At this display of power, silence descended in the tavern.
Fights between the Imperial Army and Cloud Sect were very common.
Although disciples of Cloud Sect were highly skilled, soldiers of the Imperial Army were strongmen who
had experienced combats extensively. They had acquired valuable practical skills from fighting. This
gave them a slight advantage and brought them at par with the Cloud Sect disciples.
However, a soldier had now been humiliated by a young cultivator at the marrow refining level.
All the soldiers felt ashamed.
Under normal circumstances, the entire tavern would have been involved in a skirmish like this.
But, today, everyone knew that Wu had deliberately provoked Zen. What made them more hesitant to
get involved was that Wu had instigated a junior disciple at the marrow refining level to fight him.
Although the soldiers in the Imperial Army were not physically well-groomed, they were sensible.
Today, Wu was totally out of luck as he had disgraced himself. He shouldn't blame Zen who was at the
marrow refining level.
At that moment, even Martin felt a little embarrassed.
Zen had joined the Green Haze Group at Martin's invitation. Martin was now in a quandary. On one
hand, it would be rude for him to embarrass Zen because Wu had chosen to incite the young disciple in
a show of strength. On the other hand, Zen's strength had been astounding. As a result, he humiliated
Wu completely. Seeing that Wu was still lying motionless on the floor, Martin resented him a little. After
all, both he and Wu were members of the Imperial Army.
Thus, Martin felt that he had been humiliated by association. 'Wu overestimated his abilities after
drinking some wine. Cloud Sect is a sacred place of martial arts. Its students are talented in different
skills. Since Wu chose to disgrace himself, he deserves the insult, ' thought Martin.
In this situation, Martin's only choice was to smooth things over, and to this end, he said, "Well, the fight
is over. Tomorrow, we have work to do. I think it's best if we rest early..."
While the explanation was feeble, it gave the soldiers, including Wu, a reason to excuse themselves
from the tavern without further embarrassment or confrontations.
On hearing Martin's words, Wu got up from the floor. He shook his hands and legs. Judging from his
rosy complexion, the onlookers concluded that he hadn't been hurt. Though no one voiced their
concerns, the soldiers knew that Zen had perhaps restrained himself from using his full power. Had he
not done so, Wu would have been severely wounded.
Wu was a soldier. He was frank and upright, albeit not amenable to reason. Even though a weaker
opponent had beaten him, he would behave fairly. At last, he walked to Zen, cupped one hand in the
other before his chest and said, "You are a disciple from Cloud Sect. You have potent strength and
abilities. I am really astonished by you. What happened today was my fault." After saying this, he
looked around and said, "I have embarrassed myself. I apologize!" As soon as he had finished, Wu
looked up and left.
Martin didn't explain to others like Zen and Roger why Wu showed hatred for Cloud Sect's disciples
until Wu had left the tavern.
Previously, Wu had led his Evergreen Squad to fulfill tasks, and some members of the squad were
disciples of Cloud Sect.
In executing their tasks, the squad was besieged by blade locusts. While the Cloud Sect disciples were
able to escape from the blade locusts' siege because of their skills, they left soldiers from the
Evergreen Squad behind. Although the squad persevered and eventually escaped, scores of soldiers
had lost their lives.
All these soldiers had risked their lives under Wu's command. Had the Cloud Sect disciples not
deserted the Evergreen Squad, they wouldn't have lost so many soldiers.
"He must have felt great pain to see his soldiers who had risked their lives with him being killed by the
blade locusts in front of him," Martin said while shaking his head with a heavy sigh.
Zen nodded sympathetically and said, "I can understand. Wu is righteous, and he is not a bad man."
"It's great that you can understand him, Zen!" As Martin spoke up, he burst into laughter, and
continued, "It's too late in the evening. At present, insect epidemics occur here and there. There must
be some tasks for us to fulfill tomorrow. Let me arrange accommodation for the four of you to rest."
A little while later, all the soldiers and Cloud Sect disciples settled in their rooms.
...
That night, another huge flying chariot landed in Dragon Fort.
After the door of the huge flying chariot opened, Cloud Sect disciples alighted.
Liam Cao was the last to step out.
Behind him stood two slender and tall young men.
Both young men looked pale. Since one man was light-complexioned, he looked ghostly white, while
the other, a black-skinned man, appeared as though a layer of ash covered his skin. As they neither
said much nor looked at the bystanders, it appeared as though the young men were introverted.
However, they looked fierce, which showed that they were cultivators at the nature level.
"Hey, buddies, we have arrived!" Liam said politely.
"Damn it! We traveled so far for a guy at the marrow refining level," complained the white-skinned
young man unpleasantly.
Liam replied with a smile, "We can surely gain some benefits when we get this done for Fren. Dealing
with that guy is a piece of cake for us. Let's just think of this as a fun trip."
Hearing this, the black-skinned young man snorted and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Do you think I
would have come to the damned Dragon Fort with White Fiend, had Fren not asked us for a favor? Are
you sure that the guy Zen is at the Dragon Fort?"
Liam nodded and replied, "Yes, I am very certain about this."
"If so, ask him to come out so that I can kill him with a slap and fulfill Fren's task. Am I right? After that,
we can go right back on the flying chariot," both young men said simultaneously.
Liam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as his head throbbed. He recalled that the
white-skinned man was called White Fiend, and the black-skinned one was Black Fiend. The two
formed a group known as Black Fiend and White Fiend.
Although the two young men were very powerful, they were also unruly and grumpy. They would beat
and kill people on impulse as long as they were enraged.
Recalling Fren's promise, Liam tried hard to suppress his anger upon hearing what White Fiend and
Black Fiend had said. He patiently explained, "Dragon Fort is under the control of the Imperial Army. Do
you think you will survive after you kill a person here on a whim?"
"Then, what should we do? Do we really have to kill that guy after he leaves here?" White Fiend asked
with a gloomy face.
"Since he was willing to come to Dragon Fort, he will eventually get out here to hunt and kill blade
locusts. When that happens, you will have many chances to kill him. If we plan it well, we might think of
many funny and entertaining ways to kill him. Who knows, we might not even have to get involved
directly," as Liam said this, a cunning smile grew on his face.
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