During the daytime classes,
Lu Chenzhou hadn’t received his assessment results yet, but he overheard a conversation among Liu Huan and others gossiping about the list of those who had been eliminated.
There were quite a few with whom he had a decent relationship.
Liu Huan felt that, whether they stayed at the school or not, everyone had been classmates for a year, and the bonds of friendship were long-lasting, so he invited the six eliminated students to have dinner together in the evening.
Lu Chenzhou thought it was a good idea and even said that he would treat everyone that night.
He had been helped by his classmates for so long and wanted to express his gratitude.
At six in the evening,
Apart from the two eliminated students who didn’t want to come and had already left dejectedly, all the other students arrived, and Lu Chenzhou ordered a banquet worth over ten thousand yuan and paid in advance.
At the dinner table, Liu Huan stood up with a glass of juice and said,
"Let’s first thank Chenzhou for treating us! What a generous host!" Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel·fire.net
Huo Tianyu also stood up, showing his tiger teeth with a giggling smile,
Liu Quanhai looked at Chenzhou and inwardly admired him,
"Chenzhou is really generous."
Everyone knew Chenzhou’s family wasn’t wealthy. However, people generally didn’t talk about their financial situations at school to prevent those from ordinary families from feeling inferior and creating a divide.
Besides, in Martial Arts, strength is what’s respected.
Bragging about family wealth truly lacks vision.
Lu Chenzhou laughed and said,
"Everyone, eat and drink well. I arrived late, and I only passed my cultural courses thanks to everyone’s help. No matter where we are in the future, we’re all part of the Dragon City class of ’20!"
"Yeah, let’s keep in touch."
"Right, even if you go to other martial arts schools, you can still apply to Dragon City Martial Arts University."
They all encouraged the classmates who had been eliminated.
The eyes of the eliminated classmates were red.
"Then let’s meet at Dragon City Martial Arts University. I’ll definitely train hard! But speaking of which, Chenzhou, you are truly awesome, breaking through two realms in three months."
"Seriously, did you awaken the Martial Bone Dao Embryo or something?"
"Rumor has it you’ve already been rated Class A? Is it true?"
The classmates truly admired Lu Chenzhou, who despite having the worst conditions, managed to leap to the front ranks of the class in just three months.
Lu Chenzhou laughed and said,
"The results haven’t been released yet."
"If they haven’t come out yet, then it’s a sure thing."
"Exactly, everyone else’s results are out, just not yours. You must have stirred up the higher-ups with a Class A rating. Nothing more to say, prepare to treat us!"
"Hehehe, it’s treat time!"
Everyone was eating and drinking, joking around, and having a great time.
Halfway through the banquet, Liu Huan sneaked out to the front desk.
"Hello, I’d like to pay the bill."
The front desk lady replied,
"Hello, Sir, your private room has been paid for by Mr. Lu."
Liu Huan frowned slightly,
"Didn’t I ask you to wait for me to pay..."
The lady at the desk was also somewhat helpless,
"Well, Mr. Lu insisted on paying, and there was nothing we could do."
Liu Huan felt a bit guilty.
He was actually just joking with Lu Chenzhou; he didn’t seriously want his good brother to spend money. To him, ten thousand yuan was a trifling amount, but for Chenzhou, it meant teaching private lessons for a month.
He helplessly returned to the private room.
By nine o’clock, because many classmates still had to go back to cultivate "Practicing Heavenly Pile," the banquet dispersed, and those who were eliminated would have to leave the school on the rest day tomorrow.
Lu Chenzhou sighed endlessly.
The dark night had no stars, and clouds enveloped the sky.
On his way back to the dorm, Lu Chenzhou took a well-trodden shortcut.
He treaded across the mountain and forest, striding rapidly.
Suddenly, his ears pricked up to the rustling sounds around him. A sense of alertness rose in his heart, and he looked around like a startled cat, his body tensed. The Fifth Rank Qi-Blood surged through his bones and internal organs, vaguely emitting a sound like the roar of tigers and leopards.
"Could it be that Black Knights have infiltrated?"
He positioned one hand in a ready stance and had already pulled out his phone from his pocket with the other, ready to dial for help. It wasn’t until he saw a pair of luminous green eyes in the dense underbrush, and with an "ao" sound, a huge black shadow pounced at him, that Lu Chenzhou finally saw clearly—it was an African male lion. It had a scar on its face, and due to its mane, it looked slightly chubbier than Brother Tiger.
"Damn! The lion from the zoo has run out."
Lu Chenzhou recognized this lion, known as "Scar Brother."
He retreated and dodged to avoid the lion’s pounce. Suddenly, another rush of wind came from behind, and in the grass behind him, there was another lion.
It was smaller in size, clearly a lioness.
Although Lu Chenzhou was a Fifth Rank Martial Artist, he didn’t fancy being slapped by the paw of a several-hundred-pound feline. He pushed his "Mountain Crossing Body" technique to its limit, his right foot stamped the ground, borrowing the rebound force explosively. In a way that surpassed common understanding, he changed direction during his momentum, narrowly dodging the attack. Still, the sharp claws snagged his training clothes, and he even felt the cold sensation of those claws grazing his back.
A male and a female—these two lions had no beastly honor. One feigned an attack from the front, while the other launched a sneak attack from behind. The memories of hunting on the great plains still lingered in their bloodlines. It’s said that ferocious animals often act alone, but lions are social and particularly adept at team hunting. Luckily, Lu Chenzhou was a master of Dark Strength; an ordinary Third Rank Martial Artist would have had slim chances of survival.
Lu Chenzhou’s eyes grew cold. He had killed before, but these two lions likely had not. He roared, and an intangible Tiger Evil presence surged skyward!
This roar exploded in the night at Fangshan, and in an instant, fear instinctively gripped the two lions. The noble male lion instinctively backed off, while the lioness stood frozen. Lu Chenzhou stepped forward aggressively, turning defense into attack. He dodged the male lion’s claw strike while grabbing onto its mane with his right hand—a natural defense against other contenders for territory, but against the terrifying bipedal ape, it was as if bearing white elephant tusks. Lu Chenzhou bellowed, his organs vibrated in unison, his bones clanked like gears and metal, and the Fifth Rank Black Tiger Dark Strength erupted, sending the four-hundred-plus-pound creature flying. He then turned his body to the right, gathering power, and delivered a side whip kick to the lion’s head!
The male lion was sent flying, bloodied and wounded.
It was resilient enough not to be killed instantly. Learning from the past experience at the Xuancheng Bureau, Lu Chenzhou didn’t intend to kill this long-serving employee of the zoo. With his strength, if not for an unexpected sneak attack, the two lions couldn’t have touched a hair on him.
Seeing things had gone awry, the lioness had already slinked away.
Lu Chenzhou dialed the Fangshan Zoo management’s number.
"Hello, the lions from the Lion Park have escaped."
"Is everything alright? We’ve been looking for them."
Lu Chenzhou told the staff the location, then returned to his dormitory. He took a photo of his back with his phone, noticing only a few red marks, without any breaks in the skin.
"Proficient level of Arhat Skill and cross-training, plus a Fifth Rank body, are already enough to withstand the ferocity of lions and tigers... But that’s also because I dodged. The lion’s claws only grazed me. If it were a direct claw strike, it probably would’ve broken through."
After changing his clothes, he went to the school infirmary for a vaccine shot. Although the possibility of infection was minuscule given his physical condition, it’s better to err on the side of caution.
"This Scar Brother really doesn’t learn."
Atop Fangshan, Master Wang had just closed his eyes, ready to sleep, when he was jolted awake by a sudden roar. His perception was better than a drone’s. He took a distant look and saw Lu Chenzhou fighting the male lion in the mountains. Knowing that the lion was no match, he didn’t intervene, merely instructing the staff to search for the lion.
"Killing changes a person, scaring off the lions. This lad’s ’Black Tiger Fist’ isn’t just well-practiced; it feels like he’s even condensed a bit of evil Qi."
Evil Qi, though elusive, is actually a kind of energy that Martial Artists can grasp at profound levels of Martial Arts—normally only accessible to Martial Artists. But some people, before becoming Martial Artists, stumbled onto it by happy accident, which isn’t particularly strange.
He made a phone call and told the staff:
"Deliver ten boxes of Qi Replenishing Agent to the young man as compensation tomorrow."
"Sure, Director... but these sorts of things are usually compensated with five boxes, right?"
"I said ten boxes, so it’s ten boxes. Why all the fuss?"
"Alright, alright, I’ll do it. Sigh, Scar Brother’s value has just skyrocketed by 120,000..."
Master Wang yawned and continued sleeping.
His heart ached, such a promising young talent, and all to Dragon City’s benefit!
Just thinking about having to get up early tomorrow to practice Heavenly Pile... added misery upon misery.
"When will these bitter days come to an end!"