Chapter 36: Challenges
The night was chilly and there was no moon. Only the light of the stars cascaded down towards the buildings. The majority of these buildings were dark and closed of for the night; however, one of these buildings was different from the others. One of the building was filled with lights and cheerful banter. Getting closer, one could see that it was a large hall-like building. Citizens were constantly moving both in and out. Some were cheerful and delighted while others were discouraged and downcast.
Making his way to this building, Xu Min and Yong Meilin slowly walked side by side. Their presence caused everyone around them to gossip and get out of their way. Their eyes looked at the two youngsters who were talking together in a comfortable and intimate way. They had gotten used to each other since they had trained by each other’s side for a full month.
“Is it him?”
“He isn’t as handsome as the young master from the Wei family,”
“Look at that, they are so intimate,”
“Young Lady Yong Meilin is as beautiful as ever.”
“I heard that they have been spending each and every day together the last month from dawn to dusk.”
Gossip was floating in the air, and for the first time ever were the two youngsters aware of the gossip which had flourished over the past month. While Xu Min found it rather fun, Yong Meilin was fully embarrassed as her face turned red.
While Xu Min found her reaction quite curious, he could not help but laugh gently as he patted her head. It was a habit he had learnt from the time when he had helped her train her inner energies.
“Ignore them,” Xu Min said with a gentle voice as he looked around. He found both admiring gazes and eyes filled with hatred and jealousy. Most men were glaring daggers at Xu Min who managed to completely ignore it.
Yong Meilin slowly nodded her head. With a long sigh, she managed to once more control her emotions. Although she acted fully in control, her cheeks had gotten a red flush which suited her perfectly.
“So Xu Min, which one are you going to fight? The One-Star Warriors are not challenging enough, are they?” Yong Meilin asked curiously. She looked around the multiple arenas within the room and Xu Min shrugged carelessly.
He was filled with energy once more. The energy came from having eaten and digested a medicinal pill. He could not wait to try and see who he should battle. Thinking about it, he had to agree with Yong Meilin that the One-Star Warriors were not enough of a challenge.
The young man went to sign up. This time, he signed up for the Two-Star Warriors. As he did, a large group of people stepped up to the sign ups and quickly signed up. The group of Two-Star Warriors had grown to be the largest group in the entire Hall of Champions.
Many of the viewers went and stared at the rings for the Two-Star Warriors. Many of them were curious as to how dangerous this young man truly was. Many wished to be able to mock him, a One-Star Warrior who wished to fight the Two-Star Warriors.
“Come on! Let me deal with all those stupid humans who look down on you!’ The snake around his neck suddenly said. Xu Min felt the killing intent rise in the small snake’s mind and Xu Min gently patted the snake’s head.
‘If you can defeat four Two-Star Warriors then I’ll actually approve of you a little more,’ the snake said magnanimously. To be honest, the snake had long since approved of the young man. He was being spoiled even more now than he had ever been with his father. This young man clearly felt some kind of affection. Being petted by the young man, fed all these different foods, and never hearing any complaints made Cao Cao absolutely content. He had long since accepted the blood bond he had together with Xu Min.
Xu Min and Yong Meilin went towards the large wall which the matchups were shown. He was excited to see that he was fighting fairly soon. Looking at the surroundings, he could not help but laugh.
The last time he had been here, multiple warriors had challenged him because of some inappropriate words he had said about Yong Meilin. Yet only a month afterwards, he was at this arena once more, he one who followed behind him was Yong Meilin.
The young woman herself seemingly found it just as comical as a small giggle escaped her lips. She looked at Xu Min with a gentle smile on her face.
Although she had disliked Xu Min from the start since he was not easy to wrap around her little finger, she had found that this young man was hardworking but also sincere. When she did her best to train, he would gently and naturally assist her in doing it the most optimal way. He showed her a friendliness she had never expected before.
Thinking like this, she was now grateful to her grandfather for giving her this task. She had learnt a lot about herself and a lot about Xu Min. For the first time in her life, she felt like she had found a friend who purely cared about whom she was. He was not just wishing to become friends with her because of her popularity.
While Xu Min and Yong Meilin made their way towards the arenas, no one dared to attack him, Much like they had done the month earlier, everyone was tensed up as he walked past.
Many of the men within the Hall of Champions wished to attack him instantly. They wished to remove all notions of pride and attack in a group of people to ensure that he would not manage to escape once more. If he was gone, Yong Meilin once more belonged to no one. Belonging to no one was far better than belonging to one man.
Jumping into the arena, no one dared to openly boo at the young man. No one cheered either but when his opponent, a Two-Star Warrior most likely middle stage, stepped onto the stage, the entire hall cheered. This could not help but cause Xu Min to smile wryly.
He knew that he had caused the majority of the men within the city to dislike him. He somewhat understood why they were so upset. He had taken Yong Meilin to be an annoyance at first, but seeing her work eagerly towards a goal, he had been moved. Although she was beautiful, he soon learned that she was also a hard worker. She was someone who was used to not getting what she wanted easily and she did not complain even if it was slow training.
Seeing Yong Meilin train, Xu Min could not help but wonder what would have happened if his sister trained to become a Student Warrior as well.
Thinking like this, sadness swept over Xu Min. This sadness soon turned to a boiling hateful anger which fueled the flame of revenge inside of him. His eyes were no longer friendly and cheerful. Instead, they were filled with killing intent as he stared at the warrior in front of him. Defeating this guy would make him stronger, so Xu Min took the stance of releasing the Shattering Palm. He used the exact same tactic as he had done against the guards back at the Yong family residence.
These warriors had not witnessed him fight before and as the palm descended upon the warrior, Xu Min followed suit with a physical attack. He instantly knocked the opposing warrior out of the ring.
Standing back, Xu Min let go of a deep breath. Together with the air, golden specks of light appeared. These lights showed that this young man was training at the same time as fighting, Only few cultivators dared to do this. If their dantian were damaged during this kind of training, it was highly likely that they would never return to the life of a cultivator.
Seeing this, the opponents standing in queue to battle Xu Min all had faces filled with delight and excitement. The reason that Yong Meilin was interested in this guy was likely because he was special, either as a talent or because he was special in some way. It was obvious that Yong Meilin would not fall for a normal youngster. Thus, they all expected that once they had crippled the young man, it would be possible for them to make him less attractive and for Yong Meilin to dump him.
Thinking about killing him or crippling him, the opponent prefered crippling him as this would make him taste despair. Their plans were already spinning and their eyes filling with joy as ultimate ideas on to how to destroy the young man’s pride swirled within their minds.
Xu Min was not dumb. He knew exactly what their thoughts were, but the only thing he did was snort in contempt. It was true that it was risky, but the riskier it was, the better benefits it gave. Xu Min was not worried. He had already agreed with Cao Cao that if anyone were truly likely to defeat him and if someone were able to kill him, then the snake was allowed to save his life.
Xu Min was very apprehensive and did not wish for the snake to take action. But he did not wish to die either, so he was just as stubborn as the young men who wished to defeat him.
Cracking his neck, Xu Min gestured to the opponent to enter the ring. A mocking smile appeared on his face.
“Don’t you think that you are something just because you managed to defeat one puny little expert,” a loud voice boomed through the entire hall. Everyone who was still battling stopped for a moment to glance towards Xu Min and the loud speaker. Yong Meiling giggling as she heard the words.
Although Xu Min was the one who was battling, Yong Meilin felt no worry at all. She had seen how hard the young man trained day out and day in. He never let himself relax and currently he was filled with the extra energy from the medicinal pill. In Yong Meilin’s eyes, there was simply no way for Xu Min to lose. She was also aware of Cao Cao being coiled around his neck as the snake was ready to assist him whenever needed.
The man who had called out was a large man. He was at least two heads taller than Xu Min who was a good one hundred and seventy centimeters. The man’s body was bulging with muscles. However, these muscles were still only of a Two-Star Warrior. His focus had been solely on strength.
Xu Min frowned slightly as he knew that this man was going to be much harder to deal with. The muscles were not only good for displaying strength, but they also managed perfectly well to protect the man. The tactic he had used so far would definitely not work on this man. Grumbling for a few moments, the young man returned to his mocking smirk as he looked at the super strong man. Strength might be a benefit when it came to defense and hitting the opponent. However, this man who focused solely on strength was not well versed in speed.
The moment the man appeared, Xu Min stomped the ground hard and sped towards the man who was taken by surprise. His eyes widened, but then he grinned loudly and spread open his arms.
Just as Xu Min was about to arrive, he stepped on the strong arm and borrowed the force from his strength to plant his knee into the face of the strong man. He broke his nose in a clean hit before he used the recoil to jump far back. He went back out of range of the large man who was shrieking with agony.