Chapter 170

The Maple Leaf Valley Master’s youngest disciple had been training for three years already, yet his martial arts were quite poor. If Lian Li had been training for three years, he likely would have reached the level of a second-class expert a year ago.

Thus, Yun Huizhou could only skip the topic of whether the opponent’s martial arts were good or bad and said, “Lian Li’s idea is that if the opponent fights personally, he will step up; if the opponent asks his senior brother for help, I will step up. But the problem now is that their martial arts are likely on par, but since Lian Li has been practicing for a shorter time, he might be at a disadvantage when it comes to experience.”

“So, we ended our vacation early and planned to come back for some emergency training. That way, if the two of them do fight, Lian Li will have a better chance of winning.”

After saying this, Yun Huizhou noticed that the South Island Master seemed about to speak, so he immediately sped up to finish his thought: “As for those two days of vacation, we plan to postpone them. We’ll rest after this matter is resolved.”

The South Island Master didn’t notice the trap in Yun Huizhou’s words and nodded in response.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll go talk to Dongqing later.”

Then, he turned to look at Lian Li.

“Yun Huizhou is right. You might be at a disadvantage in terms of experience. For the next seven days, Dongqing, Yun Huizhou, and I will take turns sparring with you. We won’t go easy on you, so you must practice and learn seriously.”

“I’ll also have Xiyu prepare medicine so that you won’t have to lie in bed for two days after just one day of training. Don’t worry, we will definitely train you until you can beat that smelly old man’s youngest disciple.”

Hearing the South Island Master’s words, Lian Li felt as though he was only a hair’s breadth away from being trained to death.

However, he couldn’t say anything. After all, the South Island Master was very seriously making arrangements for him to win the duel.

He could only squeeze out a smile. “Alright, Master, I understand. I’ll be serious.”

Satisfied with Lian Li’s answer, the South Island Master nodded, and then vanished in the blink of an eye.

Yun Huizhou looked toward the east and said, “Master has gone to find our Martial Uncle.”

Lian Li looked at Yun Huizhou, wanting to cry but having no tears. “I feel like I’m going to be trained to death over the next few days…”

Yun Huizhou patted his shoulder. A year ago, he might have started gloating; six months ago, there might have been sympathy in his eyes.

But now, the gloating was completely gone. Sympathy was still there, but it was joined by a hint of heartache. Still, he said nothing.

He knew clearly that when it came to martial arts, he couldn’t indulge Lian Li too much. This was Lian Li’s foundation for standing his ground in the martial world, and his most important means of survival.

Before long, the South Island Master returned.

However, he didn’t come back alone; he brought five people with him.

In addition to the East, West, and North Island Masters, Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan had also followed along.

Lian Li was stunned. What was going on? Why did so many people show up at once? Were they all here to enjoy the show?

The West Island Master leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed, smiling at Lian Li in a way that made his skin crawl.

No one spoke; they just kept sizing Lian Li up from head to toe.

Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan were relatively subtle about it, but the West and North Island Masters were just a hair’s breadth away from grinning like idiots.

Lian Li couldn’t stand being stared at like that anymore and just threw caution to the wind. “Uncles, Brother Zhao, Sister Qu—are you all optimistic that I can defeat that person from Maple Leaf Valley and keep my rank after emergency training?”

“Come, come, let me cast a divination for you,” the North Island Master immediately chimed in, raising his hand to pinch his fingers and calculate for Lian Li.

With a smack, the West Island Master knocked his hand away, then looked at Lian Li and said very seriously, “I think it will be very difficult.”

The East Island Master walked over to Lian Li and patted his shoulder. The force was so great that Lian Li’s face immediately contorted in pain.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a way to make sure you win.”

Lian Li: “…Okay, thank you, Martial Aunt.”

The East Island Master nodded, then used her other hand to pat Yun Huizhou’s shoulder.

“Nanrong showed me the letter, and he explained the ranking challenge rules of this ‘Beauty List’ to me. That old man from Maple Leaf Valley has a senior disciple whose martial arts are about the same as yours. If that kid looks for someone else to fight for him, he’ll likely look for his Eldest Senior Sister.”

The East Island Master’s grip tightened slightly as she continued, “You have to train along with him these next few days. If it comes down to you stepping up and you lose, it would be a huge embarrassment.”

Yun Huizhou: “…Understood.”

“Then it’s settled,” the East Island Master declared. “In one hour, everyone meet at the East—actually, I’ll just stay on the South Island for a few days.”

Zhao Honglan thought for a moment and spoke up, “Brother Yun, besides Senior Dongqing’s guidance, do you need a sparring partner?”

During this time, Zhao Honglan had finally figured out why Qu Tingquan had suddenly made him wear women’s clothing that day.

He was just looking for an excuse to spar with Yun Huizhou.

If Yun Huizhou agreed, he definitely wouldn’t hold back.

Hearing this, the East Island Master also thought it was a good idea. When elders like them fought Yun Huizhou, it was mostly for guidance.

Since Zhao Honglan and Yun Huizhou were of similar strength, sparring with each other would be best.

But then she remembered that Zhao Honglan had lost to Yun Huizhou a year ago, so she felt that might not put enough pressure on him.

After a moment of deliberation, she said to Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan, “The two of you go at him together. Two against one.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Zhao Honglan said, his smile becoming noticeably brighter. He turned to Qu Tingquan. “Tingquan, what do you think?”

“I also think it’s very good,” Qu Tingquan said with a slight smile.

She had helped Yun Huizhou torment Zhao Honglan once before; now she was going to team up with Zhao Honglan to deal with Yun Huizhou.

Once things were settled and the excitement had died down, the West Island Master prepared to leave.

Lian Li and Yun Huizhou needed to go back to change their clothes and prepare for the afternoon.

Just as everyone had dispersed and the two of them returned to their room to close the door, a figure suddenly appeared behind them.

Lian Li jumped in fright. Turning around, he saw it was the North Island Master.

The North Island Master leaned in close to Lian Li, squinting his eyes, and said, “I’ve calculated it. On this trip out, something troublesome will definitely happen!”

Knowing that the North Island Master’s divinations were never accurate, Lian Li and Yun Huizhou were momentarily speechless.

What “troublesome thing”? He was going out to defend his eleventh-place spot on the Beauty List; what else could it be?

He probably calculated that Lian Li would lose.

The two of them looked at the North Island Master without saying a word, but their expressions weren’t exactly pleasant.

However, the North Island Master remained as calm and composed as ever.

Finally, Lian Li was the first to snap out of it. “Fine, fine, I’ll lose, I’ll lose. Uncle, please go back to the North Island first. If I lose, the first thing I’ll do is write a letter to the North Island to tell you that your calculation was spot on.”