Chapter Thirty-Seven: Challenging a Hundred Young Champions

"Let's drink first!" Lin Fan raised his cup, clinking it with the others, without directly answering their questions. The group exchanged glances, confused, a vague sense of foreboding creeping over them.

The boat drifted farther away, heading toward the area of Qingxue County City where the most lanterns were clustered—the Lantern Street.

An hour passed. The group had already had a few drinks at the Four Seas Tavern, and with another round of drinks on the boat, they soon grew slightly tipsy.

"It's time!" Lin Fan put down his cup and smiled as the boat sailed into Lantern Street.

"Brother Fan, what do you mean it's time?" Xiao Shuihan and the others looked at Lin Fan in confusion. But Lin Fan was already on his feet, striding to the bow. Suddenly, he shouted, his voice carrying for miles with the aid of his vital energy, echoing throughout Lantern Street.

"Forgive my bluntness, but these so-called young heroes are all trash. If any disagree, dare to come aboard and fight me!"

At that outcry, Xiao Shuihan and the others sobered instantly, their mouths twitching in disbelief.

Brother Fan, even if you want to challenge the young heroes, you don't need to shout like that, do you? This is Lantern Street—the liveliest place tonight, naturally where all the young heroes have gathered. With a shout like that, if hundreds don't show up, it would be letting Lantern Street down!

They finally understood what Lin Fan meant when he said "it's time": the boat had simply entered Lantern Street!

Brother Fan, you may be powerful, nearly invincible among your peers with your mastery of Intent, but among those hundreds of young heroes, there are a hundred ranked experts. The top ten have already stepped into the Qi Vein Realm! That's not the same level at all—Intent may make you peerless among equals, but you can't surpass an entire realm.

Wait—!

Suddenly, Xiao Shuihan and his companions' faces changed as they recalled that Brother Fan had mentioned testing them. Was he about to use them for this...?

A strong sense of dread welled up inside them.

"Received negative emotion value from Xiao Shuihan: +666!"

"Received negative emotion value from Li Ji: +666!"

"Received negative emotion value from..."

"Who is so arrogant as to challenge all the young heroes? I'll take you on and see if you're worthy!"

As Xiao Fei and the others' expressions twisted with resentment, a voice rang out from Lantern Street. A figure leaped from the crowd, treading atop the water toward the boat.

Swish, swish, swish! The water rippled as the newcomer landed on the deck.

It was a young man, dressed in splendid robes, arrogance etched between his brows, exuding extraordinary presence.

He stepped onto the boat and, seeing Lin Fan at the bow, declared, "Are you the one challenging us young heroes? Such arrogance—I’ll make you taste humility tonight!"

With that, he surged with vital energy, an imposing aura pressing down on Lin Fan.

"That's Sun Chao, 'Floating Cloud Hands.' They say he failed to make the top hundred ranked heroes and, out of dissatisfaction, challenged Zheng Cen, who was ranked one hundred. After hundreds of exchanges, he lost by a single move. Out of nearly six hundred young heroes in the county, he's just outside the top hundred, an extremely formidable opponent!"

Whispers rose from Lantern Street. In the Ice and Snow Kingdom, even the common folk had reached the first or second stage of Body Tempering, so they could see everything within three hundred meters with clarity. Having watched the young man board the boat, discussions broke out.

Meanwhile, seeing Sun Chao make his move, many other would-be challengers restrained themselves.

"You're not my match. You're too weak," Lin Fan said to Sun Chao with utter disdain, not hesitating for a moment. His keen hearing had caught every word from the crowd along Lantern Street.

Sun Chao: "???"

"Received negative emotion value from Sun Chao: +999!"

Rage nearly overwhelmed Sun Chao. Among all the city's young heroes, even if he wasn’t ranked, he was right at the threshold. Out of over six hundred, he surpassed more than five hundred. How was he not strong enough?

Besides, the youth before him wasn’t one of the known top hundred. To be dismissed as weak before even exchanging blows—this was simply insufferable arrogance.

"Received negative emotion value from Sun Chao: +999!"

"You're too presumptuous. Enough talk—take this!"

Unable to contain himself, Sun Chao shouted and lashed out, a ferocious surge of vital energy crashing toward Lin Fan.

"Ohu, he's yours!" Lin Fan, shaking his head at Sun Chao's display, stepped over to Ohu in a flash. Without waiting for Ohu to react, he grabbed him by the collar and tossed him toward Sun Chao.

Ohu: "???"

"Received negative emotion value from Ohu: +999!"

Though he and Xiao Shuihan had guessed that Brother Fan intended to use this as a test, he was utterly unprepared. At the very least, he’d have liked to put down his chicken leg first!

Grumbling inwardly, Ohu responded quickly—he had no choice; Brother Fan moved too fast!

When Sun Chao’s palm struck, Ohu had already vanished from his original spot, appearing in his place instead.

If he didn’t react, he’d be the one taking the blow and become the butt of Xiao Shuihan’s jokes. He was having none of that!

Besides, if he failed this test, Brother Fan’s punishments were all too familiar: forced intimacy with the ground, the hammer, or the whip...

Ohu, still holding his chicken leg in his left hand, raised his right with lightning speed to meet Sun Chao’s attack.

Sun Chao had just reached the middle stage of Qi Attraction and was not yet at peak Body Tempering; Ohu didn't regard him as a threat.

As Sun Chao struck, his vision blurred, the delicate youth before him vanishing, replaced by a brawny young man built like a calf, palm thrusting toward him.

No time to adjust, Sun Chao could only press on with all his might.

Boom!

A thunderous crash shook the boat. Had Lin Fan not shielded the vessel with vital energy, it would have splintered.

Crack!

A sharp, grating sound rang out. Sun Chao let out a miserable scream, his body hurled backward. Xiao Shuihan and the others saw Sun Chao's right arm bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.

Splash!

Sun Chao plunged into the water and, after a long moment, did not resurface.

"Received negative emotion value from Sun Chao: +999!"

"Pitiful! To clash with Ohu in brute strength—defeated in one move and now too ashamed to even climb ashore!" Xiao Shuihan and the others mocked. With their keen eyesight, they’d seen Sun Chao’s defeat and his fall from grace—no doubt he’d swum away in shame.

"That brawny youth is formidable—beating Sun Chao in a single move! Only those ranked between eighty and ninety could manage that!" On shore, the spectators had seen everything, but none exposed Sun Chao’s retreat. After all, a young hero deserved some dignity.

Now, though, their gazes toward Ohu changed. Whatever strength the arrogant youth possessed, this brawny companion was exceptional.

"Any more trash want to come aboard? These are the so-called young heroes? Pathetic!" Lin Fan strode to the bow, calling out loudly to the shore.

"Received negative emotion value from Zhang Meng: +456!"

"Received negative emotion value from Yao Qiang: +657!"

"Received negative emotion value from Ji Chunfeng: +391!"

"Received negative emotion value from..."

The shout jolted many on shore, and a torrent of negative emotion values flooded Lin Fan’s system interface—over sixteen thousand in an instant.

"Enough arrogance!"

"Let me try my Heavenly Wound Fist!"

"I'm coming!"

In a flash, four or five voices rang out as figures leaped from both banks onto the boat—thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—five young men landed on deck.

"That’s Liu Kuo, the Gale Sword, ranked eighty-first among the young heroes!"

"And that’s Ji Chunfeng, seventy-sixth, with his Heavenly Wound Fist!"

"Look, that’s Yue Chong, the King’s Finger, ranked seventy-second!"

"The last two are also in the top hundred—Wei Kong at eighty-eight and Guo Hao at eighty-nine!"

Cries of astonishment rose from the shore as whispers spread, each new arrival named and ranked. Any one of these five could have easily defeated Sun Chao.

[Omitted: promotional and navigation text.]