“Do you admit defeat?”
The entire audience at the arena went silent. Even the normally stoic young master, Jin Clan’s young master, had a completely stupefied expression on his face, witnessing how quickly the fight got concluded. Finlay was suppressing his movement speed to not reveal his full abilities, but not so much his physical strength. Even though he limited his Qi cultivation to a minimum, the immense physical strength he acquired with his body cultivation is not something an average early Qi condensation cultivator can compete with. This meant that he could swing weapons at much higher speeds than his opponent.
The opponent eventually recovered from his shock and the first thing he did was to protest.
“Tha-That doesn’t count! I was not ready. Let’s begin again.” Even though he lost very thoroughly, if he easily admitted defeat in such an honour duel, his clan’s name would be affected and he would undoubtedly be punished if he didn’t even make an effort to defend it.
The unexpected words caught even some of the audience off guard. It also broke the silence in the arena. Animated, loud discussions started amongst the spectators. Although they were mostly about Finlay, there were many who looked at his opponent with a disdainful eye.
Finlay wanted to thoroughly defeat the bully and is why he decided to put on such a show. But if the opponent still isn’t convinced, he could only beat him up more.
“Alright then, pick up your weapon. Let’s go another round.”
“We-weapon? No! We shall do hand to hand combat.”
“As you wish.”
Finlay simply placed his spear a little distance away, near the edge of the dome of transparent shield around them.
“Alright, ready when you are.”
This time, the cautious Hou Liu carefully approached his opponent without rushing. He used a hand to hand combat art he was taught from when he was a child at his clan. If the opponent was too good with a weapon, he can only try hand to hand combat.
Unfortunately for him, the result was the same. No matter how he approached Finlay or what tricks he tried to play, Finlay easily beat him up with his strength and superior speed. Early Qi cultivators cannot use spell arts by channelling and controlling Qi outside their body. They could only make use of the Qi to reinforce the physical strength of the body or in specific martial arts and weapons. Finlay with his superior strength was simply too strong even with the opponents seeming advantage in cultivation.
Unlike most people though, the supervising elder was difficult to fool in regards to Finlay’s actual cultivation. Late stage Qi cultivators although cannot yet properly make use of their spiritual sense in fights, they could still spread it to about 5 metres around them with some effort and the Elder had already noticed earlier that Finlay was also in the second stage of Qi cultivation. So, he wasn’t actually surprised by the outcome. Once the older disciple was sufficiently beaten up, he called a stop to the match and announced the result. After split lips, a swollen face and a couple broken teeth, the senior accepted his defeat.
With the result clear, FInlay grabbed the thief and rummaged through his pockets to find the 2 talisman keys of the Wang Doshan duo. The supervising elder also agreed to continue his supervision on discussing the damages and other stolen goods at a later meeting. With that, FInlay slowly walked down the arena and towards the waiting Wang Doshan duo. The 2 were nonetheless jubilant at the way Finlay had beaten the opponent. They were grateful for Finlay for helping them with the matter so much.
The defeated senior on the other hand, had recovered from his daze by now and was slowly and silently making his exit. He didn’t leave before throwing a hateful gaze at Finlay for insulting him and his clan name.
He hatefully ground out quietly from his teeth, “Celebrate all you want. You bastards, you think I only relied on my martial ability to bully you lot? You will soon find out how wrong you are when the discipline committee comes down hard on you.”
Unfortunately for him, this time, his expectations are bound to be shattered. The moment Finlay got involved, the information had already made it to Du Zhen, the assistant of Elder Kang and Elder Kang himself was in the process of reviewing the actions of the disciplinary committee or rather the lack thereof.
Amidst the clamour, the young master of the Jin family had a much more serious expression than anyone.
“Young master, what’s wrong? Although that guy is strong, he can’t possibly be as fast as you or as proficient in weapons as you. Besides, did you forget that even his strong point, his strength was merely at the same level as you?”
“Hehe, idiot, it was actually slightly lower than the young master. Did you forget?”
“Clueless Idiots!” The 2 lackeys beside him got confused at being scolded as the Jin Clan’s scion continued.
“That bastard is clearly much stronger than me. None of you probably noticed it, but from this angle, it was obvious that he actually only used his left hand to pull back the spear. In other words, most of that ridiculous force you saw was just one hand! aND Let alone one arm, I’m not even confident about being able to do that move with both arms.”
“Young master, what do you mean??!”
“Yeah, how can that be possible??”
“I hate to admit it but that bastard is much stronger than me physically and not just a little bit. He either made a big breakthrough recently, or it is the effect of some kind of martial art or medicine. Perhaps… he was actually hiding his strength.”
Jin Yuan had always been thinking of Finlay as his greatest rival from his age group. But despite that, he never thought Finlay could actually win in a fight between the 2, let alone be so much stronger. This incident triggered in him the flame of competition and he decided to get much more serious at his training and cultivation. The person in question, Finlay on the other hand, didn’t even consider the scion of Jin clan a potential rival. He totally forgot about him after losing his money making opportunity back then. Currently, he is busy discussing with his 2 brothers on how exactly they are going to fleece their enemy by claiming exaggerated damage numbers.
Meanwhile, the perpetrator who was just beaten blue and black rushed out of the hospital after only receiving light first aid. He was fuming and too anxious to get his revenge on the enemy. He was soon meeting with a worker at the elder hall. He is a disciple of one of the elder’s who is primarily responsible for the petty disciplinary complaints from the cultivation Academy. Naturally, the Elder themselves don’t bother themselves with the petty complaints or notices. Generally, it’s this disciple along with a few others of similar stature who come to make the decisions most of the time.
“Brother Kaylan Lee, this time, I have come to seek your assistance to have justice served. I was deeply wronged in this matter. Kindly help me!” A distraught and hurt Huo Liu played the part of a victim almost perfectly, nearly tearing up. In truth, he wasn’t even acting much. He was very frustrated and rendered helpless to the point of tears by Finlay’s actions.
“What are you saying brother Hu Liu? I have always upheld justice, especially when it comes to matters pertaining to the upstanding and harmonious folk like you. Please relax with some tea and tell me what happened?”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“It’s like this…” Hou Liu explained his situation, but of course, he added a different flair to the whole story, painting Finlay’s group as the bad guys who bullied him and went back on their word, falsely attacking his honour. In the end, he added, “Oh! I almost forgot. The Clan Elder sends his greeting to you and your master. He specifically sent this small gift when I visited this time as a token of appreciation for your hard and selfless work.”
Kaylan Lee hasn’t been handling the affairs of the Disciplinary committee for so long for nothing. He could clearly judge what probably happened from the story he heard, but he knew nobody would really pay attention to these trivial cases even if he was a bit partial in his judgement. Besides, he couldn’t go wrong by having big and powerful clans on his side. The box he just got as a gift proved his point.
He slowly opened it to find that It had a pure 90% efficacy, Foundation cleansing pill that was useful in improving one's Qi purity in the Qi condensation realm. It also had another compartment with a very potent herb within. Clearly, it was at least a few decades old medicinal herb and would be of use to his master. Both of them can be considered precious gifts.
He’s been doing this for a while now and even though his master obviously noticed, they turned a blind eye to it. The occasional tributes definitely helped with his master’s tolerant attitude towards these actions.
“Rest assured Brother Hu Li, I will immediately bring justice to you. By the time the sun rises tomorrow, the guilty shall profusely apologise for their errors.”
Hu Li instantly brightened up at hearing that. He was sure this difficult matter had finally come to a conclusion. Before he could express his gratitude, another messenger boy rushed into the room to deliver a message in Kaylan Lee's ear.
“Alright Brother Hu Li, Master has called for me, which is just as well. I can directly bring this issue up with him. So, you can forget about this matter,” promptly after, the man and the messenger dash out of the room with haste. Hu Li didn’t mind their sudden departure. Not only did he not feel that it was rude, he even thought that it was only appropriate behaviour to prioritise the Elder’s matters. Regardless, he was happy and relieved about his situation and he returned, worryless.
----------------------------------------
That same evening at an expensive looking Tavern a bit away from the foot of the mountain, the entire group of Finlay and his friends were around a table in a corner, celebrating their freedom. Perhaps a bit of extra celebrations for their victory. It was a rather common sight at the place with several small groups of students both fresh ones and the seniors.
It wasn’t a surprise that the hot topic of the day was about the impressively one sided match of a certain junior beating a well known senior. Several juniors in a similar predicament as Wang Doshan’s duo took the match as a sort of poetic justice that assuaged their unheard grievances. Many of them brought either drinks or food for Finlay in appreciation, leaving their table rather full. The seniors, although appearing a bit dissatisfied with the juniors’ celebrations, mostly took it in stride. But they did occasionally throw out glances as if looking at idiots who didn’t understand the delightful show that was about to unfold. Finlay ignored it. Even if things don’t go as they had assumed, he had the backing of a Senior Elder in the worst case scenario.
“Hahaha! Brother Lei, this is one of the happiest days of my life and I’m sure brother Doshan is feeling the same right now.”
“Hehehuhuhay, Wbell shaid! b-elll shaiid! Das idjot looffd shoo shilley wben voo beth him aup!”
In a surprising turn of events, Wang Doshan turned out to be a rather heavy drinker/partying person, even at the tender age of just 16-18. One has to understand that everyone here has at least cleared their body transformation phase and have robust physique that took a lot of alcohol to get drunk.
‘Perhaps I should have refused the free drinks. I guess I underestimated how many would show goodwill towards me after that display and how much of a drinker Wang Doshan was.’
“Brother Doshan, perhaps you should go easy on the drinks, I think getting anymore drunk would be a bad idea,” Finlay tried to persuade as the third of the group simply appeared like he didn’t care one way or the other.
“Whaa? No nononono, we’re here tho shelebrate and meet & greef! Haw can I stoph? Shpeaking ofh, brother Dokgo Xshu wash sapposh too cum heaar. I aalmosht pergot!...may be I relly shoo stoph dringning?” he finished with a bit more sense.
“Wait, Brother Xu was supposed to meet us here today? When?? Where??”
The drunk dumpling simply raised his hand as he searched for something in his pack. As Finlay looked on in confusion, a vial with clear liquid was pulled out. Before Finlay could ask about it, Wang Doshan quickly opened the cork and took a tiny gulp of the liquid before closing it and placing it back in the pack.
As a confused Finlay waited for an explanation, Wang Doshan simply closed his eyes and entered meditation.
“That’s a refined Heart cleansing elixir. Actually, a diluted version of it,” the third wheel added helpfully. But seeing Finlay’s confused expression not shifting, he continued with a sigh.
“*sigh* Sometimes I wonder how you even do so well with your Alchemy without such basic knowledge. A heart cleansing elixir is something that helps clear up toxins in the bloodstream, especially the kind that affects the nerves and the brain. In this case, the toxins are the alcohol in his blood.”
“Ohhhh!” Finlay understood.
‘So, it’s an antidote against neurotoxins then.’
Wang Doshan slowly opened his eyes and Finlay saw that they were much more focused, as if he was already sober and his observation proved correct only a moment later.
“Apologies brother Ley. I’ve shown you an embarrassing side of mine. I got too carried away with our celebrations. *Ahem* Anyway, Dokgo Xu along with 2 of his brothers was supposed to meet up with us here later tonight. They should also start classes along with us.”
They continued to wait at the Tavern until eventually only a fraction of the crowd remained. Dokgo Xu and his brothers finally arrived at that point.
“Haha, brother Ming! We finally meet again!”
“Brother Xu!” Finlay and the others also cordially greeted the new arrival and the table turned into a raucous group of 6 now.
“Brother Xu, please call me Fan Lei from now on.”
“Oh! I expected something like this. Definitely, a fine, unique name. Knowing your temperament, I’m sure you have fascinating reasons for choosing it. Ah, finally, I made it here along with 2 of my good brothers. Let’s celebrate all night! I’ll pay for the drinks. Drink up brothers, Drink up!” Dokgo Xu was in a fine mood. He not only graduated along with all his brothers, he was even able to secure a mentorship from an elder and was invited into an important branch of the sect. In addition, 2 of his most talented brothers were also able to accompany him. And he accomplished all of that on his own efforts.
“You look so happy brother Xu! Here is a toast for your happiness! Right, how are Lu Bao and brother Meng doing? Where are they now?”
“Ah they’re doing rather well brother Lei. I must admit, I’m a bit jealous of Lu Bao. It seems he received some pointers from you and soon after, he soared to great heights. I’m sure that once he enters the later stages of the body transformation realm, he will be one of the strongest in the valley.”
“Oh wow! It seems that kid is doing pretty well for himself. So, how about brother Meng? If I remember correctly, he was trying to graduate soon.”
“Just pretty well? You have no idea. As for brother Meng, he actually left the valley a while before me. He is one tough cultivator. He set some records and got recognised for his achievements. As of now, I’m sure he is under the tutelage of some profound senior, but he said he won’t be able to see us for a while. He told me to deliver a message to you ‘Don’t be reckless and take things slowly. Take care of your health and drop your naivety. We’ll meet again.’ I can understand the others, but I’m not sure what he meant by your naivety though.”
“Ohh, that sounds impressive! Where is he training now? I thought everyone had to go through the cultivation curriculum?”
“Well, if you have an important elder who takes personal interest in you, you can get personal tutoring. Afterall, it doesn’t make a difference as long as you learn the same things,” Wang Doshan explained.
After that, Dokgo Xu and his brothers explained what happened in the valley after Finlay’s departure. Meng Peng’s trial attempts, his near death situations, Sister Rong, Lu Bao’s current attempts for securing the same achievements, etc. This time, everybody got a bit drunk, not just Wang Doshan. In fact, due to the presence of the heart cleansing elixir from earlier in his blood, he was a bit more sober. That was when an unexpected character raised a fuss against Finlay.
“Youu bashturd! Why do you albays repuse to shay my Name?! I can’t Ignore anNymore! Now, shay itt! Shay my name! If you don’t knoow or furgott, I’ll shay it! It’s Pe-”
That was when Finlay started Ignoring a completely drunk Mr. NPC-P. He had no love for Mosquito sympathising deviants.
To be Continued.