230: Chapter 230 Protection Fee

"What rules?" Gao Feng asked indifferently.

"Rules?" A tall, thin lackey behind Zhang Biao let out a weird laugh. He stepped forward and poked Gao Feng in the chest with his finger. "The rule is that all newcomers must pay an 'initiation fee' to Brother Biao! Hand over the contribution points you received this month obediently, and Brother Biao will look after you from now on, guaranteeing that no one will dare to bully you!"

"That's right! If you're smart, hand them over quickly to avoid physical suffering!" another short, fat lackey also clamored.

So it was extortion for protection money.

Gao Feng understood instantly. Such things were common in every world and every social stratum.

He shook his head and said calmly, "I don't have any contribution points."

The thirty contribution points he had earned from his hard work chopping firewood this month had long been saved for future use, so naturally, he couldn't hand them over to these thugs.

"Don't have any?" Zhang Biao's eyes narrowed, flashing with a dangerous light. "Kid, are you playing with me? I've inquired about it; you haven't taken a single day off this month and have received a full thirty contribution points! Don't be ungrateful, damn it!"

"I said I don't have any, and I mean it." Gao Feng's tone remained indifferent, but it carried an unquestionable air.

As a dignified Emperor, how could he bow his head to a few low-class nobodies?

"Good! Good! Good!" Zhang Biao laughed in extreme anger. He threw the axe in his hand onto the ground with a loud "clang" and twisted his neck, which made a cracking sound. "It seems that if I don't loosen your muscles and bones, you won't know who you're dealing with!"

"Get him! Beat him until he hands them over!"

Following Zhang Biao's order, the two lackeys behind him immediately lunged at Gao Feng with sinister smiles!

Although these two were only at Qi Refining Level One, they thought it was more than enough to deal with a "newcomer" who they perceived as having weak Spiritual Qi and having just joined.

Facing the punches and kicks coming from left and right, Gao Feng's eyes instantly became sharp.

However, he did not use his full strength, which had already recovered to Body Refining Level Three.

He knew that in this Wuxiang Temple, there were eyes everywhere. Once he revealed strength inconsistent with his "newcomer" status, it would inevitably attract unnecessary attention and trouble.

Therefore, he had to endure!

At this moment, he was no longer that Emperor whose every word was law, decisive in killing; he was a special forces soldier from his past life who had crawled through rain of bullets and mastered various combat techniques!

He shifted his footsteps, and his body moved at an extremely tricky angle, narrowly passing through the gaps between the two's fists. At the same time, he thrust his elbow backward, hitting the tall, thin man's ribs right in the soft spot.

"Argh!"

The tall, thin man screamed, his face turning pale from pain, and his attack momentum immediately stalled.

On the other side, the short, fat man missed his punch and was about to change his move, but Gao Feng had already closed in. With a seemingly clumsy turn, his shoulder slammed into the man's chest like a battering ram.

"Bang!"

The short, fat man felt a tightness in his chest, as if he had been rammed by a wild bull. He stumbled back several steps and sat down on the ground, unable to catch his breath for a long time.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye!

Gao Feng's movements had no trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuations; he relied entirely on his precise grasp of human anatomy and his tempered combat techniques to resolve the crisis and repel the two in an instant!

"Trash!"

Seeing that his two subordinates had been repelled by a newcomer in a single encounter, Zhang Biao was furious, and he felt embarrassed.

"Get out of my way!"

He pushed aside the still groaning tall, thin man. His Qi Refining Second Layer Spiritual Qi erupted without reservation. He stomped his foot, sending sand and stones flying, and the whole person became like a fierce tiger descending the mountain. With a powerful, peerless straight punch carrying a whistling wind, he aimed directly at Gao Feng's face!

This punch, containing Spiritual Qi, was far superior to the previous two in both speed and power!

Gao Feng's pupils constricted sharply.

He could dodge, or even take it head-on. With his Physical Body strength at Body Refining Level Three, taking this punch head-on would at most result in a minor injury.

But he couldn't.

He had to continue playing the role of a "weakling."

Therefore, the moment Zhang Biao's fist was about to hit his face, Gao Feng wore a "panicked" expression. He "stumbled" under his feet, as if his legs had gone weak from fear, and his body fell to one side.

His fall looked clumsy, but it happened to avoid the vital point of his face perfectly.

But Zhang Biao's fist still grazed his cheek and finally slammed heavily onto his shoulder!

"Bang!"

A muffled sound!

A tremendous force arrived, and Gao Feng's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the ground several meters away, with a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Hmph, you overestimating fool!"

Zhang Biao, having succeeded with his punch, wore a sinister smile. He stepped forward and stomped on Gao Feng's chest, looking down at him from above, as if looking at an ant that could be crushed at will.

"I'll ask you one last time: are you going to hand over the contribution points or not?"

Gao Feng lay on the ground, coughing violently. A burning pain came from his shoulder, but deep in his eyes, hidden by his messy hair, was icy coldness.

He firmly kept Zhang Biao's appearance and the humiliation he suffered today in his heart.

A gentleman takes his revenge, even ten years later is not too late.

One day, he would return it a hundredfold!

"I... I'll pay..." Gao Feng said with difficulty, his voice filled with humiliation and unwillingness.

He took the cloth bag containing the thirty contribution points from his bosom and threw it at Zhang Biao's feet.

"Wouldn't it have been fine if you did this earlier?" Zhang Biao picked up the cloth bag, weighed it triumphantly, and then kicked Gao Feng hard in the stomach. "Remember, from now on, bring the contribution points to me on time every month! Otherwise, I'll beat you every time I see you!"

After saying this, he took his two lackeys and strode away arrogantly, amidst the awe-struck gazes of the Utility Disciples.

Gao Feng struggled to get up from the ground, silently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and did not say a word. He just bent down to pick up the axe that had been thrown on the ground and limped back to his dilapidated wooden shack.

The surrounding Utility Disciples watched his back with mixed expressions. Some had sympathy, some had pity, but most were numb or gloating.

In this Utility Courtyard where the strong preyed on the weak, such things happened every day.

Returning to that simple, cramped wooden shack, he closed the door, cutting off all outside view.

The expression of humiliation and pain on Gao Feng's face instantly disappeared without a trace, replaced by heart-chilling coldness and calmness.

He checked his injuries; the bone in his shoulder had a slight crack, and the wound at the corner of his mouth was not deep, just some superficial injuries.

For someone who had experienced countless life-and-death tests on the battlefield, these injuries were nothing at all.

But he still couldn't let his guard down.

He immediately sat cross-legged and sank his consciousness into that familiar mysterious space.

Without any hesitation, he used his consciousness to draw out a trace of Spiritual Spring water.

Under his control, that cool spring water precisely covered his injured shoulder and the wound at the corner of his mouth.

The wound at the corner of his mouth, which was still bleeding, stopped bleeding, scabbed over, and fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye the moment it touched the Spiritual Spring water. In just a few short moments, it had recovered as before, without leaving even a trace of a scar.

The bone crack in his shoulder, which was sending waves of intense pain, was also being rapidly repaired under the nourishment of the Spiritual Spring water, and the burning pain was subsiding at an astonishing speed.

A mere Zhang Biao, a mere bit of humiliation, what did they amount to?

What he needed to do now was endure!

Like a venomous snake lurking in the abyss, silently accumulating strength, waiting for the right moment to deliver a fatal blow to all his enemies!

He would make everyone who looked down on him and bullied him pay a bloody price for what they did today!

From this day on, Gao Feng became more silent and even more "cowardly."

He still went to the back mountain to chop firewood first every day and was the last to return. The contribution points he received every month were "obediently" handed over to Zhang Biao.

In everyone's eyes, he was just a piece of trash whose spine had been completely broken, allowing anyone to bully him.

However, no one knew that every night, when the entire Utility Courtyard fell into silence, earth-shaking changes would take place in that "trash's" room.

With the support of the endless Spiritual Spring and Spiritual Qi in his portable space, Gao Feng's cultivation was improving at a terrifying speed, advancing by leaps and bounds!

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

This morning, a rapid and loud bell chime woke all the Utility Disciples who were still in their sleep.

"All Utility Disciples, assemble at the Martial Arts Field immediately! Do not be late!"

The Deacon Monk's voice, containing Spiritual Qi, echoed over the entire Utility Courtyard like rolling thunder.

Gao Feng pushed open his door and saw that the courtyard was already in a flurry. All the Utility Disciples, with a trace of confusion and unease, were gathering toward the Martial Arts Field.

When all one hundred Utility Disciples had arrived, the stern-faced Deacon Monk appeared before them, surrounded by a team of Law Enforcement Disciples wearing black monk robes and exuding fierce auras.

"I have summoned you all today to announce a major event." The Deacon Monk's gaze, like a hawk, slowly swept over every young and anxious face below. "According to Sect rules, all new Disciples who have been in the Sect for a full month must participate in the 'Initiation Trial'!"

"Trial?"

"What kind of trial is it?"

An uncontrollable commotion and murmurs immediately broke out in the crowd.

The Deacon Monk let out a cold snort, and an invisible pressure spread out, instantly making the entire Martial Arts Field quiet again.

"The location of this trial is Dao Hu Mountain."

Dao Hu Mountain!

Hearing this name, many well-informed Disciples' faces changed slightly. They had all heard that it was a dangerous place where Yao Beasts ran rampant, and even Outer Sect Disciples had to be cautious when entering.