"That brat is coming after me. Before you even get here, I'll settle things with her properly~" Cui Changfeng muttered, and his attacks not only didn't stop, but became even more ferocious, relentlessly attacking Li Yang from head to toe.
If Nan Xiangmei hadn't come, Li Yang could have properly teased Cui Changfeng. After all, this woman was quite good-looking, with a hot figure, high breasts, and long legs—she was pleasing to the eye. But since Nan Xiangmei was here, and often helped him as a friend, it seemed a bit unfair to tease her master in front of her. Li Yang had no choice but to passively defend, retreating step by step to avoid Cui Changfeng's attacks, yet maintaining a flawless defense, easily and casually playing along with Cui Changfeng.
Cui Changfeng's martial arts skills are considerable, reaching the level of a grandmaster, but compared to Li Yang, it's child's play; the gap is too large and obvious. They're not even in the same league.
Cui Changfeng was going crazy. She had been practicing martial arts since childhood and had extremely high talent. She received guidance from many famous teachers and had a great reputation in South Korea at a young age. She worked extremely hard and participated in many competitions. Later, she traveled all over the world to improve her martial arts skills. By the age of thirty, she had made a name for herself and was a top-ranking master in the world of martial arts.
She, who had been proud and arrogant all her life, never expected to encounter a freak like Li Yang after achieving success. If it were just Li Yang, it would be fine, but he also got involved with her apprentice, making it impossible for her not to get involved.
"I'll kill you!" Seeing that Nanami Mitaka Maria was rushing over, she still couldn't do anything to Li Yang. Enraged, she attacked even more frantically.
"Nam Sang-mi, you've come at the right time! Your master has gone mad, drag him away quickly!" Li Yang shouted at Nam Sang-mi while blocking Cui Changfeng's attacks.
Cui Changfeng was already furious. He was a renowned grandmaster who couldn't defeat a mere brat like Li Yang. You can imagine how complicated his feelings were. Li Yang's shout made him even angrier. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, staggered, and stopped attacking, almost collapsing to the ground.
This terrified Li Yang. "Damn it, I didn't hit anyone! Your spitting blood is clearly an attempt to frame an innocent person and put me in a bad position."
"What's going on? It's none of my business! Come and take a look!" Li Yang hurriedly waved his hands and stepped aside, not even bothering to help Cui Changfeng up. Damn it, if he helped him up, wouldn't he be accused of taking advantage of him?
Seeing her master about to collapse, Nan Xiangmei rushed forward and caught the swaying Cui Changfeng, exclaiming, "Master, what's wrong?"
Cui Changfeng was furious when he saw Nan Xiangmei. He thought to himself, "Who do you like? You have to fall for a lecherous scoundrel. Now look what's happened! Even your master has been bullied by him. If you ever suffer in the future, your master won't be able to help you. You'll be in for a world of hurt."
"Hmph, Master isn't dead yet!" Cui Changfeng said defiantly.
"Master, what are you saying? Don't say unlucky things," Nan Xiangmei said coquettishly. Then she turned to Li Yang and said, "I'm sorry, Li Yang, I know you're very busy, and I shouldn't have bothered you. I hope I didn't delay your business?"
"No. I'm free right now~" Li Yang chuckled. Of course, he wouldn't say anything bad; even if he was busy, he would say he wasn't.
"Maria Takagi, you're here too. How have you been lately?" Li Yang asked upon seeing Maria Takagi. Since her master's death, she had settled in Koto City and wouldn't go back. An orphan raised by Yuki Urao, who was practically her second mother, she was heartbroken to see her master dead. She was determined to avenge her master. The few Li Yang killed were only a small fraction of the Kukiku and Yagyu families; their numbers were too few, as they still held considerable influence in Japan. If it weren't for them, she and her master wouldn't have suffered such a fate, and perhaps Yuki Urao's tragedy wouldn't have occurred. However, she was currently too weak and needed Li Yang's help. As for the fairy, she was dead and ascended, so she didn't care anymore, only remembering the hatred between the Kukiku and Yagyu families.
"Yes, I came with Nan Xiangmei. I was worried about her!" Takagi Maria smiled faintly, with a poignant and beautiful air about her.
"How have you been lately?" Li Yang asked with concern. After what had happened, it was a complete tragedy. No one would be in a good mood.
"It's alright, I can handle it. There's something I'd like to ask you for help with, I don't know if it's possible~" Takagi Maria looked at Li Yang pleadingly.
"What's the matter?" Li Yang asked.
"Could you take me as your apprentice too?" Maria Takagi said in a surprising way.
"Take you as my disciple?" Li Yang was astonished. Holy crap, does that mean we're going to have a teacher-student relationship? That's pretty shocking, isn't it? Uh, my mistake, you never said you liked me, and I never said I wanted to seduce you.
Chapter 859: I insist!
"Yes~ Didn't you already take Hu Meiniang as your disciple? And with so many people at Zhenwei Martial Arts School, can't you take me as your disciple?" Gao Shu Maria pleaded with Li Yang.
"Don't beg him~ Your master, Yuki Urao, is a world-class master with an extremely prestigious reputation. He's far superior to this shameless scoundrel. You can't become his disciple~" Cui Changfeng jumped out to stop him.
"Master, you, you shouldn't interfere!" Nan Xiangmei hurriedly came over and grabbed Cui Changfeng, saying anxiously.
“Why can’t I get involved? Yuki Urao and I are sisters, and her apprentice is my apprentice. Don’t worry, I will be your master from now on. You can come to me if you have any questions.” Cui Changfeng said without waiting for a reply.
"Master~" Nan Xiangmei was speechless for a moment. Her master was just that stubborn and self-centered.
"I'm sorry, Senior Cui, I know about your relationship with my master, and I know you mean well. But I really must become Li Yang's disciple; I want to avenge my master." Gao Shu Maria shook her head slightly, declining Cui Changfeng's offer and sticking to her own opinion.
"Avenge Yuki Urao? Can't I do that too? Can't I learn martial arts from me? Why do I have to learn from this kid?" Cui Changfeng was so angry that he almost had an endocrine disorder.
"Because my enemies aren't human... uh, no, they all have abilities beyond ordinary people, and you can't defeat them with just ordinary things. Only by becoming Li Yang's apprentice can I learn how to defeat them~" Maria Takagi said seriously. This was something she had thought about for a long time. She originally wanted to wait until Li Yang returned before saying it, but since she had encountered him here, she decided to say it.
"Does he know these things?" Cui Changfeng asked in astonishment, staring at Li Yang in disbelief.
“Yes~” Maria Takagi nodded seriously.
"No wonder, that explains it. Why does he have such cultivation at such a young age? It turns out that his cultivation is not something ordinary people do. It's a realm higher than ordinary martial arts~" Cui Changfeng suddenly lost his composure, muttering to himself, immersed in his own world.
"Would you be willing to take me as your apprentice?" Takagi Maria turned to look at Li Yang and asked again.
"Alright, I'll take you as my disciple. Let's not stand on ceremony. From today onwards, you are my disciple. However, I can only teach you the secret techniques when we return to Jiangdong City!" Li Yang no longer refused and agreed to Gao Shu Maria's request.
"Thank you so much, Master!" Maria Takagi exclaimed, her eyes brimming with tears of joy.
"Keep an eye on her, I'm leaving now." Li Yang didn't want to stay a minute longer and immediately slipped away.
Cui Changfeng stopped pressing the matter and watched Li Yang leave.
"Master, please don't do this, okay? He and I are really just friends. It's not what you think~" Nan Xiangmei said softly, looking at Li Yang's departing figure with complicated eyes.
"Hmph~ Master, do you think I don't know what you're thinking? But he's so philandering and lustful, with so many women, and he's also incredibly skilled. You, you should just forget about him~" Cui Changfeng said helplessly, tenderly stroking Nan Xiangmei's fair and delicate face.
“Master, I really don’t have any feelings for him,” Nan Xiangmei explained, her face flushed.
“Yes, Senior Choi, please don’t talk about these things anymore!” Maria Takagi also defended Sangmi Nam.
"Sigh, you young people should sort out your own affairs. I'm not going to interfere!" Cui Changfeng felt a strange unease and his heart raced as he thought about how Li Yang had taken advantage of him earlier. Looking at his young apprentice and Gao Shu Maria, he panicked. He waved his hand and, without waiting for them to say anything, disappeared into the crowd, almost as if he were fleeing.
"What's wrong with Master?" Nan Xiangmei asked, puzzled.
“I don’t know,” Maria Takagi shook her head.
"Let's go."
"Um."
Li Yang breathed a sigh of relief after the three left. He was really afraid that Cui Changfeng would say something he shouldn't have, and then he would be too ashamed to face Nan Xiangmei. However, it seemed unlikely that she would say such a thing. She should feel even more ashamed than he did.
Li Yang's phone suddenly rang. He looked at the number and saw that it was Tao Ye calling. He answered it immediately.