16 Chapter 15: Talent Restored (2/2)
”What did he say?”
”Huh?!”
”Did…did I mishear what he said?”
A murmur rippled across the crowd of students as they closed in to watch, a few out of concern, but the majority for entertainment. The latter were staring at each other in amusement and disbelief, and like Qi Fu Ren, they clearly thought that Zhu Jiao had lost his mind.
”Classmate Zhu Jiao!” Xiang Xun Yi shouted in concern. ”Don't force yourself! I'll go get Teacher Jiao! Hang in there!”
”There's no need to. Trust me.”
When Zhu Jiao plainly stated that, more of our classmates were looking bewildered or burst out laughing.
”Really? That Zhu Jiao thinks he can beat Qi Fu Ren?”
”Hasn't Qi Fu Ren already reached the fourth level of Qi Gathering Stage? Zhu Jiao is only at the first level, right?”
”Yeah, that's correct.”
”So where is he getting that confidence from?”
Everyone continued chattering to each other under their breaths, and several of the guys even began to make bets. In fact, the other Four Star Constitution guys had shown up, their interest in this match roused by Zhu Jiao's bravado.
Normally, they wouldn't even have bothered to watch, but they seemed to sense a change in the atmosphere today. I could see Li Chun Long, Feng Tian Yong and Wu Hei Gui. Even the aloof Du Lang had taken up a spot in the distance, to watch.
”Hey! Don't you think you're going too far?!”
It was Tang Qi Hong. She strode forward, only for Hu Shuo and Ba Dao to block her path. Irritated, she snapped at them.
”Get out of my way!”
”Tang Qi Hong…do you really want to fight with me?” Qi Fu Ren asked without even turning to look at her.
”Why not? Who's scared of whom? I'm also a Four Star Constitution practitioner, and I've also reached the fourth level of Qi Gathering Stage. You think I can't defeat you?”
Qi Fu Ren scoffed. ”You're just a girl. If you're Bai Ning Xue, then perhaps you might stand a chance, but…”
Tang Qi Hong's eyes flashed dangerously. ”Bai Ning Xue, Bai Ning Xue, Bai Ning Xue! Is that all you guys think about?! She's not always going to be number one forever!”
Oh, wow. A woman was really horrifying when scorned. Not to mention, the burning jealousy in her ruby eyes were giving her a fiery aura that scorched the ground around her. The rest of our classmates quickly moved away to give her a wide berth. Obviously no one wanted to be burned from standing right next to her.
”Classmate Tang Qi Hong, do you mind letting me fight him first?” Zhu Jiao was feigning politeness. ”I'm afraid I won't get a chance to hit him if you burn him into ash. Besides…” he returned his attention to Qi Fu Ren. ”Your opponent is me. Like I said, if you want to have a go at anybody, whether it's Fei Wu or Tang Qi Hong, you'll have to get past me first.” His smile widened. ”Provided you are able to even defeat me, of course.”
”Hah!” Qi Fu Ren snorted. ”Zhu Jiao, this has to be the worst joke I've ever heard. You think acting like an idiot will help you?”
”Oh, so you're know I'm actually smart. Too bad for you, you don't have to act like an idiot. You already are one.”
Qi Fu Ren's face flushed. His fist crackled with lightning and he bellowed furiously, swinging at Zhu Jiao with a vicious hook.
”Stop talking nonsense! Die!”
”No one's going to die.” Zhu Jiao merely parried Qi Fu Ren's punch and gripped the latter's fist tightly. Qi Fu Ren's eyes bulged in surprise. ”Besides, the arena is just over there.” Letting go of Qi Fu Ren, Zhu Jiao stepped back and gestured to the now vacated arena. ”If we don't fight in an official match, we might both get into trouble. What do you say, let's go down there and settle our grudges in the arena?”
”Fine then…” Qi Fu Ren growled. ”I'll make sure to humiliate you in front of everybody.”
”We'll see about that. Less talking, more doing.” Turning away, Zhu Jiao swung himself over the stairs and landed at the bottom of the building. He glanced up and gestured for Qi Fu Ren to follow. ”What are you waiting for? Are you scared?”
”You…!”
But Qi Fu Ren obediently went down. Hu Shuo and Ba Dao exchanged confused glances, not knowing what to do, but under their leader's orders, they remained upstairs in the spectator box to watch the match.
With another match taking place, almost all the students remained. In fact, an influx of new students showed up, their interest piqued by the unlikely matchup. Apparently the news of Zhu Jiao's challenge had spread rampantly through social media and cellphone messages, and a lot of the first year students were intrigued by the story behind it.
The two persons in question were now standing in the middle of the arena. Qi Fu Ren cracked his knuckles, lightning crackling around his hands, while Zhu Jiao stretched himself in a relaxed manner. Once he was done with his warmup, he cocked his head and beckoned Qi Fu Ren over.
”Shall we begin then?”
”DIE!”
Without any hesitation, Qi Fu Ren lunged forward. Devastating electricity wreathed his fist, and he drew back his arm to deliver a punch brutal enough to pulverize solid concrete.
Unfazed, Zhu Jiao sidestepped Qi Fu Ren's fist. He placed a hand on Qu Fu Ren's outstretched arm, and in a single motion, flipped the much larger guy over his head. Qi Fu Ren's eyes widened as his world turned upside down, and the next thing he knew, he landed heavily on the ground. He grunted and stared up at the metallic ceiling, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
”Sleeping already? It's just the first move of the match, you know?”
Throwing those same words that Qi Fu Ren tossed at us all those weeks ago, Zhu Jiao chuckled before he stomped on Qi Fu Ren's gut.
”Ugh!”
Qi Fu Ren threw up a massive spurt of blood and clutched his stomach, unable to control his nausea. He rolled away, his body clad in lightning. With a growl, he wiped the blood away from his mouth and struck the ground.
”Have a taste of my newly acquired Thunder Break!”
I almost rolled my eyes at that cheesy line. Did people actually go around announcing that they were going to use a technique that they had just learned? Furthermore, was there even a need to inform us that he only just recently learned Thunder Break?
Zhu Jiao was right. Qi Fu Ren was an idiot through and through.
Unfortunately, even as a moron, Qi Fu Ren's skills were the real deal. All of us jumped away in reflex as lightning traveled up to the reinforced glass that separated the arena from the spectator box, detonating in a dazzling display that clawed and scrabbled ferociously at the transparent barrier.
However, none of the electricity hit Zhu Jiao. Almost as if he was dancing across the ground or waltzing atop the wind, he deftly evaded all of the electricity that blasted out of the reinforced floor, dodging most of them by the narrowest of margins or by a mere hair's breadth.
”Impossible!”
Qi Fu Ren couldn't believe his eyes. Snarling, he increased the amount of qi in his fist.
”Oh, wow. That's a really big attack.”
Zhu Jiao observed Qi Fu Ren's Lightning Flash calmly, admitting that this time he wouldn't be able to block it without negative repercussions. He nodded respectfully, acknowledging his opponent's brute strength.
However…
”It's pointless if you can't hit me.”
Zhu Jiao could see so many openings when Qi Fu Ren abandoned caution and went for a big move. Exploiting the gaps in his opponent's defense, Zhu Jiao whirled away from the devastating Lightning Flash, and then slammed his fist against Qi Fu Ren's unguarded chest.
For a moment, it seemed that nothing happened. Then a golden burst of qi blasted out of Zhu Jiao's fist and hurled Qi Fu Ren across the arena, sending him flying and slamming against a stainless steel wall. The surface actually cracked and shook wildly when Qi Fu Ren's large frame collided with it, several cobwebs spreading rapidly across the wall.
”Ugh…argh!”
Coughing out blood, Qi Fu Ren struggled to his feet, only to topple over helplessly. He looked up, his expression still mired in that of disbelief and denial. Clutching the grass, he gritted his teeth in agony and frustration as he lay on the ground.
”Qi Fu Ren lost?”
A stunned silence hung over the spectators, except for me, who had already predicted the outcome long ago, in previous chapter. See? I told you so.
However, those without insider knowledge or the ones who were less genre savvy were dumbstruck at the totally predictable scene, fulfilling their roles as NPCs who served to praise the protagonist's strength and indicate how powerful he had grown.
”How is this possible?! Half a month ago, Zhu Jiao got beaten up by Qi Fu Ren and needed Teacher Jiao to save him. Did his talent get restored within these two weeks?”
”Oi, oi, what the hell are you talking about?”
”Even if his talent returned, using just two weeks to surpass Qi Fu Ren is way too exaggerated, isn't it?!”
Everyone was muttering and whispering to each other, still unable to comprehend what had just happened. As for me, I merely shook my head and sighed.
”Thanks, Zhu Jiao.”
”No problem. I'm glad everything got resolved.” Zhu Jiao flashed me a thumb's up, then he turned to look up at Hu Shuo and Ba Dao, who were totally at a loss now that their leader was incapacitated. I was surprised that he could see and hear us from down there, despite the heavily reinforced glass blocking any of the sounds the spectators made. ”How about the two of you?”
”Uh…”
”Huh?”
”Do you want a go at me?” Zhu Jiao beckoned them downward, inviting them to jump down into the arena. The two of them exchanged a nervous look, then shook their heads.
”We've to look after the boss.”
”Yeah! Boss! Are you all right?!”
The two flunkies raced down the stairs, past the backstage and into the arena to help the semiconscious Qi Fu Ren up, and then they quickly fled the scene before Qing Xin Xia could offer her assistance to heal him.
”Heh…interesting…”
”Not bad…I knew something was up when Zhu Jiao began acting so confidently.”
”Seems like Zhu Jiao is someone to keep an eye on…”
In the shadows, four of the Four Star Constitution practitioners murmured to themselves and then melted away before anyone realized they were there. Li Chun Long, Feng Tian Yong, Wu Hei Gui and Du Lang.
As for the last remaining Four Star Constitution practitioner, Tang Qi Hong, she was gaping at the spectacle, her mouth still open.
”What…what just happened?”
She was shaking her head in disbelief.
”Someone, please tell me…is this a joke? Did Zhu Jiao really defeat Qi Fu Ren? That Qi Fu Ren? Seriously?”
”Yes, it really happened,” Xiang Xun Yi told her. After a while, when the information finally sank in, Tang Qi Hong held her head and shrieked.
”Eh?! No way!!!!!”
Not far away, Tu Zi Yi was gazing at Zhu Jiao in wonder, suddenly feeling hope that she might be able to surpass the others despite only being Two Stars.
I knew better. Zhu Jiao was a Five Star Constitution practitioner to begin with. That was why he was so good. Without talent like his, there was no way I could catch up to him. I was resigned to being a mob character for the rest of my pathetic existence, existing just so he could save me, and later die for some sort of…
All right, all right. I was repeating myself. I had to snap out of it and actually do something to change my current dire situation. Whining about it wasn't going to change anything. It would only annoy the people beyond the fourth wall, though I doubted there were many of them by now. Most likely they would have dropped this rubbish story by the second or third chapter. Whatever the case, I still had to live on and so something about my current predicament. Besides, it wasn't as if I was totally without hope. Despite the extremely low chances, I might actually have an opportunity to restore the Heaven and Earth Formula. Not that I truly believed what Xiao Zhang and Teacher Jiao were telling me. Such convenient circumstances did not happen in reality. There was no way I would magically learn the ultimate martial arts just because I happened to save and talk to the leader of the now-destroyed Heaven and Earth Sect. no way in hell.
”Wu, are you all right?”
I realized that Zhu Jiao was still keeping an eye on me to ensure I was all right. While I was lost in thought, he had climbed back up to the spectator box to rejoin the rest of the class. I hastily nodded and waved my hands.
”Yeah, I'm good. Sorry.” I shook my head and focused on the present. If Zhu Jiao could miraculously encounter a master, then I probably could learn the Heaven and Earth Formula. That's it. No more excuses. No more moping around and whining. It was time to actually do something. And I will start by looking at all possible clues.
Turning around, my resolve hardened, I proceeded toward the courtyard where I conducted my daily runs. I had best kept up my training regimen. At least that was my intention, but I froze the moment I caught sight of someone.
It was Bai Ning Xue. At some point of time, she had arrived. Even without looking closely, I could tell at first glance that she was watching Zhu Jiao. Her sapphire eyes were riveted upon him, overflowing with affection, admiration and relief.
That wasn't all.
The ice princess of Class 1-4 was actually smiling for the first time ever.