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Chapter 63: The Iron Badge

Inside the registration office, a scantily clad, seductive woman looked with interest at the hooded warrior.

From his build, she could tell that his body was still very young.

She unconsciously licked her lips and said, “Where did this fledgling come from, what do you want? You want to get in the ring too? Then come to Sister’s bed first and test your skills!”

Ashura blushed, forced himself to stay calm, and lowered his voice as he replied, “I want to register; in 3 days I will come here to fight.”

The scantily clad woman gave him a fake smile and said, “It’s not good to court death at such a young age, how about you do Sister a favor first?” With that, she reached between Ashura’s legs.

Ashura instantly stepped back and shouted, “Auntie, we’re not suited for each other!”

The woman’s outstretched hand froze in mid-air, and a surge of furious aura burst from her body.

Ashura judged that she was at Grand Martial Master stage 3, far stronger than he was.

Ashura panicked slightly, wondering whether he should step forward and deliberately press his little brother into her outstretched hand.

Before he could decide, the woman snorted and said irritably, “If you want to die, fine, give me the name for your badge.”

Ashura lowered his head, thought for a moment, and said, “Ghostbane….”

When Ashura walked out of the Pagoda Palace it was already deep night, and he raised his hand to look at the iron Pagoda Palace contestant badge in his palm.

On the front, a skull seemed ready to devour anyone; on the back was carved the death-match name Ghostbane.

He had no idea why he had chosen that name; his brain had overheated and the words had just slipped out.

He wondered if, when registering, he had used the name Jin Ze or Arthur, whether the colossal families behind them would have been startled.

Ashura chuckled foolishly at his prankish idea, then suddenly grew solemn and looked again at the iron badge in his hand.

Pagoda Palace badges are ranked according to your death-match credits.

Everyone starts with an iron badge; by winning death matches and seizing your opponent’s credits, once your credits reach 100 you are given a copper badge, meaning you have defeated 100 opponents.

After receiving a copper badge, you can use your credits to exchange with the Pagoda Palace for martial techniques, equipment, pills, and other precious items, a perk the Pagoda Palace grants the strong.

Since Ashura could no longer earn Academy Points, he fixed his sights on Pagoda Palace credits; with no illustrious family behind him, he had to rely on himself for everything.

Ashura tightened his cloak, led back the dragon horse he had tied earlier, and strolled to the entrance of the shop he had purchased.

Sensing that a gaze had locked onto him, he calmly took out the token Jin Ze had given him and waved it toward the night sky.

Immediately, he felt that gaze vanish.

Ashura was very satisfied with Supervisor Pato of Jinli Lai Trading Company; sure enough, someone was dutifully guarding the shop, which reassured him greatly.

He had no intention of knocking; after tying his mount at the door he vaulted over the wall and tiptoed to the rear courtyard.

Glancing at the spotless courtyard, Ashura looked toward the girl’s room where a candle still burned.

He tiptoed to the doorway, cracked it open, and peeked inside; the girl sat serenely at the table, reading by candlelight.

Mischief stirred in Ashura; he slipped sideways into the room, silently walked behind her, glanced at the medical text in Daifei’s hands, and flicked a gust of force that snuffed the candle.

The sudden darkness startled Daifei from her reading; she gave a small, nervous cry and fumbled for the flint on the table to relight the candle.

Before she could relax in the renewed light, another gust from behind snuffed the flame again.

Daifei now knew something was wrong; she nervously called behind her, “Who? Who’s there? Come out!”

No one answered in the dark room; as Daifei reached for the flint, a ghastly wail sounded behind her: “Wuu… I died such a tragic death… wuu… I haven’t eaten human flesh in so long!”

The ghostly howl made Daifei drop the flint to the floor; she backed into a corner, her little face pale as she stared into the darkness.

She suddenly remembered the dagger at her waist and was about to draw it for protection.

A hand seized the wrist holding the dagger, while another reached for her neck, accompanied by clucking, eerie laughter.

Daifei’s taut body suddenly relaxed, and in the darkness her big eyes gleamed with amusement as she looked ahead.

The hand at her throat also stiffened slightly, and Ashura asked, “How did you guess it was me?”

Daifei gave a soft laugh and said, “When your hand reached for my neck I smelled your scent.”

Ashura looked at her in surprise, wondering how her nose could be so keen.

He was about to reach for the flint to light the candle, but Daifei caught his hand.

Before Ashura could react, the girl’s rosy lips pressed against his.

Ashura was no innocent; he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately.

Somehow the two rolled from the table to the bed, but just as they were about to cross the final line Ashura suddenly stopped, gasped for breath, tumbled off the bed, and grabbed the cool tea on the table, gulping down half the pot.

Daifei also came to her senses, pulled the quilt over her face, then secretly opened a slit to see what Ashura was doing.

After calming himself, Ashura sat back on the bed; hearing the girl’s slightly rapid breathing and feeling the awkward atmosphere, he slipped his hand under her quilt again.

Daifei let out a soft whimper at the assault, pulled the quilt down a little, but did not remove his mischievous hand.

She looked at Ashura in the darkness, puzzled and apparently waiting for an explanation.

Ashura scratched his head awkwardly with his free hand and said slowly, “I feel it would be irresponsible to go further; I have too many uncertainties right now.”

“Besides, in 3 days I will face a difficult trial, and I don’t know if I can overcome it; the thought distracts me, and I’m actually very nervous.”

After hearing his brief words, Daifei suddenly felt sorry for the young man and hugged the hand that was misbehaving on her chest.

She asked softly, “Do you have to push yourself so hard? It feels like you’re forcing yourself to do too much.”

Ashura’s eyes lit up; he suddenly felt he had met a kindred spirit, and although he had not spent much time with the girl, she understood him.

Ashura slowly lay down beside her and began to talk about his hometown and why he kept forcing himself to grow stronger.

The girl listened, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, and slowly Ashura coaxed her to sleep.

Hearing her steady breathing, Ashura gently withdrew his hand from her chest and raised it to his nose, inhaling deeply.

A faint sense of loss at what he had missed stirred in his heart, but Ashura steadied himself and began his magic meditation right there on her bed.

Over the past year the youth had grown accustomed to meditating through the night, and perhaps the lure of greater power intoxicated him even more than the girl before him…

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