Chapter 2: A New Home

After Xiao Yu agreed to fight him again, the young man returned to the ring and took a moment to prepare himself.

"Whenever you're ready." Xiao Yu spoke in a calm voice, still with his hands behind his back.

Taking a deep breath, the young man narrowed his eyes at Xiao Yu, and after a moment of stillness, he suddenly rushed forward.

"Ha!"

The young man threw a couple of quick jabs at Xiao Yu's face.

However, in Xiao Yu's eyes, these quick jabs looked rather slow, almost like the young man was moving in slow motion, allowing him to dodge them with ease.

When the young man realized that none of his attacks were connecting, he suddenly took a large step towards Xiao Yu, closing their distance, before throwing a powerful punch that was many times quicker and more powerful.

"Power Strike!"

A thin layer of spiritual energy known as Qi gathered at the young man's fist as it propelled forward.

Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows when he saw this, but he wasn't surprised or impressed. There was just something weird with the way the young man used his spiritual energy— it seemed unnatural.

'Is this attack assisted by the system?' Xiao Yu wondered inwardly as he casually dodged the young man's attack.

After dodging the attack that caused the air to explode, Xiao Yu used his movement technique to move behind the young man once again.

"You think I'd fall for the same trick twice, you little bastard?!"

The young man suddenly twisted his body and did a wide swing with his fist.

However, to the young man's surprise, he'd hit the empty air as Xiao Yu was not behind him when he turned around.

And right as he realized this fact—

"Ah!"

The young man suddenly felt a familiar painful feeling on his bum, but it was on the other side this time, and he was immediately sent out of the ring for the second time.

"H-How is this possible?! How did you get behind me like that?!" The young man was in disbelief as he stared at Xiao Yu who had magically appeared behind him like a ghost.

"You're outside the ring, it's my win." Xiao Yu said, not even bothering to explain what had happened.

Of course, the spectators there witnessed exactly what had happened.

After Xiao Yu dodged the attack and went behind the young man, he didn't stop and continued to move, circling around the young man, almost as though he'd predicted that the young man would turn around.

The young man gritted his teeth in frustration, and he said, "Three thousand! Fight me fair and square and I'll give you two thousand more, so three thousand dollars in total!"

"I have defeated you fair and square, though." Xiao Yu said in a calm voice.

"You know what I mean!" The young man exclaimed.

Xiao Yu stood there and pondered silently for a few seconds.

He then nodded and said, "Alright."

The young man immediately smiled, and he went back inside the ring for the third time.

"Whenever you're ready." Xiao Yu said.

Hearing Xiao Yu's words, the young man rushed at him once again.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu retrieved one of his arms that had been hiding behind his back this entire time and pulled it backward, almost like he was preparing for a punch.

The young man ignored Xiao Yu's obvious intentions and proceeded to throw his own punch. In his mind, there was simply no way a cultivator two levels below him could defeat him in a fair fight.

"Hah!"

The young man launched his attack, and Xiao Yu released his own punch at the same time, meeting the young man's fist in the air half a second later.

Pop! Crack!

The sound of bones cracking could be heard after their fists connected, and the young man immediately pulled his arm back whilst screaming in pain after feeling intense pain in his knuckles, feeling as though he'd punched a steel wall!

"Aaaaah!"

The young man kneeled on the ground and curled into a ball with sweat appearing all over his forehead.

Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows at this scene. He didn't expect the young man's fist to be so fragile and had accidentally destroyed his knuckles when their fists collided.

Even though his cultivation base was sealed, Xiao Yu was a true cultivator who didn't neglect to train his physical body, so his body was as strong as a treasure by itself. And while he didn't spend too much time training his body to extreme levels, it was strong enough to deflect common weapons such as daggers and knives with a quick muscle flex.

"Can you continue?" Xiao Yu asked the young man in a non-sarcastic voice.

"Does it look like I can continue?!" The young man quickly shouted back.

"It's just a broken fist. You're not going to die over a minor injury like that. But if you cannot continue, then it's my win."

"Fuck you! Take your damn money and get out of my sight! Transfer 3,000 dollars!"

<You have been offered 3,000 dollars>

<Do you accept?>

"Accept."

<You have received 3,000 dollars>

[Wealth: 1,050 → 4,050]

After accepting the money, Xiao Yu walked out of the ring and away from the young man without turning around, returning to the old man sitting by the bench a few moments later.

"I must say, young man, you've exceeded my expectations." The old man laughed with a smile on his face once Xiao Yu approached him.

"I'm here to return your money, and since I earned more than what I'd expected, as a show of gratitude for lending me money, I'll give you more than we agreed on. Transfer 500 dollars."

However, the old man merely shook his head and said, "You can keep it, young man. Think of it as a small gift from me."

<Transaction has been declined>

"If that's your decision, I won't be humble and keep the money." Xiao Yu nodded.

And he continued, "By the way, I am new around this area and am currently looking for a place to stay. Do you know where I can go to rent a house or something?"

"You're looking for a place? How long do you intend on staying there? And what's your budget? I may know a place." The old man asked him.

"I don't know how long I'll stay. As for my budget, less than four thousand."

"So whatever you just earned, huh? Follow me." The old man scattered whatever bird food he had in his grasp before standing up and walking away.

Xiao Yu didn't ask any questions and followed the old man.

Once they reached the streets, Xiao Yu was stunned by the box-shaped objects moving on the road.

'They look like carriages, but I cannot sense any spiritual energy coming from them. How do they operate?' Xiao Yu was intrigued by these box-shaped objects known as cars, as this was his first time seeing such unique-looking treasures. Furthermore, there were so many of them, making him doubt whether they were really treasures or not.

"What are those things with the wheels?" Xiao Yu decided to ask the old man.

"Huh? Are you talking about the cars? Is this your first time in a city, young man?" The old man looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Cars, huh…"

<Installing 'Guide to Automobiles>

Information began flowing into Xiao Yu's head again, teaching him the basics about cars almost instantly.

A few minutes later, literally two blocks away from the park, the old man stopped in front of a 3 story tall building at the corner of the street and said.

"I'm the owner of this house, and I've been thinking about renting out the third floor for a while now. You look like a sincere and trustworthy one, so if you're looking for a place to stay, I can rent it to you for three thousand dollars a month. It may seem a bit expensive, but you won't find another place in this area with this kind of price. It has a balcony, two bedrooms, one living room that's also a kitchen, and one bathroom." The old man said to him.

Xiao Yu looked at the building for a moment before nodding, "Okay. I'll take it."

"Are you sure? You haven't even looked at the place yet. Come, let me give you a quick tour." The old man proceeded to show Xiao Yu around the house.

Inside the house, there were many unfamiliar objects that Xiao Yu has never seen before.

"What do you think?" The old man asked him after the tour.

'Albeit a bit small, I am not in the position to be picky.' Xiao Yu thought to himself before nodding his head.

"I'll take it."

"Okay then. Then let me show you the contract."

"Initiate landlord's authority, create a lease for one month."

Ding!

A transparent screen with the contract for renting the house appeared before Xiao Yu. Inside the contract stated the rules he must abide by as a tenant, the cost of rent, as well as a few other things.

'So as long as I don't break the rules, even the landlord cannot kick me out until the lease is up, huh? How does the system regulate this?' Xiao Yu wondered.

"What do you think? If you agree to the terms, you can immediately move in."

After taking a moment to read it, Xiao Yu nodded, "I accept the terms."

Ding!

<3,000 dollars has been deducted to pay for your rent at Wang Mu's Residence>

[Wealth: 4,050 → 1,050]

<You are now a tenant at Wang Mu's Residence>

<Time left: 30 days>

<Installing 'Guide to Residency'>

"Thank you, young man. If you want to stay longer after your lease ends, just let me know and I'll make another one for you. By the way, my name's Wang Mu, a retired old man who does nothing but feed the pigeons all day." Wang Mu laughed.

"My name's Xiao Yu, and as you can guess, I came from a faraway place."

"Nice to meet you, Xiao Yu."

Wang Mu extended his hand for a handshake, and Xiao Yu shook it with a calm smile on his face.

--

Author's Note: Since I'm writing three novels at once and this is not my priority at the moment, don't expect daily chapters. Though, I will still try my best to release at least one chapter a day. Also, the chapters are longer for this novel. Thanks for reading.