Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: The Drama of Love and Revenge in the 8 O’clock Noble Family Show

When Bai Qige saw this scene, he came to two conclusions. The good conclusion was that this Martial Arts School has talented students, but the bad conclusion was that the teaching style of this Martial Arts School is worrying!

The student shook his head rapidly, showing no interest in practicing Passion and Powerful Skill with the old man. Seeing this, the old man also lost interest, shook his head, and sighed, "Young people nowadays, they lack the backbone we had back in my days. Does it mean that my martial arts skills will end up buried with me?"

As soon as the old man saw Bai Qige, his eyes lit up, and he walked over quickly, saying in a loud voice, "Young man, are you here to enroll in martial arts training?"

"Yes, sir, may I ask who you are?"

"I am Tang An, the curator of this Natural Martial Arts School! You are in luck, young man. Today happens to be the tenth anniversary of our Natural Martial Arts School. I am in a great mood and have decided to take you as my closed-door disciple, to teach you the essence of Yanhuang Martial Arts! If you learn well, in the future, my legacy and my beautiful granddaughter will be yours!"

Before Bai Qige could respond, he heard the martial arts instructors and students nearby whispering to each other:

"Wasn’t it the 20th anniversary celebration the last time they took me as a disciple? Why is it now the tenth anniversary?"

"You’re lucky. When I just arrived at the Martial Arts School, the curator didn’t even mention the tenth anniversary, but insisted that I have exceptional bones and am a rare talent for martial arts, and he must take me as a disciple!"

"How many disciples does Curator have now? It seems like everyone at the Martial Arts School is his disciple!"

"Do you really believe Curator’s random boasting? Last time he even promised to give me his granddaughter as a wife!"

"Hey, have you heard? How many suitors has Curator found for his granddaughter?"

Hearing these whispered conversations, Bai Qige couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t expect this old man to have such a mischievous sense of humor. But he did come to learn martial arts for a reason, so he nodded along.

"Ah, you are quite interesting, young man. From today onwards, you are my disciple. Come, change into this uniform. I will pass on all my lifelong knowledge to you immediately!"

Without hesitation, Tang An pulled Bai Qige to change into the Martial Arts School training uniform. Then, in a corner, Tang An spoke loudly, "Young man, the essence of martial arts lies in passion and momentum. Now, repeat after me, ‘Strong ones are born to defy fate!’"

Bai Qige had observed the old man’s quirks earlier, so he went along with it and shouted, "Strong ones are born to defy fate!"

"Do you have fire in your belly? Speak louder, show more spirit! Use all your passion, let your soul roar!"

Honestly, this made Bai Qige feel strangely embarrassed, but everyone around him seemed nonchalant. Some coaches and students even showed expressions of past embarrassment. Bai Qige repeated the phrase loudly again, which pleased Tang An. It seemed like it had been a long time since someone had satisfied his quirks.

"Great! Even though you lack confidence and passion, these can be improved. Now, I will teach you my lifelong first move. Let’s start with the stances of ‘Golden Rooster Stands Alone’ and ‘Dapeng Spreads Its Wings’!"

Standing on one foot, arms raised like wings, then shouting loudly the slogan, "The strong are born to defy fate!" This is the first move that Tang An taught Bai Qige, full of posture and passion!

Following Tang An’s words, mastering this move will make enemies fear its mysterious power, causing them to hesitate even before the battle begins. Bai Qige understood that if he encountered someone with such strange postures and enthusiastic slogans in a fight, he wouldn’t want to fight that person for fear of embarrassment.

Tang An was very satisfied, gave some pointers, left some words for careful consideration, then gently stroked his white beard, swayed a bit and walked away, leaving Bai Qige amused and puzzled. However, he felt a bit relieved. The punch from earlier, where Tang An as an elderly man managed to send a grown man flying into the air, showed his profound skill. Bai Qige was a bit afraid that Tang An would see through some of his secrets, but it seemed that his talent for hiding was still working.

In fact, this talent was not some mysterious thing at all. Bai Qige was young, looking like an ordinary student, with average facial features – not fierce or handsome, just quite delicate. His body looked like any regular teenager’s, with muscles not particularly bulky. Unless closely observed, his true abilities were hard to detect. This deceptive appearance, combined with his deliberately shy and polite smile, formed his talent for concealment, which helped him out of many troubles in the Middle-earth World.

"This young man has a good temper. You can even tolerate curator’s eccentricity!" After Tang An left, a martial arts coach, intrigued, came over to chat. Bai Qige smiled and replied, "It’s nothing special."

Indeed, it’s nothing special. Back in the Middle-earth World, feeling upset, he took a knife and went out on the streets, grabbing an old person or a weak woman or child, telling them not to move while he pretended to threaten them with the knife. That’s what a real quirk is about. Compared to that, Tang An’s habit of making people recite lines of strength was quite juvenile.

"Are you interested in joining our Martial Arts School for training?" The martial arts coach seemed impressed, and Bai Qige gave a reason he had already prepared, "There’s an event at the school in a while, and I plan to perform some martial arts, so I want to learn some moves and swordplay!"

"Haha, young people eager to show off and impress the girls – that’s quite easygoing. Alright, go pay, sign up for a month of martial arts training, and I’ll be your instructor!"

Bai Qige’s goal was to learn martial arts. He smoothly paid the fee, got his student ID, and started chatting with the martial arts coach, Zhao Liang. Zhao Liang, impressed by Bai Qige’s social skills, quickly became friendly with him, and Bai Qige started calling him "Brother Zhao."

After getting to know each other, it was natural for Bai Qige to start training in martial arts under Zhao Liang’s guidance. He worked eight hours a day, then spent four hours at the Natural Martial Arts School in the evening. Sometimes, the curator Tang An would cause chaos at the Martial Arts School, but apart from that, he was a friendly person to be around.

The days were not boring but quite exciting for Bai Qige as he quietly trained and improved himself. The most rewarding part for Bai Qige was seeing two new messages in his Fate Interface.

[After days of training, Bai Qige’s basic knife skills improved to the next level.]

[After continuous training, Bai Qige learned Basic Boxing and Step Skills, and also received guidance from a professional Yanhuang Martial Arts coach. He integrated these new skills into his martial arts practice.]

In simple terms, Bai Qige now had a new entry for a Level 1 Yanhuang Martial Arts in his Fate Interface, which included Basic Knife Skills, Basic Boxing, and Basic Step Skills at varying levels.

Once Bai Qige improved his basic knife skills, he realized how wrong his previous techniques were. Each basic knife move had its own special techniques like breath control, footwork, form, and power. He understood that proper technique was essential to maximize the power of his strikes.

With his newfound skills, Bai Qige dedicated himself to practicing diligently. Zhao Liang, impressed by his hard work, started teaching him more advanced techniques. After fifteen days of intense training, Bai Qige focused on mastering the basic knife techniques under Zhao Liang’s guidance.

Meanwhile, at the Martial Arts School, there was a commotion between a wealthy young man accompanied by bodyguards and a handsome, confident martial artist. A beautiful girl stood by the martial artist’s side, looking impatient.

"What’s going on over there?"

When Bai Qige asked this, Zhao Liang’s eyes lit up, showing his extraordinary gossip talent. He went on and on, explaining the relationships and developments in detail.

The girl’s name is Tang Jiaorong, Tang An’s granddaughter. She is both beautiful and well-mannered. The handsome young man is named Long Aotian, who is Tang Jiaorong’s classmate at the same school. He claims to come from a common family, but Zhao Liang noticed he had an air of elegance, possibly a wealthy man pretending to be poor.

The wealthy young man is from a big corporation, a typical rich third generation. He is also a classmate of Tang Jiaorong and Long Aotian. He has a bad character, indulging in luxuries. Now, he has his eyes on Tang Jiaorong, wanting to pursue her. Tang Jiaorong seems to have a flirtatious relationship with Long Aotian, leading to jealousy and conflict.

Bai Qige was not surprised by the love triangle drama among the three, but amazed by Zhao Liang’s gossip abilities. He knew every detail, which was quite a talent.

"Of course, I know everything clearly. Tang Jiaorong is the curator’s granddaughter. Do you remember what the curator told you when you joined? If you work hard, he might promise Tang Jiaorong to you as your fiancée! Although no one takes it seriously, meeting her in person does make one pay more attention!"

Within the Martial Arts School, there are clear distinctions in status based on skill levels. There are levels for Tang Jiaorong’s future boyfriend, current boyfriend in name, and fiancé. No one has reached the level of being Tang Jiaorong’s husband yet because no one has become a master under Tang An’s guidance.

People within the Martial Arts School joke about it, but if outsiders hear, they would be surprised at Tang Jiaorong’s status, having over a hundred boyfriends and about ten fiancés, and yet all these men can coexist peacefully!

The conflict between the wealthy young man and Long Aotian escalated from an argument to a physical fight. Long Aotian seemed skilled in martial arts, both in offense and defense, but the wealthy young man’s professional bodyguards were strong and experienced in fighting. Long Aotian quickly found himself at a disadvantage, until Tang Jiaorong got angry, scolded them, and stopped the fight.

The young master was feeling proud, and warned Long Aotian to be careful and stay away from Tang Jiaorong. He threatened to fight Long Aotian every time they met if he didn’t obey. Long Aotian was very upset and angry.

"How dare you treat me like this! I, Long Aotian, am a proud man and I will seek revenge for today’s humiliation."

Long Aotian shouted angrily, after a few rounds of arguing, the young master smirked and said:

"Hmph, I’m not afraid of you! Aren’t you the ‘proprietor’ of the basketball society? You even joined Jiaorong’s martial arts society as a vice ‘proprietor’ just to chase Tang Jiaorong. Let’s have a double match – first basketball, each of us brings a team. If you lose, you have to kneel in front of everyone and swear to give up chasing Tang Jiaorong! If you win, I will have a martial arts match with you to seek revenge. What do you say?"

"Hmph, I will show you what unbeatable despair feels like!"

Long Aotian agreed firmly, and Bai Qige, watching, seemed somewhat doubtful.

"Such youthful arrogance. If I were that young master, I wouldn’t resort to such childish revenge. I’d just have someone poison Long Aotian, with a bunch of female hormones, causing impotence and gender change. Let’s see how you two lovers turn into buddies. And Long Aotian, why make a bet with the young master at a time like this? Competition over pride – even if you win, so what? If you don’t eliminate evil, troubles will never end!"

Bai Qige muttered to himself, looking sinister. Having mingled in society for years and spent a lot of time in the lower ranks, he had dealings with all sorts of people. He was normally kind and friendly but once crossed, he would be ruthless – as shown by his killing of all the people in the Four Tiger Gang.

Begging for mercy? Surrender? Betrayal? No, I don’t need any of that. Since we have fought as enemies, only one of us can survive. His basic principle was to eradicate evil completely, to ensure no future trouble. This harsh approach was his way of surviving in Middle-earth World for the past three years.

Bai Qige didn’t care about the disagreement between Long Aotian, the young master, and Tang Jiaorong. But when he casually glanced at them, a virtual interface suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

[Detected intertwining of fate, starting to materialize into a task to help Long Aotian win the bet, reward task experience 100 points, do you accept!?]