An Unexpected Windfall and a Monkey Face

Silence-

Jiang Yong fell off the arena without even having time to scream, knocked unconscious by the double blow to his body and mind.

The entire hall had fallen into deathly silence.

Everyone stared at Xu Yuan, the same two thoughts surfacing in their minds:

So strong!

So ruthless!

When Jiang Yong lost last week, plenty of people had cursed him out, thinking he was too trash and had wasted all that Skin-Polishing Fifth Stage strength.

Now, however, nobody thought that anymore.

This had nothing to do with whether Jiang Yong was strong or weak. Xu Yuan simply couldn't be judged by normal standards!

"So the only reason Jiang Yong could fight Xu Yuan for so long last week was that this bastard was putting on an act, right? Just to make everyone think he wasn't that good, so he could keep selling his challenge slots..."

Some of the sharper people had already caught on.

When those beside them heard this, they immediately thought it made perfect sense, and their teeth began to ache.

"I've lived this fucking long, and I've never seen anyone with this many tricks up his sleeve."

"But he really is so strong..."

"And his Savage Bull Mountain-Treading Strike seems to have reached major accomplishment. That martial talent..."

The murmurs gradually rose, growing louder until the entire hall was buzzing!

Only then did Teacher Kong react, quickly jumping down from the arena to check Jiang Yong's condition.

Fortunately, he was only seriously injured. His life wasn't in danger.

Just then, two base staff members ran into the hall carrying a stretcher. After Teacher Kong nodded to them, they placed Jiang Yong on it and carried him away.

The schools and the base had long had contingency plans for students injured in combat. Until now, nobody had been hurt badly enough to require their treatment.

"Xu Yuan wins. The challenge matches will continue!"

Teacher Kong neither commented on the fight nor delivered a lecture, calmly continuing to preside over the matches.

Yet it was precisely this calm, tinged with indifference, that gave the students a true glimpse of the cruelty of the world of Divine Martial Artists.

So a fight that sent chills through their hearts was nothing at all in their teacher's eyes...

Xu Yuan stepped down from the arena. The sharpness had vanished from his eyes, and his face once again wore that same smile he offered everyone.

It was as though he had merely drunk a cup of tea rather than crippled someone.

"Impressive. I'm even starting to wonder whether I can beat you," Zhang Juye said with a face full of emotion.

"Don't wonder. Have some confidence." Xu Yuan patted Zhang Juye's shoulder.

Zhang Juye froze, then puffed out his chest. "You're right. We haven't even fought yet. I shouldn't be thinking like that!"

Uh... that's not what I meant.

Forget it. As long as you're happy, old Zhang.

Xu Yuan patted Zhang Juye again, then headed toward Wang Fengtang.

Time to split the spoils... no, split the proceeds.

As for the new reward from the Beast Ranking, he was itching to see it, but this wasn't a convenient time to check. If it flew out on its own the moment his consciousness touched it, like the Spirit-Binding Soul-Control Talisman, he'd be screwed.

"Badass!"

When Xu Yuan reached Wang Fengtang, Wang Fengtang immediately gave him a thumbs-up.

"It was all right. Just standard ops."

"Huh?"

"Standard operations. Standard ops for short. Pay up, bro."

"You've got a pretty interesting way of talking."

Wang Fengtang was straightforward enough, transferring over ninety thousand to Xu Yuan on the spot.

Xu Yuan immediately felt a little regret. Why hadn't he opened a betting pool last week?

If he had, he might have made even more!

I still don't have enough tricks up my sleeve.

Had his classmates known what Xu Yuan was thinking, they probably would have unleashed a torrent of curses.

Your fucking heart has so many holes you could hook a pipe to it and use it as a showerhead, and you still think you aren't scheming enough?

After collecting the money, Xu Yuan said it had been a pleasure working together and prepared to slip away.

He wanted to go home first and study the Beast Ranking's new reward, to see what bizarre thing it had given him this time.

But before he could leave the hall, someone blocked his way.

The newcomer stood over two meters tall, his muscular build like a hulking bear. Merely standing in front of Xu Yuan was enough to make him feel that familiar pressure.

It was none other than Niu Gang, whom Xu Yuan hadn't seen since the assessment ended!

"Hello, Director Niu. Did you need something from me?" Xu Yuan asked tentatively.

Xu Yuan could still joke around with the other teachers, but he really didn't quite dare with this brute right now.

First, he couldn't beat him. Second, this brute often refused to play by the usual rules.

Say one wrong thing, and he might make you do hundreds of push-ups on the spot, regardless of the occasion.

"Relax, kid. I've got something good for you."

Niu Gang stretched out a palm-leaf-fan-sized hand and pressed it onto Xu Yuan's shoulder, smiling as he said, "Starting tomorrow, you'll be responsible for teaching little Luo how to fight, and guiding her martial technique training while you're at it."

With that, the two stared at each other, one pair of big eyes meeting a smaller pair.

Niu Gang's face darkened. "Speak."

"Weren't you still talking? What about the benefits?"

"Little Luo worries about you every day, afraid the God Worship Cult will set its sights on you. Now you're being asked to guide her, and you still want benefits? Is your heart really that black, kid?"

Niu Gang wanted to hit someone.

Xu Yuan shook his head. "You can't put it that way. If Luo Yaoxi came to me herself, I definitely wouldn't charge a cent. But she hasn't, has she?"

"So you only dare charge me?" Niu Gang glared.

Xu Yuan: "..."

What the fuck? Having bigger fists means you don't have to listen to reason?

Fine. Yes, it does.

"Enough. Stop looking like I'm bullying you. There are benefits for you."

Niu Gang said irritably, "You can practice the martial techniques little Luo is learning too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to guide her."

Hmm?

There really are benefits!

"Then what martial techniques is she practicing right now?"

"Third-tier Shadowless Step and third-tier Instant-Space God-Exterminating Kill!"

Xu Yuan: "..."

Fine, fine, fine. So that's how we're playing it. Even her starting martial techniques are third-tier.

He had some impression of Shadowless Step. He had seen it at the Cloud-Soaring Pavilion before, priced at what seemed to be over a million.

Sure enough, the resources Yang City funneled toward Luo Yaoxi were simply beyond what ordinary martial arts students could imagine.

And that was with Yang City being too small and having limited resources. If Luo Yaoxi were in a major city, she would probably receive even more extravagant training.

"All right, I'll take the job!" Xu Yuan said.

Niu Gang sneered. "You won't release the hawk until you see the hare, yet you insist on acting so obliging. You really do have thick skin!"

With that, Niu Gang turned around and, using some unknown movement technique, rapidly disappeared from Xu Yuan's sight. Only his drifting voice reached him:

"Little Luo will send you the training methods and visualization diagrams tomorrow~"

Xu Yuan smacked his lips. He hadn't expected such a good deal. This time, he had basked in Luo Yaoxi's reflected glory.

Turning to glance at the girl, who was still watching the challenge matches intently, Xu Yuan left the hall and went straight home.

Zhang Yaying and Xu Kexin hadn't returned yet. Xu Yuan went straight to his room, and his consciousness instantly sank into his mind.

Within the gray, hazy space, the Beast Ranking still towered in deathly silence, while an incredibly lifelike monkey-face mask floated quietly before it.

No, lifelike wasn't the right word, because this really was a monkey's face!

From its fur to the pores in its skin, it couldn't have been more real!

"A thousand faces, a thousand faces... could wearing this thing let me change faces?"

Xu Yuan pondered as his consciousness approached the monkey face.

The next moment, the monkey face in his mind vanished, and a cool sensation spread across Xu Yuan's face.

His consciousness returned, and Xu Yuan raised a hand to feel his face, immediately touching a face covered in fur.

He picked up his phone and opened the front-facing camera. As he looked at himself on the screen, his body couldn't help giving a slight shudder!

"Great Sage..."