Nightmare Despair

Chapter 109 Old News
The people from the Crane and Stork Martial Arts School come with bared teeth and claws, but leave with their tails between their legs.

The cheers coming from the building behind them sent chills down their spines, leaving them with an indescribable feeling of unease.

"Still laughing? A bunch of frogs in a well... If Brother Shen Meng were here too, that kid would be crippled in a minute."

"Hmph, I don't think they'll be smug for long. The White Bird people will be here soon..."

Hearing his fellow disciples' murmurs, Shen Hui's lips twitched.

He said with a dark face, "What, do you think I'm not strong enough and have embarrassed you?"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly waved their hands, saying, "No, no!"

"Who said that?"

"Senior Brother Shen, you must have misheard."

Whether it was the intense pain in his hand or the frustration caused by his incompetent teammates, Shen Hui's lips kept twitching.

Shen Hui glared at them fiercely, then sighed and said, "In any case, we've at least gotten a clear picture. That guy was probably just an accident. Look at the other dozens or hundreds of people, how many of them can actually fight?"

"It seems that what happened back then really crippled Falcon Wing. They haven't recovered yet, and they don't even want to compete anymore."

Shen Hui frowned, unsure whether to be happy or sad.

Their main purpose in coming here was to test the waters and, incidentally, suppress Falcon Wing, so as to get a bigger slice of the pie in Xishan City.

But after actually going on this trip, he realized that Falcon Wing didn't need any suppression at all.
The gym is practically deserted; whether the newly accepted disciples even know what they're about to face is another matter entirely.

A young man with a mole on his face in the crane and stork team scratched his head and asked, "Brother Hui, you keep talking about the past, what happened? You only tell half the story, keeping us in suspense."

He muttered to himself.

These are all our own people, so why not just say what you mean instead of playing the riddle-maker?

Shen Hui adopted a profound and secretive demeanor as he spoke, “What else could it be? No matter how tightly you guard against a nightmare invasion, there will always be loopholes… About three years ago, before the White Bird Boxing Gym even existed, a nightmare suddenly broke out in a township under the jurisdiction of Xijiang City.”

"At that time, the Falcon Wing Boxing School in Xishan City was at its peak. Most of their elites, as well as some of the personnel from the Nightwing Boxing School, the predecessor of the local White Bird Boxing School in Xijiang, were urgently transferred by the authorities to provide support."

"Haven't you heard what happened next?"

"The famous Deathwing Murphy broke through to the third realm of physical refinement during that nightmare... Unfortunately, he disappeared afterward."

That nightmare invasion was a C-level event, no small matter. When it was discovered, it even showed signs of evolution, beginning to spread to the surrounding areas.

If the Nightmare Core isn't destroyed soon, it could potentially be upgraded to Grade B if the delay continues.

Once it's upgraded to Level B, even if the authorities of Xijiang and Xishan join forces, they can only watch helplessly.

"As for whether that Class C incident was ever resolved, nobody knows for sure. Anyway, that place can't be found on the map anymore."

"The Falcon Wing Boxing Gym was severely damaged. Three of the five Qi Refining practitioners died, and more than a dozen True Strength practitioners were killed or injured... The Xijiang Municipal Government was also completely dismissed from top to bottom due to its ineffective handling of the situation."

"Even the city's name has been changed; Xijiang has been renamed Mingjiang."

After hearing this old story, everyone suddenly realized what had happened.

"No wonder... the Xishan City government is in such a hurry this time. Judging from the information they provided, if this is not handled properly, it may really repeat the mistakes of Xijiang back then."

While his fellow disciples were chatting, Shen Hui thought for a moment, then got up and headed towards the Falcon Wing Boxing Gym.

Before leaving, he instructed: "Contact Shen Meng later and find a place to stay as soon as possible... We must not let our guard down this time to come to the aid of Xishan."

"The Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs is asking for help so early and in such a hurry; they definitely don't have good intentions!"

"We need to be careful in what we do, lest we foolishly take the blame for someone else..."

After saying this, Shen quickly bandaged his injured hand and returned to the Falcon Wing Boxing Gym.

Hua Ming, Bai Siwei, Qu Zhi, and the others watched Shen Hui leave with serious expressions.

After Shen walked away, the group exchanged glances and suddenly burst into laughter.

"He's just a greenhorn who, relying on his talent, entered the True Qi realm early and is now putting on airs with us..."

"Just try to avoid provoking him in the future. What can you do when he has an older brother who is at the Qi Refining Realm?"

Of the group, only one possessed true strength; the rest were stuck at the threshold of achieving consistent, unified power.

Judging from their tone, they were clearly seasoned veterans of the martial arts school, and their attitude towards Shen Hui was more perfunctory than respectful.

"It's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. I acted impulsively this time... I need to find a way to make amends."

The excruciating pain in his hand constantly reminded Shen Hui just how terrifying Zhou Kai's strength was.

The intense pain brought him back to his senses.

There was no deep-seated hatred between them; he was just going to say hello as usual, but he didn't expect to run into a brick wall.

Looking back now and thinking about it carefully, I feel a chill run down my spine.

"If we offend someone of Master's generation, Master will have to take the fall."

"I'm afraid of getting involved with someone who's incredibly strong among my peers... My master and Brother Shen Meng can't really step in, so I'll have to take it on myself."

The problem is, Shen only wants to dominate weaker opponents, not confront this kind of monster head-on.

He took a few deep breaths, made up his mind, and stepped into the Falcon Wing Boxing Gym again.

Only a dozen minutes after he was kicked out, he went back in this time, but no one stopped him.

Upon closer inspection, the group of people from the Falcon Wing Boxing Gym were now all gathered in front of the ring.

Shen was somewhat surprised. Could it be that someone else had come to cause trouble so soon?
He squeezed through the crowd to take a look, only to discover that the two fighting on the stage were none other than Chen Ping and Zhou Kai.

……

Just minutes earlier, Chen Ping, who arrived late, had missed the entire process of the Crane Stork Martial Arts School causing trouble at his door.

After listening to Du Feng's vivid description, he was completely astonished.

Chen Ping's eyes widened. "How is this possible? You're really strong? But... why?"

Zhou Kai did not deny it, but simply admitted with a smile: "Perhaps that thing works better than I imagined."

The "thing" referred to was, of course, the secret medicine.

This reason clearly failed to convince Chen Ping, who still found it hard to believe: "Could it be that the people from the Crane Stork Martial Arts School held back?"

He had never heard of a secret medicine that could allow someone to instantly ascend to the realm of true strength.

True strength comes entirely from years of diligent practice and a bit of comprehension; secret medicines at most accelerate the training of the Falcon Strike Technique and enhance physical strength.

Besides, Zhou Kai just got two pills not long ago, didn't he?
However, seeing Zhou Kai's confident demeanor and the genuine aura of true strength emanating from him, Chen Ping was about 70-80% convinced.

So he simply extended his hand and issued a challenge.

"Come on, Zhou Kai, let's have a fight!"

"it's here?"

Zhou Kai shrugged and looked around.

The surrounding area was filled with a dense mass of heads, like watching a monkey show.

Chen Ping laughed and said, "Let's fight here. It'll be a good opportunity for these kids to learn what real strength is. It's been a long time since Falcon Wing has had the chance to observe and learn like this."

He raised an eyebrow: "What? Afraid of losing too badly?"

Zhou Kai nodded helplessly: "Okay."

Actually, he didn't really want to fight Chen Ping here.

He was planning to tell Chen Ping about his current level of martial arts today, so as to seek further guidance on martial arts techniques.

He would have to go all out against Chen Ping.

Beating up Senior Brother Chen in front of everyone would make Chen Ping lose face.

However, since Chen Ping insisted on sparring here, Zhou Kai had no choice but to comply.

Soon, the arena was cleared, and everyone stepped back to make enough space for the two.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the impending confrontation.

　Seventh update!
　
(End of this chapter)