--

At the very least, Charles knew that he was done. And fortunately, he didn’t suffer the same ill fate as John, being thrown at the feet of his fellow clansmate like a disposed corpse.

Alas, it didn’t save him from the angry and disappointed glares of his clan elders.

They couldn’t believe it. Did they really raise a bunch of greenhouse flowers? Why the hell are these kids so fragile? How could they lose all fighting ability after receiving a single punch from Ren?

How utterly shameful indeed.

Initially, they thought that, at the very least, Charles might change something. But nope, he went down just as shamefully as Hayden did. Once again, Ren played them like a cheap kazoo, and they couldn’t even do anything about it.

With Charles down, there’s only one person left in the prodigies of the White Haven Clan. He’s their last hope, the only person who will decide whether they leave this place with some dignity left or none at all.

This young man is Jason.

And Ren was already looking at him. His mere glance alone was enough to send the message;

’Come up here and receive the same beating as the ones before you had.’

Jason took a deep breath. There was no path for him to retreat. He’s the last of them. He can’t back down because his elders will crucify him if he did, and he would most definitely not be able to live it down. If he retreated from here, this would become a mental block for the future him.

But if he went up there and got beaten the same way as the others before him, the same thing will happen anyway.

Regardless of where he intended to go, there was no escape. His only choice to go up. At least that way, they won’t call him a coward.

"Ah, and this must be Jason," Mikel pointed out, his voice remaining calm and flat.

He’s trying his best not to sound smug to maintain his dignity as the clan leader, and it’s testing him, that’s for sure. He couldn’t help it; he’s exhilarated too. He went in here with heart, expecting that the clan would lose face again. He even anticipated that he might soon need to send a large batch of potions for free to the clan that’s causing disturbance in their home.

But Ren appeared and proceeded to smack them in the face one by one. They couldn’t even touch the hem of his clothes. He turned these so-called ’prodigies’ into clowns, largely only using the basic fighting techniques to do so.

How can Mikel not feel good about this?

"The High Noon Martial Physique, yes? How rare, indeed." Mikel stroked his beard, acting as if he were some wise old man.

The elders of the White Haven Clan wanted to chew on their gums. They wanted to scold Mikel for mocking their tone and actions earlier. But they didn’t say a word. They were, after all, the challengers here. This isn’t their home turf.

And the worst part? They’re the ones who started this. If they said anything, Mikel would just throw their words earlier back to them. And they’d just feel even more stifled and uncomfortable.

Now, then...the High Noon Martial Physique.

This is a pretty nice martial physique to have. It boosts the user’s strength depending on the daytime.

It starts at 10% when the sun just peeks over the horizon and peaks at high noon, which basically doubles the practitioner’s overall strength. Then, it declines from there, and the bonus completely disappears once the sun dips out completely.

Although moonrise doesn’t weaken the possessor of the High Noon Martial Physique, they’d feel weaker anyway since even that 10% bonus was a nice thing to have; alas, it disappears once the sun is gone.

It’s not just a strength boost, though. In a sense, this also increases the practitioner’s practice speed. Not by much, but even tiny increments will add up over time.

Actually, it’s high noon right now. Which meant that Jason’s strength was practically doubled thanks to his martial physique.

As he marched up the arena, the people from the White Haven Clan felt nervous. Their palms were sweating, and inwardly, they’re praying for a miracle.

They stayed silent, though. They didn’t boast about what they know, that Jason’s martial physique brings him improvement depending on the position of the sun in the sky.

All of them were hoping that with Jason’s immense advantage, he’d show some decent change against Ren.

"Ready? Fight!"

The referee whistled and started the fight.

Jason followed Charles’s footsteps. He didn’t charge out immediately. Instead, he stayed back and began producing chakra first. And as before, Ren stayed still and waited for his foe to be ready. He showed no signs of interrupting at all.

While Jason was busy ramping up the production of his chakra, Ren smelled something from his opponent and felt something through his chakra.

There was a strong heat and faint char smell on Jason. He also observed that sunlight was bending around his body; it’s like he’s absorbing it passively.

’Another rare martial physique? Gee, no wonder why they intend to show off. Having two rare-grade martial physiques in one generation was a sign of their clan’s blessing and prosperity. Anybody would certainly feel blessed.’

Ren doesn’t have a clue which martial physique Jason has. He couldn’t recognize it at a glance like he did with Charles.

Sure, he could sense that Jason’s body was passively absorbing sunlight to strengthen itself, but guess what? There are at least 25 other rare-grade martial physiques out there who do the same.

’I guess I’ll figure it out as we fight,’ Ren sighed and continued waiting.

This part tends to get boring for him since, in his perspective, the enemy was taking too much time. The way these kids start up their engine was really slow, especially in comparison with how fast he could do it.

Eventually, Jason wrapped it up. And once he did, all the jitters and nervousness he felt earlier slowly disappeared. It was now replaced by focus, sharpness, and alertness.

Ren, still bored, just stood still and waited. He just stood there, waiting for the other party to begin.

And begin he did. Jason rushed out with an impressive speed, one that exceeded the norm for muscle-forging practitioners.

He was fast, much faster than Charles, faster than all three idiots before them too.

Ren was mildly surprised, and then he got curious.

He casually side-stepped a blow that cracked the stone floor next to him. That also surprised him mildly. Finally, there’s someone who’s actually swinging a staff with some strength.

Jason was relentless too. He didn’t stop after seeing that his first attack didn’t connect. He swung his staff around, mostly aiming to strike any part of Ren’s body.

He just wanted to reach him once to make a difference, that’s all.

But Ren effortlessly weaved through his attacks like they’re nothing more than suggestions. As if all the dust kicking up due to the force Jason was using didn’t bother him at all. And the force behind that staff carrying enough force to shatter his skull also didn’t bother him.

"Ah, high noon, is it?" Ren suddenly looked enlightened after dodging another blow.

And his words made Jason pause and tense up.

"Yep. Seems like I’m right," Ren concluded after seeing Jason’s reaction.

That’s all he needed to see. Ren now knew what kind of martial physique his opponent had.

Jason took a deep breath and shook away the distractions. So what if the other party knew? It doesn’t change a thing. With his strength doubled because it was high noon, Jason didn’t believe that he couldn’t defeat Ren at all.

...at least, that’s what he was hoping for. Reality, however, was more cruel. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

After a series of near hits and chasing, Jason suffered the same end as Charles — utterly drained of chakra and completely exhausted. Meanwhile, Ren didn’t even break a sweat.

Then, in a surprising burst of speed, Ren was up close and personal. And once again, a single punch to gut sealed Jason’s fate.

He collapsed on the ground, feeling his strength leaving him and his world falling apart.

Jason couldn’t believe it. He told himself that he’d do better, but in the end, Ren still played him the same as he did to Charles.

How did that happen?

"Well...this was a waste of time." Ren’s voice was flat and even, but with how quiet the hall was, he was heard by everybody. "I had to stop my morning routine just for this? What a sham."

"At least my morning routine makes me sweat. You five? Hmm...disappointing."

"Seriously? They call you ’prodigies’? Did that word become cheap all of a sudden?"

"If you all are prodigies, then what does that make me? A young god?"

Marcel’s taunts were nothing compared to Ren. The difference was night and day. The best part is that Ren was being completely honest here. And that’s what stings the most.

Ren found himself at the receiving end of the glares of the White Haven Clan. His distant cousins sure felt nervous for him, but instead of backing down, Ren pushed because he could.

"Hmm, you all don’t look convinced."

"What should we do about that, I wonder? Hmm..."

"Ah! I know!"

"All five of you, you so-called prodigies, should come up here and fight me at the same time!"

"If I beat you all up even while outnumbered, that should be very convincing, right?"