Chapter 20: Challenge
Jian Chen couldn’t help but feel fury from Ka Di Liang’s arrogance. Holding his own head up to look at him with disdain, Jian Chen said, “You were defeated by me before, what right do you have to demand a challenge from me?” Even now, Jian Chen’s own tone carried a hint of arrogance that he had carried over from his previous world. This was a habitual attitude that somehow came out by accident.
Hearing Jian Chen’s words, Ka Di Liang’s handsome face went deathly white. Extreme anger flashed through his eyes, but he didn’t dare to break the pacifistic rules of the library; otherwise he would had long since attacked Jian Chen.
Even Ka Di Qiuli, who was standing by her brother’s side, was indignant. Glaring at Jian Chen, she started to jeer, “Hmph, you won’t even accept my brother’s challenge to a duel, what kind of man are you?”
Hearing Ka Di Qiuli back him up, Ka Di Liang’s eyes brightened up and felt reenergized, “That’s right; not accepting a duel, that’s what a coward does. Changyang Xiang Tian, I’ll be waiting for you at the fighting arena. If you admit that you’re a coward, then don’t come. Third sister, let’s go to the arena!” After that, Ka Di Liang glared at Jian Chen before turning around to exit the library.
“Hmph, Changyang Xiang Tian, you better come; you’re a coward if you don’t show up!” Ka Di Qiuli cried out as she followed her brother.
“Changyang Xiang Tian, isn’t that the new Freshmen Ruler from the competition…?”
“Seems about right, I heard that Changyang Xiang Tian is at the 8th Saint Force layer but he ended up beating several students who were a layer higher, how amazing…”
After Ka Di Qiuli left, the entire library started to buzz with comments. Everyone was starting to comment about the Freshman Ruler, Changyang Xiang Tian.
Even the girl who was sitting next to Jian Chen had a small look of astonishment as she looked at him. Her eyes were blinking rapidly from this development, and it was clear to see that she had not expected Jian Chen to be the Freshmen Ruler.
Jian Chen slowly clasped shut the book in his hand, with a face that was unsightly to see. After the two siblings from the Ka Di clan disturbed him, he was no longer in the mood to read. Plus, Jian Chen had no other choice but to accept the challenge after it was issued, otherwise the entire academy would look down on him. Although Jian Chen didn’t really care about his own reputation, he was one of the symbols of the Changyang clan. Since his older brother wasn’t around, he would have to take up the challenge himself to make sure the Changyang clan didn’t get sullied. At the same time, Jian Chen didn’t want Changyang Hu to be ridiculed for having such a cowardly brother.
Slowly standing up from his chair, he grabbed the few books he had with him and returned them to the bookshelf. After the books were neatly shelved, Jian Chen began to walk out of the library. At that moment, the entire library watched Jian Chen’s movements.
“Hey, Changyang Xiang Tian!” As Jian Chen reached the gates of the library, the female who was sitting next to him called out to him.
Turning around in surprise, Jian Chen looked at the beautiful girl with an even look, “Yes?”
Hearing the even tone in his voice, the girl couldn’t help but pout, but she didn’t stay anything and instead walked up to Jian Chen and said, “Changyang Xiang Tian, are you really going to accept his challenge at the arena?”
“Of course!” Jian Chen nodded.
“You don’t actually have to accept his challenge at all. The library banned any sort of loud noises, so those people have already violated the rules imposed by the academy. You could just go and report this to the headmaster, and he’ll definitely penalize those two. In Kargath Academy, no one has ever dared to go against the headmaster’s command,” the girl said.
Hearing these words, Jian Chen started to look at the girl in a better light. With a light laugh, he said, “They’ve already issued the challenge, so I have to accept!” After saying that, he said no more, and left the library.
As the girl watched Jian Chen’s figure disappear, her eyes quickly flashed. After some hesitation, she immediately ran to the table she had been sitting to return the thick book she had been reading back to the shelves, and ran out of the library, towards the martial arts arena.
After the girl left, the entire library was silent for a moment. Suddenly, a loud voice range out, “There’s another interesting scene to watch. A freshman at the 8th Saint Force layer is battling against a person at the 9th Saint Force layer; anyone who doesn’t watch it would be a fool.” A male in his teens wearing the school uniform said as he directly ran out of the library
After both these people had left, the few other students that had been reading in the library also returned the books in their hands to the shelves, and left the library one after another, running towards the martial arts arena.
The school’s martial arts arena was constructed in a corner of the sports field. Within it, there were five circular platforms, each one being approximately 20 meters in diameter. However, the insides of the martial arts arena was not that large, and could only comfortable fit 100 spectators. Otherwise, the freshmen martial arts competition a few days ago wouldn’t have been held at the temporarily modified stages on the sports field.
When Jian Chen arrived at the martial arts arena, he only saw Ka Di Liang standing on one of the platforms with his arms crossed, with an arrogant expression on his face. Standing below the platform were Ka Di Qiuli and a few other students wearing the academy uniforms, who were all absorbed in deep discussions.
Seeing Jian Chen arriving from the distance, Ka Di Liang, who was standing on the platform, sneered at him and shouted, “And here I had thought that you were a coward and had not dared to come.”
“Hmph!” Jian Chen snorted in disdain, and directly jumped onto the platform. He stood on the platform with his arms crossed, and coldly replied, “Come at me. I’ll allow you to attack me 10 times. During these 10 attacks, I will not retaliate.”
Hearing Jian Chen’s arrogant words, the spectators below the platform began to cry out in shock, and began to talk amongst themselves in low voices. There were many elder students amid the spectators, and amongst them, quite a few did not have positive opinions about Jian Chen. They believed that during the freshmen martial arts competition, the only reason why Jian Chen had defeating Ka Di Liang was because Ka Di Liang had been too careless.
Ka Di Liang’s eye glinted with anger. Anyone could tell that Jian Chen’s words meant that he did not see Ka Di Liang as his equal.
“Changyang Xiang Tian, you’re even more savage than I had thought,” Ka Di Liang said forcefully.
Jian Chen looked indifferently at Ka Di Liang, and replied, “If you want to fight, then hurry up. I don’t have the time to waste on you!”
“Hmph!” Ka Di Liang grunted, and sneered, “Why are you so rushed? Let’s wait until everyone gathers here; I want everyone to witness the moment I defeat you.” Because he had lost last time during the freshmen martial arts competition, Ka Di Liang had been brooding over it for a while, especially since Jian Chen had even kicked him in the butt. To him, this was an unforgettable humiliation. In Ka Di Liang’s opinion, he always felt that the only reason he had lost to Jian Chen was because he had been too careless. Thus, he wanted to take this chance to regain the face that he had previously lost, and aimed to ruthlessly humiliate Jian Chen in return.
Gradually, the people surrounding the martial arts arena increased, and the population did not cease to increase either. From the distance, there were still many students heading towards the arena. This match had obviously been announced to the public by Ka Di Liang.
After only a short while had passed, the martial arts arena was packed with 200 or so people. Nearly everyone was excited to watch the lively scene. Amongst these people, Ka Di Liang’s older brother, Ka Di Yun, also stood there, with a few people around his age standing next to him.
“Fourth brother, you can do it. Big Brother is watching you!” Suddenly, a familiar deep sound mixed amongst the other noises was clearly transmitted to the platform.
Hearing this, Jian Chen turned around, and saw his older brother Changyang Hu standing beneath the platform cheering for him.
Jian Chen smiled, and wordlessly nodded his head at Changyang Hu.
At that moment, someone banged on the table and shouted, “Let’s make bets, bets! Whoever wants to wager on the fight, come here!”
“I bet on Ka Di Liang, 10 gold coins…”
“I bet on Changyang Xiang Tian, 20 gold coins…”
“50 gold coins on Ka Di Liang…”
People gradually started to gamble on the outcome of the match between Jian Chen and Ka Di Liang. Even those who usually attended class had came along with many nobles. Money was of no issue to them, so there were many people betting from 10 Gold coins to 10 Purple coins. Around 80% of the gamblers were betting on Ka Di Liang, and only 20% were betting on Jian Chen.
“Ten Purple coins on Changyang Xiang Tian!” Changyang Hu slammed down the appropriate amount of coins onto the table.
“I’ll bet on Changyang Xiang Tian as well, 10 Purple coins!” Behind Changyang Xiang Tian, a soft and gentle voice spoke. It was the girl from the library who sat next to Jian Chen. She was obviously from a big clan; with every word she spoke, her tone was filled with a grandeur sound that sounded natural to her.
After the girl had bet 10 Purple coins on Changyang Xiang Tian, everyone else started to show expressions of surprise. Changyang Hu was the older brother of Changyang Xiang Tian, so his bet was easy to understand. However, this girl did not hesitate at all when she wagered her money. Despite their shock however, no student voiced out their questions.
On the platform, Jian Chen looked at Ka Di Liang with a strange expression and said, “We can start now, right?”
Ka Di Liang held an expression filled with self-confidence, and he sneered, “Changyang Xiang Tian, you personally declared that you would allow me to attack 10 times. You’d better not go back on your words.”
“A nobleman’s word is his bond. Just give me all you’ve got,” Jian Chen replied.
TL: He uses a proverb to say this.
“How arrogant!” Although Ka Di Liang didn’t quite understand the fancy proverb Jian Chen had said, but he could roughly guess the meaning of it. Without another word, he dashed at Jian Chen to start the fight. Since Jian Chen had allowed him ten moves, he wouldn’t hold back and unleash his strongest moves.
Ka Di Liang quickly rushed in front of Jian Chen, and struck out with his fist that traveled through the air so fast, a whistling sound could be heard.
Faced with the fist, Jian Chen only took a single step back, and allowed the fist to stop short of him before it could make contact.
“Hu….how close….just a bit more and he would’ve been hit…”
“This Changyang Xiang Tian can’t be too powerful. As soon as the duel started, he was almost hit. If any of those punches connect, I’m afraid that he won’t get off with just some minor damages, and the victor would already be clear.”
“This Changyang Xiang Tian’s luck is quite good, to have dodged it like that….”
Everyone under the arena had thought that Jian Chen was merely lucky to have dodged Ka Di Liang’s fist, and so only a few observers had realized the truth, causing them to start to look at Jian Chen in a new light.