At another part of the forest, there was a girl surrounded by a group of boys. Despite being outnumbered, she stood among them unafraid. A hint of annoyance was on her fair face, as she tightly clutched the flower in her hand.
"Yang Yu, what are you doing?" Yang Mengyao glared at him. The lively personality she usually had is nowhere to be seen. In its place was an icy expression.
However, Yang Yu didn't notice. "Yang Mengyao, I know you are planning to give the sky chrysanthemum to Yang Bin. Instead of wasting it on that trash, why not give it to me?" His gaze was fixated on the chrysanthemum. Not just him, everyone else was too.
Even though he had an abundance of cultivation resources from his father, an 100 year herb was still a great temptation to him, as they are very hard to come by.
There is a huge qualitative difference between a 10 year herb and a hundred year one. As the age increases, especially after the age of the herb reaches another digit, the effects and the price of it increases drastically. A 100 year herb is worth five or six 10 year herbs, and a 1000 year herb is worth several 100 year herbs.
Yang Mengyao's face darkened after hearing that. Her family meant everything to her, thus insulting Yang Bin instantly enraged her. "In your dreams!" Yang Mengyao yelled at him. Stuffing the chrysanthemum in her pocket, she balled her fist and threw a punch at him.
Seeing the small fist flying towards him, Yang Yu snickered and held up palm. The surrounding boys laughed as well, expecting Yang Mengyao to make a fool out of herself.
However, everything changed when that tiny fist connected.
"Ah!" Yang Yu felt a sharp sting, causing him to stumble back. As a throbbing pain settled in, he realized that his palm was sore and turning pink.
Surprised at the turn of events, the surrounding boys stopped laughing and looked at one another in confusion. One moment, their boss was confidently facing off against Yang Mengyao, and in the next, Yang Yu was sent sprawling back. What happened?
"Uh. Boss, are you alright?" One of the bolder members of Yang Yu's gang stepped forward and tentatively probed.
Ashamed of his display, Yang Yu covered it up with anger. "Of course!" Yang Yu lashed at him. "Do you think I'll lose to a little girl?"
"No, you are our boss. I should not have asked. I'm sorry." He hastily apologized and backed away.
Sneering at him, Yang Yu faced Yang Mengyao again. "You caught me off guard, but I won't let it happen again." Yang Yu spoke seriously. Even though his countenance displayed confidence, deep down he was shaken.
"Hmph. I'll make you take back your words." Yang Mengyao said. Without any regards, she threw another punch.
Having experienced the pain once, Yang Yu dared not to take it lightly. Channeling his qi, he blocked it with his arm. Even then, it still stung. But before he could do anything, Yang Mengyao's second punch was on its way.
The brawl continued with Yang Mengyao unceasingly attacking and Yang Yu constantly retreating. As the spectators looked on, they became more dumbfounded and began to whisper to each other.
"Is our boss losing? Does he need help?" One of them whispered.
"Er, maybe he's going easy on her? Yang Yu cares a lot about his image so maybe he's not trying his best when his opponent is a pitiful little girl." Another whispered back.
"Ah, I understand. As expected of our boss." Hearing this, the rest of the boys nodded and decided not to step in.
While they were discussing, Yang Yu was feeling more and more frustrated. Punches and kicks were launched at him right and left, leaving him no time to breathe and recover. In addition, none of his subordinates were stepping in despite his predicament, enraging him even further. Finally, he had enough.
"Iron palms!" Yang Yu threw out his palms which had turned into a grayish white color. His palms collided with Yang Mengyao's fists, causing her to stumble back a couple steps.
Taking a few deep breaths, Yang Yu angrily stared at Yang Mengyao. "You've reached the fourth rank of body tempering?" He growled.
"I told you I'll make you take back those words." Yang Mengyao threatened.
"Ha! If it was the past I would be afraid. But now I've also reached the fourth rank of body tempering." Yang Yu laughed. "Not only that, you are also outnumbered. Everyone, get her!"
Startled by this command, the surrounding boys looked at each other and hesitated. Eventually, one of them spoke up. "Boss, did you really mean that?" Finally, the group began to realize Yang Yu's struggle was a facade he put on.
"Are you questioning me?" Yang Yu yelled at him.
"No boss. I'm telling you to reconsider. If word got out that we had to gang up on a little girl to beat her… It wouldn't look good on us." He said.
Yang Yu paused for a moment after hearing that. Then he gnashed his teeth in anger. "Fine, I'll do it myself." But before he could do anything, he heard a roar.
"Yang Yu, you scum!"
"Who dares?" Yang Yu shouted.
A shadow sped towards them. Slipping through the gap in the encirclement, the figure stops in front of Yang Mengyao, facing Yang Yu. It was Yang Bin.
"Brother! You're here!" Yang Mengyao cried with pleasant surprise, seeing his back. But quickly she became worried. "Brother, you need to leave. Yang Yu reached the fourth rank of body tempering and has a strange move. I won't be able to protect you from everyone." She tugged on his sleeve and spoke in a quiet voice.
Yang Bin coughed. These words sound so heartwarming, but where is this pain coming from? He felt like he lost something important: his dignity. "Ahem, I can deal with him. Just stop the others." He whispered back
"Yang Bin, you dare challenge me again, after the beating I gave you two weeks ago?" Yang Yu sneered at the newcomer. "But that's perfect. I feel furious right now, so I'll take my anger out on you."
"Yang Yu, today I'll pay back the beating two folds." Yang Bin declared.
"Haha! With just you?" Yang Yu laughed at him.
"With just me." Yang Bin closed his eyes. Channeling his spirit, he activated mystic pupils. When he reopened them, they were golden.
Yang Yu, seeing Yang Bin's cold golden eyes staring at him, trembled a little. He felt that Yang Bin was different, more dangerous. He became livid. "Enough of your tricks! Iron palms!" Yang Yu yelled, as he threw out a palm.
Yang Bin squinted at the grayish white palm approaching him. "So this is the strange move? An offensive technique?" Yang Bin mumbled under his breath. Because of his mystic pupils, the palm appeared to be moving slower than it actually is. Sidestepping his palm, he took a step forward and punched his chest before retreating.
Yang Yu stumbled a few steps back, and his group hurriedly approached him to make sure he was fine. Since he was still two ranks higher, it didn't hurt too much, but it did make him lose his balance.
Waving at them, Yang Yu signaled that he was alright. However, disturbed by Yang Bin's unnatural movement, an unsettling feeling arose in his heart. From Yang Yu's perspective, it looked like Yang Bin sidestepped, punched, and retreated in one motion.
Yang Bin felt exhilarated. The effects of mystic pupils are truly beyond what I expect. Yang Bin thought. "Again!" Yang Bin shouted and went on the offense.
The surrounding boys watched as Yang Yu got overwhelmed without a chance to fight back. They tried to help, but a glance from Yang Mengyao stopped them in their tracks. After seeing their boss at a constant disadvantage when fighting the girl, they knew the girl was not to be underestimated, and being at the second / third rank, they weren't able to defeat her.
"You got it boss." They could only cheer him on. To which they got a deathly glare from Yang Mengyao, so they didn't dare to speak again.
Yang Mengyao pursed her lips in nervousness. Even though it looked like Yang Bin was winning, she could tell that Yang Bin, being two ranks down, hasn't really harmed Yang Yu. And it seemed like Yang Yu knew that as well.
After a minute of dodging and countering, Yang Bin was short of breath. He stood still heavily breathing, while his body rapidly devoured the qi in the air to recover his stamina.
"Yang Bin, you dared to say such pompous words with only this level of strength? Even if you are faster, you are still too weak." Yang Yu mocked. Although he felt stings over his body, it wasn't serious. He could hold on for several more minutes, much longer than Yang Bin could.
"You're right. Since the second rank is not enough, I will simply advance to the third rank." While saying that, Yang Bin urged his two opened meridians to wildly devour qi.
"Advance to the third rank? Do you think you can improve just because you wish to?" Yang Yu laughed.
Yang Bin ignored him and continued to devour the qi in their surroundings. He felt the barrier of the third rank and then easily broke past it.
As strength filled him, rapidly restoring his depleted stamina, Yang Bin grinned. "I can. Let's continue."
Witnessing him recover, Yang Yu's face became ugly.