Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ai Liang was not a friend of Xie Ting’s. It was by chance that he was also in the Extreme Doctrine Martial Arts Club. When seeing Xie Ting, he said something to the people next to him and then walked over.
“Miss Xie, how are you?” He looked fairly casual. After greeting Xie Ting, he nodded at Lin Shuangyue. He was perplexed to see Jiang Chen there. Maybe it was an instinct. Maybe he saw all men around Xie Ting in the same manner. A light flashed in his eyes.
“This is Master Luo Cheng. He is a newcomer in the Sky Reaching City. I’m showing him around so that he can know the city better,” Xie Ting said.
Lin Shuangyue, next to her, was kind of surprised. A master that could make Xie Ting pay attention to him could not be simple. She recalled the Sundry Goods Store that had been in the limelight this day.
Ai Liang did not think very much. Learning Jiang Chen was a master, he did not show kindness like the others. Instead, he did not take it seriously. The Sky Reaching City was full of opportunities. There were at least 800 masters like this, if not 1,000. They usually could accumulate a surprising wealth in a very short time. They focused on elixirs and artifacts, but their practicing really sucked. Ai Liang admired the power of martial arts. He certainly looked down on those people.
“Let’s go inside.”
Xie Ting had anticipated his reaction. The two groups walked into the Extreme Doctrine Martial Arts Club together.
“Is Master Luo the master from that Sundry Goods Store?” Ai Liang’s friends reacted in a different way after hearing Xie Ting introduce Jiang Chen. Not everyone thought so highly of themselves.
Among them there was a pretty woman. Showing a kind smile, she said, “Nice to meet you, Master. I’m Red Cloud.”
Jiang Chen nodded with a smile. He suddenly found that name familiar to him, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
“Red Cloud is the founder of the Red Cloud Society. She has recruited many excellent youngsters from spirit-level continents,” Xie Ting introduced her.
Jiang Chen tumbled to the fact that he had met some members of the Red Cloud Society in the forbidden land. He could not help but size the woman up, not her appearance, but her interior. She was a seven-star strong woman, but as the headmaster of the Red Cloud Society, she could not be that simple.
Others misunderstood Jiang Chen’s gaze for his interest in Red Cloud.
Next to him, Xie Ting was embarrassed. She coughed to remind him of his manners.
But Red Cloud did not seem to care. Smiling, she seemed to enjoy Jiang Chen’s gaze.
“The Sundry Goods Store? The shop that sells Doctrine Artifacts?” Ai Liang threw Jiang Chen a different look after realizing this.
As soon as he got the answer, Ai Liang said right away, “Master, do you have any Doctrine Artifact for me?”
“No,” Jiang Chen said bluntly without thinking.
Ai Liang was embarrassed. The others were also surprised. Jiang Chen refused him so decisively that it seemed the two were enemies. But since it was Ai Liang, they were not actually so surprised. This guy would always offend people before he knew it.
Maybe it was his arrogance that had pissed off the master, Xie Ting thought.
She was going to break the ice when Ai Liang spoke again. He said, “Fine. Actually, not everyone who has Doctrine Artifacts is a genius. For example, I know someone who has two Doctrine Artifacts, but he is still mediocre.”
“Two Doctrine Artifacts?” Others were struck dumb at first. They could not recall anyone in the Sky Reaching City so great.
“You mean Jiang Chen?” Lin Shuangyuan was the first to realize who he was talking about, because she had been quite impressed by Jiang Chen’s Doctrine Artifacts.
“Exactly. I mean him,” Ai Liang said coldly.
“What happened? Elder Brother Liang, do you have a grudge against him?” A minion of his asked out of curiosity.
“He is too nosy. He meddled in the business of our Thunder God Sect. He protected a rebel disciple of ours. Now he is hiding in Tian Hu Hostel. Doesn’t have the nerve to walk out of there,” Ai Liang said. He had no idea Jiang Chen was just in front of him at that moment.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen noticed Lin Shuangyue was a bit distracted when she had heard Ai Liang. “This Jiang Chen is lawless. He shows no respect for Holy Lands and Divine Religious Sects. It’s not weird that he is so stupid.”
Ai Liang smiled at the remark. He said, “We Thunder God Sect are not like those Holy Lands or Divine Religious Sects. They can’t even deal with a single man.”
Jiang Chen was laughing silently, but he did not show it.
“Forget about this. Let’s see who will fight tonight,” Xie Ting said. The others also agreed with her. Then they all focused on what was happening in the ring. The martial arts club did not forbid life-or-death fights in the evening, as long as the participant could defeat the rival. That meant the participants would not be restricted from the fear of killing their rivals, but killing their rivals was not what they were after either. If someone was killed in the ring, no one would be blamed or punished. That was why the Extreme Doctrine Martial Arts Club was so popular in the evening.
Practitioners who advocated fights could vent themselves through one or another great fights. At this moment, the participants, armed to the teeth, came into the ring.
“Wow! The Bloody Slaughter is here today!”
“Blood Tear Swordsman is also here. There will be some great fights tonight.”
“There are some new faces too. I’m wondering how many of them will be able to stand there after the fights.”
The atmosphere in the martial arts club was extremely hot. The audience was cheering for the participants. They were so excited that they almost went mad.
On the grandstand, Xie Ting was explaining the rules of the martial arts club to Jiang Chen. Only Star Venerables could fight in the ring, but those fights did not have to be absolutely fair. That meant a one-star strongman could fight with a nine-star strongman.
The audience could bet.
“Where did they find these people?” Jiang Chen asked.
“They come of their own free will. This is the best place to have adventures.”
“Some come for money. For example, that Bloody Slaughter. As a nine-star strongman, he is at an absolute advantage with the current rules.”
“I see.”
Below the ring, his practicing body was also listening to the rules of the martial arts club. Soon, the owner of the martial arts club announced the start of the fights after giving a pep talk.
There were 12 rings in the martial arts club. Fights would start from the ring on the edge first. The ring in the middle would be saved for the last fight. Whenever a participant won a fight, he would become the new champion of the ring and win the prize money for the ring. The audience would bet before the start of the fights. Everyone was looking at the ring on the edge. The club owner took two pieces of paper out of a big box randomly. Then he read two names.
“The Bloody Slaughter versus the Black Wind Swordsman.”
Both names were nicknames. It seemed no participants wanted others to know their real names. Over time, people got to know them by their nicknames. The air was charged with tension as soon as the name of the Bloody Slaughter was announced. However, when the name of the Black Wind Swordsman was announced, people were puzzled. They had never heard this name before.
This meant the Black Wind Swordsman was a newbie.
Many people burst out laughing when they saw the Black Wind Swordsman get into the ring. This Black Wind Swordsman was only a four-star strongman. He would face a nine-star strongman. He certainly would not be a match for his rival.
It did not matter to the Extreme Doctrine Martial Arts Club. As long as their names had been drawn, they had to get into the ring even if they did not want to. They could not give up until they had persisted for 15 minutes in the ring.
“If his rival were another nine-star strongman, he would not necessarily die. But his rival is the Bloody Slaughter. He is so unlucky.”
“The Extreme Doctrine Martial Arts Club is so wicked. Maybe they have arranged that.”
“No matter what, he has to fight. Otherwise the compensation he has to pay would make him bankrupt.”
On the grandstand, the audience was in a heated discussion. Jiang Chen also showed a bitter smile, shaking his head.
The Black Wind Swordsman was his practicing body.
