"Don't be so cold. Today is serious business. Aren't you engaged? We won't bother you anymore. Who dares to fight with Young Master Xu for a woman?" Gong Wentao waved to Dongfang Tingyin, inviting her to sit down.
"Let me introduce you. This is Su Fan, from the Su family. This is Ye Xingchen from the Ye family in the capital. This is Yang Zhen from the Yang family. Tingyin, you know me, so I won't introduce myself."
Gong Wentao introduced the people present to Su Fan.
Yang Zhen, wearing glasses, had a cold expression, while Ye Xingchen, with a smug look, was also present.
"Su family?" Dongfang Tingyin looked at Su Fan with a strange expression.
Did she not know if Su Fan was a member of the Su family? How did Su Fan become a member of the Su family?
"Originally, I planned to introduce Su Fan to everyone later. Since everyone is here today, let's formally discuss the matter of the quota competition."
Gong Wentao came to the new city for the quota to the inheritance land, and their goals were all the same.
"It's a bit difficult to get a quota relying solely on our individual strength, so I want to cooperate with you all, at least to secure one quota. As for who ultimately gets the quota, we'll discuss it later. Regardless of who it goes to, compensation will be given to everyone present."
Gong Wentao explained the competition to everyone without reservation.
Everyone present was a martial artist, so there was no need to hide anything.
"Cooperation is certainly fine, but is he qualified?"
Ye Xingchen said coldly, his gaze fixed on Su Fan, unfriendly.
Su Fan raised an eyebrow. Did this guy dislike him?
"Are you a locksmith? What does it matter if I'm qualified or not?"
"Xingchen, don't make trouble. I've seen Su Fan's strength, and it's enough to join us," Gong Wentao stepped in to mediate.
"I don't believe it. Unless you fight me," Ye Xingchen said expressionlessly to Su Fan, not believing in Su Fan's strength.
"You can fight later. Aren't you going to ask for my opinion on cooperation? I have no interest in the inheritance land. You guys can play by yourselves," Dongfang Tingyin interrupted their conversation.
With that, she stood up and left. She had no interest in the inheritance land at all. Someone from her family would represent them in the competition, so she didn't need to act.
"Hey, Tingyin!" Gong Wentao tried to call Dongfang Tingyin back, but she left without looking back.
Su Fan, however, did not leave. He was quite interested in the inheritance land.
"Brother Su, please don't mind. Xingchen's personality is just like that," Gong Wentao explained to Su Fan, trying to defuse the conflict between Su Fan and Ye Xingchen.
"I understand. It's just that he doesn't approve of my strength. You can name a place, and we'll have a match tomorrow," Su Fan nodded. If he wanted to join this group, he couldn't resolve this issue with Ye Xingchen.
Only Gong Wentao spoke up for Su Fan. Yang Zhen, on the other hand, remained silent, smiling at Su Fan, unsure of what he was thinking.
"Alright, Liwu Martial Hall. See you tomorrow noon."
Ye Xingchen told Su Fan a location and then also got up and left.
Yang Zhen smiled and followed suit.
Seeing that there was nothing else, Su Fan also left.
Gong Wentao watched the people leave in an instant and shook his head helplessly.
He had invited them to discuss cooperation for the quota, but they left before even discussing the main business. What was this?
...
After returning home, Su Fan began to find ways to improve his strength. He suggested a match tomorrow because he was worried about his insufficient strength.
Su Fan did nothing else that night, moving in and out of the game, almost to the point of insomnia.
Su Fan brought many items out of the game.
First, there were attribute pills. He brought out dozens more.
Next were the items. He took out all the items he could, storing them in a safe at home to study later.
Then came the equipment. Su Fan found a few white-grade items and enhanced them to +8 before bringing them out.
They didn't add any stats, but their defense was not low. However, after being brought into reality, they changed.
Bronze Helmet
Protects the head, incredibly tough.
Bronze Armor
Protects the body, incredibly tough.
Horse Boots
Protects the feet, incredibly tough.
From their descriptions, they were useless. He tried them on and found them to be equally useless.
"It seems I can only place my hope on the attribute pills," Su Fan sighed. The white-grade equipment was indeed useless when brought out. He felt it would be a loss even to sell them as scrap metal.
Su Fan casually threw them in a corner.
Su Fan began to take pills again.
He had already consumed nearly a hundred attribute pills, and their effects were gradually diminishing. He wondered how many it would take to reach his limit.
Su Fan stuffed more than ten pills into his mouth at once.
After taking them so many times, Su Fan still couldn't get used to the taste, which was both astringent and bitter.
The medicinal power transformed into a warm current, flowing through his limbs and bones, enhancing his body's functions.
A warm current surged from Su Fan's dantian.
"Damn! I'm going to fart again!"
With his previous experience, Su Fan thought he was going to fart again.
Suddenly, Su Fan felt something was wrong. This warm current did not flow in his dantian, and Su Fan's feeling grew stronger. He could feel that this "warm current" contained immense energy, and he could even control the warm current to move within his body.
"True Qi!"
Su Fan suddenly remembered the description of true qi recorded in his cultivation technique. His body had actually produced true qi!
Was it because he had taken too many attribute pills?
Su Fan stuffed more attribute pills into his mouth. After swallowing them, the medicinal power was digested. This time, Su Fan's physique did not increase further; instead, the true qi in his body became larger and more abundant.
Su Fan immediately understood. His body had reached its limit, and true qi was the product of breaking through that limit.
Su Fan burst into laughter. He had been worried about how to use his cultivation technique without true qi. Now he had it, and he didn't need to cultivate; as long as he took pills, his true qi would grow!
Su Fan consumed all the remaining attribute pills. His true qi grew from the size of a soybean to the size of an egg.
"I wonder about its power?"
To test the power of his true qi, Su Fan walked out to the main road.
He channeled his true qi and used "Meteor Chasing the Moon."
Whoosh!
Su Fan shot out like an arrow, his speed astonishing.
He covered a hundred meters in just two to three seconds.
Su Fan then threw a punch. His fist speed was incredibly fast, to the point where afterimages were visible, and there were even popping sounds like sonic booms.
With true qi, Su Fan was full of confidence for the match today. He drove to the Liwu Martial Hall that Ye Xingchen had mentioned yesterday.
Liwu Martial Hall was a martial arts dojo. Its owner was a servant of the Ye family, much like Gong Wentao.
Although these ancient martial families did not directly participate in worldly affairs, they had cooperative relationships with some businessmen in the secular world. For example, Liwu Martial Hall belonged to the Ye family, and the Paradise Bird Bar belonged to the Gong family. In any case, they never had to worry about money in the outside world; someone would be responsible for their expenses.
"Brother Su, you're finally here," Gong Wentao greeted Su Fan enthusiastically.
He intended to continue discussing the matters that were not concluded yesterday after the match.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time," Ye Xingchen, the show-off, stood on the stage, looking down at Su Fan.
"You can wait, but you didn't say what time," Su Fan said helplessly, shrugging.
Yesterday, Ye Xingchen only said noon, but he didn't specify the exact time. Arriving at eleven was still noon, and it wasn't even twelve yet.
"Enough talk, get up here," Ye Xingchen was too lazy to banter with Su Fan.
It wasn't easy for a family that hadn't been in the martial world for years to re-emerge. Today, he would show this Su Fan the gap between them!
"Why are you in such a hurry, young man?" Su Fan said as he slowly walked onto the stage.
This kind of stage was different from a boxing ring. It was larger and had no railings. It was not high; a normal person could jump onto it.
After Su Fan got on the stage, Ye Xingchen sneered at him.
"Heh, today I'll show you if you're qualified to join us!" As soon as Ye Xingchen finished speaking, he charged at Su Fan with incredible speed, reaching him in the blink of an eye.
However, Ye Xingchen's speed seemed like a turtle's crawl to Su Fan. It was too slow.
Su Fan easily dodged.
"Too slow. Let me show you what speed really is!"
Ye Xingchen only saw a blur, and Su Fan had disappeared.
"What!"
Ye Xingchen was shocked. He hadn't realized how Su Fan had vanished.
"I'm behind you."
Su Fan's voice came from behind Ye Xingchen.
Ye Xingchen immediately realized something was wrong. He hadn't expected Su Fan to be so fast.
"Iron Cloth Skill!"
Ye Xingchen immediately used his external martial art. Although he wasn't proficient in it, he couldn't dodge now.
Su Fan punched Ye Xingchen's back, feeling as if he had hit a stone.
Ye Xingchen staggered forward a few steps, unharmed.
Su Fan was also somewhat surprised.
Ye Xingchen's defense was surprisingly strong.
In fact, it wasn't that Ye Xingchen's defense was strong, but he had used his true qi, consuming a large amount of it to increase the defense of his Iron Cloth Skill.
Su Fan's punch had consumed more than half of his true qi. Even so, he had almost been injured.
"You surname Su, you've angered me!"
Ye Xingchen said with a dark expression.
According to their previous agreement, Su Fan's strength had already been tested and was sufficient to join them. However, at this moment, Ye Xingchen didn't care about anything else. He felt utterly humiliated and had to regain his face by crushing Su Fan under his feet!
"Then you're quite hot-tempered, getting angry already?" Su Fan teased.
Ye Xingchen channeled his remaining true qi into his fists, and a pair of fists burning with flames appeared. This was the Ye family's ultimate technique, the Blazing Flame Fist!
The Ye family's cultivation techniques focused not on defense or speed, but on lethality!
"Oh, a fiery monkey!"
Su Fan looked at Ye Xingchen's burning fists with a strange expression.
Aren't you walking right into my trap?
Playing with fire? Your Brother Su is the ancestor!
Ye Xingchen attacked Su Fan again, the flames on his fists growing more intense. As he neared Su Fan, the flames almost enveloped him.
"Blazing Flame Fist!"
Ye Xingchen roared and struck Su Fan with his fiery fists.
Su Fan stood still, letting himself be hit by Ye Xingchen's fiery fists, as if he were scared stiff.
"Brother Su! Dodge!" Gong Wentao shouted from below.
He was afraid Su Fan would be killed by Ye Xingchen. What if the Su family came looking for trouble?
Even though the Su family hadn't been in the martial world for many years, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. His Gong family couldn't compare to great families like the Ye family. If the Su family held a grudge, the Gong family would definitely not be able to protect him.
Flames instantly engulfed Su Fan, completely surrounding him.
"It's over!"
Gong Wentao was instantly panicked. Ye Xingchen had attacked too ruthlessly. He needed to think about how to distance himself from Ye Xingchen to avoid being implicated.