Chapter 110 – Three Years in a Row
(Mustang: Hey guys, second Regular Chapter for this week.)
Bi Fan left the Yang Shan Peak with the intention of going to Yu Nu Feng.
Bi Fan had just descended to down the peak, when he suddenly recalled Zhu San and Daniu, the two men who had bullied and insulted him in the past.
“Now it’s time to get back at them. At my present status, I could kill off a couple of ordinary men, without raising much of an issue.” Bi Fan thought to himself.
Holding a grudge against others wasn’t good for men with a n.o.ble character.
But then again, Bi Fan wasn’t exactly a n.o.ble Man, and anyway, he had a flair for revenge.
“Excuse me, where do I find the nursery’s manager, Zhu San?” Bi Fan was at Zhu San’s residence, but couldn’t locate him, so he asked one of the orchard boys, who was lingering around.
“Zhu San, the manager, left the Quinyang hills a few months ago. No one knows why…” That orchard boy seemed rather puzzled about it: “The Quinyang hills pay so well, and he had already become the manager here, so why would he leave suddenly…. But anyway, now that he’s gone, our life has become a lot easier here.”
Bi Fan was a little grouchy, as he spoke in an undertone: “Zhu San must have found out that the devil’s disciple he sent after me is dead. He must be afraid that I would come after him, so he left early. Zhu San, you’re not going to get away. If I ever find out where you went, I’ll make you suffer to no end.”
Soon after, Bi Fan decided to go looking for the other boys who used to bully him, including Daniu, and found out that they had all left a few months ago as well.
Obviously, they all too, were afraid of Bi Fan’s retaliation, and left, as they must have feared for their lives.
Bi Fan had no other option but to contend with settling this matter by leaving it unresolved, as it was impossible for him to go checking about their whereabouts at this time, let alone kill them, especially since the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon contest was approaching.
“Well, I guess I’ll just go to Yu Nu Feng now, and then head back to Yang Shan for a closed-door practice.” Bi Fan started walking towards the Yu Nu Feng peak.
The road to Yu Nu Feng was so beautiful, that it was almost like a dream. Bi Fan entered the mountain, and a sense of intimacy returned to his being, almost as if he was returning home after a long time.
“Xiao Feng, I’m back.” Bi Fan looked very excited.
“Oh, Bi Fan, you’re back! ah, good, yes, but you’re also a little taller now.” Xiao Feng dropped her work and sudden ran out to meet him. She smiled and said: “Hey, you didn’t tell us when you’d come back, and then you were gone for so long, and then you didn’t send us any message either, do you know how worried we were?”
“Xiao Feng, were you really that worried about me?” Bi Fan really couldn’t hold it back.
“Don’t change the subject. Now tell me honestly, were did you take off to?” Xiao Feng asked him.
By now, most of the Yu Nu Feng girls had found out, and were coming over to greet Bi Fan, warmly.
Bi Fan quickly told them about his time inside the Devil’s Abyss, but he didn’t go into the details.
“Oh boy, you dared to enter into the Devil’s Abyss for fighting!” Xiao Feng was really surprised. She knew how terrifying a place the Devil’s Abyss can be, and she herself had never dared to enter the Abyss.
Bi Fan said: “My strength isn’t much, so I had to take the risk of entering the Devil’s Abyss for the sake of increasing the pace of my progress.”
“What realm have you reached now?” Xiao Feng asked him.
“Peak of the ‘Spiritual intelligence’ layer.”
“So quickly?! You’ve almost caught up with me, and you’ve only started practicing, ah.” Xiao Feng was completely surprised.
Xiao Feng had been following Yan Yu Si since childhood, and practiced for almost a decade before she managed to reach the ‘Enormous strength’ layer. She could’ve never imagined that Bi Fan would be capable of catching up to her in less than a year.
But then again, she figured that Bi Fan is genius, so there’s no competing with people like him.
Xiao Feng really didn’t know what to say, since she was overwhelmed with astonishment.
“Xiao Feng, you taught me the basics, otherwise, I would still just be an orchard boy.” Bi Fan said: “I will always be grateful to you, and the miss.”
“Well, that is true.” Xiao Feng laughed.
Xiao Feng had the most perfect, and charming, smile.
Bi Fan couldn’t help but stare for a few seconds, and then he suddenly thought of Jing Feng, so he asked: “Has Brother Jing Feng returned yet?”
“Why are you asking me? I don’t know anything about his circ.u.mstances.” Xiao Feng’s face turned red out of anxiety.
Bi Fan was puzzled, as he had no idea about this situation.
One of the Yu Nu Feng girls came to Bi Fan’s side, and whispered: “There’s been no news of Jing Feng, and Xiao Feng is quite mad about it.”
“Oh!” Bi Fan said, as he realized.
“Why would I be angry?! Quit gossiping.” Xiao Feng was angry all of a sudden.
When angry, Xiao Feng was no less than a lioness, and the other Yu Nu Feng girls quickly disappeared out of sight.
“Xiao Feng, Jing Feng must still be practicing, and he must have already broken into the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.” Bi Fan tried to rea.s.sure her.
Xiao Feng replied: “I don’t care what realm he has reached. It makes no difference to me.”
Bi Fan figured that Xiao Feng would only get angrier, if he mentioned Jing Feng again, so he quickly changed the subject: “Xiao Feng, do you know when the miss will come back?”
“She will come back for the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament, and she will also be partic.i.p.ating in the Jiu Yu Imperial List tournament for her Sect’s honor.” Xiao Feng told him. (The compet.i.tion which has been mentioned in the first two volumes is the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon compet.i.tion, while the Jiu Yu Imperil List is newly mentioned one, a more advanced one. It was quite confusing until now, since these tournaments weren’t described in the novel, while being constantly mentioned.)
“The Jiu Yu imperial List!” Bi Fan was suddenly jealous. The minimum requirement for entering the Jiu Yu Imperial List tournament was ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.
Bi Fan was fairly strong, but it would still be a while before he can reach the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer.
Once strength starts increasing, progressing forward gets even more difficult, and it starts taking longer to break into the next layer.
Xiao Feng started laughing: “What are you think? Your strength is not enough to partic.i.p.ate in the Jiu Yu Imperial List yet, so don’t you think about partic.i.p.ating already.”
“Is the miss ranked in the Imperial List?” Bi Fan asked.
“In the last tournament, miss lost to a Wu Ji disciple, and ended up ranking second.” Xiao Feng told Bi Fan.
Bi Fan was quite surprised: “Is the Wu Ji Sect that strong? They managed to win both, Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon as well as the Jiu Yu Imperial List in the same year!” (Jing Feng mentioned a guy who won the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon tournament, back at the end of the Second Volume. That guy was also from the Wu Ji Sect.)
“Not just that, the Wu Ji Sect has been occupying the first spot in the tournaments for the last three years in a row.” Xiao Feng told him.
“Wow, I didn’t know that they were so powerful.” Bi Fan was shocked.
Xiao Feng looked at him, and said: “Bi Fan, don’t ever provoke the Wu Ji Sect, they have one of the largest backings in the world. They are backed by the Yuan Shi faction.”
“I know.” Bi Fan nodded.
In this world, the Yuan Shi Faction was the uncrowned overlord, and was easily the most powerful force in the world of martial arts. Although there are other very powerful Sects in the Jiu Yu Da, but none of those Sects are strong enough to match up to the Yuan Shi Faction’s strength.
Basically, it would take at least two Jiu Yu Da Sects to match up to their singular power.
The Wu Ji Faction had excellent ties with the Yuan Shi Faction, so naturally offending the Wu Ji Sect wasn’t a good idea.
Even if the Yuan Shi Sect didn’t come into play, the Wu Ji Sect was far too powerful for the Quinyang Sect alone.
Anyway, Bi Fan had just managed to acquire the status of a disciple, so there’s no way he’d live to tell the tale, if he ever managed to offend them.
Xiao Feng asked him: “Bi Fan, you will be going for the Jiu Yu Hidden Dragon, right?”
“Well, I will partic.i.p.ate.”
“Then you must be careful. In a contest like that one, causalities are inevitable, so you must not push yourself too hard, okay?” Xiao Feng told him.
“Thank you, I’ll take care.” Bi Fan felt very grateful.
From childhood, and till the day he met Xiao Feng and Yan Yu Si, no one had ever cared for him.
Yan Yu Si was the first person who had ever given Bi Fan any importance, and had taught him the basics of martial arts. Whereas, Xiao Feng had always looked after Bi Fan, and to him, was almost like family.
Bi Fan decided to stay the night in Yu Nu Feng and rest, in order to refresh himself for his practice at the Yang Shan peak.
In the evening, the entire Yu Nu Feng was bustling with excitement, since the girls had decided to celebrate Bi Fan’s safe return.