Chapter 40: Chapter 36: Sitting in the Pavilion
Translator: 549690339
On the third floor of the Steel Bone Tower, Tang Sen sat imposingly in the main seat of the central stage, clad in a mysterious black armor. Standing below him was a tall, burly middle-aged man.
The man was bald, with sharp eyebrows shaped like long knives making him appear very serious. His gaze was fierce and determined, and on his left cheek, a long scar split his mouth into two halves, extending all the way into the neck of his shirt.
Just from appearances, one could tell this man was a fierce warrior with incredible strength.
However, under Tang Sen’s compelling gaze on the third floor of the Steel Bone Tower, the middle-aged man was feeling an increasingly heavy pressure over his heart.
The man was Tu Tong, who had come to take on a residential mission. Forty years old and without a family, he had devoted his life to martial arts, achieving the peak of the Mortal Realm at the age of thirty-four. Among common martial artists, he was among the best.
Not only did he possess a high cultivation, but his combat abilities were also quite strong, having many victorious records where he defeated stronger opponents. This led to his nickname “The Butcher,” making him one of the strongest warriors at the peak of the Mortal Realm in the Martial Hall.
It was due to this confidence in his abilities that Tu Tong did not hesitate to take on the highly dangerous and richly rewarding residential mission, and came up to the third floor to meet the Sect Head.
But he had been on the third floor for quite some time and initially, Tang Sen was very friendly and no different from usual. However, the moment he mentioned his intent to take the residential mission, Tang Sen seemed to transform into a different person.
An astounding murderous intent and pressure descended on Tu Tong like waves, hitting his heart again and again like relentless tides.
This killing intent was suffocating and overwhelming, and despite Tu Tong’s naturally combative spirit, he was still terrified by it.
He exerted all his strength to maintain his stance, managing to stay upright, but seeing Tang Sen’s still cold expression, it seemed the pressure would never cease.
Tu Tong didn’t understand what was happening or why Tang Sen was releasing such a strong aura of intent to fight him, as if wanting to slay him right on the spot.
Those who had fought alongside him had always thought he was fearless in the face of death, but at this moment of feeling the killing intent upon him.
He realized that he was not fearless at all, he was actually terrified of death. In the face of this raw killing intent, his body temperature was dropping rapidly, and his heart seemed to sink, making him feel as if death was only an inch away.
Was he going to die? Tu Tong’s eyes were full of terror, his heart filled with concern.
In his blurry vision, the person sitting above no longer looked like Sect Head Tang Sen, but instead a savage beast intent on devouring its prey, now sizing up its next meal.
Tu Tong was in despair, after pursuing martial arts diligently for thirty years, he couldn’t believe how weak he felt.
He painfully closed his eyes.
At this moment, Tang Sen withdrew his killing intent. Tu Tong, who had just been preparing to face death, felt suddenly lighter. His legs weakened, nearly causing him to kneel, but he managed to regain his composure and stand upright once again. However, he was gasping heavily as if he had survived a catastrophe.
To him, it felt like he had just fought a grueling battle just from experiencing Tang Sen’s murderous intent. The Sect Head of Battle Hall was truly terrifying. Tu Tong opened his eyes, looking at the emotionless face of Tang Sen with horror.
“Do you still wish to take on this mission?” Tang Sen’s deep and resonant voice echoed in Tu Tong’s ears.
As he exhaled, Tu Tong’s eyes filled with resolution as he responded resolutely, “Yes, I will!”
Since he had realized his own weakness, he had to use intense battles to stimulate himself!
One day, he too would reach the Fierce Realm.
Tang Sen gazed at the resolute Tu Tong and stated faintly, “The mission’s client is my son.”
At this, Tu Tong suddenly understood why Tang Sen had warned him with such a terrifying display of murderous intent.
He was without a doubt a powerful warrior of the peak Mortal Realm. What left a deeper impression on people, however, was his savage and reckless demeanor because the Battle Hall had a myriad of missions such as escorts, assassinations, fort taking, residential assignments, and many more.
Although he had a high success rate in completing missions, he had been criticized by employers because he once embarked on a chase several hundreds of miles during an escort mission after successfully repelling an attack on his client, with the pursuit leaving his client unprotected.
The Battle Hall’s missions were all for the Tang Clan’s service, hence the employer was more often than not a branch of the Tang Clan or related by marriage. Although inexperienced, they all had a knack for schemes.
Tu Tong’s reckless actions led to severe dissatisfaction from his employer, but at the time, this was suppressed, until it was brought up after they returned to Xiling. The employer walked into the Steel Bone Tower maintaining a cold facade and cried foul, refusing to pay the rest of the fee on the grounds that Tu Tong had not fulfilled his duty as a guard.
Enraged, Tu Tong wished to confront the employer. After a journey of over a thousand miles and close to ten ambushes from hundreds of enemies at the Mortal Realm, he truly believed that he had fulfilled his duties to the best of his abilities, even having several close encounters with death.
Unable to accept such irresponsible accusations from his employer, Tu Tong knew something had to be done.
Without a doubt, the employer’s allegations were successful. In the evidence he presented, there was information about eight instances where Tu Tong disappeared after repelling the enemy for a few hours and sometimes up to three days.
Eight times in total; If he was so fond of chasing bandits, why was he taking on escort missions? He should be undertaking assassination missions instead.
Tu Tong did not deny any of the allegations brought forward by the employer. As a result, Battle Hall was regarded as being at fault.
Not only did the employer refuse to settle the balance, but he also coldly suggested as he was about to leave, “In the future, this kind of martial artist should not take on escort missions, otherwise, if the employer dies outside, and he alone returns to the Battle Hall, our Tang Clan could not afford to lose such a face.”
As a result, Tu Tong never received lucrative and easy escort missions but rather hard and risky ones like taking forts and assassinations.
The downside was compensated with an upside, struggling in such a difficult environment allowed Tu Tong to reach the peak of the Mortal Realm earlier than martial artists who had a luxurious life.
After several unpleasant experiences, he could no longer communicate with employers with an open mind, and instead put up a thick wall. Even reasonable requests that might be used against him in the future would be rejected out of caution.
Over time, despite his high cultivation, his reckless and difficult-to-communicate behavior left a notorious impression on people.
So when this time the employer of the task was the son of Sect Head and was a five-year long contract, Tang Sen’s warning became very clear.
I didn’t care before, but if you want to take on this task this time, you must listen to the client or you will die if you disobey.
Tu Tong took note of Tang Sen’s message and immediately reassured him with a cold sweat, “Sect Head, rest assured, I’ll correct my attitude and follow the orders.”
Tang Sen did not respond, just continued staring at Tu Tong for a while.
Although there was no killing intent in his gaze this time, it still made Tu Tong secretly complain in discomfort, fearing that due to his past reputation, Tang Sen would revoke his qualification for the task.
This task was really extremely important to him..
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel