Four-Armed Slave Leader

The park square.

A group of elderly men and women were, as they had been in days past, following Master Ma as he practiced Tai Chi.

Master Ma practiced his Tai Chi while occasionally glancing toward the park entrance, his expression somewhat restless.

Actually.

He hadn't wanted to come to the park today, worried that he might run into the young man who had sparred with him yesterday and end up making a fool of himself in the park again.

But his greatest joy every day was being surrounded by elderly fans, basking in the feeling of being admired and respected.

Therefore, after a final internal struggle, he had come to the park after all.

Fortunately, that young man hadn't shown up today.

This made him feel somewhat relieved.

Whenever he recalled the speed of that young man's kick yesterday.

Master Ma's heart would go numb.

That speed was too fast; it simply wasn't something a human could possess.

Those elderly men and women thought their own eyes were failing them, that they had seen a blur, and hadn't paid much attention.

But his eyes were sharp.

If not for the fact that there were young people acting as buffers yesterday, the person sent to the martial arts hospital lying in bed would have been him.

"It's fine, it's fine, that young man didn't come to the park today."

Master Ma felt a wave of relief in his heart. Just as he was posing with a graceful crane-like stance, his eyes inadvertently swept toward the park gate and saw that young man from yesterday striding toward him.

In that instant, his steps faltered. He turned around to face the elderly men and women, stopped his movements, and said quickly, "That's all for today's practice. I have some business back at the martial arts hall. Everyone disperse, just disperse."

Having said that, Master Ma headed toward the back gate of the park on his own.

An enthusiastic elderly woman asked, "Master Ma, you're going the wrong way! The park gate is over there; why are you walking toward the back? Isn't that a much longer way to go?"

But Master Ma acted as if he hadn't heard her, continuing to walk toward the back gate without even turning his head. Even in his hurried pace, his steps were as slick as if he were greasing them, making people feel as if he had become quite a bit faster.

Zeng Mo had seen Master Ma from afar and was about to walk over quickly, but he didn't expect Master Ma to suddenly display such agility, heading toward the back gate.

He was somewhat suspicious and stood before the group of dispersing elderly men and women.

An elderly woman recognized Zeng Mo and asked, "Hey, aren't you that young man who sparred with Master Ma yesterday?"

"That's right. I was passing by today and wanted to ask Master Ma for some more pointers," Zeng Mo said.

"Master Ma had business and went back to the martial arts hall. If you want to find him for pointers, you can go to his hall. It's on the street to the left of the park gate, go straight for about three hundred meters, and then turn left to find it," the elderly woman said, seemingly worried that Zeng Mo wouldn't find the way, and added, "There's a massage parlor right next to it."

"Thank you very much, Auntie," Zeng Mo said, nodding in thanks.

"You're welcome. Master Ma's business is our business."

Immediately, Zeng Mo turned and walked toward the location the elderly woman had described.

Yesterday, he had obtained two thousand Survival Points from his first encounter with Master Ma, which was much more than the Survival Points he had obtained from others.

Zeng Mo had a suspicion as to why Master Ma, as well as that streamer young man, had contributed so many Survival Points.

He checked the system log and noticed that both the "Suppression" and "Repulsion" entries had a red mark next to them.

Could it be because he had physically struck a blow, triggering the "Suppression" effect?

And because both people had run away, it had triggered the "Repulsion" effect?

That was why the first encounter had yielded two thousand Survival Points.

Because of this, Zeng Mo wanted to spar with Master Ma again.

One reason was to confirm if sparring with Master Ma again could repeatedly earn him Survival Points, and the second was to explore whether he could trigger two different Survival Points-earning effects at once.

The Red Rice Road was bustling with people. Zeng Mo had initially thought that the moment he stepped into this place, he would trigger some kind of danger warning from the system.

As it turned out, there were no danger warnings at all.

Could it be that three years later, this road no longer exists? That the monster territory is gone? Or perhaps the people walking nearby haven't survived three years to become gods, and have all been buried in the dust of history, which is why I haven't triggered any danger warnings?

Zeng Mo guessed silently in his heart, then followed the elderly woman's directions and walked quickly toward the martial arts hall.

When he reached the street and turned left, a hurried warning sound suddenly rang in his ears.

[Warning, warning! The host is about to step into the territory of a Tier 3 Fire-element God, as well as its kin. Once discovered, they will extract the divine energy from your body, turn you into a slave, or even burn you to ashes in their rage.]

As if to emphasize the severity of the matter, a red warning panel that only he could see kept flickering before his eyes.

Zeng Mo ignored the system's warning and looked up to size up the martial arts hall next to the massage parlor.

Initially, he had thought that Master Ma was the type to open a small martial arts hall, one that only he himself used.

As it turned out, the scale of the martial arts hall shocked him.

The martial arts hall was massive, built in an ancient style with three tiers of height.

Zeng Mo walked through the open main gate and entered a front courtyard of about a hundred square meters. There were quite a few children there, around seven or eight years old, with flushed faces. They looked like primary school students who had just finished a physical education class, shouting "Ah!" and "Ha!" as they faced the wooden dummies, working hard to strike their small heads.

One of the children, who looked a bit older than the others, saw a stranger walk in and immediately turned to look at Zeng Mo. "Who are you looking for?"

Warning: The host is being targeted by a member of the Third-Tier Fire Slave race. Given the host's current strength, you are no match for them. Please flee immediately.

"I'm looking for Master Ma."

Zeng Mo listened to the system's warning and rolled his eyes. He was a grown man; how could he not be a match for a group of children?

The child replied, "Master Ma hasn't returned yet. If you want to wait for him, you can go into the main hall and ask Uncle Zhang when he'll be back."

"Oh, okay." Zeng Mo nodded and turned to walk toward the main hall.

The main hall was very large. Old-fashioned weapons were hung on the walls, along with quite a few honorary plaques.

On the left side of the hall, a dozen or so youths dressed in white martial arts uniforms were practicing under the watchful eye of a middle-aged man, sparring with one another.

These youths were well-trained; their moves were fierce and courageous, their footwork was methodical, and their sparring was incredibly fluid.

Zeng Mo couldn't help but have a new perspective on Master Ma, feeling a sudden sense of admiration.

To think that someone who looked like a wandering martial artist could teach such talented youths.

Could it be that he really had some hidden skills?

If he hadn't been acting recklessly yesterday, would he have been the one rubbing his face against the floor?

Just as Zeng Mo was thinking this, the middle-aged man noticed him and walked over.

Danger: The host is being targeted by a member of the Third-Tier Fire Slave race. The Fourth-Tier Fire Slave clan leader is approaching. Given the host's current strength, you are no match for him. Please flee immediately.

"Who are you looking for?" the middle-aged man asked in a rough, booming voice.

Zeng Mo replied truthfully, "I'm looking for Master Ma."

"Oh, and what business do you have with him?"

"Master Ma asked me to spar with him yesterday, but then I said we should do it today. When I went to the park square just now, he said he had to return to the martial arts hall, so I came over."

When the middle-aged man heard Zeng Mo's words, his brows furrowed, and his tone turned somewhat unfriendly.

"Master Ma hasn't returned yet. If you're so eager to spar, little brat, why don't you try sparring with some of us first?"

Zeng Mo heard the sarcasm in the middle-aged man's voice and felt a flicker of hesitation in his heart. However, he was secretly delighted at the suggestion; if he could spar with them, couldn't he farm a huge amount of Survival Points?

Without a second thought, he nodded and said happily, "Sure, that sounds great!"

The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised by how quickly Zeng Mo agreed, and he probed, "Master Ma is the treasure of our martial arts hall. Where have you trained, young man?"

"I haven't trained in any martial arts; I'm just a bit faster than the average person," Zeng Mo replied honestly.

The middle-aged man: "..."