Naked Sword Art

"Make her pay."

.

.

.

The 4 White Jade guild Tiger-Class disciples were watching Gao Liwen from several meters when Xiao Fang suddenly arrived at the scene.

...

"Did... did he just block Liwen's attack?"

"Who is that?"

"I don't know, I've never seen him before."

...

The girls were both fascinated and curious about Xiao Fang. Even though he wasn't wearing his Phoenix-Class uniform they already knew he was strong from the way he was able to block Gao Liwen's [Golden Whip ].

While the other girls were staring at Xiao Fang, Gao Zexian eventually frowned when she recognized who he was.

"Why is he here?" Gao Zexian said to herself, but her words instantly attracted the attention of her guildmates.

...

"XianXian, do you know him?"

"Who is he?"

Her guildmates asked eagerly.

Last year, Gao ZeXian was investigating her brother's death when she learned that he was last seen leaving the sect with Li Lian, Xun Wei, and a blindfolded man. She suspected that Li Lian had something to do with it, so she confronted her in the Shopping District outside of the Black Paradise sect (read chapter 42-43). It was on that day that she saw Xiao Fang, but she didn't think to suspect him because he looked like an ordinary cripple. However, after seeing him block Gao Liwen's attack, she knew she couldn't be further from the truth. 

...

'Why... Why is he here?' Yan Mei thought in despair.

She already felt bad that she got Ye Ming involved in this mess, but she couldn't bear to see Xiao Fang suffer as well.

...

"Who are you?" Gao Liwen suddenly asked.

Xiao Fang stood back up after putting Ye Ming down beside Yan Mei.

"My name is Long Wang, Phoenix-Class, 5th Division," he answered her.

"Long Wang? Ah... so you're the new guy. I knew you looked familiar," Gao Liwen said.

The Head Phoenix-Class Teacher had introduced Xiao Fang along with Bai Fan and Zhao Pan to the rest of the Phoenix-Class disciples at the beginning of their first general lecture together. Since they weren't in the same division, she didn't see him any time after that, but she did hear about how he rejected Chen Li's public guild invitation a few days ago.

Everyone thought he was a fool, but Gao Liwen suspected there was more to him that met the eye. Since Chen Li would go so far as to personally invite him to their guild, she knew he couldn't be ordinary. 

Seeing the Nameless guild nameplate tied around his waist, Gao Liwen squinted briefly in irritation.

...

"It seems you also chose the Nameless guild over us," she said as she gripped her whip a bit tighter.

"I didn't choose the Nameless guild, I created it," Xiao Fang corrected her.

"You?" Gao Liwen said skeptically.

Although she didn't really believe he was the leader of their guild, she still briefly explained the situation to him.

"My name is Gao Liwen, Phoenix-Class, 1st Division. If you know what's good for you, expel Yan Mei from your guild, and pretend like I was never here."

"And if I refuse?"

"What?" 

"Whether Yan Mei chooses to leave or stay will be up to her, but just know, as long as she's a member of my guild you will not be taking her anywhere."

Unexpectedly, Gao Liwen cracked a smile.

"Hahaha, a mere 5th division disciple dares to speak to me that way. That's hilarious," she continued to laugh.

"Long Wang," Yan Mei whispered to him, but he didn't reply. 

Yan Mei wanted to tell him to leave her, but she didn't really want to see him leave. The reason she joined his guild in the first place was to be closer to him despite the consequences. To be forced to leave him so soon was a hard pill to swallow.

"That's too funny. I haven't laughed like that in ages. Are you really that foolish, or are you just trying to act brave in front of them? Hahaha, that must be it. I'll tell you what, if you can even last 15 seconds against me, I promise to leave Yan Mei alone. However, if you lose, you must not only permanently kick Yan Mei out of your guild, but Ye Ming as well. What do you say?"

She assumed Xiao Fang was just trying to act brave in front of Yan Mei, so she wanted to expose him as a coward to crush his pride.

The 4 Tiger-Class disciples watching from a distance all heard what Gao Liwen said so they couldn't help but laugh. They knew there was no way anyone could last 15 seconds against Gao Liwen. Not even a 3rd Division Phoenix-Class disciple like Ye Ming was able to last half that time against her.

There was a time when Xiao Fang would worry about exposing his strength to the public, but not anymore. Revealing everything he had would always be a foolish thing to do, but that didn't mean he would let anyone just walk all over him.

Xiao Fang finally stopped practice swinging Ye Ming's spirit sword before he turned his head to Gao Liwen.

"15 seconds. Let's do it," Xiao Fang finally replied.

"Long Wang, you can't," Yan Mei said. 

Even though she didn't want him to leave her, she didn't want him to get hurt.

Xiao Fang turned his head slightly to Yan Mei then sent her a spirit transmission saying, 

{"Don't worry, Yan Mei. I'll be alright."}

Yan Mei was both shocked and confused at the same time. She had never recieved a spirit transmission from Xiao Fang before, so she didn't know what to think. It seemed like every time she learned something new about him, she would only have more questions than answers.

Although Gao Liwen didn't expect him to accept her challenge, she liked this outcome even better. 

With a scary look on her face, Gao Liwen suddenly took a golden whip out of her spatial pouch, then made it snap in the air in an intimidating way.

"Are you ready?"