by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
“Points are given out by the Martial Hall Palace as rewards. They’re a form of currency that can be used for exchange, but we keep track of them with jade plates, not physical notes or coins. Here in Martial Hall Palace, you can use these points to not only buy food but also weapons, martial skills, and cultivation methods! What this means is that the more points you have, the more things you’ll be able to do! Do you understand?” slowly explained the old overseer.
“You should’ve said so earlier!” Xiang Shaoyun scoffed, taking hold of the jade plate. He then began heading in the direction of the canteen, hungry beyond compare.
“Why the rush? This jade plate needs a drop of your blood as identification before it can be used. Furthermore, this jade plate will be closely related to you from now on, so be sure to take good care of it!” the old overseer sternly warned.
By the time he finished speaking, Xiang Shaoyun was already long gone. Shaking his head, the old overseer bitterly laughed, “What an impatient brat!”
Xiang Shaoyun dashed right to the area outside the canteen. Biting furiously onto his finger, he dripped blood onto the jade plate. When the jade plate came into contact with the blood, the number 1,000 appeared.
“This seems like a cheap knockoff of a recording crystal,” Xiang Shaoyun mused to himself. Without thinking much, he handed the jade plate to the canteen overseer and asked for food.
However, the canteen overseer told him that the canteen was public and only provided free food, not food purchasable with points. Only Martial Hall Palace’s restaurant was able to exchange food for points.
“The hell?! Is it that hard to find just a little food?!” Xiang Shaoyun was on the brink of going mad with hunger. For low-end cultivators such as himself, what one needed the most was food for energy, especially for today after he had madly consumed such a large amount of energy. It had been almost a whole day since his last meal, making it increasingly hard to bear. Just as he was about to make his way to the restaurant, three human figures showed up in front of him, blocking his path.
“You guys really like sticking to me like ghosts, don’t ya?” Xiang Shaoyun said while licking his lips. At this moment, whoever tried stopping him from getting his meal would be very unlucky.
“Heheh, are you hungry to the point of going crazy? Going to the canteen to find food?” Gou Zi mockingly laughed.
“I’ll count to three. If the lot of you don’t get lost by then, watch how I’ll take care of you!” Xiang Shaoyun was thoroughly enraged.
“Sure, show me! How are you going to beat me up? The outer court rules state that apart from mealtimes, the only times disciples are allowed to fight are when they’re in the arena!” Gou Zi said, full of confidence.
Whoever dared to break the rules would face the punishment of Martial Hall Palace.
“Three!” Xiang Shaoyun bellowed.
“I’m waiting for you to hit me, you piece of trash!” Gou Zi stuck out his head, leering at Xiang Shaoyun.
All of a sudden, Xiang Shaoyun struck out.
Pa!
“AHHH!”
A crisp noise resounded through the canteen, followed shortly by cries of pain.
“I’ve seen many kinds of scoundrels, but this is the first time I’ve seen scoundrels like you, asking others to hit them!” Xiang Shaoyun mercilessly shouted.
Gou Zi’s face had gained a handprint the shade of light pink. Furthermore, blood trickled from the corner of his lips; one could see that Xiang Shaoyun hit hadn’t been light at all.
“Bastard, you dare to hit me! Go beat him up!” Gou Zi furiously shouted. Before he had even finished speaking, the two sixth-stage Basic Realm people with him had already started moving toward Xiang Shaoyun.
Although their movements were swift and concise, Xiang Shaoyun was even quicker than them! However, he did not raise his fists against them, but rather retreated. He had no intention of running at all. Rather, he picked up a loose brick lying on the ground.
It was also at this moment that the two youths sent their attacks toward Xiang Shaoyun. As outer court disciples of the Martial Hall Palace, they had both learned some battle techniques. Although they were the most basic of battle techniques, they enabled the two youths to have some form of combat ability. One of them chose to send a fist straight toward Xiang Shaoyun’s face while the other attacked his lower leg.
“If you don’t let me eat, you die!” Xiang Shaoyun bellowed at the top of his lungs, his body dodging their attacks with the nimbleness of a sparrow. As he stopped before one of the youths, the brick in his hand turned into a peerless weapon, smashing straight down onto the youth’s head!
Pa!
The unfortunate youth suffered a direct blow to his head. Blood began gushing out as his eyes rolled. He fainted on the spot, and his comrade suffered a severe fright but did not back down, sending a leg flying toward Xiang Shaoyun.
The power behind this kick was quite formidable indeed, sending out ripples of wind. If this was before Xiang Shaoyun had broken through to the sixth stage of Basic Realm, he would only have been able to avoid this powerful kick. Right now, however, he chose to directly counter this kick with his own kick!
Crack!
When their kicks connected, the crisp sound of bone being broken could be heard. Staggering back from the engagement with Xiang Shaoyun, the youth found that he could no longer stand steadily on both feet, and he cried out in pain, “My leg! My leg is broken!”
Having partially tapped into his body’s potential in the Hall of Limits, Xiang Shaoyun was starting to show the results of nine years of physical reinforcement from soaking in medicine. In terms of physical strength alone, Xiang Shaoyun was completely unmatched in the Basic Realm.
For this youth, going head-to-head with Xiang Shaoyun was seeking his own demise. Swiftly closing the gap between the two of them, Xiang Shaoyun once again took hold of the brick and struck towards the youth. The same fate that befell the other youth fell upon this youth as well.
Within mere moments, Xiang Shaoyun had finished off two opponents of the same level as him. One could only admit his “brick martial techniques” were both fiery yet beautiful to watch. Thinking back to when he was a powerful figure in his own home, he would often use a brick to discipline disobedient servants.
Gou Zi was stunned speechless. He had never thought that his two companions would be taken care of so easily. Looking at the approaching Xiang Shaoyun, Gou Zi sinisterly laughed, “Do you think that because you were able to knock them out with luck that you’ll be able to take on me, a peak seventh-stage Basic Realm cultivator? Too naive!”
Rushing Wind Punch!
Gathering the force of air around one’s fist, just one punch would be enough to break rocks and startle the heavens! This punch of Gou Zi’s comprised all his physical strength and was more than sufficient to completely obliterate a rock weighing 500 kilograms.
Taking a deep breath, Xiang Shaoyun sent a punch of his own in retaliation. Trying to compete with him in terms of physical strength was asking for trouble.
“Ahhh!”
When the two fists collided, a sharp cry of pain immediately rang out. Needless to say, the cry belonged to none other than Gou Zi.
However, Gou Zi managed to retract his hand just in time, avoiding the full force of Xiang Shaoyun’s fist. It was due to this timely move that he was able to escape the tragic fate of having his bones broken like his two companions. Nonetheless, his hand was shaking with so much pain that it was hard to lift it.
“You damn lackeys want to target me time and again, right? This time, I’ll thoroughly beat all of you into dogs!” Xiang Shaoyun shouted, the brick in his other hand already ruthlessly planting itself into Gou Zi’s face.
Gou Zi cried out in anguish, and blood gushed out of his nose in columns. Xiang Shaoyun did not let up, raining blow after blow on Gou Zi’s face and head.
Crack!
The brick ended up breaking after smacking his head time after time.
&
nbsp; “It seems that your head is rather stiff; the brick actually broke!” Xiang Shaoyun finally let up, looking scornfully at the pitiful Gou Zi.
“Y-you…Young Master Wu won’t let you off! Waaaaaahhh!” Gou Zi cried through tears of pain.
Getting on his feet, Xiang Shaoyun threw the broken brick aside and tyrannically declared, “Even if it's the king of heavens trying to stop me from eating, I will smack him to death!”
Chapter 11: What a Snob!
The Martial Hall Palace Restaurant, located in the middle of the outer and inner courts, was the only restaurant in the entire Martial Hall Palace. The restaurant covered a vast area of over four thousand square metres, and its five floors each served different kinds of people.
Floors one to three served outer court disciples, inner court disciples, and normal overseers. Floors four and five served personal disciples, high-tier overseers, and elders. From this, one could see that the status of personal disciples far exceeded one’s imagination.
After beating up Gou Zi and his companions, Xiang Shaoyun ran straight to the restaurant. He went directly to the restaurant’s manager and loudly said, “Shopkeeper, prepare one jug of wine, three catties of meat, four bowls of rice, and five side dishes with utmost speed. This young master is about to starve to death!”
The shopkeeper laughed and replied, “Okay! Take a seat first; they’ll be out in a jiffy!”
Next, Xiang Shaoyun found a comfortable seat within the spacious restaurant and sat down. At the time, there were not many people in the restaurant as dinnertime had not yet come. A waiter brought the dishes and wine relatively quickly.
“Dear customer, please enjoy your meal,” said the waiter politely while placing down the food.
Without even bothering to respond to the waiter, Xiang Shaoyun wolfed down the food like a starving lion. He really was like a hungry ghost, devouring his food at such a speed that it scared those who noticed him.
Within an instant, four full bowls of rice, a few side dishes, and three whole catties of meat had all ended up in Xiang Shaoyun’s stomach. After all that, he took hold of the jug of wine and directly took a swig from it. A feeling of ecstasy that had never been felt before filled his entire being, leaving him extremely comfortable.
“Good…this is really the life,” Xiang Shaoyun uncontrollably said. Ever since he was born, today was the first time in his entire life that he had experienced such starvation. Even the few months he was on the run was nothing compared to today.
Xiang Shaoyun began to recall the times when he would be decked in lavish clothing and dine on fine food—food fit for immortals that was ten times better than the food here! Regardless of whether he loved eating there, he would always reward his servants for it. How prodigal he was back then!
Right now, though, Xiang Shaoyun could no longer go back to those days, but this let him fully understand how precious food was to a low-ranking cultivator. Those who toil for meals will indeed cherish every single grain of rice.
“From now on, I must cherish everything that I have. I can’t afford to be so wasteful anymore,” Xiang Shaoyun swore to himself. After today, he had gained a deeper understanding on the ugly side of people. At the same time, he had also gained much from this day.
“Who is this kid? With the speed he’s eating, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a reincarnated hungry ghost!” A person seated nearby gasped upon seeing the speed at which he demolished his meal.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen this guy before. Could he be one of those starving outer court disciples who’ve come here to have a free meal?” replied another person sharing the same table.
“Heheh, that’s a possibility. I wonder if these things happen often to him? If they do, then this brat is doomed,” said the person who had initially spoke up.
“Indeed so. Since he dared to eat without paying, he has to stay and help the restaurant wash dishes for a whole month! Although a month may not seem like a very long period of time, he’ll be missing out on all his cultivation during this time, further increasing the gap between him and his fellow peers!” yet another person said.
Judging from their attire, they seemed to be inner court disciples. They did not bother masking their words one bit, and they even had a bit of ridicule in their voices. Yesterday, although Xiang Shaoyun had shaken the entire Martial Hall Palace, not everybody was aware of who he was.
After all, inner court disciples were usually elsewhere on excursions or in closed meditation. Not many had heard of Xiang Shaoyun’s five stars illuminating the sky. Otherwise, they would definitely not have looked down on Xiang Shaoyun as such.
Xiang Shaoyun had heard every single word of their conversation crystal clear, but he naturally would not take their words to heart. He increased the speed at which he finished his wine before calling over the waiter to settle the bill.
“Dear customer, your bill comes to a total of 10 points. Please present your jade plate to pay,” the waiter politely said, although his eyes betrayed the doubt that was present within him. Even the waiter thought the brat was just another one of the outer court disciples here to eat without paying. Taking note of the way the waiter was looking at him, Xiang Shaoyun took out the jade plate and slammed it right into the table.
Pa!
“Take it,” Xiang Shaoyun said with an unconcealed trace of pride.
Cultivators must have an unyielding backbone, one that will never break. These were words that his father had taught him. Never in his wildest dreams had the waiter thought Xiang Shaoyun would actually be able to produce a jade plate. Examining the jade plate, he cried out in shock, “Th-this is the jade plate given by the Hall of Limits!”
“What’s wrong? Is there an issue?” Xiang Shaoyun snapped back at him.
“No, there’s no issue at all. Furthermore, since you are in possession of a jade plate from the Hall of Limits, you are entitled to 40 percent off your total bill. Hence, you only need to pay 6 points now!” The waiter’s attitude had done an entire 180-degree turn, his tone now taking on a tinge of respect.
A disciple able to surpass one of the limits would have a vast future ahead of him and was not someone a mere waiter at a restaurant could afford to offend.
“There’s something like this here? Not bad at all.” Xiang Shaoyun indifferently laughed.
After he finished settling Xiang Shaoyun’s bill, the waiter returned the jade plate and even respectfully said, “Please keep it well, young master.”
His address changing from customer to young master was indeed swift.
Xiang Shaoyun lightly laughed before saying, “In the future, before you act like such a snob, just remember that the river flows 30 years to the east and 30 years to the west. Who can say what will happen tomorrow?”
“Of course, of course,” the waiter immediately answered.
Xiang Shaoyun’s words fell on the ears of the inner court disciples nearby, giving them a very unpleasant feeling as if he was countering everything they had said about him before.
The inner court disciple who had been the first to ridicule Xiang Shaoyun stood up and pointed at him, saying, “Just a mere sixth-stage Basic Realm brat dares to spout such nonsense? Yeah, I don’t think there’s a need for you to vie for the position of an inner court disciple anymore.”
Xiang Shaoyun turned back to look at the inner court disciple who had just spoken and said, “What right do you think you have to cut short my path forward?”
“By the fact that my name is Wang Yang!” the inner court disciple replied, proud as a peacock.
Wang Yang was one of the top 15 disciples in the inner court. Just from this alone, he did indeed possess the ability to halt the progress of a majority of the outer court disciples.
One ought to know that the difference between inner and outer court disciples was like that of the sky and the ground. Every single inner court disciple was an individual who had successfully condensed astral energy. They had reached the point of refining strength into qi a
nd separating their astral energy from their physical bodies, giving them immense combat ability.
Taking care of an outer court disciple would just be a walk in the park for any inner court disciple, much less one ranked within the top 15. As it was approaching dinnertime, numerous disciples began streaming into the restaurant. They had just stepped foot into the restaurant when they heard Wang Yang arguing with an outer court disciple. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, they couldn’t help but draw closer.
“Wang Yang...,” Xiang Shaoyun muttered, seemingly in a daze.
“Hmph, so you do know fear! If you’re sensible, then get the hell over here and apologize! Oh, give me all of your points as well, otherwise…” Wang Yang sneered arrogantly.
Before he had even finished speaking, however, Xiang Shaoyun began digging his ears as he indifferently replied, “Never heard of you before.”
Xiang Shaoyun’s actions and manner of speech were full of provocation, leaving a very foul taste in Wang Yang’s mouth. To him, as one of the top 15 disciples of the inner court, being humiliated as such by a mere outer court disciple was no different from directly smacking him in the face.
Chapter 12: I, Xiang Shaoyun, Will Look After You From Now On!
“Good, very good! You say you’ve never heard of me before, eh? Heh heh…,” Wang Yang said, bursting out into maniacal laughter. In his eyes, Xiang Shaoyun was no more than a prancing clown. The only possible concern was that he had the ability to break through his limits. However, he was a mere outer court disciple who had a long way to go before maturity, no more than a cricket in Wang Yang’s eyes.
The people within the restaurant also burst out in laughter. They were laughing at Xiang Shaoyun for being completely ignorant, seeking his own death. Getting up from his seat, Wang Yang stared daggers at Xiang Shaoyun as he drew closer to Xiang Shaoyun, emitting some of his astral energy.
Before Wang Yang had the opportunity to fully close in, Xiang Shaoyun shouted in alarm, “This young master is the junior brother of Zi Changhe, and hence half an elder! Do you dare to be disrespectful towards me?!”
