When they came down to the restaurant, they saw that it was filled to the brim, every chair was occupied.

  "The Black Iron Fortress pays the food, so buy whatever you want, eat the most delicious meals, and order any delicacies you desire! Black Iron Fortress promised to pay it all!" someone yelled to his comrades as they headed past Xue Wei and Hei Gou, throwing themselves into the restaurant and hoping to snatch a table somewhere.

  "I think we should look somewhere else," Xue Wei said, a bit aghast. He was shocked to see the frenzy these experts were in to get a table. Although he knew that both he and Hei Gou could snatch a table with their strength, he was not willing to cause such a ruckus.

  Hei Gou nodded his head. He had no real reason to object, and he was not overly hungry. He only wished to interrupt Xue Wei's train of disturbed thoughts.

  Together, the two men pushed their way out of the inn. The roads outside were also bustling with life. Young experts were everywhere to be seen. New faces still arrived, and there was still a long queue of people signing up to the contest at the empty marketplace that Xue Wei and Hei Gou walked past on the way towards a restaurant.

  The many inns were all busy and bustling with life. Every inn had a built-in restaurant, and they were filled with clamoring young experts.

  But they were not the only restaurants that were in the fort. There were also independent restaurants. Many of these places had now changed their usual rules - where everyone was usually welcome, only Sky Warriors and above were invited in now. This was because the food in these restaurants was more extravagant and much more expensive. If everyone was invited, then the cost of hosting the many youths would be too much for the Black Iron Fortress.

  But neither Xue Wei nor Hei Gou had any issues entering these restaurants, and they picked a random one that looked rather magnificent from the outside. It was a four stories building, with the kitchen located in the basement, and the ground floor and second floor had tables placed in one large room, while the third and fourth floor had private rooms and chambers.

  Xue Wei was only a first layer Sky Warrior, so he was not allowed a private room, but because he was together with Hei Gou who seemingly had strength equivalent to a fifth layered Sky Warrior was allowed a private room, he too was given permission to enter the upper floors.

  Once again, Xue Wei was treated as Hei Gou’s lackey, but he did not mind. On the contrary, he was rather happy that they were allowed to enter a private room because of Hei Gou, so his mood was rather good.

  Xue Wei and Hei Gou were being led by a young woman towards the upper floors of the restaurant. When they walked through the first and second floor, many looked at them with envying gazes, and hesitation. These experts were the geniuses of many small families and sects, and although they had made it into the restaurants, they did not have the qualifications to sit in a private room. This was a true blow to their self-esteem and views on their strength.

  The young woman opened the door to a room and gestured for Hei Gou to enter. It was as if Xue Wei was invisible in her eyes.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Xue Wei did not care and entered the room together with Hei Gou. After this, the woman spoke for the first time since she had received them at the entrance of the restaurant.

  "Young Master, we will provide a set of dishes of our finest quality. The food in this restaurant is made from the finest Fierce Beast meat, medicinal herbs, and plants."

  "All of it is cooked in spiritual spring water from our very own spiritual spring well, and made to ensure that the consumer gets not only the most appetizing meal but also something that can nourish and strengthen the cultivator's base strength."

  The young woman bowed towards Hei Gou and backed out of the room. Seeing her behavior, Hei Gou was getting annoyed. Although Xue Wei did not mind that he was being ignored, Hei Gou did.

  They were good friends and shared their glory and downfall. If one was insulted, one had insulted both; if one was ignored, it was actually a slap to both their faces.

  "Leave it," Xue Wei laughed when he saw Hei Gou's blackened expression. "I am benefitting from this. The more I am being underestimated, the better it is. Even I am not confident in this contest," he smiled.

  "The three great sects have even sent eighteen youths each. These youths have gone through ten years of training in the army; they are likely to be fierce and quite strong as well. Defeating all of them will be troublesome."

  Hei Gou just smiled when he heard Xue Wei's words. "You will win," he said with certainty. "You have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, not to mention your soul skill can make you dominate even normal fifth layer Sky Warriors. As long as you do not reach someone who has strengthened their soul, you are fine."

  "The ones from the three great sects are quite likely to have strengthened their souls," Xue Wei said with a wry smile. "They are from the great sects, after all. They cannot be compared to normal cultivators."

  "Well, you won't know until you try." Hei Gou had endless faith in Xue Wei, who smirked when he heard Hei Gou's words.

  "I am going to give it my all. Let us see how powerful those real geniuses of the strongest sects are!"

  Xue Wei and Hei Gou smiled at one another, noticing the fighting spirit in each other's eyes.

  It was indeed a shame that Hei Gou could not participate in the battles. He did not have enough innate abilities yet, and his Swallowing the Moon required him to be in his original shape.

  Although he could depend on his physical strength and his claws, it would be difficult to explain why he had such a physical power, and even harder to explain why he was not using any martial arts at all.

  Since it would be hard to explain things, it was better to avoid it. Hei Gou did not worry about them not ranking high enough. After Xue Wei had broken into the Sky Warrior rank, he had become incredibly strong.

  They had been traveling for a long time since he broke into the Sky Warrior rank, and he had stabilized his strength, which meant he could break through to the second layer at any time as he pleased. He just did not want to rush it, instead focusing on consolidating every layer properly.

  While chatting with one another about what they thought they could expect in the tournament, a gentle knock sounded on the door. After calling out for whoever it was to enter, the lady from before entered with a trolley where there were at least fifteen dishes.

  It was clear that these restaurants held nothing back when catering to the young geniuses, and both Xue Wei and Hei Gou were almost salivating at the sight of this much food that looked and smelled delicious.

  It has to be said that they had not had any delicious food since they started their journey. They had been eating roots at the beginning, and later they were lucky enough to encounter mortal beasts they could roast, or enter plain inns where they could eat congee or other simple meals.

  They did not have the finances to get a proper meal anywhere, so when they saw all this food that smelled heavenly, their eyes lit up in excitement.

  "Bumpkins," someone suddenly called out from outside the room. Both Hei Gou and Xue Wei's expressions turned ugly. Right at that moment, a group of three wearing red robes with golden sun embroideries walked past the door and insulted them.

  "What did you just say?" Hei Gou asked. The ones who were passing by stopped in their tracks.

  They had not looked at Hei Gou or Xue Wei before; they had just called them bumpkins because of their worn out clothes made from mortal beast silk.

  But when they looked at Hei Gou's incredibly handsome face, it was clear that they were becoming jealous. Although appearances were only skin-deep, everyone would be jealous if they saw someone who could rival the god of beauty.

  "Who invited such country bumpkins to the Black Iron Fortress?" one of the men asked with a snort. "We don't need pretty boys that are like embroidered pillowcases."

  Hei Gou's face turned darker and darker. Calling him an embroidered pillowcase was the same as saying that he was all about appearance and did not have the strength to back it up.

  Unfortunately, this young man from the Crimson Sunshine Sect did not even bother to check Hei Gou's cultivation base. In his eyes, everyone who looked so travel-worn had to be weak. Furthermore, even if he did, he would most likely chalk their high cultivation base up to lucky chance and shallow foundations.

  "Oi, you there, aren't you a backwater kingdom person yourself? You claim to be from a great sect, but the fact is that your talent is so poor that you can't even be sent to the main sect and are forced to stay in the branch sect for your entire life. Who are you to call us country bumpkins?" Xue Wei's voice cut straight into this expert’s weakness.

  Although he could consider himself a genius, this was only within the Skyward Empire. Within the other kingdoms and empires in the center of the Chang'an continent, he would be nothing.

  But instead of becoming embarrassed and uncomfortable, the one who was being berated just laughed it off. "Who are you to talk? If my talent is poor, then what about your talent? You are just a country bumpkin; you will never be able to match up to the talents of us experts from the Three Great Sects!"

  Xue Wei started laughing out loud when he heard what the sect disciple said. "Right, I will never be able to defeat your arrogance, that is for sure," he chuckled. "Well, our food is getting cold. Why don't you go on ahead? We will know the truth about who is truly superior when the tournament begins."

  Xue Wei had intended to keep a low profile, but seeing how they had thoroughly enraged Hei Gou, he spoke up. Hei Gou would have done the same for him, so he would do it for his friend too.

  "You think we are someone you can order to leave as it pleases you?" The expert from the Crimson Sunshine Sect sneered at Xue Wei.

  Xue Wei lifted his gaze lazily. The first floor and second floor of the restaurant was for first and second layer Sky Warriors, whereas if you were a third layer or above you could get a private room.

  The expert in front of him was a third layer Sky Warrior, and his companions were two second layer Sky Warriors who had been allowed upstairs because of their relationship with this leader of the small trio.

  Xue Wei did not fear a third layer Sky Warrior at all, not to mention that Hei Gou might not be able to fight the high ranked experts without arousing suspicion, but these low ranked experts were no issue. Dispatching the three was no problem for the two of them, should they wish to act.

  Chapter 5 - Breakthrough

  Xue Wei sighed when he heard the expert's words. "Where is your leader?" he then asked casually. "I thought he was supposed to babysit you guys and ensure that you did not insult people that should not be insulted."

  Hearing this, the expert laughed again. "Insult people who should not be insulted? Who do you think you are. You cannot even afford proper clothes, running around in mortal silk, and you think you are someone we cannot afford to offend? We are disciples of the Crimson Sunshine Sect!"

  Xue Wei placed a hand on his head and shook it as if he had heard the most stupid speech ever. This man was surely rather dumb. It was unknown as to whether or not he had noticed Hei Gou's cultivation base, or if he just looked down on it because of their clothes, but it was clear that he was looking for trouble.

  Xue Wei could not be bothered, and instead decided to completely ignore them. "Miss, why don't you bring in the food?" he said to the waitress politely. The young woman rushed into the room with the trolley filled with food and shakingly started placing the plates on the table.

  She knew the might of the Crimson Sunshine sect, but she also knew that Hei Gou was a fifth layer Sky Warrior. It was hard to determine which side she should support, as supporting one side would be turning against the other. As a simple waitress, she could not afford to make such a decision.

  "Why are you serving them food? I want them out of this restaurant!" The man from the Crimson Sunshine Sect exploded forth when he saw her place the plates on the table.

  "They are poor and uncivilized; they do not deserve to eat at the same place as us. Kick them out right now!"

  At this point, although many of the private chambers were private, the ones inside had heard the conflíct that was ongoing outside and had opened their doors to listen in.

  While some were finding pleasure in the misfortune of others, there were quite a few independent cultivators who felt insulted by the words of these Crimson Sunshine Sect members.

  "You want to kick Wei and I out?" This time, it was Hei Gou who spoke, but where Xue Wei had a bantering tone of voice, Hei Gou's was filled with a ferocious killing intent that sent shivers down the spine of any who heard it.

  It was not before then that the person from the Crimson Sunshine Sect finally looked at Hei Gou. Some of the disdain in his eyes had changed to surprise, and a slight frown was on his brows.

  "You dare unleash killing intent towards a sect disciple of one of the three great sects?! Are you courting death?!" he exclaimed angrily. His anger was a means to hide his embarrassment after getting slightly scared and uneasy.

  "I am gonna throw them out," Hei Gou informed Xue Wei. The latter just waved his hand, as if to say ‘go ahead’.

  Hei Gou did exactly as he had said. He stood up and went towards the three disciples. They could feel that all the warmth in their surroundings was gone the moment he approached, the temperature reaching the freezing point.

  They saw the menacing expression on Hei Gou's face, and they finally understood that although this man was not from one of the three great sects, his cultivation base was still at the fifth layer of the Sky Warrior rank.

  Hei Gou knew that he could not kill these experts, so instead he stood up and walked towards them. They were stumped at first but then they stared at him mockingly, trying to taunt him with their power.

  Seeing this, Hei Gou sighed, reached out and although these three were uncomfortable and one of them even flinched, they did not move. They had full faith in their strength and the power backing them, causing them to be certain that they were unbeatable.

  Hei Gou grabbed the three kids by their collars, and swept their legs out beneath them, causing them to lose balance and fall, only to be held up by the strong hand that held their collars, almost causing them to choke.

  The three were flailing about. They were stunned and embarrassed. They were angry and upset. They had never before been treated this way, and they could clearly imagine what would come next. They had said that they would not eat in the same restaurant as them, so they were to be thrown out.

  This was exactly what happened. Hei Gou dragged the three experts, who were all doing their best to get back on their feet and to use Qi to fortify their fists that went swinging everywhere, but hitting only thin air, down the stairs and into the crowded areas of the ground and second floors.

  Everyone was stumped when they saw the three experts from the Crimson Sunshine Sect being dragged out like dogs. They were not treated with an ounce of respect, and when they reached the front door, Hei Gou tossed them at it, sending them flying through the door until they landed miserably outside.

  He proceeded to dust his hands off as if he had touched something dirty, adding, "You said that I was a country bumpkin who could never compare to you guys. You said that you would kick me out of the restaurant so that you would not have to eat with me. And worst of all, you insulted my good brother!" Hei Gou's voice was not low, it spoke with justice and indignation, and all the curious experts around him finally understood the situation.

  The experts from the Crimson Sunshine Sect had used their backing to bully others!

  "Now, I am kicking you out; I am the one who is saying that I will not eat at a place with such a disgusting person like you!" Hei Gou pronounced every syllable clearly so that everyone could hear what he said.

  The fact that he was so dashingly handsome combined with the righteous air around him made everyone look at him favorably, while the Crimson Sunshine Sect suddenly became the villains.

  Having said what he had to say, Hei Gou spared a final glance at the three experts, snorted slightly, and then returned to the room where Xue Wei was waiting for him.

  "Come, come!" Xue Wei said with a grin on his face the moment Hei Gou stepped into the room. "The food is amazing! Come try it! If we eat stuff like this every day, our cultivation base will advance by leaps and bounds! A few more bites and I cannot suppress my cultivation base any longer, and it'll break through into the second layer of the Sky Warrior rank!"

  Hei Gou was surprised. The food had smelled delicious, and it had looked mouthwateringly good, but that it had such an effect on their cultivation base came as a shock to him.

  He hurried and sat down next to Xue Wei before digging into the meal. At first, his eyes were filled with expectations, and after taking his first bite, he discovered that Xue Wei had in no way exaggerated it. The food was truly marvelous.

  Neither Xue Wei nor Hei Gou had ever received much assistance from outside factors. Xue Wei had used a few herbal baths, but it was not enough to truly matter. Almost all their Qi had been gained through absorbing it from the energy of the heavens and the earth, and thus their bodies easily absorbed all the energy in the food.

 

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