Fifteen minutes later, Leon Huang was escorted to a quiet, secluded spot halfway up the academy's back mountain.
There was a pavilion perched on the mountainside.
Inside the pavilion, a tea stove on the stone table was sending up clouds of steam, and five or six people were gathered around, seated.
The leader was a tall young man in a royal blue robe. His confident tone and expressive gestures gave off an air of self-assurance, while the others wore ingratiating smiles, scrambling to agree with whatever he said just to get noticed.
"Senior Liam, Leon Huang has arrived."
Someone entered the pavilion and bowed to the tall youth in royal blue—Liam Liang.
Indeed, that man was none other than Liam Liang.
"Thank you for your trouble!"
Liam Liang nodded, then glanced nonchalantly at Leon Huang standing outside the pavilion, a teasing smile on his lips. "Leon, are you satisfied with the little gift I prepared for you?"
Leon Huang swept his gaze across the six people inside the pavilion; the leader was, of course, Liam Liang.
Besides them, there were two women and three men, all at the ninth level of Qi-Refining.
One of them was a familiar face—Robin Yan—who was now glaring at Leon Huang with venomous eyes. This was the same Robin Yan who had once been kicked into the sea by Leon.
Taking a deep breath, Leon Huang spoke slowly, "If you have a grievance, take it up with the person responsible. Liam Liang, why target my friends? This kind of behavior really makes me look down on you!"
How dare you speak to Senior Liam like that! Are you tired of living?
Robin Yan slammed the table and shouted at Leon Huang, though inwardly he felt a secret satisfaction. He had arrived at Sanctum Martial Academy just yesterday evening and soon heard that Leon had offended the academy's low-level tyrant, Liam Liang. Immediately, he devised a scheme, prepared lavish gifts, and went to curry favor with Liam, offering a plan to target Leon's friends and force him to submit.
Leon Huang ignored Robin Yan, not wanting to waste words on such a petty schemer. He looked at Liam Liang and said, "Senior Liam, I came here today to ask you to apologize to my friends in person. Will you do it?"
Apologize?
Everyone was stunned by Leon Huang's words, and even Liam Liang couldn't help but laugh.
Leon, are you out of your mind? Do you not understand your situation? Asking Senior Liam to apologize is ridiculous!" Robin Yan seized the opportunity to mock loudly.
"I'm serious," Leon Huang said firmly. "If people don't offend me, I don't offend them. If they do, I pay them back double! Liam Liang, you'd better apologize, or you'll learn what regret really means!"
"You dare threaten me?"
Liam Liang suddenly stood up, his eyes flashing coldly. "You're the first!"
"I am threatening you!" Leon Huang nodded and stepped forward. "I'll ask you one last time—are you going to apologize or not?"
Suddenly, the gloom vanished from Liam Liang's face, replaced by a faint smile. "It's not impossible for me to apologize, but you have to earn it. If you can beat Hugh Xu, I'll apologize!"
Robin Yan suddenly spoke up, "Senior Liam, that's not fair. If that kid loses, he can't just walk away without paying a price. I know he's got a pair of Royal Flying Spinefish eyes. They say those eyes let you see underwater, boost your power, and strengthen your meridians. If he loses, make him hand over those fish eyes!"
Hearing about the Royal Flying Spinefish eyes, Liam Liang's eyes lit up. He knew those eyes were rare treasures, worth at least two hundred thousand taels of silver—and that kind of thing couldn't be bought even if you had the money.
Besides, he'd been training too hard lately and had developed hairline cracks in his meridians. With those Royal Flying Spinefish eyes, he could heal up in no time.
Thinking of this, he was sorely tempted. He said to Leon Huang, "That's right. If you lose, hand over both Royal Flying Spinefish eyes!"
Leon Huang considered for a moment, then glanced at Robin Yan's poisonous smile and nodded. "Fine, I accept. But if your guy loses, you have to kneel and apologize to my friends!"
"What?"
Hearing Leon Huang actually demand him to kneel and apologize, Liam Liang was furious. But he suppressed his anger for the sake of the Royal Flying Spinefish eyes—after all, there was no way Leon could defeat Hugh Xu.
Hugh Xu's cultivation was outstanding—he had reached the level of great accomplishment in sword intent. With him fighting, victory was assured.
Liam Liang nodded. "Alright, I agree!"
"Words alone aren't enough—we need a written agreement," Leon Huang said.
"As you wish. Someone, bring pen and ink!"
Soon, someone brought pen, ink, and paper. Liam Liang wrote out two copies of the agreement.
"Take a look—if there's no problem, sign your name!"
Leon Huang picked up the agreement and nodded to himself. Liam Liang hadn't played any tricks with the terms, so Leon signed his name without hesitation.
Each took a copy of the agreement. Liam Liang waved his hand: "You can get lost now. The duel is set for noon tomorrow at Arena C!"
"Alright!"
Leon Huang turned and left without a moment's hesitation.
The others immediately started flattering Liam Liang, congratulating him on winning the Royal Flying Spinefish eyes.
Robin Yan, however, just gave a sly, cold smile. He hadn't told Liam Liang about Leon Huang's true strength—not out of kindness, but because he had deeper plans. He knew Liam's older brother was an advanced student at the academy.
If Liam Liang lost to Leon Huang tomorrow, he would definitely seek revenge.
That way, the two would be locked in a feud.
If Liam Liang couldn't deal with Leon Huang himself, he'd have to ask his older brother for help.
Advanced students were Grandmaster-level martial artists. If one of them stepped in, even Leon Huang would be doomed.
Hugh Xu, don't let me down tomorrow!
Liam Liang waved for everyone to be quiet, then looked at a silent young man.
This man kept a stern face, as if someone owed him money. He was the only one not flattering Liam Liang.
"Don't worry, Senior. I've already mastered the Asura Sword. Even if my opponent is a Grandmaster, I can fight him!" Hugh Xu said calmly, as if it were nothing special.
"What grade is the Asura Sword?" Robin Yan asked curiously.
"You may not know, Junior Robin, but the Asura Sword is an upper sixth-grade martial technique. It takes a hundred thousand contribution points to redeem it," a female student explained.
"A hundred thousand contribution points!"
Robin Yan was shocked. Contribution points could only be earned by completing academy missions, or by handing in rare treasures, unique arts, or martial techniques.
You could also buy them from others, but one contribution point cost ten taels of silver.
Still, few people ever sold contribution points.
If you converted the price, the Asura Sword would be worth a million taels of silver. Of course, outside the academy, even two million taels wouldn't be enough to learn such a technique.