by Tinalynge
Xu Min, having been told that he could spar against the guards of the Alluring Treasure Pavilion, was ecstatic. As soon as they had returned to the premises of the Yong family residence, Xu Min rushed towards the house given him. He instantly went inside the house where he sat down on the bed and looked at the medicinal pills in front of him.
At first, he remembered how the energy had entered him the day before when he had first used it. He was slightly apprehensive once more as he knew it would be disastrous if he found no one to spar against afterwards. After recalling Yong Meilin’s words, he calmed down further. He put aside the medicinal pills as he decided to use them in the middle of the night. He aligned the time where he had finished absorbing all the energy with the time the guards started their morning training.
Coming to this conclusion, Xu Min closed his eyes and started cultivating. He spent all his time on refining the essence of the heavens and the earth into Qi. He did it the same way he had been doing it for multiple years without pills.
One hour took another and as the night came to its peak, his closed eyes instantly opened. Xu Min picked up a small red pill which he popped inside his mouth.
The result was the same as last time. Energy flooded through his body and he struggled to keep up refining it all. His body was pushed to its limits and he quickly closed his eyes. He focused on nothing else but refining the energy flooding into his body.
As the morning broke, Yong Meilin once more stood in front of the small house and knocked on the door. Unlike last time, the door was opened by Xu Min who was smiling at her and jumping on the spot.
Looking at him, even Yong Meilin could see that he was different from how he had been the previous day. His skin almost glistened with small beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and an excited smile was playing on his lips.
“Pretty one, take me to those guards you spoke of,” he said with a smile on his face. His smile made Yong Meilin’s heart race and her face flushed red from being called pretty one. She mumbled a reply which no one could hear before starting to walk towards the training grounds.
As they walked around within the family residence side by side, many glances were shot their way. Many had heard about the rumors, but neither Xu Min nor Yong Meilin had paid it any heed. They kept moving together and were chatting with each other in a more friendly manner than before.
“You are a training maniac, has anyone ever told you this before?” she asked curiously while almost running to keep the same pace as him. Her breathing quickly became ragged and eventually her mood was too terrible. As a result, she stopped, came to a halt, and waited for the young man to follow suit.
Seeing Yong Meilin stop, Xu Min had no other choice but to stop up as well. He had no idea as to where the training grounds were. He slowly understood that he had been moving too fast in his eagerness to compete against the guards of the Yong family.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said with a smile on his lips. “But you’re right. I am indeed a training maniac. I need to grow much stronger as soon as possible,” he continued, but the playful smile that had adorned his face vanished. A sinister expression appeared in his eyes and a killing intent emanated from the young boy. This killing intent was dense with hate and anger which he had collected over the years against the Zhong family. While thinking about what had happened, his killing intent always snuck out. This time it happened in front of Yong Meiling. The young woman felt frightened by the density of the hatred the previously cheerful young man hid inside.
“Don’t worry too much,” she said in a meek voice as she unconsciously grabbed one of his hands in her own. She looked at him with her deep black eyes and worry shone out from within, “You are already strong and a hard worker. You’ll keep growing stronger every day.”
Hearing the beautiful woman say such words and showing such care, Xu Min was taken aback. The feeling was not horrible and he ended up laughing out loud as he patted her head with his free hand. “You are not as cynical and cold as you seem to be,” he said with laughter in his voice.
Without freeing his hand, he turned around to the direction they had been going from the start. With a gentle smile on his face, he looked at Yong Meilin, “I think you should bring me to that training ground soon or I will explode from internal energies rupturing their way through my body.”
Hearing this, Yong Meiling dared not wait any further. While still holding the young man’s hand, she rushed towards the training ground where the guards were going through their morning drills.
Chapter 34 - Training Grounds
Although Xu Min was over-dramatising it, he was indeed in some pain from the overflowing energy inside of him. He could not wait to let go of it in a sparring lesson.
Sparring was much better than fighting to the death. It was an exchange of pointers. What Xu Min needed right now was the opportunity to display his two martial arts and pour the overflowing energy into them. He wanted to let them shine as brilliant as the sun and burn out all the energy so that his body could slowly get used to the high amount of internal energies.
Yong Meilin grabbed Xu Min’s hand and towed him towards the training ground. Her face showed a slight panic and her speed rapidly increased.
Seeing this, Xu Min could not help but laugh out loud. “Sorry, sorry,” he said laughing. “I won’t explode, it is just uncomfortable.” He continued and an indignant expression appeared on Yong Meilin’s face. On the inside, however, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She told herself that the reason she cared was because of the order she had been given by her grandfather.
Although Xu Min had laughed at her and told her that it was not true, the two still held hands together. The both of them felt natural as they moved through the family residence towards the training ground.Their behavior once more sparked life into the rumors about the two of them, but neither truly cared. The day before, they had come to the conclusion of benefiting one another. What others thought was left for them to think about.
Reaching the training grounds, Xu Min was ecstatic to see multiple sparring rings. All of which were placed on the grass close by each other. Many were already sparring with one another within the ring.
Every guard on the ground stopped as they saw their most revered Yong Meilin arrive. But, their eyes almost bulged out of their heads as they saw how she was holding the hand of an unknown youngster.
A hopeless smile appeared on Xu Min’s face as he realised that he had just gained the hate of everyone who was present. Now, his eyes gleamed with excitement. He knew that these men would show him no mercy in their training fights. This was exactly what he wished for.
A few of the sparring rings were free. Xu Min took off the top of his robe which he handed to Yong Meilin. Now he wore only his pants and an undershirt. Wearing this. he jumped into one of the sparring rings and started stretching. His skin glistened with energy and his lean and strong muscles played beneath the tanned skin. Even Yong Meilin had her eyes fully glued onto the young man in front of her and she had to gulp slightly to wrest away her eyes.
As soon as Xu Min had jumped into one of the rings, a long line appeared on the outside of the ring. Everyone wished to challenge him.
“I’m only a One-Star Warrior,” Xu Min said with a loud voice. “I only take on challenges from One or Two-Star Warriors. Early Stage Three-Star Warriors are welcome as well.”
Everyone heard a One-Star Warrior was willing to take on not only a Two-Star Warrior but also a Three-Star warrior, albeit an early stage Three-Star Warrior that was still far above his strength. This was something that seemed both cocky and suicidal.
Hearing this, a majority of the guards left the line as they were too strong. Instead of continuing their training, they all stood around the ring instead, ready to see just how strong this young man was.
Xu Min relied heavily on his own physical strength in fights like these. Having the physical strength of a Second-Star Warrior meant that he was able to stand against martial art attacks done by
a One-Star Warrior. He would also be capable of defeating them without wasting any of his internal energy But right now, his body was bursting with internal energies. Although he could defeat One-Star Warriors with physical attacks, he wished to go against higher ranked warriors as he wished to use the overflowing energy within him.
“The rest of you return to training,” a large muscular man said with a satisfied smile on his face as he stepped into the ring. “I will deal with this pretty-boy and make sure that no woman will ever find him appealing again.”
Hearing this, many of the guards around him started laughing out loud while others curiously watched Yong Meilin’s reaction to the words that were said.
Looking at Yong Meilin, she showed no signs of fear nor did she show any kind of worry for the young man. If anything, she looked interested at the display in front of her.
She had personally seen how this young man had smashed the heads of multiple cultivators using strength alone. She was perfectly well aware that although the snake was not visible, it was most definitely around his throat, ready to attack should Xu Min truly be in danger.
The man who had stepped into the ring was a Two-Star Warrior. He was a warrior who trained his body well and had more internal energy than Xu Min had. However, Xu Min had never even once relaxed. His physical body was definitely as strong as the man in front of him. The only difference was that Xu Min’s body was lean. He had trained every muscle within his body and trained for agile movements alongside strength and speed. The man in front of him had focused on strength alone.
Looking at this strong man, Xu Min instantly knew that he was being underestimated. A smirk appeared on his face as a satisfied feeling welled up inside him.
Xu Min closed his eyes and breathed out heavily before he took the stance needed for Shattering Palm. Without giving the other man time to truly prepare, a large and somewhat transparent palm was gliding down from the heavens and struck the muscular man.
Xu Min was completely well aware that the attack he had used required internal energy. His was weaker than that of a Two-Star Warrior; however, he did not truly aimto smash him down with the palm. The palm was meant to pressure the guard who had been completely taken aback by the sudden attack and while the he was pressuring forward. Xu Min suddenly stomped against the ground and picked up enough energy to shoot towards the larger man in front of him.
Although the guard saw Xu Min coming, he could do nothing to stop him as both his hands were tangled up in the Shattering Palm. Releasing his Qi, he created a protective barrier around himself. He only used a minimum amount of Qi as he knew that the young man in front of him was only a One-Star Warrior. The rest of his energy was used to enter his arms and was blasted through his palms. He shattered the massive Qi Palm that Xu Min had created earlier. A sly smile appeared on the face of the large man.
“Eat this,” Xu Min said quietly as he gathered all the strength in his body into his right arm and hand. As swift as a tiger, the entire energy exploded as the impact hit the guards aside.
Being hit by the full force of a Two-Star Warrior was something which no one would do without protection. Even a full force hit of a One-Star Warrior was something which could prove fatal if one not have the right defences. This young guard had only used a very thin layer of Qi around his body. At the moment of impact, the immense amount of energy which Xu Min had collected within his hand erupted forward. It slammed into the higher ranked warrior who instantly was knocked so far that he flew out of the ring.
These sparring rings were in no way large. There were only around ten by ten meters large. The guard had been standing within the middle of the ring, only five meters from the railing. As soon as Xu Min released his full strength, he tossed a large man five meters as if it was nothing. This was possible especially since he was not prepared for the attack.
Silence filled the training grounds. The battle had been simple and swift. A martial art skill had been used to keep the guard occupied as a physical attack had been used to finish off the Two-Star Warrior. To lose like this to a warrior of a lower rank was embarrassing; however, there was no question as to whom the winner was.
“He was too focused on the martial art skill,” someone mumbled. “He was so focused that he forgot to use a shield to protect him against the physical attack. It had to be like this.”
“I saw him using a defense but it was too weak to block the attack of a One-Star Warrior. He was definitely underestimating the opponent.” another low voice sounded out.
Eventually, everyone came to the conclusion that this warrior had lost because he had underestimated Xu Min.
The next warrior who stepped up was a One-Star Warrior. Although he was of a One-Star Warrior, he was in the late stage and was about to break into a Two-Star. He had won various battles against other One-Star Warriors and he was certain that he could defeat Xu Min with ease.
This took even less time than the previous sparring match as Xu Min simply grabbed the guy by the collar and threw him out of the ring. His strength was simply too outstanding.
Multiple One-Star Warriors showed up, but the results were the same. Every one of them was being tossed outside of the ring and this made them embarrassed. Although he had spoken big, they understood that this young man was truly capable of living up to the words he had spoken.
While Xu Min was having fun within the sparring rings, Yong Meilin had been standing by the side the entire time. The smile on her face grew slightly every time he had defeated an opponent. She soon saw how the previously glistening skin faded and instead returned to its usual tanned look.
After having beaten seven One-Star Warriors, no one else of that rank wished to fight him any longer. Instead, the Two-Star Warriors stepped forward. These fights took slightly longer and were more challenging. Xu Min’s strength was something that no one was capable of completely understanding. He was indeed a One-Star Warrior but his actual strength was far superior than that. Although he had the strength of a One-Star Warrior, he had far too large a Qi pool.
Having beaten nine guards and not including the first one, Xu Min finally felt how his dantian was completely dried up. He had no more internal energy left. Although he heavily relied on his physical strength, he still needed the inner energies to make joint attacks, feints, and misdirections.
Standing still after the last person had been defeated, Xu Min had forced his inner reserves out and sweat was running down his upper body. His eyes were gleaming with excitement. Standing straight, he bowed towards the group of defeated warriors. None of them had sustained any serious damage. The Two-Star Warriors were almost untouched, but Xu Min had used his element of surprise to toss them outside the small ring.
Now that he could no longer could do this, he decided to stop for the day. After having bowed, he turned back towards Yong Meilin where he picked up his clothes before smiling tiredly to the girl. He showed his gratitude with a smile before he made his way back to the courtyard where he was planning on doing the physical training. He had not had the time to do it this morning. Shifting his trainings schedule slightly, Xu Min had planned the entire day as he did not have long to spare anymore. His eyes were only focused on increasing his strength.
Chapter 35 - A Storm is Brewing
“Well done little Meilin!” the old man seated behind a desk said as he saw Yong Meilin entering the room. “I heard that he trained with the young guards this morning. Without any help from the snake, he managed to defeat an overwhelming amount of opponents and even those stronger than him.”
“This young man can be a great catch for our Alluring Treasure Pavilion. I heard that there are quite a few rumors going around about you and this young man. The majority of the rumors say that you and this young man have something together.” As the elderly man said this, a smile appeared on his face.
“I want you to keep him here as long as possible. Make him a part of the Alluring Treasure Pavilion, even if that means that you will have to act accordingly to these
rumors.” The grandfather continued with a serious expression on his face.
“I will not force you to marry him, but making him think that you are interested will have no harm done,” a grin appeared on the face of the old man. Yong Meilin felt uncomfortable about this. She already had a lot of complicated feelings for this young man. He was unlike any other she had seen. She didn’t have a persuasive method of convincing him to stay with them for a longer period of time.
“Grandfather,” she started, getting ready to oppose the order. This was something that she had never done before. Before she had the time to continue, the grandfather lifted his hand. His gesture made her silent and kept the unsaid words inside.
“Little Meilin,” he said with a sigh, “You are a woman. Women are good for two things: enticing men into spending more money and convincing them to invest their time in return for the company of beautiful women.”
“You are far more beautiful than any other woman within our family and this young man is currently my highest priority to get hold of. Therefore, you will do what you have to do. For the family, you will make this young man fall in love with you. You will make him stay within the Alluring Treasure Pavilion.”
