"They are from the North Rune Sect," the woman said.

"Oh, the bad guys!" the little girl blurted out, making the people in the Beast Pavillion laugh.

Guo s.h.i.+er sighed. "Uncle Ying Mo," he said. "Now I understand. No wonder there will be fight."

The woman did not continue to provoke them. She took the little girl's hands and told her, "Little Yun, what do you like? Elder Sister will buy it for you."

Excitement filled the child's face. "There’s a little tiger upstairs. It’s so cute! Elder sister, help me buy it."

Guo s.h.i.+er wondered what was on the next level.

"Let’s go upstairs and see what's there," he suggested.

However, several big guys blocked their way.

"Wait, people from the North Rune Sect are not allowed upstairs," one of them said, laughing.

Guo s.h.i.+er was taken aback. He did not think that the people from the West Rune Sect would be so rude. They directly blocked the way. Were they trying to provoke a dispute?

He despised these kinds of people. If they want to stir up trouble for no reason—if they’ll make it hard for us—I’ll won’t back down, he thought.

"So how can we go up there?" he sneered.

"Win against us," the leader said.

The group was led by a Beast Caster Adept followed by four Beast Warrior Adepts. There were five of them blocking the way—five people gambling with their lives.

Guo s.h.i.+er could not help but let out a laugh. "I thought the people from the West Rune Sect were smart," he said. "It turns out, they're a bunch of idiots! Uncle Ying Mo, since they want to play as a team, they're all yours."

"Don’t laugh at them," replied Ying Mo. "I guess they’re not Inner Sect Disciples. Hehe!"

Ying Mo quickly moved. He suddenly found himself in front of the five men. He punched and kicked them senseless. Just a few seconds of ‘manual labor’ was enough—he did not even apply any strength.

In what seemed like a flash, five men found themselves laying on the ground, defeated and groaning.

They were just too weak.

Ying Mo did not continue. He was no killer. After all, they were in the Inner Sect of the West Rune Sect. Things can quickly turn troublesome if they kill someone.

An old man came over and sighed deeply, then started speaking to Ying Mo. "You’re Marked Warrior Grandmaster. How can you do this to these juniors?"

Ying Mo tilted his head and looked at the man for a long while and finally remembered who he was. "Hehe! Oh, its Ou Chu!" he said. "I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in years. You also advanced to Beast Caster Grandmaster."

Ou Chu looked concerned. "Ying Mo, why did you move against the younger generation?"

"It’s not my fault," Ying Mo said in defense, grinning. Who asked him to challenge my master? As a follower, of course, I’ll hit them!"

Ou Chu was shocked. His eyes widened as he said, "What? When did you become a follower? That’s impossible! Who are you following?"

Guo s.h.i.+er felt very uncomfortable. Before even coming here, he foresaw that things would not go well. But he did not expect that they would be blocked almost as soon they entered a shop. And now that they'd gotten rid of the first group, an old man was whining.

"I’m sorry," he initiated. "Uncle Ying Mo is following me. Old man, do you have a problem with this?"

There was a silence all around. The young woman and her little sister looked at Guo s.h.i.+er with astonishment. In this world, a Marked Warrior Grandmaster was not just a big meat pie. Even in a large faction, there weren't many Grandmaster Level characters.

Ou Chu frowned. He could not figure out why a Marked Warrior Grandmaster from the gra.s.slands with a prestigious name follow a child.

"Ying Mo… you… how can it be? You’re a Grandmaster!" he asked. Who are you kidding? was what he really wanted to say.

But Ou Chu knew this was unavoidable. He wasn't sure of the fighting strength of a Marked Warrior Grandmaster because he himself didn’t have a Grandmaster level follower.

Luo Zhan stepped forward and said, "I’m also a Marked Warrior Grandmaster, and I’m his follower, too!"

The people around were in an uproar. This child didn't have just one but TWO Marked Warrior Grandmaster followers! Who was this kid? It was hard to imagine.

Ou Chu didn't even have one Grandmaster level follower. No wonder he was confused.

He advanced ten years ago but he has yet to attract a Grandmaster follower. Cultivating someone was out of the question—it would be difficult and expensive.

Guo s.h.i.+er finally spoke. "Let’s go up," he said. He was too lazy to care about these people.

"Wait!" shouted Ou Chu.

Guo s.h.i.+er could no longer suppress the anger within himself. A sudden surge of rage ran straight to his forehead. He had been very patient, but was repeatedly blocked three times. He harrumped in cold voice and said, "What do you mean? If you want to fight then let’s go out and fight. If it’s nothing… you’re a whiny fart! Get the h.e.l.l out of here!"

Ying Mo and Luo Zhan were both startled. Guo s.h.i.+er rarely ever got red-faced. He seemed to be really angry this time.

The pressure was frightening and made Ou Chu take a step back, his face red. He couldn't help but also be angry.

"You… you… who do you curse, little b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" he shouted at Guo s.h.i.+er. "Did your elders not teach you to respect older people?"

Guo s.h.i.+er smiled and contemptuously replied, "And you're from which family, elder? Don’t you think you’re a great Beast Caster Grandmaster? In my eyes, you are nothing."

Ying Mo and Luo Zhan did not speak. They stood firmly on Guo s.h.i.+er’s side, guarding their master.

Ou Chu, visibly fl.u.s.tered, couldn't find the words. "You…you…"

When it came to bickering, Ou Chu was no match for Guo s.h.i.+er.

"You what you? Step aside!" Guo s.h.i.+er said.

Ou Chu lost his cool. "I challenge you!" he yelled while gasping for breath.

Guo s.h.i.+er's mouth showed a smile.

Ying Mo suddenly understood. This little guy did this on purpose. He wanted to increase his prestige, he thought.

Guo s.h.i.+er took up the challenge. "Good! No problem. Do you want an individual or group brawl?"

Ou Chu weighed his options in his head.

A group brawl? he thought to himself. This would require a team on team battle. The other side had two Marked Warrior Grandmasters. If they team up, the result would be obvious. We would be absolutely decimated. How about an individual fight with the little guy? That’s would be joke—I couldn't possibly fight a child. I'm a Beast Caster Grandmaster, known as the most aggressive spell-maker. If I win against the little guy, his elders might retaliate. But I already issued a challenge. I can't withdraw it now.

"I’ll fight you!" he finally declared.

Even the people from West Rune Sect felt embarra.s.sed by Ou Chu’s decision.

Ying Mo was amazed. "Ou Chu, you advanced to Beast Caster Grandmaster. You are indeed growing up. Are you having fun singling out a child? It’s unbelievable. Your shame has been lost in the gra.s.slands!"

Ou Chu was riding a tiger.* He bit the bullet and said, "I want to teach him a lesson to let him know how to respect his seniors!"

(NOTE: *Riding a tiger means 'stuck in a difficult situation with no way out.')

Guo s.h.i.+er mocked the old man even more. "Uncle Ying Mo, stop talking to him," he said. "People like him—people with no face—think they are invincible!"

These words drained the blood from Ou Chu’s face. He was stuck in a predicament. He had to offer Guo s.h.i.+er a way out.

"If you dare not fight, just apologize. I would forget about everything!" he said.

He was hoping Guo s.h.i.+er would take this and step down.

But Guo s.h.i.+er wanted him and his party to get even angrier, so was bent on being more irritating.

"You pull out s.h.i.+t… you’ve already eaten it but still want to return it?* If you want to fight, here we are!" he declared.

(Note: This is a weird but common way of saying you cannot take your words back.)

He then turned and went out through the door.

Ou Chu was mad. He had never been so insulted. He didn't know that Guo s.h.i.+er was just doing this to heighten his prestige so he could prevent other people from messing with him. If he can defeat a Grandmaster in a one-on-one battle, other people would stop provoking him.

In the crowd, the woman hugged the little girl. She was surprised at Guo s.h.i.+er. The boy dared to challenge a Beast Caster Grandmaster to fight? she thought to herself. Judging from the signs on his clothes, he should be a Artificer Adept. This was no leapfrog challenge—there was a difference of two levels. How are you going to fight? Are you tired of life?

The little girl asked, "Elder sister, that bad guy … uh, little brother… wants to fight with grandpa Ou Chu?"

At first the woman nodded, but then she shook her head. She was confused herself. She couldn't decide if Guo s.h.i.+er was arrogant or incredible. She has never seen anyone in the West Rune Sect this brave. What a strange boy.

Guo s.h.i.+er went outside as a burst of biting cold wind blew. He started to curse while s.h.i.+vering in this weather.

Ou Chu was forced into this position. Now he had to go out and face Guo s.h.i.+er. He didn't understand how he could challenge a little guy. He was usually very calm, but today’s events were confusing him.

He sighed and said again, "If you regret it, it’s still not too late."

"Stop talking nonsense," Guo s.h.i.+er snapped back. "Hurry up! It’s freezing in here. I’m going to buy something when I’m done!"

Ou Chu was very upset. "Don't blame me!" he said through the gnas.h.i.+ng of his teeth.

He then crushed a few Beast Glyphs and several beasts appeared. He did not spit out his Innate Rune Book and just used normal grade Beast Glyphs to fight—just a few brown bears and a tiger.

Under the command of Ou Chu, the beasts slowly moved to attack. In his opinion, as long as the beast applies pressure, Guo s.h.i.+er would surrender. An Artificer Adept has no attacking power. He wanted to avoid fighting the two Marked Warrior Grandmasters so he dared not hurt Guo s.h.i.+er. He just wanted to scare him.

Guo s.h.i.+er understood what Ou Chu was trying to do, so he laughed.

"Is that it?" he asked.

He had no need to call his Innate Rune Orb. Two golden lines suddenly shot out from his eyes.

This time they didn’t rise to the air but directly swept towards the beasts, causing whistling sounds.

Everything happened so fast. The onlookers did not even see clearly. In just a few seconds, all the beasts were smashed and a pungent smell of blood lingered.

Ou Chu suddenly became serious. He found himself underestimating the enemy and immediately took out his Innate Rune Book.

But Guo s.h.i.+er didn’t give Ou Chu the opportunity to send out his Spirit Beasts.

He immediately sent a sword of light the size of a door to hover over Ou Chu’s head, which scared the old man stiff.

Ou Chu dared not move. He couldn’t figure out what the Glyph was.

"If you move… I’ll split you in half!" Guo s.h.i.+er lazily said.

Ying Mo held back his laugh. This little guy is so sinister, he thought. He planned this from the very beginning.

Ou Chu’s hands and feet turned cold. The huge light blade moved slowly from his head to his neck. Its precise control left him speechless.

"I submit. I submit!" he finally declared. "I was blind. It turned out to be an Artificer Grandmaster! No wonder there are two Grandmasters following him… I… throw in the towel!"

There was silence around. Everyone stood like a wooden chicken. This kid turned out to be Artificer Grandmaster?

Guo s.h.i.+er wasn’t annoyed at Ou Chu. He just wanted to use Ou Chu as an example.

He smiled and the huge light sword turned into two golden lines and suddenly retracted,

sinking back directly into his eyes.

Translator: Gla.s.ses TangGu

Editor: M