Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

Liu Zhu spent the next few hours chatting with the other juniors scattered throughout the Butterfly Loft, trying his best to form relationsh.i.p.s. In this regard he didn't have a ton of success, but he did make a few acquaintances. They were mainly members of minor family clans like the Liu Clan. Others might consider this result lackl.u.s.ter, but he was fine with it. It made sense that he'd only be able to make friends with people on his level, and, well, gossiping and trying to make friends was fun regardless whether it ended up benefiting him or not- not everything had to be about cultivation or politics.

Later in the day, as the rowdier of the guests were beginning to get tipsy and people began to return to their lodgings, an incident took place. Chang Yijun, an important member of a major family and an Early Blood and Viscera Tempering cultivator, harassed a member of a minor family and tried to strong-arm him into selling his sword for less than half the market price. If it were just a matter of money, maybe the one being bullied could've s.u.c.k.e.d it up, but his weapon was a piece of family history, a sword that had been passed down from his grandfather to his father to him. The only way he'd let go of his sword would be if someone could grab it from his cold, dead hands.

The youth struck out against Chang Yijun with his sword, but there was a difference of two stages of cultivation between them and he wasn't able to do anything. Chang Yijun smiled, as if he had been waiting for this response. As he was about to retaliate in "self-defense" he heard the thud of wooden sandals behind him and turned around. Behind him was a 15 or 16 year-old boy in a plain white robe. His face was covered with a gentle, pleasant expression and his head was shaved. The boy greeted Chang Yijun with a smile as Chang Yijun stared at him, confused. "This humble monk asks that you stop what you're doing. Our scriptures don't approve of thievery or envy like you've exhibited today, so I just couldn't stay silent."

Chang Yijun didn't recognize the new arrival, but he could sense their cultivation- they were at Late Blood and Viscera Tempering. He didn't know how close they were to breaking through to Meridian Opening, but whether it was in cultivation or talent, they clearly exceeded Chang Yijun. It wasn't difficult for everyone watching to see this as well, and so everyone had a certain feeling of schadenfreude- Chang Yijun had used his position to pick on someone else, and now an even bigger fish had appeared. After evaluating the situation Chang Yijun immediately apologized and tried to leave, not wanting to anger this hidden dragon more than he already had. Unfortunately for him, he had to embarrass himself quite a bit to do so. He ended up genuflecting and apologizing to the youth he wronged, handing him a small pouch of gold coins before promptly leaving the Butterfly Loft. This resolution was a bit of a letdown for those waiting to see Chang Yijun get his comeuppance, as many of them had been hoping for more of a show. Unfortunately for the onlookers, while Chang Yijun may have been an asshole, he wasn't a fool- whoever had targeted him was definitely part of an influence equal to one of the Five Families, and they weren't an unimportant member of it either- if he tried to act prideful and resist then things would get much, much worse for him. In comparison to pissing off someone who could ruin his life, what was a little bit of money and pride?

Most of the guests in the Butterfly Loft, Liu Zhu included, had watched this scene unfold. Liu Zhu had initially considered helping, but even if he could resist Chang Yijun's blows and force him to back off he couldn't take action since he didn't want to cause a scene while he was trying to hide his identity. Of course it's unlikely that he would've helped even if he wasn't hiding his identity, as he didn't want to anger some major family on someone else's behalf. But the reasoning that he had to stay uninvolved for his own safety was a comforting excuse that made him feel like more of a good person than he actually was. Dozens of excuses like these existed throughout the room, stopping most of the onlookers from doing anything.

Thankfully for the one being harassed, the monk had intervened before things took a turn for the worse. After this incident most conversations began discussing this odd, talented junior. Fortunately the juniors from the Five Families' were just as interested as everyone else, and so a couple of them approached him and figured out what was going on. According the gossip that spread out afterwards, the monk was 'Samten', one of the peak geniuses of The Church Of Ajita Buddha, a force which was part religious organization part sect. In terms of strength it surpassed any single one of the Five Families, but since it was only present on the eastern border of Yutian Country and mainly operated in other countries, Liu Zhu had never seen a member of their church before, let alone such an important member. Today's sighting was rather unusual.

No matter how interested in him Liu Zhu was he couldn't just approach Samten for no reason, so he left soon after this incident and went to sleep. The next morning he awoke early and began brushing up on his refining knowledge. His plans for the day were to study a bit, watch Duan Ping's match against Meng Zhao, and then return to studying. He had initially considered fighting a few matches in the arena himself, but he wasn't particularly interested in fighting more vicious beasts, and even if he could get a match against Meng Zhao he'd just end up losing by a landslide. It'd be less a growth experience and more a bad memory.

Duan Ping's match against Meng Zhao was around 2 PM, but Liu Zhu had to arrive more than an hour early in order to get seats. Apparently Duan Ping had fought a few matches when he arrived in the city and the arena had already seen his strength, causing a large amount of hype to build up around the match. The odds still weren't even, but Duan Ping did a hell of a lot better than Mao Jia in that regard- he was at 1:3 instead of 1:8. Liu Zhu glanced between the arena matches and a refining reference book that he'd picked up yesterday, and when Duan Ping eventually showed up he stowed away his book and began to watch the match in earnest.

"As always, thanks for coming to the Border City Arena today! We have an earth-shattering match for you all, but before I get too into it, we have a message from our sponsor..." As the arena announcer suddenly went from talking about the match to advertising some high-end weapons shop near the center of the city, massive amounts of booing could be heard throughout the arena. Despite this the announcer remained unfazed, concluding the advertis.e.m.e.nt and resuming his announcement about the match. The booing quieted down, the crowd's anger appearing to be gone, but Liu Zhu had a faint premonition that the shop mentioned wouldn't be getting much of a return on their investment- they'd probably have more angry cultivators show up after this match than new customers.

"Ahem, anyways, I'm sure most of you know both contestants in today's match very well! On one hand we have Meng Zhao, the arena's unofficial champion with a 21-match winstreak! On the other hand there's An Gip who appeared two days ago and won four matches in a row! Based off his name it's clear that he didn't even have his parents supporting him, but his power is undisputed! The odds are closing at 1:3.3, showing a clear bias towards our hometown hero, but who knows what surprises might occur! Fight!"

As the announcer went on Liu Zhu stifled his laughter at Duan Ping's fake name, although a small part of him wished that Duan Ping had come up with something worse than 'An Gip', as he clearly had that ability. Despite his amus.e.m.e.nt he didn't focus on this topic for too long, as the match started and stole his attention away. As the match started Duan Ping and Meng Zhao immediately charged towards each other. Duan Ping was holding a sword with a hilt and scabbard made out of some sort of treated wood instead of metal, while Meng Zhao stayed unarmed as before. This situation didn't persist for long though, as after the two first exchanged blows Meng Zhao was put on the back foot and was forced to pull out his weapon. The weapon he took out was a whip made out of a vine, thorns covering everything except the handle. Liu Zhu got excited for a moment since he recognized the species of the vine from one of the herbology books he'd looked at, but he didn't have much time to dwell on this fact before the two clashed once more.

For the first few blows the two were even, but that was just because they were both probing the other. After six or seven blows Meng Zhao began showing off his unfathomable battle experience once more, moving his whip in odd patterns that were extremely difficult for anyone who hadn't used the weapon to follow. The weapon seemed to be made for him as it fluttered through the air, its small movements forcing Duan Ping back over and over and beginning to stack up small wounds. Meng Zhao didn't seem to be giving it his all, only attacking with skillful yet ordinary moves, but Duan Ping was already at a clear disadvantage. If he couldn't start landing blows of his own then he would lose.

Duan Ping ignored the next strike Meng Zhao sent his way, suddenly leaping backwards instead of trying to land a counterattack. Duan Ping stood low to the ground, regulating his breathing and preparing for something. At this point he quietly muttered something, although it was impossible for anyone to hear what. Meng Zhao closed the gap during this time, wanting to land a finishing blow, but then suddenly pulled back, as if noticing some unknown danger. As he did Duan Ping shot out at a speed far faster than he'd displayed before. His sword flashed through the air, cutting towards Meng Zhao's body. The first blow was narrowly deflected by the whip, as was the second, but in the face of Duan Ping's extreme speed Meng Zhao couldn't keep up for long. The third and fourth blows both left non-trivial wounds, and to the audience it seemed the match was going to come to a sudden end.

As Duan Ping was about to land a major blow, Meng Zhao sent his whip out to block it. Duan Ping began to change his angle of attack, unfazed by this attempt to block, but then suddenly part of the whip shot out in a completely inexplicable direction, the second half of it bending in a completely different direction from the first in order to shoot directly at Duan Ping. The speed of the whip wasn't as fast as Duan Ping, but given the positions both were attacking from, he'd be hit by the whip before he could counter it. Gritting his teeth, Duan Ping's muscles bulged and he forcefully abandoned his movement, veering in another direction. Despite his best efforts he slowed down slightly during this period, and with this small gap of time Meng Zhao had sent out a leg, using it to block Duan Ping's way. Duan Ping slammed into the leg, bowling over it, and in the short time he was down Meng Zhao's attack suddenly bared down on top of him. An exhausted Duan Ping stared at the whip, panting on the ground as he watched it approach. Meng Zhao's whip embedded itself into the ground next to Duan Ping, who now seemed almost too exhausted to move, his sudden burst of strength from before completely gone.

"The winner of the match is Meng Zhao!" In response to this announcement a resounding yell burst out throughout the arena along with cheers for both contestants. If nothing else, it had been a heart-pounding match to watch.