Chapter 225: Challenge to a Duel
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Once Ling Yun and Cao Shanshan saw Du Gumo chase after them as if he were a ghost which refused to leave, an unpleasant look washed over both of their faces simultaneously. As for Zhang Ling, she did not even know who the person who chased after them was. She felt a little lost.
Ling Yun thought to himself, on account of you saving the damsel in distress, I gave you some slack, did you really think you’re some big shot?
Ling Yun admitted that at that moment, his abilities were definitely not on par with Du Gumo, but he believed that if he held no reservations, Du Gumo would definitely not be able land a significant blow on him either!
Cao Shanshan’s face was as cold as ice. First to speak up, she said, “What else do you want?!”
Du Gumo had a very large weakness, that is, he would never be able to treat women as harshly as Ling Yun, especially not towards beautiful women.
Furthermore, Cao Shanshan was just a regular person; there was no way he could hurt Cao Shanshan.
“Ahem…” Du Gumo coughed awkwardly first, then scratched his head and said, “Hottie, I’m not looking for you, I’m looking for Ling Yun!”
With that, he lifted his hand and pointed at Ling Yun with a single finger.
“Looking for Ling Yun means the same thing as looking for me! If you have any business with him just say it!” Cao Shanshan stood straight as a rod, her beautiful eyes s.h.i.+ning with firmness. Lightly, she took another step forward.
In that moment, it was that sentence, and that step forward that made Ling Yun thoroughly acknowledge Cao Shanshan.
Cao Shanshan knew about Du Gumo’s abilities, and had already guessed his background and history. But even if she knew that, she still did not care and stepped forward bravely. The aura that she gave off in that step forward was as if she was telling Du Gumo, if you dare touch Ling Yun, it’ll only be after you step over my dead body!
But how could Ling Yun let Cao Shanshan be a s.h.i.+eld for him? Facing those thugs just now, he did not let Cao Shanshan make a move. Facing the strong Du Gumo, there was no way he could let Cao Shanshan stand in front of him, blocking him from view.
That wasn’t his style!
With a flicker of his shadow, his huge figure stood in front of Cao Shanshan and Zhang Ling as he gathered all of his energy, carefully preparing himself in case Du Gumo suddenly makes a move. But, his gaze was calm like no other. With ease, he said, “Speak up, what other business do you have with me?”
Actually, Ling Yun’s wariness was unnecessary. Hailing from the Traditional Arts Family, where their martial arts were pa.s.sed down to their descendants, he had his own pride that made sure that he only fought with people on his level. Otherwise, there was no way he would be despicable enough to make a sneak attack, which was a completely under-handed move.
Especially in front of Cao Shanshan, the beauty who had made such a courageous display of her bravery, he couldn’t help but see her in a different light, creating a sense of respect for her without a single trace of malice towards her.
Du Gumo wasn’t a bad person.
“Hey hey, little kid, even though you know you’re no match for me you still dare to stand in front of me? I like your att.i.tude!” Du Gumo stood straight as a gun. This time, he didn’t release his aura to suppress Ling Yun either. He only looked at Ling Yun playfully as he said it.
“Stop saying b*llsh*t, if you have something to say just come straight out and say it, quit beating around the bush. I still have to send them home!” Ling Yun did not mince his words against Du Gumo. Heck, it was the truth that he really couldn’t defeat Du Gumo, otherwise he would have already beat him up till he was half dead!
Ling Yun saw Du Gumo’s lazy yet smug look and felt really uncontent. He thought to himself, wait till I’ve created my inferno talismans, I’ll burn off your smug look then!
“I…” Du Gumo was stunned again as he thought to himself, why is this guy so stubborn; I’m at pinnacle of Houtian Stage Level Eight, one step away from entering Houtian Stage Level Nine. Right now, I’m talking to you politely, and you dare to use that tone and chastise me?
“Ling Yun, is it? Let me advise you not to be so bold. You need to understand that there’s always someone out there who is stronger than the strongest. Right now, whatever you’re doing here right now is of no threat to me…”
Du Gumo was still wasting his time lecturing Ling Yun, telling him all sorts of things, but Ling Yun was not even trying to listen. With a wave of his hand, he interjected Du Gumo’s speech and frowned, “It’s too soon for you to lecture me, just tell me what you want with me!”
Du Gumo saw that Ling Yun did not listen at all, and couldn’t help but be enraged. His handsome face turned cold as his tone did as well, “Ling Yun, aren’t you a little too self-a.s.sured? Are you really asking for me to beat you up thoroughly, before we can have a good chat?”
Ling Yun smiled. Looking at Du Gumo sideways as he examined him up and down, he asked casually, “You can give it a shot?”
Cao Shanshan had enough of it. Upset, she shouted towards Du Gumo, “Du Gumo, touch Ling Yun and see what happens after that?!”
At this moment, Zhang Ling could also tell that Du Gumo was here to pick a fight. She, too, boldly took a large step forward and stood next to Ling Yun without fear as she glared angrily at Du Gumo.
Du Gumo saw that his opponent was one that had help on his side, and he himself had none. Plus, there was no way he dared to touch any of the beauties, so he could only scratch his head and say, “Ling Yun, if you really have the guts, then let’s schedule a date and time for a real duel.”
With that, he was afraid that Ling Yun would still refuse to accept the challenge. Quickly, he added on, “Relax, I’ll hold back in the fight and I definitely won’t hurt you nor kill you…”
From Du Gumo’s perspective, he a.s.sumed that Ling Yun was oppressing the women, and was a person who handled things presumptuously because he had learnt a bit of martial arts. So, he lived in the mortal world, showing off. Seeing this, he felt the need to teach him a lesson as well as to make Ling Yun be more low-key, otherwise if he met someone else who was as strong as himself, he’d be defeated so fast that he wouldn’t even know how he died.
Without waiting for Ling Yun to respond, Cao Shanshan suddenly said confusedly, “Che, you’re only saying this because your cultivation level is high. Who doesn’t know how to bully others? And you still dare to say such a thing? Don’t you feel that you’re bringing shame to your own family?!”
Right now, Cao Shanshan’s eyes and heart had n.o.body but Ling Yun, of course she didn’t want to see Ling Yun be taken advantage of. Her intention was clear as she directly provoked Du Gumo.
But Zhang Ling did not think as far as Cao Shanshan. Hearing Du Gumo say that he wouldn’t hurt him or kill him, her facial expression couldn’t help but change as she thought, what kind of person is this? The moment he opened his mouth, all he talked about was fighting and killing!
Even though she was so shocked that her face turned pale, and her pet.i.te frame was shaking a little, but she still did not step back by even a single step. Bravely, she remained standing next to Ling Yun.
Ling Yun noticed Zhang Ling’s apprehension. First, he lightly patted on Zhang Ling’s shoulder and gave her a rea.s.suring look. Then, he grunted coldly to the speechless Du Gumo as he said, “Come to think of it, didn’t you say you wanted a fight? Well, I’m a little busy these days. Meet me 3 days later at the same time, I’ll have a duel with you! The location is your call!”
Once Du Gumo had finished his words, he saw Zhang Ling’s facial expression and immediately knew that he had misspoke. Unwittingly, he began to worry about it and thought to himself, why was talking in the mortal world so difficult?
Seeing that Ling Yun had agreed to his challenge, he had no other requests as he nodded lightly. He laughed in an easygoing manner, “We’ll meet at Tiger Cliff on Dragon Mountain, how about that?”
“Alright, it’s a deal!” Ling Yun laughed coldly as he rested both his arms on Cao Shanshan and Zhang Ling’s shoulders, smugly walking to the side of the road.
Du Gumo stared at Ling Yun’s backview and recalled Cao Shanshan’s provocation earlier. He couldn’t help but say, “Hottie, rest a.s.sured. I’ll definitely suppress my cultivation level to his and fight him!”
Hearing Du Gumo’s ridiculous words, Ling Yun couldn’t help but feel a sense of exasperation as he thought, d*mn, why didn’t you just say that earlier? If you said it earlier, I’d fight you tonight! Wouldn’t have had to wait till 3 days later!
Ling Yun released his left hand that was enveloped around Zhang Ling. Backfacing Du Gumo, his middle finger shot out, pointing towards the sky! Without even turning back, he sauntered away!
Same cultivation level? Didn’t you know that while I was still in the Cultivation World, there was n.o.body in the same level as me! Just wait to die!
Making their way to the roadside, Zhang Ling hailed a cab and took the initiative to sit shotgun. She waited for Ling Yun and Cao Shanshan to get onto the car before she named an address and let the driver drive off.
Once Ling Yun heard Zhang Ling’s address, he was elated as he thought, what a coincidence. Zhang Ling’s home was actually near the City Hall. It was not even 500 metres away from the clinic he was about to open!
Because Zhang Ling was sitting in the car, Cao Shanshan intentionally kept a small distance between herself and Ling Yun instead of wrapping herself around him.
On the car, the 3 people did not talk, and the atmosphere was a bit tense and restrained.
Cao Shanshan was considerate and was best friends with Zhang Ling. Usually, they talked about everything. When she heard Ling Yun say that Zhang Ling was also at SOS Dis...o...b..r too, she understood what Ling Yun was feeling instantly.
Thinking back, she had devoted all of her attention to courting Ling Yun for the past few days, and had distanced herself from her closest friend, who had always been offering her advice unreservedly, by quite a bit.
Back then, when she was half-joking and half-serious, telling that Zhang Ling she could chase after Ling Yun without reservations, it seemed to be the truth. But today, she was suddenly on a date with Ling Yun, there was no way that Zhang Ling would be feeling alright at this moment!
As to her thoughts about entering college, she was really very serious and stubborn about entering China Media University, and it had always been her goal. In order to get into China Media University, she put in tremendous amounts of efforts in the hopes of getting in on her first try. After the Spring Festival, Zhang Ling had given up nearly all of her free time to do so.
Right now, because Zhang Ling knew about how she wanted to date Ling Yun, she even managed to pull Miao Xiao Miao to this place. In this sense, she could tell how infatuated she was with Ling Yun.
Turning her head to look at Ling Yun who seemed as though he had no heart or soul, she whispered in her heart, hoping that he would not expose the fact that Zhang Ling liked Ling Yun. At the very least, it would reduce her guilt towards Zhang Ling.
Ling Yun was quiet, but only because he was thinking about his duel against Du Gumo.
After coming to this world, it could be said that Ling Yun was on free reign and could do anything that he wanted to. His cultivation worked out, he managed to lose weight successfully, and even earned a large amount of money really quickly. He had practically met with no setbacks, and his heart which was feeling empty after he travelled through time was a little less empty.
But this time, it was not the same.
Because of Du Gumo’s abilities which were way too strong, according to his Physique Tempering which was at the pinnacle of its cultivation at Stage 3, even if he did everything in his power and pulled out all of his cards to fight with everything he had to the death, he could only force Du Gumo to retreat, and there was no way he could deal any real damage to him.
Of course, that is to say if Du Gumo would not restrain his Cultivation Level, and fight with everything he had!
If Du Gumo was really proud enough to suppress his own cultivation level to fight with Ling Yun on the same level, he would definitely not be a match against Ling Yun, that was an unquestionable fact.
But the problem is, who could ensure that after triggering Du Gumo to his limits, Du Gumo would sincerely and faithfully keep to his side of the promise, and let him go all out on him?
Ling Yun did not know if Du Gumo would, but if it were him, he definitely wouldn’t do the same. Suppress his own cultivation level then fight? That’s only something you would do if a donkey had kicked your head!
If one were to do that, why even bother to undergo cultivation training? Why else would one pursue strength?
Of course, Ling Yun was saying this while placing himself in Du Gumo’s shoes. He regarded his principles and morals as something that was even more worthless than cow dung. To do something, one should only do it wholeheartedly without any regard for rules or regulations, and not suffer any losses in the process. Hence, he did not believe that Du Gumo would have such good character and keep to his word.
“Du Gumo is just 18 too, and he has this level of power. Then, how much stronger are his masters? And exactly how strong is the strongest masters in his family?”
Thinking to this level, Ling Yun’s gaze became heavier, and suddenly had an overwhelming desire to cultivate his level!
The earth, is of course, not as simple as one imagines it to be!
“I’m too weak! I need to train more!” In Ling Yun’s eyes, a never-before-seen determination flashed past his eyes.