Chapter 48: The Legend of the Freeloader King

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Book One: Entering a New World

In the end, only Ye Chenliang remained, foolishly charging towards his opponent.

Witnessing dozens of energy-imbued swords instantly vaporized, Ye Chenliang was terrified. The opponent's black flames could melt even iron; wouldn't his mere mortal body just be charging to its death? But he had never expected Yuan Wendong's swords to be so useless. Even a stone thrown into water makes a sound; how could so many precious swords just disappear? By the time he reacted, it was too late to stop. He could only watch helplessly as he hurtled towards the black flames.

Just then, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline suddenly appeared between them, pressed his hand on Ye Chenliang's head, and instantly brought him to a halt. “A mere third-rank dares to charge at a fifth-rank? Have you learned nothing all these years?” The somewhat bald middle-aged man cursed, then glared at Pei Mianman. “And you, do you need to be so ruthless among classmates?”

Pei Mianman withdrew the black flames from her body. “I stood here without moving. What could I do if he insisted on rushing to his death?” With that, she completely ignored the school’s feared dean of discipline, turned, and walked away.

Those who had just witnessed her power fearfully parted, creating a path for her.

Zu An secretly clicked his tongue, grateful that Pei Mianman hadn't used her elemental power last night. Otherwise, wouldn't he have been vaporized like those swords? No matter how impressive the "Rich Lady's Happy Ball" was, it couldn't possibly save his life if he were reduced to ashes, could it?

Dean of Discipline Lu De glanced at Pei Mianman's retreating back without saying anything, then turned to Ye Chenliang with a completely different expression. “You're the ones causing trouble, aren't you?”

Ye Chenliang was terrified, quickly pointing at Zu An. “Teacher, it wasn't me! He was the one causing trouble!”

Lu De frowned and turned to Zu An. “Was it you?”

Zu An spread his hands. “I haven't moved from this spot the entire time. They were the ones jumping around, looking for trouble. If you don't believe me, you can ask the people around here.”

The people nearby all chimed in agreement. While they might have initially disliked this 'kept man,' witnessing firsthand his ability to achieve such a level of 'kept man' status—having connections with four of the most beautiful women on the 'Red Faces List,' including the top two, Chu Chuyan and Pei Mianman—left everyone with nothing but deep admiration and respect. They wished he could teach them a trick or two. Zu An didn't know that decades later, the legend of him as the 'King of Kept Men' would still circulate on campus. Some even refrained from calling him by name, instead using 'that man' to express their reverence.

Seeing the students all pointing him out, Lu De's expression turned cold. Wielding the ruler in his hand, he gave Ye Chenliang a chaotic beating. “I’ve long heard you’ve been forming gangs and bullying the weak in school. Come, come, today I'll show you what 'subduing with virtue' really means!”

The ruler in the Dean of Discipline's hand was even more potent than Chu Hanzhao's 'Wailing Whip,' making Ye Chenliang scream repeatedly. He felt extremely wronged; Yuan Wendong was clearly the main instigator, so why was he the only one getting beaten? However, he absolutely dared not voice this. Yuan Wendong, despite his graceful appearance, was in fact incredibly ruthless. Now that he had advanced to fifth-rank, he was not someone Ye Chenliang could afford to offend.

Lu De then effortlessly picked up Hong Xingying, who was lying on the ground. “And you, causing trouble on your very first day of school. Don't think I won't dare to beat you just because you're from the Chu family. Today, I'll teach you the school rules properly.”

Hong Xingying was on the verge of tears. He was clearly the one who had been beaten the most severely. Being new, he wasn't fully aware of the situation and instinctively pointed at Yuan Wendong. “Teacher, why aren't you punishing him?”

Yuan Wendong's eyes turned cold, but Lu De merely snorted. “He's a fifth-rank, what about you? I'm not afraid to say this: among students, those who can break through to fifth-rank are considered top-tier prodigies throughout the world. Such individuals will be treasured wherever they go. If any of you can break through to fifth-rank in the future, as long as you don't commit major mistakes, the school will turn a blind eye.”

Zu An was secretly startled. It seemed that in any world, power was indeed the ultimate truth. The surrounding classmates seemed accustomed to this, clearly having understood this unwritten rule before.

After Lu De finished speaking, he dragged the two screaming individuals away. The people around them gasped.

Wei Suo, who was currently clinging to Zu An's leg, swallowed hard. “Boss, I was sweating bullets for you just now when you talked back to him. You know, anyone who falls into 'Bright Peak's' hands will be skinned alive, even if they don't die.”

Zu An smiled. “Since Teacher Lu advocates 'subduing with virtue,' he naturally listens to reason.”

“Only you would dare to reason with him,” Xie Xiu said, walking over with a smile. “I thought I was quite the ladies' man, but compared to Brother Zu, I'm truly insignificant. To be able to win the favor of four beauties from the Red Faces List simultaneously, I, Xie, am truly ashamed of my inferiority. Let's get closer in the future and exchange some tips.”

“You flatter me, Brother Xie,” Zu An replied. “Don't you also have one in your family?”

“Huh? How do I not know about this?” Xie Xiu was stunned. While there were indeed many beautiful and charming women around him, none had reached the level of the Red Faces List.

“Isn't your elder sister also on the Red Faces List? When can Brother Xie bring her out for us to meet?” Zu An replied.

Xie Xiu nearly choked. “Well... I have something to attend to. I'll take my leave now.” Then, regardless of Zu An's attempts to detain him, he hurriedly departed without looking back.

Zu An looked confused. “Why did he look like he'd seen a ghost?”

Wei Suo, standing beside him, looked on with adoration. “Boss, my admiration for you is like the surging rivers, endless and continuous, like the Yellow River overflowing, unstoppable. With those four, you're still not satisfied? You even want to pursue Young Master Xie's elder sister! You truly think what our generation dares not think, and do what our generation cannot do!”

“All rhymes and clichés, are you preparing for graduate school or something?” Zu An was slightly nauseated by his fawning, pushed him away, and then spoke to Ji Xiaoxi beside him. “Miss Ji, thank you very much for earlier.”

Before Ji Xiaoxi could answer, Chu Hanzhao immediately chimed in, displeased. “What do you mean? I was the one who helped you first!”

Ji Xiaoxi's face flushed slightly. “It's nothing, just a small favor. I'll be leaving now.” Clearly unaccustomed to being watched by so many people, she remained somewhat uncomfortable.

After jogging a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned back, and said, “Oh, by the way, when you have time, please come to my house often. My father has something he wants to discuss with you.”

“Oh.”

The people around them looked at the two with peculiar, ambiguous gazes. Ji Xiaoxi paused, then realized the double meaning of her words. Unsure how to explain, she ran off, her face completely flushed.

“What kind of person is that, seducing you right in front of me!” Chu Hanzhao fumed, her small chest adorably heaving up and down.

Zu An rolled his eyes. “You're not my wife, why are you so concerned?” He naturally understood the meaning behind Ji Xiaoxi's words; it was likely about his hidden ailment. It seemed he needed to quickly buy a bellyband to feign competence. He wondered if he could fool that fellow Ji Dengtu.

“I… can't I keep an eye on you for my sister?” Chu Hanzhao's cheeks puffed out. “My sister just left, and you're already flirting around.”

Zu An said indifferently, “Go ask your sister if she needs you to keep an eye on me.”

His cheap wife looked at him like a stranger, even less than a stranger. He naturally didn't need to uphold fidelity for her... Bah, what nonsense.

“Hmph, stop flirting here,” Yuan Wendong said, walking over with a dark expression. “Zu, I don't believe you can hide behind women forever. The clan competition is coming soon. Will you still be able to have women fight for you in the arena then?”

Zu An paused, turning to Chu Hanzhao. “What clan competition?”

Chu Hanzhao pouted her lips but still answered, “Their Yuan family and our Chu family both operate weapon forges, and the competition is quite fierce. To prevent outright conflict during disputes, the two families agreed to a clan competition once every three years. The results of the matches between the family disciples determine the market share for each region for the next three years.”

“I have to participate too?” Zu An couldn't help but ask.

Chu Hanzhao nodded. “Every family's disciples must participate. In the past, it was my sister, myself, and some cousins from the second and third branches. Now that you're the son-in-law, you'll probably go too, right?”

Zu An felt a wave of depression. What kind of situation was this? He enjoyed none of the privileges of being a son-in-law, yet couldn't escape any of the obligations. “Um... is the Yuan family also a ducal house?”

Chu Hanzhao shook her head. “No, they're not. Although their family holds a noble title, they have no feudal land, so they're quite a bit inferior to my father.”

Zu An couldn't help but say, “Your esteemed ducal mansion has fallen so low as to need a fighting ring to determine market share with such a minor family. Isn't that disgraceful?”

Before Chu Hanzhao could answer, Yuan Wendong interjected with a dark face. “Although Duke Mingyue's status is high, our Great Zhou Dynasty is a place where reason prevails. Furthermore, the Chu family isn't the only ducal house in this world.”

Zu An said, “Oh, I understand what you mean. You have a powerful backer too, no wonder you bark so loudly. So you have a master.”

Rage value from Yuan Wendong: 321!

Seeing the school staff approaching from a distance, Yuan Wendong took a deep breath. “Do you only know how to be sharp-tongued and boast with words? I won't argue with you today. But on the day of the competition...” He leaned close to Zu An and whispered, “I'll break your limbs and completely cripple you!”

Zu An sighed. “I think you should first worry about how you're going to compensate them for their swords.”

Because Lu De had just come over to disperse the crowd, most of the onlookers had already left. However, about a dozen people remained rooted to the spot, looking at Yuan Wendong with expressions that suggested they wanted to speak but hesitated. Yuan Wendong had just controlled their swords to attack Pei Mianman, but her black flames had burned them to nothing but ash. These people were naturally heartbroken, but for the moment, they dared not demand compensation from Yuan Wendong.

Hearing Zu An's opening, these people finally couldn't hold back and began clamoring:

“Compensate us for our swords!”“My precious sword cost so much!”“My precious sword was a masterpiece by so-and-so, it could cut iron like mud...”

Thanks to reader 58657930 for their support.

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