The Smackdown

A/N: I hate getting cold... fucking sucks.

***

Like every faction, the Spirit Academy had its uniform and everyone had to wear it. With the use of external equipment not permitted, Ja Sun had to cover his hands with a new set of white-colored bandages. Although he would argue that the Vajra Gauntlets were more of an internal strength than external, not using these items finally pushed the entirety of the mission to A-rank.

The opponent team is strong, no doubt, but Ja Sun wasn't fighting alone and even with the lack of Spirit Rings at the moment, he still had enough strength to hold his own. But given his natural greed for the S-ranked mission, he kept on adding restrictions.

[Objective: Win the match against the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy and find an enclosed space privately to pump your fist.

Optional Objectives:

1) Do not use Vajra Gauntlets.

2) Do not use martial souls.

3) Do not use spirit bones.

4) Do not use mental energy.

5) Do not let any teammate get hurt.

6) Defeat the opponents within 10 minutes while keeping the first four optional objectives active.

7) Defeat the opponents within 5 minutes while keeping the first four optional objectives active.

8) Defeat the opponents within a minute while keeping the first four optional objectives active.

Mission Rank: D-C-B-A-A-S-C/A/S

Mission Rewards: Xue Royal Blade— 5gm of Vajra Iron Ore— Xue Royal Crown— 11000-year-old Flash Snake Right Arm Bone— Heaven's Carving Technique— One Blood Incarnation Technique— Might Douluo's Fist Secrets/Might Douluo's Fist Scroll/ Might Douluo's Fist Art.

Time Limit: 60-30-30-30-30-30-10/5/1 minute/s]

'This... should be enough, right?' Ja Sun's eyes gleamed. The first S-ranked part would definitely be harder than the latter. After all, he wasn't a control-type spirit master, and even if he was, he couldn't make use of his martial souls.

Right now, Ja Sun accepted the mission and adjusted his collars. Like Xie Xan and Oscar, he wore a silver-white coat and similar trousers with golden rims. Meanwhile, the girls wore a skirt suit with pleated skirts of a similar color scheme. While Ah Yin and Bibi Dong chose to wear pure white tights underneath, Jun'er wore spats under her skirt, Hu Lana and Tang Yuehua both wore thigh highs, and Liu Erlong wore a pair of trousers instead of the skirt itself.

This was the Spirit Academy's uniform and the group attracted many attentive gazes. Yuehua and Hu Lana sat in the seating area while the remaining seven stood on the stage calmly. This time, too, Liu Erlong took the position of Vanguard, and Ja Sun stood a little behind her. Xie Xan, meanwhile, stood alongside Jun'er and guarded Oscar. In the middle were the two control-type spirit masters Ah Yin and Bibi Dong.

Their opponents wore turquoise-colored suits and skirts with golden emblems on the left portion of their chests. They were none other than the seven spirit emperors from the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Behind them, in the seating region were five more spirit masters and a Spirit Douluo: Their teacher.

The lead member of the Heaven Dou Academy glanced at his opponents while the referee walked onto the stage.

"Everyone, prepare yourself."

The referee's tone was dull and impassive with a hint of coldness. His body was completely covered. For a moment, Ja Sun felt a strange form of bloodthirst and he couldn't help but focus on the referee for a moment.

Others activated their martial souls. Everyone except Ja Sun.

And since he took the lead with Liu Erlong, his actions were conspicuous.

"Hey, is he injured on the head? The hell is he thinking standing there dumbly?"

"Sheesh, look who's standing in front of him! The Infernal Dragon Liu... although she's a bald horned demon, her body is tip top! Look, how he's ogling her from behind! He's clearly entranced!"

"Hey, hey! I saw him with Fairy Yin... he's a thorough bastard indeed!"

"A bastard luckier than any of us..."

"My father said he'd return after purchasing that bottle of beer..."

"Yeah, look at your face. Even I won't return, your tilted nose freak!"

"Fuck off!"

"I will, just like your father!"

Ja Sun's lips curved in a smile. He enjoyed screwing with other people. After all, his clone was still within the audience. After receiving his injury, Ja Sun couldn't create clones momentarily so he didn't disperse his other clone just yet and enjoyed making fun of others.

'But... I thought Liu Erlong only has a nice upper body. She's got mean hips, too,' Ja Sun admired from behind and Liu Erlong's brows twitched at his bold gaze. However, she didn't dare turn back at the moment.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Ja Sun looked at his opponents.

He was aiming for the one-minute victory since out of the two S-ranked objectives, it was much efficient to achieve and if they won in a minute, there is a chance that they might not get injured at all, too.

'The leader isn't showing any weakness... and he the other two spirit masters aren't easy to deal with either.'

Unlike the Spirit Hall which adopted a more well-rounded strategy, other academies and factions were more streamlined into a single aspect. For instance, Blazing Academy almost only brought assault-type spirit masters. Godwind Academy had agility-type spirit masters save for their Leader. This time, too, the Heaven Dou Academy was comprised of two defense-type Spirit Master and the remaining five were all assault-type spirit masters.

The leader was one of the defense-type Spirit Master.

"Start!" The referee hissed coldly when the turtle transformed leader shouted— "Wait! I have something to say!"

His words stopped Liu Erlong and others. Even his teammates hadn't moved.

Ja Sun frowned seeing this and began counting internally.

"For seven days I have remained smitten since I arrived at this location. I am Jin Lol and even if I don't have any noble faction behind me, I still want to admit to my feelings.

Hu Lana, from the moment I laid my eyes on you, I have been unable to rest. My soul trembles for your very touch.

What I want to say is—"

"Now!"

Ja Sun compressed his voice and shouted. Xie Xan rolled his eyes while Hu Lana had an amused but flattered expression. After all, most pregnant women will find themselves flattered if they are openly proposed to.

A strange luster erupted from Bibi Dong's eyes. She was against Ja Sun's plan. They had worked so hard to make it look like they weren't all that strong and she felt that Ja Sun would have understood her choice but strangely, he still opted to take the opponents out quickly.

But Ja Sun's plan was... smooth. Smooth enough to have Bibi Dong curious enough to try it.

A white ring of light erupted from Bibi Dong and only after this did Xie Xan glared coldly. The strange dome of white light that projected coldness was solidified further!

Ja Sun felt sheer killing intent fill and motivate him while the expressions of their opponents turned pale.

This was the first time the Deathgod Domain appeared on the match and two of them were mixed entirely!

20% decrease of opponents' attributes!

20% increase of allies attributes!

This was the combined effect.

Liu Erlong bared her teeth and shot forward. Afraid of destroying her uniform... again, she directly used her fifth spirit ring to deal with the stunned leader who was still unable to adjust to the sheer killing intent that struck him.

Meanwhile, Ja Sun followed Liu Erlong. His speed no less. Behind him, he held the Blue Silver Goddess' edge from his end and Ah Yin let it grow out.

As a beam of fire directly assaulted the leader, Ja Sun appeared in front of the third opponent instead and slapped the poor soul. Just because he couldn't use his spirit skills didn't mean he was defenseless. It just meant that he had to go back to the basics.

The Gentle Tactics!

Almost every spirit master didn't have their heads transformed. The only one to have a bull's head was the second spirit master behind the leader whom Ja Sun ignored entirely.

It was at this time a group of six devil dogs rushed and bit the bull who screamed loudly and woke himself and others up from their daze only for strings of miasma layered webs to grasp each and every member of the team, catching them unprepared.

With a wild cackle, Ja Sun rushed around them and Ah Yin finally snorted coldly, tightening the Blue Silver Goddess before flinging the team out of the stage.

Ja Sun kept his count.

29 seconds.

That's all it took to defeat one of the seeded team who had more time to propose and was caught off-guard entirely.

The remaining viewers were breathless.

However, much to their surprise, Ja Sun suddenly doubled down on his knees and puked fresh blood.

He then coughed continuously while the white domain disappeared, making the referee breath in relief.

"T-the Spirit Academy wins!"

The referee gazed at Ja Sun before stepping down.

Medics came quickly and hurriedly treated others. The ones attacked by the Death Spider Emperor's miasma could still be cured since Bibi Dong hadn't used her entire arsenal of poison. It was simply the basic skill that focused more on restraint than poison itself.

Meanwhile, the audience was in a state of shock and awe.

"Oh, it must be because of the Ka-ul. He is injured but as long as he is on the team, others should be able to defeat their opponents easily," An 'expert' in the robes reasoned and his words began to spread. The effect was small, but at least it had begun.

On the other hand, Xie Xan revealed his acting capabilities.

"Hurry," he shouted, "He's gone unconscious again! We have to bring him to the resting regions!"

Hu Lana hurriedly covered his mouth and whispered something but Xie Xan had pretty much 'spilled the beans.'

Bibi Dong, meanwhile, was amazed. If she was still a little unwilling... seeing Ja Sun puke blood so easily... well, it did broaden her horizons to newer realms of shamelessness.

---

"These are the items we promised." A middle-aged man with grey hair spoke reluctantly. He wore a formal turquoise attire with the Heaven Dou Empire's emblem on the right side of his chest as he handed Bibi Dong a leather pouch and a ring. The leather pouch seemed to be made out of special materials and the ring was a standard storage ring.

He silently looked at everyone in the infirmary. Everyone sat around the unconscious Ja Sun with a worried expression and after getting the resources, Bibi Dong only gave them a cursory glance before focusing on Ja Sun. Ah Yin held Ja Sun's hand and kept her head lowered while Tang Yuehua patted her shoulders to seemingly console her.

Seeing this, the man couldn't help but speak up, "Miss Bibi, may I inquire what afflicts your teammate?"

However, Bibi Dong only snorted coldly, "The transaction is complete. Please don't deal in our matters if you wish to keep on continuing transactions with our team in the next period of competitions."

Though dissatisfied, the ambassador of the Heaven Dou Empire didn't voice his concerns and looked at Hu Lana.

"Miss Hu, our team's Jin Lol was extremely sincere—"

"My good sir," Xie Xan sighed, "Hu Lana is my wife... and pregnant. Ask Jin Lol to peck someone else's relationship."

Speechless, the man finally left.

"My god, Sister Lana, you're gonna entice all the teams," Ja Sun finally opened his eyes and mumbled while Hu Lana suddenly began to giggle as she hugged Xie Xan, "Well, too bad for them. I can fish out the resources while Xan can keep weirdos away~"

Scoffing, Ja Sun couldn't help but retort, "Aren't you the weird one in this scenario?"

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes.

As Ja Sun sat up, he grinned, "So? What did you think of my acting?"

"Passable," Bibi Dong remarked.

"Kind of overdramatic," Ah Yin let go of Ja Sun's hand and replied with a frown.

"However... you can't be present in the coming matches," Bibi Dong frowned and Ja Sun nodded.

"I only want to participate against the four attribute clans, the clear sky clan, and the white tiger clan," Ja Sun replied. He was extremely clear. This kind of S-ranked mission wouldn't be completed easily and he already had his targets selected.

He needed a herb from the Four Attributes Clan, the Clear Sky Clan was so powerful that he would gain S-ranked missions even with a bit more flexible optional objectives and he felt that the missions regarding the white tiger clan were simply fated for him. He needed resources related to the cat family of martial souls to try and cover up for his more hidden weaknesses.

"Here, this should be yours," Bibi Dong tossed the leather pouch in his direction. This was his personal bet.

For the extremely versatile Spirit Essence Tool, Ja Sun had offered three blueprints. The rest of the resource will be distributed by Bibi Dong to various factions but...

"Could you stay?" Ja Sun looked at Bibi Dong, "Let others distribute the resources. Ah Yin... you wouldn't leave me in such dire times, too, right?" Ja Sun smiled and Ah Yin blinked.

There was something strange going on and once Bibi Dong relayed a few orders to distribute the resources in the ring, others left with a curious expression.

"What's going on?" Bibi Dong sat down on her seat. She and Ah Yin sat next to each other to Ja Sun's right.

"It's a little troublesome manner," Ja Sun coughed, "I... made an enemy... probably. But I cannot deflect this opponent without spirit skills, but if I use those spirit skills, my rank will truly degrade. It's hard maintaining my current rank itself."

Ja Sun clearly referred to Redstar.

It would be a troublesome matter if he really loses a lot of his spirit energy. Although Qian Daoliu's existence would certainly make Redstar think twice... the situation was more complicated. Redstar was already a dying man but if Qian Daoliu really kills him, then nobody can say what may happen. At this moment, Qian Daoliu, Qian Xunji, and Redstar mutually restrained each other.

The only individual out of this equation that could prevent Redstar to actually stop from suddenly appearing in front of him was none other than Bibi Dong.

"What enemy?" Ah Yin sighed.

"Well... the leader of the Hint of Evil," Ja Sun mumbled, "It's a funny story actually. I scammed a Titled Douluo."

He smiled, trying to cheer the two girls up but it was in vain. The two of them were not amused.

"Hint of Evil... are you saying that they are based near Slaughter City? If so, I can relay this information to master. We haven't been able to find many traces of this organization," Bibi Dong frowned and Ja Sun shook his head.

"It's a little more complicated than that. Of course, I can't tell you the details."

"Why?" Bibi Dong demanded.

"The truth?" Ja Sun questioned in return and Bibi Dong scoffed before nodding.

"If I speak even a little bit, it will unravel a lot of things. Even saying this much would have only encouraged your curiosity and I could say that you're better off without knowing but..."

"But I would still want to know," Bibi Dong nodded.

"And it will be too troublesome for me."

Ja Sun shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because..." Ja Sun fell silent.

"Because he doesn't trust you with this information... probably," Ah Yin's guess was on point and Bibi Dong fell silent.

She didn't lose her calm. After all, Ah Yin's words didn't seem as simple as they did on the surface. After all, everyone within the team did trust each other. Even with their lives at times. So saying this meant that it wasn't her individual identity that Ja Sun doubted and if he did, he would have revealed this lack of trust when they were on the road, training.

"Which... aspect do you not trust?" Bibi Dong continued. She did not have many things to do now since Xie Xan will act on her behalf and collect and disperse the resources gained from the remaining matches so she could stay here for a long time.

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Ah, there you are. Sigh, your master is looking for you everywhere," Yue Guan appeared at this moment.

Before Bibi Dong could be distracted, Ja Sun's compressed voice reached her.

"This aspect... please stay. It's going to be hard for you to trust me but if you don't stay, none of it would matter."

Ja Sun didn't think Yue Guan suddenly appearing was a coincidence. He would have thought of it as a coincidence if he didn't hear everything that Redstar had to say but now he was clearer on Qian Xunji's actual traits and nature.

Bibi Dong fell into a difficult position instantly.

"Yes? Why are you in such a daze?" Yue Guan shook his head. His wavy blonde hair flowing with the shake of his head as he walked closer to Bibi Dong, "Please follow me. Your master is saying that it is an urgent matter."

"I deserve to know everything if you ask such a big thing from me," Bibi Dong glanced at Ja Sun. She had compressed her voice but Yue Guan still frowned. He could see that the youngsters in front of him were secretly communicating but he didn't think much of it.

Ja Sun calmly nodded.

Usually, he would be the one to show trust in others but right now, he needed Bibi Dong to take that step this time around.

Seeing him nod slightly, Bibi Dong looked at Yue Guan and replied calmly, "Elder Yue, I cannot leave my teammate's side. He is extremely injured and Master will understand my concerns."

Yue Guan hesitated for a moment but didn't push it. After all, he only came with a message and nothing more.

Once he left, Bibi Dong looked at Ja Sun only for him to sigh.

"First let me use the washroom. With all of you here, I didn't get the chance to freshen up."

His sixty minutes were almost up and he needed to gain his rewards.

After doing so, Ja Sun walked out with a sigh and gazed at Bibi Dong. She looked quite a bit nervous since Ja Sun's actions and her master's call didn't seem coincidental the more she thought about it. So, Ja Sun could only clear his throat as he began, "Well, do you recall the illusion of the red-haired man? The one we saw when facing against the Beasttaken horde controlled by one of the men from Hint of Evil?"

Ja Sun's question made Bibi Dong's shoulders shudder. Seeing her reaction, Ja Sun could only purse his lips, "So you did know that this Redstar is the same you talked about during our game, right? The unarmed spirit master that you killed and left you with a lasting impression?"

Ah Yin frowned as she recalled that gloomy 'game.'

"I... wasn't sure. After all, I killed the evil cultivator known are Redstar. However... his illusion of him was clear. I thought that this individual is someone else," Bibi Dong frowned.

"No, he is the same Redstar. He has died a total of nine times and became a Titled Douluo in the process."

Ah Yin and Bibi Dong looked at him strangely as he took a chair instead of sitting on his bed.

"Explain this matter clearly," Bibi Dong whispered.

"Well, it began when I entered the Gengxin City. The attack on Ning Fengzhi was simply a ploy for the Redstar Douluo to contact me. At the time, his clone was situated within the Slaughter City and I entered it through a backchannel..."

---

"She refused?" Qian Xunji smiled. He was still in the viewer's region and shook his head.

"Ah, she is concerned about Ka-ul. His performance is exemplary indeed," Qian chuckled while the two Emperors nodded calmly. Dai Laohu didn't have any good impression of Ja Sun but Xue Ye, the current Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire was quite impressed.

The group began discussing idle matters without Qian Xunji pursuing Bibi Dong's refusal but it left him with an oddly ominous premonition.

***

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