Chapter 156: I'll Let You Strike First

"Come on! Junior Sister, give me a hug!"

However, the moment Xiao Yang spoke, he deflated like a punctured ball, losing all his composure. Combined with his wretched smile, he looked entirely like a local ruffian.

"Hmph!"

Zhou Yan's pretty face flushed red as she shot Xiao Yang a sideways glare.

"Pervert!" she muttered softly.

Xiao Yang, however, was determined to embrace his junior sister.

He lunged forward directly, intending to wrap his arms around Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan closed her eyes, clearly consenting to the gesture.

Just as they were about to embrace, a furious roar suddenly rang out.

"Audacious!"

Following that, a figure rushed in from outside.

The person extended both hands directly, blocking Xiao Yang's path.

"How dare you attempt to take advantage of Miss Yan'er..." the newcomer roared angrily.

With that, he raised his fist, intending to give Xiao Yang a severe beating.

Zhou Yan snapped back to her senses.

Seeing that Xiao Yang was about to be attacked, she wanted to step forward and pull the newcomer back, but she was still a step too slow.

Thud!

A muffled impact echoed.

A figure went flying backward.

Seeing the airborne figure, Zhou Yan said with a helpless sigh, "Don't blame me, I wanted to stop him."

The young man crashed heavily into the door of the opposite shop before finally coming to a halt.

He looked up in sheer disbelief.

Gong Tianxing had actually been sent flying by a peer of his own age, which left him utterly dumbfounded.

His own cultivation was at the second level of the Martial Marquis realm, which unquestionably ranked him among the absolute elite across the ten nations.

To boast a little, among the young talents of the ten nations, he could easily place in the top five.

Yet, this top-five expert had been kicked flying with a single blow by someone who looked to be about the same age as him.

"Impressive moves," he muttered involuntarily, pulling himself up from the ground.

"But since you dared to take liberties with Miss Yan'er, I am going to teach you a harsh lesson."

With that, he strode back toward the Fortune Tower.

Behind him, however, a massive black tiger materialized out of thin air.

Its body length was easily over eighty feet, radiating a bone-chilling oppressive aura from its entire frame.

"Teach me a lesson?"

Xiao Yang chuckled.

Meanwhile, the Mystic Ice White Tiger stepped forward from the side, preparing to teach this ignorant young fool a lesson.

Then, a voice sounded beside its ear:

"Big kitty, go play somewhere else. I'll handle this fellow myself," Xiao Yang said indifferently.

He had already seen through the situation: this guy clearly had a crush on his junior sister and was trying to muscle in on his woman.

The fellow was practically trying to cuckold him right in front of his eyes—how could he possibly let him off easy?

"Yes, Young Master!"

Since Xiao Yang had spoken, the Mystic Ice White Tiger retreated to the side.

To people like this, they were no different from small fry.

"Kneel down and apologize to Miss Yan'er right now, and I might spare your life," Gong Tianxing swept a cold glance over Xiao Yang while a surge of killing intent erupted from his body.

"Are you out of your mind? This is my Senior Brother!"

Feeling this oppressive aura, Zhou Yan grew anxious and snapped back at him directly.

She had finally managed to wish her senior brother back, only for this guy to barge in and ruin the mood. He completely lacked any sense of tact.

"Miss Yan'er, you..."

Gong Tianxing froze slightly at Zhou Yan's attitude, speaking in utter disbelief.

"Get lost! You're not welcome here," Zhou Yan added with a look of disgust.

At that moment, Gong Tianxing felt as though his heart had taken ten thousand points of critical damage.

He stood frozen in place, staring blankly at Zhou Yan.

It was painfully obvious to him now that the woman of his affections had long since given her heart to someone else.

He found it impossible to accept this reality all at once.

After a full dozen breaths, Gong Tianxing finally managed to snap out of it.

"I don't believe he is superior to me! I will defeat him fair and square, and show Miss Yan'er who is truly worthy of entrusting her life to!"

He clenched his fists tightly, a resolute determination forming in his heart.

He would beat Xiao Yang to a pulp so that Zhou Yan could see clearly who the best resting place for her future truly was.

"I challenge you!"

He pointed a finger directly at Xiao Yang and roared loudly.

"Senior Brother, don't pay any attention to him. He's just a rabid dog."

Zhou Yan's remark dealt yet another ten-thousand-point critical blow to Gong Tianxing.

He froze in place for several seconds before recovering.

"If you're a man, accept my challenge!" he roared at the top of his lungs.

His eyes had turned crimson with fury.

With that, he drew a long sword from his spatial ring and pointed the tip straight at the bridge of Xiao Yang's nose.

"How boring," Xiao Yang said indifferently.

Fights without any rewards were completely meaningless. Therefore, Xiao Yang had no desire to humor this person.

However, judging by the other's appearance, he must be the scion of some prestigious family and clearly had some wealth on him.

"To be completely honest, you aren't worthy."

"However, I'll give you a chance. As long as you can produce a treasure that manages to impress me, I might consider fighting you."

"I... I'm not worthy?!"

Gong Tianxing repeated the words in a daze, taking a dozen breaths just to lift his head back up.

He glared viciously at Xiao Yang.

Having reached the second level of the Martial Marquis realm at the tender age of nineteen, someone actually had the audacity to tell him he wasn't worthy.

"Fine, fine, fine! Let's see what excuse you have left to offer later."

With that, he pulled out a stack of gold banknotes.

"Here are eight million taels. Let's see if you have the capability to take them."

He waved the banknotes tauntingly.

This caused Xiao Yang's eyebrows to twitch.

"Eight million taels isn't bad at all. I can just add a little more to that and break through to the next realm."

"I'll take this job!"

Since someone was practically delivering silver to his doorstep for free, there was no reason to turn it down.

"Eight million will do."

Xiao Yang nodded.

Then, thinking it over, he figured he shouldn't bully Gong Tianxing too badly—after all, the guy was practically gifting him eight million taels for nothing.

"I won't bully you either. I'll fight you with one hand and one foot tied behind my back."

He decided to give the opponent a handicap.

As soon as these words left his mouth, Gong Tianxing petrified completely.

Tens of thousands of virtual beasts stampeded through his mind.

Thinking his senses had deceived him and that Xiao Yang wasn't actually at the first level of the Martial Marquis realm, he sensed the aura once more.

Yet the result remained the same.

First level of the Martial Marquis realm.

His entire face instantly turned dark.

Humiliation!

Naked, unadulterated humiliation!

"Fine, fine, fine! Allowing me one leg and one arm? I accept!"

So you want to handicap yourself against me, Xiao Yang?

Just wait until the fight starts, I'll slowly torture you and make you lose all your face.

When that happens, let's see if you, Xiao Yang, still have the shame to stay by Zhou Yan's side!

"However, I won't take advantage of you either. I'll let you make the first move."

"If I were to strike first, you wouldn't even get a chance to counterattack."

Xiao Yang frowned slightly and said indifferently.

These words sounded like pure arrogance to Gong Tianxing's ears.

This guy was simply too arrogant.

A mere first-level Martial Marquis—what kind of pipe dream was he having?

Defeat me in a single move?

You could defeat me in a single move?

Gong Tianxing certainly didn't believe it. Forget a single move; in his view, even if he gave Xiao Yang ten free hits, Xiao Yang wouldn't necessarily be able to injure him.

"Heh! Then feel free to try."

He sneered coldly.

He no longer wished to waste breath on this arrogant pretender.

He had already made up his mind to give Xiao Yang a ruthless beating later so that the fellow would detour around him every time they met in the future.

"Very well! Then I'll begin," Xiao Yang said casually.

At the same time, an overwhelming aura soared into the sky.

Gong Tianxing felt his heart skip a beat, as if he had been locked onto by a natural predator.

His body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"This is..."

He abruptly raised his head to stare at Xiao Yang.

A White Tiger martial avatar had appeared, except that this martial avatar was only ten feet long.

Yet the aura it emitted far surpassed his own white tiger.

At that moment, Gong Tianxing even felt a slight suffocation.

This sensation made his heart race wildly, forcing him to swallow hard.

"How is this possible? It's clearly just the most ordinary white tiger, so why is it emitting such a terrifying aura?" he muttered, staring at the ten-foot-long white tiger in disbelief.