The moment these words came out from Sun Zhengpin's mouth, the crowd turned to look at where his sword was pointing.
Everyone was looking at Zhou Heng.
Even Wang Qingqing on the higher platform, Sun Zhengfeng in the teahouse loft a distance away, and the masked woman on top of the roof of the loft all looked at him.
What would he do in the face of such provocation?
At that time, Zhou Heng was frozen at his place, as if he had not heard a word from Sun Zhengpin and remained silent.
In fact, he was digesting his gains just now.
"You're watching Sun Zhengpin's attack by applying Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. The level of proficiency increased by 1."
"You're watching Sun Zhengpin's attack by applying Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. The level of proficiency increased by 1."
"You continue watching the real life application of Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords, you've gained insights from it and got more familiar with it. The level of proficiency increased by 10."
"You continue watching the real life application of Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords, you've gained insights from it and got more familiar with it. The level of proficiency increased by 10."
"You've gained deeper insights regarding sword technique and sword theory. The level of proficiency for Solo Nine Swords—Broken Sword Style increased by three."
Zhou Heng was a little stunned when he first received the notifications.
So, it was possible to receive it this way too?
Sun Zhengpin had already achieved perfection for his Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. As such, the teaching from real-life combat could further increase Zhou Heng's level of proficiency.
Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. High Level: 1120/3000.
It was almost halfway there!
That was amazing!
'This must be the effect of my superior talent and comprehension!'
"Zhou Heng! Zhou Heng!" Yu He saw that he was unresponsive, so he quickly poked him, lowered his voice and said, "Sun Zhengpin's calling you. Everyone's looking at you. Why don't… I think we better sneak out while we can."
From Yu He's point of view, Sun Zhengpin had already possessed the power of a ninth-class martial artist. With that, Zhou Heng was definitely no match for him. So, instead of making himself a fool in the ring, they might as well sneak out now.
Although Zhou Heng had prevailed against Lin Cang previously, everyone could see that Zhou Heng had actually taken advantage of Lin Cang when he was unprepared. At the same time, he had coincidentally acquired the skills of Eighteen Divine Power Styles. As such, his victory was a fluke.
Moreover, that was only an assessment competition between a practitioner and apprentice. It was totally different from a real ring match.
After being poked by Yu He, Zhou Heng came back to his senses and replied subconsciously, "Huh? Snack? What snack? Fatty intestines snacks?"
He was a little hungry.
The crowd instantly burst into laughter.
"Hurry up! It's not too late to sneak out now!"
"That's right. There's nothing to be ashamed of if an apprentice cannot win against a ninth-class. Let's go."
"I heard that Sun Zhengpin is very ruthless. Run for your life."
No one would blame Zhou Heng if he backed out now.
After all, it was perfectly normal for an apprentice to falter against a ninth-class martial artist. This was due to their differences in physical strengths, power, and skills.
Even if any apprentices actually won against normal ninth-class martial artists, those were only found in great martial arts schools in the county or hailed from the great clans and families whose names were well-known across the world.
It was highly unlikely for someone like that to appear in a small place like Yellow Wood City.
As for the rumors heard previously, those could be taken as empty rumors for amusement.
Most of the people who were present today were only here for fun. Not many of them really thought that Zhou Heng could actually prevail against a ninth-class martial artist.
Just then, Zhou Heng finally noticed Sun Zhengpin was shouting in the ring. He rushed up to the ring in slight embarrassment, waved his hand, and smiled as he said, "I'm sorry, I just got lost in thought. You can invite me again by using more polite words. I don't really like the words 'Get up here'."
"You!" Sun Zhengpin's face instantly turned into a putrid shade of red in his anger.
He trembled. If Zhou Heng had really embarrassed him by not coming up to the ring in front of the public, he would have become a clown and made a fool of himself by clamoring for someone who did not spare him a second glance.
If so, how would Ms. Qingqing think of him?
Sun Zhengpin thought about it for a while. He gritted his teeth, stared at Zhou Heng, lowered his voice and said, "Come here!"
"Didn't I ask you to invite me?" Zhou Heng sniggered casually.
"Zhou Heng, aren't you sneaking out?" Yu He was nervous.
"I'm confident that I can win against him." Zhou Heng lowered his voice and said with a smile.
If Sun Zhengpin were to fight with a saber, staff, or even with his fists or legs, he did not have that confidence to win against him. But now, he was applying a ninth-class sword technique, a sword technique he was familiar with too. As such, he was no longer that scared.
Instead, he was looking forward to being rewarded with a Lucky Bag after defeating Sun Zhengpin.
During the competition with Lin Cang previously, he could still vividly remember the reward of the Lucky Bag.
Lucky Bags were good stuff!
Sun Zhengpin was so enraged by Zhou Heng's attitude until the veins on his forehead bulged. He took a deep breath and enunciated each word clearly, "Please come here!"
At the teahouse loft located a distance away, Sun Zhengfeng's expression was dark with anger, and he cussed to himself, "This idiot is indeed a disgrace! He must have been spellbound by the bewitching spell cast by that woman!
"I can't let him go on like this!"
In his opinion, since Sun Zhengpin had already showcased the power of a ninth-class martial artist, regardless of how he managed to achieve it, Zhou Heng could never defeat him.
As such, his original plan of letting Zhou Heng defeat Sun Zhengpin so as to crush his confidence and make him give up on the pursuit of Wang Qingqing had failed…
If anything, it would only bring disgrace to the Sun family.
After all, a ninth-class martial artist defeating an apprentice in an open competition was not something to boast about. On the contrary, if the apprentice actually persevered and managed a counterattack, that would be a real disgrace.
As such, he must stop that from happening!
Sun Zhengfeng immediately leaped from the loft, which was more than thirty feet from the ground.
He first landed on the eaves, then on the high wall next to it.
A few long strides brought him to a wall not far from the ring.
"Zhengpin, why are you fooling around here? Come home with me now!"
Sun Zhengfeng scolded him loudly and pretended to be a brother who was unaware of the whole situation and had only just seen his younger brother causing trouble outside.
The crowd's eyes were once again focused on these two.
Seeing this, Yu He hurriedly poked Zhou Heng, lowered his voice and said, "Now's the chance. Hurry up, we're sneaking out now,"
Zhou Heng shook his head and said, "I'm not sneaking out. I want to enjoy a good show."
"Why are you here?" Sun Zhengpin immediately refuted.
"If I'm not here, you're going to end up causing major trouble!" Sun Zhengfeng summoned strength with his feet and instantly jumped like a kite from the wall to the ring located thirty to forty feet away. He stood facing Sun Zhengpin and said, "Follow me back home now!"
"How ridiculous!" Sun Zhengpin simply snorted and without explaining himself, he suddenly thrust the longsword in his hand forward. The sword rain immediately exploded, and all of them shot in Sun Zhengfeng's direction.
He had actually attacked his own brother! Moreover, each move was ruthless, and all of them were deadly strokes.
Sun Zhengfeng never expected his younger brother to be that ruthless. He hastily drew his sword in response. But he had been slow to respond and was quickly knocked back in a panic.
Furthermore, the force exerted from Sun Zhengpin's sword was surprisingly tremendous. The dense sword rain which he barely managed to defuse had come like a raging wave!
After resisting the first attack, he felt his purlicue stinging and his arm trembling.
Sun Zhengfeng looked at him in disbelief, he was extremely shocked. 'How can he be that strong? Yesterday, he was still an unranked martial artist. What happened to him within a night?'
Clank!
Suddenly, there was a trembling sound of gold and iron from the strike, and the longsword from Sun Zhengfeng's hand was simply blown away.
Next, Sun Zhengpin slashed across Sun Zhengfeng's left wrist with his longsword, drawing blood.
At the same time, he dashed forward and a kick landed on Sun Zhengfeng's chest. His brother vomited blood and was thrown backward, falling from the ring.
"Now, you're no longer worthy to talk to me like this!" Sun Zhengpin withdrew his sword and laughed coldly.
"Hiss…"
His coldness sent shivers down to everyone's spines.
All of them were dumbfounded.
The people standing at the front row looked at Sun Zhengfeng, who was lying on the ground, twitching and spitting blood. They could not help but shiver.
What the heck!
That was ruthless!
He was a well-known ninth-class martial artist in Yellow Wood City, and he was crippled just like that?
How could Sun Zhengpin be so cruel to his own brother?!
He must have gone mad!
Also, his power was unbelievably strong!
Zhou Heng was simply no match for him!
"Oh, God! Zhou Heng, hurry up! Let's get out of here! That guy is a savage!" Yu He was intimidated by that scene. He prepared to poke Zhou Heng again who was supposedly by his side, only to realize that he was poking at air.
Just then, there was a sudden burst of excitement from his surroundings.
Yu He got a shock. He turned his head and looked up. He was stupefied. He widened his eyes and looked ghastly pale. "Oh, my God! Zhou Heng, why did you go up there?!"
Unbeknownst to him, Zhou Heng had already ascended to the ring.
He stood at the place where Sun Zhengfeng had been standing.
Zhou Heng drew a steel saber from a weapon rack located not far away from him in a casual manner. He tested the weight of the weapon, turned his body, and lifted the saber with its tip pointed toward Sun Zhengpin. He smiled faintly and said, "Get over here."