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3.77% Absolute Choice / Chapter 22: This King has Something to Ask You

Chapter 22: This King has Something to Ask You

The rookie training began officially on July 1, yet it was already July 4, 10:30am. Doing the calculations, Shi Xiaobai had played truant for three days, and was late for two-and-a-half hours on the fourth day. Riko had specially mentioned in her message not to be late, much less play truant. It was unexpected that Shi Xiaobai's single deep meditative state made him guilty of both.

The most important thing he should do was of course to rush to the training grounds, and explain the reason why he had violated the rules to the seemingly-peculiar instructor. However, Shi Xiaobai was in no hurry. He slowly found a small haversack in the house, and constantly stuffed food and drinks into it. He even began carefully selecting which foods to bring.

"Being late for a minute is late, while being late for a few hours is also late, so why should This King worry?"

With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaobai left the residence slowly, and soon was on the road. Shi Xiaobai remembered Riko mentioning him several times in her introduction to Steel City that the rookie training ground were south of the [Annihilation]'s jurisdiction zone. It was the southern end of Steel City.

However, which direction was south?

Shi Xiaobai looked at the crossroads in front of him and automatically stopped. Shi Xiaobai stood at the crossroads for very long before he managed to encounter a passer-by. He immediately stopped the person and after asking which direction south was, he began walking along the roads that were paved with black steel. However, every time he encountered an intersection, Shi Xiaobai would patiently stop and wait for a passer-by and ask for directions before he continued on.

Throughout his journey, he constantly walked and stopped, but he finally arrived at the southern end of Steel City, where a gigantic iron gate was.

"This is the Gaia South Gate that leads to the Demon World!"

Shi Xiaobai awed as he looked at the steel gates, before turning to face a surprised gate-keeping guard. He was planning on asking for the location of the rookie training grounds.

The rookie training grounds were already located rather close to the South Gate, so the guard pointed out a specific route for Shi Xiaobai in a friendly manner. Shi Xiaobai nodded and thanked him before heading out according to his directions.

However, after three corners...

"Eh, did Uncle Demon World Gatekeeper say to turn left or right at the fourth intersection?"

Shi Xiaobai thought in silence for three seconds, and decided to abandon the painful thinking process. He stopped at the crossroads and began waiting.

It was already noon, and the sun was shining brightly. After standing there for a minute, Shi Xiaobai could no longer stand it. As he looked around, he saw a short warehouse-like steel building. Shi Xiaobai immediately headed towards the iron building's shadow.

As he walked, he suddenly heard a thump, as if something had collided into steel. However, as it was slightly farther away, it didn't sound very loud, in fact, it was nearly inaudible.

Shi Xiaobai pricked up his ears as he could vaguely hear the colliding sounds coming from the other side of the steel building. As he headed towards it, the sounds became clearer. When he reached the side of the steel building, the colliding sounds was nearly deafening..

"Peng! Peng! Peng!"

Shi Xiaobai took step after step towards the back of the steel building, from the colliding sound, it did not seem like it was produced by using a hammer to strike the steel walls. Soon, he reached the corner and began faintly hearing violent grunting.

"Puff! Puff! Puff!"

The breathing sounds seemed like a violent wind that blew out of a hole in the mountains, with a force that seemed to be able to tear. Shi Xiaobai involuntarily slowed down his footsteps as the breathing slowed down too.

He was getting closer and closer. Shi Xiaobai had finally reached the corner of the steel building. Standing still for a few seconds, he slowly took a step forward, leaning his body slightly and turned his head. Immediately, he could see everything behind the steel building.

At the boundary of sunlight and the shadows stood a man. The man's back was exposed under the sunlight, filled with jaw-dropping muscles. And hidden in the shadows, was his front that seemed to contain explosive power. At this moment, this man was punching the steel buildings wall with his fists while spewing beast-like breathing from his nostrils.

And what was most shocking was that although it seemed like his fists were slamming onto the steel walls to produce the deafening sounds, Shi Xiaobai was able to see clearly that every time the fist came to 10 cm in front of the wall, it would stop. It did not make contact with the wall at all!

Looking closely, wherever the fist passed, there were ripples of white light that flashes out from the fist, like a vertical ripple was emanating from the wall. When these white ripple fluctuations hit the wall, it would produce a deafening sound, as well as cause a visible sag into the steel wall.

"This..."

Shi Xiaobai gulped down his saliva. His eyes were shimmering with burning flames as he began observing intently. The scene of the muscular man punching out with his fist was imprinted in his mind. His body involuntarily began to imitate the muscular man's actions, despite him looking extremely clumsy and ridiculous.

The muscular man punched out dozens of times, and similarly, Shi Xiaobai punched out dozens of times. The contrast was extremely disparate. One was like a ferocious beast, causing the wall to tremble with each fist, while the other looked extremely weak. While punching out, he did not even stir a weak wind from his fists.

"Phew!"

Finally, the muscular man seemed to feel tired and pulled back his fist to stand straight. After taking a few deep breaths, he turned to look at Shi Xiaobai. At the same time, Shi Xiaobai pulled back his fists, and turned to look at the muscular man.

Reflected in Shi Xiaobai's pupils was a face that wasn't too much to be described as 'extremely vicious'. A patch of hair that circled the remaining black hair had been trimmed away, and in the middle of his head was yellow hair that stood up like a rooster's crown. At this moment, his eyes were filled with intense flames, while a hideous scar went from his forehead down past his right eye. His mustache was a messy scrawl, and a prominent double chin brought out the terrifying weirdness of his face.

The top of Shi Xiaobai's head only reached the muscular man's chest, and as the they faced each other, Shi Xiaobai was like a tiny tree sapling that had been shrouded by a large mountain.

"You have a problem?"

A coarse and rich voice, interspersed with a tinge of gasping, blared out from the muscular man. It sounded like the low growl of a beast, filled with an irrepressible hint of brutality.

Immediately an undeniable idea came to Shi Xiaobai—This man could beat him down in one punch, or even kill him in one punch!

This was what Riko said, to definitely not mess with others! If he dared to call himself "This King", or say any shameless words, then the man would mercilessly use his fist that could even cause tremors into the steel walls at his head!

Shi Xiaobai immediately knew the best choice for him now was—keeping a low profile, keeping a low profile, and keeping a low profile.

"This King has something to ask you."

However, his high-spiritedness, and even arrogant sounding words, still came out of Shi Xiaobai. He said it without any trembling or moments of hesitation.

However, the moment he said this, even the sound of wind fell silent. The shadow at the back of the steel building immediately seem to fall into dead silence.

The muscular man crinkled his eyebrows, as if pondering over Shi Xiaobai's words, or pondering whether he should wave his fists.

Shi Xiaobai held his chest straight out, and looked up to face the muscular man directly. There was no haughtiness or fear in his eyes, not even the slightest emotions.

There was only calmness and naturalness. It was as if he had done something normal like wave hello.

"This King has something to ask you." Shi Xiaobai repeated himself again.

Against this "ferocious" muscular man, Shi Xiaobai did not choose to keep a low profile, not because he wanted to flaunt himself, just because—This was him, this was Shi Xiaobai. You ask why he did that? Because there is no why!

Regardless of the reason, there was already no way to reverse the impending disaster, because the muscular man had already slowly raised his extremely firm fists.

  1. Ye Jiaquan (叶家拳) translates to Ye Family Fist.

Chapter 23: The Great Figure Shi Xiaobai

The muscular man slowly lifted his fist, and midair it suddenly stretched out into a palm, as the joint in his arm folded backwards. Surprisingly, his palm touched the back of his head, and his five stretched out fingers began to bend, slightly scratching his scalp a few times.

And the "ferociousness" in his eyes immediately melted away. Replacing it was a nearly honest, good down-to-earth glow.

The muscular man was actually scratching his head, as he asked Shi Xiaobai in wonder, "You..Eh, you are one of the seven Dukes of China?"

Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised, as he failed to react in time to the muscular man's actions. However, when he heard the muscular man's question, Shi Xiaobai denied without any thought. "No!"

Seven Dukes of China? Shi Xiaobai expressed that he had never ever heard of it before. Out of habit, he waved his hand, and then with a spin, lifted it to his forehead, covering half his face. He coldly smiled, "This King is the King of all, the King of Gods, the King of the Worlds, King amongst kings—Arceus . Jade Emperor of the Nine Heavens . Alexander I!"

The muscular man was stunned momentarily after hearing this. After pondering for a moment, his face turned distressed as he scratched his head, saying, "About that...Me have not heard before..."

A body as strong as a beast contrasted greatly with the honest expression of distress, it highlighted the muscular man's silly temperament even more.

Shi Xiaobai immediately gave a look of disappointment, as he shook his head and said with a sigh, "Steel Ox, you are still young after all, that is why you are ignorant and ill-informed."

Due to his disappointment, what should have been the title, "Steel Wall Shaking Powerful Ox" was shortened by Shi Xiaobai to "Steel Ox".

"Ah? Me name isn't Steel Ox. Me name is Ye Jiaquan1!"

Ye Jiaquan awkwardly waved his hand, then he lowered his head to say in an honest manner, "Me doesn't know anything. Lingcun always says Me is dumb."

Upon saying the name "Lingcun", Ye Jiaquan's eyes seemed to flash with a beam of cordialness. It looked like that was a person he trusted greatly.

Shi Xiaobai nodded and acknowledged Ye Jiaquan's dumbness. Recalling that he came here to ask for directions, he immediately decide to no longer continue explaining his identity. He changed topics and asked, "This King has something to ask you."

This was the third time Shi Xiaobai said those words. Ye Jiaquan's expression turned extremely serious as he nodded, as he said seriously, "Please ask!"

Shi Xiaobai said in all seriousness, "This King was struck by a ninja's Sharingan magic, and accidentally fell into a samsara maze. I have been unable to find my way out. Steel Ox, do you know how to get to the rookie training grounds?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Jiaquan was stunned. He felt that the tiny youth in front of him spoke in an erudite and profound manner. From the beginning, he had failed to understand anything that he had said. However, he actually understood his final question. Furthermore, he happened to know the answer!

Ye Jiaquan immediately said with excitement, "Me know! Me know! Actually, Me is one of the rookies of the current batch of [Annihilation] rookies, so Me know where the rookie training ground is!"

Shi Xiaobai was slightly stunned hearing this. He sized up Ye Jiaquan's massive body and that "ferocious" but mature-looking face, and then thinking of that terrifying punch from before, he was unable to make the connection between this person and the word "rookie".

Ye Jiaquan seemed to notice Shi Xiaobai's doubts, as he scratched his head with a smile and said, "Actually Me is 16 years old!"

Shi Xiaobai was immediately dumbfounded, and was momentarily at a loss as to how to answer him.

Ye Jiaquan clearly was used to others appearing shocked after knowing his age. He did not proceed to make any more explanations, but naturally changed the subject by saying, "Why do you want to go to the rookie training grounds?"

Shi Xiaobai restored his calmness and thought through his words, before speaking solemnly, "This King was sealed by the Evil Gods of various worlds, causing This King's strength to fall to the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm. Now to remove the seal, This King is temporarily joining [Gaia]. Like you, This King is a rookie of the current batch of [Annihilation] rookies! However, as This King was busy administering his own world, that time could only be spared today, as such there were few days of accidentally playing truant."

Ye Jiaquan was confused hearing this. He could not make any sense out of Shi Xiaobai's words, and after trying to understand Shi Xiaobai's words for some time, his eyes lit up. "So, you are actually an [Annihilation] rookie? And you are joining the training today?"

Although he now knew that the youth in front of him was a rookie like him, Ye Jiaquan still spoke politely. In his understanding of the world, as long as it was someone intelligent, he was worthy of being respected. For example, a person like Chen Lingcun or a person like this youth in front of him that he could not even remember the name of. He couldn't understand most of the youth's words, clearly indicating how this youth's intelligence was far better than his.

Shi Xiaobai did not pay attention to these details. He only calmly nodded his head.

Seeing Shi Xiaobai nod his head, Ye Jiaquan's somewhat dazed eyes revealed an unconcealable look of anticipation. To prevent himself from losing decorum because of his excitement, he cramped up as he watched Shi Xiaobai's eyes and pleaded, "If that is the case, can Me..can Me request for you to join Team Red?"

"Team Red?" Shi Xiaobai asked in wonder.

Ye Jiaquan smacked himself in the forehead, as he suddenly recalled that the youth in front of him had just arrived today. He hurriedly used clumsy and ambiguous words to explain. "About that...The instructor split the rookies into two teams, Team Red and Team Blue. During every assessment, the two teams will take part in a competition. The failing team would have one person eliminated. Me is from Team Red, so Me hopes that you will join Team Red!"

Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised hearing this. He remembered Riko mentioning in her note that the instructor would frequently have assessments, and the person with the worst results would be eliminated every time. According to Ye Jiaquan's explanation, this batch's instructor had clearly changed the rules. And it seemed like the instructor felt that the importance of a team's strength took precedence over individual strength?

"This King cannot be eliminated regardless of anything. It looks like This King has to seriously consider which team to choose."

With this in mind, Shi Xiaobai said, "Which team is stronger?"

There was no doubt about the answer if one asked a member of Team Red which team was stronger. However, Ye Jiaquan did not give the answer Shi Xiaobai expected. Instead he lowered his head and said with an indignant tone, "Team Blue..is stronger."

Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised, but he quickly understood that this monster-shaped honest youth with a simpleton heart did not know how to lie.

"Honest Steel Ox, This King wasn't wrong about you!"

Shi Xiaobai even felt touched as he already made up his mind. However, he carried on asking, "How many times have the two teams competed.? How many victories and defeats were there?"

Ye Jiaquan maintained his lowered head as he clenched his fists somewhat tightly, whispering, "Twice. Team Blue won both times."

Shi Xiaobai carried on asking. "This King heard that this batch has a rookie at the fourth level of the Psionic Mortal Realm. Which team is he in?"

Ye Jiaquan lowered his head even more. "Team Blue..."

Shi Xiaobai sighed. It seemed like the disparity in strength between Team Red and Team Blue was not trivial, however, this did not affect his decision.

"This King hates how the strong bullies the weak, but likes beating the strong with the weak!"

With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaobai was just about to tell Ye Jiaquan that he was willing to join Team Red.

Suddenly, Ye Jiaquan lifted his lowered head suddenly.

"Although Team Blue is temporarily stronger than Team Red, but Me believes that it is a matter of time before it will surpass Team Blue!"

Ye Jiaquan raised his clenched fist to his chest as he lifted his head towards the distant sky. His voice exuded confidence. His confidence did not seem spurious, but came from a realistic source that he could rely on.

What suddenly gave this honest youth such fiery hot confidence?

Ye Jiaquan gently lowered his head and looked at Shi Xiaobai as he said loudly, "Please, you have to join Team Red! The captain of Me's Team Red is Shi Xiaobai!"

Shi Xiaobai was surprised, thinking that he had misheard him.

Ye Jiaquan's fiery voice sounded once again. "Captain Shi Xiaobai will definitely lead Team Red to defeat Team Blue. Me believes in him!"

When Ye Jiaquan said the three words, "Shi Xiaobai", his eyes glowed with a look of adoration, as if he was talking about a great figure!

  1. Ye Jiaquan (叶家拳) translates to Ye Family Fist.

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