Jiang Chen glanced at the spirit beast in the noble son’s hand. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it. It was keen-eyed, powerful, and brimming with explosive strength.
“Arena Lord Shao, I heard that you did pretty well during the arena lord tryouts, didn’t you? Even Formation Master Wang Xuetong has nothing but praises for you. Well, his arena is out of the question. He said that you may be the only one in this entire Bounty Arena who can solve my bounty. I gotta say that I’m pretty confused though. You don’t look much older than I am, so how can you possibly win such high praises from old man Wang Xuetong? What kind of benefits did you sneak under the table, or are you actually his bastard son or something?” Noble fops like this guy was disgusting to say the least. He was arrogant, rude, and showed no intention of conducting himself in a socially acceptable manner at all.
Jiang Chen responded indifferently, “You are here to seek medical treatment, aren’t you? Or are you just here to talk?”
The dandy laughed. “Can’t take a joke, can you? Alright alright, I suppose the mistake is mine. Anyway, can you tell me what’s going on with this Cloud Devouring Tiger, man? It looks lively, but something just feels off about it everyday.”
Jiang Chen smiled disdainfully. “You may leave now.”
The good-for-nothing was caught off guard for a second before he demanded unkindly, “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. I just don’t welcome a customer like you.” Jiang Chen really disliked useless fops like him. Of course, he could see that this fop was highly placed in Pillfire City. He suspected that even Temple of Cleansing Fire had to give face to this noble son’s family.
The hedonistic son immediately exploded. “I may be calling you an arena lord right now, but you are nothing the moment you leave this Bounty Arena, man! Did you seriously think you can go against me in Pillfire City?”
If he had tried to sweet talk Jiang Chen instead, Jiang Chen might have welcomed him. Unfortunately, the way he was acting was the kind of behavior Jiang Chen hated the most.
“Get out!” It was only two words, but Jiang Chen had uttered it in a domineering, thunderous manner that caused this part of the Bounty Arena to freeze for an instant.
Those in charge of maintaining order immediately ran over when they noticed the disturbance. When they saw Jiang Chen and the fop butting heads with each other, they immediately tried to defuse the situation.
Sadly, the fellow was obviously the kind of who found energy from a crowd. He also felt that he’d lost face because a foreigner had spoken roughly to him. Furious, he jabbed his forefinger towards Jiang Chen repeatedly. “Very good, very good! Shao Yuan, is it? I won’t forget you!”
The Temple of Cleansing Fire’s men hastily walked forwards. “Young master Nangong, please calm down. You’re in the Bounty Arena right now.”
The fellow was infamous for his good-for-nothing actions in Pillfire City. Not even the Temple of Cleansing Fire’s name might deter him when stubbornness got to his head.
“Remain calm, my ass! Who the hell is this guy? How do you choose your arena lords? How can you allow an uncultured and uneducated barbarian like this to slip through and hold two arena lord seats? This crude bastard just acted rudely to me. How do you think this score should be settled, huh?”
The Temple’s senior executive hurriedly pacified, “Calm down, young master Nangong, calm down. Please give me face, will you? Please give Temple of Cleansing Fire face.”
“Fuck you! If I give you face, then who’s going to give
me
face?!” Judging from Nangong’s expression, he wasn’t going to let go the matter rest until retribution was exacted.
More senior executives had poured into the arena while they were arguing. Assistant Temple Master Gao had also rushed over after hearing that a commotion had broken out somewhere in the Bounty Arena.
“What are you doing, Nephew Nangong?” Assistant Temple Master Gao shared a relationship with Nangong Ping’s family. In fact, he was on very good terms with them. That was why Nangong Ping had behaved as atrociously as he did in the first place. He thought that the assistant temple master would support him no matter what happened.
“Uncle Gao, where does this country bumpkin come from? He has quite the temper even though he has no skill at all. Would you believe that he talked shit in front of your nephew? Tell me, when have I, Nangong Ping, ever suffered such disrespect? Get out, you say? There really aren’t many people in the entire Pillfire City who dare say that to me! Who the hell do you think you are?!”
Nangong Ping definitely enjoyed being in the limelight alright. When he saw Assistant Temple Master Gao, he grew even more insufferable as he fired off another round of insults at Jiang Chen. He looked like he could pick a fight at any moment.
Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows, but surprisingly kept quiet for some reason. He glanced calmly at the assistant temple master. He wanted to know how Temple of Cleansing Fire would react in a situation like this.
Assistant Temple Master Gao smiled awkwardly. “Dear nephew, let us speak about this in private, shall we? The Bounty Arena is a grand event celebrated by all in Pillfire City. Your father would be unhappy if he learns that you’re making a scene here. Why don’t we discuss this in private?”
“Uncle Gao,” said Nangong Ping with a dark face when he heard this. “What do you mean by that? Are you seriously taking the side of an outsider? He humiliated me, and you’re going to pretend that you saw nothing? Is that it?!”
It wasn’t that Assistant Temple Master Gao was biased towards Jiang Chen, but that his hands were tied. Jiang Chen was an arena lord that the Temple had selected and a genius who’d taken two seats of his own accord. Besides, the assistant temple master was also rather cautious of Jiang Chen’s identity as a supposed denizen of Myriad Abyss Island. That was why he couldn’t take any actions against Jiang Chen no matter what. If he did, every arena lord in this Bounty Arena would be extremely disappointed with him.
This was especially true considering the whispers springing up around them. It was obvious that Nangong Ping was the one who’d acted rudely and talked shit from the start. Assistant Temple Master Gao knew Nangong Ping very well. He knew that the lad was not a good person, so he had even less reason to spout literal nonsense in the boy’s defense.
“Dearest nephew, give your Uncle Gao face this time, alright? I’ll give you a proper explanation once we get back home. Every minute in the Bounty Arena is precious, so if you keep this up…”
Furious, Nangong Ping’s temper reared its ugly head in full. “Well, well, Assistant Temple Master Gao! I’ve finally seen through your mask! You may call my father your brother, but it was all just a lie. Very well, if you won’t do me justice then I won’t treat you as my senior too. Today, I will teach this bastard the price of offending I, Nangong Ping!”
Jiang Chen smiled calmly. “Nangong Ping, is it? Look at how impressive you are! I don’t know who your father is in Pillfire City, but I really can’t help but feel sorry for him. I believe that a friend of Assistant Temple Master Gao is a good man as any, but how did he come to raise a bastard like you?”
Even Assistant Temple Master Gao agreed with Jiang Chen for an instant. It was true that he shared a great relationship with Nangong Ping’s father, but business was business. Considering how stupid and unreasonable Nangong Ping was acting right now, he would’ve thrown out of the Bounty Arena already if not for his father. The assistant temple master wouldn’t even be wasting breath on him.
So what if he was a great clan descendant? The Temple of Cleansing Fire only answered to a great emperor faction of Pillfire City, and everyone else was at best their equal. Normally, people answered to the Temple and not the other way around.
Nangong Ping was a dandy, presumptuous and arrogant. He seemed to believe he had the right to behave atrociously even in front of Assistant Temple Master Gao. What he didn’t realize was that he had angered the assistant temple master.
Nangong Ping was obviously at fault in this matter, but he was still making a fuss using this incident as a pretext. From the assistant temple master’s point of view, Nangong Ping’s actions were no different from sabotage!
“Did you hear that, Assistant Temple Master Gao? That bastard humiliated both me and my father! You are the assistant temple master and my father’s brother, aren’t you? Are you really going to sit by and do nothing about this?” Nangong Ping started interrogating the assistant temple master instead!
The latter’s face turned cold. “Nangong Ping, this is my last advice to you as your father’s friend. I will forget everything that had happened today if you leave right now.”
Nangong Ping had never been threatened in his life. Humiliation turned into anger. “Oh, there’s no way I’m leaving, if only to see how a mere outsider plans to take a shit on a Pillfire City noble son’s head! I don’t care if you’re a tiger or a dragon, you’re going down one way or another, brat! This is Pillfire City!”
Jiang Chen was just about to say something when a blur entered his vision. In the next moment, Nangong Ping was lifted into the air by a big hand.
Everyone exclaimed in surprise when they found Nangong Ping held up in the air by another person. It was none other than Emperor Peerless.
Emperor Peerless frowned slightly as if he wasn’t holding a person but a bag of trash. “What are you doing, Assistant Temple Master Gao? You should just throw him right out the door and be done with it. Why even waste your breath with trash like him? Or are you planning to end this Bounty Arena prematurely?”
Assistant Temple Master Gao had no choice but to smile apologetically since it was Emperor Peerless. “His father is a friend of mine. I have to give his father face even if I don’t care for his.”
“You may know his father, but I don’t.” With that, the emperor strode straight out of the perimeter and tossed Nangong Ping into the air like he was throwing a ragged doll. The prodigal noble son flew at least a couple hundred meters before he landed on the ground.
“Boy, I don’t care who your family is in Pillfire City. If you’re going to cause trouble in the Bounty Arena, then you better bring everyone in the family along and pray that they’re important enough to stand my wrath!” Emperor Peerless was truly peerless.
Thunderous applause and exclamations of admiration surrounded him. In the end, it was the great emperor who’d tossed the trash straight out of the Bounty Arena without wasting a moment of breath. It was soothing to say the least! Even Jiang Chen felt deep veneration towards Emperor Peerless. Now this was someone who’d won the people’s respect.
Pill King Blue Phoenix shook his head wryly when he saw this outcome. Nangong Ping was an infamous good-for-nothing in Pillfire City, so of course he had heard about hithe boy. Formation Master Wang Xuetong felt no goodwill towards Nangong Ping either. That boy had no idea how to conduct himself before others, nor did he know to respect his seniors either. Worse, Nangong Ping had called Arena Lord Shao Yuan his bastard!
Many knew of what’d happened, so no one blamed Jiang Chen for his actions. Nangong Ping was the one who made a scene from the beginning to the end.
Emperor Peerless clapped his hand carelessly. “Alright, let us continue.” He glanced at Jiang Chen. “Don’t worry. I’ve given my word to protect you, and that shall be the case for as long as you are in Pillfire City.”
Emperor Peerless’ tone wasn’t flattering. He was simply stating this in the way a senior would to a junior. It left a deep impression on Jiang Chen.
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