NOVEL WEB Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Competition, Winning Over Armstrong
Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Competition, Winning Over Armstrong
"Tracy, sis, I'm serious. This place is haunted! You should both move to my place and leave John here alone," Armstrong was nagging the two women, not noticing that John had already entered the living room.
"Old man!" Tracy saw John and happily ran over to him.
Armstrong finally noticed John and immediately fell silent, his eyes wary and fixed on John.
"Did someone hit you?" John looked at Armstrong's swollen forehead, smiling broadly and pretending to be curious.
Armstrong frowned, feeling that John was mocking him.
"Don't mind him, Old man. He's gone mad," Tracy said, glancing at Armstrong.
"Alright, time to eat," Sini said as she brought out a pot of porridge.
"Wow, it smells so good!" Tracy eagerly ran to the table.
Armstrong shamelessly joined them.
John knew Sini's cooking skills well, and it seemed the brother and sister couldn't resist her food either.
As Armstrong drank his porridge, his gaze towards John became even more hostile. He thought John wasn't good enough for Sini.
He spoke again, "Sis, Tracy, I'm not lying. This place is really haunted. Sis, I'll get you a new place. You should move out of here."
John glanced at Armstrong, and said disdainfully, "You're a martial artist, yet you're scared of ghosts? Pathetic."
Bang!
Armstrong slammed the table and stood up, glaring at John in anger, "There really is a ghost here. If you're so brave, why don't you stay here alone?"
"Alright, that's enough," Sini intervened, stopping the argument, "Armstrong, there are no ghosts. You probably just imagined it, or someone is playing tricks."
She shot a glance at John.
Sini suspected John had something to do with it. She had seen John's tricks before; they could easily seem supernatural to a martial artist.
John ignored Sini's glance, calmly sipping his porridge.
Sini changed the subject, "John, the game headsets that Blues Family ordered have arrived. This morning, the old master invited you to give everyone a lesson."
"Me? Teach?" John was surprised, looking at Sini in confusion. His combat skills came from countless life-and-death battles, not something he could easily teach.
Sini explained, "Just some basic game operations and experiences. Everyone knows you're the top player on the leaderboard, Godslayer. They all admire you."
"Except me," Armstrong interrupted, looking at John with a challenging gaze.
His eyes lit up with an idea, and he smiled, "John, if you're so strong in the game, you must be pretty good in real life too. How about a spar?"
Before John could reply, Tracy angrily said, "Hey, Armstrong, don't go too far. Old man is just an ordinary person. How can he be your opponent?"
John's game attributes fused with reality, giving him a strong body. To martial artists,
without the presence of internal energy, he seemed like an ordinary person.
Armstrong ignored Tracy's protests and provocatively raised his head, "Dare to?"
John put down his porridge, wiped his mouth, and then calmly said, "Let's add some stakes. If you lose, you acknowledge me as your boss."
"Deal! But if you lose, you stay away from my sister and Tracy," Armstrong agreed without hesitation.
He was confident he would never lose to John.
John nodded in agreement.
"Let's go to the training grounds," Armstrong, eager after John's agreement, grabbed him and walked out.
Tracy immediately panicked, pulling Sini along, and complained, "Sini, why didn't you stop them?"
"Relax, John knows what he's doing," Sini said calmly. She knew John's strength well and was certain Armstrong was no match for him.
"What?" Tracy exclaimed, touching Sini's forehead. "Sini, have you gone mad too?"
...
Every morning, the Blues Family had a practice session, and this morning was no different.
The training had just finished, and everyone hadn't dispersed yet.
Hearing about a duel, they all gathered out of curiosity.
John and Armstrong were already on the platform.
Armstrong picked a battle knife from the rack and started swinging it with vigor. "John, weapons have no eyes. You can still surrender."
John didn't say a word and made a gesture to proceed.
"Hmph, fool!" Armstrong grunted and charged forward without wasting time.
John stood still, calmly watching Armstrong. It was like watching a slow-motion scene in a movie. Armstrong's moves appeared frame by frame in his eyes.
In just a glance, John saw dozens of ways to counter and defeat Armstrong with one strike.
Armstrong thought John was paralyzed with fear and, swinging his knife with the back of the blade, he held back some of his strength.
"You shouldn't have held back," John's voice came.
In the next moment, Armstrong's hand was empty-his knife had vanished.
"What just happened?" he wondered, puzzled. Before he could react, he felt a blow to his
chest and fell to the ground.
He felt a chill on his neck, and a strand of hair drifted down.
Gulp!
Armstrong swallowed hard, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at John in astonishment. It
took him a moment to react, "How... how did you do that?"
"You lost," John said calmly, handing the knife back to Armstrong.
Armstrong took the knife and got up from the ground, now calling out to John, "Brother-in- law, teach me!"
"I can't teach you," John refused.
It wasn't that he was unwilling; his skills were honed through countless life-and-death experiences, impossible to teach.
The crowd below was stunned, unable to react.
Some martial artists with high talent seemed to catch on, furrowing their brows in thought.
"Old man is so strong? Sini, did you know?" Tracy was equally shocked.
...
In a nearby pavilion, Chris and Peter watched the entire duel.
Chris looked at Peter and asked, "Did you understand what happened?"
Peter nodded, "Armstrong held back at the end, that's why he lost so badly."
Slap!
Peter's head was met with a solid smack.
"Father, why did you hit me?" He rubbed his head, looking at Chris indignantly.
Chris, blowing his beard and glaring with anger, scolded, "I've spent my whole life dominating the martial world, a prodigy, and yet somehow I fathered someone like you." "Watch closely!" He stepped back and demonstrated John's movements step-by-step for Peter, explaining, "If Armstrong hadn't held back, he would've been injured worse. John wrapped his palm around the knife handle, striking Armstrong's chest. Otherwise, Armstrong wouldn't have been able to withstand it."
Peter only half-understood, nodding absently.
Chris sighed, looking at Peter's naive expression. He had long given up on Peter's martial
talents.
Though Peter excelled in business and management, his martial aptitude was sorely lacking.
"Father, how does John compare to you?" Peter couldn't discern John's prowess, so he could
only compare him to Chris.
"Compared to me?" Chris furrowed his brows in thought, finally concluding, "If I don't use my internal energy, I'm not his match. This kid's combat style..."
He didn't finish his sentence; the conclusion was too unbelievable even for him.
John's fighting style didn't fit into the martial artist category but felt lethal in every move, as
if honed through countless life-and-death battles.
How could such a young man have experienced all that?
...
Armstrong continued pestering John, "Brother-in-law, just teach me. If it doesn't work, I'll
even let my sister marry you."
"Ah-hem..." John coughed violently. Was that something you could say so casually?
Armstrong went on, "So should I call you brother-in-law or sister-in-law?"
"Enough." John cut him off, fearing Armstrong would say something even more outrageous.
"If you really want to learn, here's what you do: enter the world of Gods, challenge monsters stronger than you, experience life-and-death battles, and gradually comprehend and
summarize."
"Mr. John, won't we die if we do that?" someone from below asked curiously.
The Blues Family members had gathered, listening intently to John's teachings, and even
their form of address had changed.
In martial arts circles, being called "Mr." signified great respect.
John patiently explained, "You will die, but not in reality. However, don't die too many times,
as it can damage your spirit. The key to this method is experiencing death, pushing your
limits, and continually summarizing your experiences..."
"Interesting!" Chris, listening from the pavilion, nodded in understanding.
So this kid had honed his combat skills through battles in the world of Gods.
If this kid had been born into an Ancient Martial Arts family, he would definitely be
considered a martial arts prodigy!
Chris looked at Peter, who seemed distracted, and grew even more annoyed. "You better learn
properly. I'm heading into the game now."
With that, he turned and left.
Listening to John's insights, Chris had also gained some understanding and was eager to enter
the world of Gods to verify it.
...
In the training ground, the Blues Family members had gathered, listening to John's
explanations.
John held nothing back, sharing his in-game experiences, techniques, and insights on
improving combat power.
From morning until noon, John talked until his mouth was dry. "Alright, that's all I can teach you. There might be some inaccuracies, so you should enter the game, validate, and comprehend on your own."
"Thank you, sir!" The crowd finally realized it was already noon. They bowed respectfully and
left eagerly, wanting to enter the world of Gods to test and understand what they'd learned. Armstrong, however, clung to John, saying, "Brother-in-law, your place is really haunted. Why don't you move to my place? If that's not possible, I'll move in with you guys and protect
you."
"No way!" John rejected the idea immediately. Having Tracy around was already troublesome enough; if Armstrong moved in too, he and Sini would have no private space.
Besides, John had been the one behind the "ghost." Armstrong's current strength wouldn't
protect them; he'd only cause more trouble.
John changed the topic, "Everyone's entering the game now. If you don't hurry, they'll
surpass you."
"Oh, right." Armstrong suddenly realized. As the Blues Family's young master, it would be
disgraceful if others surpassed him.
"Brother-in-law, I'll come find you later." With a quick farewell, he rushed off.
John breathed a sigh of relief, finally rid of him.
"John, you've worked hard." Sini walked over, handing him a glass of water.
Truly, Sini was the most considerate.