Brawl

Seeing the people from Dragon Slayer and Raging Wind face off, the surrounding students quietly made room for a fighting ring.

Millennial Time did not prohibit Martial Artists or students from fighting each other. The Martial Artist circle had its rules: when a fight broke out, the losing side had to bear the costs and compensate the bar for its losses.

Since Millennial Time opened, it had been rebuilt more than a dozen times. Those had all been battles between high-level Martial Artists that tore the bar apart. As for smaller fights, they happened every other day.

Lin Zhen and Ouyang Yu raised their glasses and drained them at the same time.

Lin Zhen was fast. He finished two jin of high-proof baijiu in less than ten seconds.

After the Sobering Pill took effect, the baijiu was weaker than beer. Lin Zhen had no difficulty drinking it.

Ouyang Yu, on the other hand, stopped after only a few gulps and began coughing violently.

"This liquor... this liquor..." Ouyang Yu wanted to say something, but he saw that Lin Zhen had already emptied his glass.

He had wanted to say that the Sobering Pill was ineffective, but Lei Ming was glaring coldly at him. "Is that all you can drink? If you can't handle it, don't challenge people to a drinking contest. If you disgrace Dragon Slayer, you'll answer for it."

Ouyang Yu had no choice. The matter of the Sobering Pill could not be brought into the open, so he could only pinch his nose and continue drinking.

But it was high-proof baijiu, and two jin at that. Even Martial Artists found it difficult to down in one go. Before Ouyang Yu had drunk even a third, he was already done for.

"Blech!"

He sprayed out a mouthful of liquor. Lin Zhen sidestepped, but Zhu Haoran and Zhang Yi behind him were caught off guard and got splashed all over.

Before they could lose their tempers, Ouyang Yu, with the alcohol going to his head, exploded first.

"Fuck! Beat the hell out of those Raging Wind bastards!"

He raised his glass and hurled it at Lin Zhen. Lin Zhen's Neural Reaction was incredibly fast. He sidestepped again, then lunged forward and threw three consecutive punches.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of fists slicing through the air rang out. Drunken Ouyang Yu had no ability to fight back and was knocked down by Lin Zhen's heavy blows.

The moment both sides started fighting, the Dragon Slayer group, who had come looking for trouble in the first place, immediately joined in.

Zhu Haoran and Zhang Yi had been sprayed with filth and had nowhere to vent their anger. Together with Meng Dong, who had also made his move, the two sides instantly descended into a melee.

Fu Chengya and Lei Ming had not expected things to escalate so quickly. Both reacted at once, locking onto one another and joining the fight.

In an instant, the bar was thrown into chaos. Bottles and plates flew everywhere, tables and chairs toppled over, and the people nearby did not retreat far. Instead, they formed a large circle at a distance and began cheering loudly.

Hearing the sounds of fighting outside, a group of Martial Artists who had been gambling in private rooms rushed out.

When they saw that Dragon Slayer and Raging Wind were fighting, the other Martial Artists said nothing and turned their eyes toward the Martial Artists from those two groups.

By the rules of Martial Artists, those with official Martial Artist titles could not interfere in battles between students. Taking part would mean bullying the weak.

Student ranks corresponded to Warrior Levels. Levels one through three were beginner Warriors, levels four through six were intermediate Warriors, and levels seven through nine were Advanced Warriors.

At the Warrior Level, one primarily trained physical strength, also known as Bright Force.

There was one extremely important hurdle at the Warrior Level: Gene Optimization Potion.

Gene Optimization Potion was an epoch-making invention. It was generally taken at the peak of Level Three Warrior and could greatly increase the human body's potential. Depending on one's talent and fortune, it could significantly improve strength, speed, and Neural Reaction.

Otherwise, relying on training alone, one basically could not advance to Advanced Warrior.

Any Martial Artist capable of hunting in the wilderness had taken Gene Potion. Otherwise, they would be no match at all for those Mutated Beasts.

Beyond the Warrior Level came the War General Level.

Advancing to War General also had a crucial stage. At the peak of Level Nine Warrior, one would take a Qi Sense Assistance Potion to allow a Martial Artist to develop Inner Force.

During the Anno Domini Era, martial arts masters who had achieved success in internal cultivation were all very old. Internal cultivation required accumulation over long years. Once mastered, it allowed one to unleash extraordinary force from every part of the body. Martial Artists called it Dark Force.

Later, after the God Transformation Calendar began, Gene Potion and Qi Sense Assistance Potion were introduced one after another, greatly shortening the time required for Martial Artists to train. Qi Sense Assistance Potion was specially designed to improve a Martial Artist's dantian, generate Qi Sense, and help Martial Artists save a great deal of time in forming Dark Force.

Of course, the success rate of Qi Sense Assistance Potion was not that high. Comprehending Qi Sense mainly depended on a Martial Artist's talent. The potion could only serve as an aid. It would work only if the Martial Artist could comprehend even a little of the circulation of True Qi. This gave those Martial Artists who had initially sensed it but failed to fully grasp it another chance. Many Martial Artists had initially felt Qi Sense but failed to seize it in the end, and this avoided that regret.

Overall, Qi Sense Assistance Potion could raise a Martial Artist's success rate by around thirty percent.

In other words, out of every hundred Martial Artists, only ten might have been able to comprehend Qi Sense and cultivate Dark Force. With the aid of Qi Sense Assistance Potion, forty people could successfully enter the Dark Force stage.

Naturally, all forty of those people had some talent. No amount of potion would help an idiot.

Anyone with an official Martial Artist title was at the War General Level and a master of Dark Force.

At the peak of Level Nine Warrior, one could exert at most one thousand kilograms of force. That was the limit after Gene Optimization, but it still could not compare with a Dark Force master.

Dark Force masters were not only faster, but ordinary firearms could hardly threaten them. With a casual strike, they could unleash several thousand kilograms of force. They were simply not on the same level as Bright Force.

As for the God of War Level above War General, also known as the Transforming Force stage, it involved cultivating Dark Force into every corner of the body, so that every gesture possessed unimaginable power. But that stage could not be achieved with potions. One had to cultivate it personally. Without true genius, one was not qualified to advance to War God. Level Nine War General was the end of the road.

Because the gap in strength was too great, these Dark Force Martial Artists could not participate in student-level battles. That was the rule. The students could only settle it themselves, with victory and defeat determined by their own abilities.

Students were also part of the Martial Artist community. In this era, Martial Artists enjoyed privileges. They were not subject to ordinary laws. Even if a Martial Artist broke the law, it would naturally be handled among Martial Artists. Police officers and judges who were ordinary people had no right to convict a Martial Artist.

The Martial Artists of Raging Wind and Dragon Slayer exchanged glances, but neither side spoke. They could not interfere in this battle and could only wait for the students to determine the victor.

Ouyang Yu had been knocked down by Lin Zhen. Dragon Slayer currently had seven people while Raging Wind had five. Each side had one First Class Student and two Second Class Students. Dragon Slayer had four Level Three Warriors while Raging Wind had two. Dragon Slayer held some advantage, though it was not overwhelming.

Lao Hu of Raging Wind roared, "You little brats, hit them hard! If you win, I'll report to the Guanzhang and reward whoever performs best. If you lose, just wait for me to train the hell out of you!"

The Dragon Slayer side refused to be outdone and said the same thing.

The battle below quickly entered a fever pitch. Fu Chengya faced Lei Ming and a Third Class Student. Meng Dong and Zhang Yi fought two other Third Class Students. Zhu Haoran faced one of the enemy's Second Class Students.

Because Lin Zhen had knocked down Ouyang Yu right from the start, one Second Class Student and one Third Class Student from the other side surrounded him together.

Since they had all just joined the Martial Hall, none of the students had had time to practice cultivation techniques or weapons. They could only fight hand-to-hand. Their fundamentals were solid, and their punches and kicks were fierce, their movements extremely fast.

Zhao Liang and Lao Hu watched anxiously from below. Zhao Liang said, "Lao Hu, things don't look good. They have two more people. Fu Chengya can barely handle Lei Ming alone. With a Third Class Student added in, he'll be lucky if he avoids being knocked down."

"Yeah. The main problem is Lin Zhen. From the looks of it, he'll probably be the first to fall. If he goes down, Meng Dong and Zhang Yi won't be able to hold on either. We might lose badly."

"That's right. We can only hope Lin Zhen holds out for five minutes. As long as he isn't defeated within five minutes, we can intervene in the name of protecting the students and make them stop fighting. But those five minutes won't be easy to endure."

"Not necessarily. Lin Zhen's Neural Reaction is very fast. Maybe he'll give us a surprise."

At that moment, Lao Hu's phone suddenly rang. After answering it and listening to a few words from the other end, he hung up and shouted down below, "The Guanzhang has given the order! Knock down a Third Class Student and get two hundred points! Knock down a Second Class Student and get five hundred Martial Arts Academy Points! A First Class Student is worth two thousand points! Hit them hard!"

Hearing Lao Hu's words, Lin Zhen's heart stirred. There were actually Martial Arts Academy Points as rewards.

Martial Arts Academy Points were extremely important. Normally, one could only obtain them by hunting Mutated Beasts and selling them cheaply to the Martial Hall, or by donating them to the Martial Hall.

Points could be used to buy many goods. Many valuable items required both cash and points, which also prevented good things from falling into outsiders' hands.

Lin Zhen had an entire plan for quickly increasing his strength. One important part of it was earning points, then using them along with the cash in hand to buy urgently needed items.

Since there are point rewards, I have to give it everything I've got and earn some points.

Their Second Class Student is also at the level of a Level Three Warrior. He poses a greater threat to me. One-on-one, I'm completely confident I can defeat him, but this Third Class Student keeps getting in the way. I have to deal with him first.

With a kick, he sent a table flying, blocking the Second Class Student's route of attack. The next moment, Lin Zhen appeared in front of the Third Class Student. Relying on his extraordinary Neural Reaction, he made an extremely narrow dodge at close range, evading several punches in succession. He drove his shoulder forward and slammed into his opponent, sending him staggering backward, then unleashed several lightning-fast punches in a row!

Accompanied by a crisp crack of breaking bones, the Third Class Student fell backward, blood spurting from his nostrils.

Two hundred points secured!

********

PS: The contract status has finally been updated. I actually signed the contract before starting the book, so everyone needn't worry about it not being signed. Tips are enabled now too.

Hei Tu isn't asking for tips. What does that mean? Sweat. It feels a bit like protesting too much.