You have destroyed our courtyard’s wall, and you want to leave without apologizing?”
Qin Fen was anxious to get his own sign back. He turned and cupped his hands toward the courtyard wall. “Sorry, please forgive me.”
“You think just saying sorry can fix problems? What do you think police exist for!?” The man who roared from the courtyard wall raised his leg and crossed the crumbled wall. “This courtyard wall of mine isn’t cheap. If you don’t leave behind three to five thousand dollars, then don’t even think about leaving.”
Qin Fen looked at the person who arrived. The man had a height of around a hundred and ninety-five centimeters. The crescent blade within his hands showed that he possessed Herculean strength.
“I’m not paying. Do you want to fight or not?” Qin Fen asked straightforwardly.
“Of course! When you lose, you will give me the sign of Thunder Mountain Villa!”
Qin Fen smiled once more. It took a while, but the opponent finally admitted that he took a fancy for the value of this sign.
“Quickly give me the sign if you don’t want to die. You are indeed amazing for being able to defeat the thunder pair of fire and water, but you must have just about exhausted all your strength, right? Just be tactful and give me the sign.”
The smile in Qin Fen’s eyes grew brighter. So it turns out that the reason this man challenged Qin Fen in such a rampant manner was that he believed he found an advantageous bargain for the sign.
“Are you the leader on the other side of that wall?”
“I am the Sect Master of the Heaven’s Chosen Sect, Wang Kai.”
Qin Fen finished listening to this man’s self-introduction and simply arrived by Zhang Xiangyang’s side. From Zhang Xiangyang’s hand, he took the Heaven Scorcher Halberd he seized from the Certain Victory Sect. He didn’t say any words as he walked over to Wang Kai.
Wang Kai’s eyes bulged wide as he saw that Qin Fen was approaching. He swallowed some saliva and looked at Aqua Thunder, who was kneeling on the ground, once more. Indeed, Aqua Thunder wasn’t faking it.
“You want to fight?”
Wang Kai’s voice lacked all confidence. The thunder pair of fire and water weren’t weak. They were very difficult opponents in one against ones in fights where everyone was on the same four-star level. In a one against two, it was practically impossible for a four-star to beat them. Even if one managed to beat them, one would probably spend all their energy doing so.
“Come! Brothers! Prepare to tear down the sign of Heaven’s Chosen Sect!”
With this roar, people were already charging into Qin Fen’s attack range. The Heaven Scorcher Halberd was akin to a fierce dragon piercing through the surface of the water. The halberd’s body let out vibrations akin to the sound thousands upon thousands of bees dancing in the air. The tip of the halberd pierced the air, causing the air to scream like the scream of a little girl!
He’s stabbing from so far away? Wang Kai was given a frightful shock. There was still at least five meters of distance between him and the Heaven Scorcher Halberd. He was absolutely too far away to be stabbed…
An impossibility turned into a possibility in a split second. The Heaven Scorcher Halberd in Qin Fen’s hand was no longer in his hand. His sudden stab seemed as if it had reached its limit, but then the halberd was simply let go, becoming a hidden throwing weapon. It was just that the size of this hidden throwing weapon was a bit larger than normal.
Only now the Wang Kai realize his opponent was probably using the weapon in an underhanded manner. The crescent blade in his hand rushed to parry the Heaven Scorcher Halberd that flew toward him. The large halberd let out the crisp sound of metal ringing as it contended for the space in the air. At the same time, the ripping sound of the air being torn by wind had reached him.
It was Qin Fen! He had thrown himself along with the Heaven Scorcher Halberd. Right now he too stood before Wang Kai, and his powerful, large hands had grasped the handle of the crescent blade.
Just like when he seized the Heaven Scorcher Halberd, the greatest advantage of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art was the enormous strength it provided! This strength was unleashed vividly and thoroughly in an instant, forcing Wang Kai’s hands to give up the large blade. At the same time, the foot of the Arhat Fist’s Treading the Mountains shattered the opponent’s sternum and heart.
I would have not tried to profit from somebody’s misfortune if I knew this would happen…. Wang Kai’s final thought flashed in his mind, and his body disappeared before Qin Fen’s eyes.
Qin Fen tossed the crescent blade over to Zhang Xiangyang. He let out a long sigh. “Let’s go. We’re going to the Guardian Deity Sect.”
————-
Qin Fen walked out of the Thunder Mountain Villa’s main door, which was painted red. Wave after wave of random noises came echoing from the courtyard across the street. There was a series of angry and crude curses mixed among the noise as well.
Qin Fen walked into the middle of the street, and the door to the noisy courtyard suddenly burst open with a thud. Thirty-five Chinese men came running out, each of them carrying a vicious air on his face. They were led by four men, whose upper bodies were completely bare. The healthy and beautiful muscles looked as if they were chiseled from stone and were full of latent power. Anyone looking at them would know that terrifying strength lay concealed beneath those muscles. There was absolutely more to them than just model looks.
“Which one of you is Thirty-Six Hours?”
“Which one of you is from Dragon Hall?”
“Is it you?”
“Which one of you is that Thirty-Six Hours who would do anything for money?”
The four people talked over each other. They completely lacked the order and tacit understanding that the Thunder Mountain Villa possessed. The only common trait they had was that they all were searching for Thirty-Six Hours.
Qin Fen looked at these four people, who clearly didn’t know what he looked like. Emotions stirred within the two sides. It seemed they possessed a hatred that resembled that of having one’s father killed, hence becoming enemies that could not live under the same sky. Their eyes burned with the raging flame of the desire to fight.
Qin Fen slowly strode a step forward. He cupped his hands calmly together and said, “Dragon Hall. Thirty-Six Hours.”
“Ohhhh, so you’re the one who wants to come take the sign of our Guardian Deity Sect in a sect-challenge?”
“Okay then! Today we will tear down your Dragon Hall first!”
“Dealing with a shameful martial artist like you is doing the battle network a bit of charity!”
“That’s right! Today we will strike you dead in the middle of the street. You won’t even be given the chance to walk into our Guardian Deity Sect! This is to avoid staining the martial artists’ honor of our Guardian Deity Sect.”
Qin Fen’s eyes had started to look at other places long ago when he heard the four men talk.
In a corner behind these members of the Guardian Deity Sect, Qin Fen discovered someone he wasn’t really familiar with. However, he was convinced he had seen this person before in the past.
It was a member of the Guardian Deity Sect ! Qin Fen smiled, so it turned out that a member of the Thunder Mountain Villa was instigating this contention with the Guardian Deity Sect. Qin Fen cupped his hands once more to loudly declare, “I didn’t come here for a sect-challenge. I just heard someone from the Thunder Mountain Villa say that they sold the sign of my Dragon Hall to you guys. Is it possible for you to return the sign to me? I will certainly return the favor in the future.”
The expressions of the four leaders of the Guardian Deity Sect were brimming with surprise. They turned their heads in unison and looked at the informant of the Thunder Mountain Villa with eyes of fury.
So it turned out all this talk about Thirty-Six Hours wanted to use sect-challenges to make money was all bogus! The Thunder Mountain Villa just wanted to get somebody else to do the dirty work.
Qin Fen weighed their words and observed their facial expressions, something introductory in the field of psychology. He relied on the teachings imparted to him by Squad Leader Hao and immediately received some useful information from the expressions of the leaders of the Guardian Deity Sect.
They will place their anger on the Thirty-Six Hours and explain that they don’t want to engage in direct contention with me. Qin Fen smiled. He quickly cupped his hands once more after he produced this analysis. “I ask the Guardian Deity Sect to return Dragon Hall’s sign. If there’s anything I, Thirty-Six Hours, can be of use in the future, I will certainly help out.”
The large street turned incomparably quiet. The four leaders of the Guardian Deity Sect had expressions full of emotion. They quickly exchanged glances, seeking to get each other’s opinions.
Within a short span of time, the faces of the four were happy for a bit and were frowning in worry for the next. Several seconds later, they expressed eagerness to give it a shot, then several more seconds later, their faces turned grave.
Qin Fen’s screamed inside about how rotten the situation was. The longer these people discussed amongst themselves, the greater the number of variables that would appear.
The number of people on both sides of the street was gradually increasing by now. People of various sects had heard the disturbance on the streets.
Everyone had an expression of excitement. The most delightful thing about Hell City was watching someone fight to tear down someone else’s sect in a sect-challenge.
The Guardian Deity Sect had a bit of reputation as a sect on this street. Their leaders—Wielding the Nation, Growth, VastEye, and Many Rumors—all cultivated in the Guardian Deity Fist, and they had the internal art the Golden Bell Shield as their foundation. In addition, the four people trained in joint attacks, so they possessed considerable might. There weren’t really many sects who would challenge them in normal times.
Qin Fen saw more and more people appear on the street. He raised his head to the sky and let out a gentle sigh. Everything would have been easy to resolve if nobody had come out to watch the fun.
But now…
Qin Fen took a step back, and the Dragon Elephant Prajna Art began to circulate and pressurize within his body.
This fight was no longer avoidable. If the Guardian Deity Sect were to return Qin Fen his sect’s sign under the attentive gazes of this many people, it would show that they were scared of Qin Fen. They would find far more people come knocking on their doorstep for trouble in the days to come.
