Chapter 40: Revenge
Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Revenge
"Fang Chen, I brought you breakfast. You haven’t eaten yet, right?"
"Fang Chen, I was wondering if I could ask for your advice on a Leg Technique?"
"Fang Chen, your jacket in the classroom looked a bit dirty, so I washed it for you. I’ll bring it back tomorrow."
...
Fang Chen looked at the breakfast, drinks, and various small gifts piled high on his desk. Listening to the endless, overly eager greetings ringing in his ears, he felt a massive headache coming on.
"History really does repeat itself," he muttered under his breath, rubbing his temples in exasperation.
Ever since he completely crippled the Nine Celestial Kings of the Seventh Congress the day before yesterday, Fang Chen’s reputation had exploded across the school. From freshmen to juniors, he had practically become a legend and an idol in the eyes of all the students, especially the underclassmen.
The boys tried to butter him up by asking for advice on Cultivation Technique problems. The girls were even more direct and passionate. They brought him breakfast, washed his clothes, and showered him with affection. They practically had "please date me" written across their faces.
Fang Chen sighed inwardly. "I originally came to the Seventh Congress just for some peace and quiet, intending to quietly coast through this last month. Now look what happened. It’s even rowdier than at the Three Greats."
This familiar scene couldn’t help but remind him of Xia Chu. He remembered back in his freshman year, not long after Xia Chu enrolled, she was targeted by a few senior students because of her outstanding looks. Those guys surrounded her every day. They used every trick in the book—openly and covertly, playing good cop and bad cop—all to force her to submit.
At first, Fang Chen didn’t notice, nor did he want to be a busybody. However, one afternoon in the cafeteria, he had finally saved up enough money over three days to treat himself to a portion of braised pork. Just as he was about to dig in, a junior Martial Artist publicly knelt and confessed his love to Xia Chu, drawing a massive crowd of cheering onlookers. When Xia Chu explicitly rejected him, the guy flew into a humiliating rage and shoved her away!
The direction Xia Chu was pushed just so happened to be right where Fang Chen was sitting and eating.
"CRASH!"
His tray was knocked over. That bowl of braised pork he had been craving, along with a pile of rice and vegetables, spilled all over the floor, splashing sauce all over him. Fang Chen stared at the puddle of glistening, aromatic, but completely inedible braised pork on the floor. Then, he looked at his ruined clothes. A burst of furious anger instantly rushed to his head.
"Damn it! My meat!!!"
In a fit of rage, Fang Chen mercilessly beat up that junior Martial Artist right on the spot, along with a few of the most vocal lackeys cheering him on.
From that day on, he became completely famous across the Three Greats. After that incident, the upper-year Martial Artists felt they had lost face and constantly came looking for trouble, wanting to teach him a lesson. At that time, Fang Chen had just broken through to the True Martial Realm and lacked combat experience. He suffered quite a bit at first and was often covered in injuries.
But the more he fought, the more he learned. His strength rapidly improved with every real combat encounter. Eventually, no one in the entire upper class of the Three Greats dared to challenge him. The rampant bullying in the school was completely swept away, and Fang Chen invisibly became the tacit enforcer of order within the Three Greats. Some even said that the Three Greats was Fang Chen’s absolute domain.
Next came Xia Chu’s year-long romantic pursuit of him. Just like the girls surrounding him today, she brought him breakfast every day, secretly washed, folded, and returned his dirty training clothes, occasionally pretended to ask questions about Martial Skills, and even quietly paid some of his miscellaneous school fees for him...
Finally, by their sophomore year, after explicitly rejecting her multiple times to no avail, Fang Chen looked into Xia Chu’s persistent and slightly aggrieved eyes. He ultimately caved, softening his heart and tacitly agreeing to this youthful romance. However, he had clearly told Xia Chu beforehand, "This is just a brief companionship on campus. We’ll break up after graduation, go our separate ways, and naturally part. Don’t cry when the time comes."
He still remembered how Xia Chu had raised her chin, replying with a hint of pride and defiance. "Tch! It’s not certain who will be crying! Once we graduate, you might not even be able to find me if you try!"
Recalling these past events, a faint, almost imperceptible smile unconsciously touched the corners of Fang Chen’s lips.
"Hey, Fang!" His desk mate Hu Jiasen’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Leaning closer, he lowered his voice with a mysterious expression. "I heard that Cao Xu and the others still aren’t backing down. They’re going to hire someone to... to retaliate against you."
Hearing this, Fang Chen didn’t even bother to bat an eyelid. His tone was indifferent. "Retaliate? A bunch of ants who couldn’t even scrape together a five-hundred-thousand registration fee, and who now have their cultivation completely crippled? Why should I be afraid of them? Let them come."
He wasn’t worried in the slightest that the other party would lash out in desperation and target his family in Li Family Village. Who could a group of cripples possibly beat anyway? Although Li Family Village wasn’t a major place, it was still guarded by several True Martial Realm Martial Artists.
Besides, wasn’t Fang Chen well aware of the law enforcement standards in the Zhao Kingdom? If it was a personal grudge, the involved parties could fight it out and clean up their own messes. But if anyone dared to retaliate against another’s family members over it, the police would absolutely not sit idly by. How many mass brawls between villages in the past had started because one side retaliated against the other’s family, only for the situation to escalate repeatedly into full-scale village warfare? Therefore, while the Zhao Kingdom’s public security wasn’t overly strict, it still had its bottom lines. And that bottom line was the strict prevention of large-scale, mass violent incidents.
Fang Chen had no fear of this whatsoever, not even bothering to waste his Heart Spirit on the matter.
Right now, he was in an excellent mood. With a slight shift in thought, he quietly summoned the Spirit Core within his body. His consciousness sank into the status panel, gazing at his Superpower.
It clearly displayed: [Uses Remaining: 3].
A flash of pleasant surprise crossed Fang Chen’s eyes.
"It seems that if I don’t use Time Stop for a day, the number of uses can accumulate!
"I’ll save it for the most critical moments from now on.
"When challenging a formidable enemy whose strength far exceeds my own, or when I’m heavily injured and pushed to the brink, I can completely enter the Time Stop Domain multiple times. I can slowly heal my injuries inside, recover to my peak state, and then go back out to continue fighting!
"It’s practically an Undying Body. Tsk tsk."
...
North of the city, Wutong Lane.
Cao Xu and the other eight, every one of them injured, gathered outside a courtyard gate. Some leaned on crutches; others sat in wheelchairs.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Wang Lu still had unhealed bruises on her face. Her voice was slightly weak due to her injuries, but the hatred in her eyes hadn’t diminished in the slightest. "Cao Xu, the expert you mentioned lives in a place like this?"
Cao Xu, with one arm in a sling and leaning on a crutch with his uninjured hand, nodded affirmatively. "Naturally. He used to be from the village next to ours. I hung out with him when we were kids. He took me under his wing and taught me quite a few tricks for actual combat. He stepped into the True Martial Realm a long time ago. Now, he’s an expert at the Late Stage of True Martial Realm!"
He paused, a hint of pride by association showing on his face as he lowered his voice. "Moreover, he’s a registered fighter at the Geta Club in Golden Lane!
"His codename—Tianlang!"