After the man in white left, Xia Tian never stopped practicing. Although his father had never taught him martial arts, he had laid the best possible foundation for him.
If an ordinary person began training at this age, no matter how hard they tried their future achievements would be limited. Xia Tian, however, was different. Though his father never taught him formal techniques, from childhood he had conditioned his body to instinctively adapt to martial practice.
The transformation brought about by the necklace had previously produced a dramatic change in his physique.
The power inside him felt like a vast treasure trove, but he lacked the techniques to channel that strength. As a result, those who confronted the Liusha had no resistance at all.
What he lacked now was an authentic martial art. Manyun Immortal Steps and Lingxi Finger had both been left by his father. Even masters like the man in white had said these were extraordinary techniques.
Xia Tian could not imagine how powerful the man in white must have been. He had not seen the man make a move, yet the two men from Liusha were already dead.
He had always believed that, however high a person's skill, they could never be faster than a bullet. At that moment the Liusha men had guns in their hands, but they did not even have a chance to fire before they were killed by the man in white.
In the presence of a true master, hands and guns are useless.
Xia Tian had just made some progress with the Manyun Immortal Steps.
Time passed quickly; Xia Tian almost lost track of how long he had been practicing, so absorbed was he in his training.
You are me, my big apple.
"Sister Bingxin? How did you get my number?"
"Tell me slowly—what happened?"
"Okay, I'll be there soon."
After Xia Tian hung up, he ran off without waiting for a car. He did not ride; he ran. Having just practiced the Manyun Immortal Steps, Xia Tian finally realized the benefit of the skill: extraordinary speed and strong endurance.
The call had been from Bingxin; her voice had sounded panicked. They were at a place called Emperor KTV. The art group had been surrounded, and her cousin Ye Qingxue was arguing with them.
"Damn it—if anyone dares to lay a hand on my cousin, I'll make them pay." His cousin was the closest person in the world to Xia Tian. If anyone hurt Ye Qingxue, he would never let them go unpunished.
Xia Tian's running speed at that moment was many times faster than before. If he entered a 100-meter race at his current pace, his previous times would look childlike.
At Emperor KTV.
"Fang Li, you're a man, but you're just watching this unfold?" Ye Qingxue glared at Fang Li angrily. Today had been the arts group's celebration of a basketball victory, but Fang Li and Yan Xu from the sports department had come to cause trouble.
He had issued a challenge to the arts group. Ye Qingxue refused to accept Fang Li's challenge because she did not want to drag Xia Tian into the matter again.
While they were arguing, a woman from the art group had been molested when she went to the bathroom. Ye Qingxue went to help, but the perpetrators were a pack of idlers and utterly unreasonable.
After seeing Ye Qingxue, those idle men became malicious and insisted she go drink with their Brother Bao. Ye Qingxue had thought Fang Li and the others could distinguish gratitude from resentment, but she was wrong—Fang Li and his companions were only adding insult to injury.
Not only did they refuse to help, they made demands.
Fang Li's condition was that Ye Qingxue accept their challenge; Yan Xu's demand was worse—he said he would help only if Ye Qingxue agreed to be his girlfriend.
That was the scene just now.
"Ye Qingxue, it's not that we don't care about classmate solidarity. If you agree to our request, we'll help you deal with those idlers." Fang Li and the sports department men were all strong. If they became involved, the idlers would not dare act.
"I'm warning you lot—don't meddle in other people's business. This is Brother Bao's place. Be careful, or I won't let you leave Emperor." One of the idlers announced himself. They knew that if Brother Bao and his men intervened, it would become very difficult.
"Fang Li, I really misjudged you." Ye Qingxue glared at him.
"Girl, it's your blessing that Brother Bao likes you. If you go have a few drinks with Brother Bao, we won't make things difficult for your classmates." The leader of the idlers leered at Ye Qingxue.
"I don't even know him. Why should I drink with him?" Ye Qingxue refused.
"Don't be ungrateful. It's your luck that Brother Bao fancies you. If you don't obey, my brothers won't be polite." The idlers smiled in a way that made them hard to deal with.
"I've called the police—they'll be here soon." Ye Qingxue had asked someone to call the police.
"Police? Haha—our Brother Bao has a wide network. If he makes a call, no police will show." The idlers said proudly. They hung around Brother Bao because he could look after them everywhere.
"Don't be so presumptuous. Is there no law in this world?" Ye Qingxue shot back.
"Law? You're talking about the law here, Miss Liu—what do you mean?" Brother Bao stepped out from a booth in the distance, followed by a burly, pot-bellied man who walked with a stagger.
"What a bunch of losers." Brother Bao glared at the idlers, then turned to Fang Li, Yan Xu and their companions: "What do you think you're doing? How dare you act so presumptuously in my place!"
Bang!
Brother Bao slammed his wine bottle on the ground. As the bottle shattered, dozens of idlers emerged from all directions. Outside them, security guards from Emperor KTV blocked the passage to keep onlookers away.
Seeing the reinforcements, Fang Li, Yan Xu and the others' faces changed. There were only ten of them. They had assumed they could fight the idlers and suffer no losses, but they did not expect so many to appear at once.
How could ten of them possibly defeat so many?
"Brother Bao, I think this is a misunderstanding. We don't know them." Yan Xu hurried forward. He could see that this crowd was made up of unemployed idlers.
Especially Brother Bao—he was clearly not someone to be trifled with. If a fight broke out, they would all be hurt, and he had noticed men outside holding knives.
"All right, then all of you get out of here now." Brother Bao did not speak politely; he was not someone to challenge.
"Hmph." Fang Li snorted and his face went ugly, but they left the crowd, leaving the arts group behind. There were sixteen people in the arts group—four men and twelve women—but the four men were not as strong as those in the sports department.
After Fang Li and his men left, Ye Qingxue and the others were completely isolated. Ye Qingxue knew the idlers' words had not been idle threats.
Even if the police arrived, they would be blocked outside by Brother Bao's men. Beside Brother Bao stood a sharp, scheming-looking lawyer.
"Little girl, I urge you to come have a few drinks with me and let this go. Otherwise, I won't let any of you leave." Brother Bao glanced at the group. "My brothers really like college students."
He was threatening them—if Ye Qingxue did not accompany him to a private room, he would have someone attack her and her companions.
"Sister Xue, we can't agree to his terms." Although the four men in the arts group were not as physically imposing as the sports department, they were still men and stood in front of the women.
"Sister Xue, we will never let them take you."
The four men in the arts group readied themselves.
"Just you four sissies!" Brother Bao said coldly. "Go and give them a good beating."
Ye Qingxue's face grew extremely pale. Although the four men stood between her and the assailants, she felt no security. They were completely surrounded.
There was no way to escape, and going with those men would lead to disaster.
"Qingxue, I've already called Xia Tian." Bingxin said in a low voice.
"You're panicking. What's the point of calling Xia Tian now? Why not call Sister Wen?" Ye Qingxue said anxiously.
"I called, but Sister Wen didn't answer. I had no choice but to call Xia Tian." Bingxin frowned. She knew she should have called Huo Wen in this situation.
"What should we do?" Ye Qingxue asked. She did not notice Bingxin clenching her fists.
At that moment the idlers moved toward the four men in the arts group, but the four did not back down.
Bump!
"Who's there?" A loud noise from outside drew everyone's attention.
"Cousin, where are you?" Xia Tian's voice came from outside.
"Xia Tian—we're over here." Bingxin called back. As soon as she finished, she realized Xia Tian had appeared beside her. The place was surrounded by people; how had he gotten in?
Bingxin loosened her fists.
"Dare to mess with my cousin?" Xia Tian turned to face Brother Bao and Mr. Liu. It was obvious to everyone that they were the ringleaders of this group.