Chapter 25: Reckless Braggadocio

“Right, right, that must be it. That kid’s just putting on an act. Hmph, he’s going to get what’s coming to him soon enough!”

Tang Huaxi pondered for a moment, then roughly made his judgment.

Perhaps for ordinary cultivators, Body Refiners were looked down upon, considered lowly practitioners. Naturally, this was true even within the Tang Family, but it was also slightly different.

Although most members of the Tang Family cultivated immortality and practiced spells, inevitably, some descendants lacked a Spiritual Root and could only practice Body Refining Techniques. Moreover, even disciples who didn’t practice Body Refining Techniques still had to learn the basic knowledge of Body Refining.

The realms for Body Refiners were very simple: six tiers in total, from First Tier to Sixth Tier. For example, a First-tier Body Refiner had strength equivalent to a cultivator at the Qi Condensation Stage, while Second-tier Body Refining corresponded to Foundation Building, and so on.

However, each tier of Body Refining was also divided into Early, Middle, and Late stages, much like the divisions for cultivators.

At the start of cultivation, Body Refiners’ strength far exceeded that of cultivators, especially at the First and Second Tiers. But the further one advanced, the weaker they became compared to cultivators. For some unknown reason, very few Body Refiners ever reached Fourth Tier Body Refining. Therefore, generally speaking, the most powerful Body Refining strength only matched that of a Core Formation Cultivator. Furthermore, if a Third-tier Body Refiner encountered a Core Formation Cultivator, unless they were extremely close, the Core Formation Cultivator was almost unbeatable.

This also meant that across the entire Divine Wind Continent, very few chose to cultivate the thankless path of Body Refining.

“But even if he’s only a First-tier Body Refiner, might we still not be able to defeat him?”

Tang Xingchi’s pale face still bore that flush of red.

“Cough, I say, Brother Xingchi, do you have water in your brain? Three months ago, that kid was knocked flat by us! Do you think he’d be a peak First-tier Body Refiner now?”

Tang Huaxi gave Tang Xingchi a strange look as he spoke.

“Ooh, hah, ha! I actually forgot about that. Damn it, seems I was rattled by that kid earlier! When the match starts later, I’ll make sure to teach him a proper lesson!”

Tang Xingchi was momentarily stunned but quickly caught on, bursting into loud laughter.

“Haha, exactly! Today we’ll beat that kid senseless, knock his teeth out, and make him kneel and beg for mercy!”

“Haha… I miss the old days kicking the ball around…”

…

After their discussion, the two seemed to have figured out Tang Jinbiao’s true level. Equally brimming with confidence, they headed towards the stage.

…

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Unconsciously, an hour passed.

Tang Jinbiao and Little Lv had already arrived at the Tang Family’s rear courtyard, reaching the edge of the competition ground. They found a position slightly towards the back and stood there.

A great many people had come today, perhaps two hundred or more. Apart from the elderly Tang Family Elders and similar figures seated on one side of the Platform Stage, all the others were young people in their teens and twenties.

Having been in this world for so long, this was the first time Tang Jinbiao saw so many people together. Over ninety percent were cultivators, with varying Cultivation Levels. However, those who came were at least Qi Condensation Fourth Layer or higher; most were around Qi Condensation Fourth or Fifth Layer. Naturally, a very small portion exuded stronger pressure, belonging to Qi Condensation Eighth or Ninth Layer. Naturally, Tang Huaxi and Tang Xingchi were among these. As for stronger Foundation Establishment Cultivators? Pitifully few – only four!

Those four stood beside the Elders. One of them was precisely Tang Yilin, who had beaten Tang Jinbiao so badly he couldn’t get out of bed for three days!

“Witch!”

The moment Tang Jinbiao saw Tang Yilin, his back turned cold. He cursed her inwardly.

“Heh heh!”

Perhaps it really was telepathy. Just as Tang Jinbiao looked at Tang Yilin, her gaze happened to meet his. But when she saw Tang Jinbiao, she first froze for a second, then a cruel smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, revealing a small canine tooth. Though not at all cute!

“Can’t mess with her!”

A shiver ran down Tang Jinbiao’s spine. He immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere.

As for the remaining people, one individual filled Tang Jinbiao with disbelief. There stood a child of merely seven or eight years old, utterly adorable, with large eyes darting about as they scanned the surroundings. This was Little Tang Song, his own younger brother!

“Ah, little brother?”

Upon spotting Little Tang Song, Tang Jinbiao froze for a split second, his mind struggling. His little brother hadn’t even built his foundation yet; he was only at Qi Condensation Layer Eight. Why was he standing there? To think that in less than a year, Little Tang Song had progressed all the way from Qi Condensation Fifth Layer to Qi Condensation Eighth Layer – his talent was undeniably remarkable!

At that moment, Little Tang Song seemed to sense Tang Jinbiao’s presence and looked over. Seeing Tang Jinbiao, a radiant smile bloomed on his face, as if he wanted to say something.

“Huh?”

Because of Little Tang Song and Tang Yilin, the remaining three individuals seemed to notice Tang Jinbiao too, each shifting their gaze towards him.

Immediately, Tang Jinbiao felt it. Three streams of divine sense swept over his body without any restraint, scanning him from head to toe. It was a sensation as if he’d been stripped entirely bare.

“Hmph, trash!”

One of them, recognizing it was Tang Jinbiao, sneered with undisguised disdain. The one who snorted was precisely the young man Tang Jinbiao had noticed previously.

This youth was called Tang Shan, at Mid Foundation Building Stage. Tang Jinbiao had gathered information over these past days and knew he was someone to avoid offending for now. What Tang Jinbiao didn’t realize, however, was that the present Tang Shan had already reached the Late Foundation Building Stage!

“Heh heh!”

He hadn’t met the other two before, but they showed no particular hostility. They merely smiled faintly and gave a slight nod in acknowledgement, clearly familiar with Tang Jinbiao previously.

“Damn! Just who was that former Tang Jinbiao? How many people did he piss off?”

Though he’d tried his best to minimize interactions lately, it was unavoidable now. And judging by appearances, it looked like the “meet-and-attack” sort of situation too.

Sigh!

Luckily, not everyone here was a cultivator. As his gaze swept the venue, he spotted four or five people huddled in a corner. No cultivation aura emanated from them, but their physiques all looked impressively robust. These were undoubtedly the younger generation of the Tang Family, born without spiritual roots—Body Refiners who could only practice Body Refining Technique.

Seeing them, Tang Jinbiao walked over in their direction.

…

“Hey, did you see? Doesn’t that guy look like Tang Jinbiao, the one who caused a huge stir about a year ago?”

“Hmm, I saw him. I heard he single-handedly killed three Core Formation Cultivators a year ago! Amazing!”

“Exactly! They say he was the number one genius of our Tang Family!”

“Shh, have you guys heard?”

“Heard what?”

“I heard that even though he killed those three Core Formation Cultivators, he was severely injured. Though he managed to cling to life, his Spiritual Root vanished… they say he became trash!”

“Really? Who told you that?”

“Why would I lie? When this incident happened, several Elders threw major fits over it!”

“Shh! He’s coming over!”

…

Tang Jinbiao felt utterly helpless. He hadn’t provoked anyone, yet as he approached, these young Tang Family members began whispering. He longed to step forward and yell: Damn it! I am Tang Jinbiao, and yet I’m not this Tang Jinbiao you knew!

But shouting it probably wouldn’t make anyone believe him. In fact, even Huang Biaozi, who spent time with him daily, didn’t seem to realize his predicament. The situation was bizarre; voicing it out loud would likely get him dismissed as insane.

So, he could only hang his head helplessly and continue walking towards the group of Body Refiners.

“Brother Jinbiao!”

Fortunately, those Body Refiners seemed accustomed to cold remarks and indifference. Upon seeing Tang Jinbiao approach, not only did they not shun him, but they also broke into smiles and stepped forward to greet him voluntarily.

Thud, thud!

The moment Tang Jinbiao heard “Brother Jinbiao,” his body quivered involuntarily. The trauma was clearly still fresh.

“Huh? Brother Jinbiao, what’s wrong?”

One of them, a youth about fifteen or sixteen years old, roughly a head shorter than Tang Jinbiao, his features still boyish yet radiating a certain spirited boldness, appeared to notice Tang Jinbiao’s discomfort and asked.

“Uh… you guys shouldn’t call me ‘Jinbiao Ge’ anymore. Call me ‘Biao Ge’ instead. Yeah, ‘Brother Biao’ is fine!” Tang Jinbiao couldn’t help but recall the day on the mountain when Tang Huaxi and the other had beaten him out of his wits. His body subconsciously trembled.

“Oh, okay. Brother Jinbia… Brother Biao! Brother Biao!”

“Brother Biao!”

The other three followed suit and called him “Brother Biao.”

All four were about the same age and, likely due to Body Refining, shared somewhat similar features.

“Hmm, good, good, good. Hello everyone, hello everyone! If there’s any trouble, any difficulties, just tell Brother Biao!”

Somehow, hearing a group of fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youths call him “Brother Biao” gave Tang Jinbiao a faint sense of satisfaction. It vaguely reminded him of his middle school days when a bunch of younger kids would crowd around him calling him “Brother Feng.”

“Brother Biao, what tier of Body Refining are you at now? Have you reached the Second Tier?”

The youth who had first greeted Tang Jinbiao suddenly remembered and asked.

“Yeah, yeah! Brother Biao, if you’ve reached the Second Tier of Body Refining, you could definitely flatten everyone here today!”

Another youth chimed in eagerly.

“Brother Biao, did you make it? Your body looks way stronger than mine! You must have reached the second tier, right?”

“Brother Biao!”

It seemed these four youths had endured too much bullying from the Cultivators. Seeing a ‘newcomer’ like Tang Jinbibo today sparked a glimmer of hope within each of them.

“Hmph! Brothers, don’t worry! Today, Brother Biao, with just these two fists…” Tang Jinbiao raised his hands, “…will punch everyone present into dogs!” A hint of pretentiousness flashed across his face as his gaze swept dismissively over the Tang Family disciples in the assembly who were bowing their heads and whispering among themselves.

“Really?”

“Brother Biao!”

“I believe it! I believe it!”

The four youths’ eyes shone with fervent light, as if they could already see Tang Jinbiao standing triumphantly atop them all.

“Fuck! Tang Huaxi! Tang Xingchi! You two little shits! If I don’t beat you to a pulp today, my name isn’t Tang Jinbiao!”

Tang Jinbiao thought of the two who had instigated it all. His gaze inevitably shifted towards Tang Huaxi and Tang Xingchi, who were standing below the Platform Stage, surrounded by several Cultivators, chatting and laughing as if without a care…