"I lost!"
Su Han recalled his two heavily injured contracted spirits. In an instant, his inner demons were all dispelled.
If he had lost narrowly, he might have felt unconvinced, leading to prolonged lingering resentment.
However, being instantly defeated proved that the gap in his strength compared to Chen Shu was too vast, making it impossible to catch up.
In other words, he was giving up on himself.
From now on, he would embrace this idleness with all his might!
"Thank you!"
Su Han said earnestly, feeling a great sense of relief.
"No problem, senior. What are you being so polite to me for!"
"???"
Su Han's lips twitched. He couldn't tell if Chen Shu was scolding him or praising him.
The battle ended, and both of them left the competition stage.
The audience wasn't too surprised by Chen Shu's victory.
After all, Su Han's strength wasn't even as good as Bai Yang's. Back in school, he was only in the top thirty of his grade.
The two returned to the contestant waiting room.
"Chen Shu, are you free tonight? Let's grab a meal?"
Su Han smiled and asked.
"Is it free?"
Chen Shu patted his stomach, feeling a bit hungry.
Su Han replied, "Actually, it's not me treating you to a meal, but someone else!"
"I don't care who it is, as long as it's free, I'll eat even a Hongmen banquet!"
Chen Shu shrugged, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the Kyoto Dou Ling Arena with Su Han.
Half an hour later,
The two arrived at a high-end restaurant where someone was already waiting for them.
"Oh?"
Chen Shu immediately spotted the person with red hair and understood who was treating them.
It was Ling Chen, a member of the Royal Dragon Guard!
"Could it be that my crimes have been exposed? Is this really a Hongmen banquet?"
Chen Shu couldn't help but ponder.
Could an invitation from the Royal Dragon Guard to the Nanjiang Bandit be a good thing?
"Su Han, well done. I didn't expect you to actually bring him here?"
Ling Chen stood up to greet them, a smile playing on his lips.
Su Han nodded and said nothing more.
"Junior Chen Shu, please!"
Ling Chen led Chen Shu into a private room. Besides him, four other people were already seated inside.
"What?!"
Chen Shu's expression, which was originally calm, instantly changed.
He saw a handsome young man sitting there, his face twitching occasionally, and a deep-seated hatred in his eyes.
"Bai Yang?"
Chen Shu turned to look at Ling Chen and asked, "Senior Ling Chen, are you perhaps trying to stand up for him?"
"How could that be?"
Ling Chen smiled and shook his head, "I hope you two can resolve your differences! You are all geniuses of Kyoto, there's no need to be so hostile!"
"Junior, please sit first!"
He smiled and pulled out a chair for Chen Shu, inviting him to sit.
"Su Han, you sit too!"
Ling Chen called out, and then sat down himself.
Apart from Ling Chen and Su Han, the other five people all wore hostile expressions, clearly not very friendly.
"To be frank, I've founded a club, and its members are all top geniuses from Kyoto!"
Ling Chen said with a smile, "The main purpose is resource sharing, where everyone can help each other and grow rapidly!"
"Does it have official backing?"
Chen Shu's expression was calm as he directly asked a crucial question.
Ling Chen replied, "No, it's just something I founded privately!"
Chen Shu glanced at him deeply, not expecting the other party to be so formidable.
A club that gathered Kyoto's top geniuses, to a certain extent, represented the country's new generation.
"I invited you here today for two main reasons. The first is that I hope you will join the club!"
Ling Chen smiled, very confident in his success.
This was a good opportunity to broaden one's network, and almost no one would refuse.
"The second reason is that I hope you and Bai Yang can clear up your misunderstandings!"
As soon as these words were spoken, options appeared before Chen Shu's eyes.
[Option 1: Join the club founded by Ling Chen. Reward: Skill 'Poisonous Wood Restraint' +1]
[Option 2: Politely refuse and leave the restaurant immediately! Reward: Skill 'Violent Sit-down Kill' +1]
[Option 3: Flip out on the spot and beat up Bai Yang! Reward: Skill 'Deathly Fire Pillar' +1]
Just as he was hesitating, someone beside him spoke up.
"Junior Chen Shu, you're younger. How about you offer Bai Yang a toast?"
A young man stood up and said with a smile, "Let's all be harmonious. If anything happens at school in the future, you can tell me!"
Chen Shu turned to look at the person, but did not speak.
Su Han lowered his head and whispered, "Chen Shu, this is Yan Haoran, the president of the Academy's Beast Tamer Association!"
"Bai Yang, you shouldn't just sit there either!"
Ling Chen frowned and said.
Only then did Bai Yang slowly rise, a smile appearing on his lips, and said:
"Junior, if you toast me and apologize, our conflict will be settled! How about it?"
"Bai Yang!"
Ling Chen inwardly cursed his bad luck. Given Chen Shu's temperament, how could he possibly back down first?
"Senior Ling, there's no need to say anything more!"
Chen Shu smiled and asked, "Has Sister Fang Si joined the club yet?"
"Hmm?"
Ling Chen was slightly taken aback, then shook his head and gave a wry smile.
"I invited her, but she refused, and said there was too much pretentiousness inside..."
"..."
Chen Shu couldn't help but let out a laugh.
He suppressed his laughter, turned, and said, "Thank you for the invitation, Senior Ling. I've decided not to join."
Not only was Bai Yang among the members, but so were people from the Academy's Beast Tamer Association. He didn't want to be plotted against every day.
Moreover, he always felt that the club's waters were a bit deep, and Ling Chen was also a bit unfathomable.
"Brother Chen, it seems some people don't think much of our club? Acting all high and mighty, aren't you?"
A young man said sarcastically, with disdain in his eyes.
There were a total of eight people in the private room, four of whom were Silver-ranked. Naturally, they disliked a Bronze-ranked student acting in such a manner.
Furthermore, he had a good relationship with Bai Yang and was the vice president of the Beast Tamer Association, so he naturally spoke up.
"Since someone isn't part of our club, then get lost quickly!"
Bai Yang said, a mocking smile on his lips.
Su Han frowned and said, "Bai Yang, don't go too far!"
"What? Su Han, you want to stick your neck out?"
Bai Yang scoffed, "You've already graduated and aren't even Silver-ranked. Our club's threshold is a bit too low!"
Su Han glared angrily and said, "You?!"
"Senior, there's no need!"
Chen Shu patted Su Han on the shoulder. He wasn't angry at all, but smiled and said:
"Sorry to have disturbed you all!"
With that, he directly left the private room.
"Chen Shu!"
Su Han immediately chased after the departing Chen Shu. It was he who had invited Chen Shu here, and he hadn't expected such a big conflict between them.
"Bai Yang, you don't intend to reconcile with Chen Shu?"
Ling Chen frowned. He could naturally see that Bai Yang was deliberately provoking Chen Shu.
"Boss Ling, you don't need to worry about this matter!"
Bai Yang smiled calmly, but there was a hint of ferocity in his eyes. Although he had lost to Chen Shu, he had plenty of other ways.
If Chen Shu had truly joined the club, it would be difficult for him to make a move.
...
"Chen Shu, Chen Shu!"
Su Han immediately caught up to the leaving Chen Shu, shouting his name repeatedly.
Chen Shu turned around and asked, "What is it, Senior Su Han?"
Su Han quickly said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect it to turn out this way!"
"It's fine, Bai Yang and the Beast Tamer Association and I have some conflicts, it's not your fault!"
Chen Shu shook his head and turned to the restaurant waiter, saying:
"Excuse me, where is the restroom?"
"The club has hundreds of members, you don't need to conflict with them!"
Su Han kept persuading him. Chen Shu was alone and outnumbered, and would surely not be a match for the club.
Chen Shu remained silent and walked directly into the restroom, simultaneously saying:
"Senior, if you have nothing else, please leave quickly. The private room will be gone soon!"
Su Han asked blankly, "What? What will be gone?"