Collecting Rent From All Realms, Even Empresses Must Pay Tribute
Ch. 39 - I Want to Fight Ten!

"What?!!!"

The image of Huang Haotian being sent flying by Ye Chuan's shoulder strike left a deep impression on everyone.

Wasn't Ye Chuan supposed to rely on sneak attacks to win? Why did things seem different now?

Why was Huang Haotian the one who got sent flying?

Even Luo Xi and An Shiyu were stunned.

"Oh my god, ChuanChuan is so strong!" Luo Xi's jaw dropped. 

How could such a skinny body unleash such terrifying power, easily sending the much larger Huang Haotian flying?

Was this the same Ye Chuan who almost coughed up a lung every time he had a coughing fit?

An Shiyu had a puzzled "is this you?" expression. She finally understood how Ye Chuan had managed to take down those guys last time.

Damn, so it was pure brute strength?

"Oh no, my money!" An Shiyu suddenly realized something was wrong after remembering the fixed odds she had set.

…

"Hmph."

Huang Haotian steadied himself, his expression shifting. He suddenly understood why he had been knocked out last time. 

"So you've been hiding your strength, playing the pig to eat the tiger!"

Ye Chuan looked at him as if he had heard something absurd, spreading his hands.

"How was I playing the pig? Haven't I been saying you're weak all along? Ignorance truly is bliss."

Huang Haotian then remembered that Ye Chuan had indeed been arrogant all along, only pretending to be weak during the initial sneak attack on the rooftop. 

He had been acting tough ever since.

He had always been a tiger!

Taking a deep breath, Huang Haotian calmed himself down, then chuckled as if he had understood something and adopted a fighting stance. 

"Just a brute relying on strength, you don't understand the meaning of Taekwondo!"

He would show Ye Chuan that relying solely on brute force was useless.

If all you had was brute strength, what was the difference between you and a wild beast?

He had just been careless!

"Ha!" This time, Huang Haotian changed his strategy. 

Shifting his center of gravity forward, he used a sliding step to quickly close the distance, then launched a straight punch towards Ye Chuan's face!

Although Taekwondo focused on kicking techniques, it also had hand techniques: punches, knife-hand strikes, elbow strikes, all practical combat skills.

A punch to the face, especially the nose, could incapacitate an opponent.

And Huang Haotian's punch was fast; it was his specialty!

But as he punched, Huang Haotian saw the smirk on Ye Chuan's lips and had a bad feeling.

The next moment, a sharp pain shot through his wrist as Ye Chuan caught his lightning-fast punch.

Realizing something was wrong, Huang Haotian raised his other fist to strike Ye Chuan!

"Argh!!!" Before he could punch, a burning sensation engulfed his captured wrist, and Huang Haotian screamed, falling to his knees in pain.

Ye Chuan had naturally channeled his fire spiritual energy. To others, it looked like Ye Chuan had merely tightened his grip slightly, and Huang Haotian had collapsed, screaming in pain.

"My hand! My hand!!"

Ye Chuan released his grip. Huang Haotian stumbled back, his face pale, and collapsed onto the floor, staring at Ye Chuan as if he were a monster. 

"You burned me with fire?!"

Ye Chuan gave him a "are you stupid?" look. "Yeah, right, I had a lighter hidden in my hand."

He held up his empty hand, mimicking the shape of a lighter.

The nearby spectators burst into laughter—

"That's not right, is Huang Haotian an idiot? Crying out in pain from a little squeeze."

"Dude, you were already pathetic last time, now you're even more of a clown."

The air was filled with amusement.

Huang Haotian looked at his wrist, but there were no burn marks, yet the intense burning sensation felt real.

"Could it have been a hallucination from the pain?" Huang Haotian looked at the Taekwondo Club members, their expressions strange, as if they were witnessing something embarrassing.

Huang Haotian looked at Ye Chuan, no longer able to deny that there was something unusual about him. But now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This duel, originally intended to humiliate Ye Chuan, with so many spectators, the gazes now felt like they were burning into him!

Huang Haotian suddenly realized that if the Taekwondo Club lost, he would lose all his money.

Not only that, but he wouldn't be able to repay his loan!

Cold sweat trickled down Huang Haotian's forehead.

This wasn't right, was it?

"I admit, you're quite skilled. Let's call this duel off," Huang Haotian said.

"Giving up?" Ye Chuan tilted his head. "Admitting you're weak now?"

"No, you're indeed strong, but I'm not weak either." Huang Haotian tried to give him an out. 

"Even if you're strong, can you really defeat everyone in the Taekwondo Club?"

"Yeah, I think I can," Ye Chuan's words choked Huang Haotian.

Then, Ye Chuan looked at the club members below and raised his voice,

"I—want—to—fight—ten!"

His simple declaration enraged the Taekwondo Club members, and they roared, "President, can you do it or not? If not, we'll go!"

Huang Haotian hadn't expected Ye Chuan to be so arrogant. He laughed in exasperation. "Fine, you want to fight ten, right?"

"We request ten people!" Huang Haotian's words caused an uproar among the spectators.

Really?

Wasn't this a one-on-one duel? Did Ye Chuan really have the audacity to challenge ten people at once?

The Taekwondo Club members eagerly rushed onto the stage.

A group of them surrounded Ye Chuan, poised to attack, as if they would tear him apart in the next second!

Seeing the situation escalate, the referee stepped between Ye Chuan and the Taekwondo Club members, trying to maintain order.

"Ten people! Chuan Chuan will be killed!" Luo Xi, seeing this, panicked and was about to rush onto the stage, but An Shiyu grabbed her.

"Oi, XiXi, what can you do? Be another person to get beaten up?"

Luo Xi was almost in tears. "I can at least take a few hits for him! This isn't right!"

"The referee won't let them gang up on him, don't even think about it," An Shiyu shook her head. 

With so many spectators watching, that wouldn't be allowed.

Otherwise, the Taekwondo Club's reputation would be completely ruined.

(SHMOLL: If my friend suddenly got strong af, I am so ghosting them.)