Chapter 19 Challenge

Darren frowned, anger burning in his chest. The atmosphere throughout the training ground was tense.

"Stan Yue, shame on you! Why do you always bully this teenager? Are you proud of this?"

An elder of the Chu Clan stood up aggressively and confronted Stan.

"Don't spout such bullshit! He cut off my nephew's arm. Don't I have the right to ask for justice for my nephew?" His jaw was set, a sign of holding back his emotions.

The sound of a sob broke through the conversation. "My poor son! My baby! He's such a good boy, but the bastard cut off his arm. How can my son live with this in future? After my husband passed away, all of you began bullying me and my son. How can you do this to us?"

Evan's mother attempted to appeal to their sympathy with her tears, but she was exaggerating the whole story.

"She's lying! I'm a witness. It's Evan who has been preying on Darren. Two months ago, I heard him say in public that he would kill Darren, so he could share more property."

"Yes! I've heard that as well. Evan even wounded Mr. Darren's little sister. He deserves the punishment he got. Mr. Darren did nothing wrong."

"I agree. It has nothing to do with Darren. Evan deserves that!"

Nodding heads were seen all around the training ground. All of them supported Darren now.

Darren sneered at the sight of it. This was how this world worked. A few minutes ago, he was still a loser in their eyes. Who else would stand up for him then? But when they had learned about his real talent, they all changed their attitude.

"Stan, this is our family issue. We don't need you to take part in this. We will carry out our duty just and fair," Abner said with an authoritative voice. He tried to discourage Stan's speech as a Chu Clan Elder.

"Fine. Do what you want. You'll see! You will regret what you've said to me. Our Yue Clan is not a paper tiger!"

"Save your nonsense! Get out of here, now!" The three Elders showed no respect to Stan. Now they had the talent of the Black Degree in the Chu Clan, and the Yue Clan had become insignificant compared to Darren.

Despite their support for him, Darren didn't feel grateful at all. They only backed him because of his talent for martial arts and how it would benefit them. However, he did not vocalize his thoughts.

"I can't believe this. Why does nobody ever help us? My poor son! Nobody in this damned family wants to ask for justice for you. My poor son!" Evan's mother had draped her body on the ground and was yelling like a lunatic. Tears continued to stream down her face.

"Stop this! Don't embarrass our family!" Even Stan could not stand to see her act in such an inappropriate manner. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up off the floor.

Evan's mother stood and shot ferocious eyes at Darren. There was clear loathing in her stare. Then she turned to leave.

"Wait! Who says you are allowed to leave now? I've said I want Evan's life." Darren shot them an angry glare full of great killing intent.

"Darren, don't push it! I know you are a talented cultivator now, but that doesn't mean your cultivation base is good. There are millions of martial arts geniuses throughout history, but most of them passed away before they became a legend. You'd better take back what you've said," said Mark, the younger brother of Darren's father.

"That's right. You think talent is everything? You're kidding yourself, Darren! You can't even take one attack from me. You're going to regret your arrogance, you fool!" Leo said. The talent contest had frustrated him beyond all reason, but he was highly confident about his cultivation base, sometimes to the point of being boastful.

"You really think highly of yourself, Leo," Darren said with a smirk. Darren, at the eighth stage of the Primary Realm, had the confidence to defeat anyone among the young generation of the Chu Clan.

Leo laughed. "Do you dare to accept my challenge? If I can't knock you out with just one attack, I will go eat shit."

Leo was at the peak of the eighth stage of Primary Realm, on a higher level than Darren. His assumptions about his abilities weren't unfounded, but his ego was too big to be charming.

"Way to go, my boy! Cultivation base is more powerful in this world," Mark shouted energetically. He looked at his son with pride.

Leo raised an eyebrow, a cocky smile on his face. "Well? What do you say, Darren? Are you scared you'll lose? If you aren't man enough to challenge me, you'd better behave yourself and stop walking around like you own the place. If you were found dead because of some accident today, the Ilmen Sect couldn't blame any of us anyway." His father's encouragement only strengthened Leo's arrogance.

When Nicholas and Blake heard what a ruckus Leo was making, they came over and joined in the conversation. Both of them also wanted to regain their confidence in the matter of cultivation base.

Nicholas sneered, "I agree with you, Leo. Darren's looking for a fight. How else would you explain why he behaves so aggressively?" Nicholas reached out his hand toward Darren's face, but Darren immediately slapped his hand away.

"Damn you, asshole!" Nicholas screamed with fury, clutching his hand in pain.

Blake stood beside them with his hands folded over his chest. He laughed, enjoying the s

how. "Nicholas, you say you are the future of our Chu Clan, but Darren obviously doesn't take you seriously. After all, he is the most talented one among our generation."

Nicholas narrowed his eyes, knowing full well that Blake was goading him into action. It was hard to control his anger, but he wasn't about to fall into Blake's trap. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"That's enough!" The Chief Elder came over with a grim-faced look. He addressed all of them as he continued, "No matter who dares to begin the fight, he will only earn himself severe punishment."

Darren cast a cold look at the Chief Elder and answered, "Our Chief Elder is really doing a great job in protecting every member of our family. I sincerely admire your diligence in your duty, sir."

The Chief Elder's face darkened at Darren's sarcastic words. "Don't push it, Darren," he warned.

"You can relax. I don't have the nerve to do so, sir." Then Darren turned to the crowd and announced loudly, "Attention! I, Darren Chu, want to challenge the three geniuses of our family." He had to strain himself to say 'geniuses' genuinely.

Leo, Nicholas, and Blake were thrilled to hear this. They were itching to fight.

"You'll regret what you just said, Darren! Don't blame me if you become permanently disabled from the fight," Leo said with a smirk.

"Hell no! You won't even get the chance after I'm through with him! I'm going to teach this asshole a lesson," Nicholas yelled, turning the hand that had been slapped before into a fist and making a punching motion.

"You've heard it, guys. It's Darren who wants to challenge us. We aren't bullying him. We have given him the chance to back down but he ignored it," Leo addressed the crowd theatrically.

A voice rang out from the crowd. "Please, calm down, Mr. Darren. It's a trap! That's exactly what they want!"

"He's right, Mr. Darren. Why don't you wait a few more years before challenging them? That's not a fair game!"

Darren's supporters all shouted for him to stop.

"Darren, did you think before you said those words? Leo is at the eighth stage. Just one attack from him can kill you. I'm not bluffing, bro!" Blake prodded.

Darren was unaffected. "You don't have to play that with me, Blake. The one I want to challenge is not Leo." At these words, Nicholas stepped in.

"You are such a wuss, Darren!" he teased. "For a loser like you, your talent's a waste!" He was about to say something else, but Darren grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to his face.

"Listen to me carefully!" Darren said threateningly. "I want to challenge all three of you, together." He glared at Nicholas for a moment before shoving him away.

Darren's words caused an uproar among the audience. They all began talking excitedly.

"What? Mr. Darren wants to challenge the three geniuses at the same time? Is he crazy?"

"Mr. Darren must have lost his mind. He'll get plenty of opportunities to take his revenge on them in the future. If I were him, I would work on my cultivation for a few years first, and then beat the shit out of them. Wouldn't that be a better way?"

"He won't do well in this fight. All three of them are at the eighth stage of Primary Realm. Mr. Darren made a bad choice."

Meanwhile, the three other men were turning red with rage. Darren's words ignited the flames of anger within them.

Making such a bold statement in front of all these people was humiliating for them. They had to act fast to save face.

"I accept your challenge! I'll beat the shit out of you any way, Darren!" Leo snapped.

On the other side of the training ground, Abner, the second elder, whispered, "What should we do now? Should I try to stop them?" He watched the scene unfold before him with worry.

"No, now is not the time," the Chief Elder responded. "It's a good opportunity to teach him a lesson. The arrogant child should learn that the whole world does not revolve around him."

The other elders nodded. They understood what the Chief Elder was saying. Darren was filled with the grievance he had accumulated for years back at the Chu Clan. What the Chief Elder wanted was to stand up for Darren when he was in danger.

And it was time for the Elders to explain that the situation left them no choice then, although they wanted to help him and his sister. As a result, the tension between them and Darren lessened, as they hoped it would.

When Leo saw that none of the three Elders made a move to stop the challenge, he squinted his eyes and rushed Darren with an all-out attack.

"You are going to die now, asshole!" he shouted. "I'll teach you a lesson the hard way!"

Nicholas and Blake decided to stand back and enjoy the show. Both of them refrained from replying to Darren's challenge.

But, defying everyone's expectations, Darren landed a hard punch in Leo's chest, causing him to get thrown back to the ground. Leo staggered to his feet, trying to retain his strong stance. Darren, however, remained unfazed.

"No way... You're also at the eighth stage of Primary Realm!" Leo said, bewildered. The realization caused him to lower his guard for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

Everyone watching was shocked at this sudden revelation. It seemed like this challenge was more evenly matched than they thought.