Chương 37: Chapter 36: Face Slapping

Nero dodged each of Wu Fang's following strikes effortlessly. But the little young master was nothing if not relentless; he kept dishing out more. While the first few had been non-lethal, his attacks were growing more lethal with every hit he dodged. His speed is fast, unusually so, likely because of his awakened core. His initial strike suggests the lack of genetic enhancement from acquiring genes off of dungeon spawns. Nero analyzed his offense, and while dodging, he kept decreasing his distance toward the fence.

"Senior Wu Fang, he is planning to run away! Let me help you!" His lackey yelled, and as Wu Fang said nothing, he took that as a yes and joined in.

"He probably has some sort of odd gene talent to avoid strikes!" With both attacking him simultaneously, it became significantly harder to keep dodging.

"You scum!" Wu Fang roared out, changing his form, as a huge burst of Qi, the combination of all elemental energy, burst forth from him.

"Cypher Art: Omnidirectional Barrage!" His fists blurred, as some made contact with Nero's face, drawing cuts. His lackey too followed suit on his senior's footsteps, bringing out his own Cypher Art.

"Cypher Art," the lackey chanted behind Wu Fang, "Rhino Liner!" The disciple practically blurred in place, while Wu Fang struck out for his eyes, sides, crotch, throat, and stomach simultaneously. Shit. He was intending to leave the fight; Wu Fang hailed from a major family. The last thing he wanted was to be found laying dead in some alley because he'd beaten their favored son. But this attack, and the fact that they were growing increasingly more lethal, suggested they very much wanted to cripple him.

The fight wasn't any petty brawl any longer. In a situation where hesitation meant death, he was all too versed in navigating such incidents. So he finally let himself take this seriously. He doubled the supply of Pristine Aura to his brain, accelerating his reflexes, while simultaneously sending an increased amount of Pristine Aura to his feet, enhancing his burst speed. He countered all of Wu Fang's fists with a punch of his own, before kicking him in the stomach.

"Guh!" Wu Fang coughed out as his body shot back, slamming into the shed at the far back.

"Phew—!?" Before Nero could even take a breath, a punch lodged into his stomach. The culprit who'd struck him immediately became visible: with chestnut hair, Wu Fang's lackey smiled smugly.

"Take that, and go to sleep." The disciple punched him at his neck next—the strike sent a stinging pain shooting up into his brain. With effort, he remained standing, the annoyance finally coagulating into rage.

"Huh?" the lackey said dubiously as Nero didn't even flinch from his attack, and almost immediately a slap cut across his face, sending him spinning in place before he dropped over, unconscious. Nero looked down at both of their bodies, his expression cold, as killing intent oozed out in waves. He stepped forward to dish out some more punishment, but a hand on his shoulder stopped.

"Enough, junior." The voice sounded familiar to Nero's ears.

"Senior Chang?" He turned, and as he did, a chop landed on his neck, making his consciousness immediately start to dim.

"Why?" The senior smiled.

"Let me take it from here. You don't remember anything," he winked, "okay?" Nero's eyes widened at the implications, before losing blacking out. …. Nero woke up to find himself back in his bed, staring up at the wooden roof overhead where a single yellow mana bulb glowed dimly. A sense of discomfort still radiated from his neck where that lackey had managed to strike him. Though, thankfully, his stomach was fine. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

He sat up groggily and looked at the clock. It was already nighttime, though that felt strange to say at times, since their world was perpetually submerged in darkness.

"Has Senior Chang brought me here?" It was likely. Standing up, he walked to the bathroom to take a shower. That was when he found Disciple Shen staring daggers at him. Nero wanted to ignore that and just get inside, but the last time he'd done that to a noble, it hadn't turned out too well. So he took the trouble to ask.

"Does the senior want something?" Disciple Shen wasn't exactly an official senior outer disciple, but it still worked to soothe the high ego of noble-borns to call them that. And it wasn't like Nero minded adding an extra word in front of their name anyway. It was all just words at the end of the day; it might mean a lot to them, but to him, only strength and money meant much. Shen kept staring at him for a second more before sighing.

"You're the one who beat that Fang Family heir and Liu Family heir, aren't you?" he asked, his gaze growing sharper as his pupils dilated, eyes turning slightly red.

"Don't keep going around courting death. You're lucky I've been too busy with my cultivation to punish you for your previous offense." Disciple Shen slammed the door shut, the warning lingering in the hall. Nero just tilted his head in confusion.

"What offense did I commit against him?" Unable to recall anything significant, he just shrugged and got back to the bathroom for a shower. While bathing, the family names and their significance drifted through his mind.

"Liu Family, huh." He didn't know too much about the high nobles, since they mostly kept to the more developed areas instead of the slums. But he did know about the Liu Family. It was basically a gigantic merchant family that supplied the slums with all sorts of secondhand goods that the high-born district's residents threw out, plus a smattering of other necessary stuff the people of the slums depended on the daily.

He knew of them even more personally, since their caravan managers used to come to the church often to donate money. Though, as it would be with any merchant family, they didn't do it out of pure charity. Instead, they wanted the priestess to grant them the church's official sigil. Priestess Sofia had given them the sigil, even though the previous priestess had refused to hand out such things for money.

The sigil represented the vouching of the church, and allowed for lower taxes on goods and greater trust from customers, as it did not only represent a business's moral standing in society, but also assured high standards in quality control. None of which the Liu Family-run businesses actually had—their goods were decent, but that was the furthest their quality extended to.

And yet, they went out of their way to obtain this sigil, which boosted their brand power significantly within the slums and allowed for a pseudo-monopoly. Mainly because they provided a lot of money in exchange for the church not handing out another sigil to a different business. It was this money that was now allowing the priestess to care for the countless children arriving at the church.

Nero felt a headache growing in his temples at the thought of having beaten that Liu Family heir, now that he considered everything.

"And that Fang Family is even higher in station and power than the Liu Family, supposedly." Either way, what's been done was done. He couldn't change anything. But from the words of Shen, it felt as if the official story might have already been altered outside by Senior Chang. He quickly finished his shower, put on his white shirt and pants, and went to meet Senior Disciple Chang. On the way, Nero picked up on some gossip happening around the senior's personal place of work.

"To think the always gentle and kind Disciple Chang would go and beat one of their juniors."

"Well, did you not hear what he said? That Fang Family kid was certainly crossing lines by irritating one of us senior outer disciples!"

"Yeah, like, what do those rich family brats take us for? There's a proper code of conduct—break it, and don't come crying to me once I rearrange their kid's ugly mug!"

"You tell 'em, Senior Ajin."

"I wouldn't underestimate the Fang Family. They're an ancient house with lots of political connections around the twelve circles. They might already be on the move after their heir was hurt."

"I swear on my Bai family, if they come for Brother Chang, I'll release the whole horde of my family's beasts over their ancient compound!" Hearing their talk, Nero felt a distinct sense of relief wash over him. At least they were siding with Disciple Chang and weren't actively against him. But the other part, about them being some ancient family, increased his worry too. He entered the red-matted building of the senior, where he managed all the seeds and other supplies needed for the two gardens.

There, he found the senior sitting behind a whole pile of white letters sealed with an assortment of differently colored and designed wax stamps. Seeing Nero, the senior smiled and waved him in.

"Senior, I'm really sorry for causing trouble." Nero immediately bowed his head in apology.

"And I'm infinitely grateful to the senior for going out of his way to protect me!"

"Haha, no need, no need." He waved his hands and gestured for him to sit in the chair across from him.

"It's just a small problem; it'll take a day or two to fix."

"But that family is said to be ancient and well-connected. Also, what are these, senior?" Nero pointed at the pile of letters.

"They're my connections, and let me tell you, they're quite ancient themselves."