Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

Chapter 136: Chapter 112: Mercy of the Demon Lion

Originally, Mage Erzhen was confident that his mysterious-rank intermediate Martial Technique, Thunderclap Fist, would be more than enough to kill Zhao Rong, a man with no Cultivation Techniques or Martial Techniques to speak of. To his utter astonishment, however, Zhao Rong somehow possessed a Martial Technique of his own, and it was even a grade higher than his—a mysterious-rank advanced technique!

Just as Mage Erzhen’s Thunderclap Fist was about to collide with Zhao Rong’s Across Mountains Fist, Mage Erzhen suddenly flipped backward in a somersault, dodging the attack. Although he had avoided the first punch, Zhao Rong’s second fist immediately flew toward him. Faced with the advanced Martial Technique, Mage Erzhen panicked and scrambled to get away.

Zhao Rong’s Across Mountains Fist was just about to strike the bare-bottomed, fleeing Mage. Suddenly, a critical problem occurred to Zhao Rong. The so-called Across Mountains Fist required an obstacle—a ”mountain”—to channel its true power. In other words, for the technique to work, someone had to be standing between his fist and Mage Erzhen. Only when his punch landed on that intermediary would its destructive force transfer through them to strike the true target behind. But right now, his fist was flying directly at Mage Erzhen with no one in front. It seems my first punch is going to be wasted, Zhao Rong thought with a sigh.

As fate would have it, just as Zhao Rong was feeling disappointed, Wang Jingang crawled out from under the large bell. With nowhere left to run, the desperate Mage Erzhen saw Wang Jingang as a lifeline. He immediately grabbed his disciple and pulled him in front as a human shield.

”Disciple,” he declared, ”they say you train an army for a thousand days to use it for a single moment. Today, your master finally has a use for you. You must stand strong!”

Seeing Zhao Rong’s heavy punch hurtling toward him, the terrified Wang Jingang pleaded, ”Master, how can you use me as a shield? I don’t want to die!”

”At a critical moment, if you do not descend into hell, who will?” Mage Erzhen snapped angrily.

Just then, Zhao Rong’s Across Mountains Fist slammed forcefully into Wang Jingang.

Seeing the powerful punch strike Wang Jingang instead of himself, Mage Erzhen gloated at Zhao Rong, ”Kid, it’s not so easy to hit me! Since your punch missed, it’s my turn to land one on you.”

However, before he could finish his sentence, the force of Zhao Rong’s Across Mountains Fist passed straight through Wang Jingang and struck Mage Erzhen. He was instantly sent flying.

As he soared through the air, Mage Erzhen thought, Damn it! Zhao Rong’s punch clearly hit Wang Jingang. How is he perfectly fine while I’m the one flying through the air?

The airborne Mage slammed heavily into the large bell before crashing to the ground, leaving a perfect human-shaped dent in the metal. Seeing this, Zhao Rong couldn’t help but gasp. Mage Erzhen is over fifty years old, he thought. For him to be beaten so brutally by me... I feel like I’m being too ruthless.

As Zhao Rong reflected, Mage Erzhen, his chest now boasting fourteen broken ribs, spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at his opponent. ”Kid, you came prepared,” he rasped. ”But while evil may rise a foot, virtue rises ten. Experience always wins out! And I have a magical beast.”

With that, Mage Erzhen chanted a string of incantations, and a demon wolf burst forth from his Magic Ring. The surrounding crowd of onlookers gasped in shock.

”That cunning old fox Mage Erzhen actually brought a fierce magical beast with him!” exclaimed a disciple who famously wore shoes without socks. ”It looks like the young hero Zhao Rong is done for this time.”

A disciple suffering from fatty liver disease due to his all-meat diet added pessimistically, ”Humans are powerless against a fierce magical beast. Farewell, young hero Zhao Rong.”

Just as everyone, including Mage Erzhen himself, was certain that Zhao Rong was about to be torn apart by the demon wolf’s sharp fangs, Zhao Rong suddenly began to sing. Stranger still were the lyrics: nonsensical, childish babble. Seeing him singing a nursery rhyme in such a life-or-death situation left the crowd completely stunned.

A girl who loved Korean dramas squeezed her eyes shut in fear. ”It’s over! The magical beast is going to eat him! Poor Brother Zhao Rong is so scared he’s started spouting nonsense.”

”The demon wolf is invincible,” said another girl, one who enjoyed Japanese dramas but disliked the male actors. ”Here in the True Martial Sect, nothing can subdue that beast.”

Just as a consensus was reached that Zhao Rong’s death was inevitable, a colossal magical lion leaped out from Zhao Rong’s ring. In an instant, everyone present was rendered speechless with astonishment.

”Zhao Rong is just a lowly disciple of the True Martial Sect,” a male disciple notorious for his romantic entanglements said in disbelief. ”How could he possibly summon a magical lion? Was he born a Beast Tamer?”

A disciple fated to live a solitary life stared intently at the magnificent creature. ”That magical lion must be Hero Zhao Rong’s magical beast pet! Otherwise, how could he have summoned it with a chant?”

While the crowd marveled at Zhao Rong’s seemingly limitless power, Mage Erzhen was completely dumbfounded. He would never have imagined in his wildest dreams that he wasn’t the only one with a Magic Ring. His own ring concealed a demon wolf, but Zhao Rong’s contained a magical lion, a beast far more formidable. At that moment, Mage Erzhen’s spirit broke. When he saw the demon wolf he had spent a fortune to acquire from the Demon Beast Mountain get devoured by the gigantic lion, he knew all was lost.

Before Mage Erzhen could even surrender, his prized disciple, Wang Jingang, was the first to bolt. Reaching the entrance of the dueling arena, he glanced back at his disheveled master. It’s a good thing I, Wang Jingang, am a fast runner, he thought. Otherwise, I’d definitely be the next one eaten by that lion.

As Wang Jingang celebrated his narrow escape, he found his path blocked. The assistant had already been lying in wait. The moment Wang Jingang started to run, the assistant had locked onto him, and now he leaped out to intercept him. ”The victor is king, the loser a villain,” the assistant said. ”Where do you think you’re going?”

Seeing it was only the assistant, Wang Jingang sneered, ”You? You think you can stop me...”

Before he could finish, the assistant whipped out a brick he had prepared earlier and smashed it against Wang Jingang’s forehead. ”You may be a higher-level cultivator, and you may be a better fighter, but I gained the upper hand by striking first!”

Before the assistant could finish his taunt, Wang Jingang collapsed. Lying on the ground and clinging to life, he stared up at the assistant. ”I never thought... that I, Wang Jingang... would fall to the likes of you...”

Without waiting for him to finish, the assistant brought the brick down again. This time, Wang Jingang’s eyes closed for good. Seeing the fleeing disciple taken care of, the assistant tossed aside the broken piece of brick in his hand. ”That’s for bullying me. That’s for looking down on me.”

Back on the duel platform, after devouring the demon wolf, the magical lion charged directly toward Mage Erzhen. When Zhao Rong saw it was about to eat the old man, he quickly shouted, ”Magical Lion, show mercy!”

However, with all the noise from the crowd, the lion misheard his command as, ”Magical Lion, be quick about it!”

The magical lion paused. Be quick about it? it thought. Does Master want me to swallow this old man in one gulp?

Seeing the lion hesitate, Zhao Rong hurried forward, thinking, Although Mage Erzhen has committed many evils and is a traitor, he’s still a living being. I should spare his life...

But before he could finish the thought, the magical lion opened its maw and swallowed Mage Erzhen whole.

Zhao Rong stared, stunned. ”Magical Lion, I told you to show mercy!” he exclaimed. ”Why did you eat him?”

The lion chuckled. ”Master, you told me to be quick about it, so I just swallowed him whole.”

Zhao Rong was left feeling deeply awkward about the misunderstanding. His task complete, the magical lion didn’t linger and disappeared back into the Magic Ring.

When the crowd saw that Zhao Rong had not only defeated Mage Erzhen but had also allowed his magical beast to eat him, they erupted in cheers. ”A new Sect Leader is born! Long live the new Sect Leader!”

Mage Erzhen’s disciples, who had crawled out from under the bell, all fell to their knees and began to beg. ”Grandfather Zhao Rong, please spare us! We only followed that vile man because he coerced us...” With that, they began to kowtow, pleading for their lives.

Zhao Rong had never intended to kill them; he only wanted to teach them a lesson. So, he spared them.

Seeing Zhao Rong’s complete victory, Lili, Yu Lan, Xuelian, and Tao Hua rushed onto the platform. They lifted him onto their shoulders and tossed him high into the air in celebration. As he was thrown about by the four beauties, he would occasionally brush against Lili’s chest, then Yu Lan’s rear, then Xuelian’s lips, and then Tao Hua’s legs. In short, while the women celebrated his victory, he certainly didn’t miss the opportunity to take advantage.

This battle completely established Zhao Rong’s dominance in the True Martial Sect. He not only became the legitimate Sect Leader but also naturally came into possession of the great seal of the sect. As Sect Leader, he was now the legal representative of the organization. The vast True Martial Sect, with assets worth over a hundred million, was now his personal property.

At this point, Zhao Rong was a man of considerable wealth and status. He was a bodyguard to three young ladies with an annual income in the millions, a shareholder in Lili’s father’s Hongda Company, the owner of two hundred acres of land in the northern suburbs of Xijing City, and now, the boss of the True Martial Sect. It was no exaggeration to say his net worth was in the hundreds of millions.

Ever since crossing over from Earth to this parallel world, Zhao Rong had been striving relentlessly. He had worked his way up from a humble salesman at a company that helped men pursue women to becoming the bodyguard for three wealthy young ladies. Now, he was the Sect Leader of the True Martial Sect. It was clear that Zhao Rong was continuously reaching new peaks in his life.

However, just as he took on his new role and began to fulfill the duties of Sect Leader, he received a call from the Chairman. He wanted to send Miss Lili and her two friends to Xijing University, the most prestigious institution in the city, for their advanced studies. The Chairman also hoped Zhao Rong would continue to serve as his daughter’s bodyguard.

Receiving this new directive, Zhao Rong suddenly found himself at a crossroads. Should he settle into a comfortable life as the Sect Leader of the True Martial Sect, or should he continue to forge his own path by entering Xijing University and carving out a new future?