"Testing my worth?"

"That old man with the sharp mouth and monkey-like cheeks?"

Feng Mu sharply caught the key information revealed in Li Bashan's words, pondering deeply.

"This script seems like it's trying to recruit me into the fold, but I haven't shown any talent yet. What exactly attracts Douqiong Martial Arts Hall? It can't just be because the plaque coincidentally cracked when I entered, right?"

"Not blaming me is one thing, but it looks like they're considering taking me in instead. Strange, it's really strange."

Feng Mu could now see clearly that Douqiong Martial Arts Hall was different from other martial arts halls. Although it had been renovated like others, and the main area outside was equipped with various technological aids for training, what truly emanated was still the ancient, old-fashioned aura.

Like those from Azure Dragon Martial Arts Hall, essentially viewing martial arts students as a business.

No matter whether you were an ordinary student, an advanced student, or an inner student, it was essentially a transaction, perhaps mixed with some emotions but definitely not much.

But here at Douqiong Martial Arts Hall, it seems slightly different, not completely different, because those students outside were indeed just business.

But the seven inside were completely different.

Although Li Bashan didn't explicitly say, his words showed clearly that he held the master's words in high regard, and the facial expressions of the others seemed to deeply agree.

It's obvious this isn't a modern teacher-student or instructor-student transaction relationship.

Rather, it closely resembled the master-disciple lineage from the old times, a relationship even tighter than a father-son bloodline.

A master, not a teacher—a world of difference between those two titles!

Feng Mu appeared dull on the surface but calculated quickly in his mind, weighing the pros and cons: "Finding a teacher for my public persona [Feng Mu] doesn't seem too bad?"

"Although this identity might introduce some ties, these ties might not be unhelpful. The [Douqiong Martial Arts Hall] looks quite complex, and having a background from a school provides credible growth backstory, I can stand up to scrutiny later on."

"Above all else, if I can prove my worth by slaying my own father, having another master isn't a big deal."

"If [Douqiong Martial Arts Hall] is beneficial to me, I can play the role of a respectful and obedient disciple. If harmful, I'll switch to [Mask] later and engineer a bloodbath, escaping as the sole survivor."

In a flash, Feng Mu decided his plan in his heart, intending to follow the "cheap master's" arrangement and accept this "ill-fated relationship."

Those below naturally were unaware that within mere seconds, the potential junior brother standing on stage had already spun countless rebellious and treacherous thoughts in his mind.

"Picked the right person yet?" Li Bashan urged.

Feng Mu took a deep breath, understanding the test had begun. Being asked to choose someone was a test of his insight and courage.

"The persona I need to craft now should be dull, taciturn, somber, obsessive, self-disciplined, with an intrinsic fierceness."

Feng Mu uttered a sound, Blood Bar Deceit Eye activated, and he looked towards the people.

Undoubtedly, Li Bashan's health bar was the highest among everyone [2117/2117], almost ten times his own; a true tank.

Hong Ya's health bar was the shortest [177/188], less than his, and not full either. Perhaps, like him, she was regularly bleeding herself?

The others' health bars varied in length, although not as exaggerated as Li Bashan's, were generally still 2~5 times of his own.

Judging a person's strength by the length of their health bar might be biased, but it serves as a valuable reference.

Excluding the strongest and weakest, Feng Mu pointed towards the man who bloodied the Iron Man Post, his health bar was 2.5 times that of Feng Mu.

Li Bashan promptly said, "Old Fourth, go up and spar, but hold back a little."

Old Fourth's name was Yuan Xidi, upon hearing, he loosened his neck, and his narrow eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light, it was unclear if he heard Li Bashan's advice.

He strode towards the stage, ignoring the wounds on his hands, letting the blood trail onto the ground.

Just as he stepped on stage, Feng Mu felt a surge of ferocity slam into him.

Such a feeling of momentum is mysterious and ethereal, essentially a primordial instinct of life, stemming from deep within genes. It is the prey sensing and fearing the predator's superiority.

Sensing that the opponent is stronger, fearing that they could easily capture and consume oneself.

This is an inherent animal instinct; humans, due to technology, have somewhat devolved in this aspect, but some martial artists can activate this instinct, and even more keenly than animals.

Much like Feng Mu now, because Yuan Xidi didn't even pretend to hide it, he once again sniffed the dense stench of blood in the other's momentum.

The smell that can only appear after killing countless similar creatures.

Superstitiously speaking, it is said that this person is wrapped in the souls and unrelenting resentment of those they have slain.

Yuan Xidi grotesquely licked the blood off his hand, smiled at the potential junior brother in front, "Come now, don't be afraid, I'll let you attack first, once you're tired, I'll take my turn."

Below, Hong Ya frowned and said worriedly, "Why did he choose Fourth Senior Brother, who despite not being the strongest after First Senior Brother, is certainly…"

A voice interjected, "But old Fourth is undeniably the most manic, he loves to be covered in blood every fight."

The one speaking was Second Senior Sister Liu Xie, short-haired with purple lips, hands crossed on her chest. While speaking, she seemingly recalled something and licked her lips.

"The master seems to have taken a liking to this one named..." Liu Xie paused, looked at Hong Ya.

Hong Ya instinctively shied away a bit, seeming afraid of this Second Senior Sister, she replied, "He's named Feng Mu, and Master only instructed me that we are destined to meet."

Liu Xie shrugged with a smile, "Then you'd better keep a close eye on him, lest old Fourth accidentally kills him on stage, ending your destiny."

Old Five Gong Qi with his cut eyebrows, and a black mole on his brow, chimed in flatly, "Bury him under the tree if he's killed, isn't that also destiny?"

Bam!

Old Three Zhao Zhixin shut the door completely blocking the outside view.

He comforted Hong Ya, "If he really ends up dead, we'll help you bury the body together, the Master wouldn't only blame you."

Only Laoliu Wang Yu remained silent throughout, merely nodding along.

Hong Ya's face turned ashen, knowing her brothers and sisters were teasing her, but she couldn't tell if they were serious.

She could only look up to the First Senior Brother for help.

Li Bashan ignored the banter among his siblings; apart from eating, nothing seemed to stir him.

He stared intently at the stage, even though Master Li Guishen often scolded him for being simple-minded, perhaps it was this straightforwardness that granted him an unreasonable intuition.

His gut told him, the would-be junior brother standing there was not as weak and dull as appeared, something deep seemed nestled within him.

Li Bashan couldn't see through it, but he felt certain, the "junior brother" was far from ordinary, at the very least, he had killed before.

Although the "junior brother" hid deeply, when locked onto by the Fourth Senior Brother's murderous intent at close range, his body instinctively had slightest reactive response.

There was even a faint, fleeting return flash of murdering intent.

Even though it was but a brief instance, very faint, barely detectable to the Fourth Senior Brother opposite him, Li Bashan sensed it—that... an intent born from killing more than one person.

On stage, Feng Mu was unaware he'd revealed a bit, maintaining a blank stare, though his heart raced twice.

The Calamity Iron within his belly responded, rapidly digesting.

Feng Mu swallowed, took a deep breath, focusing intensely on Yuan Xidi, his gaze seemingly locking onto the enemy with a fierce edge.

"Oh, good eye contact at least standing on stage, his courage is decent," Zhao Zhixin jested with a smile.

But only Feng Mu knew he wasn't locking onto an enemy; he was eyeing nothing but a box of delivered... stomach digestive pills!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.