Thank you for following me guys, but if you don't show me more love, my story writing passion will go out, and I will have to stop writing. The story continues.

I DO NOT OWN BEN 10 AND MARVEL

Chapter 8: Deadly Breath

When dusk arrived, the group of seven people took a speedboat to the small island in the center of Yangui Lake.

The island was only the size of a few football fields. However, it was filled to the brim with hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues. This was one of the most expensive places to spend the night in Mahanagar City.

"Linbao had chosen a convenient spot for him to escape." Master Guo looked around the island and then said.

"We have you with us this time; he won't get away. Haha!" Zhou Tianhao laughed.

"Better, be prepared than sorry." Guo Wei nodded, but the smug smile on his face had betrayed him. Being unchallenged for over ten years, Guo Wei had already gotten used to easy victories. Whether or not the opponent was really an Internal Force user was yet to be seen, and Guo Wei was not concerned about the clash with Linbao at all.

The place where they were supposed to meet was called the Egret House. Zhou Tianhao had rented the entire building for the night and had set up an ambush with hired bodyguards.

So shrewd was Zhou Tianhao that he would never put all of his eggs in one basket.

When they arrived on the third floor, Guo Wei sat down on a sofa. A waitress hurried to fill his teacup with tea. Her hands were trembling out of fear, nearly spilling the tea. The deadly quietness inside the Egret House was a stark contrast with the din outside.

Aryan sipped his tea while appreciating the aesthetics of the traditional style tea house. If not for his duty, he would love to walk to the balcony and enjoy the view of the lake while savoring a cup of tea.

The group waited until midnight, and most people were getting impatient. Guo Wei suddenly announced with a deep, urgent voice:

"Someone is coming."

Even before Guo Wei's words receded, a wave of commotion rose from downstairs. Soon Aryan heard painful cries and howls, and a few seconds later, all the noise disappeared. Knowing their opponent was coming, the group on the third floor looked at each other uneasily.

They heard someone coming up the stairs; his footsteps were light but steady.

Zhou Tianhao swallowed hard. He had dispatched over a dozen capable bodyguards downstairs. Did they all get finished so quickly?

Finally, he realized that he had once again underestimated the strength of Linbao.

In a matter of seconds, the footsteps reached the landing on the third floor. Aryan looked to the entrance and saw a man in a black exercise suit and a pair of black kung-fu shoes. His face was disfigured by a large scar that ran across his face, which made him look all that much more terrifying.

"How are you doing, Boss Zhou? Why that face? Aren't you happy to see your old friend?" Linbao came over to Zhou Tianhao and sat down on the sofa across from Zhou Tianhao. All the while, his face held a cold sneer as he fixed his eyes on his prey.

Zhou Tianhao managed to gather himself and said, "Linbao, why did you come back? Haven't you learned your lesson?"

"Oh, I have! Look at the scar on my face; I wore it like a badge of honor every day." Linbao pulled the skin on his face, making the disfigurement look even more morbid. "That was why I went outside of the country and started learning kung-fu."

"Can't we sit down and talk?" Zhou Tianhao said placatingly.

"Why yes! But you will have to go bankrupt first." Lin Bao sneered.

"There is no other way around it?" Zhou Tianhao asked under his breath. "You know you can't win every fight even if you have learned how to use the Internal Force."

"Oh? You know about the Internal Force as well?" Linbao looked at Zhou Tianhao surprised. He snorted and then continued, "Since you know of the Internal Forces, why don't you tell your dogs to lay down their weapons?"

"Haha, Linbao, do you think that you are the only one who could use the Internal Force?" Zhou Tianhao laughed. He slammed the table heavily and then said, "Master Guo, it's all yours now."

Guo Wei nodded and said to the young man standing next to him, "Dongshan, finish him."

The young man in a tight-fitting training shirt nodded and came up to Linbao and saluted him.

"Dongshan is my senior disciple, and he has been learning by my side for over a decade. He should be more than enough to overcome Linbao." Guo Wei said confidently.

"Haha, is this boy your cannon fodder?" Linbao laughed. He scanned Dongshan for a few seconds and then said: "Get out of my way, kid. You are still at the Entry level. I don't want to kill you."

"You are courting death!" Dongshan was a hotheaded young man, and he threw himself at his opponent.

Everything happened so fast that Zhou Tianhao saw only two shadows converging toward each other. At the moment of impact, one of the shadows bounced off of the other and was sent flying back until it hit the wall. The impact had shaken the traditional-style building.

"Dongshan!" Guo Wei shouted, and his face paled as soon as he saw the two collide.

It wasn't until then that most people realized that the person who got sent flying was Dongshan.

As the young man collapsed lifelessly onto the ground, people noticed a fist-sized depression on his chest.

"Your apprentice has fainted, now it's your turn." Linbao grinned, his eyes held a dark luster that intended to kill.

Guo Wei felt his heart had sunken to his belly. This development had taken the wind out of his sails. Dongshan was the strongest of his disciples, but he couldn't even take a single punch from the opponent. It was very likely that Linbao was much more powerful than him.

The die had been cast; with no way out, Guo Wei would have to face Linbao on his own.

Guo Wei slowly stood up and made his way to Linbao under many pairs of expectant eyes. The martial arts master said:

"I am the master of the Wei Shen martial arts school. Expert of the Xing Yi Fist. People call me Guo Wei the Xing Yi Master. May I have the honor of knowing who your teacher is?"

"Stop wasting my time. All my teachers are outside of the country and have nothing to do with what's going on here. Let's just do it and get it over with!" Linbao said coldly.

"How arrogant!" Guo Wei flung back at Linbao as he started channeling his Internal Force. Even though Guo Wei knew that his opponent had an advantage in terms of power, Linbao's arrogant remark riled him up.

"BOOM! Kaboom!"

When the two started fighting, the spectators could only see two black shadows that intertwined with each other into a fast-moving shadowy ball. Every punch and kick would stir up the air and send a powerful wave of energy out from the center of this chaos. In a blink, vases, tables, chairs, and even the sofas were shredded into pieces from collateral damage.

"This is the power of internal force? It is terrifying!" Zhou Tianhao felt cold sweat gliding down the middle of his back.

He finally knew how naive and arrogant he had been. The successful years in the Mahanagar City had made him soft, and he grew distant from the real world. While he was convinced that no one would harm him, people with incredible power that could squash him like a bug were all around him.

"After this is over, I really need a bodyguard who knows Internal Force. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night ever again." He told himself. Meanwhile, he wished that Master Guo would win the fight so that he could live to see tomorrow.

Suddenly, a loud noise jerked his mind out of his thoughts. The two fighters had disengaged from each other. One of them still stood unwavering, while the other seemed unsteady.

Everyone was shocked when they realized that the one who got the worst of the fight was Guo Wei.

Master Guo's body trembled uncontrollably. There was a hint of blood at the corner of his mouth, but he didn't wipe it away. Master Guo gave his opponent an ugly grin and then said, "I have underestimated your strength. You have already reached the state of Phenomenal Success. Congrats."

Linbao was only slightly winded after the brutal battle. He stood haughtily and then said:

"You will never grow quickly if you keep on hiding under a rock. I have been fortunate enough to find a martial arts grandmaster outside of Shiar, and I have studied under him for over a decade. Under his guidance, I practiced day and night, and I have finally reached the Phenomenal Success stage. City life makes you soft, and soft you are. You have claimed to have practiced Internal Force for so many years, yet, you have only achieved the Initial Success. Even if you could catch up on your training, I will still beat you in a battle."

"You studied under a grandmaster? No wonder…" Guo Wei's face paled, and he heaved a sigh of resignation.

Zhou Tianhao was devastated by the turn of events, seeing Linbao had turned his attention back on him, he shouted, "Now!"

The two bodyguards behind him were hired with a large sum of money. They were the elites among bodyguards and were also Zhou Tianhao's last line of defense.

Both bodyguards reached for their guns; but before either of them had the change to aim at their enemy, Linbao picked up a pair of chopsticks and threw them at the two guns. The chopsticks struck home as they landed squarely at the gunner's hands.

"AHRR!"

The two gunners let out pained cries as they dropped their weapons on the floor. Both of their hands were skewered by long chopsticks.

It had been less than ten minutes since Linbao had shown up, and he had already defeated most of Zhou Tianhao's guards. The only two people who were unharmed by Linbao were the crippled A-Biao and Aryan who was still enjoying the expensive tea.

Linbao didn't pay much attention to the two as he walked straight to Zhou Tianhao.

With every step Linbao took, more blood drained away from Zhou Tianhao's face. His legs trembled, but he still resisted giving in.

"Brother Lin, let the past go. It was nothing personal, you know. I was just doing what's best for the business. Well, look at yourself now. You have made yourself a master in martial arts! Why don't you join me? I will give you half of my assets. What did you say?"

"Hehe, do you really think that I am after your money?" Lin Bao's did not stop closing in.

A-Biao moved to protect Zhou Tianhao, and he was knocked to the ground by a lazy sweep of hand from Linbao.

"I have been overseas for so many years and have made no less money than you. Zhou Tianhao, you have been living under a rock all the while." Linbao finally came up to him; he gently smacked Zhou Tianhao's face with the back of his hand.

"Brother Lin, Brother! I am sorry. I am SO sorry!" Zhou Tianhao was finally on his last leg, "You know that I work for the Wei family right? I-I work for Wei San-ye. If you kill me, Wei San-ye will not let you get away with it."

"The Wei family? Wow, I am so scared." Linbao said sarcastically. "If I beat you up right now and take the next flight out of Shiar, what do you think the Wei Family could do to me?"

"Please, please, Brother Linbao! Let me live; I have learned my lesson. PLEASE." Taken over by fear, Zhou Tianhao finally gave in. He dropped both knees to the ground and Kowtow to Linbao.

However powerful and ruthless Zhou Tianhao had been as a thuggish boss, he feared death more than anyone else. Having gotten used to the taste of comfort and pleasure, the thought of suffering was even more terrifying.

"Ha ha ha." Linbao laughed. Seeing his rival had finally kneeled in front of him and begged him to spare his life like a wounded dog, he suddenly felt lighthearted and let the memories of the bad blood between him, and Zhou Tianhao evaporate.

Guo Wei cupped his chest with one hand and wanted to save his employer, but failed to gather enough strength to even stand up. He lamented in his mind: "It's all my fault; we were defeated because of my oversight."

A-Biao lay on his belly and struggled to get up but to no avail. Seeing that his boss got down on his knees and begged Linbao, he felt guilty for being unable to protect Zhou Tianhao. If he knew this was going to happen, he would have heeded his teacher's words and learned to use internal force.

Suddenly, Zhou Tianhao heard a young voice coming behind him: "Zhou Tianhao, I will save you for 10 million Dollars. Do we have a deal?"

"Who is that?"

Lin Bao stopped laughing, then looked toward the speaker.

He saw a handsome young boy standing by the window. But he could only see his back since the boy was looking out of the window as if he was enjoying the view of the lake despite the fighting around him.

"Who are you?"

Linbao raised a brow. He had seen this young man when he first got here; he didn't pay too much attention to him since he was too busy dealing with Guo Wei, Zhou Tianhao and the two gunners.

The fact that the boy dared get involved even after he had displayed his strength told Linbao that this boy had something up his sleeves.

Linbao had been living overseas for many years and had survived many perilous situations thanks to not only his martial arts skills but also sharp wits. Even though the boy in front of him looked ordinary, he wouldn't risk it and lower his guard.

"What do you say, Zhou Tianhao? If we have a deal, I will help you finish off this scar-faced dude!" Aryan pressed on.

Zhou Tianhao was shocked by Aryan's sudden proposal. His knees seemed to have glued to the floor as he was not sure whether he should agree to the deal or not.

Zhou Tianhao's mind raced. Part of him told him that it was impossible for the boy to save him after Master Guo and the two gunmen had failed, while part of him wanted to believe that however unlikely it was, the boy could be his savior. After all, he was a drowning man, and Aryan was the last piece of drift that he could hold on to.

"Oh? Finish me up, you said? Ha-ha!" Despite Linbao's cautious nature, he couldn't help but get riled up by the boy's arrogant remark. Anger contorted his disfigured face, making it look even scarier.

Aryan turned around and gave Linbao a look:

"Yes. What level are you at right now? Phenomenal Success? What a joke. Even your teacher might not be able to handle me much less you."

"You asked for it!" Linbao's face suddenly hardened with murderous intent burning in his eyes.

In Linbao's mind, his teacher was so powerful that he might as well be an immortal. He had seen his teacher defeating his opponents with ease while being outnumbered a hundred to one. Regardless of the kind of situation he was in, he could always get out of it unharmed. Thanks to his power, Linbao's teacher was widely respected among overseas Chinese. Linbao was resolved to make the boy pay for his arrogant remark.

"I will chop you into pieces and feed you to the fish in the lake!" Linbao uttered his threat one word at a time, murderous intent in his words made everyone's hair stand on end.

Even Guo Wei couldn't help but grimace at Aryan's provocation. "What the hell is this boy doing? Didn't he see how powerful Linbao was?"

A-Biao was outright stunned by Aryan's conceit. He knew that Aryan was a fearless teenager, but he didn't expect him to be suicidal too.

He watched as Aryan got up and said thinly: "Oh, really?"

Before his voice faded, he reached out of the window and snatched something in the wind. Without revealing what was between his fingers, he glided the fingers across his chest as if it were a blade. Suddenly, he yanked his arm, pointed his fingers at Linbao.

A white light spurred out in between his fingers and shot at Linbao. As it traveled through the air, it also carved a groove in the floor.

"Swoosh!"

The table in between Linbao and Aryan was sliced into two halves. The cut was so slick that it was almost reflective. The expensive carpet was also tearing itself open at the seam, opening a long slit that extended all the way to under Linbao's feet.

Everyone, including Linbao, was shocked by the development.

No one spoke a word as they looked at the ugly scar on the carpet incredulously.

"Shit, is this boy immortal?" A-Biao's mouth gaped wide in shock, his voice trembled.

However powerful and swift Guo Wei and Linbao were, their abilities were still within the range of human capability. That was not the case for Aryan. No human was able to summon such a deadly force out of thin air to slice through a heavy oaken table and tear apart a thick carpet.

"This is not magic; this is a plus of Internal Force!" Guo Wei stared at the ruined floor and exclaimed.

"I have heard that martial arts grandmasters can disarm their opponents from ten feet away. I always thought it was just a legend. But I finally saw it with my own eyes!"

Suddenly, Linbao turned on his heels and ran toward the exit.

Linbao knew he needed to bug out as soon as he saw Aryan turn the parcel of air in between his fingers into a sharp blade.

He came back to Shiar to seek revenge, but he had found something else: A Transcendent Master.

Since his teacher was a grandmaster, he had heard all kinds of unimaginable abilities of a Transcendent Master. They could reshape the air flow and turn them into sharp and deadly weapons. Linbao knew that the Transcendent Master would able to easily defeat him even if he joined forces with ten other fighters as powerful as he was.

"Incredible! His power was already on par with a Transcendent Master, yet he is so young! Even for someone who was as talented as my teacher, it had taken him five decades to reach the Transcendent State. No, I have to let my teacher know about this boy!"

So thinking, Linbao picked up his speed. However, he heard Aryan's cold voice behind him: "Don't you think it's too late to call it quits?"

Aryan drew a large gulp of air, puffing his chest up, and then blew all that stored air out of his lungs.

A ray of creamy white light formed in the air and shot at Linbao like a bullet. The white light glided across the air with incredible speed, and it landed squarely at the back of Linbao's back.

Linbao felt he was dealt a blow by a giant hammer from behind. Suddenly, his world turned dark as he lost balance. After he stumbled a few feet, he hit a wall and collapsed to the ground.

"He formed the plus of the Internal Forces by breathing into the air! How ingenious!" Guo Wei spoke in a trembling voice.

By then, he had no more doubts about the power of this boy.

Although he looked like a high school kid, he had already reached the precipice of martial arts: Transcendent State.

Without seeing it for himself, he would never have believed that a teenage boy would be a Transcendent Master. Even a grandmaster who was under thirty would be considered one in a hundred-year talent, much less a high school boy being the Transcendent Master.

Zhou Tianhao finally managed to gather himself and struggled to his feet. He hurried to Linbao who was still paralyzed by pain, and then he kicked him in the side with an ugly grin.

"Asshole! If I could destroy you years ago, I can do it again now! Hahaha. I will fucking kill you!"

Suddenly, a faint voice rose behind him: "Linbao is not dead yet; he simply passed out. Don't wake him up."

Zhou Tianhao's face suddenly paled, and the smile on his face evaporated as quickly as it had appeared.

He turned around and said, "Brother Aryan, no, no, I mean Master Aryan. Why don't you kill him then?"

Aryan rolled his eyes and said: "You have seen how tough he is. How am I supposed to kill him with a single breath?"

He then walked to Linbao and slapped his body calculatedly at a few spots, "Well, I have already dissolved his Qi Sea. He should not be able to use his internal force for a while. I will leave him to you now."

"Yes, yes, Master Aryan! I am in debt to you!" Zhou Tianhao said with a toady smile. The sight of the middle-aged man fawning over a teenage boy made others cringe.

Little did the others know that the secret to Zhou Tianhao's success in such a tough environment was his shameless brown-nosing skills. He was resolved to keep Aryan close to him.

With such a powerful ally on his side, he would never have to worry about pesky martial artists who sought troubles and revenge.

"To hurt me, they would have to cross Master Aryan first." Zhou Tianhao thought to himself.

"Master Aryan, are you sure that breaking his Qi Sea would be able to prevent him from using the Inner Force?" Guo Wei asked.

The Internal Force in the real world was very different than that in Wu Xia novels. Unlike the popular troupe in TV shows, the Qi in real life was not gathered together in Dantian. Therefore, in theory, there was no effective way to stop the flow of the Internal Forces inside of one's system.

"Yes. I have used a unique method to block a few critical Qi points on his body so that the Qi in his system would not conjoin." Aryan explained.

Guo Wei was shocked by the revelation. What was the so-called "Critical Qi points?" Why did it sound more and more like a TV trope?

The less Guo Wei understood, the more he started to respect the boy.

"Well, I have fulfilled my end of the bargain; now, it's your turn." Aryan said with a smile.

"Bargain?" Zhou Tianhao paused for a second, and then he slapped his head heavily. "Ah-Right! Our deal!"

"You can rest assured, Master Chen; I will not short on even a penny of that ten million. As a matter of fact, I will double the reward, and I will have the money delivered to you in person!" Zhou Tianhao pounded his chest as he made the promise.

Although ten million was not a small number, he felt the price was well worth it.

An ally such as Aryan would be worth more than a trillion much less ten million.

Even Linbao was able to use his talent and accumulate a large amount of wealth; it was hard to imagine the tremendous benefit that Zhou Tianhao was going to get by allying with Aryan.

Linbao finally regained consciousness, and he gave Aryan an ugly grin.

"I have been defeated today. But I have to warn you that if you kill me, my teacher will unleash his wrath on you!"

Aryan cast a curious glance at Linbao, and then he asked, "You mean the Transcendent Master?"

Linbao nodded. However, Aryan was unfazed by the threat, he smiled and said: "All the better! I have never seen a Transcendent Master before, but I hope he is not going to disappoint me."

Aryan walked away as soon as he had finished his words.

"Now that's a real master!" A-Biao exclaimed. He wished that one day, he could be like Aryan as well.

Sitting on the ship that carried him across the lake back to the shore, Aryan heaved a sigh of relief.

"In the future, I should refrain from using these flashy moves. That one attack had used up one-third of my True Essence."

The move was sleek and swift, shaping air into a blade in the blink of an eye. However impressive it looked, it also came at a very high cost of energy. This attack could only be used by those who had already reached the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Level. Even if he was able to wield the technique, he could only use it once or twice.

"If not to convince Zhou Tianhao of my power, I would never have used such a wasteful technique. One arcane spell would be enough to pound Linbao into pulp." Aryan shook his head as he lamented.

"Once I have reached the Ethereal Enlightenment and finished compiling my sword tome, I should be able to summon over ten blade auras at the same time. Even a single ray of the blade aura would be much more powerful than the pulse of the True Essence I had unleashed."

As Aryan thought about his next move, he found that the ship had already reached the shore.

The next morning, Zhou Tianhao had personally come to his door and handed over to him a bank card with 20 million yuan credits: a reward for Aryan's help last night.

Aryan's mood was unaffected by such a sudden surge of wealth. In the eyes of a cultivator, money was just a string of numbers.

Around noon, Chang Wen came up to Aryan again and asked him to help out the school basketball team.

This time Aryan refused the request.

"What did you say? I am not asking you; it's an order!" Chang Wen said hotly.

"I said I am not going with you. Let the basketball interest group handle their own chores." Aryan flung back at her.

He agreed to help out last time for the sake of team building. But after he had heard the conceited remark Chang Wen made about him, Aryan decided that he would never help her out ever again.

Chang Wen had thought that Aryan was already gone when she gave the ungracious remark about Aryan. Little did she know that all cultivators possessed extremely sensitive hearing and Aryan had heard every single word loud and clear.

"You are really not going?" Chang Wen's eyebrows knitted together as anger rolled through her. She shot Aryan a cold glance.

"No means no!" A few words managed to escape Aryan's tight jaws.

"Are you saying that you don't care about the school's interest group?" Chang Wen asked hotly.

She was born in a wealthy family, and god had favored her so much that she had not only a pretty face but also a smart brain. Since childhood, she was surrounded by a boy's attention, just like a princess. Only someone as handsome and outstanding as Si Yingxia could have tugged her heartstrings ever so slightly. Therefore, she had never taken the ordinary new-boy seriously.

Aryan didn't want to waste any more breath on the girl, so he ignored her and buried his head in his book.

"Hey loser, she is asking you a question! " A tall boy rose from the front row and walked over to Aryan with an angry gaze.

His name is Ji Xingyu, a member of the sports committee, as well as a substitute player on the school basketball team. He took the honor and reputation of the school basketball team very seriously.

Si Yinxia also noticed the commotion, so he looked in this direction with a scowl.

"So what?" Aryan looked up at him with a fake smile.

"You…" Ji Xingyu's face flushed red and was about to raise his hand to the new boy.

Jiang Tanqiu quickly held him back from behind.

"Brother Yu, Brother Yu! Give me a face and don't hurt him. He is just a silly transfer student; a country boy, that's all! Don't even be angered by him; he isn't worth your time."

After having placated Ji Xingyu, he berated Aryan: "Get your ass out of your chair, I will go fetch the drinks with you! Come on!"

"I am not going, suit yourself if you are so eager to help out." Aryan said calmly, and he rested his back against the back of his chair.

"You think you are special, don't you, new boy?" Ji Xingyu was amused by Aryan's stubbornness. He then said in a threatening voice: "I wager you already know what happened to the last guy who didn't respect the school team. I hope you won't follow his example."

"Try me." Aryan's voice was almost lazy.

Everyone was shocked by the boy's calm reply.

They knew that the school basketball team was not to be messed with. Those boys were not only tall and big, but they were also the cream of the crop at the Ivy League High School. Therefore, no one in their right mind would stand in their way.

"Who would think that the new-boy is so full of himself."

"He is feisty, so what? Does he have the clout to back himself up?"

"Touche, He needs a mirror to look at himself. How dare he cross Ji Xingyu and Chang Wen."

Many people gloated at Aryan impending misfortune.

Ever since school started, Aryan had been mostly keeping things to himself. His reticent nature had further isolated himself; in other words, he had no friends, except for Jiang Taniu. Therefore, when Aryan and Ji Xingyu were at it, no one had stood up for him. After seeing Aryan's stubbornness, even Jiang Tanqiu had given up on his rescue mission.

On that day, the last class was Taekwondo. It was an elective class, and whoever took this class would have to pay extra fees for the instructor and uniforms.

The leaders of Ivy League High School harbored the great ambitions of exposing their students to international education standards. Therefore, the gym class was reshaped into different sub-categories such as swimming, track and track, and Taekwondo. Aryan was interested in none of those subjects, and therefore he decided to pack his books up and leave for work right away.

Although he didn't like Boss Yang, he got along with the rest of his coworkers.

Before Aryan could make it out of the classroom, someone blocked his way.

"Hey, where are you going, tough guy? Why aren't you taking the Taekwondo class?" Ji Xingyu said with a smiley mask.

"None of your business." Aryan raised his eyebrows.

"Ow… Are you so poor that you can't even afford the extra fee? Don't worry; I will pay for it." Ji Xingyu said sarcastically.

"Well—" Even as Aryan's eyes grew icy cold, someone else caught his attention. It was Chang Wen, the class leader, and she had approached them.

She gave Aryan an icy glance and then said: "It has come to my attention that you have been late in the mornings and you leave school in the afternoon before anyone else did. If you dare skip the Taekwondo class, I will let Miss Xue know about your actions."

"Oh?" Aryan looked at the two classmates as he weighed his options. Finally, he slowly loosened his knitted brows.

"Sure, sure! I will go to the class!"

The Taekwondo Hall at the Ivy League High School was very spacious and was fully decked out with all kinds of decorations.

The Taekwondo class was held for students from all classes and even those in tenth and eleventh grades.

Jiang Tanqiu told Aryan about the school Taekwondo team, "Our Taekwondo team is very famous. The founder had won the second prize in a National Taekwondo Competition. He is a fifth-dan-black-belt. You have to see him when he is in action. He kicks ass!"

He turned to look at Aryan and then heaved a sigh.

"You better be careful. Ji Xingyu would not drag you to the Taekwondo class for no reason. He is a blue belt. Maybe he is trying to find a chance to get back at you. Just ignore him when he starts to act like a jerk."

Aryan nodded and smiled back at Jiang Tanqiu for his heads up.

The coach came up to them, and Jiang Tanqiu hurried to his feet and bowed deeply at him.

The coach was a second-dan-black-belt. After having led the warm-up exercise, he announced that it was time for sparing.

"Si Yinxia, Please demonstrate the move to everyone," the coach ordered.

Si Yinxia nodded expressionlessly and then broke rank with his classmates.

Aryan noticed that his belt was red.

The red belt is second only to the black belt in Taekwondo's ranking system. Red meant danger and aggression. It was an acknowledgment to the practitioner's dedication and years of hard work.

The coach then assigned Si Yinxia an opponent: a blue belt student. The two were to spar with each other while Si Yinxia demonstrates the set of new moves.

The blue belt was one rank lower than the red belt. It required at least one year of hard work. However, Si Yinxia was able to land a roundhouse kick at his opponent and ended the sparing after just ten cautious exchanges of blows.

"I submit!" The blue belt that got sent flying by the kick was Ji Xingyu. He struggled to his feet and raised both hands above his head.

"Si Yinxia had been practicing Taekwondo ever since he was a child." A beautiful girl proudly proclaimed the other girls around her.

"No kidding. Si Yinxia is the best!" Another girl chimed in.

A swell of cheers and applause rose in the gym. The pupils of many girls from the tenth and eleventh grades had already turned into little hearts. When they heard that the boy was the most excellent student in the twelfth grade, their hearts almost skipped a beat.

Si Yinxia seemed unimpressed with his easy victory. He knitted his brows and said, "You have been slacking off. Otherwise, we could fight a little longer."

Ji Xingyu smiled mischievously and then said, "I don't take it as seriously as you do."

"Si Yinxia should challenge the black belt so that we could take his red belt spot."

"Who else wants to practice with him?" The coach asked the students with a broad smile. He was very pleased by Si Yinxia's improvement.

"If not, then find your partner and practice with each other."

"Oh fuck!" The boy who was chosen as Si Yinxia's partner grimaced as everyone gloated at his luck.

Ji Xingyu was considered the second most powerful Taekwondo fighter right after Si Yinxia among all seven or so blue-belts.

Suddenly, Ji Xingyu raised his hand and asked loudly: "Coach, before we practice with our partners, can I challenge someone else?"

He then looked toward the corner and then said:

"Aryan, will you accept my challenge? Let's settle our score the old way."

Everyone looked toward the corner, and they saw a teenager sitting all by himself.

It was Aryan, and his belt was white.

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