Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

  Bei Feng's words left Liu Jie and the rest with their mouths twitching. The gazes with which they looked at Jin Rong were filled with pity.

  "That was a savage slap…… I think half of his face is disfigured now?"

  "Ha! What a well-deserved slap! He's not even the captain yet, but he's so annoyingly cocky!"

  "Exactly! This fellow's walking around with the airs of 'Heaven is number 1, Earth is number 2 and I am number 3'. If not him, who is more worthy of being slapped?"

  "This is called 'a wicked person will naturally be tormented by another wicked person'. He's a sick fellow, but that youngster is even more harsh! But why do I feel so glad, like my anger is being vented for me?"

  The other team members had already formed a small circle around Jin Rong, pointing at and rebuking him in gleeful soft voices. They had long been dissatisfied with Jin Rong's antics. If not for the fact that he had a good father, how could someone like him become a vice captain as soon as he joined the team?

  "Captain, what's the situation now?"

  Nantian turned around and looked at Liu Jie.

  "Serves him right! That guy is still so young, but he's already at the level of Evolved Jing. Even if Jin Rong's dad came over personally, he would still have to treat that young man as an equal! This idiot really thought that everyone has to give him face because he has a good father!"

  "This is good as well. Receiving a slap today is still better than being killed by some crazy bastard one day because he pissed that expert off. Hopefully, Jin Rong will be able to keep this lesson in his heart."

  Liu Jie sighed with emotion. Although Dark Jing was only a single level away from becoming an Evolved Jing master, it was not an exaggeration to say that the difference between the two was like the difference between the heavens and the earth!

  A martial practitioner's cultivation path begins with Light Jing. After successfully cultivating past that stage, one will enter the level of Dark Jing. Then, if one could merge the two together perfectly and form a personal, original understanding, he would step into the Evolved Jing realm!

  An Evolved Jing master can live without any worries at all, for a single Evolved Jing master could easily match a hundred men! Even if tens of Dark Jing experts came at him——it didn't matter even if they were Peak Dark Jing experts——as long as they did not bring guns and other weapons into the equation, those experts would only have the fate of being thrashed by the Evolved Jing master!

  But based on the cultivation system which Liu Jie understood, Bei Feng was actually more similar to a martial practitioner who was training within the Light Jing realm the entire time!

  He had simply trained on a single path all the way. As the saying went, all roads lead to Rome. Light Jing was a realm which allowed a person to spend his entire life training on the same path!

  Bei Feng did not know any so-called Dark Jing and Evolved Jing. He only knew to train a single path to its extreme!

  His entire body's blood and qi was as boisterous as a raging furnace, and his muscles, flesh and bones were immeasurably stronger than those of ordinary people!

  The thin layer of membrane under his skin was already as tough as the hide of an old cow!

  As they watched Bei Feng and the rest disappear into the distance, Nantian kept opening and closing his mouth, as though he was unsure of what to say.

  "I know what you want to say. But did you think that such a young Evolved Jing master had just appeared out of thin air? Without the support of a powerful master and a shocking amount of resources, it's impossible to groom such a terrifying monster!"

  Liu Jie looked at Nantian and shook his head solemnly, indicating that this matter was to be concluded.

  "Then…… what about Jin Rong?"

  "There's no need to care about him. If he still cannot understand after that slap and instead sets his mind on revenge, we'll let him be. A fire in the city gates is also a calamity for the fish in the moat! Neither sides are people that can be offended. Let's not involve ourselves in their quarrels." [1]

  Liu Jie was rather pleased with Nantian. Although he could be a little stupid at times, he was a young man capable of assuming heavy responsibilities. Thus, he took the time to advise him a little.

  "En, I understand."

  Nantian nodded. Following that, the team worked together and quickly cleaned up the scene. Carrying Mahmud's corpse and the unconscious Jin Rong with them, the group soon disappeared from the mountain.

  ***

  Bei Feng was in an extremely foul mood. He had just donned his new training robes for the first time and was forced to discard it after only wearing it once.

  When Bei Feng and the rest returned to the old mansion, a mouth-watering fragrance was already floating out of the kitchen.

  'This Bai Xiang actually woke up so early today?'

  Bei Feng was slightly surprised. Bai Xiang normally did not get up until 8 or 9 am. In fact, he seemed more like a young master instead of a servant.

  But he was only a little surprised and paid no further attention to it as he went to take a shower. By the time he was done, Bai Xiang had also finished preparing a pot of porridge.

  The tender Variant Giant Salamander meat was chopped into finely minced meat and added into the porridge to stew. Right before the porridge was done, a few pieces of vegetables were added in for a fresher taste, with just a bit of salt to complete the dish.

  When eaten together with Bei Feng's homemade pickled vegetables, the porridge was both delicious and appetizing.

  Although it didn't taste as good as when it was cooked in the medicine cauldron, the dish still retained a flavor unique to it.

  After breakfast, with his mood greatly improved, Bei Feng resumed his role as an arm-flinging shopkeeper, walking about casually and assigning Mystic Two and Mystic Three to do the dishes.

  "Ah, the weather today is really not bad. It's a good day!"

  Bei Feng muttered to himself as he lay on his deck chair, looking up at the cloudless blue sky.

  "The restaurant is accepting reservations today. The limit is four tables only, and the price is 3,200 yuan!"

  Bei Feng pulled out his mobile phone and posted a message on the gourmet chat group.

  "Quick! The boss is here! Those who want to eat better be fast and seize the opportunity!"

  Someone immediately posted an '@everyone' message, bringing the dead chat back to life in an instant!

  "Woah, it's real! The last time after the rest returned, they described the food as heavenly cuisine, causing me to almost die of hunger just from imagining it. This time, I must act fast!"

  "Ha! The guy above, you're too late! I've already sent my deposit over already!"

  "So what if you've sent the deposit? It's not like the boss chooses on the first come first served basis!"

  In just a short moment, the number of messages had already reached '+99'. Bei Feng's head was spinning as he tried to catch up with the conversation. Before he could even finish reading one message, another seven or eight would appear.

  Bei Feng immediately put away the mobile phone, not daring to continue following the chat.

  "En, as someone who had gone through it all, let me offer you all a word of warning. Bei Feng's Private Restaurant is in a rather remote location. The path to and fro is at least a 40 minutes walk. Furthermore, one must be extra careful of their personal safety while eating."

  Zhang Jun looked at the chaotic chat and thought for a while before sending the message.

  "The f*ck! It's so far away? I'm not going in that case…… can my money be refunded?"

  "What do you mean by 'taking extra care of your personal safety'? Could it be that it's a black tavern? Are there extra charges when you're trying to settle the bill?"

  The group was sent into an even greater fluster.

  "I'll send a picture for you guys to think about what I meant yourself."

  Zhang Jun scrolled through his phone's photo gallery and pasted it onto the group chat.

  'Heh. Small fries…… trying to fight with me? This should be enough to make most of these guys back out, right? Hehe, I'm truly too clever! With this, my chances of being chosen should increase significantly!'

  Zhang Jun put down his mobile phone and took a long drag on his cigarette with all the airs of a lonely expert.

  "Now should be about right…… let me take a look."

  After finishing the cigarette, Zhang Jun slowly picked up his mobile phone and swiped at the screen.

  "Wow, what a cute loli!"

  "That's right, my heart's about to melt from the cuteness!"

  "Brothers, please remain calm! This is 3 years to capital!"

  "What's there to be afraid of, 3 years of jail is worth it, and the death penalty is not a loss! Don't fight with me over this, I'm going to pay the deposit now!"

  "Eh? Something's not right!"

  Zhang Jun was completely bewildered. All the comments were about a cute little girl!

  After swiping up for half a day, he finally found the picture he posted. [2]

  "F*ck! I sent the wrong picture……"

  Zhang Jun felt like crying but had no tears. The picture he sent was just an adorable loli smiling sweetly back at the camera.

  "That was the wrong picture; this one is the correct one!"

  This time, Zhang Jun made sure to check the picture again and again before pasting it onto the chat.

  In this picture, Mystic One was still smiling sweetly back at the camera, but the difference was that there was a person being stepped on under her foot.

  "Damn, this picture was really well photoshopped! There are no flaws at all!"

  "Haha, that's right, it looks so realistic! This is too fun!"

  "Bro, you're really good with this kind of stuff! Can you help photoshop me in a cool image as well?"

  "This picture makes me feel a strange sort of delight for some reason…… not bad, not bad! You've really given me a good laughter today!"

  Zhang Jun's mouth was opened so wide it had almost reached the ground. What the hell was going on?!

  [1] TL/N: You can't escape responsibility for your own actions. ED/N: There's also second, more obvious meaning (for some reason dictionary says it's not the primary, but the secondary one), "bystander will also suffer," but it's somewhat hard to say for sure which is the one used here——whether they'd suffer as bystanders if they involved themselves, or that the arrogant guy would get owned later if he was going to pursue the matter.

  [2] TL/N: This is a figure of speech to say 'a long time'. It does not literally mean half a day!