Chapter Forty-Three: A Joke

Nearly twenty thousand spectators stared, dumbfounded, at the figure collapsed on the ground. Apart from gasps of shock, the vast martial arts hall fell into an eerie silence.

Everyone exchanged glances, their faces filled with disbelief.

Could a high school student really beat a Martial Artist?

Was this some kind of movie?

Even the professional commentator hired by the Thunder Martial Arts Hall was stunned. He had commentated on hundreds of matches, but none had been as shocking as today's.

"Wow!"

Even Lin Feng's young fans let out cries of surprise, their mouths agape.

They had come from different schools and different places, skipping class and braving the scorching sun to cheer for Lin Feng at the Thunder Martial Arts Hall!

However, in their hearts, they hadn't truly believed Lin Feng would win this match with such a disparity in strength. They mostly wanted to see their idol and offer him encouragement.

If even they, his fans, were this surprised, how much more so were those who hadn't expected Lin Feng to win?

Some gamblers, looking at the dazzling record of ten wins and zero losses displayed on the big screen, fell into despair.

Yesterday, many of them had bet on Lin Feng to lose, and they had lost nine matches in a row. Today, although the odds were pitifully low, many had bet again on the principle of a sure win, wanting to profit from easy money. They never imagined reality would be so brutal.

"Damn it, useless! You're completely useless."

"Why don't you just die, getting beaten up by a high school student?"

"Hurry up and get off the stage, why are you still lying there, scrubbing the floor?"

Many gamblers couldn't control their emotions, shouting curses and even throwing water bottles. The scene became chaotic for a moment.

Chen Xu, lying collapsed on the ground, his face ashen, wished he could dig a hole and bury himself right there...

"He actually won!"

In the VIP box, Zhang Ling's face was a mixture of surprise and solemnity.

While she had a high opinion of Lin Feng, her assessment of him was nowhere near that of Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu, Body Cultivation Ninth Stage, who had refined the Earth Ranking's Thorn Demon Dragon, was a universally acknowledged peerless genius, rarely seen in a decade.

Even an S-Class Club like the Thunder Club was willing to risk team instability and even a strike to sign him.

"Ye Qiu in the South, Lin Feng in the North!"

This saying, in her opinion, was nothing but a joke.

It was all hype from the forums and media, fueled by some netizens with a peculiar sense of humor who had given Lin Feng such popularity.

As a member of the Martial Artist Forum, Zhang Ling had naturally seen the posts there.

On the Martial Artist Forum, someone had posted Lin Feng's high school transcript from his third year. One of those transcripts was from just half a month ago.

On that transcript, Lin Feng's physique and academic scores were nothing special, but his combat score was only 150 points.

For a third-year high school student, a combat score of 150 was actually quite high. But for Lin Feng, this score was undoubtedly very low.

After all, Lin Feng could challenge opponents above his level and directly defeat someone at Body Cultivation Ninth Stage. His combat score should have been at least 195, and even a perfect score wouldn't surprise Zhang Ling.

This meant Lin Feng had indeed been hiding his combat results.

It was precisely this transcript that made her believe the primary reason Lin Feng had deliberately hidden his strength was to attend the same university as Yage.

Although such a story was melodramatic and extremely chuunibyo, it wasn't impossible for a pair of childhood sweethearts who grew up together and were deeply in love to do absurd things for love.

However, in Zhang Ling's view, this was limited to Martial Arts talent!

Regarding the forum discussions about Lin Feng abandoning the chance to refine the Ninth-grade Purple Scale and instead choosing to refine an Earth Ranking demon spirit, she was not convinced.

It wasn't impossible for Martial Artists to change their refined demon spirits. Many Martial Artists, after becoming powerful, if they encountered a better-suited demon spirit, could replace their first demon spirit, their innate demon spirit, or refine it to become a second demon spirit.

Most people chose the first option, expelling the initial demon spirit from their bodies and refining a new one.

Choosing the second option was very rare. After all, cultivating one demon spirit was extremely difficult, and a Martial Artist's Soul Power was limited. Cultivating two simultaneously would be more trouble than it was worth.

The demon spirit expelled from the body could no longer be refined by others and would quickly turn to dust.

Refining a demon spirit consumed a large amount of Soul Power from the dantian. The recovery of this Soul Power generally took about a year. This meant that after refining one demon spirit, even with replacement, there would be a buffer period of at least one year. In addition to this, there were certain dangers and side effects.

It wasn't impossible to encounter a situation where one couldn't find a desired demon spirit on Awakening Day and chose to give up. She had heard of many such cases.

But those individuals were from prestigious families or major consortiums. They had demon spirits prepared by their elders, and their purpose in participating in Awakening Day was to have an additional option.

They aimed to refine rare Ninth-grade demon spirits or even Earth Ranking demon spirits. If they were unlucky and couldn't find a suitable one, they wouldn't settle for anything less and would simply give up.

Refining a demon spirit required a vast amount of Soul Power and a year-long recovery period. They couldn't afford to waste it.

They had carefully prepared backup demon spirits from their elders, but Lin Feng did not.

Lin Feng lived in the Anbian Residential Area. How could someone living in the Anbian Residential Area have the confidence to give up a Ninth-grade demon spirit?

Especially the Purple Scale, which was considered high-grade even among Ninth-grade demon spirits.

Could it truly be for love?

Was he really disregarding his own future for love?

Zhang Ling couldn't believe there were people in the world foolish enough to do such a thing.

This was also why she suspected Lin Feng had the talent to become a Demon Spirit Master.

His true intention was likely just to fill a recruiting sponsor slot and make some money.

At this moment, Zhang Ling still harbored doubts, but facing Lin Feng, who possessed such combat talent, those doubts were deeply buried.

The young man had now captured her attention.

If he had the talent to become a Demon Spirit Master and could refine a Ninth-grade or higher Demon Spirit, Lin Feng's value might truly rival Ye Qiu's.

"Have you investigated thoroughly? Hurry up and go!"

"Quickly go confirm it. If he really has soul cultivation talent, sign him immediately. Forget A-class contracts, S-class..."

The faint discussions from the side caught Zhang Ling's attention, and she turned to look.

Many people were whispering. Among them was a thin middle-aged man, the person in charge of the Jiang City branch of the Zhaifeng Club. As a fellow person in charge of an S-Class Club in Jiang City, she naturally knew him.

In the VIP section, it was clear she wasn't the only one with the same thought. Many people were making calls, and some were hurriedly leaving their seats, exiting the VIP lounge.

"Elder Jiang, where are you going?"

Even Elder Jiang from the Thunder Club, sitting next to her, stood up and prepared to leave.

"Heh heh, I drank too much water just now, I need to go to the restroom."

Elder Jiang paused, turned around, and smiled slightly.

Although he was smiling, Elder Jiang was anxious. He naturally wanted to confirm if Lin Feng had the talent to become a Demon Spirit Master, fearing he would be too late and someone else would snatch him up.

He had already felt extreme regret yesterday when he failed to recruit Ye Qiu. Furthermore, due to the promises and conditions the club had made to Ye Qiu, the club's team members were quite agitated upon learning about it, almost refusing to train, which had a very negative impact on the team.

Now, with Lin Feng appearing, whose talent might rival Ye Qiu's, he didn't want to miss out again.

Despite his anxiety, hearing Zhang Ling's question, Elder Jiang couldn't leave immediately. He still had to maintain an appearance of nonchalance.

After all, among the many clubs, Star Gathering was the most threatening.

"I don't believe you!"

Zhang Ling cursed inwardly, then smiled, "What a coincidence, let's go together. I was also planning to go to the restroom."

She didn't want Lin Feng to interact with Thunder first. Yesterday, Thunder's boldness and decisiveness had left a deep impression on her, and she had to be cautious!

"Then let's go together."

Elder Jiang chuckled, also cursing inwardly.

Meanwhile, in the audience stands, Chen Hao's parents were filled with shock.

Yesterday's family gathering had caused their entire family to lose face. As successful individuals in the eyes of their relatives, Chen's father had always held a high position in the family and had never been so embarrassed.

The phrase, "I usually eat too blandly, I'm not used to greasy food," would likely become a joke in their relatives' casual conversations for a long time.

And all of this was because of Lin Kerou's brother.

And that young man, standing in the private room, facing all their doubts and disdain with a calm yet extremely arrogant demeanor, saying, "Just because my name is Lin Feng, and I'm in Class 7 of Senior 3 at Jiangxin First High School," had caused them to lose face while also making them very curious.

What right did a high school student living in the Anbian Residential Area have to utter such arrogant words?

With a dismissive mindset, they searched online for "Lin Feng Jiangxin First High School Class 7 Senior 3."

Naturally, posts from the Martial Artist Forum appeared before the couple first. Many relatives even called to inform them about the Martial Artist Forum.

With a complex mix of emotions, they came to the Thunder Martial Arts Hall.

At this moment, they finally understood why the young man had the courage to say, "The Chen Hao family can't afford to associate with me."

The talent he displayed proved to everyone that even if the young man came from a humble background, even if his strength wasn't yet formidable, no one could underestimate him.

"You shouldn't have said that to Kerou back then!" Chen's father sighed, feeling regret.

"You didn't agree to them being together either, why didn't you say anything then? Now you're complaining," Chen's mother said, her expression very unpleasant. She also regretted it now but was unwilling to admit it, only managing a huff, "So what if his combat talent is great? If he can't refine Demon Spirits, he has no future."

Chen's father was speechless for a moment. He didn't explain and didn't want to explain to his naive wife.

With such combat talent, even if he couldn't refine Demon Spirits and gain the favor of prestigious clubs, many martial arts halls would be willing to cultivate Lin Feng.

Although Demon Spirit Masters were superior to Martial Artists, powerful Martial Artists were far beyond what businessmen like them could compare to.

His annual income of several million yuan was even less than what some high-level Martial Artists earned from a single hunt in the Otherworld.

Not just in income, but the social status of Martial Artists was also much higher than theirs.

If Lin Feng truly grew, he might even have special privileges that could target them.

If Lin Feng really became a Demon Spirit Master, yesterday's arrogant words would be completely fulfilled.

His family truly couldn't afford to associate with him.

His confidence, his annual income of millions, was a joke in front of professional, honored players.