The sky was just starting to get dark and the Leisure Cloud Pub was already filled with sounds of laughter, it was almost fully occupied.
The group of ladies were like butterflies in a garden, gracefully moving from table to table, serving their customers in the pub.
Zhuo Feiyang wore a sapphire-blue garment, his face as handsome as always, a sword sheathed on his belt, just like a royal figure. He brought Bai Zhijie along with him, and they slowly stepped into the pub.
Two beautiful girls came to welcome them. Zhuo Feiyang waved them away. "Give us a good seat."
"My Lords, we are very sorry, we are out of empty seats in the lounge. The only places left are the private rooms," replied one of the girls.
"No more seats?"
"We are truly sorry... Our pub accepts reservations, you could pre-book a seat, and we will reserve it for you."
"I will have my meal here today, no matter what! Help me find a seat!"
"My Lord, we treat every one of our customers with the utmost hospitality, we are really sorry..."
"Pa!" Zhuo Feiyang slapped the girl's face out of the blue.
The girl covered her face in pain and looked at Zhuo Feiyang in shock.
Because the pub was under the Yi Public House's custody, no one had dared to cause them trouble, not even a single quarrel, lest to say a fist fight. She did not expect that the handsome man in front of her would dare to hit her like that.
"Now we have a seat, don't we?" Zhuo Feiyang smirked.
His action drew a lot of attention. Everyone in the pub creased their brows and looked over at Zhuo Feiyang, but none of them chipped in to deliver justice. In fact, they were only interested in the drama. They were intrigued by this person's courage to stir trouble even though the pub was opened under the name and jurisdiction of the Yi Public House. Now that was something special to witness!
"Senior Zhuo! What do you think you're doing?!" Zhao Ying rushed to the front and stared fiercely at him.
Her look was stone cold, she had not expected Zhuo Feiyang to be this rude and ill-mannered. He had hit a girl, this was against the law of every single rulebook, he must have been out of his mind!
Zhuo Feiyang calmly replied, "Sister Zhao, you're here again!"
"Why did you hit her?!" Zhao Ying locked her eyebrows, and started chiding him, "The girls didn't learn martial arts, how could you hit them like that?"
"I don't care if they didn't learn it, in my eyes, they are mere servants of Chu Li!"
"This is irrational!" Zhao Ying pointed her finger at him accusingly. "The beef between you and Senior Chu is a personal matter of your own, why would you involve these girls?"
Zhuo Feiyang scoffed back at her, "He's nothing but a coward, so I'm forced to act this way!"
"Senior Zhuo, senior Chu did not accept your challenge because he was afraid of hurting you. Did you really think that you could have defeated him?!" Zhao Ying said mockingly.
Zhuo Feiyang smiled coldly. "It seems that you look up to him a lot, sister Zhao!"
"Senior Zhuo, there are so many things to do in the outside world, countless bad guys to catch, yet your eyes are set on a tiny matter of a fall-out?" Zhao Ying sighed helplessly. "A big man like yourself should think of how to contribute towards society and do good, not seeking vengeance day and night. Brother Zhuo, let it go!"
The words sounded harsh and condescending to his ears. Zhuo Feiyang sneered in reply, "What is this nonsense about contributions and stuff? I only want to settle a score!"
"Sigh..." Zhao Ying shook her head, seemingly disappointed with his behavior.
"Tell that Chu Li to come and find me, tell him to accept my challenge invitation!" Zhuo Feiyang turned and walked away.
Zhao Ying gave him a final stare and walked towards the girl who was hit. "Sister Chen, are you alright?"
The girl's name was Chen Ying. She had a beautiful face, her complexion fair and her facial features were elegant. She did things responsibly, and she was a smart and effective worker, hence she was tasked to welcome the guests.
Chen Ying massaged her face and smiled as if nothing had happened. "It's just a slap, nothing I couldn't handle, sister Zhao, please don't tell Master Chu about this!"
Zhao Ying hurriedly replied, "No, of course, we must tell him!"
Chen Ying shook her head and sighed. "Don't do it!.... This is nothing, just a slap, it's really not worth bringing it up. If you told him about this, their feud would certainly intensify. If anything bad happens, as a result, I will be at fault!"
Zhao Ying looked at her, seemingly confused.
Chen Ying smiled back at her. "Really, I'm fine."
Zhao Ying hesitated for a second, she needed to think it through.
But she was completely disappointed with Zhuo Feiyang. Zhao Ying had not realized that he was such an awful person who dared to hit a girl that was defenseless!
When Chu Li returned to the East Garden, it was already dusk.
He had spent his whole day cultivating the Sentient Menace skill move, and his body ached all over. The feeling of the steel baton hitting on his own flesh was not a memorable one at all. Recently, one of the Pearl Beauty trees had become ill and required extra care. If he did not return, Li Yue Li would be very worried that he would not be able to sleep or eat properly.
The waning sunlight washed over the lake, the breeze blew past, and the lake water moved slightly in a reddish hue.
Chu Li descended from the boat and walked inland. When he entered the small courtyard the first thing he saw was Zhao Ying. She was seated at a table alongside Li Yue Li, and they were in a deep discussion about something. Once the two saw him entering the place, they stopped talking.
Chu Li smiled at them, and asked, "Why, talking bad about me?"
"Brother, why have you stopped going to the pub lately?" Zhao Ying asked. She was wearing a turquoise green dress, and it highlighted the fairness of her complexion, she looked stunning.
Chu Li smiled. "Don't I have you there? I am not a tiny bit worried with you handling the business there!"
Zhao Ying looked to be guilty, and she sighed.
Li Yue spoke, "Brother, Zhuo Feiyang couldn't let it go, he delivered another challenge invitation at the pub. This time, he raised the stakes to ten thousand taels!"
As he spoke, he handed over the crimson red invitation letter to Chu Li.
"Ten thousand taels?" Chu Li raised an eyebrow and then grinned. "Looks like he's not going to stop until he gets to battle me. What a giant sum that is!"
"Don't tell me you're going to accept it?" Li Yue quickly stopped him. "It's ten thousand taels, he must be really confident about it!"
Chu Li laughed.
Zhao Ying sighed. "Brother, it's not as though you need the money!"
Chu Li smiled and said, "Who said so? Money... this kind of stuff, the more the merrier!"
"You could even find yourself such a beautiful assistant, what else do you lack?" Zhao Ying glared at him.
She had never met this beautiful assistant before, but according to people, the girl was gorgeous and was an ice-cold beauty, the kind that would be irresistible and envied by every other man. They said that if cutting their lives short by twenty years was the price to pay to get her, they would do it for sure!
Chu Li pretended not to hear it and dropped the topic immediately. "It looks like Zhuo Feiyang is ready to take my life, hmmm, alright then, I will accept this challenge. Zhuo Feiyang has become smarter, why even bother using all those little dirty tricks earlier? He should have instantly thrown out this huge sum of taels instead, I would gladly have accepted it!"
"Brother-----------!" Zhao Ying widened her eyes.
Chu Li smiled. "Sister, cultivating martial arts is extremely expensive. Just think about it, how much does it cost to buy an Energy Boosting Pill?"
"Only ten taels."
"That's only for stores on the inside of the Public House, what about on the outside?"
"You'll need twenty taels."
"Besides the Energy Boosting Pill, we have the Pill of Enhancement, and the Violet Chi Pill too. In short, as a Protector, it's important that we always have these pills on us!"
"Still, it wouldn't cost us ten thousand taels!"
Chu Li shook his head. "Sigh, you… wait till you go outside and explore the martial arts world, do you even know how much a good sword costs?"
"A hundred taels?"
"That would only buy you a typical sword. If you want one with better quality, a thousand taels. If we're talking a premium grade sword, ten thousand taels, or even more!"
"There's no need for a sword of such high quality, right?"
Chu Li laughed. "You for one should know the importance of a good sword. It determines life or death. Don't tell me you feel that a life doesn't cost ten thousand taels?"
Zhao Ying stuttered for a bit, then she stopped talking.
She as a swordswoman understands the importance of a good sword too.
Chu Li said, "Then I guess it's set, I'm going to accept this challenge. But I have one condition, it must take place at the Martial Arts Hall!"
"Haih..." Zhao Ying sighed.
"Plus, he was daring enough to hit my people at the Leisure Cloud Pub, how can I not take any action?" Chu Li scoffed.
Zhao Ying stared at him intently. "Now that's the real reason why, isn't it?!"
Chu Li shook his head. "Zhuo Feiyang has lost his mind. If I don't battle with him, I don't know what else he will do next. This is a problem that I need to solve sooner or later!"
At the training ground in front of the Martial Arts Hall, there was a crowd, but the atmosphere was deadly silent.
In the middle of the training ground stood two men, they were Zhuo Feiyang and Chu Li.
The youth champion, Zhuo Feiyang had challenged the Imperial guard, Chu Li. Although Chu Li was still young, he had already achieved Rank 6, and was a top guard amongst the Imperial fleet. At such a tender age, it was much harder to achieve Rank 6 as a Scribe, in comparison to a Protector.
Bai Zhijie, Zhao Ying, and Li Yue were all present too, standing amongst the crowd. They too were watching those two men intently.
It was a pleasant morning, about 9 o'clock. The sunlight was mild, and everything around was bright and clear. The breeze from the lake blew past the crowd and gently caressed their skin.
Chu Li was enjoying the breeze, and a smile etched out on his face. The images of every single willow tree on the island appeared in his mind all at once, his aura was turbulent. It was as if the massive amount of energy was ever ready to be summoned into action by him.
"This Scribe, Chu, does he know martial arts?"
"Nonsense. If he doesn't, why would Zhuo Feiyang even bother challenging him?"
"But he doesn't look like one."
Indeed. Chu Li really didn't look like one. His eyes were not gleaming with energy, and his limbs looked feeble, just like an average person. Could it be that the two of them have some sort of a feud, and Zhuo Feiyang challenged him to release his anger?
"Then why would the Scribe accept it, isn't that an act of seeking his own death?"
"Could be that he was forced, right?"
"I heard about it. The Scribe Chu Li started a new pub, called the Leisure Cloud Pub. Their business was good, but Zhuo Feiyang went over and made a mess, what's more, he even hit someone. Do you think he could bear with it?"
"Zhuo Feiyang's actions were just too much!"
"Who said it wasn't, but nobody dared to stop him, so Zhuo Feiyang took matters into his own hands."
"Sigh..., I've already experienced enough to know how this world works. Whoever has a bigger prowess in martial arts, gets the final say. I think it's best we take our martial arts practices more seriously from now on!"
"That's right, only those who are strong in martial arts can do as they please. If you're not strong enough, you better keep quiet and move along!"
The crowd was busy exchanging comments, and they all sympathized with Chu Li.
A Rank 6 Scribe could be considered a moderately high ranking among the governing ranks, and even held certain powers. But when facing a challenge, it still depended on the aptitude of one's martial arts skill. In this world, martial arts was number one.
This fact made many solidify their decision of being a Protector. Many sought after the great power of practicing martial arts.
Chu Li coughed lightly and looked at Zhuo Feiyang. Zhuo Feiyang stared at him fiercely, as if he was ready to tear his lungs out at any given moment.
"Zhuo Feiyang, you really want to bet on ten thousand taels?" I know you're rich, but it's not like you have a lot of ten thousand taels either!" said Chu Li.
"If you're thinking of bailing, it's too late now!" Zhuo Feiyang smirked.
Chu Li shook his head in response. "No, I'm only worried that you will live to regret it!"
"Chu Li, enough talking! It won't be long before you'll be the one weeping!"
"I hope you won't cry when you lose!" replied Chu Li.
"Hmph!" Zhuo Feiyang turned his head, his hand gripping hard on the sword handle. He closed his eyes and stopped making eye contact with his opponent.
Chu Li smiled and indulged in the beauty of mother nature. He felt connected to the flora around him. Eh? There's Torso Refiner herb here too? He could sense that there were some growing in the bushes just outside the training ground.
There was Dragon Fruit too, which were also a kind of magical medicine. It could be consumed together with the Ground Dragon Grass and would increase the flexibility of one's limbs. It was a shame that the effects were not that potent. It would be incredibly useful for an average person, but would not really affect those who practiced martial arts.
Suddenly, the crowd parted. Two old men slowly walked through them. Both of them held their fists together and greeted the visitors.
One was tall and plump, while the other short and skinny. They formed a stark contrast between them.
The tall man looked to be in all smiles, but the short man had on a straight face, and his sight was as cold as ice. He glanced across the crowd, and it felt as though a blade had just sliced through everyone present.
The two men were elders of the Martial Arts Hall. This time they were here to be eyewitnesses as to who would win or lose. A proper battle would be like this, the last time Chu Li and Zhuo Feiyang battled, they had not set proper regulations, which was why Zhuo Feiyang would not admit to his defeat.
Chu Li held his fist together and greeted them, "Elder Zhu, Elder Ho, I'm honored to have you here!"
The tall one grinned and said, "There's something to watch, and I am keen to observe!"
The short one replied in a low voice, "Where are the bank notes?"
Zhuo Feiyang took out the bank notes and handed them over to the tall man. He counted them, then smiled. "Just right, exactly ten thousand taels. These are from the Qin Ho Bank. Great, both of you may begin now!"
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