" This is what I wanted to ask you senior brother Chiang, what exactly are you doing ? .
Lu Chiang's hand was on my shoulder, fixing me in place quite strongly, I become a bit alarmed that he might do something shady, but in the end I rationally thought about the situation at hand and came to a conclusion, he won't lay a hand on me in front of everyone like this, no matter how much authority he had over these disciples .
He wouldn't risk his actions reach the ears of Master or other Senior Brothers and Sisters of course as to not sullen his own reputation, reaching that conclusion allowed my tensed heart to calm down quickly and my Blood Qi once again settled down instantly and the secret technique that I was about to use receded at once .
I was about to go all out and fight him, but in the end, I decided that now wasn't the right time and that there was currently no need to do so, so I just turned my head towards him and asked him about what his action meant .
As my question fell, he removed the hand that was on my shoulder and sized me up and down with a displeased look, then he said :
Of course trying to save you some face as a Senior Brother to all these guys and trying to keep you safe and sound, otherwise Master might blame me later for not taking care of you while you are here in the place that was under my supervision .
Hearing his words and seeing his expression, I didn't know whether he was trying to let me keep my face or make me completely lose it, this wasn't my previous world, where ' sorry for my outburst earlier ' can be of much use around here .
He said this out loud intentionally, so that he can push me into a corner and force me to accept the words he said earlier about me needing his protection, in the eyes of the ignorant people present, he would seem to be quite benevolent .
But to the more experience people in the scene and to see who can read more into the scene and perceive the hidden message in his words, things were completely different .
I at first wasn't aware of that kind of point of view, but realization hit me when I heard a few murmurs coming from a few guys who had quite the strong and stable auras, some of these murmurs contained words like :
So this really was our new Senior Brother, from the looks of things, senior brother Chiang was tasked with taking care of him, it seem that our new appointed senior brother is made of porcelain .
Another one said :
He do look like he hadn't train hard for even once throughout his entire life, to think that a guy like this will be Dojo Master new disciple, pity .
These murmurs struck me painfully as the stings of bees, but it was the last murmur that broke my back and had me become completely wrathful, a guy who I had seen just now setting near Lu Chiang, I would have never anticipated that he would appear there or would even try to fan the fire like this, that guy said :
I really think that it's quite inappropriate for that shameless new guy to step in and meddle in others fight like this, he is shameless enough to use his authority now to help someone he know out of trouble, he might as well decide to use his authority to win against others unjustly and even press other Disciples to gain some benefits later, truly shameless .
It stung me deeply because I came here wanting to fix the situation where the strong and the Influential and those that held great authority were exploiting the weak, yet I was now assigned to the same camp as those bad guys by that fellow, not only that but my character started to be in question with just a few words .
It was his words about me being shameless and losing the face of Master and my Senior Brothers and Sisters was what made me want to really beat him to pulp right on the spot, but in the end I kept my cool and understood that all of this was nothing but a show of power .
The main culprit who was enticing these guys was none other than Lu Chiang, he was showing me how deeply rooted his position in this Hall was and how much control he have on everything going on here, he indirectly admitted that he was indeed collaborating with Gu Chu and that the two were responsible for the chaos that Mu Lu mentioned earlier .
I calmed down due to not wanting to give him any sense of satisfaction from me, he was showing off his power while forcing me into a corner, but he wasn't aware that I'm already planning something that would be his greatest downfall .
" Senior Brother's intentions are noted and I'm thankful for you thinking about me, but I have my own measures in dealing with the situation here, it won't look good if I kept on troubling you or other Senior Brothers here .
As these words fell in the ears of everyone present, there was a few ridiculing snort and snickers from all around the Hall and as I had already anticipated, those that waited for me to slip didn't miss the chance to to say all kinds of insulting words .
Some others refrained from commenting on the situation, some began insulting me for not being grateful enough to my senior brother, which left me completely baffled, still not clear about how grateful did they need me to be and I didn't let my mind care that much about this, after all my thanks just now was superficial, just to keep face and appearance .
The guy who were already thinking ill of my character earlier looked at me with scrutinizing looks and were already judging me as a coward, their eyes and words were filled with ridicule .
Hearing the comments they were now making, I understood that these guys seemed to have misunderstood my intention and comprehended my words wrongly, so I couldn't help but turn my head towards the ring where a guy was looking like he was enjoying the scene from earlier and had quite the content smile on his face .
Seeing him like this, I understood that this guy was most likely one of Lu Chiang's lackeys, he wasn't that strong, but he was able to do everything in his power to achieve what Lu Chiang asked him to do, seeing me looking at him all of a sudden made him raise his eyebrow at me involuntarily, seeing that I gained his attention, I said :
" So how about we follow the rules of your so-called Fighting Circle and solve everything in the Ring, what would you say Bu Fan, that is your name right ? .
The moment I said these words, there was the sound of needles dropping on the floor, drinks being spilled over and wooden cups falling into the floor and spilling the drinks on the floor .
I was surprised that there was actually a bar of some kind opened here, this place kept surprising me, I hadn't had much time to inspect it, but if everything I had in mind went as planned, I do believe that I will have more than enough time to inspect it later on .
After my words was spouted, Bu Fan was first shocked at my words then he without any without any preamble, he began to laugh so hard that his Blood Qi was agitated and flared up for a few seconds, most warriors at the Flesh Tempering stage aren't able to control their Blood Qi completely .
So it would flare up uncontrollably in case of emotional aggravation, feeling very happy or sad, anger can even fuel one Blood Qi to surpass limits while fighting, but senior brother told me that it was better not to keep using such states for long or else one might lose himself to anger and be put down, killed mercilessly after losing his mind .
After that guy burst into laughter, a few other from those who already had a close relationship with him also burst out laughing as well, Senior Brother Lu Chiang then raised his hand and all the laughter and ridicule came to a stop, he then said :
Junior Brother is courageous enough, but to battle in the Ring isn't a trivial matter by any chance, if you wanted to test your skills against someone, it's better that you set the bar for the strength of your opponent a little bit lower, Bu Fan is at the 3rd layer of Flesh Tempering, this wouldn't be even a fight .
I'm mainly saying this for your own good, fighting him with your first layer of Flesh Tempering would be akin to a suicidal attempt, I'm aware that you are a genius when it come to Martial Arts, but exchanging blows was a completely different matter, I would suggest that you reconsider .
You had bested guys who were in the 2nd layer of Flesh Tempering with you being only in the 1st layer, but battling someone with the 3rd layer of Flesh Tempering with it, is nothing but a vivid dream, you shouldn't do this, otherwise Master would really blame me if something were to happen to you .
Once again this guy poisonous voice circled around the Hall, forcing everyone to hear everything quite clearly, that was the momentum he wanted .
All eyes was on me and all of the people present were already imagining the same scene of me surrendering directly and accepting the so-called word of advice of Lu Chiang, but just as I was about to response, the one that beat me to it was Li Fu .
Barley able to stand his ground and his face and body were too bloody and filled with injuries, he didn't look like a human being at all, the words that came out of his mouth were :
~Cough~ Liu'er ~Cough~ .
Bu Fan :
You still able to stand, good, good, I would be doing her a favor by letting your path perish here .
Without further ado, the burly guy named Bu Fan wasted no time and directly appeared in front of the guy who was barely able to stand again with all this severe injuries and launched a punch towards Li Fu's abdomen .
If the attack were to land, not to mention crippling Li Fu, he would even get lucky to escape with his life at all, but only if it were to successfully fall and hit its target that is .
Urging Crouching Tiger, I like a ghost appeared directly in front of Li Fu and blocked the punch before it land, luckily the attack didn't contain much Blood Qi in it, so it become much easier to handle, but just for the sake of my plan progressing forward, I took the punch and acted like it was quite difficult to handle .
Not only that, but I also retreated a few steps backwards and let a pained cry as to convince everyone present that I had barely blocked the attack and was still injured slightly by it, weirdly enough this time Lu Chiang didn't intervene anymore nor did he said anything to deny the fight anymore .
He finally got what he wanted from all this play, he won't be reprimanded by Master now, even if I were to get seriously injured, all the disciples here will testify that he tried to stop me before, but I was the one who was stubborn and reckless enough to enter the Ring .
But it goes both ways, I too was aiming for a similar outcome, looking at the playful yet cold expression on his face and on the face of many onlookers, I was able to see that my own play seem to have been quite effective, so I not wasting anytime acted as if my breathing was rigid to the extreme and said while huffing :
" Senior Brother's words from before is indeed correct dealing with a 3rd layer of Flesh Tempering is indeed difficult for somone at the 1st layer, but I will still want to compete now that I got into the ring .
" But I also want to make a bet with Senior Brother, I don't know if you are willing to accept it, after all you can't have me got beaten up for nothing, right .
My words awakened everyone present from their trance, most of them were still shocked at the scene from before and how fast I had moved earlier, but now they were completely focused on Lu Chiang, wanting to hear his response .
The one who actually responded was none other than my opponent Bu Fan, he was about to start attacking me, but just as he was about to attack again, he was stopped by Ti Tu or more accurately by Lu Chiang who ordered Ti Tu to intervene, then Lu Chiang said :
Junior Brother's words are wrong, just say the word and I will still call this match off, you don't need to take such risks at all .
Hearing this, I thought that this guy was still as sly as ever, if I were to do this, I will lose the face of Master and get loathed by all fellow disciples, so I stayed silent in response and waited for him to take the bait .
If you are this resolute about this, I won't say anything more, what are your thoughts, I your Senior Brother will accompany you to the end .
" Senior Brother is magnanimous, excuse my bluntness then, we will be betting on the right to manage this place for the next month, how about this ? .
Oh, managing this place is a task given to me by Master, but I still want to hear more about what you have in mind .
" It's like this senior brother, I will bet that I won't be taking another step backwards or retreat a single step after this battle start, if I retreated even slightly, it will be my loss and whatever Senior Brother want to ask me by then, I will do it .
" But if I did win, I will ask Master later to let me be the one managing things here and will count on Senior Brother to help me with that, what do you say ? .
If senior brother wanted this, you should have asked directly and I would have abdicated at once, but since you wanted to present such conditions, I as Senior Brother would lose face if I were to disagree, okay then, I agree .
He took the bait and with this all my preparations were worth it, now the plan to overthrow this guy's was completely in motion, I nodded my head and seeing that Bu Fan had stopped moving .
I went directly towards the guy who was barely standing and just as I reached him, the guy collapsed directly and his last words were full of misery, calling for Liu'er once again and I let him go down from the arena and stood back opposite to Bu Fan .
I hope you two can do your best .
With these last words, the battle had officially started, the guy named Bu Fan looked at me with ridicule and said :
Just so that you know, I don't think that you are worthy to be our senior brother, so I will teach you a good lesson and make that handsome face of your become difficult to look at from here on out .
" A piece of advice to you, try to do your best from the get go or else you would be sorry later on .
I normally wouldn't have wanted to agitate him anymore than necessary, but I seeing his smirk and hearing his strange comment made me want to blurt that out, as a result to what I said he directly throw away all his caution and said :
Arrogant .
Then he directly dashed at me without using any Martial Skill or any sophisticated movements, his aim was to punch me in the head, but this punch was still charged with Blood Qi, so it would be more difficult to handle, if I were to be still continuing to act weak that is .
Seeing his fist heading towards me in a slow like motion, I was deeply shocked at the improvement in my senses, I wasn't using my enhanced senses move, just my basic state, yet it still allowed me to perceive his movements so clearly .
I thought about what I should do next and decided that since me reaching the 3rd layer would be known sooner or later, it was better to take advantage of the current situation and show my strength, at least some of it .
Without even channeling my Blood Qi, I met his punch with my own and saw the grin on his face widen slightly, already able to understand a bit of his thoughts at this point of time, sadly he would be very disappointed .
Our fists clashed and the next sound that came was the booming sound of his arm getting dislocated and bones crunching sound .
Then Bu Fan let out a sharp and loud cry of pain while his eyes were completely filled with disbelief as he flew out and landed outside the Ring, his whole arm was twisted in a weird angle and he was about to cry out and say something but he soon collapsed on the floor unconscious .
I looked at my hands and thought that I need to control my strength more skilfully, that punch just now was me still holding back, but weird enough it still did this much damage to my opponent .
Silent swallowed the whole bustling scene, no one present saw this coming, all were believing that I would be beaten silly, so it was a complete and shocking display in front of them .
I turned to look at Lu Chiang and said with a smile :
" Senior Brother, I think this should count as my win, oh right, I had completely forgot to tell you, but I too have reached the 3rd layer of Flesh Tempering just a few hours ago .