Chapter 47: Soft Rice, Hard Eat

Volume One: Entering Another World

Volume One: Entering Another World

Rage value from Ye Chenliang: 999!

Ye Chenliang had never felt so humiliated. He had swaggered in, expecting to put someone in their place, but now it felt like he was offering his own face to be slapped. As for a duel, he had completely abandoned the idea. Someone capable of killing dozens of ferocious Black Jackals was certainly not someone he could handle.

"You're merely a Class D inferior talent, what are you pretending to be a master here for?" Just then, a voice suddenly cut in.

Zu An's pupils contracted. He had already spotted Hong Xingying in the crowd, wondering if he had perhaps desecrated Hong's ancestral grave earlier. Why else would he be so persistent?

At this, many who had witnessed the scene at the school gate echoed their agreement: "That's right, he does seem to be a Class D inferior talent."

"He's in the Yellow Class now. What kind of master could come out of the Yellow Class?"

Ye Chenliang, however, was filled with doubt and confusion. What these people said should be true, but what Ji Xiaoxi and the others said shouldn't be false either. What was really going on? He didn't dare to probe further. He had already been humiliated enough for one day; if anything else went wrong now, he wouldn't be able to show his face at school anymore.

Yuan Wendong, standing nearby, noticed his expression and knew he had likely chickened out. He silently cursed him as a 'waste' and realized he would have to step forward himself.

He took a step forward and cupped his hands towards Zu An: "Originally, I had no desire to get involved in this matter, but your words and actions just now were far too arrogant. You are trampling on the dignity of those of us who strive diligently every day. We cultivate painstakingly day after day to achieve our current cultivation, while you resort to crooked means. If we were to let you win today, who knows how many junior students would be misled by you, losing their will to progress and becoming obsessed with trivialities. I cannot bear to see such a distressing situation. Therefore, I, Yuan Wendong, representing all hardworking cultivators, formally challenge you to a duel."

He had heard Hong Xingying mention that the opponent possessed only a Class D inferior talent, and this largely confirmed his suspicions. Even if the opponent was merely playing weak to catch a tiger, Yuan Wendong was not afraid in the slightest. It was important to note that he was not merely the Fourth Rank Consummation as everyone perceived; he had just broken through to the Fifth Rank in the past two days. How many Fifth Ranks were there among all the academy's students? Apart from those few monstrous talents, he was confident he was second to none.

This fellow in front of him had just accumulated his peak momentum; he would serve perfectly as a stepping stone. In any case, the upcoming conflict between the Yuan family and the Chu family in the armory business was about to escalate into an all-out war, and crushing Zu An now would be an excellent way to inaugurate it. All the momentum that his opponent had just built up would simply serve to enhance Yuan Wendong's own prestige.

His speech, championing diligent effort, immediately won over the crowd. Many had long been annoyed by Zu An's 'gigolo' attitude, and seeing someone step up to beat him, they were all extremely excited. There was no need to eat dinner today; the drama alone was enough to satisfy them.

"Why are you the only one who works hard? Do you know how hard I work?" Zu An said indignantly.

Yuan Wendong was stunned: "What are you working hard at?"

"Working hard at being a kept man, of course! Do you think it's easy to be a kept man and still assert yourself?" Zu An said, righteous indignation in his voice.

The men around them finally exploded:"Holy cow, I can't take it anymore, I want to hit him!""I want to hit him too.""Shall we go together?""Let Yuan Wendong finish first, then we'll jump in."

A graceful figure passing by happened to hear his words and couldn't help but chuckle. She thought, "This guy is truly shameless. I wonder how Chu Chuyan ever came to be interested in him." Clearly, she had no interest in such petty squabbles and turned to leave.

At this, Yuan Wendong sneered: "Being a kept man? How spineless! Can you rely on women your entire life? In a situation like this, can you rely on women to get you through? Chu Huanzhao? Or Ji Xiaoxi? Together, they aren't my match. Men, true strength comes from within yourselves."

Zu An let out a long sigh: "I didn't expect your imagination to be so limited. Why can't I rely on a woman to get through this now? Pei Mianman, come out and help me deal with this annoying fellow."

Pei Mianman?

Upon hearing that name, everyone was stunned. She was a beauty on par with Chu Chuyan herself. Perhaps Chu Chuyan, due to her aloofness, might be perceived as unapproachable by some, but Pei Mianman possessed an exquisite figure, a gentle smile, and exuded a captivating charm from head to toe. No man could dislike her. How could such a peerless goddess be associated with this shameless fellow?

"Impossible," was everyone's first reaction.

As expected, after his call, no charming voice responded, and everyone began to boo.

Yuan Wendong couldn't help but laugh: "Do you even know who Pei Mianman is? Someone like her would be interested in you? That's like a toad trying to eat a swan!" He himself had once been captivated by that woman, putting all his effort into pursuing her. Unfortunately, although her smile was gentle, there was an inherent coldness that kept people at a distance. He had concluded from various signs that while she appeared alluring and graceful, she in fact regarded all men in the world as nothing, making her even harder to win over than Chu Chuyan. How could such a woman possibly be linked to this shameless scoundrel before him?

"I just saw you! If you leave, I'll tell everyone what happened between us last night!" Zu An shouted loudly.

The captivating figure, who had been secretly trying to slip away in the crowd, trembled upon hearing this. Hearing him wailing there, she finally couldn't bear it anymore: "Shut up!"

Everyone watched as a young woman in a red top and black skirt hurried over. Her oval face was as smooth as cream, her captivating peach blossom eyes seemed to speak, and her proud figure was enough to make men weak in the knees and women feel inadequate. The young woman, who was usually gentle and beaming with smiles, now wore a dark expression, glaring at Zu An: "If you dare to utter one more word, I'll kill you immediately!"

Originally, everyone had been somewhat skeptical, but upon hearing her words now, countless men's hearts shattered. It was actually true! Our dream goddess was indeed involved with this shameless man!

Zu An, however, was somewhat confused at this moment, as he noticed that the rage value he received was only half of what it had been before. What was going on? Was Pei Mianman's chest not big enough, or was her face not pretty enough? He had thought her grand entrance would push his rage value income to new heights, so why had it suddenly been cut in half? He looked into the crowd, puzzled, and noticed that many men's gazes were no longer filled with anger, but with envy and... adoration.

Wei Suo, who had been hiding far away, ran directly over and tightly clutched Zu An's sleeve: "Big Brother, for the rest of my life, you'll always be my grea—" Before he could finish, he was trampled underfoot by others, as a continuous stream of people surged towards Zu An from behind: "Grandmaster, please take me as your disciple!"

"Grandmaster, take me! Take me! My talent is even better!"

"I clearly look more like you! I can definitely inherit the mantle of the King of Kept Men!"

"Already trying to climb the ranks so quickly? Master, you can't accept someone who disrespects their teacher and ancestors!"

Zu An couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "Life truly is as lonely as snow. Even if this keyboard collected admiration points instead of rage points, I could still dominate the world!"

Pei Mianman, standing nearby, watched with twitching eyelids, her teeth almost gnashing: "You're very pleased with yourself right now, aren't you?"

Zu An waved his hand: "Let's skip the pleasantries. First, help me beat these two guys up. Oh, wait, and that backstabber over there too." As he spoke, he pointed to Hong Xingying, who was hiding in the crowd.

In truth, Zu An was a bit nervous himself. He wasn't sure if she would help. If she turned against him instead, he would have no choice but to call out the beautiful headmistress.

Pei Mianman had been glaring angrily at Zu An, but suddenly, for some unknown reason, a gentle smile flashed across her face: "Alright." She then turned and pointed at Yuan Wendong, Ye Chenliang, and Hong Xingying: "For the duel, all three of you can come at me together."

All three men's expressions changed drastically. Yuan Wendong hastily said, "Miss Pei, we..."

Pei Mianman sneered: "What's wrong? Weren't you all so arrogant just now? Now, three grown men are afraid to face one woman? Then kneel down and kowtow to Zu An, and I'll pretend today's events never happened."

Hong Xingying was enraged: "Face you, then! Who's afraid of..." Before he could finish, a dark figure punched him in the stomach. He crumpled to the ground like a cooked shrimp, gasping for breath in agony.

Pei Mianman blew on her fist and said coldly, "Not even Fourth Rank, and you don't know where you get your courage from. It's your turn, you two!"

Yuan Wendong's face turned green then white. He secretly cursed Hong Xingying as an idiot. He knew that the entire school was watching now; if they chickened out of a three-on-one fight, the humiliation would be immense. "Pei Mianman, don't push your luck too far! You should know that I'm also a Fifth Rank now!" As he finished speaking, golden light began to shimmer around his hands, and swords flew out from the sheaths of people nearby, circling around him, looking quite formidable.

"That guy Yuan is actually Fifth Rank? I thought he was only at the peak of Fourth Rank.""This guy hides his true strength well. Who knows who this old schemer was planning to ambush. Good thing he was exposed today.""Now this is going to be a good show. Who do you think will win?""Our goddess, of course.""Not necessarily. That Ye Chenliang isn't an amateur either. It might be a bit difficult for Miss Pei to take on two of them."

Hearing the chatter from the crowd, Ye Chenliang, standing by, also channeled his energy. A layer of turtle shell-like transparent substance visibly condensed around his body.

Zu An watched, secretly alarmed. This was Ye Chenliang's Qi Armor, covering his entire body; clearly, he had reached Third Rank Great Perfection. As for Yuan Wendong, he must have used elemental power. Was this metal manipulation? It looked just like Magneto. He secretly mused that he couldn't defeat either of them in a head-on confrontation, no matter who it was. Unless he used 'Great Wind' in conjunction with the Lethal Dagger, there might be a glimmer of hope.

Yuan Wendong understood the principle of striking first. With a wave of his hand, dozens of long swords directly attacked Pei Mianman. Ye Chenliang, as if in telepathic coordination, charged with his large turtle shell, like a cannonball, following close behind the swords and aiming to collide with that enchanting figure.

Even the usually thick-skinned Zu An couldn't help but feel a little worried for Pei Mianman. He saw her with a look of indifference as a black flame, like a divine dragon, coiled upwards around her body from her feet. The approaching long swords, upon touching her black flames, vanished section by section at an astonishing speed.

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