You're All Coming at Me Together

"Then let's have a fight!"

His calm tone and simple words drew everyone's attention.

Zhou Zhuling lifted her eyes from her book and looked directly at Yang Chengzhi for the first time.

Ma Feifei tapped the counter lightly with a ballpoint pen, watching Yang Chengzhi thoughtfully.

At some point, Yun Qingyang had appeared behind Ma Feifei, watching everything with an expressionless face.

As for the Wu Zhang brothers, they stared at Yang Chengzhi in astonishment, then exchanged glances. A moment later, they burst out laughing.

"Senior Brother Zhang, I didn't hear wrong just now, did I? Senior Brother Yang wants to fight us?" Junior Brother Wu said mockingly.

"Heh." Senior Brother Zhang only chuckled, as if he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world.

At Zhenguan Academy, Yang Chengzhi was famous for being a good-for-nothing. He had been at the academy for nearly three years. After placing in the top hundred during his first Dragon Ranking competition, he had started to fall behind. At his second competition, he had dropped straight to three-hundredth place. Rumor had it that someone had deliberately gone easy on him; otherwise, he wouldn't even have held on to three-hundredth place on the Dragon Ranking.

When all was said and done, the reason was that Yang Chengzhi's cultivation had stopped progressing after his first Dragon Ranking competition. He had remained stuck at the Spirit Master Sixth Stage ever since.

Just think about it! Everyone else's cultivation improved year after year, while Yang Chengzhi stayed where he was. And this was only the Spirit Master stage! It wasn't some higher stage like Spirit Sect, Spirit King, or Spirit Venerable. For those geniuses everyone called heaven's favorites, failing to advance several stages in a year at the Spirit Master level would be embarrassing.

But Yang Chengzhi had gone two whole years without advancing! If that didn't make him a good-for-nothing, what did?

In the thousands of years since Zhenguan Academy was founded, he was the only one like this.

The two of them were on the Dragon Ranking. They couldn't compare with the top students, but both ranked in the top hundred and had reached the peak of the Spirit Master Eighth Stage. They knew Yang Chengzhi's stage: Spirit Master Sixth Stage. Was he at the initial or peak level? It didn't matter! They were two stages apart. There was no contest!

"I thought you'd challenged Senior Brother Xiaoyaozi last time because you'd been provoked and acted impulsively. Now it looks like you weren't impulsive—you're just stupid!" Junior Brother Wu couldn't help sneering. His contemptuous gaze swept over Yang Chengzhi's face. "I wonder which one of us you're challenging?"

Yang Chengzhi glanced at the two of them. "Come at me together."

"Hmph, you're overestimating yourself." The two thought Yang Chengzhi was putting on far too much of a show, and their expressions immediately darkened. They were both among the top hundred on the Dragon Ranking, a full two stages above Yang Chengzhi. He wouldn't have a chance even in a one-on-one fight, yet he wanted to take them both on? Wasn't that looking down on them?

"Would you like the shop to provide a place to fight?" Ma Feifei, who had been watching the spectacle, suddenly spoke up.

"The courtyard behind the shop is quite spacious, perfect for sparring. You'll just need to pay a ten-Spirit-Crystal fee."

This was a great chance to make money!

A bag of Spirit Crystals landed in front of Ma Feifei. Senior Brother Zhang had tossed it over.

"Then I'll thank the shopkeeper for providing the venue," Senior Brother Zhang said. "But a fight needs a wager to make it interesting. There are exactly a thousand Spirit Crystals in here after deducting the venue fee. How about we make that the stake, Senior Brother Yang?"

Perhaps afraid Yang Chengzhi would back out, Senior Brother Zhang immediately blocked off his escape. Clearly, the two of them wanted to make this a big wager today.

Yang Chengzhi frowned. He really didn't have a thousand Spirit Crystals, but he had no intention of backing down. He took a ruler from the scented pouch at his waist and placed it in front of Ma Feifei. "This is a Third-tier Spirit Artifact, the Heart-Questioning Ruler. It's worth at least a thousand Spirit Crystals. How about I use it as my stake?"

Everything on the Azure Dragon Continent had its own grades: spirit beasts, spirit artifacts, rare treasures, medicinal pills, and even spiritual energy, which could be pure, turbid, or dense.

"Of course," Senior Brother Zhang said with a nod.

The wager began just like that, before Ma Feifei could even react.

"Damn it, I've become the banker just like that?" Ma Feifei stared at the Spirit Crystals and ruler in front of him, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"Right! There are only winners and losers here! As the banker, I can't take the whole pot!" Ma Feifei smacked his forehead, realizing he'd made a losing deal.

The group went into the back courtyard. It was large enough for them to fight in, but before they began, Ma Feifei made one thing clear: they weren't allowed to damage anything in the courtyard, and blowing up the house was absolutely forbidden. Otherwise, they'd have to pay triple the cost.

Ma Feifei left the details of the fight to them. He carried his little stool to the doorway between the bookstore and the courtyard, where he could watch the fight and keep an eye on the shop at the same time.

Zhou Zhuling seemed interested in the fight as well. Holding her book, she stood beside Ma Feifei and watched the three people in the courtyard.

Yun Qingyang stood on the other side. She wasn't watching the courtyard; instead, she stared at the Spirit Crystals in Ma Feifei's hand, her eyes shining with an inscrutable light.

Ma Feifei naturally didn't notice. He was busy counting the Spirit Crystals.

"This Universe Bag is amazing! A little bag like this can hold a thousand Spirit Crystals." Ma Feifei smacked his lips, envious. He didn't have one himself.

Zhou Zhuling heard him and glanced at Ma Feifei from the corner of her eye before turning back.

"Oh, right, Miss Zhou." Ma Feifei seemed to remember something and called out to her.

"Ah!" Zhou Zhuling jumped. Her cheeks inexplicably flushed, and she lowered her head, leaving Ma Feifei baffled.

"Miss Zhou, who do you think will win?" Ma Feifei pointed at the three people facing off in the courtyard and asked.

Seeing that Ma Feifei had only asked her a question, Zhou Zhuling relaxed. She lifted her head and looked at the situation. Yang Chengzhi had meant what he said and was facing the Wu Zhang brothers alone.

But Yang Chengzhi's apparent strength was only at the Spirit Master Seventh Stage, while the two brothers were both at the peak of the Spirit Master Eighth Stage. A one-on-one fight might have had some suspense, but in a one-on-two, he had almost no chance.

After all, fighting above one's stage was already extremely difficult, never mind taking on two opponents at once.

"Unless something unexpected happens, he's bound to lose," Zhou Zhuling said slowly.

Ma Feifei nodded. To be honest, he thought Yang Chengzhi would lose too. But what could he say? Yang Chengzhi seemed far too confident.

If Yang Chengzhi hadn't come to his bookstore, Ma Feifei might have thought he was being arrogant. But Yang Chengzhi had come—and he'd read The Legend of the Condor Heroes. So Ma Feifei thought that if Yang Chengzhi was this confident, he must have gained something from the book.

It couldn't have been an increase in cultivation. If it had been, Ma Feifei would have been able to tell. Unfortunately, although he owned the bookstore, he didn't actually know what effects the books had, so he couldn't guess what trump card Yang Chengzhi had.

But that didn't stop Ma Feifei from believing Yang Chengzhi would win this fight. Put another way, Ma Feifei believed in the system.

"Miss Zhou, how about we make a wager too? We can bet on who'll win." Since he'd finally gotten the chance to be the banker, Ma Feifei figured he ought to win some Spirit Crystals.

Zhou Zhuling gazed at Ma Feifei with her bright, limpid eyes, and her face flushed despite herself. She took the scented pouch from her waist and said, "If you need Spirit Crystals, Brother Ma, just ask Zhuling."

Ma Feifei looked at the hand Zhou Zhuling held out. Her fingers were slender and delicate, flawless and white, with faint veins just visible beneath the skin. Her hand was unbelievably beautiful.

I'm being flirted with!

Ma Feifei blushed and awkwardly rubbed his hands together. "Heh, well... let's just watch the fight."

Seeing Ma Feifei avoid her gaze, Zhou Zhuling's face took on a rare, bashful look. A trace of delight welled up inside her, and she couldn't help batting her bright eyes at him.

And then... Ma Feifei felt as if he were about to float away. His heart pounded so hard that he was almost afraid it would leap right out of his chest.

The atmosphere turned charged.

Yun Qingyang looked on in confusion, unable to understand.