41: First test of your prowess, fight!

“Eight-dollar spicy hotpot is here!”

The stall owner brought over two bowls of enticing, fragrant spicy hotpot.

“Eat.”

Shen Bei waved his hand.

Jian Tong didn’t mind eating spicy hotpot; as long as Shen Bei was there, anything was fine.

It wasn’t the food itself that mattered when eating.

It was the person.

Jian Tong brushed her hair aside, stirred the pot with her chopsticks, took a large bite, and ate with a wide grin, sweat beading on her forehead.

“Is it good?” Shen Bei asked.

Jian Tong’s movements were gentle yet unpretentious, radiating a beauty that combined purity and desire, as she giggled foolishly: “So good.”

“Eat more, there will be many rounds tonight.”

“Hmm?”

“Are you scared sleeping alone?” Shen Bei asked gradually.

Jian Tong’s delicate face flushed crimson, the petite girl like melted spring snow, carrying the alluring charm of budding peach blossoms, softly humming in response.

Shen Bei looked at her exquisite face, absolutely flawless, and licked his lips: “I’m scared too, what should we do?”

Jian Tong lowered her voice, saying very carefully: “How should I know?”

Shen Bei watched as fine beads of sweat from eating the spicy hotpot clung to Jian Tong’s long hair.

Her peach-blossom and apricot-shaped eyes, with crimson eyeshadow at the corners, and her moist, luscious lips slightly parted, she was breathing lightly.

Her face was beautiful; just looking at her made him think of a bed, and of intimate union.

Shen Bei coughed, shamelessly saying: “Then I’ve made arrangements, alright.”

“Whatever you say.” Jian Tong’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.

In Jian Tong’s view, taking the first step would infuriate that little vixen Yu Qiuyi!

Jian Tong’s intuition was very accurate; the moment Yu Qiuyi appeared, she felt that this little vixen definitely had designs on Shen Bei.

She really doesn’t put this old lady in her eyes!

Shen Bei is mine!

No one can lay a finger on him!

At this moment, Shen Bei, having received Jian Tong’s implicit consent, was delighted.

It’s settled!

Just as he had expected, the foundation of their friendship as deskmates over the past few years was already in place.

He just wanted to get with her, not perform at the Spring Festival Gala, so it wasn’t that difficult after all.

Get on the bus first, buy the ticket later!

Who told him he was the Champion? He could play it this way.

Just as the two were in an extremely ambiguous atmosphere.

In a small, dark alley across from the spicy hotpot stall, two gloomy and cold gazes were fixed on Shen Bei.

A woman’s voice, tinged with hatred, rang out:

“Do you see that boy across the way?”

The other man nodded.

The woman spoke again: “He is the Champion of this Martial Arts, and also a future member of the privileged class.”

The man, carrying an uncontrollable surge of murderous intent, spoke in a cold voice that seemed to be forced through his teeth: “I hate privilege; they only exploit this world! It’s not fair!”

“Exactly! Incurable, yet shameless, self-righteous, believing the world should be this way! Unforgivable!”

The woman lowered her voice, making it sound somewhat hoarse: “We must nip him in the bud! This student is just the Champion; he certainly hasn’t condensed his Qi and blood, tempered his bones, nor does he know any Martial Skills. He has brute strength but no combat power.”

“And you are a First-Rank Martial Artist. I’ll keep watch and look for an opportunity; you go and kill him!”

The man revealed a mouthful of grim white teeth: “Good!”

...

“Oh, by the way.”

Jian Tong wiped her mouth and said earnestly: “You are the Champion now, and the Martial Arts University will definitely give you rewards and resources. You need to plan them wisely.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Shen Bei said with a rather suggestive tone: “I only want to worry about you.”

Jian Tong tilted her head, giving Shen Bei a death glare; why did that sound a bit off?

Soon.

After finishing the spicy hotpot.

Shen Bei took Jian Tong for a stroll on the street to digest.

Her pure and beautiful face appeared even more stunning in the night, and the bright moon paled in comparison to her beauty.

They played with an air rifle, shooting balloons for a while.

Then they tried to grab dolls at a claw machine.

After a long walk.

They had eaten and played.

It was time for serious business.

The two took a shortcut, turning into a less crowded street to return to the hotel.

Just then.

A man walked towards them from the opposite direction.

The man’s eyes were intense, openly staring at Shen Bei.

Shen Bei pulled Jian Tong to the right to make way.

But the man also moved in Shen Bei’s direction.

“Hmm?”

Shen Bei wondered if the man opposite him was sick?

Although the sidewalk wasn’t wide, he had already made way, so why was the man still walking directly towards him?

The two sides got closer and closer.

Shen Bei vaguely heard the man muttering something like “True God above” and “Walking the Dao for the Lord.”

It was those crazy missionaries again!

Shen Bei hated encountering such people.

Moreover, Shen Bei also felt that the man’s undisguised gaze seemed to be directed at him.

He hadn’t had any contact with these fanatics before.

The next moment.

The man’s steps quickened, and at the same time, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a sharp, cold dagger!

Then, the man’s walk turned into a sprint.

Shen Bei’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

He abruptly pushed away Jian Tong, who was still walking with her head down, her cheeks flushed.

“Ah…” Jian Tong stumbled, falling on her bottom, collapsing to one side. She called out groggily: “Shen Bei! What’s wrong with you! Is this how you push someone, you—”

Before Jian Tong could finish her sentence, she suddenly saw a strange man wielding a dagger, running forward, lunging, already close to Shen Bei, aiming for Shen Bei’s carotid artery.

“Watch out!”

Jian Tong screamed in extreme panic.

At this moment, Shen Bei remained calm in the face of danger. Although he didn’t understand why this stranger was attacking him.

But from his movements, it seemed he was a Martial Artist!

Presumably, the man’s strength was immense; even if he struck a shoulder, he could dislocate and shatter the shoulder joint.

Shen Bei’s movements were even faster.

His toes gripped the ground fiercely, as if he had merged with the earth, and his body tilted sharply to the right.

His entire body formed a 45-degree angle with the ground.

Yet he did not fall!

The dagger thrust by the man missed.

His pupils instantly froze, his eyes becoming vacant, and he paused for a moment in a daze.

“Horse Stance?”

A cold glint flashed in the man’s eyes: “How is this possible!”

A student cultivating before the Martial Arts Exam, and still becoming the Champion of Lingnan City, this was truly unbelievable!

And Shen Bei took advantage of the man’s momentary dazed.

His previously tilted body suddenly bounced back.

And he quickly advanced, swinging his arm out fiercely!

This was a move from basic boxing, a sweeping strike!

This “sweep” was like a club being swung, hitting the man’s chest.

The man, weighing nearly two hundred jin, was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into the garage wall.

He stuck to the wall for two or three seconds, then slowly slid down like a painting.

When he fell, his pupils were dilated, and he opened his mouth, desperately gasping for air like a fish out of water.

The man was once again utterly stunned.

“What! Not only did he Cultivate Horse Stance early, but he also learned basic boxing?”

At this moment, the man’s eyes were bloodshot, filled with boundless venom and hatred.

He had just gotten up when Shen Bei, filled with a sense of mockery, mischief, and curiosity, took the initiative to attack, taking a sudden step, pushing off with his soles and toes, causing his entire body to surge with power.

With a whoosh, his entire body moved like a snake darting through grass.

His right leg snapped out, delivering a leg whip that even produced a crisp sound.

But the man agilely used the momentum to bounce back, and instead, he smiled, his weakness exposed!

He reached back and grabbed Shen Bei’s ankle.

Shen Bei could only support himself with his palms on the ground to maintain balance.

“Hmph! Still too green! Both basic boxing and Martial Skills are useless things! Go meet the True God!”

The man had intended to pull Shen Bei into his embrace and then stab him in the heart with a dagger.

But Shen Bei grabbed a handful of sand from the ground with his right hand and threw it directly at the man’s face.

“Damn it!”

The sand got into the man’s eyes, immediately making him unable to open them. He let go of Shen Bei, grumbling and rubbing his eyes.

Shen Bei relentlessly pursued, turning his claw into a palm, his five fingers pressed together, like the flat head of a venomous snake darting up from its belly, striking at the man’s chin.

The man heard the whoosh of air and immediately raised his head.

Shen Bei’s strike missed, but he didn’t pull back. Instead, he used the momentum to jab two fingers into the man’s eyes.

The man’s eyes were poked out, his eyeballs hanging from their sockets like purple grapes. Blood streamed down his face.

He collapsed to the ground. A sound like a broken bellows came from his throat.

“Damn, damn, damn! My eyes!!! Ah!!!”

And Shen Bei’s eyes were filled with a high and mighty contempt:

“Are you really a Martial Artist? I think I overestimated you.”