Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 581 - 580: Tian Peng Enters the Scene, Great Playfulness Arises

Chapter 581: Chapter 580: Tian Peng Enters the Scene, Great Playfulness Arises

It was just that he had some strength, yet he dared to make such brazen claims. It’s not just about tomorrow, this meal will likely be his last.

By the afternoon, when the fighting began, and everyone entered the arena, those young masters kept their eyes on Tian Peng, watching his every move.

Tian Peng smiled and said, "Why do you keep looking at me? I know I’m quite handsome, but you can’t be so mesmerized by me, can you?"

"Who’s looking at you? Don’t flatter yourself," the guilt-ridden young masters quickly replied, "You better focus on preparing for the upcoming exam instead, and make sure no mishaps happen before it even starts."

Those young masters really didn’t know how to speak subtly. Such obvious hints they gave away; if something were indeed to happen later, would they be blamed for jinxing it?

Tian Peng knew they must have poisoned his food, but he didn’t expose them right away. Instead, he calmly said, "Thank you for your concern, gentlemen. I will certainly do my best in this afternoon’s exam and will not make any mistakes."

"Really?" the young masters said, "But looking at you, you must have never had anything good to eat back in the countryside. I wonder if you’ll be able to stomach the food at the examination hall. Don’t get sick because you’re not used to it."

They were simply making excuses for themselves. Tian Peng nodded, "Don’t worry, masters. I used to raise pigs in the village and I’ve had my fill of meat. How could I get a stomachache from greed? On the other hand, I hope you young masters won’t have your hearts turn bad before your stomachs do."

Tian Peng had just made a casual remark, but the young masters felt a pang of fear after hearing it.

Why would Tian Peng say such a thing out of the blue? Could it be that he guessed they had poisoned his meal?

Immediately, the young men exchanged looks, yet they thought it was utterly impossible.

Furthermore, the poison they used was just croton seeds, and they didn’t dare to use a large dose. Only a particularly skilled doctor could detect it.

With that, the verbal sparring came to a halt for the moment as the martial arts tournament was about to begin.

The first match followed the order of names listed, and the young master was the first to start.

His opponent was a young master who was hastily pushed forward by his family.

Although he could have held out longer, he seemed to know that no matter what he did, it would be in vain. He’d lose anyway, so he didn’t put up much resistance, and the young master won with just a bit of force.

The young master wasn’t just focused on winning. If he had a choice, he’d prefer his opponents to fight earnestly instead of feigning death right from the start.

"Fine, all of you, as if you’re doing this on purpose. Now you really want to make an enemy of me? I’ll take you on," the young master said.

His personal servant was terribly anxious. They had already won, so why provoke others needlessly? Weren’t they afraid of someone lashing out in a rage and knocking him down?

As it turned out, the servant was overthinking. Nothing happened to the young master, and he won effortlessly.

The defeated young master said, "Young master, you are indeed formidable. You knocked me down in an instant."

The young master, however, wasn’t as pleased as expected. He looked at the man and asked, "You could have chosen to dodge just now, so why didn’t you?"

Of course, the opponent knew his attack wouldn’t inflict any harm, so he chose not to move.

After saying this, the young master realized he was stating the obvious. He shook his head, signifying the man didn’t need to say more, and then rubbed his fists before leaving the examination hall.

Afterward, the matches continued with the young masters fighting one another, each taking care to avoid hitting faces and to save each other’s dignity. With each match, it seemed less like combat and more like a dance competition.

Soon, it was Tian Peng’s turn to fight a young master.

This young master was one of the group who had just administered the drug to himself.

Seeing Tian Peng full of vim and vigor, he started to doubt whether the drug had even taken effect, but at this point, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go on stage.

When he went up, he smiled at Tian Peng, but was internally puzzled. What on earth did this kid’s stomach consist of, having consumed croton and yet seemingly unaffected? Were the beans not potent enough, or was Tian Peng’s digestive system too formidable?

Harboring many doubts led to slip-ups when facing Tian Peng.

Already at a disadvantage in size compared to Tian Peng, now that he wasn’t seriously engaging in battle and instead was distracted by other thoughts, he was even less of a match for Tian Peng.

Tian Peng restricted his movement with just one hand, and after seizing control of the young master, he made no further move, just holding the other’s arm which the young master tried to pull free to no avail.

"Let go of me!" the young master shouted at him.

"This is a sparring ring, not your backyard." Tian Peng said, "Who says I can let go just because you say so?"

"My father is the Director of the Ministry of Rites, and if you dare to hurt me, he will never let you off the hook!" the young master declared.

Tian Peng shrugged his shoulders, "Can you speak up a bit when you say things like that?"

"What do you mean?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Look at all these people here. If you speak up a bit, let them know that in this martial arts examination ring, someone who’s inferior in skill resorts to bringing up their father as a Big Head," Tian Peng explained.

The young master fell silent instantly. He had initially only intended to intimidate Tian Peng with his father’s status, not expecting Tian Peng to be impervious to such tactics, leaving him with no other options.

The other young masters outside the ring also noticed the situation inside and hastily shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"Exactly! If you have the strength to beat him, then hurry up and defeat him. What’s the point in wasting time?" another person chimed in.

Tian Peng smiled nonchalantly. He didn’t care about that; so what if he was wasting time? What did it matter if he let the young master make a fool of himself? It was all the young master’s own doing. Did they think it was fine for them to drug him but not okay for him to have a bit of fun?

After holding down the young master for a while, Tian Peng let go of him. The young master, once released, immediately charged at Tian Peng, who deftly dodged and again restrained him with a hand.

After several back-and-forths, the young master realized Tian Peng was doing it on purpose, just to embarrass him.

"You’re really going too far, playing dirty tricks!" the young master felt extremely humiliated.

Tian Peng hadn’t hit his token, so he wasn’t technically defeated. However, the idea of surrendering was so embarrassing that they ended up in a deadlock.

"Can’t you just give me a quick end?" the young master cried out, "Is this really any fun for you?"

"Oh, it’s fun. I find it quite entertaining," Tian Peng responded.

As he spoke, he released his grip again, "If you don’t find it fun, you can always surrender to the examiners directly. If you surrender, then I won’t be able to toy with you anymore."

"I..."

In this situation, surrendering seemed too embarrassing, but the young master couldn’t bear to lose face; yet continuing the stand-off seemed even more humiliating.

"What on earth do you want?" the young master asked, "Do you want money or what? If it’s money you want, just say so. Although my father is merely a fifth-rank official, we do have some Silver Taels at home. Just tell me, how much do you want? I’ll give it to you!"