Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Provocation and Master and Disciple

"This guy... is so punchable!"

Yu Fei looked at the man who seemed to have walked straight out of a teen drama. He had an aura about him, as if he were born to be the main character.

’Ye Feng, huh? He should have been a K-pop idol!’

He mused to himself that with a face like that, all he’d have to do is stand on a stage, show off his side profile, blow a kiss, and he’d probably be set for life.

Yu Fei was handsome too, but it all depended on who you compared him to. Standing next to Ye Feng, at least, he’d either be the second male lead or the villain.

Ye Feng had just walked out of the tunnel when he saw Yu Fei sitting on a high platform, dangling his legs. But there was something about the guy’s gaze that he really didn’t like—it was intense and greedy, fixed on him like an experienced hunter who had laid a snare and was watching his prey walk right into the trap.

’He sees me as prey? Ridiculous. Who does this nobody think he is, barking in my face?’

Ye Feng didn’t plan on engaging with him. He just decided that if they met in the ring, he would definitely teach him a lesson.

Dongfang Yebai emerged a moment later, and her eyes lit up when she saw a handsome, sunny-looking young man sitting there. To be honest, while Ye Feng was more handsome, looking at him for too long could lead to aesthetic fatigue. It was nice to feast her eyes on a handsome man of a different style.

But just as the two were about to leave, Yu Fei decided he wasn’t going to let them.

’This is an orange-quality leek! Hmm... and there’s a little purple one next to him.’

’There’s still over a year until the college entrance exams. I have to stir up some hatred from this prime leek. That’s the only way he’ll have a constant source of motivation to challenge me. Otherwise, what if I beat him so badly he starts avoiding me?’

’Assaulting someone without reason is illegal, after all.’

"Heh heh heh..."

His eyes darted around as an idea struck him.

"Yo~ Whose little brat is this, still eating candy? Didn’t your parents tell you that you have to drink lots of milk to grow tall? Tsk tsk tsk..."

Yu Fei raised his voice, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Sure enough, Ye Feng stopped in his tracks and turned to glare at Yu Fei. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Dongfang Yebai was taken aback by the sudden taunt. She glanced at Ye Feng, who had a lollipop in his mouth and was slightly shorter than her, and almost burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth. ’This kid is in for it now.’

Ye Feng was getting angry. Before he started practicing martial arts, he had heard plenty of ridicule growing up. But ever since he had revealed his extraordinary talent on the path of martial arts, he hadn’t heard a single similar comment. Some people had even sought him out specifically to apologize.

He could tolerate other insults, but he absolutely despised being mocked for his height.

For a Martial Artist, a height of 1.75 meters really was a bit short.

But at a time like this, Martial Artists weren’t idiots. Why would someone provoke him when there were no conflicts of interest? Unless...

After a moment’s thought, Ye Feng had a theory.

"You’re Yu Fei?"

Although Ye Feng phrased it as a question, he was certain. The guy across from him had to be Yu Fei, the second-seeded contestant from Nanguan Second Middle School, a realm below him.

’Only someone who wants to beat me but lacks the confidence would resort to such a despicable tactic, trying to mess with my head.’

Extremely confident in his deduction, Ye Feng didn’t even wait for a reply before sneering:

"Boring..."

Then he popped the lollipop back into his mouth and prepared to leave.

’Ugh... this is tougher than I thought!’

Seeing Ye Feng calm down so quickly and get ready to leave, Yu Fei spoke again:

"Hah... still not convinced? Look, even your mom is laughing."

The moment he heard that, Ye Feng’s composure shattered. For a split second, he genuinely wondered if his mother had secretly snuck into the contestant area and was standing right behind him. It was something she would do.

Acting on instinct, Ye Feng turned around, only to see Dongfang Yebai covering her mouth.

"You... I... *I’m* the ’mom’ who’s laughing?!"

Dongfang Yebai’s expression went blank. She stared woodenly at the only other two boys present, then thought about the only girl who was laughing—herself...

"You bastard..."

Her elegant brows shot up in anger, and she was about to march over and teach Yu Fei a lesson, but Ye Feng stopped her.

"Calm down. This guy wants us to attack him so we’ll break the rules and get eliminated early. Don’t fall into his trap."

Ye Feng’s mind worked fast, and in an instant, he had deduced the worst-case scenario—even though Yu Fei had no such intention.

Looking at the still-furious Dongfang, Ye Feng took a step forward and said coldly:

"I don’t care what your goal is. I’ll remember you. See you in the ring."

With that, he grabbed Dongfang Yebai and left without a backward glance.

Ye Feng was seething with rage. The guy had mocked him and insulted Dongfang. If he didn’t leave now, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from attacking, which would mean falling right into his trap.

"Ah Feng, we can’t let him get away with this!"

Dongfang Yebai said fiercely.

’That detestable guy! Do I look that old? How dare he make fun of a genius beauty like me! He’s dead.’

"Yeah! Let’s wait for the match. We’ll deal with him in the ring!"

After that incident, their relaxed mood was gone.

But Dongfang Yebai didn’t quite understand. No Martial Artist was a fool. Few would fall for such a cheap trick. On the contrary, it would only fuel the opponent’s hatred, making them more vigilant and even more ruthless.

’Is Yu Fei an idiot? What’s his goal in doing this? Is he just looking for a beating?’

Meanwhile, Yu Fei, seeing that he had achieved his goal, leaped down from the high platform and headed to the arena to check the match information.

The enmity was established. It would be a joke if he got knocked out in the ring now.

...

Since the officially organized competition had a small number of participants, the logistical resources seemed abundant.

With third-realm referees watching, there would be no irreversible injuries. And if a contestant’s Qi Blood was heavily depleted, the officials also provided "Spring Dew," so there was no need to worry about insufficient Qi Blood affecting subsequent matches.

The only thing the contestants had to do was pour their heart and soul into fighting for victory.

After a morning of fierce battles, the top five from the preliminaries were announced. From Nanguan Second Middle School, only Jiang Yifan had barely managed to qualify; everyone else was eliminated. In addition, three from the First Middle School and one from the Fifth Middle School had qualified.

At this point, the Third and Fourth Middle Schools were completely eliminated. Since Dongfang Yebai was the third-seeded contestant and she was from the First Middle School, this meant that all five contestants from the First Middle School had entered the finals.

"The First Middle School is still as strong as ever."

Teacher Liu Ming sighed to himself. He had struggled his whole life at the Second Middle School but had never once managed to make it stronger than the First.

Yan Sea commented calmly from the side, "Martial arts resources, student quality, teaching facilities... the First Middle School consumes nearly half of Tianning County’s resources. It’s not surprising they get these results."

Liu Ming clasped his hands together in his lap, straightened up slightly, and leaned forward.

"I know that. Fifty years ago, the First Middle School produced a Grandmaster. Ever since then, Tianning County’s martial arts resources have been skewed toward them. There’s nothing to be done about it."

The old man paused for a moment, then leaned closer to Yan Sea.

"Yan, tell me... what exactly happened to you? I haven’t asked all these years, but I remember ten years ago, weren’t you at Gang Qi Perfection, the peak of the sixth realm? How did you suddenly become a third-realm Martial Artist?

That day, you stood before me like a walking corpse. I could see back then that you had lost the will to live. That’s why I didn’t agree to find someone to pass your Cultivation Technique down to. Instead, I made you find an heir yourself, to dangle a goal in front of you so you wouldn’t seek death.

All these years have passed, and it pains me to see you like this. But recently, I’ve seen a new hope in your eyes. Have you found your heir?

I won’t ask who it is. I just want to know what happened. What could have driven my star pupil to a state of living death?

Yan, tell me what’s on your mind. It might not hurt so much if you let it out."

Yan Sea’s lips parted slightly, but he remained silent for a long time.

So many words had been buried in his heart for years that he found it hard to begin.

The past was like a dream, its weight having festered into a sickness.