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None of them got even remotely close to dying, that’s for sure...

Their bodies were intact, with no missing limbs and no heavy bleeding, just some light bruises on their skin; that’s all.

At least, that’s what it is on the surface...

The real injury wasn’t on their physical body; it was in their psyche.

The prodigies of the White Haven Clan suffered from a badly bruised and abused ego. Their pride had been smashed to smithereens, their worldview uprooted, and their arrogance completely shattered.

They woke up knowing that they lost, miserably so. They look as if their souls were sucked out of their bodies. They felt lethargic, unmotivated, and hopeless.

Sure, they’re not crippled, but they felt like everything they worked hard for was nothing but paltry lies. They felt like everything they knew about this world was a lie, too.

They couldn’t even survive the initial impact...

One punch, that’s all it took. And it didn’t even make contact with their bodies. He hit an empty space.

An empty fucking space...

...and produced a shockwave so strong that it blew them all away and made them unconscious. They weren’t even able to hear the nine echoes it made since they were gone after the first one.

How fucking embarrassing, really.

They chased him around with their sticks; they spent every drop of chakra on their bodies and still couldn’t hit him even though he was outnumbered.

He exhausted them without even breaking a sweat. And when it’s finally his turn to attack, he told them exactly what the fuck he’d do. Play by play, spoiling everything for them. They knew exactly what he was going to do...but what of it?

Were they able to stop him? No, obviously. Hell, they couldn’t even last until the first echo. All they heard was the thunderous sound of his punch; then they felt the shockwave released afterwards, and they were gone.

Next thing they knew, they woke up in some room provided to them by the Banished Arms Clan.

They all stared at the ceiling, realizing just how awfully wrong this has turned out to be.

The moment Ren stepped onto the stage, everything went wrong. He single-handedly turned the situation around enough.

Instead of them clowning their peers, it was them who were clowned instead.

"Get up if you’re awake. We’re leaving soon. We can’t stay here for long."

One of the elders coldly told them.

They could tell that the Elders were pissed, but right now, the prodigies couldn’t care less about that. They knew that they were fucked once they returned to the clan, but honestly, what could they do?

That guy was just so much better than them.

The slap of reality still stung, and it probably won’t go away soon. They’d have nightmares about this, that’s for sure. And some of them might even have Ren as their heart demon.

This was a painful loss, and it will continue to make them suffer for a while. This was just the start.

In the end, they left without any fanfare.

Mikel escorted them out of the compound. As for their order, that has long been forgotten. That was never the point of this visit.

Had they won, sure, they would shamelessly remind Mikel to send the goods soon; they’d treat that as their prize for performing well in this task.

However, it was lost. And they lost so miserably that air within the Banished Arms Clan compound felt stifling and painful to breathe. Even though nobody was staring at them or talking badly about them behind their backs, it still felt that way anyway.

All they could do was leave soon, because the longer they stayed here, the worse they felt.

As for what will happen to them next, that’s a story for another day.

**

In contrast to the atmosphere that the group of White Haven Clan had as they left, the atmosphere within the clan was practically the opposite.

It was vibrant, jubilant, and exhilirating.

Members of the clan felt validated and vindicated. Although they don’t have as many prodigies as the White Haven Clan had, at the very least, their dignity remained intact.

Members around the same age as Ren, his distant cousins, discussed the events with intense fervor.

Most of them were there and saw the fight. They witnessed how Ren thoroughly embarrassed the enemy clan so thoroughly that they couldn’t even meet anybody’s eyes as they left.

In fact, some of them recorded the whole thing. It started when Ren got up on the stage for the first time and ended with him sighing in disappointment as he stared at the scattered bodies around him; he just got off the stage shaking his head and made his way back home, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone.

The highlight, of course, was Ren’s punch. Even the elders were talking about it.

Some recognized it as the Nine Echoes Technique. But obviously, it was stronger and better.

The Nine Echoes Technique doesn’t provide that much of a bonus to the user’s power; moreover, the echoing effect it has weakens the more there are of them.

Ren’s attack carried the same principle but with better execution and effect, which made them a little confused.

For his distant cousins, though, it looked very cool.

What those losers didn’t see, since they fainted before being able to see it, was web-like cracks that spread throughout the whole arena as the nine echoes sounded out from Ren’s body. If it weren’t for the quick repair function of the arena, he would’ve damn near shattered all of it with just that.

The image of Ren releasing that punch had been embedded in their memories. His stance, his form, the sheer power radiating out of his body, the firmness, solidness, and perfection of that execution.

Not a single flaw could be spotted. And that’s what makes it even more formidable.

With less training time, Ren was actually so far ahead of them in terms of skill mastery.

Whether it’s experience, judgment, power, speed, finesse, or sheer mastery, Ren wasn’t lacking anything. He’s got the perfect foundation, which was more than enough for him to triumph over his peers.

Of course, the weight of his deeds wouldn’t easily be overlooked.

Everybody with a properly functioning brain knew that if Ren hadn’t stepped in, their clan would’ve been the butt end of the jokes and the target of mockery by everybody in Central City.

The White Haven Clan came with ill intent. And it’s only because of Ren that they managed to avoid that bad outcome.

Now, they’re on a lookout. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

If the elders that came with the young group still had some brain cells working, they would certainly remind them to not make this public.

Should they dare to lie or fabricate their own version of the story, Ren’s distant cousins won’t hesitate to upload the full video online to let everybody else decide who’s telling the truth.

They wouldn’t put it past the White Haven Clan; they’ve got a history of it, after all. This was just the clan trying to preserve their dignity.

So, they better not try anything funny. Or else, they wouldn’t like it when the ugly truth was revealed to the world.

As for the one responsible for all this, well...he’s back home, going through his notes.

Ren still felt like it was a shame to waste his time on those people. Stomping noobs in the Challenger’s Rise sounds like a better use of his time compared to ’fighting’ the prodigies of the White Haven Clan.

Although he had most likely traumatized those kids, Ren himself wouldn’t lose sleep over this. They can’t blame him; they were the ones who came with unfriendly intentions. They simply got what they deserved.

Actually, Ren was expecting that he would be bothered by Alex or his distant cousins after what he did. However, everything was clear and quiet so far, and he prefers it this way.

He displayed the Nine Echoing Canons technique in that ’fight’ and also the Flash Steps, but their focus would most definitely be on the former.

Ren wasn’t really afraid that somebody would ask about that. He had no intentions of keeping it a secret. In fact, he wanted them to ask so he could tell them.

He’s banking on Alex coming to him on behalf of the clan, but on his own volition,

If Alex asked, Ren would hand him the Nine Echoing Canons without any drama. It’s not that big of a deal anyway. Besides, the clan’s martial hall deserved some new additions to its shelves, and Ren doesn’t mind having one of his works on display there.

As for the Flash Steps, or even his other techniques, that’s going to have to wait for a bit. He didn’t want to overwhelm the clan or reveal too much this early.

He’d take it slow and slowly build his image. Eventually, there wouldn’t be any need to do this, but for now, it’s necessary.

As for whether somebody from the White Haven Clan is taking revenge on him? Ren wasn’t afraid. The clan had his back, and they’re not afraid of trouble.

Besides, Ren will eventually outpace them in martial practice anyway, so there’s no need to worry at all.