Chapter 396: Strength of Mount Sumeru
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The young martial artists who came to carry out the glorious tradition were all sent back on stretchers in ambulances.
Suddenly, the clamoring crowd downstairs sunk into silence.
Huang Fengwan and the others looked at each other at a loss for a while. Things had really gone crazy this time. Much to their surprise, the freshmen were so strong that not only did they wipe out the seniors that had come to carry out the glorious tradition but had also drawn the attention of the head of the Department of Martial Arts, Asura.
After being silent for a few seconds, someone asked finally, “What should we do now? The rest of the people who had come to carry out the glorious tradition have left. And we are bound to see much of each other.”
Huang Fengwan sighed, under the gaze of the crowd. “I will go and check out their intentions…”
The group sunk into silence. They had just wanted to make the freshmen a bit more obedient; they did not have a shred of bad intention. All they feared was that they would be at a disadvantage and would be taught by the seniors. They never expected that these freshmen would be so fierce that they sent their seniors to the hospital instead.
Huang Fengwan walked to the sixth floor vigilantly and knocked on Qin Fen’s door.
“Please come in.”
Just as Qin Fen’s voice fell, the door opened automatically. This special sound-activated door made everyone’s life easy.
All one needed to was sit in their room and issue an instruction. One could even see who standing outside. He or she didn’t need to open the door, they just needed to say ‘please come in’ and the door would open.
Huang Fengwan did his best to stabilize his mood before he gingerly walked in. Immediately, he found the group of young men who were competing to be third standing in the room.
Huang Fengwan muttered in his heart, once again, “Where did these powerful experts come from?”
“h.e.l.lo, my name is Qin Fen.”
Seeing Qin Fen get up and greet him enthusiastically, Huang Fengwan stood dumbfounded in place.
Before coming here, he had considered all kinds of possibilities. Cutting remarks! Refusal to meet! But he had never imagined this scenario!
Huang Fengwan shook his head hard. After confirming that Qin Fen was still coming over, he knew that he was not hallucinating. He found this it even more incredible. Isn’t this boy very powerful? He didn’t even go out even when facing his seniors’ provocation, he just sent some people to beat them to the point where now, all of them are lying in the hospital. So why is he so enthusiastic?
“What’s your name?” Qin Fen, standing before Huang Fengwan, asked gently. “We have all just recently entered the Sacred Martial Hall. I know that you weren’t hostile to us. The first thing you wanted to do was make sure we were law-abiding so that we won’t be swept by those people who had come earlier, right?”
Huang Fengwan stared at Qin Fen blankly. Why does he know everything? I haven’t even given them any explanation!?
“Hi!” Xue Tian patted on the sofa and waved, again and again. “Bro, come and sit here. We can still see who is hostile and who is good to us.”
“Oh…” Huang Fengwan nodded mechanically and hastily cupped his fist. “My name is Huang Fengwan. It’s been three months since I have been in Sacred Martial Hall. I am currently living in Building No. Twenty-eight. Thank you very much for understanding.”
Qin Fen, pus.h.i.+ng Huang Fengwan into the room, came to Mourad and said, “Whenever this guy makes a move, his opponent would be injured if not dead. He still continues to think up all kinds of ways to kill me every day but he only knocked you out when he fought with you. That means that he didn’t have any malicious intent. I hope that you won’t blame him.”
Mourad raised his eyelids as he glanced at Qin Fen. His eyes seemed to be blaming Qin Fen for meddling in his affairs. Finally, he turned his gaze at Huang Fengwan and cupped his fist gently, which could be considered as a greeting.
Huang Fengwan looked at Qin Fen, surprised. Next, he turned his gaze at Mourad. These two’s relations.h.i.+p sounds so complicated.
A dazed Huang Fengwan walked into the room, sat down, and stared blankly at the smiling faces around him as they introduced themselves. Huang Fengwan felt like he was dreaming. These guys, who were extremely violent before the seniors, now looked as cute as angels.
“Then… I will inform the first years standing downstairs first.” Huang Fengwan finally recovered his wits. He quickly took out his emblem and seeing everyone gesturing for him to continue, he connected and said, “Everyone, there is nothing to be afraid of, you can all speak up.”
Immediately, sighs of relief were transmitted from the other side.
Qin Fen smiled as he shook his head. It seems Yang Lie and Mourad’s performance was too eye-catching. It even horrified our peers.
Huang Fengwan took the drink plundered by Xue Tian from Qin Fen’s refrigerator and gradually calmed down. As he listened to everyone, he discovered that Qin Fen and the others were talking about the recent fight.
After listening to them for a few minutes, Huang Fengwan was confused and shocked. Their a.n.a.lysis was completely incomprehensible to him as if it was of another level.
Shocked!? Huang Fengwan had never received such a shock. The current discussion shocked him even more than the recent fight.
From whatever he could understand, he realized that every opinion voiced out by these young people was their unreserved explanation and a.n.a.lysis.
Huang Fengwan had grown a lot stronger after having stayed in the Sacred Martial Hall for three months, and his insight had also grown a lot more. In a place like Sacred Martial Hall, the martial artists would hide some of their most important experiences and only take out a part of it for exchange even when discussing with their peers.
Huang Fengwan had never seen this kind of heart-to-heart discussion in the Sacred Martial Hall.
Don’t they know what hiding is? Huang Fengwan looked at Qin Fen and the others, perplexed. After having been stunned for a long time, he suddenly discovered Qin Fen looking at him before asking, “Brother Huang, what’s your take?”
“Ah!? Me!?” A wry smile appeared on Huang Fengwan’s face. “You all are much stronger than me. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”
“Why would you make a fool of yourself?” Xue Tian said with a smile. “Speak, speak. The more you talk about this, the more you will understand. Often, you will be struck with inspiration when you talk or what you say may enlighten others. Even if your opinion is wrong, it might still be of help.”
Huang Fengwan was left gawking for a few seconds before he looked at everyone’s gaze. “In fact, to be honest, I only noticed a little bit. I only felt he was too fierce and was also a bit uncomfortable. But I can’t tell why.”
Qin Fen smiled. Everyone else also smiled together, making Huang Fengwan a little fl.u.s.tered. Did I say something wrong?
“You’re right.” Qin Fen heaved a sigh. “I’m to blame for this. Yang Lie has learned too much from me. Although he is still sticking to his own martial dao, he has still learned a lot from me.”
“But it doesn’t matter,” Xue Tian said indifferently. “As far as Yang Lie is concerned, it’s faster to learn from you at the moment. It will be only right to leave you behind when he has completed his progress.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Who didn’t learn from others when he or she started learning martial arts? In regards to this, learning martial arts was no different than learning knowledge. At first, it would take some time. However, Yang Lie’s martial path happened to be somewhat similar to Qin Fen’s. He could fully absorb the experience. This was good, there wasn’t anything bad about this.
“Anything else?” Qin Fen looked at Huang Fengwan in encouragement.
“This…” Huang Fengwan scratched his head and said. “No.”
Beep beep…
Qin Fen stopped asking as soon as the beeps from emblem sounded. He took out his emblem casually and activated it, only to hear a rigid voice transmitted from it, “Qin Fen, would you like to go to the Secret Art Pavillion today?”
Secret Art Pavillion!? Huang Fengwan’s chin fell unconsciously as the echoes of the previous question completely occupied his mind. Secret Art Pavillion, Secret Art Pavillion, Secret Art Pavillion!
What is this guy’s background!? Huang Fengwan asked himself. Is he the son of some Martial Lord? Otherwise, how could a newcomer like him be given permission to enter the Secret Art Pavillion? That place cannot be opened at will! Even the people of inner Sacred Martial Hall can’t go just because they want to.
“No.” Qin Fen shook his head decisively. “Can I fix another appointment?”
“Yes, but you will only have twelve hours.”
“Twelve hours…” Qin Fen chewed his words a few times before he said, “When I have decided to go, can I use this channel to inform you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I understand.”
After the dialogue was over, Xue Tian looked at Qin Fen with a smile. “Your will is quite strong for you to resist the temptation of the Secret Art Pavillion.”
“I have no choice, I came from a poor background.” Qin Fen shrugged his shoulders. “I only have twelve hours, I can only go after I have adjusted myself to peak state. I will be going tomorrow. I can’t waste a single second.”
“Tomorrow!?” Huang Fengwan looked at Qin Fen, curious. “Since you can go to the Secret Art Pavillion anytime, why would you go tomorrow? Don’t you want to attend the once-a-week martial dao lecture of the Sacred Martial Hall?”
“Martial dao lecture!?” Qin Fen was started. “What’s that?”
Huang Fengwan looked completely at a loss. He actually forgot that although they were super strong, it had only been one day since they had entered the Sacred Martial Hall. How could they understand the rules of the Sacred Martial Hall? They should have been informed about this by their batchmates.
“It’s like this.” Huang Fengwan corrected hurriedly. “The Sacred Martial Hall doesn’t teach martial dao every day. The lecture is only held once a week. And the next time it’s going to be held is tomorrow.”
Everyone nodded in realization. Xue Tian asked immediately, “What should I do if I encounter some problem in my practice but there is some time before the lecture?”
Huang Fengwan took a good look at everyone’s expression. “It’s simple, you can try comprehending it yourself or you can ask the lecturers of the Department of Martial Arts. Of course, it’s almost impossible to learn their essence, unless…”
“Unless what?” Caesar asked immediately.
“Unless…” Huang Fengwan smiled helplessly. “Unless you take the other guy as your teacher, and he agrees to take you his disciple. This is quite common in the Sacred Martial Hall but mostly it happens to the martial artists of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. Sometimes, it can also happen to equity-type martial artists. The basic-contract martial artists can only…”
Huang Fengwan smiled wryly and didn’t finish his sentence. But everyone knew what that smile meant. The basic-type martial artists were those martial artists who were on the verge of being eliminated. Who would in their right mind pa.s.s their knowledge to him or her?
The Sacred Martial Hall wasn’t lacking in geniuses. And naturally, the experts would not choose people from basic-type martial artists.
“Of course…” Huang Fengwan thought for a moment. “It’s not entirely impossible for basic-contract martial artists to take someone as a teacher and learn the essence of his ultimate skill. For example, if an expert came to like you, he might take you as his apprentice…”
Huang Fengwan forced a laugh. “Although the possibility of this happening is close to zero, it’s still possible.”
Everyone broke into a smile. The possibility of this was countless times smaller than the chance of winning a lottery. Which expert would have the time and patience to chase after a freshman to take him as his apprentice?
“The last possibility is…” Huang Fengwan heaved a sigh as even more helplessness flickered in his eyes. “Medicinal pills.”
“That’s right, medicinal pills.” Huang Fengwan breathed a long sigh. “No one is short of money or daily necessities in the Sacred Martial Hall. But medicinal pills are the exception. Although the Sacred Martial Hall provides certain medicinal pills to the martial artists every once in a while to help them, who would refuse extra pills? Perhaps the pills of basic-type martial artists would not even enter the eyes of experts, but those pills might be somewhat useful to his disciple. If you could come up with enough pills, you could also get the chance to learn a half move.”
“So to say…” Xue Tian rubbed his chin. “Wouldn’t these experts line up to kneel before Old Enz if he enters the Sacred Martial Hall to take him as their disciple?”
Qin Fen raised his head as he seriously considered the idea of countless experts kneeling before Enzo Rota. A smile appeared on Qin Fen’s lips as he imagined this strange scene. This is truly very interesting. I should ask Old Enz to come and play here when I have the time.
“Old Enz!?” Huang Fengwan shook his head, confused. “Although someone like you is rare in the younger generation, if you want to go further, it’s best for you to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall or save the pills and wait for an opportunity.”
Qin Fen looked at Huang Fengwan in wonder. “Are you saving pills?”
Huang Fengwan discovered that he had smiled wryly more times today than he had ever smiled wryly in the past. He nodded his affirmation. “It’s not just me, many people are saving them.”
Qin Fen nodded as realization dawned upon him. Sure enough, the Sacred Martial Hall is a real place. Although the rules may seem cruel and cold-hearted, it is because of these cold-blooded rules that have forced many martial artists to do their best. This has created a special martial arts environment where it has become the survival of the fittest.
“So, do you know who the lecturer is tomorrow?” Qin Fen asked with interest. “How strong is he?”
“Tomorrow?” Huang Fengwan brought up the lecture notice and said, “Oh, it’s Ren Tiansheng. He cultivates in Strength of Mount Sumeru, which very few cultivates. He is a fourteen-star martial artist.”
“Strength of Mount Sumeru!?” Qin Fen raised his eyebrows, taken aback. Only a few martial arts could sit on an equal footing with the Dragon Elephant Prajna art in terms of strength.
And the Strength of Mount Sumeru was one of them.
“Interesting.” Qin Fen looked at the Ren Tiansheng’s info with rapt interest. This person also cultivated the internal art of bitter work. His boxing techniques also followed the firm and fierce road. Maybe I can gain something from him. Only…
Fourteen-star level!? Qin Fen was a little surprised. Only fourteen-star level? I think eighty to ninety percent of martial artists of this star-cla.s.s have not achieved the Nirvana Marrow Transformation. If he comes to lecture about marrow transformation, I’m afraid I might have more experience than him!?
Qin Fen shook his head. Fourteen-star level won’t do. Nirvana Marrow Transformation is very hard. Even the Sacred Martial Hall, the holy land of martial arts, doesn’t guarantee that every martial artist can complete Blood Transfusion Rebirth, much less Nirvana Marrow Transformation, which was even more advanced.
A martial artist who had not even finished Nirvana Marrow Transformation teaching a martial artist who has already achieved it!? Qin Fen could only smile wryly. Who made my encounters so strange? And now, my martial dao is even more of a mess.
“If there is nothing else, I would like to go and inform the other batchmates first.” Huang Fengwan stood up and said with a smile. “I am afraid they might not be completely clear about this…”
“Understood.” Qin Fen stood up and sent off Huang Fengwan at the gate. “Sorry to bother you.”
“Not a bother, not a bother.”
Huang Fengwan walked out of the door happily, secretly rejoicing that these freshmen were much better to get along than he had imagined.
“Old Qin, I should go too.” Caesar walked out of the door. “Today’s battle was very valuable.”
“I’m also leaving.” Sky Splitter – Brooks also walked out of the room.
Very soon, only Qin Fen and Xue Tian remained in the room.
“You aren’t leaving?” Qin Fen looked at Xue Tian curiously.
“You can do whatever you want, you don’t need to worry about me.” Xue Tian turned on the TV as he laid down on the sofa. “I wonder if there are good shows available on TV…”
Qin Fen shook his head helplessly as he returned to his bedroom. A freak like Xue Tian truly makes everyone envious.