That feeling of needles on his back was just like an uncanny invasion Tang En had experienced when he was on the village patrol.
No, this was more than ten times stronger than before.
If this strike landed, he would definitely die!!
"Teacher Tang, you’re overstepping a bit." He Xiaotian’s voice sounded from behind him, and then a massive shadow fell over him. At the same time, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Tang En wanted to struggle free, but He Xiaotian’s hand felt like a great mountain, indestructible.
He tried to move, but couldn’t.
"Master."
The fifty nominal disciples stood up in unison, calling out respectfully.
"Sit down. Can someone tell me exactly what happened?"
Although He Xiaotian’s voice was extremely calm, anyone could hear the suppressed rage within it.
The cafeteria chef immediately came forward and recounted the entire sequence of events to him.
"I see."
He Xiaotian looked toward his most promising disciple, and Gao Jie instantly grew nervous.
Don’t be fooled by his daring to ignore an instructor like Tang En; in reality, who else but his master could have given him that confidence?
If he were to be blamed, he would have to accept any punishment.
"Gao Jie, don’t worry. As your master, I don’t think you were wrong. You weren’t the one who started the conflict. However, you were a bit too heavy-handed with the weak."
STAB!
It was like the sound of a knife twisting in his heart. Everyone present looked at Tang En.
’What is wrong with you, man?’
Tang En clutched his heart, feeling a bit awful.
’Have a little humanity, I beg you!’
’What do you mean, "the weak"?’
’My students have made very obvious progress in the last three weeks.’
’How are *they* the weak ones?!’
"As your master, I must warn you: use your power wisely. I am teaching you in the hopes that you will protect your home and country, not to be aggressive thugs. You need to learn to control yourselves.
"Teacher Tang’s students, while a bit on the weak side, are much stronger than ordinary people. At least they can take a punch. If you had been fighting anyone else today, how many of them would have survived your fists?"
’Are you fucking kidding me?!’
Tang En felt like his lungs were about to explode with rage. ’And what’s your deal, Mr. Translator?’
’Have you no tact at all? Why are you translating every single word he says for me!’
’And couldn’t you have softened the tone a little to make me feel better?’
He Xiaotian was right. If the people his disciples had fought today weren’t Tang En’s students but ordinary people...
...there would likely be dozens of casualties.
After all, the destructive power of the Copper Fist was immense.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that Gao Jie and the others could only make the Bronze Cauldrons ring with their strikes. If they were hitting people, a single punch breaking bones would be a light injury.
If they got a little carried away and used too much force...
...punching straight through a human body wouldn’t be a problem.
He Xiaotian felt this was his own fault. He had been so focused on their training that he had neglected to teach them about safety.
In other words, this group of nominal disciples hadn’t yet shifted their mentality from that of ordinary people.
In a way, they were already like mini-supermen.
A normal person could absolutely not have taken a violent smash to the head with a large dining table and been completely fine.
While they were speaking, medical personnel entered the scene.
Over a hundred stretchers were carried in and out, and it took a long while before all of Tang En’s students were transferred to the specially converted intensive care unit at the Medical University.
"All of you, back to the training grounds with me. You must pay the price for what happened today," He Xiaotian said with a fierce expression, frightening the fifty disciples to their cores.
’Master is angry, what do we do?’
’Someone tell me what to do, quick!’
Tang En followed along as well. He wanted to see just how He Xiaotian was going to punish this group.
On the huge training ground, fifty large Bronze Cauldrons were neatly arranged.
If Tang En hadn’t gotten somewhat used to modern life recently, he would have been completely shocked.
A village like his, from an ancient era, wouldn’t have had much bronze or iron.
Behind the Bronze Cauldrons were copper plates, each three meters long, two meters wide, and ten inches thick.
After baking under the scorching sun, one could only imagine how hot they were.
"All of you, shoes off. Get on the copper plates and stomp. You can come down when your legs are broken." He Xiaotian’s voice rang out, and the faces of the fifty disciples instantly turned deathly pale. "You must take responsibility for today’s recklessness. You need to recognize your own strength and remain calm at all times. Because once you get angry, the damage you can cause is more terrifying than that of any hardened criminal."
Watching the nominal disciples head toward what looked like an execution ground, Tang En winced.
’If I’m not mistaken, this is a form of training, isn’t it?’
’Sure, the process is cruel, torturous even.’
’But to pass off training as punishment... he must take me for a total moron!’
"So, Teacher Tang, are you satisfied now?" He Xiaotian’s towering figure instantly loomed over Tang En.
"..."
’What could he say? He was in despair!’
"I..."
Tang En prepared to brace himself and confront He Xiaotian. After all, his students were in a miserable state!
Some had broken arms, others had fractured sternums.
The assessment was in just over two months.
’If things go south then, who’s going to take the blame?’
’I haven’t had enough of this cushy life yet!’
As the saying goes, ruining someone’s livelihood is like murdering their parents.
To Tang En, what He Xiaotian’s disciples had done was worse than killing his entire family.
Even though he feared him, he had to argue his case.
At the very least, he had to let Roger, the Deputy Chief of the Cleaners, know that this loss wasn’t his fault!
"Teacher Tang, wait a moment. I forgot to tell them something." As his voice fell, He Xiaotian walked up to one of the copper plates. "What I’m teaching you today is called the Copper Foot. When you can leave a one-inch-deep footprint in the copper plate, you will have mastered it.
"By then, with the Copper Head, Copper Fist, and Copper Foot, you will be ready to graduate. From then on, every strike you make will be like a thunderbolt, overwhelming all who stand in your way. As long as you don’t encounter boss-level evil spirits and monsters, you’ll be able to retreat unscathed, or even kill them!"
After speaking, He Xiaotian stomped his right foot down forcefully, and the entire ten-inch-thick copper plate shattered into pieces.
’Strike the cauldrons with your head, stomp the plates with your feet.’
’So strong!’
That display was enough to make their blood pump. The thought of one day reaching their master’s level of skill made their blood boil uncontrollably.
What man doesn’t want to become strong?!
And He Xiaotian had given them both the hope and the method.
’It’s just a copper plate, right?’
’So what if we have to stomp until our legs break?’
’It’s nothing!’
And so, everyone on the training ground began to sweat profusely.
"Teacher Tang, are you satisfied?"
"..."
’The translator kept giving me meaningful looks.’
’He’s clearly warning you: if you dare say any more nonsense, I’ll fucking kick you to death!’
GULP!
Tang En swallowed hard, any thought of pursuing the matter completely gone from his mind.
The two bodyguards from the National Guardian Team were terrified that this Martial Artist from the Nether World would be reckless.
Based on the power He Xiaotian had displayed, killing them would be no different from crushing a chick.
"Farewell!"
After holding it in for a long moment, Tang En clasped his fists, turned, and left without looking back.
The three people who had been by his side the whole time let out a sigh of relief.
At that same moment, Roger also received a notification about the student brawl.
When he opened the video, he was dumbfounded.