"BASTARD!" Wu Liang's scream echoed through the entire district, causing everyone to turn towards the fool who would yell that.
Wu Liang took his greatsword out but immediately felt a threatening presence from the old man at the desk as if threatening him to move. This allowed Wu Liang to slap out of his blind rage.
Although arrogant, he wasn't stupid, and easily realized fighting here would have dire consequences. And if what that fired guard said is true, this man is hiding his cultivation.
Yulong simply regarded Wu Liang as a pest. If he didn't take care of the small fry now, they would become problematic later on.
"You, Ao Bing! I call for a duel tomorrow morning! You can't decline!" Wu Liang said, smiling. Of course, he wasn't going to fight Yulong, he had a plan.
Xia Bi watched this turn of events calmly, while the people around her started grinning.
"Hah! Wu Liang, you just couldn't wait to fight this dude, huh?"
"I hope your ass doesn't get kicked or Xia Bi will reject you!"
"I'll happily go against this dude!"
Yulong simply observed, deciding the best course of action. "I will fight you," Yulong said to Wu Liang, as a golden symbol appeared on his palm, as the same for Wu Liang.
"You think you're all high and mighty! I'll show you-" Wu Liang began to say, but Yulong was already off, heading to a restaurant to finally eat some good food with his newfound money.
"What an interesting person, completely ignoring me like that... You've got some nerve, Ao Bing!" Xia Bi said internally.
...
'Ah, crud. Let's get this over with.' Yulong said. It was almost morning, and he was awaiting to be teleported to the dueling area.
After he left the tower he had been constantly ambushed by multiple men of Wu Liang, guards, bricks, and all sorts of things to render him useless before the actual fight. However, they did not work.
Soon enough, Yulong felt his consciousness being sucked into darkness before his eyes opened automatically somewhere else.
He was standing in a standard arena, and the spectators filled the stands. He was at the edge of a wide circle platform. Wu Liang was in the middle of the platform smirking, while a man stood in front of Yulong with a crystal ball.
"Put your hand here on this crystal ball. Don't worry, we're just estimating your cultivation base."
Wu Liang smiled. If Yulong was truly hiding his cultivation, this would expose him. If he wasn't, then Wu Liang could still defeat him!
That was why Wu Liang wasn't deterred when Yulong was a normal Fifth Level True Martial, because Wu Liang was also one.
"Please, pick out your weapon. You are not allowed to have any treasures on you, or else you will be immediately disqualified." The man said, holding out his hand. When Yulong handed him no treasures, he narrowed his eyes and then motioned to the weapon rack on the sides of the arena.
Then, when Yulong made no move to get a weapon, a vein bulged on his head. 'Arrogant brat! You're worse than Wu Liang!'
Yulong walked onto the stage with Wu Liang.
"Pfft, you think you can defeat me with no weapon? I am a prodigy that studies the way of the sword." Wu Liang said, brandishing his great sword.
Yulong simply said, "When honed, the cultivator's fist is stronger than any sword."
Wu Liang snorted. 'I'll destroy you for nearly humiliating me like that. Then I'll fire that dumb guard! You think you can steal my girl by acting cool?' Wu Liang's eyes looked up to the crowd where Xia Bi was stationed. No doubt, she came here for him.
"Duel... Start!"
Boom!
Wu Liang was sent spinning flying through the air like an ugly bird as soon as the match started and hit the wall out of the arena. When the dust settled, his head was already bleeding, and steam was coming off the side of his cheek as if someone had slapped him.
No one else saw it, but Xia Bi did.
'Damn... He completely overwhelmed him!' Xia Bi said, sweating. Although it looked like Yulong hadn't moved, he actually used Qi to cover any traces of his presence, essentially teleporting, and slapped Wu Liang with a special palm technique without him even reacting.
Xia Bi concluded that Yulong must be as talented, maybe even more so, than her. Her family thought that she was a genius that only came once every millennium and thought that no one would be able to give her a satisfying fight here in the first world, and perhaps even the second.
But now, someone like Yulong came and obliterated Wu Liang, and reached the 50th floor just like Xia Bi.
If possible, she wanted a fight with Yulong. She was curious before, but now she was mildly interested in the mysterious man's power.
Meanwhile, in the arena, nothing changed about Yulong other than the steam coming off of his palm.
"What's this? I don't sense any treasures on him!"
"A genius among geniuses, just like Xia Bi!"
"I wonder if he has a girlfriend..."
These were the screams coming from the crowd of people. Yulong turned to walk away, as the golden symbol disappeared, now meaning he won.
"T-The match is over! Ao Bing has won!"
The man who had called Ao Bing worse than Wu Liang was now shivering. 'Thank god I didn't say that out loud or I might have offended the wrong family...'
...
When Wu Liang woke up on his bed, the side of his face was still stinging. Not just from the slap, but also from embarrassment.
About the time when the match was going to start, Wu Liang felt immense fear, as if he was an ant standing before a god. Then, he blacked out, remembering no more.
"Young Master, you're finally awake." A butler next to him in his room, emanating the aura of a Soul Gathering powerhouse, said.
He continued, "The Master, Wu Hong, requests your presence immediately."
Wu Liang sighed. No doubt father would punish him for losing to a nobody, and embarrassing himself in front of Xia Bi.
Preparing himself, he walked down the winding hallways, his face dull.
Eventually, he entered a spacious room where a long table that was 20 feet in length. At the very end of the table stood a handsome man who looked like he was in his 30s with a golden goblet in his hand.
He was a scary man with the aura of a Nirvana Gathering cultivator, the limit for the first world.
"Father... You requested... Of me...?" Wu Liang's voice sounded tiny in the spacious room.
"Ah yes... My weak and arrogant son... I have called you here to discuss the events that went down yesterday." Wu Hong said with disgust. "I do not like getting involved with matters between the younger generation, but it seems to me you made an enemy with someone you shouldn't have. Not only that, but now the Xia family doesn't want to associate themselves with us all because of my weakling son... Perhaps your older brother is better than you, after all."
Wu Liang took all of this, showing no sign of disappointment, only devoid of emotion.
"But I will give you another chance to prove yourself. I want you to kill that Ao Bing. That is why I'll give you the materials and treasures needed to cultivate faster."
Wu Liang simply said, "Yes father." After going through another five-minute lecture, he was dismissed. As soon as he left the room, his face was alight with anger.
"Stupid family... That's why I'm leaving..." Wu Liang always thought he was better than everyone else, but now he was starting to have doubts. Packing up his things, he left the mansion in the middle of the night, seeking enlightenment.
No one would hear from Wu Liang for four months before he reappeared and shocked the world with his power.