Chapter 106 - 14: Kicked Out?

Chapter 106: Chapter 14: Kicked Out?

The strange odor in the wind was exceedingly faint.

Feng Yin frowned and followed the subtle stench until he arrived beneath a large tree by the roadside. The scent was strongest here, yet he saw nothing unusual. Even this lingering odor was rapidly fading as the night breeze blew past.

He stood beneath the tree, his expression calm as he tilted his head to look at the security gate of the villa district.

"This is indeed well-hidden, and... it offers a good vantage point," Feng Yin thought to himself, sniffing the air again. In just a moment, the smell here had dissipated so much that even he could no longer detect it.

The faces of the young man and woman he had seen during the day flashed through his mind. Could it be them? Who were those two tailing? Xiao Yu? Xie Yanran and her husband? Or him?

Feng Yin turned and left in silence.

The next day.

In the suburbs of Coastal City, inside the Absolute Blade Hall.

After a flurry of clashing blades, Feng Yin’s Soaring Dragon Sky-Piercing missed its mark once again. Once more, he took a counter-thrust to the lower back from Nie Fei’s "Circular Kill" technique.

Stumbling a step forward, he turned back to look at Nie Fei, who was sheathing her blade and standing up straight. "My grasp of timing in battle really still isn’t a match for yours."

Nie Fei took off her helmet, revealing an androgynous, strikingly beautiful face that was as pale as paper—a look that could easily captivate both men and women. The bulging neural veins on her face slowly faded away. That was the external manifestation of Absolute Blade’s State Type Fixed Form, "Mad Meridian."

Compared to the "Dragon Transformation" of Jiao Swordsmanship, this secret technique didn’t provide as massive a boost in strength; instead, it leaned more toward enhancing the caster’s neural acuity. Correspondingly, the burden it placed on the muscles, bones, and heart wasn’t nearly as heavy. Relying on this state, Nie Fei was able to keep up with Feng Yin’s extraordinary reaction speed. Coupled with her combat experience—which outmatched his by over two years—she could effectively suppress him in their standard sparring sessions.

She shook her head. "That’s only because you aren’t using your method of interrupting Fixed Forms against me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to win."

Feng Yin, however, brushed it off. "If I sparred like that, it’d feel a bit like cheating. It defeats the purpose of training."

If it were an official duel, he naturally wouldn’t hold back; just like their very first encounter, he would pull out all the stops to secure victory because pride was on the line. But in an informal spar, winning through a method the opponent had almost no way to counter was meaningless. It was like playing a fighting game—spamming an unblockable move to win might feel good, but it did very little to actually improve one’s personal skill.

Nie Fei, however, spoke in a low voice, "Winning or losing doesn’t matter. I want you to use that method against me more often. I think I’ve faintly grasped the feeling of interrupting and altering Fixed Forms."

Feng Yin raised an eyebrow.

Was she actually figuring out the trick on her own just by sparring with him for a few days—something he only achieved by relying on a cheat? Good grief, was this a true genius? If he didn’t have his cheat, he would have definitely been outworked and crushed by people like her.

On the other side of the room, Xiao Yu was playing a board game with Ding Qi. It was a game involving black and white stones, similar to Go. Suddenly, Ding Qi slapped his forehead, his bushy beard jutting upward as he hollered, "Xiao Yu, you’re not respecting your elders here! You actually set a trap for me?"

Xiao Yu jumped up with a beaming, smug smile. "Uncle Ding, you shouldn’t hold back in a battle of wits! Going all out is the highest form of respect!"

Ding Qi grumbled as he gathered the pieces. "One more round, one more round."

Xiao Yu wasn’t falling for it. "We agreed on best three out of five, and I won!"

Ding Qi huffed, blowing his beard again. "Wasn’t it best four out of seven?"

Xiao Yu stuck her tongue out at him. "Shame on you. Soon you’ll be saying best five out of nine. I’m not playing with you anymore. I’m going to spar with my eldest junior brother."

With that, she trotted over to Feng Yin, her large eyes fluttering. "Eldest junior brother, I saw that. How did you lose again? You’re making your senior sister lose face!"

This Xiao Yu... Feng Yin knew the rich lolita was just teasing, so he didn’t bother arguing with her.

As the group rested, Feng Yin’s phone rang. It was the second phone Xiao Yu had bought for him—he had already destroyed the first one, which he had used to record a test video. After all, during his time on Earth, he had heard that even if a phone was disconnected from the internet and had its SIM card removed, it could still potentially be monitored via forced satellite connection. While his identity was still simple and hadn’t yet drawn the attention of any special agencies or individuals, destroying the device that recorded his secrets was the safest bet.

The call was from his eldest senior sister, Xie Yanran.

Feng Yin removed his arm armor and answered, "Eldest senior sister."

Xiao Yu sneakily perked up her ears and pressed her little face closer.

Xie Yanran’s voice came through. "Feng Yin, if it’s convenient, please come back to the Sword Hall now..."

As he listened to the rest of the call, Feng Yin’s expression turned a bit peculiar, while Xiao Yu’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

After the call ended, Xiao Yu burst into gleeful laughter before Feng Yin could even say a word.

She smiled excitedly. "I never would’ve thought! Someone actually dared to come challenge our dojo?"

Hearing her undisguised excitement, Nie Fei glanced over. "A dojo challenge? Which sect?"

"She didn’t say. We’ll only know once we go back and see," Feng Yin said, standing up. He was quite curious himself to see who would actually dare to challenge the Gangrou Sect.

After all, even though the Gangrou Sword Hall only had a handful of notable members like his eldest senior sister and fifth senior brother—aside from Xie Jingyuan—and couldn’t even produce a true Instant Level expert, leveraging that weakness to challenge them was basically a slap in Xie Jingyuan’s face. The only possibility was that the challenging sect also had an Absolute Powerhouse backing them up, and they had sent their genius disciples over to rub it in Xie Jingyuan’s face.

When Feng Yin packed away his Black Armor protective gear and walked out of the Absolute Blade Hall’s locker room, he spotted a figure standing next to Xiao Yu.

Below that familiar, sharp face that blended masculine heroism with feminine beauty was a tall frame nearly 1.8 meters in height. Her black sweatpants stretched slightly taut over long, well-proportioned, and perfectly straight legs, exuding an impressive sense of strength and ultimate aesthetic appeal. A modestly sized yet fully plump chest paired with a rapidly narrowing waist seamlessly connected to a firm and athletic rear, forming an incredibly striking silhouette.

Truth be told, over the past few days of sparring at the Absolute Blade Hall, Feng Yin had only ever seen Nie Fei dressed in armor and protective gear. Concealed beneath rigid padding, coupled with her cold, heroic face, he barely even registered her as a woman during combat.

In his mind, Nie Fei was pretty, but he assumed she had a flat figure—at most, possessing a pair of long legs. Yet now that her body was no longer hidden by crimson armor, the image she presented completely contradicted her usual aura. It was quite a stark contrast.

As it turned out, Xiao Yu had never seen Nie Fei in casual clothes either. She was currently clutching her arm with an expression of absolute awe, singing her praises. Upon seeing Feng Yin step out, she waved at him enthusiastically. "Eldest junior brother! Look quickly, Sister Nie Fei has such an amazing figure! Look at these long legs! This butt, this waist! It’s incredible!"

As she spoke, she even reached out and pinched Nie Fei’s waist. "So firm!"

Nie Fei had initially been quite composed, but after being subjected to Xiao Yu’s incredibly blunt remarks, a hint of embarrassment flashed in her eyes. Seeing Feng Yin approach made her want nothing more than to flee.

Naturally, Feng Yin wasn’t going to join Xiao Yu’s antics and make her more uncomfortable. He simply nodded calmly at Nie Fei. "Are you heading out?"

Seeing that Feng Yin wasn’t giving her any strange looks, Nie Fei breathed a sigh of relief and finally felt a little less awkward. She nodded. "Yes, I’m going to watch the fight."

Feng Yin looked at Xiao Yu in confusion.

Xiao Yu chuckled. "Anyone who dares to challenge our dojo at a time like this has to be pretty skilled. Sister Nie Fei wants to see you fight someone else."

So that was it. Feng Yin nodded; it aligned perfectly with what he had guessed.

As they spoke, Ding Qi, who had also changed into casual attire, strode out with vigorous, confident steps. He let out a hearty laugh. "Hahaha, I just let it slip that Old Xie has an extremely capable genius disciple, and barely a few days later, someone’s already knocking on the door."

He wore the expression of someone eager to watch the world burn. "Someone showing this little face definitely has to be one of Old Xie’s rivals."

Feng Yin looked at Ding Qi, who also seemed dressed to head out. "Uncle Ding, are you coming too?"

Ding Qi nodded matter-of-factly. "Nonsense, of course I’m going to watch a spectacle like this. It’s a shame Old Xie isn’t in Coastal City right now, otherwise this grand show would be even more entertaining." Saying that, he took the lead and marched toward the entrance of the Absolute Blade Hall. "Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll ride in Xiao Yu’s car."

Xiao Yu laughed merrily and pulled Nie Fei along. "Uncle Ding, it’s fine if you want to watch the show, but my master isn’t here. If the older generation on their side tries to bully us, you have to help!"

Seeing Xiao Yu acting coy, Ding Qi laughed so hard his beard twitched. "Now you know to beg your Uncle Ding? You were awfully arrogant earlier when you slaughtered my giant dragon in our game."

Xiao Yu played dumb. "Was I? I wasn’t that arrogant, right? I’ve always respected the elderly and cherished the young."

"You little rascal..." Ding Qi chuckled despite her shameless attitude. "Old Xie really is lucky. It’s not enough that he has Feng Yin, but he also has you playing the clown and keeping everyone entertained every day."

Feng Yin followed them, and the group left the Absolute Blade Hall together.

Half an hour later, Feng Yin and the others arrived at the base of the Xuan Guang Group building.

He and Xiao Yu led the way, bringing a leisurely Ding Qi and a calm-faced Nie Fei, who wore a blade at her waist, into the Gangrou Sword Hall. The moment the receptionist girl of the Gangrou Sword Hall saw them arrive, she frantically ran over. "Feng Yin, Xiao Yu, this is bad..."

Before Feng Yin could say anything, Xiao Yu smiled and comforted the panicked receptionist. "Don’t rush, take it slow. What’s the situation?"

The girl steadied her emotions and spoke rapidly. "A fierce-looking woman brought a hulking young man over and said... she said they came to chal— spar..."

She glanced at their expressions and hurriedly added, "That big guy looks young, but he’s incredibly strong. He’s already defeated all the inner disciples except for Coach Xie and Coach Huo..."

Feng Yin nodded. Counting Xie Yanran, Huo Ming, Xiao Yu, and himself, the master of the Gangrou Sword Hall currently had eleven Direct Disciples. Aside from Huo Ming and Xie Yanran, who were a bit older, the rest were young people in their twenties. This meant that excluding him and Xiao Yu, there were seven other young male and female disciples at the Fierce Level.

To think that in such a short amount of time, all seven of them had been laid out.

Xiao Yu raised her eyebrows indignantly. "A dojo challenge is one thing, but why are they beating up the others? Where are they?"

"They’re in the large training grounds on the first floor in the back. They deliberately chose a crowded environment to issue their challenge," the receptionist replied immediately.

"That’s going too far!" Xiao Yu fumed, dragging Feng Yin toward the back.

Ding Qi’s lips curled up as he laughed heartily. "Such a blatant slap in the face. Whoever came for this challenge really isn’t afraid of Old Xie blowing his top. Nie Fei, let’s go, we can’t miss this."

The group hurried to the large arena in the back.

Before they even stepped through the doors, they heard a ruthless female voice mocking them in a reprimanding tone.

"What? These are all the genius disciples that old ghost Xie Jingyuan has to offer?

"He’s completely thrown away the face of our Yin Yang Sword Sect!"