“Mr. Goff, this kid is so disrespectful to us. You don’t need to step in; let me teach him a lesson!” Kaiden stood up, his face dark with anger. He used to be Kendal’s man but had recently pledged loyalty to Maximo and needed to prove his allegiance.
Kendal’s expression turned sour when she heard this. She had organized this banquet primarily to resolve issues concerning Rose. Despite some disagreements with Rose, they were on the same side for now. Kaiden stepping in for Maximo was clearly an attempt to show his loyalty, which was a slap in Kendal’s face.
“Kaiden is right. A mere lunatic isn’t worth Mr. Goff’s time!” “A madman challenging a hero? If Mr. Goff competes with him, it would be degrading!” “Kaiden may be at the mid-level of Inner Strength, but this kid is so arrogant that defeating him should be easy!”
Maximo’s men stood behind him, sneering at Flynn’s words. They had their pride and didn’t want Maximo to lower himself by accepting Flynn’s challenge. It would be like an emperor stooping to fight a commoner-utterly beneath him.
Maximo laughed loudly and said to Flynn, “Of course, I won’t compete with you. Winning would bring no honor, and people would say I’m bullying a child!” He then turned to Flynn with a grin and asked, “Mr. Clark, do you mind if Kaiden takes my place?”
Flynn shook his head nonchalantly and replied, “I don’t care. Bring it on! Today, I will challenge your entire branch!”
The crowd erupted in anger once more. “Challenge the entire branch? He’s really got guts!” “Arrogant! Too arrogant! We must humiliate him today!” “Kaiden, defeat him quickly! I can’t wait to see our leader tear him apart!”
Flynn’s repeated disdain for the Eight Extremities School made everyone seethe with rage. Kendal frowned deeply; she didn’t like Flynn because he showed no respect for their school and constantly made outrageous remarks. However, she hoped Flynn would win this time because, despite his arrogance, he was better than Maximo, who threatened her interests and dignity.
But even though Flynn was a Semi-Grandmaster, defeating Kaiden with one hand while sitting on a sofa seemed impossible.
Kaiden narrowed his eyes at Flynn and said, “Kid, I can’t stand arrogant young people like you who have some skills but no humility!”
Flynn coldly smiled and retorted, “If you’re not arrogant when you’re young, what’s the point? Can’t stand it? Does the world revolve around you?”
Enraged by Flynn’s words, Kaiden lunged forward in three quick steps before bending his spine and springing up with a powerful punch aimed at Flynn’s face. The punch was fierce and direct like a javelin thrown straight at Flynn!
Flynn looked at Kaiden with utter disdain as he lazily munched on sunflower seeds without even flinching. To him, Kaiden was no different from a flying mosquito.
Kaiden smirked slyly as he suddenly retracted his punch mid-air and gathered strength in his right leg. He aimed a sweeping kick at the sofa where Flynn sat.
His leg could break a tree trunk; the sofa was nothing in comparison. If he kicked the sofa away, Flynn would be forced off it by inertia and lose.
But Flynn calmly pressed down with his right hand between Kaiden and the sofa.
“Bang!” Kaiden felt as if he had kicked a steel plate; his leg went numb from the impact. He tried to elbow Flynn’s neck next but realized too late that his right foot was firmly locked in place.
Flynn grabbed Kaiden’s ankle and yanked him forward before delivering a punch to his chest.
“Bang!” Kaiden let out a muffled groan as blood spurted from his mouth. He flew several meters back and collapsed unconscious on the ground.
The crowd froze in shock as they saw Flynn still sitting steadily while Kaiden lay severely injured.
Maximo trembled slightly as he set down his teacup heavily on the table and scrutinized Flynn with narrowed eyes.
“Master, let me handle this,” said an elderly man standing up. With white hair and beard, wearing loose training clothes and cloth shoes, he exuded an aura as sharp as an eagle’s gaze.
Jada stood up abruptly with her scalp tingling. She didn’t like Flynn but supported him against Maximo, who had just injured her son.
If Flynn’s victory over Kaiden gave her some hope, the elder’s rise extinguished it completely because Bryson Barrett was at the peak of Inner Strength!
Bryson had mastered various techniques like Torrent Fist, Eight Trigram Palm, and shape-will fist-he was practically a martial arts encyclopedia.
When Maximo first arrived in Niarak, they sparred together. Despite being at the peak of Inner Strength himself, Bryson lasted over twenty moves against Maximo before losing-a testament to his formidable skills.
Flynn might also be at the peak of Inner Strength but lacked Bryson’s experience; under normal circumstances alone he’d struggle against Bryson let alone now!
Moreover Bryson carried Crescent Spike-a deadly weapon he often used as an unexpected attack tool-having killed numerous experts with it!
“Bryson! You wouldn’t use Crescent Spike now would you?” Kendal asked coldly.
Bryson smiled gently and replied respectfully to Kendal: “Vice Master Kendal how could I use such means against a youngster? Friendship first competition second!”
Kendal didn’t believe him; she knew Bryson too well-deceptively kind on surface yet ruthless underneath!
Turning towards Flynn she warned openly: “Watch out for Bryson’s Crescent Spike hidden at his back waist; if he reaches behind be wary or else…”
Before she could finish Flynn impatiently interrupted: “No need for all these precautions! One palm can break ten thousand moves-they can use whatever they want!”
“I am invincible; do as you please!”