Inside the restaurant, Long Aotian looked at Tang Wulin's honest face, the doubt in his heart growing heavier.
He remained silent for a moment before finally asking.
"Who exactly are you?"
Tang Wulin raised his head, meeting those narrow eyes, and answered seriously.
"I am Tang Wulin of Shrek Academy's Body Sect."
This time, Tang Wulin did not let Long Aotian continue to misunderstand.
"The Shrek Academy I come from is not the Shrek Academy you are familiar with, and the Body Sect I belong to is not the Body Sect of your Heavenly Soul Empire."
He paused and continued.
"We came out this time for experience. We heard the name of the Body Sect on the way and thought if we could find you, we could learn about your Sect and exchange techniques."
Long Aotian's brow furrowed tightly.
Shrek Academy?
Body Sect?
Not the ones he was familiar with?
In his mind, past events couldn't help but surface.
The Body Sect and Shrek Academy had a long-standing grudge.
Especially back then, after the Sect Master's older brother fought with Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion Master Mu En, he died from incurable injuries.
Since then, the conflict between the two powers had become even more intense.
According to Tang Wulin's explanation, if it weren't for the last sentence, wouldn't it seem like Shrek Academy had secretly merged the Body Sect into Shrek Academy while the Body Sect was living in seclusion?
This sounds... quite shameless.
Long Aotian's gaze swept back and forth over Tang Wulin, his eyes full of vigilance and suspicion.
"You say you're from Shrek Academy? Or the Body Sect?"
His tone carried a hint of coldness.
"How do I know you aren't a spy sent by Shrek Academy to scout out the Body Sect's strength?"
Tang Wulin shook his head.
"I am not a spy. I truly want to learn about your Body Sect."
Long Aotian snorted coldly.
"Learn about us? Exchange techniques? You certainly make it sound nice."
He stared at Tang Wulin, saying each word deliberately.
"There is nothing to 'exchange' between the Body Sect and Shrek Academy."
Tang Wulin was slightly taken aback. He had just explained himself, but... clearly the other party didn't believe him, still thinking he was from that Shrek Academy on the surface world. After all, his own academy's reputation wasn't well-known, so this was normal.
Xie Xie muttered in a low voice from the side.
"It seems the relationship between the surface Shrek Academy and the Body Sect isn't very good..."
Ling Luochen also frowned slightly, thinking to herself.
When she was at the surface Shrek Academy, she had heard some things about the Body Sect.
It was said that the Body Sect kept a low profile and rarely interacted with the outside world. As for its relationship with Shrek Academy, she didn't know much.
Long Aotian took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, and looked coldly at Tang Wulin.
He stood up, looking down at Tang Wulin from his height.
"If you want me to take you to the Body Sect, fine."
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of provocation.
"However, you have to beat me first."
Tang Wulin raised his head and looked at Long Aotian.
"Beat you?"
"That's right."
Long Aotian nodded, the corners of his lips curling up slightly in a prideful manner.
"Fight me. If you win, I'll take you to the Body Sect."
"If you lose..."
He gave a cold laugh.
"Then I will definitely not go easy on a fellow who uses our Body Sect's name to swindle people. I guarantee you will pay a heavy price."
Upon hearing Long Aotian say this, Tang Wulin couldn't help but look delighted. This was good; solving the problem this way was simple.
If Long Aotian stubbornly refused to take him to the Body Sect, it would indeed be quite troublesome.
Now that the condition was set, as long as he defeated the opponent, he could find the Body Sect's location. Judging from the Spirit Power Long Aotian had released earlier, Long Aotian should be a Spirit King.
Just a Spirit King; Tang Wulin was quite confident. After all, along this journey, Tang Wulin's hands had been stained with the blood of many Evil Soul Masters, and those Evil Soul Masters were basically all at the Spirit King level or higher.
If Tang Wulin had encountered these opponents when he first joined Shrek Academy, he might have found it quite troublesome, but now Tang Wulin was nearly Level 50. Dealing with a Spirit King could almost be called bullying.
Meanwhile, Long Aotian's gaze swept over Tang Wulin's group, his eyes full of confidence because these people didn't look very old. At most, Ling Luochen looked a bit older, while the others should all be younger than him.
Long Aotian didn't want to boast, but he truly was a Genius, and a Genius of the Body Sect at that. He was even the successor of the Body Sect's younger generation and the Sect Master's chief successor. These titles were enough to prove his talent.
Especially since he had reached the Spirit King Realm at this age, his strength was beyond doubt.
Against a student who looked like he had been studying at an academy for less than a year, and a youth with a Blue Silver Grass Spirit, he had no reason to lose.
The Blue Silver Grass Spirit was widely recognized as a trash Spirit. Long Aotian had also heard that the decline of the Tang Sect was related to every Sect Leader having the Blue Silver Grass Spirit; they relied on Tang San's legend to maintain appearances, but in reality, they had long since perished.
Tang Wulin eating fifty portions of food at once had indeed stunned Long Aotian for a moment, and the fact that these people could withstand his Aura without changing their expressions meant they had some skill.
Though Long Aotian had set aside some of his contempt, he still didn't believe Tang Wulin could beat him.
However... seeing the delighted expression on Tang Wulin's face, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Could Tang Wulin have other tricks up his sleeve?
Tang Wulin hardly hesitated and nodded directly.
"Alright."
This guy agreed quite readily.
"Since you've agreed, then come with me. I'll take you to the Sparring Grounds."
Long Aotian turned around and strode out of the restaurant.
Tang Wulin quickly stood up, called to Xie Xie, Wei Xiaofeng, and Ling Luochen, and followed.
...
Long Aotian led the four through several streets, finally arriving at an open area.
It was an empty space paved with stone slabs, surrounded by thick wooden stakes, looking like a simple sparring ground.
Though the grounds were simple, they were spacious enough for a few people to exchange blows.
There were some pits in the ground, suggesting people had sparred here before, but the grounds hadn't been repaired.
Long Aotian walked to the center of the grounds, turned around, and looked at Tang Wulin, a light flashing in his eyes.
"Let's do it here."
Long Aotian stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Tang Wulin standing before him.
"Seeing as you aren't very old, I won't bully you. You make the first move. Long Aotian of the Body Sect, please advise!"
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter
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