The Sparring Grounds
When Xia Fei emerged from the winding cavern, he happened to bump into a large group of disciples of the Assassin Sect who were gathering.
This place at the foot of the mountain was where the disciples who were unable to officially enter the sect stayed. The sect had strict rules, so these outer disciples did not have the right to stay on Nameless Mountain. These low-rise houses in the forest at the foot of the mountain were where they lived.
Speaking of which, the conditions of these living quarters were not too bad. After all, the Assassin Sect did not lack the money to buy daily necessities for their disciples. What made these youths unhappy was their awkward status. While they were indeed disciples of the Assassin Sect, they had no way of learning from a master. All they had to do was sweep the floor, cook, and report to the sect, which was no different from doing odd jobs.
It was fine if they had to work hard, and it was fine if they could not learn from a master, but these youths did not have much entertainment to do. These youths were in the midst of puberty and had nowhere to vent their excess hormones, so all they could do was make use of their current conditions to expend as much energy as possible.
Hence, having sex became the biggest hobby of many disciples of the Assassin Sect. Those who were well-off would hook up with their juniors, while those who were less well-off would do it themselves. It was said that the biggest drug consumption of the Assassin Sect every year was neither diarrhea pills nor ointments, but contraceptives.
Xia Fei's sudden appearance caused a commotion among the group of outer disciples. Any outsider who entered the secluded Assassin Sect would immediately become the hottest topic of gossip, so most of these people knew who Xia Fei was.
However, Xia Fei looked very different from how he was a few days ago. He was wearing a grayish-black combat suit, one hand holding a wild broadsword that was over two meters long while the other was massaging his temples. His footsteps were sluggish as he made his way out of the cave that these disciples were very familiar with.
Wherever Xia Fei walked, he would leave a deep ravine in his wake. The Bloodthirsty Screech sounded as if it was a real screech, and the sharp sound of the blade cutting through the rocks was ear-piercing.
"Brother Xia Fei!"
Manatee recognized Xia Fei from the crowd and hurriedly ran over to him, anxiously asking, "What happened to you? Why did you come out from there? "
Manatee furrowed his eyebrows. All the disciples of the Assassin Sect knew that the cave Xia Fei had just passed through was one of the many places in the sect where people were having sex. Manatee, who was not particularly bright, was only clueless about such matters, but he still had a rough idea of what was going on. That was why Manatee thought that Xia Fei had sneaked out of the cave just like his fellow disciples, sneaking into the cave to engage in some kind of sexual activity.
His eyes kept looking behind Xia Fei, wanting to know which senior or junior sister was having an affair with Xia Fei. Unfortunately, no beauty came out of the cave even after a long time. Manatee suddenly sighed. It turned out that big brother Xia Fei was the same as him, relying on himself to get what he wanted.
Xia Fei had no idea what was going on in the Assassin Sect. His head was still a little dizzy from the roller coaster ride, so he did not notice the strange expression on Manatee's face. He simply said, "Nothing much. I just went in for a stroll. Where are you guys going?"
Manatee anxiously said, "Something bad has happened. Someone has come to the sect to challenge us. The sect master has ordered all the disciples to come to the sparring field to watch the battle."
Xia Fei did not have much of a sect in his heart, so he did not think much of it. However, Phantom was different. The moment he heard that someone had come to challenge them, his expression immediately turned ugly as if someone had kicked him in the crotch.
"Quick, ask him what's going on. Who would be so bold as to challenge the Assassin Sect? "Phantom anxiously asked.
Xia Fei pursed his lips and asked Manatee about the situation. Manatee was just a lowly disciple of the Assassin Sect, so it was only natural that he did not know too much. Even after a long while, he still could not get anything out of it.
That was when a middle-aged man in the crowd yelled, "Manatee! Get back to the group; we're about to set off! "
"Big brother Xia Fei, I'm leaving. You should go and take a look as well."
With that, Manatee jogged back to the group and followed the middle-aged man to the sparring field at the foot of the mountain.
"Let's go and take a look, too," Phantom quickly said.
Xia Fei furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm a little tired. Why don't I go back and get some rest?"
Phantom rolled his eyes at Xia Fei. "How can you still be in the mood to rest after such a big incident? No way! We must go. This is an order from the sect master. Since you've joined the Assassin Sect, you must obey it! "
Phantom was extremely serious. Xia Fei thought about it and felt that there was no need to argue with Phantom over such a small matter, so he slung the two-meter-long Bloodthirsty Screech over his shoulder and chased after Manatee's group.
The sparring field was not too far from the outer disciple's dormitory. A moment later, a huge building appeared in the middle of the forest.
The sparring field was square in shape, and there was nothing special about it. The surrounding trees were tall and lush, surrounding the entire sparring field. If one were to look at it from above, it would look like a white embellishment amidst the greenery.
Since Craneshadow had personally appointed Xia Fei as his representative, he was not stopped from entering the sparring field easily.
The sparring field could seat around thirty thousand people. During its peak, the Assassin Sect had a hundred thousand disciples, and only those with a certain status could enter the sparring field to watch the matches. Now that the sect was on the decline, it would still be empty even if all the disciples were gathered here.
All the official disciples were seated on the southern platform, while Xia Fei and Manatee, as the outer disciples, were seated on the northern platform. The east and west sides were completely empty.
There was a ring that was a hundred meters long and wide in the center of the sparring field. There were four huge screens at the top, which could play the matches in slow motion in real time, making it look extremely professional.
Xia Fei looked up at the words on the screen. Today's match was between the Assassin Sect and an organization called the Sky Eradicators Sect.
"The Sky Eradicators Sect!" Phantom blurted out.
"What organization is that?" Xia Fei curiously asked.
Phantom frowned. "The Sky Eradicators Sect is also an assassin organization. They used to be part of the Assassin Alliance, just like the Assassin Sect."
"The Assassin Alliance? There's such an organization in this world? " Xia Fei found it a little funny. Assassins were killers, and what they did was shady business. This was the first time he had heard of such a group of people forming an alliance.
"Yes, the Pan-Human Alliance, the Adjudicator Union, and the Monastic Order. These forces are all out in the open, while the Union of Assassins and some other organizations are in charge of the Dark World. Everyone is minding their own business, and this has been the case since ancient times," Phantom said.
Xia Fei nodded. This was a little like the black and white society back on Earth. Both sides had their own responsibilities, and the absence of any one of them would cause social unrest. After all, society was a complicated system. Just relying on the power of the government was not enough, and it was even more so in the vast universe.
"I once found out in the archives that the founder of the Sky Eradicators Sect and the founder of our Assassin Sect were fellow disciples. I didn't think that these people would disregard old ties and challenge the Assassin Sect. How despicable!" Phantom said angrily.
Waiting was always a long time. Phantom kept nagging about the other party's faults, while Xia Fei was somewhat bored as he waited for the challenge to begin.
There were more and more people in the sparring grounds. Almost all the disciples of the Assassin Sect had arrived, though of course, the Deathguards were not among them. These people were more like the security guards of the Assassin Sect. Not only were they in charge of the most difficult assassinations, they were also in charge of monitoring the disciples, which was comparable to the KGB of the former Soviet Union.
Many people looked at Xia Fei suspiciously when they saw his unfamiliar face, especially the wild and unruly Bloodthirsty Screech next to him, which was even more eye-catching.
Very soon, those in the know spread the news that Xia Fei was a new representative of the sect, and everyone's gazes softened a little. After all, though the representative was not a disciple, he was still considered one of them. Now that they were facing a common enemy, the atmosphere was unusually strong, so everyone's hostility toward Xia Fei lessened by a lot, but it was replaced by a little more contempt.
Representatives did not have a high status in the Assassin Sect. They did not have any status even if they were one of them, but they were indeed working for the Assassin Sect even if they were outsiders. Their relationship was more like that of an employer and employee, and even the most disliked disciple felt that they were a notch higher than Xia Fei.
Fortunately, Xia Fei never cared about such things, and he did not care about anything about the Assassin Sect. He lit a cigarette and took a leisurely puff, like an ordinary spectator waiting for a good show to begin.
About half an hour later, the noisy crowd suddenly quietened down. Craneshadow and an old man with a hooked nose led the way into the sparring grounds, taking their seats at the very top on the east side.
Behind them were Darkshadow and the other two, as well as a dark-skinned fatty. The ground shook as he walked. If not for the fact that the ground was made of alloy, Xia Fei would really be worried that he would leave a deep footprint on the ground with every step he took.
The dark-skinned fatty held his head high as if he was trying to provoke Xia Fei. His eyes were filled with disdain as he scanned the spectator stands around the sparring grounds with a condescending attitude.
The disciples of the Assassin Sect all rubbed their fists and glared angrily at this arrogant fatty. Unfortunately, this person was not only huge in stature, but he was also extremely thick-skinned, disregarding the anger of others.
Xia Fei yawned and rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to stay awake. He was somewhat tired after waiting for so long for the tournament to begin. Now that the participants had entered the sparring grounds, Xia Fei could not help but be interested once more. After all, it was rare to see experts exchange blows, and Xia Fei was still very interested in the martial arts of the various sects.
The disciples around him were quietly passing around a few old-fashioned tablets. Everyone took a few glances at the tablet before passing it to the others. From their expressions, it was not difficult to tell that there must be some important notification on the screen, for everyone who saw it had a drastic change in expression.
A moment later, a tablet was passed to Manatee, who was standing beside Xia Fei. Manatee stared at the screen for a few moments and could not help but frown as he muttered to himself, "Oh my god! What should I do now? "
Xia Fei curiously went over to take a look. There was a picture on the screen, and it was of that dark-skinned fatty. There was also some written information below, which was his resume.
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