What the heck does that mean?
Did they fall from the back of their aerial spirit beast? Or did the spirit beasts fall along with them?
These spirit beasts were tamed by experts engaged by the Huanyu Empire royalty such that even non-beast tamers were able to drive them. The main purpose of this was to create a powerful army for aerial combat.
Even the weakest of Feng Yu’s group was a 4-star master teacher, how could a 4-star master teacher possibly allow himself to fall off the back of a spirit beast?
Zhuang Qin was bewildered by Hong shi’s words.
“There’s no need to bother about this, let’s head to our living quarters first!”
It was unlikely the other party would believe him even if he were to explain it to them. Thus, Hong shi decided to save his breath.
“Alright!”
Since Hong shi was unwilling to speak, Zhuang Qin didn’t push on. He led the group forward.
The living quarters weren’t too far away from the landing point. It was a mansion so vast that despite the huge size of their group, there would be no problem housing all of them in it.
Zhang Xuan took an individual courtyard for himself, Sun Qiang, and his students. It would be quieter this way, and he wouldn’t be interrupted when he was teaching his students too.
After settling everyone in, Hong shi and Zhang shi discussed for a moment to refine their plans before the former stomped out of the mansion.
Those fellows actually dared to scheme against him! No matter what, he had to return the favor!
…
Not too far away from the mansion Zhang Xuan and group were living in, in a relatively vast room, two old men were looking at a young man who just walked in to report a matter to them with a deep frown on their foreheads. “What did you say? Hong Qian and his group have entered the city and are now in their living quarters?”
“Yes!” The young man nodded.
“Impossible. Didn’t Feng Yu go to stop them?” one of the old men exclaimed.
“Could it be that the both of them didn’t meet? No, that can’t be… There’s only one route from Hongfeng Empire to here. If Hong Qian wanted to enter the city, he would surely meet with Feng Yu. What’s going on?”
The other old man was also clearly a little skeptical of the news.
“This… I’m not too sure either. I’ve sent someone to check on it, and they should be reporting back soon!” the young man replied.
When Feng shi and these two elders were discussing, he was by their side, and judging from their plan, he felt that Feng shi would surely be able to intercept Hong shi’s group for a day. But before they could receive any news from Feng shi’s side, Hong shi had already appeared in the city… Even he, despite being the person reporting the news, found it inconceivable.
“Un, quickly look into it. What in the world is that Feng Yu up to?”
The first old man shook his hands to dismiss the young man. Not too long later, the young man returned anxiously. It seemed like the news he had received was so shocking that he couldn’t even keep his composure.
“You managed to dig up something? What happened?” asked the first old man.
The young man reported the news that he had just gathered.
“Feng shi and Hong shi did meet one another outside the city, but for some reason… Feng shi and his group lost control of their spirit beasts and fell from the sky…”
In truth, even he himself found this matter hard to believe.
“Fell down? Lost control of their spirit beasts? Does that even make sense?” The two old men stared at one another in bewilderment.
Are you jesting?
Those were the elite spirit beasts of Huanyu Empire, and they had been trained for a very long time. Even if something happened, they would surely bring their rider safely to the ground. To fall from the sky on such well-trained spirit beasts, surely you must be pulling our legs!
“There’s no mistake on the news… Speaking of which, someone was coincidentally walking by when that happened, and he used a Record Crystal to take down the situation then!”
The young man flicked his wrist and took out a crystal ball. “Our men managed to buy it with spirit stones!”
A merchant party happened to pass by the area during the confrontation between Hong shi and Feng shi, and out of fascination, they recorded the scene. After which, when the young man sent his men to investigate the matter, they managed to track down the merchant party and procure this Record Crystal.
In that aspect, they were truly lucky.
“Hurry up and play it!” said the first old man anxiously.
Nodding his head, the young man infused his zhenqi into the Record Crystal.
Weng!
Amidst a buzz, dozens of aerial spirit beasts suddenly came into sight.
The recording was taken a significant distance away from the confrontation, so there was no voice to be heard. Even so, it was clear that the both sides were clearly clashing with one another.
“It’s Feng shi and Hong shi!”
With a glance, the first old man immediately recognized the men standing on the spirit beasts.
They had known one another for several decades now, and they could identify one another even from afar.
“Chen Mo has made his move…”
The image swayed, and they saw a young man standing on top of a spirit beast taking out a zither and started playing. Following which, Hong shi attempted to destroy the zither with his sword qi, only to fail.
“Everything went according to plan. How did Hong shi get past them…”
The first old man was perplexed. He was in the midst of figuring what went wrong when Feng shi and the others abruptly plummeted from the sky. And then… a mushroom cloud of dust rose into the sky.
“This…”
The group stared at one another blankly.
What… just happened?
After recovering from the shock, the two old men quickly asked the young man, “What happened to Feng shi? How is he now?”
That was a distance of more than a thousand meters! To fall from such an altitude… he couldn’t possibly be dead, right…
“I’ve sent someone to bring him back… they should be returning soon!” replied the young man.
At that moment, the door opened, and Feng shi was carried in by a few other men.
The current Feng shi was bandaged tightly with a white cloth, as though a mummy. His face was stained with mud and fresh blood, and a huge bunch of his prided beard had fallen off. It was a huge contrast from his ‘enlightened sage’ image. If he were to sit by the streets, a passer-by might even throw him a gold coin out of pity for him.
“Feng shi, this…”
The first old man was flabbergasted by the sight.
“I… I’m going to kill Hong Qian and that bastard…”
Feng Yu roared furiously, but before he could finish his words, a cold voice sounded outside the main hall, “Kill me? Sure! I’m waiting for you right here, come!”
The few men quickly turned their heads around, only to see an old man walking into the room with a face livid with wrath. Who else could it be other than Hong shi?
“Hong shi…”
Seeing the man they teamed up to deal with standing before them, the two old men’s lips twitched.
“Hong Qian, you…”
Feng Yu gritted his teeth in anger.
“Humph!”
Ignoring the other party’s shock and anger, Hong shi flicked his wrist and took out a 5-star master teacher emblem. He flicked his forefinger with his thumbnail and a droplet of fresh blood fell onto the emblem. “I, 5-star Master Teacher Hong Qian, apply for a Master Teacher Confrontation against Master Teacher Feng Yu. I beseech for your approval!”
Hu!
The emblem shimmered brilliantly, and two giant words floated into appearance, “Permission granted!”
If irreconcilable conflicts occur between master teachers, they could apply for a ‘Master Teacher Confrontation’ with the headquarters through the emblem, and based on the relative strength of one’s opponent, the headquarters would determine whether to approve it or not.
Usually speaking, if both master teachers were of equal cultivation realm, the permission would be granted.
Rivalry is important for the growth of master teachers, especially with one’s peers. As such, the headquarters promoted such duels.
This was the reason why Hong shi’s duel application was granted nearly instantly.
“Master Teacher Confrontation? Permission granted?”
Seeing the two words on Hong shi’s emblem, Feng Yu’s vision went dark, and he nearly burst into tears.
I’m wrapped up like a dumpling, and there are broken bones throughout my body. Not to mention, I’ve suffered grievous external and internal damage. To fight against me at this moment… Doesn’t your conscience pang in guilt?
“The headquarters have already agreed to the Master Teacher Confrontation. Feng shi, stop putting on an act. Let our fists do the talking instead!”
Hong shi flung his sleeves majestically.
“I…”
Exerting pressure on the walking stick in his hand, Feng Yu stood up from the stretcher and exclaimed, “I’m severely injured, how do you expect me to fight with you…”
“Severely injured? Feng shi, your joke isn’t funny. I’ve heard that you were still in perfect condition when you left the royal palace two hours ago. In fact, you even offered some pointers to a guard. Since you didn’t do anything, how in the world did you get injured? To think that a proud 5-star master teacher would stoop down to even feigning injury just so to not face me in a fight. And you call yourself a master teacher?” Hong shi replied righteously.
“You…” Feng Yu’s lips twitched violently, and his eyes were about to pour.
He had secretly sneaked out to intercept Hong Qian and group. After all, this was an underhanded action, and if others were to learn of it, his reputation would be sullied.
Who knew that the other party would actually use this fact against him to claim that he was feigning injury… How could someone be so shameless?
You should be the more than aware whether I’m truly injured or not! I might not have fought with anyone, but falling from such a high altitude, it’s already by a huge stroke of fortune that I’m still alive at this point. How do you expect me to fight with you?
“Feng shi, I hope that you won’t make any more excuses!”
Harrumphing coldly, Hong shi replied, “If you refuse, I’ll report to the headquarters that you, who fears even a challenge from your fellow peer, aren’t worthy of your 5-star master teacher emblem.”
“Fine, fine! I’ll accept your challenge… Are you happy now?”
Feng Yu gritted his teeth indignantly.
If only he knew this would happen, he would have never done this. If one didn’t have any special reason to justify himself, one wouldn’t be allowed to turn down a Master Teacher Confrontation…
If Feng shi were to claim that he was severely injured, considering how this matter concerned a 5-star master teacher, the headquarters would surely look into it, and the issue of him obstructing Hong shi’s passage would be exposed. If so, he might be subjected to an even harsher punishment.
In other words, the other party had planned all of this to corner him!
What the heck was this…
“Since that’s the case, let’s start then!”
Bellowing furiously, Hong shi dashed forward and sent a kick over.
Sou!
How could the severely injured Feng Yu possibly protect himself? He was immediately sent flying into the sky.
Padah!
After flying several dozen meters high, he crashed back down into the ground and spewed mouthful after mouthful of blood.
He had just barely recovered slightly after consuming a recovery pill, but this kick had sent him back to square one. His face paled, and his vision was slowly darkening.
“I…”
Struggling to his feet, Feng shi was just about to speak when a humongous fist came flying toward him.
Peng!
Feng Yu was sent flying once more.
Pi pa! Huala!
The sound of fists and kicks digging into flesh sounded, and soon, all traces of humanity were beaten out of Feng Yu.
Hong shi had controlled his attacks well so as to maximize the other party’s suffering without worsening his current injuries too much.
For a proud 5-star master teacher to be schemed against, if he didn’t repay this favor, wouldn’t others think that he was an easy person?
Master teachers were humans, not saints! They couldn’t possibly accept and forgive when someone struck them in their faces!
In this case, tolerance is not a sign of magnanimity but weakness. If they couldn’t uphold their own dignity, how could they possibly protect Master Teacher Continent from the Otherworldly Demons?
It isn’t a crime to be good-tempered, but if one wishes to protect something, one needs to be strong.
Peng peng peng peng!
After a long round of beating, Hong shi finally finished venting his anger. Clapping his hands, he clasped his fist and bowed. “Feng shi, thank you for going easy on me!”
At this moment, Feng Yu was no different from Chen Mo and the others when they fell to the ground back then. He was breathing heavily but exhaling lightly, and it looked as though he might just breathe his last at any moment.
“You… Very well! Hong Qian! I, 5-star Master Teacher Luo Zhao, challenge you to a Master Teacher Confrontation right now. I beseech for your approval!”
Hong shi had beaten up Feng shi in the name of the Master Teacher Confrontation. His actions were within the rules, so there was nothing they could complain about. But after the ‘duel’ was over, the first old man immediately took out his emblem and challenged Hong shi.
He wanted to get back at Hong shi for Feng Yu!
Hong shi placed his hands behind his back and declared proudly, “My apologies, but I’ve just finished my battle with Feng shi and suffered grievous injuries in the process. I won’t be able to fight for the next ten years, so I’ll reject your challenge!”
“You…”
The trio staggered, and they nearly burst into tears.
Big Brother, can you get any more shameless than that…
