Chapter 91: Compensation for Inflicting Trauma

Facing the stupefied gaze of the mass, Shen remained unperturbed. With calmness overtaking his other expressions he waited for his next opponent, or opponents, leaving the crowd in daze whether they were dreaming or not.

The seemingly young man who seemed like a helpless chick below the butcher's knife instantly turned into an impenetrable tower which people can only look up to. Below his feet were dozens of cultivators who rushed at him this time.

His first round gave everyone an impression that he barely won and had to pay a certain price to exert such an astonishing strength but seeing the spectacle before their eyes, they immediately understood what was ‘playing pig to eat the tiger’ means.

With minimal efforts he blasted his opponents outside of the ring or made them faint on the spot. Simply describing the process of ‘slapping the flies away’.

Now the remaining number of participants could be counted by the fingers of a single hand. But they were all talented individuals of their respected origins. Shen counted again and found the number to be lower than his initial thought. There were only three participants, four including Wenren Wushuang who briskly appeared unbeknownst to him.

The shocked elder briefly thought about what to do before ordering a disciple to clean the ring, who was equally if not more shocked than the elder himself. The poor disciple had his whole view of the world changed and finally understood what it truly means to be a frog in the well. This thought didn’t appear only on the dumbstruck disciple’s head but almost everyone at present had the same thought.

Shen glanced at the three participants meaningfully. None of them looked afraid as if they knew no fear. After the ring was cleared the only single female cultivator, excluding Wenren Wushuang, jumped on the ring.

Shen recognized this girl. She was the same cultivator who displayed extraordinary skill in movements and sword techniques but he didn’t know her name since he didn’t take notice of the battle beforehand.

“Leng Youlan, Earthen Peak City.”

Noticing Shen’s questioning gaze the girl, Long Youlan, knew he didn’t remember her and introduced herself once again. And as a girl, she didn’t reveal her age but such an occurrence was common. Even during a tournament, the girls ignored the rules of stating their age. Even so it didn’t mean she was above 22 years old. From Shen’s perspective, the girl was only 18-20 years old. With a sharp pair of eyes and straight nose coupled with her graceful figure, she represented the slim sword on her hand itself.

“Earthen Peak City?” Shen reminisced a bit.

Earthen Peak City, it was the second lowest city among the nine cities. He visited this city a few times to investigate the unusual Earthen Peak Mountain situated near the city but after countless tries, he met with failure.

“You can come at me whenever you’re ready.”

Leng Yulan didn’t seem to waste any more time either and swiftly rushed at him. Suddenly her approaching figure disappeared and Shen felt a cold feeling directing at his shoulder from behind. It might be because of her strange martial arts, even he failed to perceive her for a second. Still, was it so easy to injure a Martial King?

Shen leaned his shoulder sideways and immediately sent a powerful palm attack towards her stomach. Leng Yulan hurriedly placed the sword before to block the palm but she was sent ten meters backward from the force, flying.

A visible frown appeared on Leng Yulan’s face, expressing her frustration. She didn’t think her attack would be avoided so easily let alone also counter attack so skillfully. A visible trail of blood leaked out from a corner of her mouth.

“Oh~ that’s a good sword.” Shen lightly commented. Although in this competition he didn’t use strength higher than a normal Houtian cultivator, the force behind that palm attack was by no means low either yet the sword looked completely fine.

The next action, however, surprised Shen in a different way. Leng Yulan performed another martial salute and unwillingly said, “Brother Shen is truly unfathomable, I’ve realized how lacking I am.”

Leng Yulan smiled wryly and left the ring. Her actions caused Shen to frown. The little amount of goodwill he had towards her also disappeared. They were not fighting any life-to-death battle where one side would die. It was merely an exchange of pointers. As for the internal injury she received it was nothing that will hinder her from the battle.

“Hey, if you are afraid of getting hurt you will never pass through the boundary.”

Leng Yulan froze on her steps, her expression unreadable. After pausing for a few moments she lightly nodded and stood in a corner.

Shen’s next opponents were the two remaining men, who seemed to be brothers but was also defeated swiftly. His next opponent and also the last, Wenren Wushuang and him exchanged moves for ten rounds. Of course, he never liked the idea of hurting his women and was on defensive the whole time.

Wenren Wushuang seemed to caught onto his intention and pestered him until he was about to flare up. But still, she managed to limit her strength below the Xiantian realm. So with a happy expression she left the ring.

While Song Yamu started saying something Shen’s attention was caught by something entirely. No, it was not Leng Yulan neither the priceless expressions of the Yang and Gongyang Family Patriarch. It was the direction of the Hundred Miles City’s City Lord.

The last time Shen checked before his first round, he only found the city lord Shi Dingtian but after he was done. He found a new face. No, not one but two.

It was Shi Qingzhuang whom he was searching for a while now. With a little pout on her cold face, she looked extremely adorable. She directly gazed into his eyes as if to see through him. And by her side he found Lingshuang. Only now did he realize he didn’t see her after last night.

Shen scratched the side of his neck awkwardly. Although he searched for her after arriving, it was certainly true that they had yet to meet and Shi Qingzhuang had all rights to be mad. Fortunately or not she looked only dissatisfied and not angry which shouldn’t be hard to handle...

At this time the judge of the competition declared Shen as the victor and another round will start now to decide the second and third position. Shen grandly made his way out of the ring. Only then did he get the chance to appreciate the priceless expressions of the Yang and Gongyang family.

They lost greatly this time. Not only their city’s resource has been taken, but their descendants were also harmed greatly this time and they didn’t even count the loss of their face. Without further information, they didn’t dare to harm him. In fact they were deeply afraid of his possibly extraordinary background. Although he showed the strength of a peak Houtian, they were suspecting him to be a Xiantian.

One Protector from each of their family was injured last night but they couldn’t be sure who attacked them since the attacker was extremely fast. Either way, they expected it to be the young man’s guard since he shouldn’t be a monster to reach the middle of the Xiantian realm.

With this, they decided to lay low and not fan the flames to bring their own destruction. It was the sincere thought of both Patriarchs but Gongyang family patriarch was already flaring in anger. His son was brutally wounded and needed at least one year to heal even with the full support of a well-known Alchemist. It was only Yang Chao, Yang family patriarch’s threat and manipulation of words calmed him down.

As they were thinking how great their decision was to maintain coolness even after such audacity against their family. Shen approached the stage while smirking evilly. Both patriarch visibly tensed and looked at their surrounding. Searching for any kind of presence which could possibly threaten them.

Contrary to their expectation and happiness Shen didn’t even spare them any glance and such an act was not insult but a heavenly gift to them. Politely greeting Hundred Miles City’s City Lord, Shen turned to Shi Qingzhuang causing a deep blush to spread on the latter's cheek.

Shi Dingtian sighed. His granddaughter was cold and aloof to everyone even including her own family but whenever Shen was around she turned meek and gentle, much like a virtuous wife. He saw it many times but even now her sudden transformation surprises him greatly.

Shi Qingzhuang turned to her grandfather as if to seek his permission... If she makes a face like that what did he have to say? He could only helplessly nod, “Go. You were already waiting for him for a month now, hahaha.”

Shi Qingzhuang’s blush deepened as she panicked after her grandfather revealed her secret in front of the public, no less in front of the person she loves... this was totally attacking her frail heart!

Mustering the little strength she had in her legs, she left her seat and walked past him. Shen glared at Lingshuang and dragged her with him. As if he remembered something Shen stopped and turned to the Yang and Gongyang family Patriarchs. Prior to this he never met them nor knew their faces but the hostility he felt in the morning and their current expression told him all.

Flashing a warm smile as if he was talking with his friend Shen spoke, “Greetings Yang family Patriarch, Gongyang family Patriarch. I hope you have already prepared compensation for all the troubles you have caused us.” Suddenly his face became despondent. “My sister here suffered a huge trauma last night. She should have been fighting against me on the ring but here she is, watching from afar, not even daring to go close. You will surely pay for this, right?”

Both Patriarchs currently had a single but similar thought, how the hell is she suffering from TRAUMA?! The said person who was supposedly suffering trauma was giggling by Shen’s side but what could they do? They could only swallow it down. Like receiving their elder’s order they respectfully nodded.

Satisfied Shen was about to leave but an old voice of a woman interrupted him, “Young man, do you have grievances with the said family?”

Shen turned to the voice only to find the old woman who was with Yu He. Cupping his fists he tactfully responded, “Hmm, I won’t say grievance. It’s more like misunderstanding,” glancing towards the said patriarchs Shen continued, “isn’t that right?”

Yang Chao frantically nodded his head, “Yes, yes. Little brother is absolutely right.” Inwardly he cursed why this old bone for intervening in this matter. Her background was no joke. Even the whole Heavenly River City won’t dare to offend her, let alone creating a problem.

The old woman nodded in understanding and again continued her discussion with Yu He. They seemed to discuss something important so Shen decided to leave them without disrupting their conversation.