After I had finished eating dinner, the kind waitress dropped by my table again.
"Little brother, there's a banquet in the main reception hall, if you are interested."
I wasn't interested, actually, but I nodded. "I see. That sounds cool."
The waitress must have noticed my complete lack of enthusiasm, for she giggled and shook her head before flicking me in the forehead. "You really should check it out, little brother. Here's some advice from your more experienced sister. If I'm not mistaken, someone your age is only here in Xing Hao Island for one thing. You're here to enroll in one of the six martial arts universities that this island is famous for."
"Yeah, that's right." There was no use denying it. The waitress had clearly been working on this island for quite some time and met a lot of people when she was working. Most of them were prospective university students like me.
"I knew it. All the more reason you should attend the banquet." The waitress put a hand on her hip while the other continued to hold her tray and tablet. "There will be other students from the universities attending the banquet. Your seniors, in other words. You should socialize with them, make connections. They will help you when you try to get into whatever university you want."
"Oh, I see. Thanks for your advice."
Personally, I was still a bit unenthusiastic, but I appreciated the waitress's advice all the same. She was right. It couldn't hurt to check out the banquet. If anything, it would benefit me more. The seniors would be able to answer any questions I might have regarding enrollment or courses.
"Good boy." The waitress beamed and gave me a push. "Good luck."
"But can I really just attend the reception like this?" I asked nervously. "I didn't receive an invitation or anything. Do I have to pay?"
"No, you don't." The waitress waved my worries away. "It's free. And you don't need an invitation either. It's open to all university students…and prospective students. As you probably already know, the entrance examinations are spread over the next few weeks. Imperial Valley University and Ten Thousand Swords University are having theirs tomorrow, I believe. So the seniors would organize this reception as an information session for prospective students. Think of it as a recruiting drive."
"Understood." I nodded and rose to my feet. "Thank you, sister. I'll check it out then."
Honestly, it wasn't as if I had anything to do…except watch anime at night. I had already done my daily training this morning, before I was given a lift to Xing Hao Island. I could spend more time cultivating, but I bet I would just laze around and watch anime at night instead.
I couldn't help it. Even though the long-awaited second season of The King's Avatar had just ended, the new season for Spirit Fox Matchmaker had just begun. The Mu Tian City chapter, in particular.
Speaking of which, I wondered if spirit foxes and other kinds of demons existed here in Xing Hao Island. That would be pretty cool.
Following the waitress's instructions, I made my way to the huge reception hall at the back of the hotel. Even without the guidance, it was easy to find. There were plenty of young people my age mingling about, chatting as they carried glasses of wine or alcoholic beverages. And some juice because not all people liked alcoholic drinks.
Despite the waitress's advice, I found it difficult to mingle with the people around here. None of the students paid any attention to me. They were gathering in their cliques, already forming their own groups and speaking only to people they acknowledged. Sometimes a newcomer would join them, but he or she was introduced by somebody already inside the clique.
The waitress had kind intentions when she advised me to socialize, but as she hadn't actually attended these events, she didn't know how they worked in reality. Without an invitation, without anyone to formally introduce me, there was no way for me to socialize. The attendees just ignored me, paid no attention to me because I was nothing more than an insignificant pebble in their eyes. Perhaps that sounded harsh, but it was more than likely that they simply didn't notice me at all.
Why would they? I was just another regular person out of a few hundred attendees. There was nothing about me that stood out. There was no reason for them to look in my direction, not when their attention was preoccupied by those already in their cliques.
I felt as if I was wasting my time here. I sighed and drank some juice, then decided to retire for the night and watch anime in my room.
I hadn't gotten very far when I came across a commotion in the lobby. To my lack of surprise, a group of rowdy guys dressed in stylish and expensive suits were circling a couple of pretty girls.
"Lady, it's your honor that our young master takes such an interest in you!" one of the guys growled, bearing down on the prettiest girl of the bunch. She quailed, but refused to yield her ground, trying her best to stand tall and glare him down.
"My honor? Are you deluded?" she snapped. "You're just a bunch of misogynist pricks who harass women!"
"So what? My family is rich, I'm strong and handsome. I can get any women I want!" The most handsome of the guys stepped forward and seized her hand. She tried to shake his grip off, to no avail. With my Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, I could see the thick aura of qi congealing around the handsome dude's hand, strengthening his grip.
"Cang Mu, don't you dare go too far!" the girl snapped.
"Ho…? You still don't seem to understand your position." Cang Mu leaned closer. "You are to be in my bed tonight. Otherwise…"
He nodded to his cronies, who were surrounding the group of girls. They smirked and closed in, reaching out for the other girls.
"…you can guess what happens to your friends."
"You…!" the girl cried out, turning pale. Her friends whimpered and clutched each other, staring at their assailants in fear.
Why wasn't anyone interfering? I didn't understand why everyone was just standing around and pretending that nothing was happening. The other cliques continued to discuss amongst themselves loudly, more interested in their chosen universities than other people. There was a good number of people who were crowding around and watching the show, but none of them stepped in. As I approached, I caught snippets of their conversation here and there.
"Damn it, Cang Mu is pretty lucky tonight."
"Stay away, don't do anything stupid. Don't you know who Cang Mu is?"
"Isn't he the genius of the Cang Clan? He got accepted to Ten Thousand Swords University last year and is one of their top new students."
"Best not to offend him. We can't afford it."
Thus the other people present backed away, watching the show and munching on snacks instead of helping. Several of them even whipped out their smartphones to record the event, probably to upload the video onto social media.
Seriously?
Scratching my head, I sighed. Breaking to the front, I raised a hand and cleared my throat.
"Mr. Cang Mu, right? Don't you think you're going too far? The ladies don't seem to like what you're doing. If you could excuse them…"
A few people behind me gasped and quickly scampered away, not wanting to get involved. I could hear them calling me brave, reckless, crazy and several mixes of compliments and derogatory terms, but I ignored them and focused on Cang Mu. He was watching me, astonished by what he probably thought was sheer stupidity.
He rolled his eyes and glanced at his cronies.
"Get rid of this bastard. Make sure you teach him a lesson. Break all his limbs and hang him up at the front, to serve as an example."
What the fuck?
I wasn't given much time to react, though. The henchmen were already on me, one of them swinging a meaty fist toward my head. I ducked it before slamming a Soul Crushing Strike into his gut.
For a moment, he stopped, staring at me in astonishment. Then he clutched at his gut and turned very pale, blood dripping from his mouth. Falling to his knees, he groaned…before falling facedown to the ground.
"He…broke through Tie Shan's Mountain Tempering Physique?!" One of Cang Mu's other lackeys cried out in disbelief.
His second lackey tried to hit me, but I ducked under his fist and kicked his feet out underneath him. As he fell, I rammed a palm into his chin and spun him about before sending him into the other cronies, knocking them over like bowling pins.
"Oh?" Cang Mu turned to me, intrigued. Apparently, my attack had caught his attention now. "You're not bad."
I didn't reply. Cang Mu, on the other hand, arrogantly strode forward and jabbed a finger in my direction in what appeared to be the most condescending manner possible.
"Break your arm and kowtow to me three times. Then I'll consider accepting you as my subordinate."
The fuck was wrong with this fella?
"If I don't?"
"Then I'll kill you."
He raised a fist, qi gushing around his arm. I could see a huge tree materialize behind him, almost like a massive sentinel. A wood technique, huh?
Adjusting my glasses, I smirked and cocked my head to the side. Raising a hand, I beckoned him.
"Go ahead and try if you think you can."
"Hah! I gave you a chance, but it seems that you would rather drink wine as a punishment instead of as a respect!"
The guy was clearly insane. Who the fuck would break his own arm and kowtow just because the other party demanded it? If I was going to suffer such severe injuries anyway, I might as well take my chances and inflict just as much damage on my opponent as possible. Mutually assured destruction. Why should I be the only one who suffered?
Not that I cared. I could already see the punch coming at me, a titanic current of violent qi that washed over me like a hurricane. If I allowed Cang Mu to hit me with that, I would undoubtedly die.
I had no intention of allowing him to kill me, however.
Sliding to the side, using whatever footwork technique I could recall when Cheng Long demonstrated it to me, I dropped to Cang Mu's blind spot. Using Heavenly Flow and Earthly Path, I picked out the largest weak spot I could perceive and delivered a Soul Crushing Strike there.
Blood spurted from Cang Mu's mouth as he was sent hurtling into the wall, his ribcage shattered and his internal organs ruptured. The concrete broke and rained down on him. His cronies watched helplessly, scrambling over one another as they tried to dig him out.
"Boss!"
Ignoring them, I turned toward the girls.
"Best to get going. Don't worry, I think they'll be more focused on taking revenge on me than going after you now."
"I'm sorry…and thank you." The prettiest girl bowed, clenching her fists tightly. She looked up determinedly. "I'll definitely remember this debt and repay you in future!"
Then she took her friends and left the scene as quickly as possible.
I lingered for several more moments, turning to watch Cang Mu and his gang, the latter digging the former out of the rubble. Since they weren't paying any attention to me, I decided to get out of here before the authorities arrived. I wasn't afraid, though. So many people recorded the event and uploaded it to social media. There was evidence that Cang Mu was the instigator and I was only fighting back in self-defense. As long as I could point the authorities toward that evidence, I wouldn't have to worry about getting arrested or prosecuted.
Unfortunately, I was no longer in the mood to watch anime in my room tonight.