Chapter 379 Dominating the Heavenly Beauty! (Second Update)
"Work hard, you'll have your chance!" Old He patted Gu Jiao on the shoulder with a smile.
Are you kidding me? How could there possibly be a chance?
This kid was someone I brought into the competition myself. To be fair, without boosting others' morale or belittling our own, if he puts in a little effort, there's still a good chance he'll get into the 70th or 80th place.
But when it comes to making empty promises, you don't lose anything in return!
Seeing the young man's determined spirit, Old He wanted to tell her that becoming number one would bring more than just offerings, but before he could speak, Gu Jiao had already eagerly gone to find her dueling platform.
The arena is randomly assigned; there is no such thing as a dedicated arena.
She was assigned to the west arena.
When Gu Jiao first came to the underground martial arts arena, what impressed her most was the duel on the west arena. It was so bloody and brutal that Gu Jiao seriously suspected that the shirtless man had beaten his opponent to death.
Gu Jiao went on stage first.
The rules of the underground martial arts arena are that when someone goes on stage, two square plaques will be raised on either side of the arena like flags, displaying the duelist's name and rank—usually in the form of a title or alias.
For example, Gu Jiao's plaque reads: "Dominating the world, without any rank."
Gu Jiao originally intended to name her Long Aotian, but Lao He said that the word "Long" clashed with the word "Emperor," so Gu Jiao settled for the second best and named her Xiong Batian.
Upon seeing this name, Lao He's lips twitched violently for a few seconds.
Xiong Batian's name was quite fitting. Everyone expected him to be a burly, bearded, and unkempt man, but he turned out to be a clean-cut young boy.
Gu Jiao is considered tall for a woman, but she appears rather petite in the underground martial arts arena filled with burly men.
Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that the player had no level; they were complete beginners.
Their interest immediately dwindled by half, and they all turned to other arenas.
This situation changed when Gu Jiao's opponent's plaque was raised. The square plaque read: "Knife Mountain Guest, Level Two Master".
The people who had left came back in a flash.
Gu Jiao hummed in confusion. There were level four fighters on the South Arena, so why were they stopping for a mere level two?
Soon, the knife-wielding men arrived, and Gu Jiao understood what was going on.
This "knife-wielding assailant" was the same shirtless, burly man she had seen on the West Arena last time. He was incredibly violent, and every punch he threw elicited screams from the crowd.
The point of coming here is to get a thrill. Forget about dying or anything like that; as long as it gets your adrenaline pumping, that's good enough.
The moment Old He saw Daoshanke, his expression changed instantly: "What's going on? How is it him? Wasn't he supposed to be a newbie too?!"
"You, surnamed Zhu! Come out here!"
Old He rushed into the accounting room to find the young man surnamed Zhu.
Zhu Yun was keeping accounts and didn't even lift his eyelids: "Why are you being so reckless?"
Old He was trembling with anger: "You...you broke your promise! How could you assign him this person? You promised to assign him a newbie! You've already taken the money!"
Zhu Yun slowly said, "First, let me correct one point. The money was given to the martial arts arena, and I didn't pocket it. Furthermore, people within the third level can fight each other, so I didn't violate the rules of the martial arts arena."
Old He clenched his fist: "But you promised..."
Zhu Yun said innocently, "I did say that, but that person had something come up and couldn't come. What could I do if he stood me up? Right now, the only one who can fill in is Daoshanke. If you're worried that he'll lose, just tell him to jump off the stage quickly. Daoshanke won't go off the stage to chase after someone to fight. The arena will stop him."
All fights in the martial arts arena can only take place on the ring. Once a member leaves the ring, the fight will end for whatever reason, and the one remaining on the ring will be declared the winner.
Now that things have come to this, no matter how angry Old He was with Zhu Yun, he couldn't argue with him anymore. He had to hurry and remind Young Master Gu not to really confront the Mountain of Knives.
You should just admit defeat!
He'll pay for the money we lost!
That's right, unlike Taihe Martial Arts School, here duelists get a share of the winnings and are also fined for losing.
The fine will be deducted from the initial deposit, and once the deposit is depleted, the user will lose the right to duel at the arena.
Gu Jiao's deposit was given by Lao He, and Lao He didn't intend to ask Gu Jiao for it back.
The reason why Lao He was so nervous can be traced back to the strength of Daoshanke. He came to the underground martial arts arena last month and defeated more than 20 masters in just one month.
He only needs one more match to advance to the next level.
It's easy to imagine how fiercely he'll fight in this match.
The crowd at Daoshan was so enthusiastic that they surrounded the west arena in layers. Everyone was in high spirits, and Lao He tried his best but couldn't squeeze in.
He was frantic and jumped up in the crowd to wave at Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao saw him and waved to him.
"Get down!" Old He changed his gesture to beckoning. Seeing that Gu Jiao didn't understand, he pointed at Daoshanke, then at Gu Jiao, and made a throat-slitting gesture.
It means—he'll kill you! Get down right now!
Gu Jiao said "Oh," gave him an OK sign, and quickly knocked out this knife-wielding guy to rush to the next match.
Okay, she understands.
Old He didn't understand what the gesture was, but Gu Jiao nodded at him, which meant she understood what he meant.
The drums and gongs sound, the duel begins!
Everyone roared with fervor: "Knife Mountain Hero! Knife Mountain Hero! Knife Mountain Hero!"
Daoshanke moved his neck, clenched his fist, and walked towards Gu Jiao with disdain.
Old He grew anxious: "Why aren't you coming down? Come down! Come down! Come down now—"
well.
Why are you in such a hurry?
Alright, as you wish.
With a light touch of her toes, Gu Jiao leaped up as gracefully as a wild goose and slammed her fist down at Daoshanke!
The Swordsman also revealed his hammer-like fist—
Then there was a loud thud, and someone fell to the ground!
The shouts stopped abruptly, and a collective gasp went through the crowd!
The one who fell to the ground was not that skinny little boy, but the mighty and mighty Knife Mountain Warrior!
One punch...
He only threw one punch!
As Daoshanke fell, Gu Jiao's body also landed lightly, kneeling on one knee, her fist pressing against the arena floor, landing beside Daoshanke.
The area around the arena was completely silent; even Old He was speechless.
Is it possible that he misread it?
Wasn't it actually Young Master Gu who collapsed?
How could Daoshanke fall down? He hadn't even fought yet, and he... he... he wouldn't come out. Old He pinched himself, tears streaming down his face from the pain.
He finally accepted the fact that Daoshanke had been knocked down by Gu Jiao with a single punch.
Taking advantage of everyone's momentary daze, he squeezed through the crowd, arrived at the edge of the arena, and said to the martial arts judge beating the gong, "Hurry up and beat the gong! We've won! We've won!"
Old He was worried that Daoshanke had only stumbled and would get back up and beat Gu Jiao to a pulp, so he quickly ended the fight so that Daoshanke wouldn't be able to make another move.
As it turns out, Lao He was overthinking it.
After the martial arts judge banged the gong, he couldn't wake up the man from the mountain of knives. In the end, he had to call two martial arts practitioners to carry him down.
Old He was drenched in cold sweat.
This is so exciting!
After that, Gu Jiao fought two more matches, but her opponents were not as strong as Dao Shan Ke, and she won quite easily.
Three matches a day is the limit for a person in the martial arts arena. Gu Jiao could no longer fight, so she could only sigh and leave the stage.
She wasn't combative; it was just that this was the best way to regain her former strength, and besides, she could also earn some money along the way.
Few people bet on her this time, and the odds were very high, but because she was of low rank and received a small share of the winnings, she only received ten taels of silver.
Gu Jiao wasn't in a hurry.
She put the silver away, adjusted her mask, and turned to leave the accounting room.
"This lad is not bad," Zhu Yun said with a smile.
Gu Jiao didn't plan to linger at the martial arts field. She had promised Xiao Jingkong in the morning that she would pick him up from school at the Imperial College in the afternoon.
She started walking towards the exit of the martial arts arena. Just as she reached the door, a young man dressed as a guard appeared before her, blocking her path: "Xiong..."
He probably wanted to call him Xiong Batian, but felt ashamed and couldn't bring himself to say the name.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Young Master Xiong, my master invites you."
Gu Jiao was about to say no, but then she remembered her mute persona and reluctantly pulled out her notebook.
At this point, she began to envy Gu Chengfeng's voice-changing skills. If she could also speak like a man, wouldn't that save her a lot of trouble?
However, in that short delay, Gu Jiao changed her mind.
She quickly wrote: "Silver".
The guard was taken aback.
Gu Jiao wrote very seriously: "No money, no going. Appearance fee: ten taels."
Guard: "..."
The master had given the order to bring the person over, and the guard reluctantly took out ten taels of silver.
Gu Jiao pocketed the silver and left, showing great courtesy.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be another room with gourds hanging on it.
Gu Jiao had already inquired and found out that houses with gourds hanging on them usually belonged to the top thirty masters on the list. Of course, these houses could be obtained through certain special means.
For example, if you buy the house from that expert, you will also gain the right to use the house.
Gu Jiao thought of Gu Changqing, wondering which category he belonged to.
Gu Jiao entered the room, where the man was dressed in a brown brocade robe and wore a jade mask.
These masks look nice, but they're too heavy and could easily fall off during a fight.
It seems this man didn't come to the martial arts arena to fight; he most likely acquired this room by buying the skills of a master.
"Young Master Xiong, please have a seat." The man politely gestured to the chair below him.
As soon as he spoke, Gu Jiao recognized who he was.
Unexpectedly, this underground martial arts arena is full of hidden talents. Gu Changqing, the heir of the Marquis's mansion, has come, as has Qin Chuhan, the prince of Zhao Kingdom.
Qin Chuhan is the Prince of Ning.
Gu Jiao recognized Prince Ning, but Prince Ning did not recognize Gu Jiao for the time being.
Gu Jiao sat down without making a sound.
"Would you like wine or tea, young hero?" Prince Ning asked politely yet with an air of refined elegance.
Gu Jiao took out her notebook and wrote carefully, "I'm still young, I can't drink alcohol."
Prince Ning was taken aback, his eyes seeming to say—you're still young, how can you come to such a dangerous place to fight?
Prince Ning had seen his share of storms and could handle this child. He smiled and said, "Alright, serve tea!"
A servant served Gu Jiao tea.
Gu Jiao soon discovered a problem: the mask did not cover her mouth, meaning she would have to remove it to drink tea.
etc.
Was Prince Ning being polite to her or testing her to remove her mask?
Gu Jiao wrote, "I don't like drinking this kind of tea."
Prince Ning smiled and asked, "I wonder what kind of tea Young Hero Xiong prefers?"
He probably felt that no matter how expensive the tea Gu Jiao mentioned, he could provide it.
Gu Jiao wrote expressionlessly: "Fold, ear, root".
Prince Ning: "..."
"It was my fault for not being hospitable enough. I will definitely have someone prepare it next time..." Prince Ning looked at the three characters and was a little doubtful whether there really was such a thing as Zhe'ergen.
His expression recovered quickly, and he said gently, "Is this your first time in the arena, Young Hero Xiong? You fought well. I admire you very much and would like to be your friend. Oh, I forgot to mention, my surname is Chu."
Gu Jiao: I'd be a fool to believe you.
Prince Ning asked in a gentle tone and with a mild expression, "I wonder if Young Hero Xiong is a local of the capital?"
Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow and quickly typed, "What? If not, are you going to buy me a house?"
Prince Ning was choked again.
Although he could afford to give away a house, being asked to do so made him feel very awkward.
Prince Ning took a sip of tea, lowered his eyes and smiled: "If it is Xiong... Young Hero Batian..." He almost couldn't say the name, "If you have nowhere to stay, you can come to my residence first."
Gu Jiao wrote: "I will not live under someone else's roof."
Prince Ning smiled and said, "How can this be considered living under someone else's roof? If Young Hero Xiong is willing, he can become my guard, and then he will be one of my people. I will arrange a separate villa for you. The scenery in my residence is very beautiful, Young Hero Xiong may wish to consider it."
Being a guard in the Prince Ning's mansion is something many people would kill for. Moreover, guards are divided into ranks, and it was unprecedented for someone to be given a private courtyard upon arrival.
Prince Ning was waiting for Gu Jiao to come and ask him about his identity.
But... is it just an illusion?
Why did he feel that the other person's eyes were a little disdainful?
Gu Jiao pouted; after all that, they only got a small villa.
You can sleep soundly in Renshou Palace, who cares about your Prince Ning's Mansion?
Gu Jiao got up and left.
The guard stopped Gu Jiao: "My young master hasn't finished speaking!"
Gu Jiao waved her hand and quickly wrote: "The time for the ten taels of silver is up. If you listen to him any longer, you'll have to pay more!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
