“Oh?” Ye Kong stopped and turned around to look at Ye Wen suspiciously. What is he trying to do now? It’s obvious that he’s planning something.
“Eighth brother, there’s only a few more days until the monthly contest. Father will definitely be there to spectate. You will get what you want by then.”
“Monthly contest?” Ye Kong only understood what he was saying after Ye Wen took the time to explain.
In order to examine his children’s combat skills, as well as to give them a chance to obtain more experience, Ye Haoran had been organizing a contest every month. During the contest, they would compete with each other to determine their rankings. The winner of a match would even receive rewards. As Ye Kong did not learn martial arts, he had never participated before.
“Oh, I see.” Ye Kong nodded. He could definitely meet Ye Haoran if he went. However, Ye Wen’s intention was quite obvious to him as well. He’s probably thinking of humiliating me during the contest.
“Are there any rules in this contest?” Ye Kong asked. There was a large variance in the ages of Ye Haoran’s children. It would be quite unfair for Ye Wen to compete against the eight year old, Ye You.
Ye Wen could tell what he was thinking. He laughed and said, “Obviously, we have different divisions. There’s one division for every 3 years of age. You can only fight against something in your division.”
Actually, Ye Wen only mentioned one of the rules. There was another rule where you could pick your opponents and challenge them. The person who was challenged cannot refuse but he or she could ask someone else to take their place.
When Ye Haoran created this rule, his objective was for his children to form bonds and cooperate with each other. That way, they would not be isolated among their siblings.
However, that loophole was made used of by Ye Wen. Where would Ye Kong who was ostracized and looked down upon by his siblings find someone to take his place? He would only end up getting a beat down from Ye Wen.
More importantly, he would be able to do it every month.
At that point, even if the second mistress did not drive him away, he would probably leave on his own. That was the plan that Ye Wen told his mother.
“Even if we are split into divisions, I have never practiced martial arts before. Do I still have to participate?” Even though Ye Kong did not know of Ye Wen’s plans, he had no intentions of participating.
Oh, so all of you received training and guidance from experts since you were young, and you want someone like me with no experience in martial arts at all to compete? Do you think I am stupid?
However, Ye Wen’s words sent him into the depths of despair, “If you don’t have a proper reason, then get out of the Ye manor!”
Ye Kong was filled with chagrin. Does that mean I have to be other people’s sandbag in the ring? Fuck, what kind of a stupid rule is this? Are you trying to force me to die?
“Don’t be discouraged. Father gives pointers to the winners of every match. There’s even a monetary reward. Haha, make sure you show up.” Ye Wen baited Ye Kong once more before he left. After all, if Ye Kong got too frightened, he might do anything to avoid participating.
Frankly, Ye Kong was extremely tempted by what Ye Wen said. His original intention was to learn martial arts from Ye Haoran. If he won a match during the contest, then it would naturally fall into place.
However, Ye Kong was someone who knew his place. He understood that someone like him who never learnt any martial arts would not be a match against his siblings. If he still had his muscular physique from his previous life and in addition with his bold personality, he might still have a chance. On the other hand, it would be impossible with his twelve year old malnourished body.
I want to learn martial arts! I want to become stronger!
He shouted inwardly in his heart. If I want to impress Ye Haoran and give mother a good life, I need to do this! Even if I lose, I can still perform well in front of him. Maybe he would still teach me after all?
After returning back home, Ye Kong had already decided. Go! I will definitely go! I definitely won’t go back to being an idiot again! I’ve never been afraid of anyone in my entire life!
“Son, have you seen your father? What did he say?” Once he got back, Chen Jiuniang immediately started asking questions.
Ye Kong could not tell her about the contest, otherwise she would only be worried.
“Mother, father was delighted to know that I had recovered. He said that my body is currently too weak to learn martial arts. He told me to strengthen my body first. Once I’ve gotten stronger, he’ll teach me martial arts.” Ye Kong laughed and said.
Chen Jiuniang did not suspect a thing. She was so happy that she almost shed tears again.
“Mother, help me find some thick cloths.” Ye Kong quickly said.
“What do you need cloths for?” Chen Jiuniang asked.
“I need them for my training. From tom- No, I am starting right now. I must become stronger!”
Even though Ye Kong did not learn martial arts, he was familiar with bodybuilding on Earth.
He knew that he had to increase his strength, reaction, speed, flexibility and endurance. With all of these, even if he was no match for his opponent in the contest, he would not lose too badly.
With the cloth that Ye Kong had gotten from Chen Jiuniang, he made cloth bags with them and filled them with roof tiles. After he tied them to his legs, he started long distance running.
Wearing weights while long distance running and doing squats are the the basic and most effective training to improve strength.
There was less than ten days until the actual day. With no time to spare, he decided to increase the difficulty. The roof tiles of CangNan continent were heavy, five pieces of them were equivalent to one piece of brick. He tied ten pieces of the roof tiles to each leg.
He was only a twelve year old child. With weights equivalent to 2 pieces of brick on each leg, he could not even walk in the beginning but he still persevered.
He ran one round around the manor every day. Every time, he felt as if his body was going to fall apart but there was a single thought that supported him.
I want to learn martial arts! I want to become stronger!
“Son, let me wipe your sweat. If it’s too heavy, you should decrease the amount of tiles.” Even though Chen Jiuniang was contented that her son was working hard, she was unwilling to see him suffer.
“Mother, it’s fine. I still need to do two hundred pushups.” Ye Kong said with clenched teeth. He knew that he was training was too much, but he also knew that in order to achieve results in the shortest time, he had to overload his training. Only by overloading, would he be able to improve.
Time after time, he reached the limits of his body.
(TN note: It’s a magical world where people recover and grow stronger faster.)
Every night, as he lay exhausted in bed, he felt soreness all over his body. Every joint and every muscle would hurt like hell, but he was happy. He knew that his muscles were growing, his joints were increasing in toughness. That feeling as if countless ants were crawling inside of his muscles felt like they were becoming stronger.
Every morning ever since that day, the servants in the manor would see a small figure running on the trail. In the afternoon, he would be in the forest punching the ground furiously. At night, he would appear at the pond and swim a few laps.
“Didn’t they say that the idiot recovered? Did it relapse?” As such training methods did not exist in this world, the servants were confused with his behavior.
“He’s probably stupid again. Why would anyone hit sand for no reason? Doesn’t his hand hurt?”
“That’s right. How does he even endure it? We probably couldn’t take it after a single hit, yet he’s been doing it for over half an hour.”
“Let’s hurry up and leave. He gets angry easily and I don’t want to end up getting beaten up.”
Under the moonlit night, heavy rain was falling. Everyone had taken shelter in their houses, even small animals hid underneath trees.
However, Ye Kong was still running in the rainstorm, as if he could not feel the rain falling upon him.
The rainstorm grew larger and it was as if the world had turned grey. In a certain building within the Ye manor, a pair of teenagers were standing by a window observing Ye Kong as he ran in the rain.
“Elder brother, what do you think he’s doing? Could it be that he became even more of an idiot?” The second mistress’ other son, Ye Wu asked.
“He’s training his body, in order to achieve a win in the contest.” Ye Wen said with a sneer.
“How is this training? Isn’t he just torturing himself?” Ye Wu asked doubtfully.
“If I am not mistaken, this is an external way to train one’s tendons, bones and skin.” Ye Wen was clear-headed. He did not think that Ye Kong was crazy.
“An external way to train one’s tendons, bones and skin? Didn’t master teach us that martial arts is about training from internally?” Ye Wu said, then he worriedly asked, “Elder brother, do you think that he will succeed?”
Ye Wen replied with disdain, “External training is less effective than internal training. It would be difficult for him to succeed.”
Ye Wen snorted and closed the window, then walked back into the room.
Ye Wu laughed and followed his brother, “Elder brother, let me challenge him this time. I’ve always wanted to beat the idiot up. It should be quite exciting to beat him up in front of everyone…”
“Haha, we’ll get to do it every month, so don’t worry about it. You’ll get your chance.”
“That’s not right. I heard that the third mistress’ sons, Ye Long and Ye Hu, are planning do it as well. I am afraid that they might compete with us.”
Ye Wen laughed out loud, “Everyone wants to beat him up for fun. I wonder whose hands he’s going to end up dying in?”
After the rain stopped, the gigantic moon could be seen once more. The moon in that world had a vastly different moon phase from Ye Kong’s previous world.
The moon in this world was a full moon most of the time. Ye Kong believed it was due to the angle of the sun.
At that moment, Ye Kong had finished his swim and was lying on top of a rock. As he breathed in the air, he could feel the energy within it and it gave off a powerful but gentle feeling. It reminded him once more of cultivation.
“If I could absorb this energy within the air and turn it into mine, how powerful would I become?” Ye Kong could not help but exclaim.
During the past few days, Ye Kong was able to get acquainted with a few servants. After asking around, he was surprised to realize that he was the only one who could detect the energy within the air. This convinced him that he could cultivate.
However, without an immortal to guide him, there was no way for him to find out the method to absorb the lingqi in the air. He could only set this aside for the moment and focus on training his body.
(TN note: The fact that his body changes so quickly was probably due to the fact that he was breathing in lingqi. Even though he wasn’t cultivating, I think it more or less improves the rate his body recovers and improves it.)
After a few days of extremely difficult training, there was a significant change in his body. Even though only a few days had passed, his arms were thicker and he was stronger.
“Contest, I am not afraid of it!” Ye Kong shouted towards the moon.
Kingdom of An calendar, 2nd of September, the day of the contest finally arrived.
“Mother, I am going to meet father in the inner yard.” After Ye Kong finished breakfast, he was ready to head out.
“Wait.” Chen Jiuniang stopped Ye Kong. She stood in front of him and nagged at him as she adjusted his clothes, “Son, when you see your father, don’t agitate him. If he scolds you, endure it. Don’t speak against him.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Ye Kong smiled as he left.
As Chen Jiuniang watched her son leave, tears rolled down her cheeks. She was not stupid. From the way he behaved and the rumors she heard, she knew that her son was going to participate in the contest in the inner yard.
In order to let Ye Kong train in peace, she did not say anything and pretended that she did not know anything. She kept her worries in her heart. Now that he has recovered, this is something that he has to face.
However, as Ye Kong was stepping out of the house, she suddenly had a change of mind. If it was possible, she preferred that he remained an idiot, rather than get injured.
Once again, Ye Kong arrived at the entrance to the inner yard, the servants already knew of his coming. They ushered him towards the dojo, where the contest was held.
The dojo was in the north-east corner of the inner yard. It was in a building that was reminiscent of the Tang dynasty.
The space in the dojo was quite large. The children of Ye Haoran formed up in lines, based on their age division. In front of them, there was a rectangular platform elevated a metre from the ground that was used as the arena. Next to the arena, there was a long table with a chair.
“I heard the idiot is competing today.” One of them said.
“Then we will make sure he has to be carried out!”
“Haha, since his head is no longer empty, I will make it empty again!”
“He’s been running everyday lately, he even tied sandbags to his legs.”
“He probably thinks this is a running competition.”
“Haha.”
Ye Haoran had not appeared yet, so they were all speaking loudly. Everyone of them used the most condescending words to insult Ye Kong.
“Eighth young master, Ye Kong.” Someone announced as Ye Kong walked into the dojo. As he entered, his figure blocked the sunlight entering through the doorway.
When they heard the announcement, the dojo became silent. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at Ye Kong.
“Haha, the brainless idiot came.” The silence did not last long. After that outburst, everyone burst into laughter, without fear of reprisal.
Ye Kong stopped to size up the youngsters.
They were his siblings, even though they had different mothers, they had the same father. However, none of them cared about his feelings and continued their laughter. Perhaps, none of them even thought of him as their brother.
One day, all of you will pay the price for your disrespect today! Ye Kong thought as he continued walking to his age division.
“Does it really make you that happy to make fun of an idiot?” Suddenly, a dignified voice resounded from the back of the arena.
The laughter ceased almost immediately, and Ye Kong finally had a good look at his new dad.
Ye Haoran had been a soldier for many years. With his tall and muscular body, chiseled face and pitch black beard, he had a powerful presence.
While the rest of his siblings kept their heads down, Ye Kong was the only one looking up. He was not afraid of him.
Ye Haoran’s eyes swept through his children without a pause. It was clear that he had no interest in Ye Kong.
He snorted and called the housekeeper, Ye Cai, who was standing nearby.
The slim and shrewd Ye Cai quickly came forward and lit up the incense. Then, Ye Haoran led his children in a rite to worship their ancestors.
After the simple rite ended, Ye Haoran announced the start of the monthly contest. As he finished, his gaze fleetingly landed on Ye Kong.
Damn it, father obviously knows that I don’t know any martial arts. Why is he not saying anything? What is he thinking about? Ye Kong grumbled inwardly. However, there was nothing he could but to follow Ye Cai’s instructions to line up.
Ye Kong was assigned to fight with the third mistress’ son, Ye Long. He could only groan as he look at his opponent, whose strong and muscular body was comparable to an adult’s.
The first match was between the two brothers, Ye Wen and Ye Wu. It ended without excitement. Even though Ye Wen was obviously going easy on his brother, Ye Wu still easily lost.
The second match was between the sons of the third mistress and fourth mistress, Ye Hu and Ye Kuang. Both of them have similar ages and abilities. Ye Hu preferred brute strength, while Ye Kuang was dexterous. After fighting for a long period of time, Ye Hu was knocked off the arena after Ye Kuang deliberately aimed to tire him out.
“The third match, Ye Long vs Ye Kong.” As the housekeeper Ye Cai announced, the match with the highest expectation from everyone begun.
“Oh?” Ye Kong stopped and turned around to look at Ye Wen suspiciously. What is he trying to do now? It’s obvious that he’s planning something.
“Eighth brother, there’s only a few more days until the monthly contest. Father will definitely be there to spectate. You will get what you want by then.”
“Monthly contest?” Ye Kong only understood what he was saying after Ye Wen took the time to explain.
In order to examine his children’s combat skills, as well as to give them a chance to obtain more experience, Ye Haoran had been organizing a contest every month. During the contest, they would compete with each other to determine their rankings. The winner of a match would even receive rewards. As Ye Kong did not learn martial arts, he had never participated before.
“Oh, I see.” Ye Kong nodded. He could definitely meet Ye Haoran if he went. However, Ye Wen’s intention was quite obvious to him as well. He’s probably thinking of humiliating me during the contest.
“Are there any rules in this contest?” Ye Kong asked. There was a large variance in the ages of Ye Haoran’s children. It would be quite unfair for Ye Wen to compete against the eight year old, Ye You.
Ye Wen could tell what he was thinking. He laughed and said, “Obviously, we have different divisions. There’s one division for every 3 years of age. You can only fight against something in your division.”
Actually, Ye Wen only mentioned one of the rules. There was another rule where you could pick your opponents and challenge them. The person who was challenged cannot refuse but he or she could ask someone else to take their place.
When Ye Haoran created this rule, his objective was for his children to form bonds and cooperate with each other. That way, they would not be isolated among their siblings.
However, that loophole was made used of by Ye Wen. Where would Ye Kong who was ostracized and looked down upon by his siblings find someone to take his place? He would only end up getting a beat down from Ye Wen.
More importantly, he would be able to do it every month.
At that point, even if the second mistress did not drive him away, he would probably leave on his own. That was the plan that Ye Wen told his mother.
“Even if we are split into divisions, I have never practiced martial arts before. Do I still have to participate?” Even though Ye Kong did not know of Ye Wen’s plans, he had no intentions of participating.
Oh, so all of you received training and guidance from experts since you were young, and you want someone like me with no experience in martial arts at all to compete? Do you think I am stupid?
However, Ye Wen’s words sent him into the depths of despair, “If you don’t have a proper reason, then get out of the Ye manor!”
Ye Kong was filled with chagrin. Does that mean I have to be other people’s sandbag in the ring? Fuck, what kind of a stupid rule is this? Are you trying to force me to die?
“Don’t be discouraged. Father gives pointers to the winners of every match. There’s even a monetary reward. Haha, make sure you show up.” Ye Wen baited Ye Kong once more before he left. After all, if Ye Kong got too frightened, he might do anything to avoid participating.
Frankly, Ye Kong was extremely tempted by what Ye Wen said. His original intention was to learn martial arts from Ye Haoran. If he won a match during the contest, then it would naturally fall into place.
However, Ye Kong was someone who knew his place. He understood that someone like him who never learnt any martial arts would not be a match against his siblings. If he still had his muscular physique from his previous life and in addition with his bold personality, he might still have a chance. On the other hand, it would be impossible with his twelve year old malnourished body.
I want to learn martial arts! I want to become stronger!
He shouted inwardly in his heart. If I want to impress Ye Haoran and give mother a good life, I need to do this! Even if I lose, I can still perform well in front of him. Maybe he would still teach me after all?
After returning back home, Ye Kong had already decided. Go! I will definitely go! I definitely won’t go back to being an idiot again! I’ve never been afraid of anyone in my entire life!
“Son, have you seen your father? What did he say?” Once he got back, Chen Jiuniang immediately started asking questions.
Ye Kong could not tell her about the contest, otherwise she would only be worried.
“Mother, father was delighted to know that I had recovered. He said that my body is currently too weak to learn martial arts. He told me to strengthen my body first. Once I’ve gotten stronger, he’ll teach me martial arts.” Ye Kong laughed and said.
Chen Jiuniang did not suspect a thing. She was so happy that she almost shed tears again.
“Mother, help me find some thick cloths.” Ye Kong quickly said.
“What do you need cloths for?” Chen Jiuniang asked.
“I need them for my training. From tom- No, I am starting right now. I must become stronger!”
Even though Ye Kong did not learn martial arts, he was familiar with bodybuilding on Earth.
He knew that he had to increase his strength, reaction, speed, flexibility and endurance. With all of these, even if he was no match for his opponent in the contest, he would not lose too badly.
With the cloth that Ye Kong had gotten from Chen Jiuniang, he made cloth bags with them and filled them with roof tiles. After he tied them to his legs, he started long distance running.
Wearing weights while long distance running and doing squats are the the basic and most effective training to improve strength.
There was less than ten days until the actual day. With no time to spare, he decided to increase the difficulty. The roof tiles of CangNan continent were heavy, five pieces of them were equivalent to one piece of brick. He tied ten pieces of the roof tiles to each leg.
He was only a twelve year old child. With weights equivalent to 2 pieces of brick on each leg, he could not even walk in the beginning but he still persevered.
He ran one round around the manor every day. Every time, he felt as if his body was going to fall apart but there was a single thought that supported him.
I want to learn martial arts! I want to become stronger!
“Son, let me wipe your sweat. If it’s too heavy, you should decrease the amount of tiles.” Even though Chen Jiuniang was contented that her son was working hard, she was unwilling to see him suffer.
“Mother, it’s fine. I still need to do two hundred pushups.” Ye Kong said with clenched teeth. He knew that he was training was too much, but he also knew that in order to achieve results in the shortest time, he had to overload his training. Only by overloading, would he be able to improve.
Time after time, he reached the limits of his body.
(TN note: It’s a magical world where people recover and grow stronger faster.)
Every night, as he lay exhausted in bed, he felt soreness all over his body. Every joint and every muscle would hurt like hell, but he was happy. He knew that his muscles were growing, his joints were increasing in toughness. That feeling as if countless ants were crawling inside of his muscles felt like they were becoming stronger.
Every morning ever since that day, the servants in the manor would see a small figure running on the trail. In the afternoon, he would be in the forest punching the ground furiously. At night, he would appear at the pond and swim a few laps.
“Didn’t they say that the idiot recovered? Did it relapse?” As such training methods did not exist in this world, the servants were confused with his behavior.
“He’s probably stupid again. Why would anyone hit sand for no reason? Doesn’t his hand hurt?”
“That’s right. How does he even endure it? We probably couldn’t take it after a single hit, yet he’s been doing it for over half an hour.”
“Let’s hurry up and leave. He gets angry easily and I don’t want to end up getting beaten up.”
Under the moonlit night, heavy rain was falling. Everyone had taken shelter in their houses, even small animals hid underneath trees.
However, Ye Kong was still running in the rainstorm, as if he could not feel the rain falling upon him.
The rainstorm grew larger and it was as if the world had turned grey. In a certain building within the Ye manor, a pair of teenagers were standing by a window observing Ye Kong as he ran in the rain.
“Elder brother, what do you think he’s doing? Could it be that he became even more of an idiot?” The second mistress’ other son, Ye Wu asked.
“He’s training his body, in order to achieve a win in the contest.” Ye Wen said with a sneer.
“How is this training? Isn’t he just torturing himself?” Ye Wu asked doubtfully.
“If I am not mistaken, this is an external way to train one’s tendons, bones and skin.” Ye Wen was clear-headed. He did not think that Ye Kong was crazy.
“An external way to train one’s tendons, bones and skin? Didn’t master teach us that martial arts is about training from internally?” Ye Wu said, then he worriedly asked, “Elder brother, do you think that he will succeed?”
Ye Wen replied with disdain, “External training is less effective than internal training. It would be difficult for him to succeed.”
Ye Wen snorted and closed the window, then walked back into the room.
Ye Wu laughed and followed his brother, “Elder brother, let me challenge him this time. I’ve always wanted to beat the idiot up. It should be quite exciting to beat him up in front of everyone…”
“Haha, we’ll get to do it every month, so don’t worry about it. You’ll get your chance.”
“That’s not right. I heard that the third mistress’ sons, Ye Long and Ye Hu, are planning do it as well. I am afraid that they might compete with us.”
Ye Wen laughed out loud, “Everyone wants to beat him up for fun. I wonder whose hands he’s going to end up dying in?”
After the rain stopped, the gigantic moon could be seen once more. The moon in that world had a vastly different moon phase from Ye Kong’s previous world.
The moon in this world was a full moon most of the time. Ye Kong believed it was due to the angle of the sun.
At that moment, Ye Kong had finished his swim and was lying on top of a rock. As he breathed in the air, he could feel the energy within it and it gave off a powerful but gentle feeling. It reminded him once more of cultivation.
“If I could absorb this energy within the air and turn it into mine, how powerful would I become?” Ye Kong could not help but exclaim.
During the past few days, Ye Kong was able to get acquainted with a few servants. After asking around, he was surprised to realize that he was the only one who could detect the energy within the air. This convinced him that he could cultivate.
However, without an immortal to guide him, there was no way for him to find out the method to absorb the lingqi in the air. He could only set this aside for the moment and focus on training his body.
(TN note: The fact that his body changes so quickly was probably due to the fact that he was breathing in lingqi. Even though he wasn’t cultivating, I think it more or less improves the rate his body recovers and improves it.)
After a few days of extremely difficult training, there was a significant change in his body. Even though only a few days had passed, his arms were thicker and he was stronger.
“Contest, I am not afraid of it!” Ye Kong shouted towards the moon.
Kingdom of An calendar, 2nd of September, the day of the contest finally arrived.
“Mother, I am going to meet father in the inner yard.” After Ye Kong finished breakfast, he was ready to head out.
“Wait.” Chen Jiuniang stopped Ye Kong. She stood in front of him and nagged at him as she adjusted his clothes, “Son, when you see your father, don’t agitate him. If he scolds you, endure it. Don’t speak against him.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Ye Kong smiled as he left.
As Chen Jiuniang watched her son leave, tears rolled down her cheeks. She was not stupid. From the way he behaved and the rumors she heard, she knew that her son was going to participate in the contest in the inner yard.
In order to let Ye Kong train in peace, she did not say anything and pretended that she did not know anything. She kept her worries in her heart. Now that he has recovered, this is something that he has to face.
However, as Ye Kong was stepping out of the house, she suddenly had a change of mind. If it was possible, she preferred that he remained an idiot, rather than get injured.
Once again, Ye Kong arrived at the entrance to the inner yard, the servants already knew of his coming. They ushered him towards the dojo, where the contest was held.
The dojo was in the north-east corner of the inner yard. It was in a building that was reminiscent of the Tang dynasty.
The space in the dojo was quite large. The children of Ye Haoran formed up in lines, based on their age division. In front of them, there was a rectangular platform elevated a metre from the ground that was used as the arena. Next to the arena, there was a long table with a chair.
“I heard the idiot is competing today.” One of them said.
“Then we will make sure he has to be carried out!”
“Haha, since his head is no longer empty, I will make it empty again!”
“He’s been running everyday lately, he even tied sandbags to his legs.”
“He probably thinks this is a running competition.”
“Haha.”
Ye Haoran had not appeared yet, so they were all speaking loudly. Everyone of them used the most condescending words to insult Ye Kong.
“Eighth young master, Ye Kong.” Someone announced as Ye Kong walked into the dojo. As he entered, his figure blocked the sunlight entering through the doorway.
When they heard the announcement, the dojo became silent. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at Ye Kong.
“Haha, the brainless idiot came.” The silence did not last long. After that outburst, everyone burst into laughter, without fear of reprisal.
Ye Kong stopped to size up the youngsters.
They were his siblings, even though they had different mothers, they had the same father. However, none of them cared about his feelings and continued their laughter. Perhaps, none of them even thought of him as their brother.
One day, all of you will pay the price for your disrespect today! Ye Kong thought as he continued walking to his age division.
“Does it really make you that happy to make fun of an idiot?” Suddenly, a dignified voice resounded from the back of the arena.
The laughter ceased almost immediately, and Ye Kong finally had a good look at his new dad.
Ye Haoran had been a soldier for many years. With his tall and muscular body, chiseled face and pitch black beard, he had a powerful presence.
While the rest of his siblings kept their heads down, Ye Kong was the only one looking up. He was not afraid of him.
Ye Haoran’s eyes swept through his children without a pause. It was clear that he had no interest in Ye Kong.
He snorted and called the housekeeper, Ye Cai, who was standing nearby.
The slim and shrewd Ye Cai quickly came forward and lit up the incense. Then, Ye Haoran led his children in a rite to worship their ancestors.
After the simple rite ended, Ye Haoran announced the start of the monthly contest. As he finished, his gaze fleetingly landed on Ye Kong.
Damn it, father obviously knows that I don’t know any martial arts. Why is he not saying anything? What is he thinking about? Ye Kong grumbled inwardly. However, there was nothing he could but to follow Ye Cai’s instructions to line up.
Ye Kong was assigned to fight with the third mistress’ son, Ye Long. He could only groan as he look at his opponent, whose strong and muscular body was comparable to an adult’s.
The first match was between the two brothers, Ye Wen and Ye Wu. It ended without excitement. Even though Ye Wen was obviously going easy on his brother, Ye Wu still easily lost.
The second match was between the sons of the third mistress and fourth mistress, Ye Hu and Ye Kuang. Both of them have similar ages and abilities. Ye Hu preferred brute strength, while Ye Kuang was dexterous. After fighting for a long period of time, Ye Hu was knocked off the arena after Ye Kuang deliberately aimed to tire him out.
“The third match, Ye Long vs Ye Kong.” As the housekeeper Ye Cai announced, the match with the highest expectation from everyone begun.
