"Whoosh~ whoosh~"
Sensing the scorching fist force steeped in murderous might, Bu Wuchen heard a voice explode in his mind: Dodge!
But when it came to moving...
The gulf between his and Lin Senyu's cultivation realms was too vast. The invisible pressure of that realm difference was like a pair of huge, unseen hands, pinning Bu Wuchen so firmly that he could not move a muscle!
The "God-Level Choice System," which Bu Wuchen had relied upon ever since his rebirth in this other world, did not appear to "protect its sovereign" as he had expected, either.
At that critical instant-
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Two thick, earthen-yellow pillars of mud shot straight toward the fiery tiger fist projection.
"Bang!!"
As a muffled crash erupted, two kinds of mystic power, earth and fire, slammed savagely together!
The resulting shock waves swept up sand and stones like a hurricane that had suddenly sprung into being!
Bu Wuchen, whose lamp had nearly run dry of oil, staggered twice as the hurricane swept over him and almost fell off the arena platform.
Fortunately, the scarlet-flamed tiger projection hurtling toward him was ultimately blocked by that unexpected earth-element mystic force.
With its power diminished, Bu Wuchen escaped certain death...
All this took time to describe, but it happened in the flash of lightning and flint.
Having taken a trip to the gates of death and back, Bu Wuchen knitted his brows tightly!
Though he had not made too sorry a display of himself, cold sweat had already silently soaked his back!
Before this, as a member of the "transmigrator crowd," Bu Wuchen had always dwelled on the wonders of this world of immortals and martial arts;
Now, however, he recognized that beyond its boundless immortal wonders, this mystical world also held the perils of fire and blood!
From that moment on, a subtle change came over Bu Wuchen's mindset.
Damn it all, I nearly bit the dust!
Looks like the system can't keep me safe every moment of the day.
That's fine, too. I can't just follow the system's choices in everything I do, can I?
If I did, wouldn't I become a puppet on strings, manipulated at someone else's whim?
No matter how badass the system is, it's ultimately just a "tool" for me to use.
I've been given this second life. I can't let a "tool" become my master instead...
As his thoughts wandered, a thunderous shout suddenly rang out beside him: "Lin Senyu, how dare you! You actually dared to strike to kill a student of Blood Dragon City Academy?!"
The speaker was the instructor who had volunteered to referee the wagered duel.
He was also the one who had just intervened to block the Flame Tiger Fist for Bu Wuchen.
The instructor's face was ashen, and the hands he held behind his back trembled uncontrollably.
Clearly, he had come off worse against Lin Senyu's "Flame Tiger Fist."
He had known full well that his cultivation was somewhat inferior to Lin Senyu's;
But in that situation, he had had no choice but to intervene.
After all, at that moment, he represented Blood Dragon City Academy!
If he had actually allowed Lin Senyu to kill one of the academy's students during a fair wagered duel in full view of everyone, his career as an instructor would have been over...
Just as Lin Senyu's aged face flickered uncertainly between expressions.
Up on the seating platform, Lü Chunyang, the elder from the Lin Lineage's main branch, also sternly knitted his aged brows.
He berated Lin Senyu, "Bastard, who told you to attack?"
"Don't you know where you are?!"
"Hurry up and apologize to that esteemed instructor!"
Anyone could see that Lü Chunyang was merely putting on a show for the crowd.
But regardless, the other side had made the requisite gesture, leaving the instructor little room to pursue the matter.
Hearing this on the arena platform, Bu Wuchen's heart grew colder still. Lin Senyu was clearly coming for me just now, yet he only told that Lin fellow to apologize to the instructor.
He didn't say a word about me, the actual injured party.
He won't even look me in the eye...
At that moment, Bu Wuchen fully learned that in this world of immortals and martial arts where strength reigned supreme, saying that the lives of the weak were as cheap as ants was no exaggeration.
Now, Lin Senyu glared viciously at Bu Wuchen, wishing he could tear his son's killer into ten thousand pieces!
Yet Elder Lü's words just now forced him to exercise restraint.
This was Blood Dragon City Academy, after all.
Even someone as exalted as the city lord would never dare wantonly kill its students.
Thus, Lin Senyu took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the rage hovering on the verge of eruption before cupping his fists toward the instructor. "I did indeed act impulsively just now. My apologies."
Then he turned his furious glare on Bu Wuchen and said through gritted teeth, "But that was only because this little bastard broke the rules first, causing me to lose my reason!"
"With his cultivation and strength, how could he possibly have killed my innocent son in a single blow?"
"He must have used some vicious hidden weapon!"
Bu Wuchen immediately took offense. "That's stinking dogshit!"
"A hidden weapon, huh... do you have proof?"
"Even if we take ten thousand steps back and say I really did use a hidden weapon, so what?"
"Don't forget, that little bastard of yours took a Qi Burst Pill to send his mystic power soaring during the fight first."
"If anyone broke the rules, he did it first. He deserved to die!"
Lin Senyu's aged face twitched.
He was about to erupt when a thunderous shout from Lü Chunyang suppressed his fury: "Enough!"
"No matter what, that boy did indeed win this wagered duel."
"We of the Lin Lineage are certainly not sore losers."
With that, Lü Chunyang cast an arrogant glance at Bu Wuchen and said icily, "You, come with me."
Who would have thought that the youth would respond by giving him a cold look as though he were an idiot?
This sent Lü Chunyang, who was accustomed to standing above others, into a fury!
The Lin Lineage was, after all, one of Blood Dragon City's three great Lineages.
And Lü Chunyang was the sole elder of a different surname in the Lin Lineage's main branch.
Whether in his own cultivation realm or the immense influence of the Lineage backing him, he was more than capable of crushing Lin Senyu!
Yet now, he, the great Elder Lü, had actually been ignored in public by a junior?
A nameless fire instantly surged to his head!
But remembering the other party's status as a Blood Dragon City Academy student, with everyone watching, Lü Chunyang could only swallow his anger for now.
He thought to himself, This boy's uncanny movement technique, and that method he used to pierce the vital point of Lin Zhuxian's heart in the blink of an eye-every bit of it reeks of mystery!
As long as I can lure him back to the residence, I'll have ways to pry his mouth open and dig out every secret hidden on him!
At the thought that he would soon be able to cultivate that youth's profoundly mysterious movement technique and incomparably overbearing finger force for his own use, Lü Chunyang could hardly contain his excitement.
Unconsciously, his tone softened somewhat as well. "If you don't come back to the residence with me, how will you collect your wager winnings of twenty thousand gold?"
Bu Wuchen kept feeling that the old fellow was up to no good.
If I really plunge headfirst into his territory, wouldn't that be like a lamb walking into a tiger's jaws?
As the saying went, a gentleman did not stand beneath a tottering wall.
Thus, Bu Wuchen waved impatiently. "No need to make it so troublesome. Just give me banknotes."
Elder Lü knitted his brows and said, stressing every word, "You little brat, I advise you not to test my patience!"
As he spoke, Lü Chunyang unleashed the full pressure of his mystic power without holding anything back.
"Hum~"
The pressure of the Qi Observation Realm Eighth Layer instantly swept toward Bu Wuchen, like Mount Tai bearing down upon his head...