章 38: Level Nine Martial Artist

編集者: Caron_

With this red fruit, I can break through earlier than I had planned.

Ye Tian's eyes gleamed with excitement as he examined the flame-colored fruit. He tore his eyes away and stored it within his inner-breast pocket, turning to bury Ye Fei's body before sneaking back into the Wang Village.

The Wang Family Village was still in the midst of celebration; no one had noticed Ye Tian or Lin Fei's disappearance.

Ye Tian slipped back into the village, finding his way back to a main road and returning to the mansion.

As he had expected, no one cared about a Level Two Martial Artist child and his comings and goings went undetected.

Ye Tian smiled lightly, looking around for Ye Ba.

Very quickly, he found his target in a group with a bunch of burly men. Ye Ba was already drunk out of his mind, bragging about his exploits with the Hunter Team.

Ye Tian shook his head wryly and found a place to sit and eat as he waited for the feast to end.

He was impatiently waiting to return home and use the red fruit to break through to Level Nine Martial Artist; everything else was just a distraction.

But sadly, the feast continued and he had to wait quietly.

"You coward!"

Ye Tian's calm was quickly shattered as an enraged Lin Wudi stomped over, sneering at him.

The boy wasn't alone this time, several similarly aged young men arrayed behind him.

"Brother Lin, is this the coward? To think that the great Ye Family Village would produce cowards who refuse challenges," a young man mocked him.

"Truly, a real coward. A disgrace to the Ye Family Village's fame."

"What fame?! The Ye Family Village is just like this guy—shamelessly taking the title as one of the three main villages without deserving it. What a joke."

…

Lin Wudi and the other young men sneered, mocking Ye Tian.

Ye Tian couldn't be bothered to deal with the reckless Level Two and Three brats, turning away and ignoring them, not even moving from his seat as he continued sampling the food on the table.

Lin Wudi and the others grew even more furious, their faces dark as they glared at Ye Tian.

One of the young men gritted his teeth, spitting out: "Hey sh*thead, are you deaf? You're a coward, and if you can't accept Brother Lin's challenge then piss off!"

The others all tried varying degrees of ferocious intimidation, glaring coldly at Ye Tian.

"Strange. Where is that barking coming from? Really, people aren't controlling their dogs!" Ye Tian murmured in response, turning to examine Lin Wudi and the others with curious eyes.

The young men quivered indignantly as Lin Wudi's eyes flashed with fury.

"Brat, I challenge you!" One of the young men roared.

"Not interested!"

Ye Tian waved casually, not even turning to look at the fellow.

The young men choked in angry silence.

"Coward! Just wait!" Lin Wudi and the others turned, unwilling to make trouble at the feast, all of them spitting angry threats as they left.

As the bored children left to go play, Ye Tian shook his head, putting down his bowl and chopsticks as the feast finally came to an end.

After a round of cheering and applause, the curtains were finally drawn on the celebration and the Martial Warriors began to scatter.

Ye Tian found Ye Ba and supported the jellied limbs of the drunk man, finding a Wang Family attendant to lead them to their guest house.

"Ye Tian, where did you go?"

As soon as they settled in the house and the attendants left, Ye Ba jumped out of bed and turned to Ye Tian.

Ye Tian was amazed by Ye Ba's calm sobriety, having truly believed the man's drunken act.

"Sometimes you're able to see a person's true face when you're drunk," Ye Ba explained as he smiled at Ye Tian's surprised expression.

"Impressive, Uncle Ba. I still have much to learn from you!" Ye Tian smiled, thumbing his nose. Ye Ba's thoughtful side usually went unnoticed.

"Alright, don't change the subject—where did you go? What took you so long? I was almost worried," Ye Ba said seriously.

Ye Tian's face darkened as he turned to the curtained window and checked their surroundings before turning back to Ye Ba.

The experienced hunter frowned, his face serious as he waited for Ye Tian. He clearly understood how important the matter was if Ye Tian was so cautious.

After all, Ye Tian's explanation was truly shocking.

"Uncle Ba, the Lin Family and Wang Family have made a secret alliance," Ye Tian said quietly.

"WHAT?!"

Ye Ba shot upright, his eyes wide open with disbelief.

"Hush…" Ye Tian warned, placing a finger on his lips, gesturing to his ears. Ye Ba sat, his face dark and his eyes gloomy.

"Are you sure? This cannot be joked about!" Ye Ba said, his eyes locked onto Ye Tian's face.

The young man nodded, quietly explaining: "I was wandering around when I heard Lin Fei and Wang Hu speaking. That's how I found out."

Ye Ba completely trusted Ye Tian, angry beyond belief as he smashed the corner of the table they were sitting at, muttering angrily: "That f***er. I'm going to kill him!"

"He deserves it but no need to trouble yourself, Uncle Ba, because I already killed him," Ye Tian replied coldly.

"What?!"

Ye Ba turned his stunned eyes back to Ye Tian. He had been speaking in anger. After all, Lin Fei was too powerful for him to defeat.

A Level Nine Martial Artist was a peak expert in the entire White Cloud Town area.

But Ye Ba didn't think that Ye Tian was lying, even though to believe was to accept that an expert like Lin Fei had been killed by a sixteen year old teenager. After all, Ye Tian's cultivation consisted of miracle after miracle with his most recent accomplishment killing the Peak Stage Level Nine Purple Cloud Cheetah.

But killing a beast was different from killing a man, and as far as Ye Ba knew, Ye Tian had never slain another person. All in all, he was actually impressed with Ye Tian's courage and his ability to move without fear or trepidation towards his goal.

This terrifying mental fortitude deeply shocked Ye Ba.

"Uncle Ba, he was the Lin Family Village's secret liaison to the Wang Family. Since he's dead, we can frame his murder on the Wang Family Village and turn them against each other," Ye Tian calmly continued. He knew what Ye Ba was thinking but the truth was that he had a lifetime of experience as a soldier in the Special Forces and countless men had died by his hands.

But Ye Ba didn't understand so he was shocked.

"En?" Ye Ba stirred at Ye Tian's words, his eyes gaining a profound respect as he examined Ye Tian. Finally, he nodded. "You did well. Killing Lin Fei will only be beneficial to Ye Family Village, but we still need to notify the Village Chief and the elders. We must leave tomorrow."

Ye Tian nodded and bid Ye Ba goodnight, heading for the prepared building next door.

After entering his room, Ye Tian locked the door and took out the Hundred Year Fruit. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he prepared himself to eat the fruit and break through.

When everything was prepared, Ye Tian closed his eyes and shoved the fruit in his mouth.

The red fruit was the size of a fist and completely made out of energy. As it entered his mouth, it immediately melted into a burning flood that flowed down Ye Tian's throat and spread through his body.

The True Qi in his principal meridians began boiling in response, billowing and growing, gathering together as they swept towards his Ninth Principal Meridian.

Everything proceeded smoothly as his new principal meridian was instantly broken open, the filth and bodily corruption swept away as his True Qi grew and grew.

Boundless Spiritual Qi from the Heavens and Earth vortexed around Ye Tian, sinking down into his body as he absorbed and refined it into new True Qi.

With a muffled roar, Ye Tian's eyes flew open, a thin gleaming light flashing out of them like lightning.

Level Nine Martial Artist—he had broken through.

Ye Tian stood, his eyes sharp and his body filled with strength and power. His galloping True Qi flowed within him like a mighty flood, circulating through his meridians with great strength and vigor.

"Level Nine Martial Artist… now even against a Level Ten expert, I can use my Saber Intent to compete!" Ye Tian's eyes gleamed, his Qi compressing around him like a sharpened treasured saber.

His strength was palpable, and now, the only person in all of White Cloud Town whom he needed to be wary of was the Martial Master Wang Xu.

And Ye Tian knew that one day, sooner or later, he would surpass even him.

Ye Tian looked down at his hands, eyes filled with confidence.

With this breakthrough, Ye Tian was now a true peak expert of the White Cloud Town area—this brief excursion had truly come with a tremendous windfall.

Ye Tian even felt grateful to the dead Lin Fei; without the Hundred Year Fruit, it would've taken him some time before he could even begin to break through.

But now that span of time had been saved.

Ye Tian looked out as sunlight spilled in from the window, smiling confidently. Fully rested, he pushed open the door and walked outside.

The sun was high in the sky. Unknowingly, he had spent the entire night cultivating.

But after breaking through to Level Nine Martial Artist, Ye Tian was filled with vigor. He was eager to practice his Thundering Palm, but he still had to suppress his strength while outside of his village, so he swallowed his excitement and hurried to wake Ye Ba.

However, the night hadn't been so quiet for the rest of the village. Lin Fei's unexpected absence was causing a growing anxiety among some of the Wang Family Village's top brass.